You are on page 1of 85

Amul Brand

INTRODUCTION

THE TASTE OF INDIA, AMUL comes from the Sanskrit word Amoolya,
means priceless. It was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand and it
was chosen because it was a perfect acronym for Anand Milk Union
Limited . AMUL was formed under the dairy cooperative movement in
India in 1946.

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is


India's largest food products marketing organisation. It is a state level
apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat which aims to provide
remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of
consumers by providing quality products which are good value for
money. AMUL is the brand under this organization.

Amul is the largest food brand in India and world's Largest Pouched Milk
Brand with an annual turnover of US $1050 million (2006-07). Currently
Amul has 2.6 million producer members with milk collection average of
10.16 million litres per day. Besides India, Amul has entered overseas
markets such as Mauritius, UAE, USA, Bangladesh, Australia, China,
Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries. Its bid to enter
Japanese market in 1994 had not succeeded, but now it has fresh plans of
flooding the Japanese markets .Other potential markets being considered
include Sri Lanka.

Dr Verghese Kurien, former chairman of the GCMMF, is recognised as


the man behind the success of Amul. On 10 Aug 2006 Parthi G Bhatol,
chairman of the Banaskantha Union, was elected chairman of GCMMF.

1
Amul Brand

Company History
Amul was set up in 1946 and its full form is Anand Milk- producers Union Ltd.
The Brand Amul is a movement in dairy cooperative in India. The management
of the brand name is done by the Gujarat Co- operative Milk Marketing
Federation Ltd (GCMMF) which is a cooperative organization.

Location
Amul is located in the town Anand which is in the state of Gujarat and it has set
up itself as a model for development in the rural areas. For Amul Brand has
started the Revolution White of India which has helped to make the country the
biggest manufacturer of milk and its by products in the whole world. Amul has
around 2.6 million producer members and the total capacity for handling milk is
around 10.16 million liters every day. The brand's capacity for milk drying is
around 594 Mts. each day and its capacity for cattle feed manufacturing is about
2640 Mts. each day.

Product Portfolio
Amul is the biggest brand in the pouched milk sector in the world and in India it
is the biggest food brand. Amul's range of products includes milk, ghee, milk
powders, curd, ice cream, paneer, cream, chocolate, cheese, butter, and
shrikhand.

Brand Umbrella
The various brands of Amul's bread spreads are Amul Lite, Amul Butter, and
Delicious Table Margarine.
The Brand Amul's milk drinks are sold under various names such as Amul
Kool, Amul Kool Cafe, Kool Koko, Amul Kool Chocolate Milk, and Amul
Masti Spiced Buttermilk.
Amul's powder milk are sold under many names like Amulya Dairy Whitener,
Sugar Tea Coffee Whitener, Sugar Skimmed Milk Powder, and Amul Instant
Full Cream Milk Powder.
The brand's cheese are also sold under various names such as Gouda Cheese,
Amul Cheese Spreads, and Amul Emmental Cheese.
Amul Brand's desserts are sold under many names like Amul Basundi, Amul
Lassee, Gulab Jamun Mix, Amul Shrikhand, and Amul Ice Creams.

Business Markets
Amul exports its products to various countries such as USA, Australia,
Mauritius, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, and Bangladesh.

2
Amul Brand

Awards
The Food Brand Amul has received various awards such as the Ramkrishna
Bajaj National Quality Award in 2003, Award International Cio 1000 for
Resourcefulness, and also the Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award in 1999.

Company Financials
The sales turnover of the Brand Amul :Sales Turnover Figures

Year Rs (million) US $ (in million)


1999-00 22185 493
2000-01 22588 500
2001-02 23365 500
2002-03 27457 575
2003-04 28941 616
2004-05 29225 672
2005-06 37736 850
2006-07 42778 1050
2007-08 52554 1325
2008-09 67113 1504

Corporate Address and Contact details


Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.
Amul Dairy Road
P B No.10, Anand 388 001,
India
Phone: +91-2692-258506 , 258507, 258508, 258509
Fax: +91-2692-240208

3
Amul Brand

What is Amul all about?


BUSINESS needs ideas, not merely money. Ventures run on just money, but
starved of ideas, would eventually fall prey to competition and perish. And, if
ideas are available in abundance, business can overcome other handicaps,
including its relative weaker money power, compared to that of its rivals. The
success story of the Gujrat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)
proves this point.

Amul follows a unique business model, which aims at providing 'value for
money' products to its consumers, while protecting the interests of the milk-
producing farmers who are its suppliers as well as its owners. Despite being a
farmers' co-operative, Amul has given multinationals a run for their money.

 The Amul Pattern has established itself as a uniquely appropriate model


for rural development. Amul has spurred the White Revolution of India,
which has made India the largest producer of milk and milk products in
the world. It is also the world's biggest vegetarian cheese brand.

 Amul’s is India’s largest diary producing company with over half the
market leading other national companies such as Mother Diary and
multinational food product companies such as Nestle India and Hindustan
Lever Ltd.

 Amul demonstrates how careful and consistent product stewardship


combined with a deep and intimate understanding of the market leads to
consistent growth and success. The company can process nearly 10
million litres of milk each day.

 The company started as the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Federation in


1946,collecting just 250 litres of milk a day. The company was formed to
give farmers their due and protect them from unscrupulous middlemen.
Since then the company has come a long way . but one thing is still the
same . that time also it was by and for the farmers and today also it’s the
same .

 In the mid 1950’s Amul looked for ways to utilize the surplus milk by
manufacturing Butter, Milk,Cheese and other milk derived products.

4
Amul Brand

 It is integrated into the fabric of Indian society ,from its roots in


representing small farmers and struggler or the poor and impoverished in
difficult circumstances.

 The brand name Amul, sourced from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, means
priceless. It was suggested by a quality control expert in Anand. Some
cite the origin as an acronym to (Anand Milk Union Limited)

 Amul, a brand owned by the 26 lakh milk producers of Gujarat has once again
demonstrated that when farmers are given the instruments of development in
their hands, they can work wonders. The billion dollar Gujarat Co-operative
Milk Marketing Federation, the apex body of 13 district milk producers’
unions has been instrumental in making Amul a brand to reckon with.

 GCMMF Today
GCMMF is India's largest food products marketing organisation. It is a
state level apex body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat, which aims to
provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of
consumers by providing quality products, which are good value for
money. GCMMF markets and manages the Amul brand. From mid-
1990's Amul has entered areas not related directly to its core business

 The AMUL experience has attracted considerable interest from the


development community – predominantly anthropologists, development
& agriculture economists, and political scientists. Key areas of their
enquiry have been the role of AMUL in reducing social and economic
inequality

5
Amul Brand

Amul
             
1956
                             

                             
Ice Milk
Chocolates Shrikhand Fresh Milk Cheese Ghee
cream         Power    Breadspread 
1973 1980 1956 1962 1956
1996 1958
                             
Fat Free UHT Cheese Amul Cow
Nutrauamul Gulabjamun Amulspray
Dessert       Range     Spread   Butter   Ghee
1973 1997 1968
2002 1980/99 1986 1956 2002
                             
Softy Gulabjamun Condensed Amul
Eclairs Paneer Amul Lite
Mix     mix   Milk   WMP        
2001 1997 1994
2001 1999 1996 1960
                             
Amul pizza
Kulfi Mix Buttermilk Amulya Margarine
    Shakti         Cheese      
2001 1998 1987 2004
2003 1998
                             
Amul IMF Emmental
Chocozoo Laddoo fresh Curd
          1&2   Cheese        
2005 2004 1999
2001 1999
                             
Flavoured Instant Frozen
Basundi
          Milk   FCMP   Pizza        
2005
2001 2002 2002
                             
Fresh Gouda
Khoa
          Cream       Cheese        
2006
2002 2002
                             
Kool Cafe
                           
2005

6
Amul Brand

AMUL’s Journey towards Excellence


AMUL’s journey towards excellence is marked by some critical understanding
of the business environment in large emerging economies like India where
markets have to be developed by combining efficiency related initiatives with
increasing the base of marginal suppliers and consumers. The essence of
AMUL’s efforts was as follows:

• It combined market and social development in an emerging economy. It


recognized the inter-linkages between various environments that governed
the lives of marginal milk farmers and the unmet needs of consumers.
It also changed the supply chain paradigm in order to reduce the cost to the
consumer while increasing the return to the supplier.

• It realized that in order to achieve their objectives, it had to benefit a large


number of people – both suppliers and consumers. While large scale had the
danger of failure due to poor control and required more resources, it also
had the advantage of creating a momentum that would be necessary to bring
more people into the fold and thereby help more suppliers and consumers.

• It also realized that its goal could only be achieved in the long run and this
required developing values in people and processes that were robust,
replicable and transparent.

• It also realized that the cooperative would not be independent and viable in
the face of competition if it were not financially sound. This implied that
AMUL had to develop distinct capabilities that would deliver competitive
advantage to its operations.

7
Amul Brand

The extraordinary story of Amul


Every day Amul collects 447,000 litres of milk from 2.12 million farmers
(many illiterate), converts the milk into branded, packaged products, and
delivers goods worth Rs 6 crore (Rs 60 million) to over 500,000 retail outlets
across the country.

Its supply chain is easily one of the most complicated in the world. How do
managers at Amul prevent the milk from souring?

Walk in to any Amul or Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation


(GCMMF) office, and you may or may not see a photograph of Mahatma
Gandhi [ Images ], but you will certainly see one particular photograph. It
shows a long line of Gujarati women waiting patiently for a union truck to come
and collect the milk they have brought in shining brass matkas.

The picture is always prominently displayed. The message is clear: never forget
your primary customer. If you don't, success is certain. The proof? A unique, Rs
2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion) enterprise.

Organisation structure
It all started in December 1946 with a group of farmers keen to free themselves
from intermediaries, gain access to markets and thereby ensure maximum
returns for their efforts.

Based in the village of Anand, the Kaira District Milk Cooperative Union
(better known as Amul) expanded exponentially. It joined hands with other milk
cooperatives, and the Gujarat network now covers 2.12 million farmers, 10,411
village level milk collection centers and fourteen district level plants (unions)
under the overall supervision of GCMMF.

There are similar federations in other states. Right from the beginning, there
was recognition that this initiative would directly benefit and transform small
farmers and contribute to the development of society.

Markets, then and even today, are primitive and poor in infrastructure. Amul
and GCMMF acknowledged that development and growth could not be left to
market forces and that proactive intervention was required. Two key
requirements were identified.

8
Amul Brand

The first, that sustained growth for the long term would depend on matching
supply and demand. It would need heavy investment in the simultaneous
development of suppliers and consumers.
Second, that effective management of the network and commercial viability
would require professional managers and technocrats.

To implement their vision while retaining their focus on farmers, a hierarchical


network of cooperatives was developed, which today forms the robust supply
chain behind GCMMF's endeavors. The vast and complex supply chain
stretches from small suppliers to large fragmented markets.

Management of this network is made more complex by the fact that GCMMF is
directly responsible only for a small part of the chain, with a number of third
party players (distributors, retailers and logistics support providers) playing
large roles.

Managing this supply chain efficiently is critical as GCMMF's competitive


position is driven by low consumer prices supported by a low cost system.

Developing demand
At the time Amul was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power, and
modest consumption levels of milk and other dairy products. Thus Amul
adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive
to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money.

Introducing higher value products


Beginning with liquid milk, GCMMF enhanced the product mix through the
progressive addition of higher value products while maintaining the desired
growth in existing products.

Despite competition in the high value dairy product segments from firms such
as Hindustan Lever [ Get Quote ], Nestle [ Get Quote ] and Britannia [ Get
Quote ], GCMMF ensures that the product mix and the sequence in which Amul
introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing milk
at a basic, affordable price.

The distribution network


Amul products are available in over 500,000 retail outlets across India through
its network of over 3,500 distributors. There are 47 depots with dry and cold
warehouses to buffer inventory of the entire range of products.
GCMMF transacts on an advance demand draft basis from its wholesale dealers
instead of the cheque system adopted by other major FMCG companies. This

9
Amul Brand

practice is consistent with GCMMF's philosophy of maintaining cash


transactions throughout the supply chain and it also minimizes dumping.
Wholesale dealers carry inventory that is just adequate to take care of the transit
time from the branch warehouse to their premises. This just-in-time inventory
strategy improves dealers' return on investment (ROI). All GCMMF branches
engage in route scheduling and have dedicated vehicle operations.

Umbrella brand
The network follows an umbrella branding strategy. Amul is the common brand
for most product categories produced by various unions: liquid milk, milk
powders, butter, ghee, cheese, cocoa products, sweets, ice-cream and condensed
milk.

Amul's sub-brands include variants such as Amulspray, Amulspree, Amulya


and Nutramul. The edible oil products are grouped around Dhara and Lokdhara,
mineral water is sold under the Jal Dhara brand while fruit drinks bear the Safal
name.
By insisting on an umbrella brand, GCMMF not only skillfully avoided inter-
union conflicts but also created an opportunity for the union members to
cooperate in developing products.

Managing the supply chain


Even though the cooperative was formed to bring together farmers, it was
recognised that professional managers and technocrats would be required to
manage the network effectively and make it commercially viable.

Coordination
Given the large number of organisations and entities in the supply chain and
decentralised responsibility for various activities, effective coordination is
critical for efficiency and cost control. GCMMF and the unions play a major
role in this process and jointly achieve the desired degree of control.

Buy-in from the unions is assured as the plans are approved by GCMMF's
board. The board is drawn from the heads of all the unions, and the boards of
the unions comprise of farmers elected through village societies, thereby
creating a situation of interlocking control.

