Sweet talk Haldiram to set up in London After decades of feeding insatiable Indians with its savoury bhujiya snacks, Halidram is in London with plans to open a chain of its outlets there. Haldiram, which has a turnover of 100 million pounds, wants to use London as a base for a European launch. Its products are already available in supermarkets around the world but it now plans to open branded outlets of the kind that have made Haldiram a household name from Kolkata to Coimbatore. Looks like remixes are the order of the day.
Be it the plethora of music video remixes that are dominating the small screen today or be it Haldiram’s latest Recipe Remix Campaign. In either case, an endeavor has been made to reposition an old product through attractive packaging, innovations and incentives that appeal to the consumer. With mouth watering and tongue tingling names like ‘Bhujiawich’, ‘Nut Cracker Raita’, ‘Jor Garam Chaat’, ‘Corn Mix Cutlet’, ‘Bhujia Roll’; Haldiram’s seems to have struck the right cord in appealing to the consumers.
The age old Haldiram’s bhujia, which was originally perceived as a brand for the 30+ age group, is looking to cater to the younger lot. The conservative brand is now out with a ‘Recipe Remix’ campaign which was conceived by its ad agency Profile Advertising (which took eight months to convince the client to go ahead with the new campaign) with a view to create a workable product extension for the packaged goodies. With this campaign Haldiram’s also hopes to form a long term relationship with its existing and potential clientele. The yummy ‘Chana Jor Garam Chaat’ from Haldiram’s
The new campaign with the tag line of ‘Taste Mein Naya Twist’ aims to drive home the point that a whole lot of new, never-eaten-before recipes can be created out of a single pack of namkeens, instead of the only earlier option of just eating it simply out of the pack. Talking about the new campaign and more importantly the need for it, Profile Advertising CEO Jiten Dhawan said, ” Having worked in nurturing the brand for almost 14 years, we felt it was time for Haldiram’s to realise the essential fact that, as a company it has been perceived largely as a brand addressing the 35 years plus category.
However, with the introduction of packaged ‘Chips’ and other ready to eat snacks in the pipeline, it was important for Haldiram’s to be accepted across the board in all age groups from four to 70 years. ” Since kids are now becoming increasingly important in the household decision making process and with pester power at its peak; targetting the lower age segments, i. e. four – 30 years; who have had no regular association with Haldiram’s in the past seems to be the ideal thing to do. The campaign for Haldiram’s Chips has a tag line of ‘Just Munch Karo’ and connect to all age groups.
The mouth watering ‘Bhujiawich’ remix recipe by Haldiram’s The soft launch of this new campaign was initiated in the first week of January 2004 in both print and radio. What with the television being expensive for advertising, Haldiram’s has decided to stick to print and radio for the time being at least. Another reason for not coming up with a TVC (television commercial) as yet, was that the company felt it was safer to do the first ever TVC for the brand on a corporate note rather than the Remix campaign.
Dhawan said, ” As of now we are using the radio and the press for three months each. We have 160 seconds of commercial time on Radio Mirchi thrown in with some Remix contests everyday. The ads are being published in women centric magazines like Femina, Filmfare, Cosmopolitan, Savvy, Meri Saheli and Grihshobha. By the end of the month ads will also be placed in the publications like Delhi Times and HT City. The Remix commercial we guess, would now be stage two. ” Talking of budgets, the total ad spend initially allotted for the entire campaign was approximately Rs 3-3. million. But to pitch against teen favourite munchies like Lays, Kurkure, Lehar etc which advertise heavily on television, Haldiram’s sure does need to keep in mind advertising on the idiot box. Dhawan elucidates, ” Television no doubt is an excellent medium. However you need to effectively sustain it in conjunction with the press. Advertising per se has to be consistent in order to derive results. ” Not now, but later seems to be the agency’s take on the TVC. ” The Haldiram’s Chips film has been shot and will be released soon on television and cinema.
