70 Pitch | August 2011

Be it Holi or Diwali, the one snack that replaces your local namkeens (snacks) just completed a suc-

cessful decade. And this snack comes from the house of Pepsico. Kurkure, the tangy twisted wafer is credited for creat-ing a new category for ‘western wafers, local flavours’ in the snack market. Talk-ing about its decade long journey, Vidur Vyas, Director, Marketing, Pepsi Food Divison, says that “the brand enjoyed absolute success, and has grown twenty times since its launch.”

First Mover AdvantagePepsico Frito-lays has 60 per cent of the market share in snacks. Kurkure is attrib-uted for creating a new category that is devised between the traditional Indian

‘namkeens’ and the western format of wafers and chips. Both in terms of trips to mouth and cost, Kurkure scored over the chips. As a new format, it was more exciting than the traditional namkeens. The initial success came from the for-mat of the food. “The product estab-lished itself in the snack category before the snack brand clutter hit. Its choice of name connected well with the target consumer in India,” says Ray Titus, Pro-fessor, Marketing at Alliance University, School of Business.

Another reason for the success of Kurkure is the distribution. The brand also managed the two critical aspects of retail availability and merchandising. Go to any store in India and you will find Kurkure merchandised exceedingly well.

A family snackThe product has been positioned as family snack brand since its inception. And the brand has managed to com-municate itself exceedingly well. The brand’s communication at the time of its launch was done by Draftfcb + Ulka. “The brand created the Kurkure family and blended the product form, occasion of use and the user into one exciting advertising format and that along with some excellent contributions from the brand ambassador have made the brand both relevant, desirable and lovable,” says Sanjeev Bhargava, COO, Draftfcb+ Ulka, who worked with the brand at its time of launch.

A twisted journeyBRAND JOURNEY KURKURE

By Purba Das

Ten years down the line, Kurkure, which was launched as a Western snack in Indian flavours, has entirely adapted to the Indian palate

Other players enter the space and Kurkure feels the need to re-emphasize its uniqueness. Signs up Juhi Chawla and spoofs on famous daily soaps with its peppy tagline - ‘Is kahaani mein Kurkure hona chahiye’

A spicy decade

2001 2004The product steps out of

the shadow of Lehar and launches as an independent brand - Kurkure, a Western snack, completely in local flavour and targeted at the family. Consumers take instant liking for the snack

Positions itself as a family tea time snack with its tagline - ‘Chai-time masti, Bole to Kurkure.’ The strategy worked as it recorded 19 per cent more sales than previous year

2007

ISIEmergingMarketsPDF in-bachina1 from 119.226.6.34 on 2012-03-19 06:37:24 EDT. DownloadPDF.

Downloaded by in-bachina1 from 119.226.6.34 at 2012-03-19 06:37:24 EDT. ISI Emerging Markets. Unauthorized Distribution Prohibited.

71Pitch | August 2011

A twisted journey The brand signed up Bollywood ac-tress Juhi Chawla as its brand ambas-sador after three years of its launch. “Juhi has perfectly fit into the Kurkure family and consumers love her.” At the time of the launch of its three new vari-ants this year, Chawla pointed out that chirpiness and happy go lucky nature of Juhi’s character ‘Vaijayanti’ in the block-buster movie ‘Hum Hain Rahi Pyaar Ke’ propelled the brand to sign her up as the brand ambassador.

“Juhi Chawla adds value to our brand and hence remains our brand ambassa-dor even after seven long years,” notes Vyas.

Their recent ad campaign ‘Tedha Hain, Par Mera Hai’ is based on the universal truth that no human being is perfect. “Since it’s a family brand, the current positioning is an Indian family scenario, wherein there are different people with differences, but still love each other,” points out Vyas.

From communicating its product benefits ‘Kya karein control hi nahi hota’ to toying with the emotional quotient ‘Tedha hain par mera hain’, the brand has gradually changed its content while keeping its positioning intact.

Innovation: The key to successIn a market, where competition is inten-sifying, the brand has had a sail smooth on innovation. According to brand ex-pert, Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, the brand has understood the demands of the Indian consumers. “Pep-

sico has understood the ‘flavour fatigue’ concept. According to this concept, the Indian palate keeps demanding newer tastes and flavours.”

In the case of Kurkure, the brand has launched several flavours, the most re-cent being three new variants made of ‘dal’ (pulses) – Kurkure Mumbai Chatpa-ta Usal, Bengali Jhaal & South Spice Mix.

“The product is made of ingredients that are available in every kitchen. And innovation has been at the centre of Kurkure, both in products and cam-paigns. The brand has come up with at least one or two innovations every year, be it Kukure Rajma or the latest offer-ing”, notes Vyas.

What’s next?The market may see many new players with similar products; Kurkure however stands apart because it is the pioneer of this category. “Competition is wel-comed in this category as it only helps the category grow. Parle Products came up with ‘Kurkure kind of product’, but Kurkure is absolutely a superior prod-uct. Quiz him on the challenges faced, Vyas quickly reverts saying that ex-cept the ups and downs in the econ-omy, Kurkure never really faced any

challenge.However, accord-ing to experts, in

order to sustain the market leadership,

Kurkure must continue with what it is doing

on the distribution and merchandising angle.

On the product front too, the brand must fight fa-tigue that could arise from persisting with the same flavours for long, and so should introduce changed and varied flavours in the future. On the communi-cation front too, it has to change content, whilst keep-ing its positioning intact. n

-purba@pitchonnet.com

“Innovation has been at the centre of Kurkure, both in products and

campaigns”

Vidur Vyas Director, Marketing, Pepsi Food Divison

Witnessing intense competition, Kurkure targets the youth and launches sub brands – Kurkure Desi Beats, endorsed by Kareena Kapoor. Also, launched a new campaign – ‘Tedha hai par mera hai’

2009 2011

Launched ‘Ingredi-ents of India’ fla-vours made of dal (pulses) that come from three differ-ent regions – East, West and South. Posi-tions itself a healthy nutritious family snack brand

ISIEmergingMarketsPDF in-bachina1 from 119.226.6.34 on 2012-03-19 06:37:24 EDT. DownloadPDF.

Downloaded by in-bachina1 from 119.226.6.34 at 2012-03-19 06:37:24 EDT. ISI Emerging Markets. Unauthorized Distribution Prohibited.