Britannia trips on nostalgia as it kicks off cricket World Cup campaign

The biscuits and dairy company flaunts its association with cricket, turns the spotlight on the 100-year-old mother brand

With the World Cup less than a month away, Brand Britannia is unpacking its campaign kit. It is reviving a 20-year-old advertising campaign, Britannia khao World Cup jao (Bite into Britannia for a trip to the World Cup), hoping to drive home the brand’s longstanding association with the game and use the occasion to position itself as a ‘global total foods company’. 

The company is spending around Rs 80 crore for what it calls one of its biggest campaigns ever for its mother brand. “We are bringing it (Brand Britannia) to the consumer in a new avatar, in a fresh, simple way. Our association with cricket is very old and strong. We want to reignite that,” said Ali Harris Shere, VP-Marketing, Britannia Industries.

The company is also part of the ongoing cricket carnival under the Indian Premier League. Unlike the past where it supported individual teams, this year the campaign is being launched with broadcaster Star Sports, thereby giving the brand a wider canvas on the platform. 

By framing the brand narrative around cricket in a busy year with several high eye-ball events, Britannia is looking to meet two big objectives. One is to reaffirm the brand’s association with cricket and draw a nostalgic arc with the World Cup through a campaign that references the past. Second, refresh the core brand. 

Given that the Britannia label has adorned the bats of several eminent cricketers including Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, V V S Lakshman and Virender Sehwag among others, the company expects the campaign to reinforce an existing association. Besides, the 1999 campaign notched up big wins for Britannia and the company hopes to derive similar dividends this time around too. 

The company is bringing back a 20-year-old campaign for the upcoming cricket World Cup, looks to reaffirm its association with the game

The contest has been planned such that “You can go to the World Cup with a Rs 5 purchase also,” said Shere. The campaign will be held through April to June and will cover all aspects of the brand. By tying up with ICC for the World Cup, Britannia is looking to take the brand to a global platform. It is activating the campaign in countries like Nepal, Middle East and others during the tournament.

By associating with a high profile event, Britannia is looking for high visibility and hoping to build the connections between the core brand and the multiple labels it holds today.

Britannia’s core business continues to be the biscuits portfolio which contributes to around 70 per cent of its turnover. In recent times, the company has strengthened its cakes, rusk and breads, dairy products too and it has now been extended to include croissants, cream wafers and salty snacks.

As the portfolio expands and adds new labels, it was important to draw consumer attention to the core brand and Shere said, “We wanted to be a total and global food company. It was important for us to bring the corporate brand to the fore.” 

The campaign will play out on TV and digital and the strategy is to use TV for the masses and digital for niche, targeted launches and promotions. While digital spends have gone up, they still remain at about 9-10 per cent of total spends, the management said in the recent investor call. For its on-ground activations, the company is collaborating with modern trade partners and has a tie up with Big Basket.