Kurkure

crunch time
by Preeti Khicha
March 24, 2008

In India, the local fare offers a wide variety of snack

options, ranging from roasted banana wafers and soya
chaklis (crispy savory spirals) to samosas (pastries
filled with potatoes/peas). These "namkeens" (snacks)
are typically eaten as a side dish with meals or make
great accompaniments to tea, coffee, and other
beverages. Of course, these snacks vary by region,
with each having its own "special" recipe.

The snack food industry in India is highly fragmented, with the market dominated by made-at-home
snacks or savories sold by local vendors. Because of expanding nuclear families and an increase in the
number of female professionals, India has witnessed a significant rise in the demand for ready-to-eat
snacks. “Today, Indian consumers [want] snack foods that are portable, hygienic and a ready substitute
for hot snacks,” comments Sujit Das Munshi, executive director of AC Nielsen South Asia.

Snacks like biscuits and potato wafers and Indian savories like laccha (fried potato sticks) were already
available in the packaged format, but Frito Lay India (a subsidiary of PepsiCo) decided to find a niche in
the market, by offering a product with a unique shape and taste. In 1999, the company (already in the
market with its flagship brand Lay’s) launched Kurkure ("Crunchy" in Hindi) in the Indian market.

“[This Cheeto-like snack adapted to local tastes] helped create a bridge category between Indian
namkeens (snacks) and Western offerings like potato chips [and cheese balls]”, says Deepika Warrier,
Marketing Director, PepsiCo Holdings India.

Since its inception, this strangely addictive snack has been a huge success among Indian consumers,
with recent plans to take this locally developed snack food brand global. While a soft launch has already
been made, with the brand available at Indian grocery stores in the US and UK, a large scale launch is
on the agenda. As Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, mentions in an interview to rediff.com, “Kurkure will
retain its basic Indian flavor [in its overseas journey], but will be tweaked a bit [in areas like seasonings]
to suit the palate of international consumers.”

So what has shaped Kurkure’s success in India so that even its parent company wants a bite of it?
“Flavor innovations, affordable price points and an excellent customer connect through a 360 degree
communication approach has helped the brand enjoy iconic brand salience in the snacks category,”
observes an industry analyst.

Launched as a national brand, it was a challenge for the company to devise flavors that would appeal to
regional taste buds. However, the focus on developing hot and tangy flavors that suit Indian taste
palettes has helped win the hearts of Indian consumers.

Bearing this in mind, the company launched pan-Indian flavors like Masala Munch and Red Chili Chatka
and local specialties like Tamatar Hyderabadi Style and Green Chutney Rajasthani Style. The Kurkure
flavors draw inspiration from Indian spices and condiments and are available in six bold flavors.

In order to add further zing to its product portfolio, in January 2008, the company launched Kurkure
Xtreme, a limited edition variant in two flavors—Risky Chilli and Electric Nimbu (lime). This was perhaps
a move to outdo competition from ITC’s snack brand Bingo, which was launched in March 2007, in
Indianized flavors like Tandoori Paneer Tikka (spiced cottage cheese) and Chatkila Nimbu Achaar
(tangy lime pickle).

Bingo’s success in the market is backed by ITC’s strong distribution network, which allows it to stock its
products in shops that previously did not sell snack food. Additionally, ITC Foods provides shopkeepers
with plastic molded shelves that allow local vendors a convenient way to stock their product, and the
company benefits by increased visibility for its brand. Taking a cue from its competition, Frito Lay India
is focusing on unconventional retail points like cyber cafes and telephone booths, in order to increase
brand visibility and product reach.

According to Warrier, “Bingo’s success has mirrored [Kurkure’s] strategy of developing locally relevant
flavor.” Despite the competition, Warrier feels that the launch of Bingo has only helped grow the snack
food category as a whole. She is confident that Kurkure’s product appeal, developed over the years, will
allow the brand to continue to dominate the category.

