THE MARKETING STRENGTH The extensive distribution network, built over the years, is a major strength for Parle

Products. Parle biscuits & sweets are available to consumers, even in the most remote places and in the smallest of villages with a population of just 500. Parle has nearly 1,500 wholesalers, catering to 4,25,000 retail outlets directly or indirectly. A two hundred strong dedicated field force services these wholesalers & retailers. Additionally, there are 31 depots and C&F agents supplying goods to the wide distribution network. The Parle marketing philosophy emphasizes catering to the masses. They constantly endeavor at designing products that provide nutrition & fun to the common man. Most Parle offerings are in the low & mid-range price segments. This is based on their understanding of the Indian consumer psyche. The value-for-money positioning helps generate large sales volumes for the products. However, Parle Products also manufactures a variety of premium products for the up-market, urban consumers. And in this way, caters a range of products to a variety of consumers.

Marketing Mix of Parle Products Limited Product strategy Product Levels 1) Core benefit- the core benefit of biscuits is to satisfy hunger of the consumer 2) Basic product- in the second level, the basic product is biscuits. 3) Expected product- the consumers expect the product to have a good taste and also give nutrition. 4) Augmented product- parle biscuits increase a persons energy levels. This is not always expected by the consumers and hence exceeds customers expectations. 5) Potential product- in the future parle could come up with different products such as a snack which could be a combo of chocolate and biscuit. Classification of products 1) Based on tangibility- Parle biscuits are tangible, i.e. one can see and touch them. 2) Based on functional life- Parle biscuits are consumables since biscuits form a part of food and have a short life. 3) Based on price and quality- most of Parle biscuits such as Parle-G, Monaco,

Krackjack are mass products but a few Parle biscuits such as Parle hide and seek and Milano are premium or prestige products. 4) Based on utility- Parle biscuits are convenience goods. They are staples since they are bought by consumers regularly. Also they are partly impulse products. Product mix Width- Parle produces biscuits, snacks and confectionaries. So the width is 3. Length- the length of Parle products is as below: Biscuits Snacks Confectionaries Parle-G Jeffs Melody Milk Shakti Sixer Poppins Magix- choco and cashew Musst bytes-tangy tomatoMango byte

Krackjack and garden green Kismi toffee bar Monaco Rol-a-cola Marie Choice

Orange candy Hide and seek Chox Fun centre- chocolate, butterscotch, strawberry, milk cream Nimkin Parle cream- mango, orange, elaichi, pineapple, bourbon Digestive Marie Krackjack cream Mayfair Depth For Parle-G: Parle-G comes in 8 different sizes: 25gms, 44gms, 93.5gms, 231gms, 340.5gms, 462gms, 577.5gms and 1000gms. Hence the depth of parle-G is 8. - For variants of Parle-G: Parle-G magix has 2 flavors- choco and cashew and comes only in one size i.e. 75gms. Hence its depth is 2. Parle milk shakti has no favors and comes in just one size i.e. 150gms. So the depth of Parle-G is 8+2+1= 11 For Parle hide & seek and Milano: Parle hide & seek comes in 2 sizes- 25gms and 100gms. Hence its depth is 2.

Parle hide & seek Milano has no flavors and comes only in one size i.e. 100gms. So the depth of Parle hide & seek is 2+1= 3

 Consistency The product consistency generally depends on 3 parameters 1. Production 2. Distribution 3. Consumer end-use The production process of every parle biscuit follows some basic ingredients like wheat flour, vegetable oil, inverted syrups, skimmed milk powder, etc. then depending upon the product, extra ingredients are added for e.g. in Monaco there might be an extra amount of salt put in to give it that prominent salt taste, tohide & seek, chocolate chips are added. Etc. Parle uses the same distribution channels for selling all its products under the biscuit category i.e. 1st, 2nd & the 3rd level of the distribution channels. The basic end use of all parle products remains the same eating it simply to satisfy hunger. Products like parle-g may also be consumed for the intake of high glucose levels for immediate strength & energy. Brand The Parle Biscuit brands, such as, Parle-G, Monaco and Krackjack enjoy a strong imagery and appeal amongst consumers. Be it a big city or a remote village of India, the Parle name symbolizes quality, health and great taste. And yet, this reputation has been built, by constantly innovating and catering to new tastes. This can be seen by the success of new brands, such as, Hide & Seek and Hide & Seek Milano. Brand name strategy Parle follows company brand name strategy, since all its products are

named using the companys name as a prefix such as Parle-G, Parle- Monaco, Parle hide&seek, Parle digestive Marie, etc.

