Britannia aims to change the perception of croissants with unique pronunciation internship programme

The French croissant has been popular for its buttery, crispy layers, and delicate pastry that’s stuffed with chocolate or various fillings. While savouring its deliciousness is a pleasure, mastering the pronunciation of ‘croissant’ may pose a challenge for many of us. 

Seeing this is a challenge with diverse pronunciations of ‘croissant’, like kwa-son, crusso-n, nruss-ant, kwah-saun, cru-sonh, and many others. Britannia Treat Croissant, under the Britannia umbrella, launched a unique one-day internship program with a stipend of Rs  3 lakh, yes you read it right! A candidate can earn Rs 3 lakhs in a day.

Interested candidates are invited to apply for the internship program starting from March 4, 2024, to March 10, 2024. Prospective applicants can register for the internship program by registering on Britannia’s Whatsapp channel and following subsequent steps on Instagram.

Just within 24 hours of the campaign, the brand has clocked around 25,000 participants just through WhatsApp.

The campaign is conceptualised by Youngun, a meme marketing agency, with young adults being the primary audience. 

Aman Hussain, founding member and creative head, Youngun says the brief from the brand was to position Britannia as the synonymous choice in consumers' minds when they think of croissants. The aim was to establish Britannia as the go-to brand for croissants. 

Hussain further states, “In India, the perception of croissants tends to be as a luxurious snack, and with this campaign, we wanted to shift the conversation around the snack to be more inclusive and consumed by the general audience, not just the elite class.”

In the previous campaign featuring Prabhu Deva, the brand endeavoured to redefine the image of croissants, aiming to establish a significant presence in the realm of everyday snacks.

Hussain highlighted that the agency encountered a challenge in pronouncing ‘croissant’. Internally, their team faced this dilemma, prompting them to watch video tutorials to find accurate pronunciation. 

“On social media, there was a strong debate regarding the correct pronunciation of croissant. Amidst this, multiple ideas surfaced, and that’s when the concept of the internship struck our minds,” he highlights.  

"Internationally, we came across peculiar internships like the Netflix viewer internship, where candidates simply watch shows and movies on the streaming platform. Inspired by these unique concepts, we believed that internships centred around croissants could captivate a significant audience. Upon sharing the idea with the brand, they revealed their own challenges in pronouncing 'croissant',” he states. 

This is how the idea of the internship was born. The selected candidate's responsibility will be just to correct the pronunciation of the word in all the office meetings and events for a day.

To make it more massy, the copywriting of the application was written in a quirky manner, addressing individuals who pride themselves on being masters of the English language.

The brand has also partnered with Internshala, an online internship training platform to amplify the campaign. 

Talking about the media mix, 40% of the budget is allocated towards social media, 10% to Internshala and the remaining 50% to OOH and email marketing.

For influencer marketing, the company has partnered with Dharna Durga, where she is seen imitating an aunty who is always guest-ready.

The stipend of the internship programme is Rs 3 lakhs, what’s the strategy behind such a high amount? 

Hussain answers, “ Our common question was why consumers would engage with it, considering many brand campaigns often go unnoticed. The focus was to make a content piece that could resonate with social media platforms.”

He adds, “Assigning a nominal pricing of Rs 10,000 or Rs 20,00 wouldn’t have captured the attention, our vision was to create a substantial impact, and it became possible with the brand support.”

Commenting on this, Yudhishter Shringi, chief business officer, Adjacencies + Bread, Britannia Industries Limited says, “We are thrilled to announce a unique internship opportunity of the ‘Croissant Pronunciation Expert’ for all the eloquent and articulate talent out there. Croissant in India is an under-represented category which has a huge potential supported with relevant awareness.

He further adds, “This program was created to raise the bar when it comes to getting people familiarised with the right pronunciation of croissants. We hope to bring in an enunciation expert, who would be able to educate people for a day about the often mispronounced word – croissant.”