Parle-G ropes in Ruskin Bond for micro-site

The celebrated children's author and Sahitya Akademi Award winner will be blogging twice a month for ThefutureGenius.com

Sohini Sen | Mumbai | July 23, 2013

Parle, India's largest biscuit, confectionery and snacks manufacturer, has extended the digital campaign for its flagship brand Parle G. The popular micro-site – ThefutureGenius.com – will now have blog posts by one of India's most loved children's authors, Ruskin Bond.

The campaign which differs from the usual brand building steps taken by confectionery brands involves Ruskin Bond, author of over 500 short stories and over 30 books for children, contributing two articles each month. These will mainly be in the format of letters to children, tales about life in the mountains, adventure, nature or simply the beauty of life. Bond's first blog appeared on the micro-site on July 08, 2013.

The micro-site has also roped in a celebrity mother and a child to blog on issues related to parenting and upbringing of children.

The campaign is the next step in making the micro-site popular not just among children but adults as well. The edutainment site was well received in the initial phase itself with 436 uploads from users, including videos, pictures and documents. The campaign recently won the Digital Crest award for the TheFutureGenius.com as best Community/Website Blog, and it has helped the site increase its hits to 1.47 lakh.

"The micro-site is a platform for children and parents to come together, converse and maybe, appreciate each other's concerns. Parle G has been about encouraging kids to learn and experiment on their own. We wanted to invite Ruskin Bond because we knew kids would understand and get excited about his blogs while parents would feel nostalgic. Therefore, it would be a very relatable part for both the parties involved. We hope to promote it on TV, print as well as online, with special promotional activities around each property in the online medium," said Mayank Shah, Group Product Manager, Parle Products.

TheFutureGenius.com already has a section called Genius Gyaan which includes advice from experts for parents to recognise and discover the genius in their child. The product which made popular the line 'G- maane Genius' (G means Genius, portraying how Parle G is the preferred choice for Genius children all over), launched 'Aao Banaye kal ke Genius' which is now being leveraged heavily on the digital medium. The activity was kick-started by releasing teaser videos across YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and was followed by unveiling of the TVC online. Along with this, the company had also conducted a Twitter contest to promote their three teaser videos and to engage the audience.

Ruskin Bond, also the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Shri for his contributions to children's literature, said, "To children I would like to say develop interests beyond academics. While information technology may give you information, knowledge is a far deeper thing that is needed to understand the world around us.”

Sohini.Sen@BestMediaInfo.com

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