The Hindu creates nostalgic, engaging campaign for iconic brand

By Lavanya Rangarajan

The Hindu Group

Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

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Britannia Milk Bikis, launched in 1978, is one of the iconic brands of Tamil Nadu. Consumers have grown up eating Britannia Milk Bikis and have a huge emotional connection with the brand.

Milk Bikis underwent a change in packaging and form in 2007, and Britannia had toyed with the idea of bringing the earlier Milk Bikis back.

Britannia had an indication of the demand for this during the pandemic, when the “40 years of Milk Bikis” TV commercial was unveiled. It pictured two childhood friends who always shared the last Milk Bikis in a pack equally. During the pandemic, people were craving their past even more. The “40 years” advertisement led to a tidal wave of people saying they wanted that old Milk Bikis back.

To determine interest in bringing back the popular Milk Bikis, The Hindu relied on images and themes from simpler times.
To determine interest in bringing back the popular Milk Bikis, The Hindu relied on images and themes from simpler times.

Britannia brought old Milk Bikis moulds back and kept them ready. However, before getting into production, they wanted to be sure and decided to launch a campaign. Hence started the discussions with The Hindu, an iconic brand with a legacy of 143 years and a deep understanding of the people, the ethos, and the culture of Tamil Nadu.

Leveraging nostalgia

The Hindu team leveraged the nostalgia platform and created an integrated voting campaign to maximise votes for the relaunch of the Britannia Milk Bikis Classic. We got over 1 million responses of people who wanted to bring Milk Bikis Classic back. This convinced Britannia to re-launch the brand.

The campaign’s objective was to drive conversations about the relaunch of the Milk Bikis classic pack in Tamil Nadu and deliver 500,000 votes over a period of seven days. To achieve that, we launched an integrated voting campaign to gauge how many people in Tamil Nadu wanted a relaunch of Milk Bikis Classic.

We wanted to take people on a trip down memory lane and bring alive the journey of Milk Bikis over the last 40 years by recreating simpler days. The focus was to bring back the markers of childhood for the ’80s and ’90s kids.

The campaign was launched with a retro full-page black-and-white ad.
The campaign was launched with a retro full-page black-and-white ad.

How we did it

In print, the campaign was launched with a visually arresting black-and-white front-page, full-page ad in The Hindu that transported the readers to an older, simpler era.

“An ode to simpler times,” read the headline; dipping deep into nostalgia, the copy talked about the simple joys of life for those who grew up in the Tamil Nadu in the ’80s and ’90s. Reminiscing about the good old days, the article, along with black-and-white images, mentioned the leitmotifs that were part and parcel of life in Tamil Nadu during that era.

The people react

The retro jacket in The Hindu caught the attention of the masses, and people started sharing it to register their vote. 

#BringBackMilkBikisClassic soon started trending on social. In social media, 35+ posts, stories, videos, and polls were created using the same pictures from print ads and other keywords mentioned in the print story. In digital, interactive voting banners were published on digital platforms.

Topical, mass-appeal influencers born in the ’80s and ’90s were roped in to drive voting. Influencers shared their childhood images and connect with Milk Bikis Classic, which led to a spike in voting.

The consumer response was overwhelming. We received more than 1 million votes in seven days, with consumers demanding the relaunch of Milk Bikis Classic. The campaign’s reach in print, social media, and digital was tremendous.

On August 8, 2021, Britannia announced the relaunch of the Milk Bikis Classic Pack. The campaign led to a massive increase in post-launch social media chatter for Britannia Milk Bikis as consumers profusely thanked Britannia for letting them have their favourite biscuit back.

About Lavanya Rangarajan

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