In an interview in the September-October 2010 issue of Aurora, Saadia Naveed, MD, English Biscuit Manufacturers (EBM) said, “Biscuits are [considered as] the most economical healthy food people can buy.”

Given this phenomenon it is not surprising that every leading biscuit manufacturer in Pakistan has a brand that falls into the sub-category of ‘energy biscuits’, which are said to provide the vitamins and minerals essential in aiding a child’s healthy growth.

In Pakistan’s Rs 35 billion biscuit market, EBM is the market leader with 35-39% of market share, and its energy biscuit brand Gluco has seen a tremendous amount of activity this year. Next in line is Continental Biscuits (CBL) which has an overall market share of 29% and is a strong contender in the energy biscuit sub-category with its brand Tiger.

Although several other companies also have energy biscuits, Gluco and Tiger are the major players; both brands currently claim to have an equal market share. However, they derive this share from very different SECs. Gluco, with its 76g and 141g SKUs (Rs 14 and Rs 30 respectively) is targeted at the upper SECs, whereas Tiger with its 30g SKU (for five rupees only) finds its share in the lower SECs. At least this was the scenario until January 2012 when Tiger decided to go after a chunk of Gluco’s ‘premium segment’ with the launch of a sub-brand called Tiger Max. This is a significant development for Tiger, given that ever since its launch in 1993, it has catered to SECs C and D.

Over the years Tiger has made a place for itself among this segment, so much so that “the demand for Tiger exceeds supply,” says Hasham-ur-Rehman, Senior Brand Manager, Tiger and Candi at CBL.

However, CBL felt that the same product would not succeed in the ‘premium segment’, therefore a variant was launched which according to Rehman, “is a bigger and better version of Tiger.”

As a result, every Tiger Max biscuit is bigger and is available in SKUs of 57g and 105g (Rs 15 and Rs 30 respectively). Rehman says that Tiger Max also tastes better. Moreover it offers greater nutritional value (seven vitamins and four minerals as opposed to Tiger’s milk, glucose and calcium). The packaging, although similar to Tiger in terms of its red colour and tiger brand mascot, has also been revamped.

Although these improvements put Tiger Max directly up against Gluco, Rehman says that “we are not looking at only gaining market share from Gluco, rather our focus is on the entire biscuit category” because “currently there is no particular loyalty for an energy biscuit; people looking to buy biscuits will choose from a cream sandwich or a cookie, etc.”

Tiger Max has a two-fold strategy in terms of its communication, which is aimed at building the Tiger Max brand as well as creating brand loyalty.

The communication integrates these two aspects by putting across the core benefits of an energy biscuit, relating them to the traits of a tiger; the message to children being that by eating Tiger Max they can be as strong, brave or as powerful as a tiger.

“We want kids to know and feel that this is their brand,” says Taimur Tajik, Associate Creative Director, Spectrum Y&R.

The launch of Tiger Max means that Gluco is no longer the only energy biscuit catering to the upper SECs. However as a new player Tiger Max has some catching up to do, as Gluco has established itself among the premium segment and offers more value in terms of quantity (higher grammage than Tiger Max) and price (one-rupee less than Tiger Max). It will remain to be seen if Tiger Max can catch up and establish a place for itself.