The federation handles the distribution of end products and coordination with
retailers and the dealers. The unions coordinate the supply side activities.
These include monitoring milk collection contractors, the supply of animal feed
and other supplies, provision of veterinary services, and educational activities.

10
Amul Brand

Managing third party service providers


From the beginning, it was recognised that the unions' core activity lay in milk
processing and the production of dairy products. Accordingly, marketing efforts
(including brand development) were assumed by GCMMF. All other activities
were entrusted to third parties. These include logistics of milk collection,
distribution of dairy products, sale of products through dealers and retail stores,
provision of animal feed, and veterinary services.
It is worth noting that a number of these third parties are not in the organized
sector, and many are not professionally managed with little regard for quality
and service.
This is a particularly critical issue in the logistics and transport of a perishable
commodity where there are already weaknesses in the basic infrastructure.

Establishing best practices


A key source of competitive advantage has been the enterprise's ability to
continuously implement best practices across all elements of the network: the
federation, the unions, the village societies and the distribution channel.
In developing these practices, the federation and the unions have adapted
successful models from around the world. It could be the implementation of
small group activities or quality circles at the federation. Or a TQM program at
the unions. Or housekeeping and good accounting practices at the village
society level.

More important, the network has been able to regularly roll out improvement
programs across to a large number of members and the implementation rate is
consistently high.
For example, every Friday, without fail, between 10.00 a.m. and 11.00 a.m., all
employees of GCMMF meet at the closest office, be it a department or a branch
or a depot to discuss their various quality concerns.

Each meeting has its pre-set format in terms of Purpose, Agenda and Limit
(PAL) with a process check at the end to record how the meeting was
conducted. Similar processes are in place at the village societies, the unions and
even at the wholesaler and C&F agent levels as well.
Examples of benefits from recent initiatives include reduction in transportation
time from the depots to the wholesale dealers, improvement in ROI of
wholesale dealers, implementation of Zero Stock Out through improved
availability of products at depots and also the implementation of Just-in-Time in
finance to reduce the float.

Kaizens at the unions have helped improve the quality of milk in terms of
acidity and sour milk. (Undertaken by multi-disciplined teams, Kaizens are
highly focussed projects, reliant on a structured approach based on data
11
Amul Brand

gathering and analysis.) For example, Sabar Union's records show a reduction
from 2.0% to 0.5% in the amount of sour milk/curd received at the union.
The most impressive aspect of this large-scale roll out is that improvement
processes are turning the village societies into individual improvement centers.

Technology and e-initiatives


GCMMF's technology strategy is characterized by four distinct components:
new products, process technology, and complementary assets to enhance milk
production and e-commerce.

Few dairies of the world have the wide variety of products produced by the
GCMMF network. Village societies are encouraged through subsidies to install
chilling units. Automation in processing and packaging areas is common, as is
HACCP certification. Amul actively pursues developments in embryo transfer
and cattle breeding in order to improve cattle quality and increases in milk
yields.

GCMMF was one of the first FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) firms in
India to employ Internet technologies to implement B2C commerce.
Today customers can order a variety of products through the Internet and be
assured of timely delivery with cash payment upon receipt.
Another e-initiative underway is to provide farmers access to information
relating to markets, technology and best practices in the dairy industry through
net enabled kiosks in the villages.

GCMMF has also implemented a Geographical Information System (GIS) at


both ends of the supply chain, i.e. milk collection as well as the marketing
process.

Farmers now have better access to information on the output as well as support
services while providing a better planning tool to marketing personnel.
The author is Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
[ Images ] and Devnath Tripati, Editor of the Asian Journal of Operations
Management.

12
Amul Brand

Discuss Amul's Umbrella Branding and Distribution network


strategy.

An umbrella brand is a brand that covers diverse kinds of products which


are more or less related. It applies also to any company that is identified
only by its brand and history. It is contrasted with individual branding in
which each product in a portfolio is given a unique identity and brand
name.

Amul has high brand equity and umbrella branding of Amul has helped
the company in bigger sense. Amuls’s brand name has helped its other
brands also like Mitahi made, Amul Ice creams, chocolates, Amul Kool
etc. So umbrella Brand, Amul is used to build and offer value to
customers in bigger sense. In literal sense, a company has high brand
equity if it has multi dimensions. Amul has explored various available
opportunities to reach to mass customers. It has opened a community on
public forums like orkut, sponsored events like Amul voice of India etc.
The brand value of Amul will surely help company to maintain the status
of largest food brand in India at least for sometime in future.

Amul’s strategy of using “umbrella branding” has really paid off. Amul’s
advertising and marketing spend has never exceeded 1% of its revenues.

Amul’s creatives—in the form of billboards or the Taste of India


campaign—have always managed to evoke a larger-than-life brand feel,
consistency and spirit of Indian culture in a contemporary way.

13
Amul Brand

14
Amul Brand

Distribution Network

Consumers expect marketers to deliver products in the locations and


forms they require. To meet expectations of such demanding consumers,
alignments of our four Distribution Highways of Fresh, Chilled, Frozen
and Ambient products were already made by introducing Project DIL.
Subsequently, a major initiative was taken to enhance distribution
network to smaller towns. About 1200 distributors in small towns across
India were added during this initiative. Today about 3000 Distributors
ensure availability of our products across India, whether it is in Leh or
Lakshadweep, in Kutch or Arunachal. Simultaneously, to augment fresh
milk distribution in various markets of India, approximately 1400
exclusive Milk Distributors have been inducted.

Distribution Process
Company

Dealer Franchisee

Wholesaler

Retailer

Shopkeeper

Consumers

15
Amul Brand

GCMMF’s Supply Chain

***Source: IIM(A), Working Paper No. 2002-05-06

AMUL has the largest cold chain network in India (i.e. 18000
refrigerators) as compared to any other company. The chemical
components of milk are water, SNF and solids. Milk is very perishable
product so it has to be consumed within 24 hours. In order to avoid
wastage AMUL converts the milk in to SNF and milk solids by
evaporating the water, which comprises up to 60-70% of milk contents.
This is possible only if the distribution channel right from the producer to
the consumer is well organized. It will be surprising to know that AMUL
makes even the ‘Sarpanch’ to eat pizza i.e. it supplies pizzas even to rural
market.

Last year, theye divided the retail market into 14 specific segments to
achieve further distribution efficiency. This year our focus was on
inducting distributors having expertise in servicing such specific market
segments. This initiative is yielding results by way of ensuring wider
availability of our product range.

The role of distributors in our business process has never been more
diverse or more important, as it is today. As a matter of fact, we consider
our Distributor to be the real “Marketing Manager” of our organization.
To enhance business performance of our Distributors, a workshop on

16
Amul Brand

Marketing and Sales Management was designed in collaboration with a


premier business school. The objective of the entire initiative was to
upgrade the knowledge of our Distributors in terms of contemporary
Business Management Practices, so that they can perform well not only
as our business partner but also as Marketing Managers. During the year,
659 Distributors have undergone this programme in 39 locations. Cold
Storage is an extremely essential component in the Federation’s
distribution process. Unfortunately, availability of efficient cold storage
facilities is grossly inadequate in our country. To cope up with the
increasing need of suitable cold stores closer to our markets, we have
continued our endeavour of creating the Federation’s own cold stores this
year in various locations across the country. We now own 24 state-of- the
art cold rooms of different sizes.

To get an exposure to our cooperative structure, our culture as well as


operational systems and processes, every year we invite our distributors,
major retailers and other business partners to Anand, for Amul Yatra. So
far, about 7000 Distributors and other business partners have participated
in this Amul Yatra.

Over recent years, the Federation has successfully introduced new


product lines. This year, in order to leverage their distribution network
strengths, to optimize market supervision expenditures, to achieve
increasing efficiency while keeping the distribution infrastructure lean,
focused and productive, the Federation amalgamated its different
distribution networks. Today, they operate an efficient distribution
infrastructure consisting of 46 sales offices, catering to 3,000 distributors
and five lac retailers. Almost every Federation stockist has visited Anand
to participate in a unique programme called 'Amul Yatra'. During this
programme, stockists are exposed to the Federation Philosophy, the
culture of Cooperation, as well as operational Systems and Processes.
The Federation has also invited distributor's salesmen from all over the
country to Anand for a training program focused on the Federation's
philosophy and developing their selling skills.

17
Amul Brand

18
Amul Brand

Amul scripts fresh growth strategy to take on rivals


Lalitha Srinivasan

Enthused by its performance in FY 08, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing


Federation Ltd (GCMMF) is drawing up a fresh game plan for its flagship brand
'Amul Fresh Milk'. Rival Mother Dairy India is not far behind. To sustain its
competitive edge, Mother Dairy is chalking out an aggressive growth strategy to
reach out to a wider target audience. The Rs 18,000-crore packaged milk sector
will soon witness a pitched battle between two lead players Amul and Mother
Dairy India, predict industry analysts.

On Amul’s future plans, RS Sodhi, chief general manager, GCMMF said: "We
are expanding our processing and packaging capacity to meet growing
demands. For starters, we are setting up additional processing facilities in Delhi
and Mumbai. Currently, we lead the pack with the production of 50 lakh liters
per day."

In a bid to pump up volumes, Amul is also extending its distribution network to


reach new markets. "Our core strategy is to further consolidate our operations in
existing markets which includes Kolkatta. Also, we are beefing up our
marketing and advertising strategy to sustain our leadership,” said Sodhi.
Incidentally, Amul is selling its packaged milk brands on the Net too. The
company has recently extended its product portfolio by launching Amul Calci-a
fortified milk brand. The company’s long term strategy includes foray into
South India. "But, we do not have any immediate plans to enter South Indian
markets,” said Sodhi.

Meanwhile, Mother Dairy India is sharpening its marketing focus to promote its
milk brand in major metros across the country. "The Rs 18,000-core branded
milk sector is steadily growing as consumer opt for hygienic milk products. We
plan to go national in the next few years,” said Paul Thatchil, chief executive
officer (Dairy & Foods), Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetables (P) Ltd.

With increasing competition, the packaged milk sector will witness a lot of
action this year, predict industry analysts.” The Gujarat Cooperative Milk
Marketing Federation is beefing up its resources to strengthen its foothold in the
liquid fresh milk market of Delhi, a battleground for the two cooperative giants
—National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and GCMMF,” said an analyst
based in Mumbai. In India, the per capita consumption of milk is increasing day
by day, according to industry analysts. "Consumers are increasingly opting for
packaged milk for health reasons. The sector will register a healthy growth this
fiscal,” added analysts...

19
Amul Brand

Amul's Diversification Strategy: A Pizza for Rs 20!


In early 2001, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF)1
planned to leverage its brand equity and distribution network to turn Amul2 into
India's biggest food brand. Verghese Kurien, Chairman of GCMMF, set a sales
target of Rs.10 bn by 2006 as against sales of Rs 2.3 bn in 2001. In 2001,
GCMMF entered the fast food market in India with the launch of vegetable
pizzas under the brand name SnowCap in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. GCMMF was
also planning to launch its pizzas in other western Indian cities like Mumbai,
Surat, and Baroda.

Depending on the response in these cities, GCMMF would decide to introduce


its pizzas in other cities in India. The pizzas were offered in four flavours: plain
tomato-onion-capsicum, fruit pizza (pineapple-topped), mushroom and 'Jain
pizzas' (pizzas without onion or garlic). GCMMF launched the pizzas in the
Rs.20-25 price range. The existing players in the pizza market, like Domino's,
Pizza Hut and Nirula's offered pizzas at nothing less than Rs.39. (Refer Exhibit
I). Analysts felt that GCMMF's move would force the existing players to reduce
their prices in the long run.

GCMMF planned to open 3,000 pizza retail franchise outlets all over the
country by 2005. The pizzas would be made at the retail outlets. The technical
training and the recipe for the pizza would be provided by GCMMF. It would
also negotiate with bulk suppliers of vegetables to get these at wholesale rates.
These would be provided to the retailers.

The main cost component of the pizza is the mozarella cheese. GCMMF would
offer the cheese at a bulk rate of Rs.140 per kg, compared to the market price of
Rs 146 per kg, thus saving the retailers Rs.6 per kg. GCMMF on its part would
have a ready market for its cheese products.

20
Amul Brand

How do you spell out the importance of establishing the Best Practices by
Amul to have competitive advantage?

Amul has Competitive sustainable advantage (CSA) over its competitors.


Amul’s CSA lies in its procurement  part ,the ability to collect 447,000
litres of milk every day from 2.12 million farmers ,convert them into
goods worth Rs 6 crore and distribute them to 5,00,000 retailers across
country ,is not easy. No other dairy in India has such a sustainable
procurement network.
Managing the large scale supply chain of Amul which begins from milk
producer and ends with supply to customer from retailer is very critical
job. It requires lot of dedication and hard work from all members of the
corporation and also distributors and retailers across country
It is not that Amul had a successful campaign, many of its ads backfired.
One ad meant to target Marathi segment during Ganpati festival had to be
removed under political pressure. In another incident on advertisement in
which Amul girl was wearing Gandhi cap had to be again removed. In
one another incident Amul had aired an ad portraying Hussain as
“Heroine addiction”, for this Amul was taken to court.
Most of Amul’s communication is based on latest happenings in the
country. That is why its ads are termed different from what is that of its
nearest rival, Mother dairy. Most of Mother dairy ads are directly
targeted to children where as Amul’s ad are on current affairs, in which
adults are also involved.
The key to retaining their competitive advantage lies in keeping focused
on the basic business principles:

 Be Customer-Driven
 Adapt quickly to the changing environment.
 Anticipate change and act today to meet tomorrow's challenges.

The Federation has invested substantially over the last few years in
improving the quality of its products and services, keeping in mind the
emerging challenges of globalization. In recognition of its
achievements in Quality Management Initiatives.

