What’s new? A question that drives Hocco’s marketing strategy

In the competitive ice cream market, where nostalgia and legacy branding are common, Hocco is taking a different route, one shaped as much by how it presents itself as by what it offers. Emerging from a 30-year presence in the food industry, the brand has introduced products such as the mango-shaped Amchi and the delivery-oriented O-Cone, while also positioning itself around a broader narrative: a “chilled out war on urgency” aimed at countering the culture of constant hustle.

Central to this strategy is the Hoccoverse, a fictional world inhabited by five mascot characters that act as brand touchpoints. This character-led model, paired with a focus on agile innovation, reflects an attempt to depart from traditional category codes and build engagement with younger consumers.

From scented newspaper inserts to products tailored for social media visibility, Hocco appears to be employing a marketing strategy that merges creative experimentation with a reading of current cultural cues. In this interview, Roli Shrivastava, Vice President – Marketing at HOCCO Industries, outlines the brand’s approach to innovation, media mix, and its broader aim of associating itself with the idea of a well-deserved pause.

Edited excerpts:

What is Hocco’s unique selling proposition, and how is it communicated through its marketing channels, including visual identity and tone of voice?

Our USP, at its heart, is innovation. It touches everything we do, from product and packaging to our communication. Our promoter often asks us a question in Gujarati, "navu su chhe?"—what's new?. As long as we have a compelling answer to that question for our customers, retailers, and distributors, we know we are on the right track.

This drive for innovation is why our Amchi ice cream became such a phenomenon. It was built to give joy to people, and we were honestly overwhelmed by the response. The brief to our team was simply to do something fun with the mango form, and the moment we saw it in our lab, we knew it was worth flaunting.

We communicate this USP by ensuring our marketing is as innovative as our products. For the Amchi launch, we ran a newspaper ad that was infused with a mango fragrance, making it

 impossible to miss. We created a hoarding that featured a massive mango tree. We even collaborated with a rap artist from Ahmedabad to create a unique song for the product.

What is Hocco’s marketing mix for building brand awareness across digital and traditional media?

Our marketing mix is a balanced blend of internet marketing and traditional marketing, much like our team, which is a beautiful mix of experienced veterans and young, trendy minds. I believe all channels have their importance. While digital marketing is excellent for building brand awareness and engagement, traditional marketing provides incredible reach and helps us cater to all our stakeholders. Many of our distributors and retailers belong to an older generation and feel a sense of pride and trust when they see an ad in print, which encourages them to stock Hocco.

Our innovative hoarding with the mango tree was a single installation, but the power of the internet allowed us to show it to millions. Beyond this, our marketing extends right to the retail store. We invest in innovative point-of-sale materials (POSM). For instance, in Delhi, a majority of our sales happen through pushcart vendors. So, instead of just posters, we had to develop specific retail solutions to brand those pushcarts effectively.

How are assets like the 'Hoccoverse' and mascot-based storytelling adapted across platforms? What kind of communication works on different channels?

The Hoccoverse and our mascots were born from our core brand narrative. We realised that our generation is caught in a hustle culture where being busy is seen as a virtue. Hocco’s purpose is to wage a "chilled out war on urgency". And when you're waging a war, you need superheroes. That’s how our mascots were born. The name HOCCO itself is an internal story, it stands for House of Chona's Collaborator, the founding family.

We consciously created a community of five mascots, Ace, Bud, Chiller, Dash, and Eezo, because Indian culture is about community; we thrive with friends and family. These mascots are our brand ambassadors.

To align with the superhero theme, our logo font was inspired by the shadowed, impactful fonts used in Superman and Spider-Man comics. The mascots help us humanise the brand and create a differentiated portion for our campaigns, the rap artist we worked with was so taken with them that he insisted on doing a separate shoot just with the mascots.

What stage is your brand currently at in its marketing journey, and how do you view the role of advertising within that? Are you allocating a significant portion of your budget towards advertising this year?

In any customer lifecycle, there are stages: awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty, and advocacy. I believe Hocco is currently at a stage where we are successfully building loyalty. We are seeing customers make repeat purchases because our innovations give them something new to look forward to.

Our marketing budgets are very agile, but we generally try to stay within 10% of our overall marketing spend. We believe that scarcity drives innovation. 

When you are a startup and money is a constraint, you can't just put up hundreds of hoardings. You have to do something innovative that stands out and breaks the clutter, even if it’s just five installations.

How has the company grown year-on-year?

We launched Hocco Ice Cream on October 15, 2023, starting in our home state of Gujarat. The timing was perfect, right during Navratri, which is like Gujarat's own Sunburn festival. 