Since snacking is mostly a hunger-driven impulse decision, staying fresh in the consumer mind is very
important. To maintain top of the mind recall among its customers the brand has undertaken several
unique communication initiatives. The most recent, for example, is called "Chala Change ka Chakkar,"
which is an umbrella campaign for Frito Lay India’s entire product portfolio (Lay’s, Kurkure, Cheetos,
Uncle Chipps, and Lehar). This promotion will allow chosen consumers to live a day in the life of an
Indian Bollywood celebrity (who are the brand endorsers) like Juhi Chawla or Saif Ali Khan. The idea is
to generate excitement around the brand and have it stand out in the clutter of existing brands.

The brand has undertaken similar promotions in the past. For instance, in 2004 it launched the "Kahani
 mein Kurkure" ("Crispiness in the Story") campaign, which was a take on Indian popular culture. The
advertising campaign spoofed popular Indian TV shows like Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin (Indian adaptation of
American sitcom "Ugly Betty") to appeal to Indian housewives, the largest target audience to watch
these programs.

In addition to targeting housewives, who play a significant role in making purchase decisions, the brand
appeals to the Indian family as a whole. The "Kurkure Chai Time Achiever’s Award" was a contest
launched by the brand where families were invited to submit interesting recipes made with Kurkure. The
winning family would have the opportunity to be famous and have their photograph featured on one
million Kurkure packs.

This direct marketing campaign was supported through television advertising, where Indian celebrity
Juhi Chawla, Kurkure’s brand ambassador, announced the winners of the competition. The contest was
also publicized through the website http://kurkure.co.in, specifically designed to promote the contest.
Using the website as a strategic tool for promotion helped the brand appeal to a young audience that
spends a considerable amount of time surfing the web.

Another novel branding initiative was a tie-up with South Western Railways in India to have trains called
the "Kurkure Express." These were special trains that operated only during the holiday season. The
brand was featured on reservation charts, coach indication slips, and during any announcements about
the train. This outdoor media was a unique way to target families who travel by train during the holidays.

Apart from traditional "unbranded" snack brands, Indian consumers today have a variety of "branded"
savories to choose from. While Frito Lay, with a market share of 45 percent (US $550 million),
dominates the branded snacks market with its Kurkure and Lays brand, there are a host of other
players. Haldirams, for example, and newer entrants like Amul’s Munch Time and ITC’s Bingo, are
scrambling for a share of the snack pie. In this overcrowded market, if Kurkure continues to tickle
consumer taste buds with new innovations, there’s no reason for consumers to stop munching.

Kurkure is one of the premier brands in the light snack industry in India. It is manufactured by the Frito Lay's Indian division
and is marketed by Hirani Industries Corporation. Kurkure is named after the Hindi word 'crunchy' and is one of the popular
food products in India. The product comes in 4 flavors to suit the tastes and styles of the consumers.

Kurkure has also devised wonderful advertisement and marketing strategies to increase their reach to their target market. In
order to increase their sales revenue, the brand has devised upon various advertising strategies. They have roped in various
popular super stars to endorse their products. Endorsements by Bollywood Stars have been successful for a lot of brands
and in this case too, it has helped increase the revenue of Kurkure. The latest endorsement of Kurkure is the leading
actress, Juhi Chawla. The product is using the actress as their brand ambassador.
The advertisement of Kurkure is based on funny sequences. Juhi Chawla has been endorsing the brand for a year.
The advertisement of the product comes up with plots of popular serials and films like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi bahu thi,
Jassi Jaisi koi Nahin and Mughal-e-Azam. The smart and funny tagline "masti bole to Kurkure" also adds color to the
advertisement. The chirpy and charming personality of Juhi Chawla goes well with the name and taste of the brand.

In addition to the charming advertisements, the taste of Kurkure has also led to its popularity. The snacks come in 4 flavors
namely:

 Green Chutney Rajasthani Style

 Masala Munch
 Red Chilli Chatka
 Tamatar Hydrabadi

A special flavor named Jaljhalo Hit was launched during Durga Puja in the year 2007.