21
Amul Brand

Their core business is marketing branded food products to household


consumers. Their success has been grounded in two strengths :-

 Distribution network, serving more than five lac retail outlets.


 Superior product quality - 'Value for money'

The key to maintaining these two competitive advantages rests on their ability
to attract and retain the very best manpower. In this age of intensive
competition, only dedicated and committed professionals can successfully
manage their business.

22
Amul Brand

What is the role and importance of Technology and E- Initiatives by GCMMF?

Amul assigned the ERP software development project named as


Enterprise-wide integrated application system (EIAS), on a turnkey
basis to Tata Consultancy Services. At present, the EIAS system
covers a plethora of operations like market planning, advertising and
promotion, distribution network planning, stock control, sales and
accounting, budgetary control, quality control management and co-
operative service management. Amul has also connected all its zonal
offices, regional offices and members dairies through VSATs for
seamless exchange of information.

Each of Amul’s offices is connected by e-mail and all of them send a


daily report on sales and inventory to the main system at Anand. Also,
sales offices, C&F points and wholesale distributors of GCMMF have
been connected through the Internet for timely exchange of
information. The customised ERP EIAS is designed in such a way that
it can be plugged into various points of the supply chain and external
system. Moreover, the software is platform independent and can work
on any operating system. Amul is also in the process of Web-enabling
the entire supply chain so that it can capture key information at the
source, and use the same for decision-making. This would include the
likes of transporters, member-manufacturing units, oil packing
stations, suppliers, depots and the entire field force.

The federation has now integrated it's country-wide operations


through successful implementation of the "Enterprise-wide Integrated
Application System". They believe that introduction of similar
integrated ERP systems at their Member Unions will help them ensure
that the IT revolution serves their members better. The Federation is
among the Top 100 IT Users in the country. Currently, there are more
23
Amul Brand

than 3,000 computers installed in their village societies, which support


the Automated Milk Collection System. Their goal is to install
computers in all their village societies and to integrate them with their
respective unions. On the market side, their distributors have
responded enthusiastically to their suggestion of computerizing their
operations and getting email connectivity for better communication
with their sales offices. The distributors can now place their orders on
our internet website www.Amulb2b.com. They continue to receive a
good consumer response to their website www.Amul.com which is
noted for its distinct features like cyberstore for ice-cream and other
milk products, cricket rankings and the recently launched e-greetings
site.
To strengthen business linkages with the business partners, GCMMF
has enhanced its “Amul e-Groupware System” by adding more
features like e-mailing the invoices and ledgers to business partners,
announcing various schemes online, calendar facility etc.
“Video conferencing” is rapidly gaining in popularity, which provides
business with the ability to meet and to work with others over a
distance. For real time communication, better brainstorming,
knowledge sharing and information gathering, we have installed and
implemented Video conferencing System at our Head Office, Zonal
Offices and a few Sales Offices.
The world is moving towards virtual reality by creating virtual world
on the Internet. Our Federation has taken the initiatives towards
virtual commerce by creating an online virtual Amul Parlor in the
Second Life, an online virtual world. GCMMF has further advanced
the use of Geographical Information systems by implementing GIS
based Sales Analytics solution across various offices.

The history of Amul shows that it radically changed the way business
was done—by eliminating the middleman and bringing the producer
closer to the consumer—resulting in benefits for both. Incidentally, it
was also one of the first Indian companies to have a Web presence.
Today, Amul’s cyberstore gifting service is capable of servicing
consumers in more than 125 cities. Says Hegde, “We have also linked
our distributors to our network and also incorporated Web pages of
top retailers in our site, amul.com, as part of our B2B initiatives.”

24
Amul Brand

Distributors can place their orders on the website, amulb2b.com,


especially meant for accepting orders from stockists and promoting
Amul’s products via e-commerce. Currently, the company receives
queries from overseas agents for distributing its products in countries
like the US, Britain, New Zealand, Singapore and Thailand. As a
result of the online initiatives, today, Amul exports products worth
around Rs 100 crore, to countries in West Asia, Africa and the US.
Amul has also launched sites like amulgreetings.com and
amulkids.com to extend the brand identity to kids and teenagers who
are its target market for its ice-cream and chocolates products. Also,
as a strategy, Amul has a customer feedback channel which uses e-
mail like cheese@amul.com for cheese products and
butter@amul.com for butter products.

In addition, the organisation’s corporate intranet site contains all the


company’s updates including policies, procedures, functional role and
responsibilities of each person in the organisation. Another example
that puts Amul in a league of its own, is its recruitment policy. For
instance, for any new requirement in different functional areas,
candidates have to compulsorily undergo a computer literacy test,
where the minimum passing mark is 80 percent. Explains Vyas, “Our
main emphasis is to increase competency at the end user level with the
help of IT. All our employees have undergone computer training
according to the departmental needs so that they can take charge of
their responsibilities in an effective way at the respective supply
points.”

Amul’s success in leveraging IT to its advantage lies in the simple fact


that the organisation has a clear IT vision. For example, after a top-
level domain co-operative was made available, Amul embraced it with
gusto. Hegde says that by developing the ‘Amul.coop’ Web portal, the
organisation will be in a position to communicate with other similar
co-operative movements. As co-operatives can interact with each
other with similar organisations sharing this domain, knowledge can
be shared on a pro-active basis, which can lead to further productivity
benefits.

25
Amul Brand

While it has always been argued that investments related to


information technology made in rural India are a disaster, the case of
Amul proves that where there is a will, there is a way. From catchy
billboards to being a e-commerce success story, Amul is truly
rural India’s flag-bearer in the IT revolution.

26
Amul Brand

FMCG majors bet big on go-to-market strategy


By Lalitha Srinivasan

Go-to-market strategy seems to be the new mantra for the FMCG majors. To
drive volumes in the competitive markets, the FMCG players are expanding
their retail models.

To begin with, Dabur (DABUR.NS : 98.95 -1.4) is expanding its retail model
New u stores from 16 to 50 in this fiscal. Marico (MARICO.NS : 127.85 +0.65)
is also evaluating further expansion of its retail brand MERA Stores across the
country. Yet another FMCG major, ITC Personal Care is aggressively selling its
premium personal care range Fiama Di Wills and Essenza Di Wills at ITC's
retail model Wills Lifestyle stores.

Enthused by the response to its retail brand Amul Parlour, Gujarat Cooperative
Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMFL) is adding 2,500 outlets to its existing
4,500 to woo consumers. "After seeing the success of FMCG companies' retail
models, many players will soon jump on to the band wagon to sell their brands
directly to consumers," said a Mumbai-based industry analyst.

On Marico's retail model, the company's head of sales B Sridhar said the
company has segmented the entire retail space into five segments namely,
modern trade, wholesale, key outlets (MERA stores), chemists and cosmetics.
"MERA store is one such segment. Marico commenced this a few years ago.
We have currently identified such key outlets (MERA) in about 30 cities. We
will evaluate further expansion based on business needs," he added.

According to Dabur India group director PD Narang, the company currently has
16 'New u' stores operational across Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Bangalore and
Hyderabad. "We plan to up the number of stores to 50 by the end of the current
fiscal," he said. At present, 'New u ' operates primarily in the beauty products
retail market in India. In addition to selling Dabur India's brands, the store also
stocks products from HUL, P&G and L'Oreal among others.

On the company's retail brand strategy, ITC Personal Care CEO Sandip Kaul
said, "We are selling our premium skin care range Fiama Di Wills and Essneza

27
Amul Brand

Di Wills in our retail store Wills LifeStyle across the country and this strategy
has worked well for us."

RS Sodhi, general manager, GCMFL said the company's retail brand 'Amul
Parlour' has built the Amul brand stronger and has also brought in volumes.
"We are adding on 2,000 Amul Parlours this fiscal. . We have a plan of creating
10,000 Amul Parlours by 2012," he said. At present, Amul has 5000 Amul
Parlours and 400 Scooping Parlours in India. According to industry sources,
FMCG majors Emami and Rasna are also gearing up to foray into the retail
arena, armed with different retail models. There are many FMCG majors who
are looking for alliances with traditional stores to foray into the organised
retailing arena in India.

28
Amul Brand

29
Amul Brand

Amul’s Products

Bread Spreads
Amul Butter Amul Lite
Utterly Butterly Delicious Low fat, low Cholesterol
Bread Spread

Delicious Table Margarine


The Delicious way to eat
healthy

Milk Drinks
Amul Kool Millk Shaake Amul Kool

Amul Kool Cafe Kool Koko


A delight to Chocolate
Lovers. Delicious
Chocolate taste

Nutramul Energy Drink Amul Kool Chocolate Milk


A drink for Kids -
provides energy to suit the
needs of growing Kids

30
Amul Brand

Amul Kool Flavoured Bottled Milk Amul Kool Flavoured Tetra Pack

Amul Masti Spiced Buttermilk Amul Kool Thandai


Amul introduces the Best
Thirst Quenching Drink

Powder Milk
Amul Spray Infant Milk Food Amul Instant Full Cream Milk Powder
Still, Mother's Milk is Best A dairy in your home
for your baby

Sagar Skimmed Milk Powder Sagar Tea Coffee Whitener


Which is especially useful
for diet preparations or for
use by people on low calorie
and high protein diet.

Amulya Dairy Whitener


   
The Richest, Purest Dairy
Whitener

Fresh Milk
Amul Fresh Milk Amul Gold Milk
This is the most hygienic
milk available in the market.
Pasteurised in state-of-the-
art processing plants and
pouch-packed for
convenience.

31
Amul Brand

Amul Taaza Double Toned Milk Amul Lite Slim and Trim Milk

Amul Fresh Cream Amul Shakti Toned Milk

Amul Calci+

Cheese
Amul Pasteurised Processed Cheese Amul Cheese Spreads
100% Vegetarian Cheese Tasty Cheese Spreads in 3
made from microbial rennet great flavours..

Amul Emmental Cheese Amul Pizza Mozzarella Cheese


The Great Swiss Cheese Pizza cheese...makes great
from Amul, has a sweet-dry tasting pizzas!
flavour and hazelnut aroma

Gouda Cheese

   

For Cooking

32
Amul Brand

Amul / Sagar Pure Ghee Cooking Butter


Made from fresh cream.
Has typical rich aroma and
granular texture. An ethnic
product made by dairies
with decades of
experience.

Amul Malai Paneer Utterly Delicious Pizza


Ready to cook paneer to
make your favourite
recipes!

Mithai Mate Masti Dahi


Sweetened Condensed
Milk - Free flowing and
smooth texture. White to
creamy color with a
pleasant taste.

Desserts
Amul Ice Creams Amul Shrikhand
Premium Ice Cream made A delicious treat,
in various varieties and anytime.
flavours with dry fruits
and nuts.

Amul Mithaee Gulab Jamuns Amul Chocolates


Pure Khoya Gulab The perfect gift for
Jamums...best served someone you love.
piping hot.

33
Amul Brand

Amul Lassee Amul Basundi

Health Drink
Nutramul Amul Shakti Health Food Drink
Malted Milk Food made Available in Kesar-
from malt extract has the Almond and Chocolate
highest protein content flavours.
among all the brown
beverage powders sold
in India.

34
Amul Brand

Key information related to Amul’s Products :


Butter
Launched in 1955, butter was one of the first milk products offered by Amul. It
was also the first time Amul successfully challenged the hegemony of an
established brand. Amul's earliest competitor, Polson had been the monopoly
milk supplier to the Bombay Milk Scheme. Amul displaced Polson to emerge as
the undisputed leader in the butter market...

Cheese
GCMMF launched processed cheese in 1959 followed by cheese powder in the
early 1970s. In the 1980s the popularity of cheese increased

Ghee, Skimmed milk powder and Baby food


Amul launched ghee (clarified butter) and skimmed milk powder in 1955. Amul
Ghee was an instant success...

Milk and UHT Milk


Amul was the market leader in the Gujarat whole milk market with a 90%
market share in 2002. Apart from supplying milk to parts of Maharashtra and
Rajasthan, GCMMF also sold milk to the NDDB owned Mother Dairy in
Delhi...

As we can see from the products shown above there is :

 There is product consistency in the product line of Amul as all its


products are milk based.
 Amul deals only in consumer goods and not in industrial goods or any
other sector.
 In 2001, GCMMF entered the fast food market in India with the launch of
vegetable pizzas under the brand name SnowCap in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
GCMMF was also planning to launch its pizzas in other western Indian
cities like Mumbai, Surat, and Baroda. Depending on the response in
these cities, GCMMF would decide to introduce its pizzas in other cities
in India.Amul also decided to bring into market low cost pizzas, The
pizzas were offered in four flavours: plain tomato-onion-capsicum, fruit
pizza (pineapple-topped), mushroom and ‘Jain pizzas'(pizzas without
onion or garlic). It entered the Pizza business, where the base and the
recipes were made available to restaurant owners who could price it as
low as 30 rupees per pizza when the other players were charging upwards

35
Amul Brand

of 100 rupee.supplying jain pizzas shows that it was catering to needs of


the masses as in India most of the people are vegetarian.
 SOUPS
Amul introduced ready-to-use (just pour and heat) soups branded ‘Masti’
in tetra packs of one liter. To begin with they were introduced in two
flavors - Hot ‘n’ Sour and Tomato. Said Sodhi, “It was a test marketing
drive in Gujarat and in a month or two it would be introduced all over
India.” And there wasn’t much competition for there were not many
companies in India that sold ready-to-use soups.
Sodhi added, “Soup is a milk product and that’s a secret. You will come
to know only when you consume it.” Keeping the ingredients a closely
guarded secret, the company stated that one of the reasons to launch
soups was to utilize the already installed equipment for tetra packaging
 Amul also brought its range of ice creams into the market . the
lucrativeness of this sector was very good and Amul beniffited a lot by
entering into ice cream sector.
 Amul is planning to enter into the sector of bottled water.

