Maggi regains top spot in noodles

market with 57% share in June

In November, when Nestle relaunched Maggi after a five-month ban, it had 10.9% of the market
share
New Delhi: Nestle India Ltds instant noodle brand Maggi, whose sales were severally hit by the
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ban last year, has regained its leadership
position capturing 57% share of the market in June this year.
Within nine months of its relaunch, Maggi noodles now accounts for 57.1% market share of the
instant noodles segment riding on its marketing /branding initiatives and new variants. In
November, when the company relaunched Maggi after a five-month ban, it had 10.9% of the
market share, which climbed to 35.2% in December, according to a Nestle India presentation
made to financial analysts and institutional investors.
In March 2016, it had 51% market share.
Nestle has launched four variants of Maggi Cuppa Noodles and Maggi Hotheads each, the
presentation said. Besides, it has also launched No Onion No Garlic noodles. On 18 August, its
parent firm Nestle had said that it has regained leading market share after growth in India turned
positive in June on good progress with relaunch of Maggi noodle.
Growth in India turned positive in June due to good progress with the Maggi noodle relaunch
and favourable comparables. We regained a leading market share position. India kept gaining
momentum one year after the start of the Maggi noodle withdrawal, Nestle had said in the
statement.
In June 2015, FSSAI banned Maggi noodles in India following a Bombay high court order,
saying it was unsafe and hazardous for consumption after finding lead content beyond the
permissible limit. After the five-month ban, in November last year, Nestle India relaunched
Maggi noodles in the Indian market. Earlier this year, Nestle India launched up to 25 products
across various categories in a day to fend off competition.

 4ps of maagi

Product in the Marketing mix of Maggi

Maggi has introduced numerous products in the market according to the
needs and tastes of its consumers.The brand has been known for its noodles,
wuze, bouillon cubes, instant soups, stocks, sauces, ketchups and seasonings.
The products that have surpassed the expectations of the people and have
become a hit in the minds of the consumers areMaggi 2 Minute Noodles- The flagship product in the Maggi umbrella
brand, this product is available in five flavors that are Tricky Tomato, Chicken,
Masala, Romantic Capsica and Thrillian Curry.
Maggi Vegetable Multigrainz Noodles is a product that has Fiber,
Calcium, protein and added vegetables.
Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles is made from wheat flour that has fiber
content and added vegetables.
Maggi Cuppa Mania is available in an easy cup format with two variants
Chilly Chow Yo and Masala Yo
Maggi Oats Noodles is an innovative, healthy and delicious dish that is
made from Wholegrain Oats.
Maggi Sauces
Maggi Pichkoo
Maggi Pazzta
Maggi Healthy Soups
Maggi Magic Cubes
Maggi Coconut Milk Powder
Maggi Masala -ae- Magic
Maggi Bhuna Masala
Maggi Pasta and Pizza Sauce
Place in the Marketing mix of Maggi
Maggi has followed the distribution channel of Nestle to Distributor to
Retailer to Consumer, as a chain system is helpful in proper distribution of the
product.

Nestle- The Company has decentralized the process of manufacturing

where every plant is responsible for its own production. It follows a twofold
path for distribution. In the first, the product is available to every local store
and the second where the stock is available for every malls and shopping
centers.

Distributors- TheCompany offers its distributors a clear-cut margin of

6%. In this scheme, the distributor makes advance payment to the company
but supplies the product on credit to the retailers.