The market of Kurkure has increased to a great extent. The brand contributes around 40 % of the total revenue of Frito Lay
India. Due to the immense popularity of the brand, the company has decided to introduce Kurkure overseas. The product
has been introduced in United Kingdom, South Africa, Middle East and Australia. The product is available in small, middle
and bumper packs.

The endorsement by Juhi Chawla has really led to the popularity of the brand. It has made the brand more exciting and
tempting. In addition to this, special offers are made to the consumers All these make Kurkure give the competitors a run for
their money.

http://jyothsnay.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/kurkure-tedha-hai-par-mera-hai/

woh upar wala link acha hai sab videos hai aur explanation hai pls dekhna

my brother has said dat search question abt y did dey choose juhi chawla..for advertising woh ek
strategy used ki hai attract karne ko…

do a questionare and search wat is d brand value for kurkure…

advertising strategy

Kurkure: Strategy used

Kurkure has tied up with the South Western Railways to have a branded train, under which a brand name
would feature along with the train's name in all announcements, on reserved tickets, on reservation
charts, on destination boards of the train, coach indication slips and during all information dissemination
about the train.
Its another strategy is to get more personal with the customers by launching “chai time contest” which
makes real people famous.
It is chiefly focusing on round pricing strategy, with introduction of more new variants

Frito Lay has upped its ante in the Rs.1800-crore branded snacks market. Kurkure has
always been a visible brand in India and they have increased the noise levels with their
‘Chala change ka chakkar‘ consumer promotion. In this promotion, an individual could
swap places with the celebrity brand ambassadors of the company for one day. This is a ‘big’
consumer promotion idea which has the potential to capture the consumer imagination.
Because its ‘different’ and plays up the voyeur in all of us, this has potential to become a
success. I mean, who wouldn’t want to live the life of a Saif Ali Khan? How your wife reacts
to ‘Kareena’ tattooed on your arm is another story.
Is this a reaction to the success of ITC’s Bingo? ITC’s Bingo was one of the most successful
marketing launches of last year. With a 16% share in Year 1 and a marketing mix that was
the envy of the industry it was one of the most celebrated efforts of last year. Business
Standard’s Brand Derby voted it as the No.1 launch of last year.
The jury is still out about the effectiveness of the campaign. But as practitioners of
consumer promotions, I think there a few lessons here:

Look for the big idea: instead of the through-the-year sales promotions, it is perhaps
wiser to launch a big consumer promotion selectively. Several FMCG brands give away free
stuff in some form of the other – extra, price off, a small freebie. They are usually carried on
year after year since the numbers went up last year. There could be some truth in that. A
freebie with utility value, say a pen, maybe a strong hook. But the consumer has seen more
exciting stuff. Yes, a low-cost promotion is sometimes the only option. But we can still make
it exciting for the consumer. It’s time to revisit these ‘truths’.
Treat it like a theme commercial: many of the promo films suffer from the ‘shout from
the rooftop, announce the offer’ syndrome. The usual reason: ‘let’s not be subtle, yaar! The
consumer won’t get it!‘ Assuming that the consumer’s IQ is equal to the Neanderthal man is
a huge mistake. Apart from the Kurkure effort, the recent promotion by Maruti Estilo to
promote the test drive is a good example of what I am talking about.
Integrate the offer into the creative: whether its a free toy or 100g extra, making it
part of the story makes it interesting.
And oh, about the Kurkure spots: another interesting thing about the commercials was the
choice of the profession of the common man. Dhoni playing the ‘bhai‘ was cute. What next?
Juhi swapping roles with a kaamwali bai?

Abstract:

In the political scenario, the 2009 Lok sabha elections witnessed the power of the aam
aadmi where they deliberately swept the bargainers by giving the congress party a win by
wide margins. They made it clear that they always are the king makers in all the scenarios
and not only in the world of business.

