The real brand ambassadors of our products are our consumers and retailers: Vinay Subramanyam, Britannia Industries

• Britannia Milk Bikis has been relaunched as Milk Bikis 100% Atta biscuit in some key markets across the country to make the product more healthy.
• The brand has roped in actor Pankaj Tripathi as its face.
• Vinay Subramanyam, VP Marketing, Britannia Industries tells us the thought behind the relaunch, why Tripathi was a perfect fit for the product and the brand's media mix for the new campaign.

For years, Britannia’s Milk Bikis has dominated the milk biscuit segment in India. One of the oldest brands from the Britannia portfolio, the product, aimed at children, has been able to stand the test of time. Yesterday, Britannia announced a re-launch of this widely popular product with an atta variant, to make the offering healthier and to appeal to both children and their mothers; to the children because Britannia says it has worked hard to make the product tasty, and to mothers because it takes care of the nutritional values that they hope to give to their children.

Britannia recently undertook a nation-wide study amongst mothers of children aged between 4-12, in the latter half of 2020 in collaboration with Momspresso. The data revealed that 79% of Indian Moms feel the wholesomeness of traditional Foods like Parantha, Daliya and Doodh Roti is what they would most want included in their kids’ diets. As a response to these findings, the brand launched the Britannia Milk Bikis 100% Atta product.

The brand claims that one pack of the new atta biscuit offers the energy equal to the energy provided by 1 glass of milk and 1 roti.

“The thought behind this launch is the fact that a lot of traditional food we used to have as children, are no longer being consumed by today’s kids. They do have regular home-cooked foods but things like doodh roti or daliya. Therefore, we think it's really important to uphold the goodness of the traditions that people grew up with and yet add a modern twist so that children like it too. There aren’t too many biscuits in the market that are made of 100% atta and that’s why we wanted to bring up a healthy alternative to them,” said Vinay Subramanyam, VP Marketing, Britannia Industries.

Milk Bikis accounts for close to 50% of the milk biscuits segment, however Subramanyam said that they don’t really track its growth just from that segment because they believe the product can take a share out of other biscuit categories too. On what he thinks are the factors that ensure the brand has been able to stand the test of time, Subramanyam said, “There are a few things that have contributed to this love for the brand. Firstly, you have to give consumers the same quality every time and make sure they know that their favorite biscuit is still exactly the same. It also has to do with a consistency in your messaging. It's a combination of these things that have helped us stay relevant over the years.”

The brand has come up with a launch campaign and has roped in actor Pankaj Tripathi. “We thought Pankaj Tripathi was perfect for this communication because he is one of the most credible faces in the industry today. Our brand respects the goodness of traditions and yet wants to do something which is adaptable and progressive in today's context. Pankaj Tripathi embodies that spirit truly as he is very close to his roots and comes across as really genuine. He is extremely progressive. He doesn’t really come across as a brand ambassador but as the friendly neighbor who you look up to, so we thought he was the perfect fit for us,” explained Subramanyam.

While we thought the TVC was a direct dig at other glucose biscuits and especially Parle-G, Subramanyam denied it.


He also believes that the consumers and retailers who continue to show their love for the brand and put their trust in it are equally important brand ambassadors. “Our real brand ambassadors are our consumers and retailers. When a shopkeeper recommends our product to consumers, that kind of real word-of-mouth goes a long way,” explained Subramanyam. As a part of the campaign, the brand will also put up boards with not just the picture of the product and Tripathi but also the faces of the dealers too, who Subramanyam said were also its brand ambassadors.

Along with the TVC created by Lowe Lintas, Bangalore, the brand will also focus on a lot of on-ground activations. “TV is going to be an important part of the mix. It's a mass campaign and therefore we will take it everywhere, to small towns, cities and villages. Apart from TV, we will also have on-ground activities which will include a lot of dealer boards, hoardings, wall paintings etc. This is not a one-time media plan, it will be a continuous process. We don't want to simply launch this product and disappear. This is who we are now and we want to keep engaging with our consumers,” concluded Subramanyam.