Parle Products was established as a confectionery maker in the Vile Parle suburb of Mumbai, in 1929. It began manufacturing biscuits in 1939. In 1947, when India became independent, the company launched an ad campaign, showcasing its Gluco brand of biscuits as an Indian alternative to British-branded biscuits.[2] Parle-G biscuits were earlier called 'Parle Gluco' Biscuits until the 1980s. The "G" in the name Parle-G originally stood for "Glucose", though a later brand slogan also stated "G means Genius".[3] In 2013, Parle- G became India's first domestic FMCG brand to cross the ₹ 5,000 crore mark in retail sales.

1. 1
CASE STUDY BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF PARLE – G
BISCUITS IN INDIA
VARUN KESAVAN, RESEARCH SCHOLAR, E – MAIL ID –
varunkesavan@yahoo.com
Parle-G is a brand of biscuits manufactured by Parle Products in India. According to
a Nielsen survey of 2011, it is the largest-selling brand of biscuits in the world.
HISTORY
Parle Products was established as a confectionery maker in the Vile Parle suburb
of Mumbai, in 1929. It began manufacturing biscuits in 1939. In 1947, when India
became independent, the company launched an ad campaign, showcasing its Gluco
brand of biscuits as an Indian alternative to British-branded biscuits.[2]
Parle-G biscuits were earlier called 'Parle Gluco' Biscuits until the 1980s. The "G" in the
name Parle-G originally stood for "Glucose", though a later brand slogan also stated "G
means Genius".[3]
In 2013, Parle- G became India's first domestic FMCG brand to cross
the ₹ 5,000 crore mark in retail sales.

2. 2
POPULARITY
Primarily eaten as a tea-time snack, Parle-G is one of the oldest brand names in India.
For decades, the product was instantly recognized by its iconic white and yellow wax
paper wrapper. The wrapper features a young girl (an illustration by Everest creative
Maganlal Daiya back in the 1960s).[5]
Parle-G has recently become available in plastic wrapping. The modern packaging
retains its traditional design. The change in materials was promoted with advertisements
showing a Parle-G packet placed into a fish tank.
As of January 2013, Parle-G's strong distribution network covered over 6 million retail
stores in India.[6]
The Brand Trust Report ranked Parle-G as the 42nd most trusted brand
of India in 2014.[7]
The low price is another important factor in Parle-G's popularity. Outside India, it is sold
for 99 cents for a 418 gram pack as of 2012. A more common 80 gram "snack pack" is
sold for as low as 15 cents (5 INR) at Indian grocers, and 40 cents at major retailers. By
2016, smaller 56.4 gram packs were being sold as eight for one dollar at Indian grocers
in the United States.

3. 3
REASONS BEHIND THE SUCCESS OF PARLE – G BISCUITS
Parle-G was first manufactured in the year 1929 on a very small scale in Mumbai but
was quickly accepted by biscuit lovers. Due to its initial success and sensing a huge
growth opportunity, Parle launched an ad campaign, in the year 1947 (soon after
India’s independence) to compete with foreign brands and promote Indian biscuits.
The ad campaign ignited the patriotic sentiments of Indian consumers as it turned
out to be a masterstroke and took the brand to new heights. Parle-G became an
instant hit and was embraced by the Indian masses who perceived it to be a ‘Desi’
brand (just like Baba Ramdev’s Patanjali is seen today).
Due to the imitable nature of the product, other companies started replicating Parle-
G’s strategy. However, Parle-G tackled the competition very professionally. They re-
positioned their product from an ‘energy biscuit brand’ to a ‘tasty, healthy food for all’
brand. And this is how Parle Gluco became Parle-G (G maane Genius).
Price
Parle G is priced at ₹ 5 and is considered to be one of the most affordable biscuits.
With its low pricing strategy, the brand has ensured that it is available to the
population present even in the remotest of locations. Even though inflation in India
has seen an increase almost every year, in the last decade, Parle-G, with its
constant innovation ensures that its prices are not raised beyond a certain level. For
such a low price, the perceived value for the customers is high, resulting in more
sales.

4. 4
Product
Though the low price is one of the factors for high acceptability of Parle-G by the
masses, however, there is another big factor due to which Parle-G is such a huge
success i.e. good taste and quality of biscuits. The taste of the biscuits is so generic
that it is liked by people of all ages. The fact of its high acceptability is evident from
the fact that Parle-G is used as ‘a verb’ every time somebody wants to consume a
biscuit at a tea stall (‘Bhaiya, ek Parle-G de do). The biscuit brand is tasty, and a
treat for the consumers.
Packaging
Parle-G biscuits come wrapped in red and yellow wax paper with the image of a
small girl on the pack. The image on the packet is used to build a brand association
and connect with people. All these years, Parle-G hasn’t experimented much with its
packaging and kept it very simple and rustic. This eventually helped the brand to
differentiate itself from the competitors and led to a high recall value among the
customers.
Branding
Parle G is branding itself as – ‘Bharat ka Apna Biscuit’. (India’s biscuit.) With its
effective TV and print ads, the brand has been creating memories since 1939. It has
been very effective with its advertising campaigns and ensures that it targets all the
segments: be it kids, the youth or the elderly. One such campaign which targeted
kids and became a huge success was Parle-G’s – ‘G maane Genius’ campaign.
Soon after the campaign, the biscuit brand saw a huge increase in its sales and
further strengthened its dominance in the market.