Packaging and labeling have been recognized in both applied and academic marketing
literature as key tools to gain competitive advantage. The global packaging market has
been estimated at US$500 billion (Rundh 2005). Likewise customer engagement has
become a mainstream marketing communications tool worldwide.
The article deals with the emergence of a new BTL strategy that has recently gained
momentum. Considering the current trend for gaining the competitive edge, it would be
advantageous for organizations to establish a personalized relationship through the 'Aam
Aadmi Packaging' affecting consumer behavior & consumer attitudes.

Co-Creation strategy:

Co-creation is the practice of product or service development that is collaboratively

executed by developers and stakeholders together. Among those who have helped
popularize the term are scholars like C K Prahalad& Venkat Ramaswamy, who argue in their
book The Future of Competition that value is increasingly being co-created by the firm and
the customer, rather than being created entirely inside the firm.

Importance of Packaging:

Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or protecting products for
distribution, storage, sale, and use. Packaging also refers to the process of design,
evaluation, and production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated
system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale, and end use.
Packaging contains, protects, preserves, transports, informs, and sells. It is fully integrated
into government, business, institutional, industry, and personal use.

Packaging has always been the important aspect of marketing. We all know that the product
is a silent marketer for itself. It attracts attention of million of customers, just by silently
sitting on the shelf. The color , size, shape of the product has always fascinated the
marketers and they have always tried to make it as lucrative as possible. Packaging is a
very important marketing strategy to glamorize your product in order to attract the
consumer's attention. Sometimes packaging is so important that it cost more than the
product itself in order to lure the consumers to buy it.

Most consumers judge a product by its packaging before buying. So it is logical to say
attractive packaging is crucial in order to get the first time buyers to buy your products.
Without attractive packaging, who would buy it in order to try it? Your first step to enter the
market is crushed if the packaging is ugly

Printing the Aam Aadmi on the packs:

In today's scenario, where the advertisement world is controlled by the celebrities, the
celebrities endorsed packaging has been the critical factor. Let it be Katrina kaif for Dyna,
Mahinder singh Dhoni for Ruffles Lays, Juhi chawla for Kurkure….the celebrities have always
been the promotional kit for the companies. Their pictures on the packs not only increase
the attractiveness but also tempts the consumers to purchase it.

But now with the media becoming fragmented, engaging the consumer has become
difficult. For the "Effective Consumer Engagement", the model for media should be about
people, connections and network. It is all about marketing and communicating with the
billions of consumers. Marketers do understand that the endorsements have their own
benefits, but at any span of time the testimonials are always better.

When the marketing mix was extended and the 6th P, i.e. People were added for the
services, it was thought that it will restrict itself in the arena of the service sector but the
most powerful P of all the marketing mix soon showed that they will be the core focal point
of all the sectors.

The engagement modes or the co-creation strategy vary from Milkmaid inviting housewives
in the 1980s to develop and write recipes (which either got published in ads in magazines or
on the pack) thus giving housewives an opportunity to express their creative talent.

The"Kurkure Chai Time Achievers" campaign: This was the first of its kind campaign in
India, launched in May 2007 aiming at promoting versatile usage of Kurkure. Powered by
an exciting commercial showcasing crazy consumers trying to grab the 'Kurkure frame' -
their ticket to famedom, this campaign truly gives consumers a taste of Kurkure in the most
innovative way!! Leading to replacement of Juhi on the Kurkure packs with pictures of their
own and their near and dear ones, it gave the consumers chance to become celebrity
overnight by printing their photographs and recipes on a million Kurkure packs. The
company claims to have received an overwhelming response, with over 100,000 recipes
pouring in, within just 6 weeks. For a brand holding out the reward of instant fame to its
consumers, Kurkure has indeed delivered on its promise. Volumes shot by 20% in just one
month. Sales have increased by 19% over last year.