36
Amul Brand

Amul Scooping Parlours

Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), custodian of the


Amul brand is India's largest food products marketing organisation. With its
wide product portfolio GCMMF today has a turnover in excess of Rs. 6700 Cr.
With a singular focus on marketing and distribution, GCMMF today reaches
consumers in all parts of the country.
A state level apex body of milk co-operatives in Gujarat, it has been an
endeavour of GCMMF to provide remunerative returns to the farmers and also
serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products which are good
value for money.
India a booming ice cream market up for grabs

Today ice creams are equally popular among children and grown-
ups. Eating ice creams have become an occasion for celebration. In India alone,
the organised ice cream industry has a turnover of around Rs. 1000 Cr. and the
market is witnessing a booming growth rate of 12-15% annually.
Per capita consumption of ice creams in India is around 250 ml compared to 23
litres in the US, 18 litres in Australia, 14 litres in Sweden and 800 ml even in
neighbouring Pakistan. This presents a huge opportunity for organised players
in the ice cream industry.

Amul - The leader in Ice Creams


Since its launch in 1996, Amul Ice Creams have consistently combated
competition like Kwality Walls, Mother Dairy and other brands. The customers
have shown huge faith in the quality of Amul Ice Creams and today it’s the No.
1 ice cream brand of the country.
Nearly 4 times as large as its nearest competitor, it is now the only national
brand. Amul has been able to write such a success story because of the quality
of its products, economic pricing and the belief consumers have in the brand.

37
Amul Brand

Amul Ice Creams - Melting point for taste buds

While growing at a phenomenal pace, Amul has always taken


care to offer delectable flavours to all age groups across the society. Over the
years, Amul has added diverse flavours to its range of ice creams so that one
can have variety of choices.
Amul offers a selection of almost 220 products with flavours ranging from
exotic Honey Banana to Kesar Pista and many more. Apart from the delicious
individual novelties Amul also has ice creams for the health conscious. In
January 2007, Amul introduced Sugar Free & ProLife Probiotic Wellness Ice
Cream which was a first in India.
Amul Scooping Parlours

Seize the opportunity to partner with India’s leading Ice Cream


Brand Today people like to spend quality time with their family outside the
home. With increasing income they love to spoil themselves with a variety of
choices.
Keeping up with the latest trend Amul has started Ice Cream Scooping Parlours
across the country. One can enjoy world class ice creams, Sundaes, shakes and
other ice cream concoctions in a cozy and nice ambience at these parlors. It’s
fun time for the entire family.
Currently Amul has Scooping Parlours across the country including Mumbai,
Chennai, Delhi, Bangaluru, Thane, Pune, Kolkata, Nagpur, Ahmedabad and
Coimbatore. Apart from these, there are more Amul Scooping Parlours coming
up in different parts of the country.
These Parlours have been well received by customers and are doing upbeat
business.

38
Amul Brand

Some of the recipes on offer at these Parlours are:

Simply Delicious Ice Cream Scoops


Double and Triple Sundaes
Double Swirl/Magic Swirl
Thick Shakes
Amul Kool Drinks

The recipes on offer at these Scooping Parlours are designed by Amul. The
maximum retail price of the products is pre-determined by Amul. The
disposables and consumables are also standardized by Amul and supplied by
parties approved by Amul.

Amul, now offers an excellent business opportunity to entrepreneurs who can


become franchisees of the Amul Scooping Parlours and be a part of the growing
ice cream industry with India’s most popular brand. You can earn extremely
attractive returns even with a relatively moderate investment.

39
Amul Brand

Amul’s turnover doubles in 3 years


Virendra Pandit | 2009-04-03 10:21:19

Anand: Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF), the


apex cooperative organisation marketing the Amul brand of milk products, has
registered a quantum growth of 28 per cent to reach a record Also see
This is an increase of nearly Rs. 1,450 crore in absolute terms over the previous
year. GCMMF’s turnover has almost doubled in the last three years.

Group turnover
The unduplicated group turnover of GCMMF and its 13 dairy cooperatives has
touched the Rs 10,000-crore mark, an official said.

Amul to bring smile back to vanilla farmers


GCMMF is now targeting to achieve the turnover of Rs 8,000 crore
in the new fiscal.

With its quality products and fair pricing, at a time when the economy is
witnessing recessionary trends, GCMMF has proved that businesses engaging
in the upliftment of the farmers and keeping consumers at the centre will
continue to grow and benefit both these stakeholders.
Amul to use only natural vanilla in its ice-cream

Stakeholders
It is these stakeholders who have turned Amul into the largest milk brand of
Asia, he said.

GCMMF’s growth has come from all its major products.

40
Amul Brand

WHAT ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY HAS BEEN


FOLLOWED BY AMUL-THE TASTE OF INDIA?

Before Amul entered the picture, companies used conventional methods of


advertising where the focus was only on the food products and the tone of the pitch
was serious. Amul changed the way food products were communicated to the people
in India. It always advertised its mother brand – Amul, and not its products like
butter, pizzas, or cheese. It all began in 1966 when Sylvester daCunha, then the
managing director of the advertising agency, ASP, clinched the account for Amul
butter. The butter, which had been launched in 1945, had a staid, boring image,
primarily because the earlier advertising agency which was in charge of the account
preferred to stick to routine, corporate ads. The year Sylvester daCunha took over
the account, the country saw the birth of a campaign whose charm has endured fickle
public opinion, gimmickry and all else.

Amul has been consistant over the communication campaign and brand
strategy. AMUL has positioned itself as " Taste of India " and have ensured that
their communication is in line with their positioning strategy
By insisting on an umbrella brand, GCMMF not only skillfully avoided inter-
union conflicts but also created an opportunity for the union members to
cooperate in developing products

 UMBRELLA BRANDING Amul’s advertising strategy has followed the concept


of ‘Umbrella Branding.’ Amul is the common brand name for most of its products
across categories. For instance, the Amul girl has also been used to advertise Amul
ghee and milk. Its ad campaign ‘Amul doodh peeta hai India,’ conceptualised &
created by FCB-Ulka, was drafted to proclaim its leadership position and was
targeted at people across all income categories. The corporate campaign – The
Taste of India caters to people belonging to all walks of life & across cultures. It is
circled around a one day old child who needs milk as much as to a dead man who
needs ghee. Umbrella branding can be a successful marketing strategy. However,
this depends on having a consistent and clear brand identity across the variants. It
also needs to be recognized that, while this approach can help “kick start” variant
launches, halo effects are not guaranteed.

41
Amul Brand

Amul introduces dairy products for the calorie conscious

For the calorie conscious and the weight conscious users of dairy products
there is some good news from the topmost brand in Indian dairy products
—‘Amul.’ Its recent introductions include ‘Amul Lite’ –a low-calorie bread
spread and ‘Amul Lite and Trim Milk’—a long life skimmed milk with zero fat
content.
‘Amul Lite’—low-fat, low-calorie and low-cholesterol bread spread—is a
healthier substitute for other bread spreads such as butter and margarine which
have at least 26% more fat and calorie content.
The total fat content in ‘Amul Lite’ is 59% as compared to 80% in butter
and margarine. And, the calorie content in 100 grams of ‘Amul Lite’ is 531 as
compared to 720 calories in butter and margarine of equal quantity.
Being a low-fat, low-cholesterol bread spread, ‘Amul Lite’ is particularly
suited to those for whom consumption of high cholesterol and high saturated fat
products are restricted.
Its low-fat and low-cholesterol content reduces chances of heart ailments as
it is low on saturated fat and high on PUFA, Omega-3 and Omega-6 fat contents
which help to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.
It is further fortified with Vitamin A and Vitamin D which help to improve
vision and healthy skin.
For a start, ‘Amul Lite’ has been introduced in 200gms plastic containers
which cost Rs.32.00 each. The shelf life of “Amul Lite’ is six months under
refrigerated conditions. ‘Amul Lite’ is produced in ISO-9000 certified fully-
automated plant under strict hygienic conditions and it carries the AGMARK
quality certification.
‘Amul Lite Slim and Trim Milk’ is a fresh, long life skimmed milk
processed with Ultra High Temperature (UHT) technology which does not
involve use of any preservatives.
The UHT technology preserves maximum flavour, taste and nutritional
value of milk simultaneously ensuring zero microbial activation.
Protected from air and light through aseptic packaging system, ‘Amul Lite
Slim and Trim Milk’ offers a shelf life of 6 months without refrigeration.
‘Amul Lite Slim and Trim Milk’ is rich in proteins, vitamins and minerals
of natural milk with zero fat and cholesterol content.
It is available in 1 liter, 500ml and 200ml tetra packs.
‘Amul’ is the brand name of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing
Federation Limited (GCMMF) which revolutionized the production and
distribution of diary products in India and became a model for development of
dairy cooperatives in India.

42
Amul Brand

The brand name has become so popular that today the cooperative is
recognized by its brand name. According to data provided by the cooperative,
the ‘Amul’ milk processing plants have a handling capacity of 10.16 million
liters per day and the turnover of the cooperative for the year 2006-2007 was
42,778 million rupees or 1,050 million US dollars.
‘Amul’ has an amazing range of dairy products which include butter, bread
spread, a variety of cheese, sweets, fresh milk, fresh cream, ghee (clarified
butter), infant milk and milk food, milk powder, condensed milk, diary
whiteners, curd products, ice creams, chocolates, malted milk food (brown
beverage), flavoured milk, cold coffee and health beverage.
‘Amul’ is the largest exporter of Indian dairy products with a ‘Trading
House’ status. It exports ghee, butter, curd products, sweets, brown beverage,
infant milk food, cheese, malai paneer and long life milk and fresh cream to the
United States of America, gulf countries and Singapore.
Recently, ‘Amul’ embarked on a direct retailing venture by creating ‘Amul
Utterly Delicious’ parlours in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda, Delhi, Mumbai
and Surat.

43
Amul Brand

New marketing strategies by Amul milk and Tata tea


making waves
Two ‘first-evers’ have arrived on the market. ‘Long life’ milk and instant tea.
Both represents a landmark in Indian food technology.
Amul milk stays fresh for 15 days in 3-layer tetra-packs. Needing no
refrigeration (till opened), it is retailed from Bombay commercial shops by-
passing government booths, rationcards, queues and outlandish timings.
Amul 1/1 milk contains 6 per cent fat and sells at Rs. 6 a litre. Compared to this
government distributes 6 per cent full cream milk (Rs. 6 a litre), and 4.5 per
cent standardized milk (Rs. 4.60 a litre).
Bombay’s milk consumption is around 18 lakh litres a day. Worli dairy
provides around 12 million litres (66 per cent) while private sources supply the
rest. Milk has always been in short supply and thousands of applications
languished for years on end in the waiting lists of government-run Worli dairy.
The under-supplied Bombayite has been compelled to turn to the private
market, constituted largely of medium to small ‘bhayya’ cattle owners.
Privately produced milk is often water-diluted and always unpasteurized.
Amul milk, therefore, appears destined for stardom. Prime in quality and
available at convenient outlets all hours of the day, it would seem the answer to
a prayer. But a piquant marketing situation arose just a few days before it was
launched when the Maharashtra government announced that rationing was over
and consumers could have all the milk they wanted from official booths. This
undoubtedly throws Amul on its marketing mettle. The renowned cooperative
will have to fight for market share and devise strategies to get Bombay
households to consume its milk. Ironically, Amul is delighted to encounter this
opposition, since it has been fathered by Operation Flood of which Amul is a
close relative. Indeed V. Kurien’s Operation Flood programmes have stimulated
areas of dairying plenty in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon, Dhulia and other nuclei.
Whatever the outcome of the forthcoming milk marketing contest, the
Bombayite stands to be the fortunate beneficiary. Bombay’s present milk
bonanza is a living demonstration of the success of Operation Flood. It’s an
eloquent rebuttal to those isolated sceptics who continue to suggest that
Operation Flood has increased the country’s reliance on imported milk powder.
The milk now pouring into Bombay is the produce of the Indian farmer helped
along by Operation Flood. Among the things that ‘Flood’ has done is to place
dairying on a sound cooperative footing; ensure a higher price to the rural
producer and consequently induce him to produce more milk; provide better
strains of higher yielding cattle; make available artificial insemination and
technical professionals to man the cooperative at the service of the member
farmers.

44
Amul Brand

Hey prestea!
Instant convenience has been developed in India by Tata tea. Bottled in powder
form under the label ‘Brim’, the new tea is being test marketed in Hyderabad.
Reports indicate that the brew is well accepted and appears poised for a national
roll-out. The domestic tea market has been experiencing some interesting
changes in the last few years. For one, the loose tea segment is growing faster
than the packet. Something like 73 per cent of the 350 million kg. annual
domestic market is purchased loose. Paradoxically, loose tea is not necessarily
cheaper than packet. In many cases high-grade loose teas cost more than
packeted medium grades.
To revert to instant tea, it remains to be seen how large a market does exist for
this form of beverage. Tea bags, another convenience version, reportedly have
not caused a storm. Where instant ‘cha’ may score is in eliminating any left-
overs-wet leaves or soggy bags. It’s an economical way for an individual to
brew up a single cup at the whisk of a spoon. Of particular appeal to bachelors,
office-goers and students in hostels.

