Parle Products reaffirms ‘Branded House’ stance on the IPL after a seven-year hiatus

In an attention deficit economy, even the 95-year-old and near-ubiquitous snack giant Parle Products is susceptible to the feeble consumer memory.

A couple of weeks ago, it released an ad campaign – spending nearly Rs 80 crore – on the Indian Premier League (IPL) to once again remind viewers of the brands it houses, and that it is first and foremost a ‘Branded House’.

What is that? It’s a structure where a company’s products are sold under one name. For example: Parle-G, Parle Monaco, Parle Hide & Seek.

Made up of five 20-second spots (videos below), this Naam toh Suna Hoga campaign dropped on the IPL’s streamer and broadcaster JioCinema and Star Sports respectively, seven years after Parle Products first doubled down on its Branded House positioning during the 2017 IPL.

There was another campaign that year which spilled into 2018, it focused on fighting counterfeit products, and on the rebranding of a few Parle Products brands. (below)

“A lot has happened in the last seven years. The way we've grown and how Parle as a corporate brand has taken shape in the past few years and the kind of dividends we reaped with those two campaigns,” explains Mayank Shah, vice president, Parle Products laying down the base for this new campaign.

“However, one or two campaigns cannot bring about the change, we're talking the history of 80 plus years," he remarks.

Parle's old hand, Shah led the company’s marketing duties during the 2017 campaigns.

The company chose the IPL because simply put, reach.

“Two big things unite India: cinema and cricket. Cinema is still very regional and Bollywood doesn't resonate too much down South. Cricket is an unifier and IPL gives you that capability of airing commercials in various languages simultaneously across India.” states the VP.

While his major focus for the 2024 campaign was to double down on the Branded House positioning, his second focus was making sure it didn’t hold any similarities to the previous ones.

“… some kind of reinforcement was needed, and should be done at regular intervals but done differently,” says Shah.

And so, the company and creative agency Fundamental zeroed down on attributes which define the company such as trust, quality, variety, modern products, and being a people favourite.

A noteworthy aspect of the ads is their short duration and it is by design because “snackable content is pretty much the order of the day. If you're looking to be consumed on the IPL, you will go with a duration, where you can maximise your campaign reach,” remarks Pallavi Chakravarti, co-founder and chief creative officer, Fundamental.

She was a part of the advertising agency Taproot Dentsu (now absorbed into Dentsu Creative) as an executive creative director when it made the 2017 campaigns for Parle Products.

She says running a single long ad would not have worked because it would have been an “information overload”.

Another interesting aspect of the ads is the inclusion of more than one attribute in a single ad.

“Excellent taste and top quality,” remarks the little girl in the ‘Dry Cleaning’ ad is one such example.

Even a cursory glance of the five ads will reveal they’re not the usual rigid corporate branding ads, they are quirky and show Parle Products as a company which does not take itself too seriously.

“We didn't want it to be one. We wanted to keep it in a chill zone,” admits Shah and says they have used wit and humour which is unusual for a corporate campaign. Top of Mind is one of the scores the company will use to measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

Fundamental’s Chakravarti says they wanted to break away from the trend of seeing two people talking to each other in a room or sitting in a library or on a couch in ads. “We wanted to step away from that, we wanted the visual distinction,” she states.