Following the same path, Nestle has come out with their new campaign will be called 'Me &
Meri Maggi' and the company plans a 360 degree activation across television, print and the
internet, beside on-ground activities. Shivani Hegde, general manager, food business,
Nestle India said that the campaign is an opportunity for the company to celebrate the
'Maggi' journey launched 25 years ago. Nestle is a pioneer in convenience food.

Nestle has also launched an interactive website for consumers, www.meandmeri.in. which
invites viewer participation. The website invites entries in various categories and if a
consumer has an interesting story to tell about Maggi (which the company finds good
enough), his picture will be used on the packaging, TV or print.

Co-creation is nowadays becoming more evident in marketing, where companies such as

Lego have successfully engaged many of their adult customers in designing new products,
or Converse, which persuaded large numbers of its most passionate customers to create
their own video advertisements for the product. Package design is as much a sign of the
times as it is functional. It may seem to be little more than a protective container, but as
the external manifestation of a brand, its role is much more pivotal.

According to Geoffrey Hollows, a consultant at Heawood Research, there are two aspects to
packaging: "First, there is the physical function. Second, there is the psychological function
and that is the one you have got to get right."

Conclusion:

With rising ad skepticism and slowing sales, companies are trying innovative ways to keep
consumers on their side. To reap the maximum benefits of the testimonials, the marketers
have come out with an interesting strategy called as the 'Consumer endorsed packaging'
where in they put on the photographs of the consumers on the packs, making them famous
with in a moment.

The printing of the consumers on the packs have gained a lot of interest of many marketers.
These all strategies show that the marketers have now stopped being the slaves of
analytical tools and there is the presence of the touch and feel factors in marketing.
Marketers have made the aam aadmi more emotionally involved and engaged in their
brands. But an interesting research is yet to be conducted that whether these strategies
lead to the Brand loyalty or is just a new way of creating a visual testimonial impression ?

Kurkure is one of the premier brands in the light snack industry in India. It is manufactured by the Frito
Lay's Indian division and is marketed by Hirani Industries Corporation. Kurkure is named after the Hindi
word 'crunchy' and is one of the popular food products in India. The product comes in 4 flavors to suit
the tastes and styles of the consumers. Kurkure has also devised wonderful advertisement and
marketing strategies to increase their reach to their target market. In order to increase their sales
revenue, the brand has devised upon various advertising strategies. They have roped in various popular
super stars to endorse their products. Endorsements by Bollywood Stars have been successful for a lot
of brands and in this case too, it has helped increase the revenue of Kurkure. The latest endorsement
of Kurkure is the leading actress, Juhi Chawla. The product is using the actress as their brand
ambassador. The advertisement of Kurkure is based on funny sequences. Juhi Chawla has been
endorsing the brand for a year.
The advertisement of the product comes up with plots of popular serials and films like Kyunki Saas Bhi
Kabhi bahu thi, Jassi Jaisi koi Nahin and Mughal-e-Azam. The smart and funny tagline "masti bole to
Kurkure" also adds color to the advertisement. The chirpy and charming personality of Juhi Chawla goes
well with the name and taste of the brand. In addition to the charming advertisements, the taste of
Kurkure has also led to its popularity. The snacks come in 4 flavors namely:
Green Chutney Rajasthani Style
Masala Munch
Red Chilli Chatka
Tamatar Hydrabadi A special flavor named Jaljhalo Hit was launched during Durga Puja in the year
2007. The market of Kurkure has increased to a great extent. The brand contributes around 40 % of the
total revenue of Frito Lay India. Due to the immense popularity of the brand, the company has decided
to introduce Kurkure overseas. The product has been introduced in United Kingdom, South Africa,
Middle East and Australia. The product is available in small, middle and bumper packs. The
endorsement by Juhi Chawla has really led to the popularity of the brand. It has made the brand more
exciting and tempting. In addition to this, special offers are made to the consumers All these make
Kurkure give the competitors a run for their money.