MTR wages war on morning-meanness in its latest '3-min breakfast' ad campaign

MTR has launched its latest brand campaign for a new range of Indian breakfasts called the 3 Minute Breakfast. It is a 360 degree media campaign including three TVCs and a digital film.

This first-of-its-kind breakfast range consists of popular Indian breakfasts from across the country like Poha, Upma, Oats and Halwa and cooks in just 3 minutes by simply adding hot water.

Backed by the insight that breakfast is the most rushed meal occasion and also the most skipped meal, this range of products will be available for various consumption occasions, at-home or on-the-go.

The 3 TVC campaign that went on air on April 27, portrays hurried situations on weekday mornings which then lead to consumers missing breakfast because of lack of time. One of the TVCs showcases a woman hailing a cab for going to work in the morning and then getting stuck in a traffic jam because of a lady not being able to manoeuvre her car properly, resulting in her eating breakfast with taxi driver and the lady on the road. Similar situations like an early morning meeting at office and a couple getting late for work in the morning because the husband cannot find his perfect hairstyle, have been portrayed in the other two TVCs.

Speaking on the new breakfast range, Sunay Bhasin, chief marketing officer, MTR Foods, says, "The organized breakfast market in India is driven by a need for convenience with consumers sometimes forgoing breakfast, particularly on weekdays, due to severe time crunch in the mornings. The MTR 3 Minute Breakfast will now give Indians easy access to a hot, comforting range of Indian breakfast that they prefer in just 3 minutes by just adding hot water. Our communication also focuses on how easily a delicious Indian breakfast can be made in the time you take to do your weekday morning routine, hence removing any excuse to miss breakfast anymore."

Mahesh Gharat, executive creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, adds, "The brief from MTR Foods was to communicate the key proposition of the 3-Minute Breakfast in a creative way by depicting various morning situations. We had to show the ease of making breakfast as well as drive home the key message that consumers need not compromise on breakfast anymore. As we had to talk to the young working professionals, we decided to take a relatable, humorous approach. All three films depict the morning rush in their lives when a lot cannot be achieved on time. But thankfully, MTR's 3-min breakfast gets prepared in 3 minutes."

In addition to TV, Digital was a key media vehicle for the campaign and for that special content in the tune of a digital film was created. The film wages a war on current generation's youth's morning meanness by supplying MTR's 3-minutes instant breakfast. The Social Street was assigned the task of creating a film that resonated well with the urban millennial.

Commenting on the digital film, Sonia Lal, managing partner, The Social Street says, "Our brief was to communicate with the young Target Group in the digital space and create some humorous content while conveying the brand message. The film shows a team of experts like scientists, astrologers and other specialists (one of them being a cat!) trying to understand why the youth is mean - with the simple answer coming from a mom who says that the youth skip breakfast because they are short on time and how MTR 3 minute range solves for this"

MTR is no stranger to the instant food business. From 'rava idli' to vermicelli, MTR has a diverse range of products. However, none of its previous offerings had the 3 minutes charm that Nestle's Maggi has been riding since the brand's inception. How fast is this 'instant' phenomenon?-- is a question that brands have been trying to solve for sometime now.

Healthier options like the oat meal offerings by brands such as Saffola, Quaker, Patanjali and Baggry's, enjoy a substantial share in the breakfast segment of instant food category. It will be interesting to see how MTR's latest offering fares in the market that has both oat meals and 'cuppa' noodles as major players.

The MTR 3 Minute Breakfast Range is available in six variants of Poha, Khatta Meetha Poha, Vegetable Upma, Magic Masala Upma, Oats Homestyle Masala and Kesari Halwa at Rs. 20 for the single-use pack for 60 gms, Rs 45 - 50 for the Cup variant and Rs 80-85 for the multiple-use box of 230 gms.