In our first fiscal year, FY24, we achieved a revenue of ₹34 crores. For FY26, we are aiming high and targeting ₹500 crores. 

The demand is growing so fast that we are constantly reworking our projections; it’s a good problem to have when distributors are reaching out to you because they see the brand's momentum.

How does Hocco approach influencer marketing?

Our approach has been very organic. For Amchi, which went viral, I can honestly say we have not spent a single penny on traditional influencer marketing. Its success was driven by the product itself. However, we are very open to strategic and creative collaborations. For instance, we partnered with a rap artist from Ahmedabad who understood our vibe.

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He tried the product, loved it, and created a rap song with us. We believe in partnerships that are authentic and add a unique dimension to our campaigns rather than just paying for posts.

What creative and product strategies have been informed by consumer sharing potential, and how does this impact new product development for Gen Z and millennial audiences?

While you don't create products to go viral, you create them to be loved. If you get the core product right and elevate the customer's experience, people will naturally want to share it. Our strategy is to have 70-80% of our portfolio as "hygiene" products, the classic flavours you must have, while the other 20% is where we differentiate. This differentiation is driven by cultural and consumer insights.

For example, our BIX ice cream sandwich is made with a cake sponge instead of a biscuit because we realised that traditional ice cream sandwiches can be messy to eat.

The insight for Amchi came from the cultural tradition of gifting boxes of mangoes during summer. We designed the six-pack to look like a festive mango box to tap into this behaviour. Even our fonts and designs are inspired by comic books to match our superhero narrative, which creates a cool, cohesive look that customers notice.

How do you differentiate yourself from legacy brands in the category?

We have immense respect for the legacy brands, they’ve set high standards. However, we differentiate ourselves in two key ways. The first is agility. We are hustlers, and we work at a very fast pace to turn around innovations.

The second factor is the complete free hand our promoter has given us. This trust empowers us to be bold and bring innovations to market much faster. It also means we are resourceful. To create our inflatable tree hoarding, we found a local craftsman who was an expert. He might not have known how to read or write, but he knew exactly how to turn our vision into reality. You need to find the right, collaborative partners to turn these creative ideas around quickly.

Can you walk me through your price and positioning strategy?

Our pricing strategy is directly connected to our product portfolio strategy. For the 80% of our portfolio that consists of hygiene products, our pricing is very competitive to ensure we are accessible. We are committed to making even our classic vanilla the best vanilla possible. For the other 20%, our innovative products that offer added value, we use a tiered pricing strategy where people are happy to pay a premium for the enhanced experience.

What role do Hocco’s exclusive ice cream parlours play in its broader marketing and distribution plan?

Our exclusive parlours, or ‘creameries,’ are incredibly crucial. We have over 20 and are growing. They function as our experience centres where customers can get value-added offerings like sundaes or waffle sandwiches, which aren't available in general retail.

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Their purpose is to expand the five-minute ice cream break into a 30-minute experience, allowing people to spend more quality time with the brand. They are also invaluable as a direct channel for faster, close-loop customer feedback because customers are very vocal and we want to know what they think.

How has the rise of quick commerce influenced Hocco’s marketing tactics on platforms like Blinkit or Instamart?

Quick commerce (Q-com) is a very crucial channel for us, now contributing to about 20% of our sales. Its impact is massive. Firstly, it allows us to enter new markets at a much faster pace. Secondly, it’s a real-time trend barometer. Before Amchi went viral this year, our most talked-about product online was the O-Cone, and we saw this trend emerging first on Q-com platforms.

This has fundamentally influenced our product development. We now design products and packaging knowing they have to travel well, which is why the O-Cone has a protective blister pack.

As Hocco expands into new geographies, which specific markets are being prioritised, and how do marketing and branding strategies vary across these regions?

Currently, our ice cream business is focused on India. We started in Gujarat and have since expanded across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi NCR, and UP. We are now entering new markets like Goa, Punjab, Haryana, and Karnataka.

Our marketing strategy varies significantly by region. In Delhi, the market is heavily driven by pushcarts, so our focus there is on innovative pushcart branding. For any new market we enter, the most critical strategy is extensive taste-and-trials. We run ‘Hocco on Wheels’ vans with jingles playing on the streets to create a buzz.

We also conduct tastings near dealer stores because when a retailer sees customers enjoying the product, it gives them the confidence to stock us.

Hocco’s trajectory reflects a new approach to navigating legacy-dominated categories. Through a mix of customer-focused innovation and a distinctive brand identity, the company has positioned itself around turning everyday moments into engaging cultural touchpoints. Its use of agile strategies, from mascot-based messaging to hyperlocal campaigns, illustrates how brands are increasingly leaning on storytelling and emotional cues to build relevance and connect with consumers.