Brand strategy decision: Product category

Old

New Old Brand name New Parle follows both line extension and brand extension for its products. For a product like Parle-G it followed line extension with the introduction of Parle-G milk Shakti and Parle-G magix which has 2 flavors- choco and cashew. For Parle Monaco too it followed line extension when a new favor Monaco jeera was introduced. Similarly when it introduces any new product in the biscuit category, it follows line extension. Initially Parle used to produce only confectionaries. Parle followed brand extension with the introduction of products in the biscuits and snacks category. In this way, by concentrating on consumer tastes and preferences and emphasizing Research & Development, the Parle brand grows from strength to strength. Packaging and Labeling Packaging: The time spent by a customer for picking up a product from a retail outlet is a few seconds; therefore a package should appeal to a customer within such a small interval of time. In this, both packaging & labeling play an important role in attracting customers both visually & psychologically. For Parle G: Parle G was initially recognized by its iconic white and yellow stripped wax paper wrapper with the baby face on it. Many competitors have tried to

sell their lower quality products by copying the packaging, trying to sell their biscuits as Parel-G; Parle-Jee etc. Due to increasing competition Parle G now uses plastic wrappers for its packaging. Parle-G comes in 8 different sizes: 25gms, 44gms, 93.5gms, 231gms, 340.5gms, 462gms, 577.5gms and a 1kg pack just for Rs.30 which is not usually offered by other brands. Parle Hide & Seek: It initially came out with 3 variants: Mint, Orange & Chocolate which wasnt accepted by the masses. However, the production of Mint & orange flavors was stopped. Chocolate is the only flavor that is running successfully since it is Indias first chocolate chip biscuit. . Hide & seek biscuit's current packaging has been modified along with lower prices & better affordability rates. Thus there is a change in size of the product which is prevalent in the ads. One of the advertisements shows movie actor, Hrithik Roshan walking with a pack of hide & seek biscuits in the back pocket of his jeans emphasizing on the small size of the product. Parle hide & seek Milano: This product of Parle has a flashy purple coloured packing which attracts customers with the whole look of Italian chocolate

chip cookies. Labeling: Consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious. So it is essential to displaythe contents of every product. Every packet of Parle G, Parle hide & seek, Parle hide& seek Milano has information about the ingredients used, nutrition facts, mailing For Parle G: Parle G was initially recognized by its iconic white and yellow stripped wax paper wrapper with the baby face on it. Many competitors have tried to sell their lower quality products by copying the packaging, trying to sell their biscuits as Parel-G; Parle-Jee etc. Due to increasing competition Parle G now uses plastic wrappers for its packaging. Parle-G comes in 8 different sizes: 25gms, 44gms, 93.5gms, 231gms, 340.5gms, 462gms, 577.5gms and a 1kg pack just for Rs.30 which is not usually offered by other brands. Parle Hide & Seek: It initially came out with 3 variants: Mint, Orange & Chocolate which wasnt accepted by the masses. However, the production of Mint & orange flavors was stopped. Chocolate is the only flavor that is running successfully since it is Indias first chocolate chip biscuit. . Hide & seek biscuit's current packaging has been modified along with lower prices & better affordability rates.

Thus there is a change in size of the product which is prevalent in the ads. One of the advertisements shows movie actor, Hrithik Roshan walking with a pack of hide & seek biscuits in the back pocket of his jeans emphasizing on the small size of the product. Parle hide & seek Milano: This product of Parle has a flashy purple coloured packing which attracts customers with the whole look of Italian chocolate chip cookies. Labeling: Consumers are becoming increasingly health conscious. So it is essential to displaythe contents of every product. Every packet of Parle G, Parle hide & seek, Parle hide& seek Milano has information about the ingredients used, nutrition facts, mailing & emailing addresses asking for feedback, phone number, packaging date etc. Allthis along with the brand name and directions are printed in Hindi too.

