About the Company

A cream colored yellow stripped wrapper with a cute baby photo containing
10 – 12 biscuits with the company’s name printed in Red and you know these are
Parle G biscuits. Times changed, variety of biscuits did come and go but nothing
has changed with these biscuits. Yes, the size of their packing has definitely
changed but for the consumers good as these are money savers pack.
The Parle name conjures up fond memories across the length and breadth of the
country. After all, since 1929, the people of India have been growing up on Parle
biscuits & sweets.

Initially a small factory was set up in the suburbs of Mumbai city, to

manufacture sweets and toffees. The year was 1929 and the market was dominated
by famous international brands that were imported freely. Despite the odds and
unequal competition, this company called Parle Products, survived and succeeded,
by adhering to high quality and improvising from time to time.

A decade later, in 1939, Parle Products began manufacturing biscuits, in

addition to sweets and toffees. Having already established a reputation for quality,
the Parle brand name grew in strength with this diversification. Parle Glucose and
Parle Monaco were the first brands of biscuits to be introduced, which later went on
to become leading names for great taste and quality.

For around 75 years, Parle have been manufacturing quality biscuits and
confectionery products. Over the years Parle has grown to become a multi million-
dollar company with many of the products as market leaders in their category.The
recent introduction of Hide & Seek chocolate chip biscuits is a product of
innovation and caters to a new taste, being India’s first ever chocolate-chip
biscuits.

All Parle products are manufactured under most hygienic conditions. Greatcare is exercised in the
selection and quality control of raw material and standardsensured at every stage of the manufacturing
process.

Parle Products has 4 manufacturing units for biscuits and confectionaries atMumbai, Haryana, Rajasthan
and Karnataka. It also has 14 manufacturing unitsfor biscuits & 5 manufacturing units for
confectioneries, on contract.

All these factories are located at strategic locations, so as to ensure a

constant output & easy distribution.

Today, Parle enjoys a 40% share of the total biscuit market and a 15% share

of the total confectionary market, in India.

The marketing mix of Parle for this project has been studied from the point of

view of Parle biscuits; mainly Parle-G and Parle hide & seek.

PARLE G - THE EVOLUTION !!!

Parle-G has been a strong household name across India. The great

taste, high nutrition, and the international quality, makesParle-G a winner.
No wonder, it's the undisputed leader in the biscuit category for decades.

Parle-G is consumed by people of all ages, from the rich to the poor, living in

cities & in villages. While some have it for breakfast, for others it is a
complete wholesome meal. For some it's the best accompaniment for chai,
while for some it's a way of getting charged whenever they are low on energy.
Because of this, Parle-G is the world's largest selling brand of biscuits.

Launched in the year 1939, it was one of the first brands of Parle
Products. It was called Parle Glucose Biscuits mainly to cue that it was a
glucose biscuit. It was manufactured at the Mumbai factory, Vile Parle and
sold in units of half and quarter pound packs.

The incredible demand led Parle to introduce the brand in special

branded packs and in larger festive tin packs. By the year 1949, Parle
Glucose biscuits were available not just in Mumbai but also across the
state. It was also sold in parts of North India. The early 50s produced over
150 tones of biscuits produced in the Mumbai factory. Looking at the
success of Parle-G, a lot of other me-too brands were introduced in the
market. And these brands had names that were similar to Parle Glucose
Biscuits so that if not by anything else, the consumer would err in picking
the brand. This forced Parle to change the name from Parle Glucose Biscuits
to Parle-G.

Originally packed in the wax paper pack, today it is available in a

contemporary, premium BOPP pack with attractive side fins. The new
airtight pack helps to keep the biscuits fresh and tastier for a longer period.

Parle-G was the only biscuit brand that was always in short supply. It
was heading towards becoming an all-time great brand of biscuit. 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, 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 anicon. The next
level of communication associated the brand with the positive values of life
like honesty, sharing and caring.

In the year 1997, Parle-G sponsored the tele-serial of the Indian

superhero, Shaktimaan that went on to become a huge success. The
personality of the superhero matched the overall superb benefits of the
brand. Parle extended this association with Shaktimaan and gave away a lot
of merchandise of Shaktimaan, which was supported by POS and press
communication. The children just could not get enough of Parle-G and
Shaktimaan.

In the year 2002, it was decided to bring the brand closer to the child

who is a major consumer. A national level promo - `Parle-G Mera Sapna

Sach Hoga' was run for a period of 6 months. The promo was all about
fulfilling the dreams of children. There were over 5 lakh responses and of
that, over 300 dreams were fulfilled.

Dreams that were fulfilled ranged from trips to Disneyland at Paris &
Singapore; free ride on a chartered plane; 20 scholarships worth Rs 50,000;
a special cricket coaching etc.

The year 2002 will go 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 is not just new to the
audiences but one that involves a completely new way of execution that is
loved by children all over the world – Animation

To make the brand much more interesting and exciting with children, it
was decided to launch a premium version of Parle-G called Parle-G Magix in
the year 2002. Parle-G Magix is available in two exciting tastes -‘Cocoh’ and

‘Cashew’. The year 2002 also witnessed the launch of Parle-G Milk Shakti,

which has the nourishing combination of milk and honey, especially launched
for the southern market.

PARLE GOLU GALATA CONTEST – 2007

India's favourite biscuits & confectionery maker turns India's

corporate partner. As part of its corporate social responsibility to give back
to the very country that built it, Parle Products introduced the now famed
Golu Galata contest in 2005. First a little bit about the practice.

An old tradition from the households of Tamil Nadu, the kolu is the
essence of Navaratri celebrations. It is also followed in many Asian
countries, especially Sri Lanka and Japan. The Japanese version is known
as Hina Masturi.

In Tamil Nadu, on the Amavasya day, women first finish the ritual

'tarpana' - keep the Kalash filled with rice, toor dal haldi sticks, betel leaves

and nuts or mango leaves with a coconut on it.

The right muhurtam is chosen before placing the Kalash and the dolls
for worship, with which the Kollu festival begins. The dolls are given to the
girl from her parents during her marriage and are called "Marapachi
Bommai" (wooden dolls). From this day she starts collecting dolls and
observes the ceremony annually.

The household women also decorate clay dolls (gods and goddesses
painted in bright colours) and display them on the specially prepared
kolupadis or steps made of wood and covered with a thick cloth. The
number of steps was always an odd number - three, five, seven or nine. The
more the steps, the merrier! Often a variety of dolls are displayed artistically
and arranged beautifully on the steps.

A well decorated tableau, often this display is enjoyed by friends andrelatives. However a recent study
found that due to hectic schedules, thistradition is slowly getting restricted to a select few households.

Thus, to revive a grand tradition, Parle created a novel promotion

called Parle Golu Galata contest. Golu means Doll & Galata means
Dhammal.

In 2005, 5000 households participated and in 2006, it was 10,000

households who participated. This year we hope to see over 10,000
households, across 7 cities join in this joyous occasion.

At the end of the celebration, the winners will be felicitated at a gala

prize distribution ceremony.

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 person’s energy levels. This is not
always expected by the consumers and hence exceeds customer’s 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.

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Brand name strategy
Parle follows company brand name strategy, since all its products are named
using the company’s name as a prefix such as Parle-G, Parle- Monaco, Parle
hide&seek, Parle digestive Marie, etc.