45
Amul Brand

Video of utterly butterly delicious


Halo effects can keep a brand “alive” in the mind of the consumer by providing
reminders of the brand’s existence. But in an active category with specific
category functionality, the brand also needs to provide consumers with reasons
to choose their brand over the others.Halo effects on the parent brand

Consumer Advertising: This is also called end product advertising .such


advertisements are primarily directed at consumers. These are the
advertisements which are most prominent as very substantial portion of the total
advertising budget is directed to potential buyers of consumer products through
mass media. The fact that the number of buyers of consumer items are generally
very large and are widely distributed over a large geographically area further ,
enhances the importance of consumer advertising as a marketing tool. Amul had
resorted to consumer advertising as it ‘s target was the middle class of indian
sector.but the point to be noted is that they relied more upon emphasizing their
brand rather than single product.

Institutional advertising: institution advertising s also called corporate


advertising . it’s a public-relation-approach advertising. Amul had wanted to
build a goodwill for its brand and also it is always expressing a viewpoint on a
controversial issue through the use of billboard which we are going to discuss
under media platform used.
Indirect Action Advertising : Indirect action advertising as against direct action
advertising does not attempt to bring about an immediate behavioral response .
The purpose of Amul was not to bring about an immediate behavioral response
but the aim of advertisements was to create a image in the minds of consumer
regarding Amul. Amul wanted to build long term relation with its customers
that is why it never adopted practice of aggresively selling the product.

Pricing strategy adopted: Thus, AMUL adopted a low price strategy to make their
products affordable and guarantee value to the consumer. The success of this
strategy is well recognized and remains the main plank of AMUL's strategy even
today. The choice of product mix and the sequence in which AMUL introduced its
products is consistent with this philosophy. Beginning with liquid milk, the product
mix was enhanced slowly by progressive addition of higher value products while
maintaining desired growth in existing products. Even today, while competing in the
market for high value dairy products, GCMMF ensures that adequate supplies of low
value products are maintained. Amul was/is targeting middleclass people so it has
always been inclined to keep its price low and at same time it assures of reasonable
quality.
46
Amul Brand

Huge ad campaigns are not always necessary, what you need is a genuinely
interesting way to interact with your customers, tell them your story and
engage them in a conversation, even if you are selling something that is soo
commoditized like butter. Thus Amul believed that huge expenditure on
advertising was not always necessary , if an Advertisement has creativity and
ingenuity it will achieve its purpose for which it has been designed.

Outdoor Advertising through Mascot Advertising


Is there anyone in this country who hasn't seen the Amul ads on the hoardings
by the road sides, and not chuckled? The longest running ad, still hasn't lost its
charm with its never-changing famous moppet in polka dotted frock and a half
pony tied up.

The slogan has always been 'Utterly Butterly delicious'. What is it about the
Amul ad that has kept the viewers wanting more? The biggest success seems to
be like that of the Common Man, no particular time or period could have frozen this
character. It does not belong to an era. It has moved along with time reacting to
the new events through time

The answer to the second question is mascot advertising which has been
used by Amul like a marketing tool to carve a niche for its brand.

 Mascot Advertising is a very successful concept which is being used in western


countries but it is not that successful in India. Amul had taken a gamble with
its Polks dot blue haired frock girl and it has paid them rich dividends.

 50 years after it was first launched, Amul's sale figures have jumped from 1000
tonnes a year in 1966 to over 25,000 tonnes a year in 1997. No other brand
comes even close to it. All because a thumb-sized girl climbed on to the
hoardings and put a spell on the masses.

 These advertisements had sometimes met up with controversies but still people liked
the ;pun element in them.
 The success story of Amul says one thing to all the other ad campaigns that did not
manage to last too long or had to get a whole new look in order to stay in the
market. Its a mixture of keeping with the times, humor and understanding the need
of the hour of the people. Amul boardings are a thing of attractions in India.
 In India, food was something one couldn't afford to fool around with. It had been
taken too seriously, for too long. Sylvester daCunha decided it was time for a

47
Amul Brand

change of image. The image changeover was required because the earlier
advertisements were very routine and boring .
 This use of mascot as a marketing medium highlights the clever use of topical
advertising by GCMMF using humor, to generate higher brand recall. It out the
utility of hoardings as an effective marketing communications tool for marketers.
 Where does Amul's magic actually lie? Many believe that the charm lies in the
catchy lines. That we laugh because the humour is what anybody would enjoy.
They don't pander to your nationality or certain sentiments. It is pure and simple,
everyday fun.
 The Amul girl who lends herself so completely to Amul butter, created as a rival to
the Polson butter girl. This one was sexy, village belle, clothed in a tantalising
choli all but covering her upper regions. "Eustace Fernandez (the art director) and
Sylvester daCunha decided that they needed a girl who would worm her way into a
housewife's heart. And who better than a little girl?".And so it came about that the
famous Amul Moppet was born.
 Amul ads are iconic, in that they have not changed in all this time. They are as
contemporary today as they were four decades ago when they created a sensation
in 1967. The ads were funny, simple and on occasion controversial but always they
did their job – they got our attention!! Amul has used the hoardings and
advertising to perfection. Taking cues from new films, celebrities, the creatives are
fun to watch. More over Amul has sticked with the creative messages throughout

The Amul girl, apart from promoting a $1-billion brand, has been bringing
smiles to millions. And this smile has spelt a huge success and changed the
livelihood of over 2.5 million Gujarat farmers. The sales figures of Amul
butter have jumped from a few lakh rupees in 1966 to over Rs 500 crore
now. Apart from rapid growth and trustworthiness, the four-year-old girl
has also ensured a virtual monopoly for Gujarat Cooperative Milk
Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) that sells Amul brand of dairy
products.

 This tells a lot about why big marketing budgets, huge ad campaigns are
not always necessary, what you need is a genuinely interesting way to
interact with your customers, tell them your story and engage them in a
conversation, even if you are selling something that is soo commoditized
like butter.

48
Amul Brand

Media Platform Used by Amul ?


Media Planning : It is important phase of advertising campaign after creative
strategy that is preparation of the right message. Until and unless , the
message is communicated through the right medium to target customers the
target is of no use .
Amul was also facing the challenge of which advertising media to adopt
which should integrate with its objectives which were :

AMUL’s business strategy is driven by its twin objectives of:

(i) long-term, sustainable growth to its member farmers, and

(ii) value proposition to a large customer base by providing milk and other
dairy products a low price

Amul has made the use of following media platforms till know :

1. Outdoor media : hoardings/billboards


2. Broadcast Media : television
3. Non-broadcast Media : cinema
4. Print media : newspapers ,general interest magazines
5. Internet : independent websites ,portals

49
Amul Brand

OUTDOOR MEDIA : HOARDINGS

The cooperative has been making extensive use of hoardings for promoting its
flagship brand ‘Amul Butter’ since 1966, and is all set to enter the Guinness
Book of World Records for the longest run promotion campaign. The
advertisements are in the outdoors category and are communicated through
hoardings at busy junctions in all major cities across India.Amul had used
outdoor advertising to a good effect with the middle class people as their targets
they were able to create an image for their brand in the minds of consumer .

The ads have a central character – a cherubic, wide-eyed, dressed in a polka-dot


frock, and blue-haired girl/baby who is perhaps around 4-6 years old. A new ad
is apparently created every week and these ads revolve around the latest
happening thing (good/bad/ugly) in the country (or local states) and can be
anything associated with politics/sports/movies/people/laws/general events etc.
The ads are very creative, witty, humorous, whacky and sometimes
controversial but invariably elicit a laugh, chuckle or at least a smile from
almost everyone who understands the context. The ads relate butter to the topic
of the ad in a very amazing & intriguing manner…primarily by playing with
words. The words can be in plain English or Hinglish. Mascot advertising
( will be dealt with just after this section)

Here are a few advertisements which appeared on


hoardings :

The polka dot frock and blue haired girl .

50
Amul Brand

This hoarding was released after the success of movie cheeni kum . the chef

in the movie is Amitabh Bachan and the girl alongside her is the girl whom

he calls her ‘sexy’. Amitabh Bchan is shown to be suffering from diabetes in


the movie as a result of which he should avoid sugar. Amul has used its
hoardings to bring the whole episode out by giving it a touch of humour.

51
Amul Brand

This hoarding was made after the release of the Shahrukh Khan starrer Om
Shanti Om . He was talk of the town and every teenager desired to have
body like him , this advertisement also adds to the pun.

Harbhajan Singh pet named Bhajji in a disgraceful act of slapping India


teammate S. Sreesanth in the opposite team after Indian Premier League cricket
match at Mohali, India - May '08

52
Amul Brand

Online Marketing Efforts Undertaken


a. Buying Amul Products Online : As a first step towards Ecommerce in
India, Amul is delighted to offer you the cyber shopping experience with a
wide range of Amul dairy products in all major cities of India. You can
order your favourite Amul Ice-cream at the new Amul Icecream
Cyberstore.The "Taste of India" is now a few clicks away from your
doorstep.

Amul Products can now be ordered online on the website of our


importer www.kanandairy.com

The key benefits of BUYING ON-LINE are:


 Products shipped in a Reusable Attractive Styrofoam Ice US $10.00
Retail Value.
 Receive Free Reusable Ice Pack for keeping food and drinks cold, US
$5.00 Retail Value.
 Amul Products delivered at your doorstep overnight, saves time,
mileage and parking hassles.
 Receive Amul promotional items with your package like Amul Recipe
Book, Butter Girl refrigerator magnet, etc.
 Receive the satisfaction of Eating pure, full-flavored, quality sealed
product manufactured fresh in India's most advanced dairy
manufacturing facility.
 Get a free family pass for visiting Amul's Dairy Plant in Anand
Gujarat.
 Special Offers for Party Orders of 1 or more cartons of any single
Amul Product. Ask for special quote.
 Makes you directly eligible to enroll for The Fly Me Home Contest
Sponsored By Amul and many more Internet Promotions in the
Pipeline.
 No Sales Tax for Internet Sales except for Illinois residents at the
Present time.
 Most important, all transactions are powered by AT&T Secure By
which ensure complete security.

53
Amul Brand

Amul to set up its virtual production facility in Second Life


Amul, which established its presence in Second Life in March by setting up its
virtual parlour, is now working to expand its presence in the virtual world.
Trimensions, a Gurgaon based company, is helping Amul to develop its existence
on Second Life. Rahul Dutta, chairman and managing director, Trimensions, says,
“Amul is planning to buy eight-10 islands, equal to 160 acres of virtual land, in
Second Life to set up a simulation of its production and distribution facility. The
objective behind launching a virtual setup is to demonstrate its functioning to the
consumers, and experiment with any change in the production or distribution
system virtually before executing it in the real world.”

Screenshot of Amul Ice-cream parlour

Setting up ice cream parlours on Second Life was actually a pilot project. It will
take around six months to launch the virtual Amul setup on Second Life. The Amul
ice cream parlours showcase topical ads of Amul starting from the late 1990s,
Amul TV commercials and product displays.

Second Life is an Internet enabled virtual world in which users can create their
virtual identities. These identities can move around, interact and socialise with
other users. Members of Second Life can participate in individual or group
activities and create and trade items like virtual property and services with each
other. A member has to pay for the space he purchases on Second Life. Second
Life is developed by Linden Lab, a company based in the US.

c. Amul.tv.com- It showcases short films and Tvc’s related to amul.at this site
recipes of favourite Indian dishes are also given.

54
Amul Brand

3.Broadcast media: Television

TV reaches every demographic category and achieves a certain impact with the
use of colour , audio and motion. Amul has aired a lot of advertisements for its
various product categories .some of the advertisements which we had collected
are here .

WHAT WENT WRONG IN AMUL’S ADVERTISEMENTS AND


WHERE POSSIBLY THEY COULD HAVE MADE A CHANGE
We are going to discuss this under two heads
 First we would focus on chocolate sector which has not been tapped to
fullest by Amul. Amul with its brand name had a huge opportunity to tap
Chocolate market but unfortunately it has not yet realised its potential.
 Secondly we are going to talk about pitfalls in advertisements in
generally all its advertisements.

What could have Amul done in its advertisements to make its


Chocolate sector profitable and competitive ?
 Amul should have use brand Ambassador like Sharukh Khan, Amitabh
Bachchan etc to attract people of all age groups like Cadbury does
through its celebrity endorsements.
 Lack of Awareness among consumers : Main product of Amul are Milk,
Butter and Cheese. It has pre dominantly been focusing on these products
and lucrative sector of chocolates has been ignored.
 Company should launch chocolates in a new attractive packaging to
change image of Amul chocolates in consumers mind.
 Products like Milk, Cheese etc have been positioned to such an extent
that the chocolates sector of Amul did not get its proper market share and
got underpositioned.
 Company should introduce Sales Promotion measures like free gifts with
buy of premium packs
 It should work upon bringing out a new theme for its products. “ for
someone you love “ looks more like a theme for cards and greetings
rather than chocolate.

55
Amul Brand

 It should work upon improving the taste of its chocolates . instead of


using condensed milk for its chocolates it should learn diffirent process
of making chocolate.
 It should make advertisements that have strong advertisement appeals.
The advertisement appeals should be such that they lead to brand recall.
 The company should make chocolate of Amul as a memorable experience
for the customer.

What can amul do to make its other advertisements more


attractive and appealing to consumers ?

 Advertisement should be made in such a manner that they have a strong


brand recall value
 They should have used more attractive jingles in their advertisements.
 Rather than advertisements covering all the products they should focus on
single product advertising. Because if it tries to advertise all its products
then it can lead to advertisement clutter . consumer may find it difficult to
across this advertisement clutter.
 As we can see the advertisements are not as humorous and are not having
pun to that extent as we can see in case of Hoardings.
 The advertisements lack the power to touch the heart of the consumer

56
Amul Brand

COMMUNICATION MIX USED ACROSS


We have already disussed the role of advertising in case of Amul , now we would
like to throw light upon :

 Sales promotion
 Direct marketing

Amul has not really been into personal selling because it’s aim has been to
position its brand and not to approach individual customers. Moreover in case of
consumer marketing that is when a product is for the masses then personal selling
is not a feasible mode ofcommunicating your product concept to the target
audience.

