Marketing and Britannia Essay

The story of one of India’s favorite brands reads almost like a fairy tale. Once upon a time, in 1892 to be precise, a biscuit company was started in a nondescript house in Calcutta (now Kolkata) with an initial investment of Rs. 295. The company we all know as Britannia today. The beginnings might have been humble-the dreams were anything but. By 1910, with the advent of electricity, Britannia mechanized its operations, and in 1921, it became the first company east of the Suez Canal to use imported gas ovens. Britannia’s business was flourishing. But, more importantly, Britannia was acquiring a reputation for quality and value. As a result, during the tragic World War II, the Government reposed its trust in Britannia by contracting it to supply large quantities of â€Å"service biscuits† to the armed forces. As time moved on, the biscuit market continued to grow†¦ and Britannia grew along with it. In 1975, the Britannia Biscuit Company took over the distribution of biscuits from Parry’s who till now distributed Britannia biscuits in India. In the subsequent public issue of 1978, Indian shareholding crossed 60%, firmly establishing the Indianness of the firm. The following year, Britannia Biscuit Company was re-christened Britannia Industries Limited (BIL). Four years later in 1983, it crossed the Rs. 100 crores revenue mark. On the operations front, the company was making equally dynamic strides. In 1992, it celebrated its Platinum Jubilee. In 1997, the company unveiled its new corporate identity – â€Å"Eat Healthy, Think Better† – and made its first foray into the dairy products market. In 1999, the â€Å"Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao† promotion further fortified the affinity consumers had with ‘Brand Britannia’. Britannia strode into the 21st Century as one of India’s biggest brands and the pre-eminent food brand of the country. It was equally recognized for its innovative approach to products and marketing: the Lagaan Match was voted India’s most successful promotional activity of the year 2001 while the delicious Britannia 50-50 Maska-Chaska became India’s most successful product launch. In 2002, Britannia’s New Business Division formed a joint venture with Fonterra, the world’s second largest Dairy Company, and Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt. Ltd. was born. In recognition of its vision and accelerating graph, Forbes Global rated Britannia ‘One amongst the Top 200 Small Companies of the World’, and The Economic Times pegged Britannia India’s 2nd Most Trusted Brand. Today, more than a century after those tentative first steps, Britannia’s fairy tale is not only going strong but blazing new standards, and that miniscule initial investment has grown by leaps and bounds to crores of rupees in wealth for Britannia’s shareholders. The company’s offerings are spread across the spectrum with products ranging from the healthy and economical Tiger biscuits to the more lifestyle-oriented Milkman Cheese. This is because NutriChoice SugarOut is sweetened with â€Å"Sucralose,† derived from sugar, which provides the same sweetness as any other biscuit, without the added calories of sugar. This range is available in 3 delicious variants namely Lifetime, Chocolate cream, and Orange cream, targeted towards all health sensitive people. It is also relevant for consumers with sugar related ailments. Customers are pleasantly delighted with its great taste and equally surprised to know that it has no added sugar. Don’t be taken for a ride when you read â€Å"Sugar Free† label on many biscuit packs marketed in India or abroad. Even with 100% no-added sugar, wheat-cereals in biscuits have their own natural sugar content. Britannia has chosen to represent these biscuits with â€Å"No Added Sugar† claim, as there is no added sugar in the processing of NutriChoice SugarOut. Britannia 50-50 Pepper Chakkar The launch of the latest 50-50 variant left everybody guessing â€Å"What it eez? † From TV ads, radio, outdoor and in-store display materials to events, a website and SMS and email blasts, traditional and new media were blended synergistically to create excitement and curiosity about the unique taste of the biscuit. The tangy and distinctive pepper flavoured biscuit, that’s thin and crispy and more like a snack, caught the imagination of a younger audience craving something to nibble on. The 50-50 Pepper Chakkar launch is truly a case of leveraging the marketing mix to best advantage. Biscuits derive its name from a French word meaning twice backed bread; Biscuits in general have a good shelf life, which is higher than all other snack items available in the market. India is the second largest producer of biscuits in the world after the U. S. A. but still the per capita consumption is only 2. kg/year of developed countries. As per the latest survey done by N. C. A. E. R. , 49 biscuits are consumed in rural areas. The penetration of biscuits into households stands at an average of 83. 2% with the rural penetration at 77% and urban penetration at 88%. Biscuits are reserved for the small scale sector but there are strong possibilities of the industry being deserved in line with the government policy of liberalization. The net effect thus would be greater choice for the consumer as well as a check on the costs. The country production of the biscuits during 2004-05 was 18. Lac tons of which 1/2 were manufactured by the organized sector. The industry turn over was 5322. 7 Crores of which organized sector contributed 2519. 3 crores. Britannia, makers of Britannia biscuits, doubled capacity from 25 tonnes a day to 50 tonnes and plans to be a national brand soon. In an aggressive mode, the North dominated biscuit player has increased its ad budget to Rs. 5 crore this year from Rs. 3 crore last year. Britannia has also recently invested about Rs. 5 crore in the modernization and expansion of its production and packing its production capacity of 40 tonnes per day to 100 tonnes per day by next year. The aim: to take the current turnover of Rs. 50 crore to Rs. 100 crore by the year. The low priced brand claims to have a 15 per cent market share in the North and is aggressively eyeing a bigger bite of the Rs. 2,500 crore biscuit industries. The brand plans to gain a 40 per cent market share in the North by the year of. The company’s strategy has been to attract new consumer segments and widen its consumer base with its well packaged low priced offerings. Britannia’s success has also come from its formidable. The applicability of various branding strategies play crucial role in arketing in product. the applicability has grown due to the liberalization, competition and technological changes taking place in corporate world. In this project the various branding strategies adopted by the company has been studied and compared on the basis of current market scenario. It gives the idea about the market share enjoyed by the different companies in the Biscuit Industry. It provides the adequate coverage of many issues related to biscuit industry. The objective of this report is to give the market share of Britannia biscuits in the Indian capital (New Delhi). It has been made possible by knowing the consumer’s behaviour and by studying the patterns adopted by the retailers. It gives us very precise view about the existing demand of Britannia biscuits and demand of their products as compared to other competitors. It also highlights the changing market trends and consumer preferences, why they have shifted from finally pack to pouch pack. The annual growth rate of the industry is about 12. 5%. However, the growth of cream biscuits, assorted or special variety is the range of 30-40%. The organized sector consists of large, medium and small scale biscuit manufacturers who produce packed biscuits. The major players in this sector are Britannia, Bakeman’s, and Parle, etc. the unorganized sector comprises of small bakery units, cottage and household type manufacturing plants. These units distribute their biscuits in the surrounding vicinity of their manufacturing locations of say 20-50 kms. The country production of biscuits during 2005-06 is estimated to be about 19. 5 lack tons. Out of which 1/2 again is expected from unorganized sector.