It uses the concept – ‘Just Munch Karo’ in a storyline of a birthday party which the kids can easily identify with,” says Dhawan. The Haldiram’s Chips product was initially perceived to be a brand for the 30+, but a conscious effort is being made by the client and the agency to change the target group to 18+, which was exactly what was done through the Chips ad campaigns in the Delhi Times, HT City and radio spots. ” We were very clear with the client that he should not suddenly expect kids in the 4+ segment to switch loyalties from other brands.
And so long as we continued to initiate trials amongst the kids, with their mothers bringing in the packs home, we were sure the slow and steady approach of see, feel and try the product would eventually work in sync with the next campaign exclusively targetted to the kids, starting off with a film,” said Dhawan. Haldiram’s goodies have been in the market since the last 20 years or so and has always had a low key affair as it concentrated more on dealers and below the line activities, without giving much thought to advertising.
It is only since the last three or four years that they have really started spending and allocating some monies towards advertising. For the new Recipe Remix campaign, the key was to implement it with a restricted budget by using Haldiram’s existing outlets with large footfalls as a trial base, by allocating separate Recipe Remix counters within each outlet to initiate trials amongst the walk-ins. Secondly, the makers made sure that there was constant and extendable customer interaction with the brand.
Said Dhawan, ” We ensured customer interaction by letting them recreate their own innovative Recipe Remixes out of any of the Haldiram’s Namkeens who in return could get a chance to win up to three gift vouchers of Rs 2, 500 each from Haldiram’s every month. And only after that there would be a quantum change in the brand perception and product acceptance. ” All the innovative Recipe-Remixes have been worked out by Haldiram’s chefs and sold at the Recipe Remix counter at Haldiram’s besides being showcased in the take-one leaflets placed at the Haldiram’s outlets, in magazines and press ads.
The attractive press ads that have been developed around the Haldiram’s goodies especially the Chips sends across the message that the chips can be munched anytime and anywhere. The ‘Hinglish’ ads of the ‘Just Munch Karo’ Haldiram’s Chips Profile Advertising which has been handling the Haldiram’s for almost 14 years has a perfect understanding of the client and their product categories. Says Dhawan, ” We understand the client to such a great extent that we are almost given a free hand now to steer the communication stance.
And the tone has been primarily ‘Hinglish’ from the very beginning. ” With new upmarket packaging and a logo reduced in size of the Haldiram’s Chips package, the company is essentially targeting the 18+ years by giving them newer innovative ways of accepting the product. Expectation are particularly high on two counts with regard to the new Recipe Remix campaign. Firstly, increased consumption within the existing segments of 35+ and secondly, an entirely newer experimental clientele base of 4+ which has been averse to accepting and eating namkeens straight out of the pack.
Dhawan says, ” Ideally, besides a change in brand perception, this concept would also create an acceptability of the brand within the lower age segments, which it definitely requires, to further help with the launches of Funchees (Cheese Balls), Ticklers (Potato Sticks) and Taka-Tak (Kurkure) which are in the pipeline. ” Ad for the new Haldiram’s outlet in the Sahara MallAd for the new Haldiram’s outlet in Gurgaon, Delhi Changes in the Namkeen packaging are also being looked at wherein behind each pack there would be a Recipe Remix.
Haldiram’s have left no stones unturned in advertising their product. As of now, Haldiram’s has created Recipe Remix counters within four outlets in Delhi and Gurgaon to test market the concept and let the walk-in customers sample and buy two Recipe Remixes each week. ” There will be approximately 20, 000 footfalls through which there will be a sizeable visibility and awareness everyday.
Also danglers and leaflet dispensers are being initiated at the ‘A’ category retail outlets in Delhi and NCR regions to start with,” says Dhawan. Although it is too early and premature to gauge the campaign’s effect on the actual increase in the overall sales of Namkeens packs, it does seem that this one might just do well. Not just due to the new campaign or incentives provided by the company but simply because Haldiram’s has been a trusted name in the market for over two decades now.
