How Hippo fought hunger and became ‘pyaari maa’ over twitter



Hippo’s motherly love over the internet.

India has witnessed a stiff rise in competition where the $150 Billion branded snack food market is concerned. This market is growing at an annual rate of 25%. Two years ago, Parle Agro, known for Frooti, Bisleri et al, decided to launch Hippo Chips, un nouveau marché (new market) for the company. The strategy was simple, Parle would look at unconventional marketing and customer service.

Customizing your strategies for a better market share.

Hippo’s customer service strategy was simple. Feed hungry people. How did they do it? Simple – Use the social media. Twitter it was! Parle Agro combined the use of the Social media integrated it with Inventory Management and equaled it to great customer service. Hippo requested all its followers on twitter to tweet locations and stores where Hippo chips weren’t available. Hippo’s next step was to take stock of its inventory and get it to the desired location and making sure that it keeps up to its tagline of – ‘Hippo fight hunger’.

The Response

Hippo’s unconventional marketing strategy brought about a revolution in the Indian market. Informality is the new ‘In’ thing. Through this strategy, hippo made people its inventory managers. People informed Parle Agro of the various stores the company had ‘missed’ stocking their favorite munchies. The response was quick and thus keeping the ‘hungry manager’ satisfied.

This was not all! Hippo Chips’ dedicated twitter handle (@hellomehippo) was an instant hit with the twitterati. Followers were retweeting Hippo says’ and his sayings. Hippo answered people’s queries and requests and made sure everyone was kept happy just as it had proposed to do so.

To those who still thought inventory management, customer service and social media could never be linked together, Hippo proved them wrong!

The Result

Hippo now commands great respect in the market and is now well known amongst the janta for a customer friendly chip brand.

 
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