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Britannia in hunt for 'Snexy'

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Sarmistha Neogy Mumbai

As the race to grab attention in a crowded marketplace is getting fiercer by the day, companies are going off the beaten track with a vengeance. The latest to come up with a unique idea is Britannia, which has launched a “hunt for the true Snexy.” Dubbed India’s first “reality snack show” the teaser digital campaign has seen Britannia setting up a house called ‘Snexville’ whose residents are humanised avatars of snacks. The purpose is simple: to grab eyeballs via a digital teaser campaign for its new snack- Nutri Choice Multigrain Thins.

The campaign is a platform where seven snacks samosa, panipuri, popcorn, burger, chips, tedhimedhi and namkeen are coveting the title of India’s favourite snack or the true ‘Snexy’ by begging for votes from the visitors.

 

Anuradha Narasimhan, category director, health and wellness, Britannia, says, “Health as a subject is usually regarded as boring and related to old people, we wanted to bridge this gap by targeting people of 25 years and above”. Narasimhan says the company wanted to create a platform where snacks lovers can come and participate in various activities revolving only around snacks. It has managed to get in over 50,000 people to engage on the various platforms- which includes Face book, other social networking sites and also directly from www.snexy.in. So far, over 100,000 minutes have been spent on The Hunt for the True Snexy, and will reach over three times this number by the time the campaign is over. There are daily contests which offer two top entries a chance to win Snexy merchandise. The seven snacks have been personified with each having a Facebook page of their own.

Sandip Maiti, chief executive officer, Experience Commerce, the agency behind the conceptualisation of the campaign says, “Since Nutri Choice Multigrain Thins is a healthy snack, we decided to play on with our irresistible love for all the unhealthy snacks. Thus we had two options, either to put picture of popular snacks or to characterize it. Finally we thought of creating humanized avatars of the snacks to catch the attention of the readers”. “If you go to our site http://website-www.snexy.in_/, you will find Panipuri leading the chart with around 2,021 supporters, followed by samosa and chips. Our attempt is to show that you might have voted for your favourite snacks, but it didn’t emerge as the winner as they are unhealthy”, says Narasimhan.

Nutri Choice Multigrain Thins is a baked snack which is being launched in three flavours — Classic Indian Spice, Herb and Tomato, and Lime and Mint. A 25 gm packet will be available at Rs 10 and Rs 30 for a smart carton pack.

Analysts have given a mixed response to the brand's new teaser campaign. Harish Bijoor, brand expert feels that the digital campaign has the right amount of zing and has been able to connect well with the people. Reality show in snacks in quite an innovative concept and it manages to arouse the curiosity among the people and has helped in repositioning of the snack.

However, Lubna Khan, AVP and strategic planning director, JWT, says “the plus points of this campaign have been good visibility and navigation. However, it has failed to create a buzz and there is lack of excitement in this campaign. There is no motivation — why should I vote for the snacks? Just for winning a few types of merchandise, people won’t be interested to participate. As a snack brand, it has failed to convey the sheer taste factor of the product and also incorporate snacks into people’s life”.

Mohsin Khan, co-founder of a Mumbai based social media firm, Social Media 18, says” Any digital campaign attracts the attention of the user, if it has the right mixture of content, application and games. Britannia Snexy campaign will only help in short-term engagement The site takes time to load and there are unnecessary pop ups which divert the attention of the users”.

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First Published: Dec 09 2011 | 12:33 AM IST

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