Retailer- The retailer in turn gets a 15% margin on promotional

products and 10% margin on normal products.
The key ingredient in the Marketing mix of Maggi has been its distribution. It
is one thing to have a successful product in your hand, it is a completely
different ball game to ensure time and time again that this top of the line
product reaches the nooks and corners of the world. Even if you go in the
Himalayas, you will find Maggi selling there at select places. Isnt that
something!! This single factor distribution, has been the backbone for the
success of the product.
Price in the Marketing mix of Maggi
Maggi has a penetration pricing strategy because it knows it has to penetrate
the market the world over. There are many indirect competitors to Maggi as
well. Maggi has a very clear-cut policy regarding its prices. From its initial
years it has kept low pricing policy because, its consumers mostly belong to
the average middle class group. To make the product affordable they had to
tone down their prices but the volumes the product generates has helped the
company in maintaining a healthy profit. Therefore, the prices have always
been kept normal without any dramatic changes. In order to keep with the
changing economictimes Maggi has reduced the quantity, instead of the
prices. Along with this, to cater to the middle and low income class customers,
Maggi offers different sizes of packets at various prices so that the customer
can buy as per budget.
Promotions in the Marketing mix of Maggi
When the parent company Nestle decided to launch Maggi in India, its
promotional activities included creating awareness amongst the females and
kids. Toys and utensils were offered as gifts along with packets of Noodles.
This turned out to be a huge booster for the brand and made it an instant
household name. Maggi advertised on kids channels and between main
programs in the television. Its tagline 2 minute noodles is known to be the
smartest tagline in the advertising industry and is still very famous amongst
the consumers. Till date, no one has been able to cook a Maggi in 2 minutes J

but still, people love the product for the quick way they can get an excellent
snack. Maggi has also announced many offers and schemes over the years to
attract its consumers like Fun books, free Maggi products, scratch and win
coupons, discounts and money back offer.
In an exciting commercial for Maggi Oats Noodles, a consumer can see the
famous Bollywood actors commending the product to the viewers. The
convincing advertisement has proved to be a hit with the audiences taking the
company to new heights. In all its campaigns, since the year 1982, the product
has been advertised as 2 minute noodles. The famous actor Amitabh
Bachchan is also seen in the promotional activities of Maggi.
You can see Maggi advertising heavily when it brings a new product in the
market. But time to time, it also advertises for product recall. For example, the
Maggi masala for ready made food is advertised time to time to keep the
product in the minds of the consumer. On the other hand, the 2 minute
noodles are advertised heavily when there is a new variant such as Oats
noodles or Aata noodles.

competitors of maagi
COMPETITORS OF MAGGI
Maggi has certainly been the leading brand in the noodle industry for
decades .But there are other brands as well which have given close
competition to Maggi in the past and in the present as well.

MAGGI VS TOP RAMEN

Top Ramen is the second largest Noodles brand in India trying hard for the
past 18 years to beat Maggi Noodles. Top Ramen is a global brand from
Nissin. Launched in 1991, Top Ramen has been trying all possible marketing
tools to dethrone Maggi.
First occasion was when the brand was launched, the brand quickly went into
limelight with its famous positioning as Smoodles. But after the initial trying,
people again went back to Maggi noodles.
The next occasion was when Maggi changed the taste. That was an occasion
where, as a brand loyalist , people dumped Maggi .For a while people
consumed Top Ramen. When Maggi reversed the taste, many people again
switched back.

Top Ramen at that point of time was one of the heavy advertisers in the
media. And since the taste was also comparable, many Maggi users may
have switched to this brand. But it could not retain all the customers . One
factor is the price. Top Ramen was always perceived as a premium brand
compared to the affordable Maggi. The high price may have prompted many
Maggi users to switch back.
Another factor was the promotion. Top Ramen could not sustain the share of
mind it generated during the formative years. Maggi was able to bring in lot
of noise because it had become an umbrella brand and was advertising for
various other products.
Top Ramen had an interesting distribution strategy. For the past 10 years, the
brand has been distributed by Marico. It is a case of marketing alliance where
Top Ramen was utilizing the distribution strength of Marico. In 2008, the
alliance was mutually called-off. Now Nissin is building its own distribution
network.
It is puzzling to see that a global brand with lot of support from its parent
could not put up a big fight with Maggi .The major issue faced by Top Ramen
was the differentiation. Top Ramen could not offer any serious differentiation
to Maggi either in terms of the product or brand. Since there was no serious
differentiation, Maggi was able to gain back the lost ground because it was
the pioneer brand who built the category. Top Ramen also lost out when
Maggi repositioned itself in the health platform.
Top Ramen had its share of innovations. This brand is credited with
innovating a new category of cup-noodles in Indian market. The difference
between cup noodles and instant noodles is that cup-noodles need not be
cooked, it is ready to eat just after adding hot water into it.
Top Ramen currently holds more than 90 % share in the cup-noodles market.
Maggi has recently entered the cup-noodles market with its brand CuppaMania. It is expected that the entry of new players will expand the category.
Unlike instant noodles where the brands are targeting kids, Cup-Noodles is
targeting adults. The segment aimed by Top-Ramen is 16-35 .
Top Ramen is also credited with the launch of curry-noodles in India. While
ordinary noodles are dry, curry noodles have both gravy. Top Ramen to many
people is heavily associated with Curry Noodles and that is one of the
reasons why many people did not buy the brand.

