Thailand’s producer of leading instant noodle brand, Mama has formed alliance with Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co, the distributor for Lay’s potato chips, in new product development.
The move is an attempt to tap into new gen consumers who are adventurous in exploring diverse flavors.
Petch Paniangvait, Marketing Director at Saha Pathanapibul, the marketer of Mama products, said the partnership has recently rolled out 2 new flavors for Mama OK and Lay’s potato chips called ‘Chili Crab-Miso Butter’.
This is also the first time in Mama’s 50 year history that it has collaborated with a partner, with the aim of exchanging each other’s customer bases and extending Mama OK instant noodles to capture more of the mass market from the current target customers aged between 15 and 25 years old.
The first-ever brand collaboration between Mama OK and Lay’s stems from a market analysis that suggests miso butter ramen is very popular among tourists visiting Japan, while the famous Jumbo restaurant is a not-to-be-missed destination in Singapore, particularly its signature dish, Singapore Chili Crab.
According to Petch, the collaboration encompasses co-product development in terms of taste, advertising, packaging, and marketing events. Both companies plan to invest Bt 40 million (US$1.1 million) each to continuously co-create marketing campaigns to stimulate sales of the new products.
Pantipar Pongchairerks, Marketing Lead for Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co, said that as the leader in the potato chip market, Lay’s has rolled out new product innovations through co-creation campaigns by collaborating with various partners. This is intended to continuously deliver new experiences to consumers in response to market demand and consumption trends. It has seen positive opportunity in its collaboration with Mama OK.
Pantipar said, “This collaboration involves joint product development, featuring both Lay’s potato chip and Mama OK instant noodle products. It is anticipated that customers will enjoy this new trend, which will undoubtedly generate excitement in the market and help stimulate the snack market.”
An example of the collaboration – Mama OK Chilli Crab Flavor is a dried noodle packed with perfect spicy taste, mellow aroma of crab flavour and the unique thick noodles of Mama OK. Whereas Lay’s Chili Crab Flavor is a Lay’s real Potato Chips packed with aromatic Singapore chilli crab flavour, matched perfectly with the crispy ridges of Lay’s real potatoes to create an intriguing, tasty snack.
