Brand MAGGI Instant Noodles Essay

? Executive summary This report required spending great time on analyzing tones of marketing related information from innumerable sources of Nestle’s powerful Brand MAGGI Instant Noodles. All information was critical and needed to be evaluated with full concentration and determination, the study of MAGGI Noodles that was launched first in India in the year 1983, by Nestle Limited, which became synonymous with noodles. This research tries to find awareness of MAGGI Noodles. The introduction provides the company background, operational & other important information provided by the company, which would assist in taking the decision for the right brand extension strategy for MAGGI Instant Noodles. We have concluded that MAGGI, being the product leader with 68% market share. We have also covered up a very important aspect of marketing – Marketing Mix. Every company develops their product integrating all the marketing mixes to evaluate the feasibility of that product similarl y MAGGI Noodles define that. Introduction: Maggi is a Nestle brand of instant noodles, soups stocks, bullion, sauces and seasoning.   The original company came into existence in 1872 in   Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father’s mill. At that time during industrial revolution in Switzerland  created factory jobs for women, who were therefore left with very little time to prepare meals. Due to this growing problem Swiss Public Welfare Society asked Julius Maggi to create a vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest. It was the first to bring protein rich legume meal to the market, which was followed by readymade soup based on legume meal in 1886. In 1863, Julius Maggi developed a formula to add taste to meals, which later paved the way for Maggi and other easy to make food products. Apart from two minute noodles Maggi also offers a range of product. However in India it was launched in 1980s by Nestle group of companies. Maggie had merged with Nestle family in 1947. Today, Maggi is particularly well known in India, New Zealand, Australia, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Nigeria, the Philippine and Singapore for its instant Maggi noodles. Current market situation : Market description: MAGGI Noodles is a food item so it might apparently seem that it follows mass marketing since everyone can eat it and there is no specific variable associated with its consumption. But smart marketers of Nestle did indeed undergo some market segmentation for their expediency and easier way to create consumer value and satisfaction. MAGGI Noodles Marketing Situation is described here- MAGGI Noodle is segmented according to, â€Å"Demographic Segmentation and Psychographic Segmentation†. 1) Demographic Segmentation: AGE (7-12 years) MAGGI Noodles segmented into age groups (covering all age generations). MAGGI Noodles flavors such as Curry, Chicken, Masala, Tomato etc are consumed heavily by all age generation especially children. Children and young people love these flavors and their mothers’ feels relief thinking they owned the best solution for their children’s hunger. The new addition or line extensions of MAGGI Noodles are: Maggi masala,Vegetable Atta Noodles and Dal Atta Noodles. These new products innovations have become favourate for both children, their parents and even their grandparents; covering all age generations. 2) Psychographic Segmentation: LIFE STYLE: MAGGI Noodles is also considerably segmented according to â€Å"life style and eating habits† of its consumers. Since MAGGI is positioned as â€Å"2-minutes-Noodles† thus the idea works in professional sectors with the people with tight schedules. At present, the students and the people in every professional sector suffer from lack of time. â€Å"Time† to them is a luxury; they don’t have much time for cooking. Hence, shrewd marketers of Nestle have absorbed this fact and introduced a product such as MAGGI Instant Noodles that is both a scrumptious snack as well as an amazing solution for people with busy life style and simple eating habit. MAGGI Noodles is the perfect product that can adjust or fit into their life style flawlessly. MAGGI Noodles product review- In this world of improvisation, innovation and advancement product is an abstract term. It refers to a problem solving tool. And when â€Å"hunger† is the situational problem then MAGGI is the tool to solve this problem. 1. MAGGI Product: Here, MAGGI serves as a â€Å"Packet Noodles and Cup Noodles†. In this it introduced variety of product, such as- Dal Atta noodles, Chicken MAGGI, Masala MAGGI, and Vegetable MAGGI. 2. Price: Nestle Ltd. has priced MAGGI in a way that keeps the fact about price sensitiveness of Asian developing countries in mind. It has an average cost per customer as its costs are allocated among greater number of customers buying the product. It can afford to provide such great benefits at low price because it has a low cost of production. 3. Sales: Its sales are rapidly rising. Since it is the pioneer in the instant noodles industry in Bangladesh and has been able to successfully launch its products, it has a high acceptance rate resulting in sales boost. Because sales of its single packs are very high, the overall sales statistics show escalating sales. MAGGI Product level diagram– A review of competition: Initially when Nestle introduced MAGGI in the Bangladesh market, it did not have any competitors, Now, it has a few competitors in the market as others waited to see whether the mass market will adopt the product or not. Customers who previously purchased MAGGI to satisfy needs are now addressed by the new product form that FU- WANG, Meridian, and Cocola Noodles etc brought into the scenario and thus MAGGI is getting very aggressive in their marketing tactics as they sense the new product form to be a threat. Here is short description about competitors: 1) COCOLA NOODLES: COCOLA Noodles are engaged in manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of various branded food products and condiment. Within the