Sales Promotion : The most common objectives of sales promotion are :

To gain additional market share or additional revenue .


To expand the target market
To inform the customer about the new uses of existing product.
To develop favourable customer experience with the product.
To gain advantageous shelf-space to supplement advertising and personal selling
efforts.

Thus there can be numerous objectives of sales promotion .


In case of Amul following sales promotion techniques have been used
If a customer makes a online request for products he will receive the following
promotional offers :

They also cameup with short movie “THE AMUL STORY” of 20 mins to
promote and show the life of the employees working in amul and their networks.

Products shipped in a Reusable Attractive Styrofoam Ice US $10.00 Retail


Value.

Receive Free Reusable Ice Pack for keeping food and drinks cold, US $5.00
Retail Value.

Receive Amul promotional items with your package like Amul Recipe Book,
Butter Girl refrigerator magnet, etc.

Get a free family pass for visiting Amul's Dairy Plant in Anand Gujarat.

57
Amul Brand

Special Offers for Party Orders of 1 or more cartons of any single Amul
Product. Ask for special quote.

Makes you directly eligible to enroll for The Fly Me Home Contest Sponsored
By Amul and many more Internet Promotions in the Pipeline.

No Sales Tax for Internet Sales except for Illinois residents at the Present time.

These measures are concentrating on goods other than ice cream. The sales
promotion specifically adopted in case of ice creams sector:
1. On every 1 litre purchase of any Amul ice cream get 25% free.
2. 1+1 free Family/ Party pack.
3. This diwali they brought schemes of getting cache free with 1litre ice cream
which attracted many housewives.

58
Amul Brand

DIRECT MARKETING
Amul "Utterly Delicious" Parlours

Amul has recently entered into direct retailing through "Amul Utterly
Delicious" parlours created in major cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Baroda,
Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Surat. Amul has plans to create a large chain of
such outlets to be managed by franchisees throughout the country. They have
created Amul Parlours at some prominent locations in the country, which are
run by the company or its wholesale dealers:

1. Delhi Metro Rail Corporation


2. The Somnath Temple
3. National Institute of Design
4. Infosys Technologies in Bangalore, Mysore & Pune
5. Wipro campus in Bangalore
6. L.J. College, Ahmedabad
7. Ahmedabad Airport
8. Surat Municipal Corporation
9. Delhi Police
10.Gujarat State Raod Transport Corporation
11. Jubilee Mission Medical College, Trichur, Kerala
12. Sanjay Gandhi Hospital Parlour, Amethi
13. Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata
14. Cafe Amul, MDG, Gandhinagar

"Amul Utterly Delicious" parlours are an excellent business opportunity for


investors, shopkeepers and organizations. In order to come closer to the
customer, they have decided to create a model for retail outlets, which would
be known as "Amul Preferred Outlets"(APO).

59
Amul Brand

These Amul parlours are unique in the sense that they offer all Amul products
under one roof. This direct marketing mesure will surely go a long way in
establishing Amul further . even a brand like Cadburys isnot having any such
outlet where all its products are sold under one roof .

Competitor HLL is also planning to extend Unilever’s retail brand


‘Kwality Walls Swirls’ parlors in accordance with the growing number of shopping
malls in India.
Amul parlours There are around 3,000 Amul parlours across the country as of now
and the Federation intends to take this to number around 10,000 by next year.

Sponsorship of star voice of India


Amul had sponsored the very popular TV show Amul Star Voice Of
India

With the clutter of music reality talent hunt shows on television, it becomes
difficult to differentiate one from another. TALENT is the key which set
AMUL STAR VOICE OF INDIA apart from the rest in its first season and
brought singing talents like Ishmit Singh Sodhi, Harshit Saxena, Abhaas
Joshi, Irfan Khan, Toshi to the forefront. Amul Star Voice of India has served
as the ultimate platform for budding singers from across the nation to realize
their dreams, the show went on to become the most entertaining and involving
show to hit Indian television. In keeping with its philosophy of offering
engaging and distinct content, Star Plus now announces the launch of the
second series AMUL STAR VOICE OF INDIA with an even bigger bang!

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
GCMMF has a wide range of products in the processed cheese segment. It has
also been a pioneer in the specialty cheese market in the country. Its cheese
business grew at 18% in 2005-2006. GCMMF exports cheese to the tune of 600
tons, making it the largest cheese exporter in the country. The export market
includes the Middle East, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United States of
America; countries that have a large Indian population, and the neighbouring
countries of Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Nepal.

60
Amul Brand

Brand Story November 20, 2006


AMUL (Nov20-Nov27) by Group3 15-A

Amul was formally registered on December 14, 1946. The brand name Amul,
sourced from the Sanskrit word Amoolya, means priceless. It was suggested by
a quality control expert in Anand. Some cite the origin as an acronym to (Anand
Milk Union Limited).The Amul revolution was started as awareness among the
farmers. It grew and matured into a protest movement that was channeled
towards economic prosperity. Over five decades ago, the life of an average
farmer in Kheda District was very much like that of his/her counterpart
anywhere else in India. His/her income was derived almost entirely from
seasonal crops. The income from milk buffaloes was undependable. Private
traders and middlemen controlled the marketing and distribution system for the
milk. As milk is perishable, farmers were compelled to sell it for whatever they
were offered. Often, they had to sell cream and ghee at throw-away prices. In
this situation, the private trader made a killing. Gradually, the realization
dawned on the farmers that the exploitation by the trader could be checked only
if they marketed their milk themselves. Amul wasthe result of the realization
that they could pool up their milk and work as a cooperative.The Kaira District
Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Limited began pasteurizing milk for the
Bombay Milk Scheme in June 1948. By the end of 1948, more than 400 farmers
joined in more Village Society, and the quantity of milk handled by one
Union increased from 250 to 5,000 liters a day. The success of Amul was
instrumental in launching the White Revolution that resulted in increased milk
production in India. It is officially termed as Operation Flood by Amul. The
breakthrough technology of spray-dryingand processing buffalo milk,
developed by Mr. H.M. Dalaya, was one of the key factors that contributed to
the Revolution .Success of Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union
Limited and setting up of District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Unions, needed
a state-level organization for entire Gujarat. That lead to creation of Gujarat
Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).GCMMF is
India’s largest food products marketing organization. It is a state level apex
body of milk cooperatives in Gujarat, which aims to provide remunerative
returns to the farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing
quality products, which are good value for money. GCMMF markets and
manages the Amul brand. From mid-1990′s Amul has entered areas not related
directly to its core business. Its entry into ice cream was regarded as successful
due to the large market share it was able to capture within a short period of time
– primarily due to the price differential and the brand name. It also entered the
Pizza business, where the base and the recipes were made available to restaurant
owners who could price it as low as 30 rupees per pizza when the other players
were charging upwards of 100 rupees .Since 1967 Amul products’ mascot has

61
Amul Brand

been the very recognizable “Amul baby” (a chubby butter girl usually dressed
in polka dotted dress) showing up on hoardings and product wrappers with the
equally recognizable tagline Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul. The mascot was
first used for Amul butter. But in recent years in a second wave of ad campaign
for Amul products, she has also been used for other product like ghee and milk.
She is probably one of the most enduring mascots in the world. Amul has been
able to withstand the onslaught of private and foreign players in the dairy
industry and has also been able to export products in limited quantities. The
success of Amul resulted in similar organizations being setup by state
governments throughout
India, most of which had reasonable success. Examples are Vijaya in Andhra
Pradesh, Aavin in Tamil Nadu and others.Other co-operative rivals of Amul
include National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) (with its Mother Dairy
and Sugam brands). With Amul entering the sports drink market, its rivals now
include Coca Cola and PepsiCo.

62
Amul Brand

Requirements of franchisee
Brand Elements of the Scooping Parlour
Franchisee requires around 300 Sq. Ft. space at a premium location.
Air-conditioned parlour with toughened glass installation at the entrance
Wall claddings with Green Lam Laminates of fiesta colour (Saffron Hue)
Signature A made from stainless steel at the entrance
Neon sign with Amul in acrylic letters as per standard specifications
Interiors with vinyl posters & price list
POS with retailing software
Investment Required

An owned or a leased air-conditioned shop of 300 sq.ft. at a prominent location


Refundable Brand Deposit Rs. 100,000/-
Renovation & interiors Rs. 75,000/-
Equipment Rs. 150,000/-
Working Capital Rs. 25,000/-
Total Rs. 350,000/- *
* Approximate Figures

Equipments Required
Equipments Cost in Rs.
Scooping Cabinet with SS bowls 30,000
Waffle Cone Machine 13,000
Mixer/Grinder 3,000
Cone Holder/Toppings Tray for
placing Sauces, Nuts etc. 1,000
Visi-Coolers 28,000
Deep-Freezers - 2 Nos. 50,000
POS Machine 25,000
Total Cost 150,000

ROI - Indicative Statement


Total in Rs.
Sales (Value per month) 150,000
Gross Margins Earned 75,000
Less: Electricity 5,000
Less: Rentals 20,000
Less: Manpower 10,000
Net Profit per month 40,000

63
Amul Brand

Operation
The franchisees shall be supplied with pre-packed Amul Ice-Creams/Amul
products in different varieties and volumes as per their requirement through
authorized wholesale distributors. The franchisees shall purchase necessary
toppings, sauces and consumables from approved vendors/brands. The products
to be sold from these parlours would be as per the recipes and prices approved
by Amul.

Agreement
An agreement would be executed between the franchisee and GCMMF Ltd. as
per the standard draft finalized by GCMMF Ltd.

Testimonials
“Amul Scooping Parlours have been an extremely good business opportunity
for us.
The excellent sales have ensured a handsome return on our investment.”
Rashmi Sali and Anil Sali, D.N. Nagar, Mumbai.

The range on offer is delightful and competitively priced.


Thus customers have a wide variety to choose from and also get a very good
value for their money.
Dr. Suchak, Andheri (W), Mumbai.

64
Amul Brand

Amul Brand Marketing Strategy.

Brand Strategy Umbrella Brands.Amuls Strategy Of Using Umbrella Branding


Has Really Paid Off Amuls Moralist For Single Umbrella Branding Dropped
Their Single Umbrella Brand Strategy In read more about Brand Strategy
Umbrella Brands

New Marketing Strategies By Amul Milk And Tata Tea Making Waves .Indias
Introduction To Convenience Packs Started Through Two Food Products Milk
And Tea

AMULs Best Practices Umbrella Brand Strategy The GCMMF Skillfully


Avoids Interunion Conflicts Through This Strategy By Giving Every Union
And Subbrand The Opportunity To read more about Amul

Marketing Practice Amul The Taste Of India Utterly Delicious Too.What I Like
Most About The Amul Brand Is That They Have Been Consistant Over The
Communication Campaign And Brand Strategy AMUL Has Positioned Itself As
Taste Of India.

65
Amul Brand

Top Indian brands 2010 – Amul, Kingfisher, ICICI


Bank, SBI, Tata
By Manoj Govindassamy on 8 July, 2010, 12:53 pm

Research agency TNS recently conducted a study to find the best brands in Asia
Pacific region and The Top 1000 brands thus listed were almost same as last
year’s with only few Indian brands making entry into the top segment.

Random set of people were asked two questions in each of 12 major categories
pertaining to the best and second best brand that would come to the
respondent’s mind for a particular product/service category. The definition of
best was one the respondent would trust the most or the one that had the best
reputation in the product/service category.

Brands ranked accordingly for India region shows only one home brand in the
top 10 list and the rest all being MNCs. The Milk cooperative company Amul is
the sole Indian brand and the most popular brand in the FMCG sector. Also,
Amul is ranked the No.1 dairy brand not just in India but across the Asia Pacific
region and competing with brands like Dumex, Walls, Anchor, Magnolia,
Kraft, Dutch Lady, etc..

Top India Brands – 2010

1. Sony
2. LG
3. Samsung
4. Amul (#73 in the Top 1000 brands list)
5. Google (also most discussed technology brand in India)

Top India Brands – 2009

1. Sony
2. LG
3. Samsung
4. Amul (#83 in the Top 1000 brands list)
5. Hewlett-Packard

66
Amul Brand

Restrictions on billboards pushes the brand to explore


digital media:
Riding on eye-catching hoardings painted with smart ‘Utterly Butterly
Delicious Amul’ spoofs, the table butter brand from Gujarat Cooperative
Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) has grown to capture 86 per cent
share of the market. Chief General Manager at GCMMF says that its Outdoor
campaigns have helped boost sales.
Amul’s communication strategy has been consistently executed for more than
40 years. Though table butter is not an ethnic Indian dairy product, they have
single-handedly managed to build the category that is growing on the strength
of their marketing efforts. The Indian branded butter market is estimated at Rs
700-800 crore, growing at five per cent a year.
But now diminishing billboard sites seem to be posing a challenge for the brand
built through the Outdoor Hoardings which are banned in Chennai and with
Commonwealth Games round the corner, even Delhi is likely to impose mores
restrictions on billboards. One independent brand consultant feels that Amul has
already compromised on visibility. It’s presence in print has shrunk and today
Amul is all about point-of-purchase advertising. Chlorophyll co-founder points
out that the Amul campaign is restricted to urban audiences. Most of its ideas
work best for those who understand English.
To stay visible, the company is re-jigging Amul’s media plans. In Delhi and
Chennai, they have shifted the topical campaigns to print. But to be seen where
it matters, Amul is experimenting with digital media. It has entered Second Life
(an Internet-enabled virtual world in which users can create their virtual
identities) by setting up its virtual parlor. The Amul parlors showcase its ads
beginning from the late 1990s.
They are exploring new concepts and ideas on how to take the venture forward.
Ultimately, they may attempt to replicate the entire Amul co-operative model in
Second Life, including the plant and manufacturing process. Trimensions, a
Gurgaon based company has helped Amul get on to the virtual world.
The brand has increased its below-the-line activities too. Every year, it gives
scholarships (Amul Vidya Shree and Amul Vidya Bhushan awards to X and XII
class students respectively) to deserving candidates in 10,000 schools across
India. There is Amul food festival, too, which is held between October and
December every year in about 50,000 retail outlets.
Not surprisingly, Rahul daCunha, creative director, daCunha Associates (full-
service agency for Amul), sees no threat to Amul’s visibility. Amul messages
will never run the risk of losing visibility. True there are hoarding bans in Delhi
and Chennai, but the Internet and press have compensated. They are about to
launch a major television campaign. Many modern techniques are around the
corner to get their messages through to audiences.

