Parle's latest campaign for Monaco eyes brand makeover

Parle Monaco has enlisted Aamir Khan as its brand ambassador. A new campaign created by Everest Brand Solutions for the biscuit brand features the Bollywood actor endorsing the salty biscuit snack in a three part TVC campaign aiming to rejuvenate the brand's image.
While two of the three commercials will be on air currently, the third will be introduced at a later stage. 

The ad opens on Aamir and his friends preparing to reach a cinema hall to catch a movie. As they are about to cross the road, they are stopped by a long election rally. A burly guy in a kurta stops them from going any further. As his friends get stressed, Aamir reassures them saying he will handle the situation. He then starts a make believe game with the help of his friends, pretending that they are carrying a large slab of thin glass. As they move forward, telling people to stay out of their way so that they are not hurt by the glass in their hand, onlookers clear the way for them. As they reach the other corner of the road, Aamir and his friends have a good laugh and reveal to onlookers that they played a prank on them. As they leave for the theatre, Aamir waves to the crowd.

Parle is a key player in the biscuit segment in India and their salty biscuit brand Monaco enjoys good brand equity in the market. But in the last few years, the company felt that Monaco's brand image was getting a tad jaded.  "We wanted to build on the fun positioning for Monaco as a brand that could add some spice in your life. Hence the tagline of 'Life namkeen banaiye,' which marks a return for Monaco to the tagline they originally used after toying with the tagline 'Anytime, Monaco time.'
The brand also went in for a change in their packaging a year ago, when they initiated the process of Monaco's revamp.

Vipin  Dhyani, creative director, Everest Brand Solutions says, "The brief that we got from the client was to build a fun connect with consumers without resorting to humour that came across as demeaning to anyone. The consumer insight that we worked on was that harmless pranks that help people inject some humour into their normal everyday life would help build on Monaco's 'salty' proposition by reinforcing its tagline of 'Life namkeen banaiye.'   

"The earlier tagline was more tactical.'Life namkeen banaiye' was a more strategic fit,"reveals Shalin Desai, senior brand manager, Parle. He adds, "Aamir was a natural choice for us as a brand ambassador. The credibility that Khan enjoys would help us in establishing a connect with consumers. We have been careful about using brand ambassadors for our various biscuit brands, in ensuring that the choice of celebrity has been more strategic than a force fit. Hrithik's association with Parle for Hide & Seek and Milano has therefore worked well for us and we expect Aamir's endorsement to help the brand immensely, too."

The campaign will primarily use television, outdoor and POS.