Achyut Kasireddy sheds light on how the brand is using social media to drive consumers to sample the product, while creating affinity for their flavours which is a major USP of the brand in the cluttered biscuits market.
Malkist, Cheese, and Chocolate crackers are 7 layered crispy biscuits meant as a snacking substitute for snack-time hunger pangs. From the house of INBISCO India, owned by the subsidiary of Indonesian food and beverage conglomerate Mayora, the layered crackers recently brought Big-B as the brand face in India. The brand entered the Indian biscuit market with the intention of capturing a larger pie with a differentiated product says Achyut Kasireddy, MD - India & Indian subcontinent, INBISCO India.
The Big B Connect
Malkist attempts to differentiate itself through various flavors such as cheese cream and cappuccino in a mainly sugarless crackers dominated market. To promote the crackers with a wide range of options, the brand gave birth to the idea of the #MalkistCantResist campaign.
As the brand made efforts to cut through the clutter and reach out to people across ages, they roped in Big B for promotions and maximum visibility.
Kasireddy shares that apart from cutting across all age groups, Amitabh Bachchan also lends huge credibility to the brands that he endorses which works for Malkist, a brand known widely in the Indonesian market and aiming to create a similar footprint in India. The brand also Anikha Surendran a well-known face down south to optimize the pan India reach of the campaign.
For the media mix, the brand's majority of the spends go towards TV, followed by digital. At the initial stage of the product lifecycle, Malkist hopes to invest in media that can be tracked and can give adequate RoI while fulfilling the brand objectives. "We’re still experimenting with various platforms to understand what works best for us, explains Kasireddy.
Malkist Social Media Strategy
Keeping digital at the forefront, Malkist leverages Instagram and Facebook to communicate with its young audience in India.
Being relatively new in the Indian market, the 46-year-old Malkist presents a combination of blue, orange, red, and blue colors as part of its social media canvas. With bright hues in the social media post backdrops, the brand often leverages the channels with interactive activities centered around creating conversations around Malkist.
The social pages of the brand, redirect the consumers to its website to help the target audience complete its purchase journey. The recurring presence of its taglines and advocacy around their flavours and the basic structure of the product form the core brand objective from social media marketing.
Promoting the Flavors
Initially, Malkist was launched as a cheese and cream cracker and later diversified into various flavors such as Cappuccino, chocolate, and more. Gradually, the presence of Malkist Social Media increased with promotion posts of its flavors.
Malkists posts with puzzles and games for engagement are consistent. The brand often brings interactive games such as mathematical 'solve and win' quizzes and contests.
Word-plays and Google word-definition theme posts are also a part of the strategy. These, again, are in tandem with the brand communication theme of scaccident.
As part of its social media game, Malkist uses YouTube Mastheads for mass reach and engagement.
To promote its association with Big B, Malkist Social media posts highlighted popular dialogues from the actor’s movies as a pre buzz to the larger brand campaign.
Malkist kickstarted its promotions with influencers and micro-influencer collaborations and testimonials about sweet savory cheese crackers and flavors.
For influencer associations, Kasireddy emphasizes, "While celebrity appeal remains to create brand recall and recognition, we will simultaneously leverage influencers to reach out to the uninitiated and help them overcome any barrier for the product trials."
Apart from Instagram and Facebook, the YouTube page for the brand also comprises several product reviews by customers and influencers, alike, to highlight Malkist crackers positioned as sugary and creamy delights.
Going Beyond
Further, with the pandemic and changing paradigms, one of the most important trends for Malkist in India is FMCG consumer’s inclination towards e-commerce. "The e-com grocery segment has risen to unexpected levels post-covid and we are leveraging it by being available on platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and BigBasket. The second one would be the affinity towards convenience foods", says Kasireddy.
As the way forward, Kasireddy concludes, "We will continue to invest in traditional and digital media along with a focus on sampling." Since the product is very new, it is important for the brand to make consumers taste it, first.
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