very short period of its entrance this brand has been enjoying second leading position in the market. COCOLA Foods Ltd. is focusing on improving the food habit of Bangladeshi Consumers through providing more ready to cook products and ready to eat as well. COCOLA is also exporting its products to Australia, UAE, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and many other countries to come into the list. Per packet cocola noodle: 18tk. 2) FU-WANG: FU-WANG instant noodles were introduced in the market by FU-WANG Foods & Beverage Ltd. It holds a market share of 18%. It is a new item in the FU-WANG family, as such, is the follower of the product leader MAGGI. Currently, we assume it is in the Growth Stage. From the beginning, FU-WANG always trying to maintain the best quality standard of its products. Since the ingredients are gathered from Bangladesh itself and it emphasizes on mass production (Family Packs, Premium Packs), its cost per customer is lower than that of MAGGI. Price: 4 cakes in one packet 65 tk. 3) MR.NOODLES: Mr. Noodles is a brand of instant noodles manufactured by PRAN. The brand is popular in Bangladesh it had been popular product category in the culinary segment since the launch of Mr. Noodles in 2011. Over the years, Mr. Noodles became a popular snack food product in Bangladesh. Claimed to be â€Å"Easy instant noodles†. Its price per packet : 15tk However, MAGGI’s competitive advantage is its product differentiation. It is very cheap and it provides good quality. Also it is the Market leader in its segments and has strong  brand loyal consumer base. With wide range of distribution channel and product marketed according to the need of consumer – MAGGI is utterly a successful brand with insurmountable competitive advantage. MAGGI quality is one of its most important positioning tools. It knows that quality has a direct impact on the product performance, thus closely linked to customer value and satisfaction. MAGGI quality identify through its performance and its conformance quality. MAGGI features, another competitive tools for differentiating company’s product from competitor’s product. Some of them include: Original Flavor, Chicken, Curry (a healthier alternative is also sold in supermarkets), Kari Letup (Extremely Spicy Curry) Chicken & Corn ,Beef Oriental, Masala, Prawn, Dal Sambar ( whole wheat noodles ), Asam Laksa, Cheese, Pizza (only in Saudi Arabia, was available for a period of time in Australia.), Chatpata, Tomato, Stronger Chicken, Vegetable Atta Noodles (Whole wheat noodles) mostly in India, etc. MAGGI noodles also produces cup noodles known as â€Å"Hot Bowl†, and sells cup noodles branded â€Å"Cuppa Mania† in India. The style and design of MAGGI gives it competitive advantage over the other products in the market. The sleek packaging of MAGGI is convenient and stylish. It contributes to the product’s usefulness and look. It’s even shapes the consumer’s experience with the product. MAGGI Channels and Logistic Review: The urban areas are already saturated with MAGGI, as almost all departmental stores offer it. However there are still greater possibilities to stretch its distribution channels to the rural areas. MAGGI has a lot of distribution channels to fill. MAGGI can introduce mobile-vans by which they can access larger pool of customers and make its distribution channels stronger. Current distribution channel of MAGGI-: SWOT Analysis: SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to the organization. It involves the careful evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the organization as well as its opportunities and threats to the organization in the current market. MAGGI SWOT analysis- SWOT analysis of MAGGI brand clearly indicates the strengths of MAGGI as a Brand in Bangladesh market. The Brand was found to be a market leader in its category of Noodles, with strong customer loyalty. Intensive distribution of MAGGI as a Brand was seen in urban areas of the country. MAGGI has made several attempts to revamp itself as a ‘Healthy Product† but till date its perseverance towards the tag line is low by the consumers. The brand is in the growth stage of product life cycle with a strong inclination towards the maturity stage. MAGGI Noodles Strength analysis- MAGGI is from an extremely recognizable company Nestle. Popularity is one of its superior strengths that are virtually incomparable. MAGGI is known very well worldwide by its excellent advertising and visibility. It’s branding is obvious and easily recognized currently Bangladesh market. It is very easy to cook and exits as a healthy food with the title of â€Å"Darun shaad darun pushti† Market leader in noodles category with high brand loyalty. Excellent advertising and visibility. Good product distribution and availability. Lots of flavors and varieties available. Easy to cook-with the title of â€Å"2 minute Noodles†. MAGGI Noodles Weaknesses analysis- MAGGI do have a variety of weaknesses that need to be addressed. Word of mouth is probably a strength and weakness of every company. While many people have good things to say, there are many  individuals who are against MAGGI as many other companies to the current market as named before. Product is dependent on each other according to the new market segment. The market fails to provide to rural area. Product is dependent on each other. Not so much presence in rural market. Media generated news about health issues. Market leader Perceived as made up of Maida not good. MAGGI Noodles Opportunities analysis- Day by day its consumers are increaseing. Because Bangladesh is a small market, only few of the diversified flavors of MAGGI are sold here. Yet it believes that they should at least market the products to see if it works as a trial. Another opportunity that is the ability for MAGGI to buy out their competitors. This opportunity rarely presents itself in the world of business. Product has been acceptable in youth Strong presence of regional category competitors Availability of new segments(e.g.