http://www.quora.

com/Why-is-Nestle-Maggi-noodles-so-popular-especially-inIndia
Nestle launched Maggi noodles with its captivating two-minute taglineway
back in 1982 when instant food was not popular in India. Even after 31
years, it enjoys approx. 75% of the market share. Three more products on
the same lines were introduced after that namely Top Ramen, Yipee, Foodles and
Knorr Soupy Noodles.
Maggi surely had First Movers Advantage. Maggi was distributed in schools so as
to promote trials.This also may have helped. When a brand creates a new
category it sets a benchmark for quality. Maggi did the same to the instant noodle
category in India.
Advertising helped in popularizing Maggi.

2-minute tagline and Fast to Cook, Good to Eat helped Maggi to create a
huge customer base.

Taste Bhi Health Bhi Campaign concentrated on nutrition factor which is

the concern of mothers,

Also, the latest campaign starring Amitabh Bachchan makes the consumer
connect to the product. It asks for customer's Maggi memories.

Ad Campaign helped Maggi establish itself in India during its early days. Once a
person starts liking a particular taste, its very difficult to change that.
There were a number of factors that added to the popularity and the success of
the brand:
1. When Nestle launched Maggi in 1982 in India, Indians were reluctant to go for
instant food (rightly pointed by Noopur Jain). They targeted the right segment for
this which was the major factor in deciding its success.
2. Nestle targeted kids. They were the ones who were ready to accept a tasty food,
compared to older people who were still reluctant. It appealed to kids because
of two reasons - distinguished taste and two minutes factor. Simple. There was
not much competition around. It clicked. Kids who were growing up at that stage
would one day become their loyal customers, Nestle knew that.

3. Nestle promoted working women concept in India during 1980s. This was a
wonderful strategy to promote their own product. As housewives moved to the
offices, they earned more money but had lesser time. So the idea of instant food
was spreading.
4. Nestle marketed Maggi not as the main food item but as a snack in the evening,
that too for the kids. They knew they cannot compete in the main food items. But
the snacks market had a huge scope in India at that point of time.
5. Nestle kept it simple. They didn't do many experiments with the taste part of
Maggi. They knew it was addictive.
6. They accepted the challenge when in the last few years, increasing concern of
health was getting prevalent among the Indians. Nestle just at the right time,
came up with the concept of Taste Bhi-Health Bhi...that kept them in the market.
Had any other product taken advantage of health factor, they would have faced
severe challenge.
7. More than anything else it's the Maggi Brand that Nestle has created. Players
like Top Ramen had existed even before Maggi. But Top Ramen could never
connect to the common man as Maggi did (like Coke), despite the fact that Top
Ramen actually tastes nice. Bottomline is, marketing does matter.