Advertising Parle-G started being advertised in the 80's. It was advertised mainly through press ads. The communication spoke about the basic benefits of energy and nutrition. In 1989, Parle-G released its Dadaji commercial (link for the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D4PBN0OzuE), which went on to

become one of the most popular commercials for Parle-G. The commercial was run for a period of 6 years. Parle-G grew bigger by the minute. Be it the packs sold, the areas covered or the number of consumers. It became a part of the daily lives of many Indians. It wasn't a biscuit any more. It had become anico n. The next level of communication associated the brand with the positive values of life like honesty, sharing and caring. The year 2002 went down as a special year in Parle-G's advertising history. A year that saw the birth of G-Man - a new ambassador for Parle-G. Not just a hero but also a super-hero that saves the entire world, especially children from all the evil forces. A campaign that was not just new to the audiences but one that involved a completely new way of execution that was loved by children all over the world Animation. A TV commercial that showed G-Man saving the children from the evil force called Terrolene launched this campaign. It was also supported by print medium through posters and streamers put up at the retail outlets. Another campaign that was launched by Parle for Parle-G was - G maane GENIUS. For this a series of ads were shown in which a little kid eats

Parle G and tricks the wise and experienced people. Just a few months back a reminder TV commercial was launched for ParleG where the product is being called hindustan ki takat ( link for the ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxb4bLq35mg ). Most of the Parle-G TV commercials tell us that brand awareness is being done by capturing consumer emotion. Heavy promotion plays a major role in creating brand awareness. Such is the caseof Parle hide & seek biscuits television advertisements. The ads of parle hide andseek are portraying actor Hrithik Roshan. This tells us that the product is beingpromoted by celebrity endorsement to increase awareness of this product and helpcapture the consumers attention.

 Social class-Hide & Seek is meant for middle class and rich class families. However one can also say that Parle-G is consumed only by lower n middle class consumers because rich class can afford more expensive biscuits. Behavioral segmentation: Benefit sought-The benefit sought in Parle-G is mainly replenishing energy and for Hide & Seek it is good taste. Pattern of market segmentation Preference: Clustered If we divide the whole market on basis of their preferences foe sweetness and

saltiness in the biscuits then the possible outcome would be that the preferences are clustered near some tastes i.e. the consumers would not like to have something really vague like 50%salty, 25%sweet and 25%creamy.That is why the preferences are clustered and not diffused wherein the preferences have to be very extreme and vague. Parle as a company makes use of this clustered preferences and manufactures biscuits for each and every cluster. For e.g. Monaco for entirely salty biscuits and its latest product Krackjack-cream is for sweet and salty taste. Target market strategies 22 M1 M2 P1P2P3

PARLE Company as a whole inculcates SELECTIVE MARKET SPECIALIZATION strategy. In the above diagram we can say blue colour represents the extent of Parle-G i.e. it is 1 product for all the 3 markets and the green colour is for Hide & Seek where it is a product only for 1 market and the orange is for Krackjack biscuits where the product is targeted for 2 markets. Positioning strategy Parle-G is positioned in the minds of people as a value for price productand also as a low-priced product. Whereas hide & seek has tapped a newmarket. Differentiation strategy For Parle-G the company has used channel and image differentiation tools. Parle-G by far has the most intensive distribution coverage as compared to any other biscuit company in India. Also the name PARLE has an image that generates respect and a belief of good quality in the minds of the buyers. Packing As in all other biscuits, packing plays an important role in Parle-G too. Thebasic small packs are packed mechanically using automated machines andare sealed using the pollybag sealing machine. These small packs are thenmanually packed into small boxes and are sent through the conveyor belt tobe packed in large cartons. 160 packets are packed per minute. And in 23

one big box there are 160 Parle-G packets packed. Before, they used to bring the packaging material from outside the company but now it is produced in the factory premises itself. For export purpose the packets have different languages print on them depending upon the geographical location & demand of the people. Each factory has state-of-the-art machinery with automatic printing & packaging facilities. THE STRENGTH OF THE BRAND Over the years, Parle has grown to become a multi-million US Dollar company. Many of the Parle products - biscuits or confectionaries, are market leaders in their category and have won acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. Today, Parle enjoys a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share of the total confectionary market, in India. The Parle Biscuit brands, such as, Parle-G, Monaco and Krackjack and confectionery brands, such as, Melody, Poppins, Mangobite and Kismi, enjoy a strong imagery and appeal amongst consumers. Be it a big city or a remote village of India, the Parle name symbolizes quality, health and great taste! And yet, we know that this reputation has been built, by constantly innovating and catering to new tastes. This can be seen by the success of new brands, such as, Hide & Seek, or the single twist wrapping of Mango bite.

In this way, by concentrating on consumer tastes and preferences andemphasizing Research & Development, the Parle brand grows from strengthto strength.