- old and age people) Untapped rural markets DINKS, single professionals Newer tastes Product has been acceptable in youth category. Changing preference of consumer towards Chinese food and fast food. MAAGI Noodles Threats analysis- Shift to rural market, Consumers don’t perceive it as changing preference of consumer a â€Å"Healthy Product† towards Chinese food and fast. Compare to other brands noodles its price also vary and can be a threat. Price wars with other noodle brands. Strong presence of regional competitors. Consumers don’t perceive it as a â€Å"Healthy Product†. Availability of New segments (The competitor provides higher age people) margins to its distributors and growing. Objective and issue: Objective: MAGGI Instant Noodles is the product leader in the category of instant noodles, capturing market share of 68%, penetrating 6 lace households. Nestle, the world’s largest food company, reported first-quarter sales growth that beat analysts’ estimates, helped by sales of MAGGI Noodles. MAGGI leads with their strength to the current market. Positioning initially Nestle tried to position the Noodles in the platform of convenience targeting the working women. But it found that the sales are not picking up despite heavy promotion .Research then showed that Kids were the largest consumers of the brand. Realizing this, Nestle repositioned the brand towards the kids using sales promotions and smart advertising. MAGGI has always positioned itself as â€Å"Healthy noodles† as it described before. At present- MAGGI now provides family packs and single packs. Maggi has recently come out with new advertisements in some weekly. Issue- Core aim of Nestle Business with the title â€Å"Good Food, Good Life†. Food and beverages plays a important role in people’s life- not only because of enjoyment and social pleasure of eating together, but more in more terms of personal health and nutrition. Nestle is committed to provide their customer, consistent quality, safety as well as value for money and convenience. Great taste is the fundamental of their products and consumer appreciation of good food. Giving priority on nutrition, health and wellness Nestle comes with their product MAGGI Noodles with the title- Maggi 2-Minute Noodles. MARKET STRATEGY: Targeting of MAGGI: MAGGI main target is children, then women and elderly. Today MAGGI Noodles with its attractive and variety of new flavors successfully targets kids, working women and elderly all at the same time. But Nestle at the initial stage was targeting on the house lady. Very soon it realized that its target segment is not them. It evaluated and understood that children should be its primary focus. So they changed their mission to ‘To become the no. 1 preferred snack for kids in the country’ and came up with two minutes noodles which targeted children aged 7 to 12. Nestle also targeted the house lady by introducing the health noodles. These can be consumed as the complete food which gives the calorie and meet all necessary health requirements. For these variants they introduced the new positioning â€Å"MAGGI is the best, tasty and healthy noodles (for children), which cannot be compared.† Marketing Mix: Elements of market mix: MAGGI Marketing mix describe the 4ps- 1) Product: MAGGI has come up with various product s according to the needs of consumers. Some of it gains total popularity and some becomes failure. Developing a product involves defining the benefits it will offer. These benefits are communicated and delivered by product attribute such as quality, features, and style and design as described before. MAGGI is a product which is a source of Protein, Calcium, and Fiber and has added vegetables. The inspiration for comes from the going consumer preference for a healthier lifestyle. 2) Packaging: MAGGI is packed in the yellow packets. The tip of the packet is zipped so that the contents can easily be spilled without wasting it. It has solved the problem of storage. The thickness of packet is increased so that the contents can be easily poured without much wastage. 3) Promotion: MAGGI has already created its brand awareness and now it should  increase advertising to build brand preference. However MAGGI still continues to build brand awareness by serving MAGGI Noodles to people for free (sampling). At present MAGGI occupies almost 78% of the noodles market. Thus it is surely the market leader. So it should focus now on creating brand preference. The number of television advertisements of MAGGI noodles in Bangladesh is very little compared to that of India. In Bangladesh they use more paper advertisements than television advertisements. Thus the promotional strategies of MAGGI should now be altered. 4) Places: Places refers to the location where products are available and can be sold or purchased. MAGGI Noodles is not only famous in urban areas but also rural areas. It is rightly available at number of retail shops and malls. So that consumers can easily purchases the product without any big effort. Positioning of MAGGI: MAGGI is position itself as a differentiated product. The market is very sensitive to taste and can rejects any flavor if dislike. Consumers typically choose products and services that give them the greatest value. Thus, dedicated marketers want to position their brands on the key benefits that they offer relative to competing brands. Positioning Statement of MAGGI- As we all know marketers believe that companies should aggressively promote only one benefit to the target market. MAGGI’s USP (unique selling proposition) is that it is â€Å"healthy and tasty†. MAGGI solemnly sticks to its USP which consumers also take in with heart and soul. MAGGI with the title of â€Å"2 minute Noodles† is continue its position to the current market as a fast to cook and good to eat, is the best, tasty and healthy noodles (for children) that cannot be compared. To everyone who wants the fastest and yummiest solution for their gurgling stomach, MAGGI is the all-time-favorite instant noodles that provide an easy, nutritious and tasty food for children (mainly) and other age groups.