So the brand has not been remaining dormant. It has been doing the right
things in the market but somehow the brand is not able to manage the
perception among the consumers. It is in the promotion front that Top Ramen
has failed to make an impact.
When Maggi repositioned itself as a healthy food, Top Ramen should have
followed suit since the market was moving towards healthy foods. When
Maggi launched its rice noodles, Top Ramen should have followed since it
could
have
added
value
to
the
brand.
Except for the first phase of brand promotion, Top Ramen did not have any
worthwhile campaign in its 18 years of existence. Hence as a customer, the
brand is not giving enough reasons to change the addiction to Maggi brand.
Even it is not giving enough reasons for kids to buy this brand.

MAGGI VS YIPPEE NOODLES

ITC has always taken a very aggressive approach from the day it entered the
FMCG sector and has been giving a very tough fight to the already
established players because of the financial muscle that it has and the wider
and deeper reach that ITC has got even in the rural markets because of its
tobacco business. This always provides it an edge even over the established
players in the market as not many players in India have got such a deep and
a wider reach for making the products available to customers in almost every
nook and corner in India.

And ITC has taken the same approach for the newly launched noodles brand
Sunfeast Yippee in the Indian market, which is dominated by Maggi from
decades. Recently, this product category has also seen a lot of activity with
the launch of many new brands like Horlicks Foodles by Glaxo Smithkline
India, Knorr from HUL, Chings secret by Capital Foods Ltd, Tasty Treat by
Future Group, etc. These players have been fighting out the competitive
battles to get the most of the instant noodles market of the around Rs. 1300
crore and which is growing continuously at around 17-20 percent growth
rate. All these players are giving Maggi a tough fight and are eating out into
the almost 70 percent market share that Maggi has got in this market
(Source Business Standard).

And one interesting thing is that all the players in this product category are
coming with a completely different positioning in the market, with GSK
focusing on projecting the noodles as a healthy snack option and even HUL
focusing on the soupy noodles as a positioning for their brands. And ITC has
also taken the same approach by focusing its noodles brand Sunfeast Yippee
as a brand using the benefit positioning concept in which they tried to
position the product as a better alternative to Maggi on the basis of following
three differentiating criteria :-

1 - The first point used by Yippee to position itself as a better alternative

over Maggi was that it was telling the customers that they should have the
choice of variety of masala with two variants in their product portfolio
Classic and Magic. The stress was made upon the point that we want choices
in each and everything in life so why not have a choice while having instant
noodles.
2 The second point focused on the shape of the contents within the pack.
The contents in other options available are in rectangular shape which have
to be broken which leads to short pieces of noodles, whereas in Yippee
noodle pack the cake is in round shape which keeps the noodles intact and
long and smooth.
3 Then third thing that it focuses upon is the fact that Maggi must be had
immediately after it is cooked as after sometime the taste deteriorates and
you cannot have it, whereas Yippee noodles promises that they can even be
had after some time.
Thus it has tried to give itself a totally different positioning from the other
competitors present in the market and it is the only competitor to Maggi
which has decided to take it head on while competing with it.
The biggest advantages available with the Sunfeast Yippee noodles brand
are
as
follows:
1 The deeper penetration provided by the already well-established and
penetrative distribution channel provided to ITC by its channel member in
the tobacco business which provides it the most penetrative distribution
network both in rural and urban India.
2 Then it used the Sunfeast brand, thereby using the Umbrella branding
strategy, which had already become a well-known name in the Indian
households because of the equity that the brand had gained in the minds of
the consumers.
3 The financial muscle of the ITC conglomerate to back the company to
tackle all the competitive moves in an efficient manner.