The Hindu Business Line : The more the Marier

Chai Kyon Hai Dukhi? asks the market leader in biscuits, Britannia, in its latest Marie campaign. Having introduced a new variant, Marie Gold Doubles, in the market recently, the biscuit major expects tea drinkers to consume less of the beverage due to consumers eating more of its new chocolate-and-orange Marie.

And it is not just Britannia which is tom-tomming its new Marie. There is Parle Products too, which has unleashed a high-decibel campaign featuring actress Kajol who says `Marie Khana Chod Do,' with her Anti-Marie Bureau, to upgrade Marie-eating consumers to eat its new variant - Parle Digestive Marie.

There is renewed action in the Marie category which now comprises nearly 13 per cent of the Rs 5,000-crore biscuits category, all due to the galloping growth rates in this segment.

"It is the fastest growing segment within biscuits," declares Richa Arora, General Manager & Head of Marketing and Innovation at Britannia Industries. According to her, the Marie segment is growing at 25 per cent in value and almost 30 per cent in volume terms.

In Britannia's case, the category's market leader with its Marie Gold brand is extending its franchise to include yet another `tasty' variant to reinforce its dominant position in the segment. Having test-marketed its new variant in the southern markets for the past one year, Britannia expects to move away from the `bland and boring' taste associated with the category which has primarily been targeting older people. "Marie Gold Doubles is an opportunity for Britannia and we are using taste as a new positioning for the Marie category," explains Arora.

Making sure there is no price differential between its existing Marie Gold brand and the new offering, Britannia is providing an innovative double taste through its "unique technology."

Pegging Marie as the next popular product after glucose, Britannia has unleashed a humorous campaign which depicts a `saddened tea cup' — one that's been neglected since the consumer is busy tasting the new Marie. Adds Arora, "We are confident it will strike a chord with consumers and add significantly to Britannia's image."

Meanwhile, the market leader in the glucose category, Parle Products, has also been doing its bit to revive both the category and its languishing shares. Parle Products recently re-entered the Marie segment, the second largest category after glucose, with a premium varaint — Parle Digestive.

Unveiling a campaign featuring actress Kajol, the biscuit major is now offering a premium variant under its Marie franchise as its existing brand, Marie Choice, failed to register adequate growth rates.

Explaining the reasons behind introducing its new variant, Praveen Kulkarni, Marketing Manager, Parle Products Pvt Ltd, says, "The Parle Digestive Marie is Parle's re-entry into the Marie section after the old brand Marie Choice did not work. Parle Digestive is a new and certainly an improved product. The USP is the high-fibre and low-fat quality - it has psyllium husk that is generally found in isabgol. The initial testing has also shown that it helps indigestion. People with digestion problems might just look up to it." Since 1998, Parle Products has made attempts to enter the category with variants such as Parle Long and Parle Time, but they did not take off due to product-related issues. Its brand, Marie Choice, has been struggling to garner shares against Britannia's Marie Gold, which had the first-mover advantage in the category and also commands a majority share of 45 per cent. Parle's Marie Choice trails with a 9 per cent share while ITC's Sunfeast brand stands at a 7 per cent share in the same category.

Considering the price differential between Britannia's Marie Gold (Rs 12 for 200 gm) and Parle's Marie Choice (Rs 10 for 200 gm), Parle was hoping to gain volumes. "There was no great advantage for the brand in spite of the price differential and the brand was not growing at all," says Kulkarni.

Parle has now decided to change strategy for its Marie category by introducing a more premium variant with a value-added proposition even at the cost of affecting the shares for its existing Marie Choice brand. In its campaign (done by Everest Advertising) for Parle Digestive, Kajol says, "Marie khana chod do (Stop eating Marie)," to make consumers shift to Parle Digestive. "It is an attack on the category and the statement even affects our own brand. But we are willing to take a chance to have consumers upgrade to our new product," says Kulkarni.

With its new campaign Parle is hoping to revive both the category and gain share. According to strategic planners at Everest Advertising, the observation was that this category lacked impetus in the form of product innovation, which led to buyers continuing to have the old product without questioning it. Consumer insight regarding consumption was that we live in a country with a chalta hai attitude, and that we shall continue following old habits unless challenged.

The Marie category is lethargic and Marie has become generic. Therefore, Parle had to adopt a unique disruptive brand personality to shake consumers into noticing the value-addition it was offering.

While Parle harps on the health benefits, Britannia is betting on taste to drive the Marie category even further. With both Parle and Britannia taking up the cudgels to create new excitement in the Marie category, consumers looking for a healthy option with their tea should not be dukhi with the variety being offered through their Maries.

All about Marie

The name `Marie' is of English origin and has low-fat and low-sugar components compared with other biscuits.

They are sweet, hard, dry cookies which have quite a pleasant taste but little else going for them really. They are quite nice dipped in hot tea or coffee. But you have to move fast because they generally break easily and you may get a brown blob at the bottom of your cup.

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