Your favourite Rola Cola may be back soon

Every 80's and 90's child is bound to remember Rola Cola, the hard-boiled candy with the Cola flavour in the Poppins-style packaging. Parle - marketer of Rola Cola - stopped production in 2006. But fans can rejoice as there's a good chance you may get to taste your favourite candy once again.

On February 14, a Twitter user from Kerala, Siddharth Sai G, tweeted, "Dear PARLE. Bring this back" expressing his wish to have the brand re-launch Parle's Rola Cola candy. The tweet received an encouraging response from Twitterati.

Parle responded with a challenge for Siddharth saying, "If all you need is Rola Cola, then all we need are 10K retweets #BringBackRolaCola."

Since then, Siddharth has created quite a buzz on the social media platform and Parle has received over 3.4K retweets so far. It appears that the brand just may be planning to make Siddharth's dream come true.

Parle even shared a post on Instagram asking consumers to re-tweet #BringBackRolaCola if they want the popular candy back and support Siddharth's campaign.

Evidently, the campaign is gaining ground. It is the first-of-many that is solely consumer-led. In fact, a lot of buzz has generated organically.

Cola blast from the past

Rola Cola has an interesting history; it was launched at a time when cola beverages were creating waves in India. Inspired by the trend, Parle launched Rola Cola in a roll format and it was an instant hit with consumers across all age groups. Its low price point (INR 2) was another advantage. In fact, consumers loved it so much that they would mix it with soda and water to make their own, "budget" cola drink.

However, over time, Rola Cola did not reach a critical volume and it was a management decision to focus on other confectionery brands and new formats. Rola Cola was thus discontinued by 2006.

B Krishna Rao

"We are happy to reconsider our decision and bring back Rola Cola. While the target is yet to be achieved through the #BringBackRolaCola movement, the company is already working on a market strategy for the candy brand that brings back nostalgic memories of growing up in the 90s," informs B Krishna Rao, senior category head, Parle Products.

In the past, Parle Products have received many more requests to bring back Rola Cola by post and email.

"We have a strong digital team that monitors tweets and posts pertaining to our brands (old and new) and we realised that this request had turned into a massive movement. We would be delighted to serve the consumer and bring back an iconic brand like Rola Cola. We are hoping that the brand receives a warm welcome from our consumers across the country," says Rao.

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However, making a re-entry seems to be a tough battle for a confectionery brand; the biggest challenge is the availability of similar options at local kirana stores. Parle also faces a lot of competition from local and regional players offering candies at lower prices.

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As far as marketing and promoting the candy is concerned, Parle follows a 360-degree approach. The brand has been present across all consumer platforms and seems to be planning for Rola Cola promotions currently.