67
Amul Brand

The agency has been handling the campaign since its promoter Sylvester
daCunha bagged the account in 1966. All the credit for the brand’s tag line
‘Utterly Butterly Delicious Amul’, the moppet and the yummy spoofs goes to
daCunha. The brand (not just butter) spends less than per cent of its total
turnover on advertising.

Planning ahead to win:


The creative process is a process. It takes a while for the brief to sink in and for
all the obvious ideas to be flushed out of the system. It is only after that do the
really interesting ideas begin to come your way and make your acquaintance.
‘Hi there stranger, my name is Zoozoo’.
We don’t say this because that’s just good for the creative, but because it is also
good business. How many business owners you know will risk Rs 10 crore, or
whatever your media budget is, on a few hours of thinking? Steve Hayden, the
man who wrote the commercial of the century, once told you have to write at
least twenty scripts to get a couple of good ones..
Looks like, the marketing community has had an infestation of Zoozoos. Clients
are loudly wondering why their agencies can’t bring them such breakthrough
ideas maybe they need added motivation in the form of a reduction in fees.
Meanwhile, consumers of every stripe love the zany critters, unmindful of the
deep introspection going on in the hallowed halls of marketing.
Let’s go over the statistics for the Zoozoo campaign. Six months: They started
designing and crafting the characters six months ago. Most of that time, they
didn’t know if they even had an idea to build on. The next number is three.
That’s how much pre-production time Nirvana Films took to figure out how to
shoot the commercials.
Zoozoos happened because both the client and the agency planned way ahead.
They kept at it, through everything. Then when they saw they had a winner they
put their all behind it. –

68
Amul Brand

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation


GCMMF: An Overview

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is India's largest


food products marketing organisation. It is a state level apex body of milk
cooperatives in Gujarat which aims to provide remunerative returns to the
farmers and also serve the interest of consumers by providing quality products
which are good value for money.

CRISIL, India's leading Ratings, Research, Risk and Policy Advisory company,
has assigned its highest ratings of "AAA/Stable/P1+" to the various bank
facilities of GCMMF.Members:13 district cooperative milk producers' Union

No. of Producer Members: 2.9 million


No. of Village Societies: 15,322
Total Milk handling capacity: 13.07 million litres per day
Milk collection (Total - 2009-10): 3.32 billion litres
Milk collection (Daily Average 2009-10): 9.10 million litres
Milk Drying Capacity: 647 Mts. per day
Cattlefeed manufacturing Capacity: 3740 Mts per day

69
Amul Brand

Sales Turnover Rs (million) US $ (in million)

1994-95 11140355
1995-96 13790400
1996-97 15540450
1997-98 18840455
1998-99 22192493
1999-00 22185493
2000-01 22588500
2001-02 23365500
2002-03 27457575
2003-04 28941616
2004-05 29225672
2005-06 37736850
2006-07 427781050
2007-08 525541325
2008-09 671131504
2009-10 800531700

70
Amul Brand

Amul vs. Nestle vs. Mother Dairy: Indian Grown Dairy Products
Difference between Amul, Nestle and Mother Dairy
India has the largest and fastest milk and milk products market in the world. If
the growth of this sector is extrapolated, it is observed that in the next ten years
production will increase to about three times today’s numbers. India produces
milk with the lowest cost at around 40 cents per litre. Amul, Nestle, Britannia,
Mother Dairy are some of the major companies that produce milk and milk
products in India. However, factors such as lack of adequate amount of fodder
and unavailability of veterinary doctors have reduced the yield of milk per
animal. This article compares India’s three popular dairy organisations Amul,
Nestle and Mother Dairy.

Organisation
Nestle S.A. (Switzerland) runs its subsidiary in India with the name Nestle
India. It has setup seven factories throughout the country. Apart from India,
Nestle S.A. operates in eighty five other countries. Nestle originated in 1905
and is named after Henri Nestle. It grew rapidly during World War I. Amul is
based in Gujarat. It’s basically Gujarat co-operative milk marketing federation
(GCMMF). It has won various national awards which includes the Rajiv Gandhi
National Quality Award and the Ramakrishna National Quality Award. Mother
Dairy is owned by National Dairy Development Board of India (NDDB). It was
established in 1974 and is an ISO certified organisation.

Products
Nestle offers its products in four categories viz. Milk products and nutrition,
prepared dishes and cooking aids, beverages, and chocolates and confectionary
products. Milkmaid, Nescafe, Maggie, everyday, Polo, Kit-Kat are some of its
very famous brands. It has a total of six thousand brands. Amul delivers milk,
butter, ghee, ice creams, cheese and so on. Its turnover was 67.11 billion Indian
Rupees in 2008-09. It has over 50 products on the Indian market. Mother Dairy,
on the other hand, in addition to its milk products, offers the Dhaara - range of
edible oils and Safal – range of fresh fruit juices. It has around two hundred
thousand outlets across the India.

Production and Earnings


In 2009, Nestle recorded a net profit of CHF 10.43 billion. A major poriton of
this came from Europe and America, with 16% coming from Asia. Mother
Dairy markets around 2.8 million litres of milk everyday with a market share of
66% percent in the branded sector. It has its main market in Delhi, Hyderabad,
Saurashtra and Mumbai. Amul has milk handling capacity of 11.2 million litres
per day and recorded a sales turnover of $1,504 million (US) in 2008-09.

71
Amul Brand

Amul
Gujarat co-operative milk marketing federation (GCMMF) owns Amul.
Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award and Ramakrishna National Quality
Award winner. Amul delivers milk, butter, ghee, ice creams, cheese etc. and has
over 50 products. Amul has milk handling capacity of 11.2 million litres per
day.

Nestle
Nestle S.A. (Switzerland) runs its subsidiary in India with the name Nestle
India. It has a total of six thousand brands. In 2009 Nestle recorded a net profit
of CHF 10.43 billion, 16% of which was from Asia.

Mother Dairy
Mother dairy is owned by National Dairy Development Board of India
(NDDB).
It was established in 1974 and is an ISO certified organisation.
Also offers Dhaara - range of edible oils and Safal – range of fresh fruit juices.
Mother dairy markets around 2.8 million litres of milk everyday.

72
Amul Brand

The secret behind Amul's success on: July 1, 2009

One of India's most successful organisations, Amul, has been ranked among the
largest dairy businesses in the world by International Farm Comparison
Network (IFCN).

The IFCN analyses global dairy trends and guides the stakeholders in the dairy
sector in over 80 countries. Amul has been ranked at No. 21 in the world based
on the milk production during the year 2007.

With the stellar growth pace that it has set, Amul is likely to be move up the
rankings this year. The other dairy businesses included in the ranking are
Fonterra, Campina & Friesland, Dairy Farmers of America, Arla Foods, Dean
Foods, etc.

The White Revolution heralded by Amul under the leadership of Dr Verghese


Kurien boosted India's milk production.

India's milk production has hit 114.4 million MTs making it the largest milk
producer in the world, ahead of the United States of America and Germany.
A look at Amul's incredible journey in becoming a global brand...

73
Amul Brand

SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths:
Demand profile: Absolutely optimistic.
Margins: Quite reasonable, even on packed liquid milk.
Flexibility of product mix: Tremendous. With balancing equipment, you can
keep on adding to your product line.
Availability of raw material: Abundant. Presently, more than 80 per cent of
milk produced is flowing into the unorganized sector, which requires proper
channelization.
Technical manpower: Professionally-trained, technical human resource pool,
built over last 30 years.

Weaknesses:
Perishability: Pasteurization has overcome this weakness partially. UHT gives
milk long life. Surely, many new processes will follow to improve milk quality
and extend its shelf life.
Lack of control over yield: Theoretically, there is little control over milk yield.
However, increased awareness of developments like embryo transplant,
artificial insemination and properly managed animal husbandry practices,
coupled with higher income to rural milk producers should automatically lead to
improvement in milk yields.
Logistics of procurement: Woes of bad roads and inadequate transportation
facility make milk procurement problematic. But with the overall economic
improvement in India, these problems would also get solved.
Problematic distribution: Yes, all is not well with distribution. But then if ice
creams can be sold virtually at every nook and corner, why can’t we sell other
dairy products too? Moreover, it is only a matter of time before we see the
emergence of a cold chain linking the producer to the refrigerator at the
consumer’s home!
Competition: With so many newcomers entering this industry, competition is
becoming tougher day by day. But then competition has to be faced as a ground
reality. The market is large enough for many to carve out their niche.

Opportunities:

"Failure is never final, and success never ending”. Dr Kurien bears out this
statement perfectly. He entered the industry when there were only threats. He
met failure head-on, and now he clearly is an example of ‘never ending
success’! If dairy entrepreneurs are looking for opportunities in India, the
following areas must be tapped:

74
Amul Brand

Value addition: There is a phenomenal scope for innovations in product


development, packaging and presentation. Given below are potential areas of
value addition:
Steps should be taken to introduce value-added products like shrikhand, ice
creams, paneer, khoa, flavored milk, dairy sweets, etc. This will lead to a
greater presence and flexibility in the market place along with opportunities in
the field of brand building.
Addition of cultured products like yoghurt and cheese lend further strength -
both in terms of utilization of resources and presence in the market place.
A lateral view opens up opportunities in milk proteins through casein,
caseinates and other dietary proteins, further opening up export opportunities.
Yet another aspect can be the addition of infant foods, geriatric foods and
nutritionals.
Export potential: Efforts to exploit export potential are already on. Amul is
exporting to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, and the Middle East. Following
the new GATT treaty, opportunities will increase tremendously for the export of
agri-products in general and dairy products in particular.

Threats:

Milk vendors, the un-organized sector: Today milk vendors are occupying the
pride of place in the industry. Organized dissemination of information about the
harm that they are doing to producers and consumers should see a steady
decline in their importance.

The study of this SWOT analysis shows that the ‘strengths’ and ‘opportunities’
far outweigh ‘weaknesses’ and ‘threats’. Strengths and opportunities are
fundamental and weaknesses and threats are transitory. Any investment idea can
do well only when you have three essential ingredients: entrepreneurship (the
ability to take risks), innovative approach (in product lines and marketing) and
values (of quality/ethics).

The Indian dairy industry, following its delicensing, has been attracting a large
number of entrepreneurs. Their success in dairying depends on factors such as
an efficient yet economical procurement network, hygienic and cost-effective
processing facilities and innovativeness in the market place. All that needs to be
done is: to innovate, convert products into commercially exploitable ideas. All
the time keep reminding yourself: Benjamin Franklin discovered electricity, but
it was the man who invented the meter that really made the money!

75
Amul Brand

AMUL VIDYA AWARDS 2010


Dear Student/Sir/Madam,

Amul’s vision is to see an educated, talented and strong youth in a developed


India of the future and thereby contribute towards nation building. We at Amul
believe that the sound education of its youth is the foundation of every state.
Hence it is the most basic constituent for a developing nation like ours. Towards
this philosophy, Amul Vidyashree & Vidyabhushan Awards have been
instituted to recognize the brilliance of the students across India as well as the
quality of education & guidance imparted by the schools they study in. The
inception of these awards dates back to 2004-05. Since last five years, GCMMF
has recognized 35,000 merit rankers from 30 central and state education boards
pan India.

“Amul Vidyashree” & “Amul Vidyabhushan” Awards consists of the following:

· A Memento
· A Certificate of excellence
· A Gift hamper of books
· DVD: Amul India Story
In addition to the above, the list/photographs of winners would also be updated
on Amul’s website www.amul.com, the winner would also be featured in
India’s leading newspaper and would get national recognition.

The SSC (Vidyashree Award) & HSC (Vidyabhushan Award), school topper
(must have scored above 60% aggregate mark) for the academic year 2009-10,
will be eligible for the above mentioned award. In case of HSC students, school
topper of each stream like Science, Commerce, Arts, etc. can enroll.
We are glad to inform you that we have initiated the enrolment for the above
awards for the current year.

The Application Form and other details are available on our website
www.amul.com.
To submit the online entry, you are requested to kindly visit our web-pages:
http://www.amul.in/award/lists/vidyashree.php : For Amul Vidyashree Award
http://www.amul.in/award/lists/vidyabhushan.php : For Amul Vidyabhushan
Award.

Kindly complete online registration latest by 10th July, 2010.


We hence invite you to be a part of this prestigious celebration and felicitation
of Future India’s burgeoning talent & brilliance.

We wish you all the best!!


