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This Thursday we reminisce the classic case of an unbreakable bond that the milk-ingrained biscuit built over a span of 40 plus years. Here’s to the Milk Bikis advertising journey serving as one of the biggest contributors for creating long-lasting memories.
“It’s a love story,” they said revisiting the days that made India fell in love with biscuits. From the very first homegrown Parle Gluco to the iconic bourbon to the new-age cookies, the biscuit category in the country raced ahead like no other and kept growing. Amidst the clutter came Milk Bikis from the house of Britannia. As simple as the brand, the Milk Bikis advertising journey followed a not-so unconventional but exquisite communication model.
Milk Bikis Makes Its Debut
Among the companies that lived and grew with India was the Britannia Biscuit Company ltd established in March 1918 in Kolkata. The company soon identified that Indians were more drawn towards the cookie and biscuit wave, touted to be influenced by the British culture, and initially produced sweet biscuits.
Britannia introduced Bourbon to the Indian market in 1955 and launched Milk Bikis enriched with the goodness of milk in 1978. The biscuits became an instant success in the South market with Tamil Nadu embracing it with open arms.
With a legacy spanning more than 100 years, Britannia is home to brands like Little Hearts, Bourbon, Tiger, Good Day, NutriChoice, Marie Gold, and Milk Bikis.
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Milk Bikis Advertising Journey
When Britannia launched Tiger glucose biscuits, it was a bit apprehensive about rolling out Milk Bikis in the same markets and target audiences as it seemed like an internal conflict and overlap. Soon, the company realized that Milk Bikis’ proposition was completely different and that it was about milk v/s glucose.
Enriched with the goodness of milk, Calcium, Iodine, and 4 vital vitamins – Milk Bikis claims to be the perfect nurturing partner in taste and fun, and the waffle-shaped design allowed consumers to scoop, bite, and dunk.
Even before the long-format ads became a rage for the internet generation, Britannia adopted a storytelling communication format for its TV commercials to promote Milk Bikis. This TV campaign from 1986 was conceptualized basis the treasure hunt and featured the special bond shared by siblings.
The packaging in the initial days had a white wrapper and the product name written on it boldly.
Yet another commercial of about 2 minutes long from the early 90s followed a similar pattern wherein a little boy and girl duo come across a house made of Milk Bikis biscuits complemented by a life-size milk bottle to enunciate that the biscuits are nothing but a rich source of milk protein.
Targeted at kids, the initial communication and advertising strategy of Milk Bikis focused on speaking the layman language and positioned the milk biscuits as the ultimate choice for its target audience.
Priced at INR 5, the company highlighted the affordability with quality factors involved in making Milk Bikis biscuits and pegged it as the nourisher that every child needs.
“Every mother today plays the dual role of being a nourisher and a fun friend. Britannia Milk Bikis dons the same dual role, like the mother,” claimed the brand throughout its 40 plus years of advertising journey and conveyed the same through its proposition.
The traditional advertisements carried a clear CTC that Britannia Milk Bikis are crunchy biscuits baked to perfection and that mothers need not worry about their daily breakfast duel with their little tots over milk.
Since the Tamil Nadu market witnessed a huge liking towards the biscuits, the sales were comparatively higher and most of the promotional inventory was directed towards the regional advertising portfolio of the brand.
Britannia Milk Bikis teamed up with Lowe Lintas Bengaluru to create product-specific campaigns and integrate the offerings and their features with festive occasions and launching the same in the southern market.
Launching the #MyMilkBikisMyStory campaign, the brand asked consumers to share their fond memories with the biscuit and reminisce the good old days.
Apart from the regular classic variant, the brand also introduced different flavors like Choco to lure in the kid community and retain the old consumers.
Also Read: Brand Saga: The advertising journey of the Biscuit with a Smile
The brand further went on to communicate that you don't have to worry about your kid's future as long as you focus on getting every day right with Britannia Milk Bikis.
When Britannia completed 100 years of its operations, the company launched a mega campaign for each for its product portfolio and kept the sibling–mother bond intact for Milk Bikis' centenary television campaign.
In September 2020, Britannia Milk Bikis joined hands with OPN Advertising to launch a campaign, celebrating the special bond and friendship it shares with Tamil Nadu, for over 40 years. The film depicted the everlasting nature of early childhood friendships which are all-embracing and comforting, one wherein you can be yourself… real friendships without filters.
Commenting about the campaign in a press release, Vinay Subramanyam, VP, Marketing, Britannia Industries said, “Childhood friendships, growing up in the magic era of the 80s and 90s, the innumerable moments of friendship, the fun times in school and home, the sharing of secrets and the shared rituals that symbolized the friendships that were cultivated.”
Through this campaign, the brand aimed at not only celebrating decades of love that the consumers have showered but also paying homage to that unbreakable bond of friendship that the brand share with them.
Cut to April 2021, the brand roped in prominent actor Pankaj Tripathi to launch 100% Atta Biscuit with the promise of “Doodh Roti ki Shakti”. With the Milk Bikis 100% Atta biscuit, Britannia Milk Bikis claims to provide the goodness of Doodh Roti which is one of the favorite ‘traditional Indian foods’ amongst mothers across the country.
Talking about the campaign and the brand proposition, Puneet Kapoor, Regional Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas remarked, “In a world of product parity, it’s a rare opportunity these days when we get a clear and real product advantage over the competition to harp about in communication. This was one such opportunity. This was a fun story to tell with a clear, tangible product advantage put forth in an entertaining way by the finest acting talent in the industry.”
Next up, in July 2021, riding high on nostalgia, Britannia rolled out a campaign that brought alive a series of stories depicting the joys of simple things and the memories associated with them such as listening to music through mixtapes, Sunday evenings spent on the Marina beach, catching a train from Chennai Central to name a few.
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The love and bond between Tamil Nadu and Britannia Milk Bikis have grown stronger over the last 4 decades and together created some beautiful memories. In a bid to cherish this bond, Britannia Milk Bikis unveiled its – An Ode to Simpler Times campaign celebrating the simple joys of good old days and took the consumers back to the by-lanes of childhood memories.
The initiative was a part of the relaunch of Milk Bikis Classic supported by the hashtag #BringBackMilkBikisClassic. ‘An ode to simpler times', read the headline in a front-page ad in The Hindu
Milk Bikis Digital Play
In its latest stint with digital advertising for the campaign #BringBackMilkBikisClassic that evoked countless remembrances with thousands of netizens talking about their experiences on Facebook and Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn respectively.
Tamil Nadu celebrities and influencers such as Makapa Anand, Rakshan, and Pugazh also joined this clarion call sharing their fond memories.
The brand also rolled out a voting contest on social media urging consumers to send in their #MyMilkBikisMemories and also featured a few that stood out on its Instagram page.
Milk Bikis has kept its social media presence minimal and is in the evolving stage. With contest alerts and betting big on ‘nostalgia’, the brand focuses on recreating the old charm and bring the times back apart from also extending festive wishes.
For the past four decades, Milk Bikis has been the constant snacking companion for children as they grow from kindergarteners to school goers. The brand claims to be the first currency of friendship, exchanged freely from lunch boxes, on the playing field, for missed class notes, for break time pranks. The Milk Bikis advertising journey has been no less than successful in communicating the brand’s nitty-gritty in a simpler yet exemplary manner.