Mama, Thailand's leading instant noodle brand, is breaking with tradition by forging the first partnership in its 50-year history with Lay's potato chip snacks.
The move is aimed at tapping into young consumers who want to explore diverse flavours and stimulating the public's appetites amid soaring costs of living.
According to Petch Paniangvait, marketing director at Saha Pathanapibul, the marketer and distributor of Mama products, the company, in partnership with Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading Co, the marketer of Lay's potato chips, will roll out two new Mama OK flavours of Lay's potato chips called "Chili Crab-Miso Butter" next week.
"This is the first time in Mama's 50-year history that we have 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," said Mr Petch.
He added that 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 Mr Petch, the collaboration encompasses co-product development in terms of taste, advertising, packaging, and marketing events.
"This collaboration is just on a strategic basis," he said. "We don't put the Mama brand in products of others and allow other brands to put in Mama products. It's my father's bible," he said, referring to Pipat Paniangvait, chief executive of Thai President Foods Plc, the manufacturer of Mama instant noodles.
Both companies plan to allocate 40 million baht each to continuously co-create marketing campaigns to stimulate sales of the new products.
According to Mr Petch, Thailand's overall instant noodle market grew 4-5% in the first half of this year, driven by higher demand.
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.
"This time, we've seen a marketing opportunity in our collaboration with Mama OK," she said. "This collaboration involves new 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."
She added that the overall snack market has improved, as indicated by rising out-of-home consumption and positive sentiment from the tourism business.