76
Amul Brand

Interview Amul Gabrani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Tecpro


Systems Ltd | DCE Alumni

Posted by anand on Oct 3rd, 2010

Amul Gabrani, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Tecpro Systems Ltd is
the founding member of Tecpro. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical
engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and a master’s degree in
business administration from the University of Delhi. He started his career with
Ingersoll Rand in 1981 and has more than 28 years of experience in the material
handling industry. He was associated with Voltas Limited from 1984 to 1986
and thereafter worked with Fenner (India) Limited until 1990. He has been a
member of Tecpro’s Board of Directors since incorporation.

Tecpro Systems Ltd. was incorporated in 1990 and is promoted by Mr. Ajay
Kumar Bishnoi and Mr. Amul Gabrani who are first generation entrepreneurs
with more than 25 years of experience in project management of material
handling systems. With an aim to focus on turnkey BoP contracts in the thermal
power generation sector, Tecpro Systems Limited was awarded the first BoP
contract worth Rs. 9,930 million by the Chhattisgarh State Power Generation
Company for 1×500 MW thermal Power plant at Korba West in August 2009
through a consortium led by the company. Tecpro Systems is an established
player in material handling, engaged in providing turnkey solutions in material
handling, ash handling, balance of plant (BoP) and engineering, procurement
and construction (EPC) contracts. The company is mainly involved in
designing, engineering, manufacturing, selling and commissioning range of
systems and equipment for the core infrastructure sectors like power, steel,
cement and other industries.

Speaking to Jasmine Kohli of IIFL, Amul Gabrani says ” As of July 31, 2010,
we have 269 material handling orders worth Rs10.52bn while the overall order
book position was Rs23bn.”

Brief us about your IPO?


We plan to hit the capital market with 7.55mn shares face value of Rs10 each,
constituting of 14.96% post issue capital. The offering consists of fresh issue of
62.5 lakh shares and offer for sale of 1.3mn for offer for sale. Price band for the
IPO has been fixed at Rs340-355. The issue size is Rs2680mn at the upper end
of the price band. The IPO began on September 23 and closed on September 28.

How do you plan to deploy the proceeds of the IPO?


The proceeds of the IPO would go for setting up design and engineering center;
for setting up a plant to manufacture conveyor belts; for equity investment in
77
Amul Brand

TEL; for equity investment in TPSL; for expansion of existing manufacturing


facilities; for enhancing working capital, General corporate purposes and for
issue expenses.

What is the order book size?


As of July 31, 2010, we have 269 material handling orders worth Rs10.52bn
while the overall order book position was Rs23bn compared with
Rs20,139.55mn as at March 31, 2010, Rs12,528.61mn as at March 31, 2009 and
Rs. 9,668.84mn as at March 31, 2008.

Tell us about your business?


We are an established material handling company in India, engaged in
providing turnkey solutions in material handling, ash handling, balance of plant
(BoP) and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts.
In our flagship business of material handling solutions, we design, engineer,
manufacture, sell, commission and service a range of systems and equipment
for the core infrastructure related sectors like power, steel, cement and other
industries.
Over the years we have developed in-house capabilities for providing
comprehensive solutions in material handling and ash handling systems. With a
vision to build an integrated business serving the power sector, we have
expanded into various complimentary businesses across different segments of
the power sector.

Brief us about your growth strategy?


Our objective is to continuously improve upon and consolidate our position in
providing turnkey solutions in material handling, ash handling, and executing
BoP and EPC contracts for thermal power projects.
We plan to achieve this by focusing on material and ash handing and BoP
contracts in the power sector, by acquiring expertise in related systems through
technical tie-ups and inorganic growth, by increasing our product offerings and
to expand continuously both in domestic and international markets.
Tell us about your manufacturing units and expansion plans?
Currently, we have four manufacturing facilities; out of which three facilities
are located at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan and one at Bawal, Haryana. We manufacture
stacker reclaimers, crushers, screens, feeders and fabricated structures at our
factory in Bawal, Haryana.
Our plant at Bhiwadi, Rajasthan has facilities for manufacturing pulleys, idler,
rollers, structures, feeders, screens, conveyor systems, conveyor components,
crushers and screen parts. We also have a casting unit in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan for
both material handling and ash handling equipment and a manufacturing unit of
ash handling equipment.

78
Amul Brand

Part of the IPO proceeds would be used for expansion of existing facilities.

Could you give us a break-up of revenue?


As of March 31, 2010, the revenue contribution from the Power sector has been
Rs11.74bn, from the Steel sector it was Rs1.44bn, from Cement it was
Rs433.97mn and others was Rs966.36mn.
The total revenue generated as on March 31, 2010 was Rs14549.37mn as
against Rs7069.83mn in March 2009.Sector Mar 31, 2010 (Rs in mn) Mar 31,
2009 (Rs in mn) Mar 31, 2008 (Rs in mn)
Power11,748.54 3,981.32 2,306.40
Steel 1,440.40 1,667.78 679.47
Cement 433.97 857.70 1,278.75
Others 966.36 563.03 559.41
Total 14,549.27 7,069.83 4,824.03

What is your USP?


Our Order Book represents our estimated revenues from ongoing and new
contracts awarded to us. We believe that the consistent growth in our Order
Book position is a result of our performance track record and ability to
successfully market our services to existing and new clients.
What is the proportion of public-private contracts?
The composition of our Order Book is diversified across PSU and private sector
clients. Currently, we are executing 77 projects for PSU clients and 228 projects
for private sector clients.
Our clientele includes Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Co., Jindal India
Thermal Power Ltd., Tata Projects Ltd., NTPC Ltd., SAIL, Lanco, Lilama
(Vietnam) and Utkal Alumina Refinery Project.

Tecpro Systems Ltd. started operations in 2001 and up to March 31, 2010, the
company had executed 1,042 material handling orders and presently, 269 orders
are under execution.

Do you see your product mix changing in future?


We intend to increase our range of material handling equipment, like stackers
reclaimers of different sizes and decrease our dependence on external
manufacturers and suppliers. We intend to focus on manufacturing equipment,
which will enable us to increase our profit margins and/or are critical to our
projects to reduce our dependence on third party suppliers. We believe this will

79
Amul Brand

enhance our capability to execute our projects in a timely manner and improve
our profitability.

Brief us about your financials?


In our Operating Income, the CAGR growth from FY06 to FY09 was 98%
while in the PAT, the CAGR from FY06 to FY09 was 83%. As of FY10, we
have recorded an EBITDA margin of 15.5% and PAT margin of 7.5.

The topline has grown from Rs1068mn in FY06 to Rs14850mn in FY10 and
bottomline has grown from Rs91mn in 2006 to Rs1085mn in 2010.
Year 2010 2009 2008
Operating Income 14,549 7,993 5,047
PAT 1,085 554 409

What is your message to the shareholders?


We are a well-positioned company to capitalize on the growth opportunities in
the power sector in India. We have always maintained competitiveness by
enhancing manufacturing facilities and expanding our range of products. We
believe in increasing and maximizing the wealth of our shareholders.

80
Amul Brand

CASE STUDY-1
AMUL BUTTER: (Managing Mass Communications) The Gujarat
Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), India’s largest food
products marketing organization, has successfully implemented its Amul butter
campaign primarily through the use of billboards at strategic places. The
campaign, which started in 1967, introducing Amul butter’s brand ambassador
—a round-eyed, chubby-cheeked girl in a polka-dotted frock, had been India’s
longest running campaign. The Amul butter campaign forms part of the
collective memory of a large number of Indians, many of whom grew up
watching the Amul butter topicals. When the campaign was launched in 1967,
Amul wanted to break the dull, boring image built by normal corporate
advertisement and establish a livelier image. Moreover, Amul wanted a mascot
which would win hearts of housewives and could rival ‘The Butter Girl’, the
mascot of the main competitor Polson. The challenge was to bring excitement to
the image of Amul butter by involving humor but without offending the Indian
mass and housewives who had taken food seriously and would not like to fool
around with it. The campaign was managed by Sylvester daCunha, who in
collaboration with artist Eustace Fernandes, created the Amul butter mascot,
now popularly called Amul girl. They also wrote the tag-line “Utterly Butterly
Delicious Amul”. The campaign introduced the strategy of wooing the
consumer by applying humor in advertisements for the first time in India. Since
the campaign planned to use a number of billboards in the city of Bombay (now
Mumbai), the sketches were kept simple so that painters could paint the
billboards quickly. The first billboards, put up in 1967, not only charmed
everyone’s hearts but also enabled Amul butter to establish itself in the city of
Bombay. As the campaign became successful, Amul continued the campaign
with the objective of ruling the hearts of consumers by reminding them of its
presence in their daily life. While the initial ads made statements of some kind
or the other, the campaign slowly acquired a topical tenor. The campaign
utilized billboards at strategic locations on a pan-India level and emerged as a
communication tool that commented on current events related to politics,
television, films, celebrities, cricket, economy, environment, festivals, foreign
affairs, great Indians, Internet, kids, lifestyles, music, sports, strikes, and the
urban life. The message strategy tried to evoke humor in the target audience by
use of Hinglish, a mixture of Hindi and English. The message, with the Amul
butter girl playing the role of a social observer, succeeded in connecting with
the target consumer, thus enhancing the brand image. The success is also
reflected in the sales as the sales of Amul butter has jumped from less than
INR 1 million in 1967 to over INR 5 billion in 2007. Over the last forty years,
the basic structure of the campaign has remained the same with the Amul girl
holding out her favorite packet of butter, accompanying a sketch of the topic for

81
Amul Brand

which comments were made along with the catch-line “Utterly Butterly
Delicious”. The consistency has been attributed to GCMMF’s policy of
continuing with the same agency for the execution of campaign. Another
hallmark of the Amul butter topical campaign had been the speed with which
the advertisements were put up on the billboards overnight. daCunha
Communications, who have been handling the campaign for nearly forty years,
credit the speed of execution to the free hand given by GCMMF to the ad
agency for the content and the artwork of the ads. In fact even the top
management of GCMMF comes to know about the contents of the ads only
when the advertisements go on the billboards. For each of the products,
GCMMF has a policy of spending up to one percent of the previous year’s
turnover for the next year’s advertising. However, the high levels of brand
awareness, large-market share, and the low cost of billboard strategy ensure that
GCMMF does not have to spend more than one percent of Amul butter turnover
on advertising. Despite the entry of many new players in the butter market,
GCMMF is only spending INR 20 million on a turnover of INR 5 billion for
advertising Amul butter. In order to maintain dominance, GCMMF undertakes
regular brand impact analysis for the campaign, based on sales audit reports by
A. C. Nielson.

Questions

Q1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using billboards as


communication media. Explain with reference to the Amul butter campaign.

Q2. Comment on the objectives and budget allocation process for Amul butter
campaign. Do you feel that the current budget needs to be increased in light of
entry of new players?

82
Amul Brand

Case Study-2
Amul cuts butter supplies by 25% on low milk output
CHANDIGARH/AHMEDABAD: Blame it on poor monsoon if your toast goes
without butter for the next two weeks. Low milk production has led the
country’s top butter producer Amul to cut its supplies by 25%. The shortage is
so acute in the 16,000-tonne branded butter market that even marginal players
like Britannia, Mother Dairy, and Verka are not able to fill in the void left by
Amul. Though the players are witnessing a rise in demand for their products,
they are still unable to meet the demand.
The branded butter market in India is worth Rs 1,000 crore and Gujarat Co-
Operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets Amul brand of
dairy products controls about 90% of it. As reported by ET earlier, milk
production that usually rises post monsoon, may see a shortfall owing to the
delayed monsoon. According to estimates, the demand for butter is growing at
7-8% annually. The demand typically shoots up during the festival season.
However, the Rs 6,711-crore Amul, has no inventories despite its 13 district
member union network. The co-operative says it will be able to resume supplies
normally only after its members start procuring higher milk quantities. So far,
GCMMF, that gives priority to liquid milk, has managed to retain stable
supplies.
“The demand for milk and milk products has gone up by around 30% this year.
Delayed and poor monsoon has worsened the situation. Meanwhile, reports on
adulteration in milk and butter early this year have compelled a large section of
consumers to opt for a trusted brand like Amul,” GCMMF chief general
manager RS Sodhi said.
Meanwhile, the situation is severe in the north where demand for milk fat
shoots up ahead of the festive season. “We market close to 400 tonne of fat that
goes as high as 600 tonne during the festive season. Now, we are facing acute
shortage of milk fat on account of longer summer that has affected milk
procurement by 20-30% compared to the corresponding period in the previous
year, said VK Singh, MD, Milkfed that markets Verk brand of dairy products.

83
Amul Brand

Conclusion
Thus this brings us to the end of MY project report. I hope that I have been able to
bring forth the point for which we had undertaken the project. They had put much
efforts on their creativity. Amul is one of the successful business houses and other
companies should learn from Amul that how to do their business in a corporately
socially responsible manner. Amul has proved a point , Amul uses only 1 percent
of its turnover for promotions .This shows that it is not always necessary to spend
millions on promotion when you have creativity. Amul brand management strategy
is effective with the help of affective advertisement of the utterly butterly girl,its a
longest advertisement and longest campaign since 1967, it was very affective as the
success is also reflected in the sales as the sales of Amul butter has jumped from
less than INR 1 million in 1967 to over INR 5 billion in 2007. Over the last forty
years, the basic structure of the campaign has remained the same with the Amul
girl holding out her favorite packet of butter. Amul sales doubles every year, the
biggest headache is its distribution & supply chain. Amul Umbrella Branding and
Direct Marketing gives a good platform to build and for the growth of the business
of amul.

84
Amul Brand

BIBLIOGRAPHY

www.amul.com

www.amul.tv.com

www.wikipedia.com

www.icmr.com

www.businessline.com

www.rediffnews.com

www.Indiainfoline.com

WWW.GOOGLE.COM.

85

You might also like