The packaging of Parle Agro’s snack brand Hippo has played an instrumental role in the brand’s success. The creative packaging done by Creativeland Asia has helped turn Hippo into a strong brand without any large scale outdoor or TV campaigns.
Detailing the reasons behind the brand’s success, Sajan Raj Kurup, Founder & Creative Chairman, Creativeland Asia, said, “At Creativeland, we have ingeniously developed our very own packaging and nomenclature design technique, which enables us to approach every assignment with utmost clarity and deliver in the market. Hippo is a great example of how we have seamlessly integrated and leveraged the marketing strategy, design and communication capabilities. Right from the name to its packaging design to the communication around it – all have been created under one roof.”
When asked about the strategy adopted by the firm for promoting Hippo, Kurup said, “The competition was loud, chaotic and cluttered. So, Hippo decided to be simple. The challenge for Creativeland Asia was unique as the design had to complement two things – the character and its tone. And, of course, it had to be clutter-breaking, especially when we consider the loud colour preferences in India. One of the references for the packaging was the Bangkok taxi. These taxis are simple and single-coloured, making them look so unique and easy to spot in the hustle and bustle traffic of Bangkok.”
Elaborating on how innovative packaging can help market a product better, he further added, “The packs had to look clean. Thus, simple yet attractive colours were carefully chosen. The unusual, black-coloured Hippo character upfront on the pack was another path-breaking step since black, till date, was uncommon in the food category. The colours and the character did wonders to the packaging. Colours made the pack distinctively attractive, while the ‘innocent’ Hippo character made the packaging adorable.”
Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director & CMO, Parle Agro Pvt Ltd, pleased with the response the brand has got, said, “It’s been nearly seven months since the brand was launched and by now we have a national footprint. The response has been very good following the launch and we have exceeded our expectations in these seven months. We also opened four factories since the production began. Moreover, we have spent a lot on product packaging as well.”
“We will soon come out with a TV campaign for Hippo. We have just launched a ‘chatpata’ variant to cater to Indian taste buds for which we carried out a lot of sampling activity and retail visibility,” she added.