MARKETING STRATEGY FOR NESTLE MAGGI NOODLES

MEDIA DECISION

2009

For the most part, Nestle had predominantly used television as the media channel. However other media channels such as print and internet have been used for newer variants.

Television Media
Initially Maggi was targeted at the working woman and later the upper middle class kids. To reach this audience, Maggi primarily used television advertisements. Maggi was a sponsor for Hum Log, a popular television show on Doordarshan, Indias sole channel in 1984. This show had a viewership of around 60 million. Maggi sales increased from 1600 tons in 1983 to 4200 tons in 1985 as a result of this. Maggi has continued to use television as its primary advertising medium newer variants like Maggi vegetable Atta noodles, Maggi Dal Atta noodles, Maggi Rice Mania noodles and Maggi Cuppa Mania have been heavily advertised on TV. These advertisements have been conceptualized and developed by Public India, an ad agency. Maggi Cuppa Mania was advertised the maximum among the various 'Instant Foods/Meals' product category on TV during January-October 2008 it had a share of around 19% of the Instant Foods advertisements. Advertisements for Maggi Rice Noodle Mania variants like Shahi Pulao were mostly displayed on GECs (General Entertainment Channels) rather than kids channels. This is because Maggi is now targeting its products at the entire family and not only kids. Maggi noodles commercial ranked 3rd Mint-Synovate TV Advertisement Index survey, which surveyed 750 respondents across New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. Maggi uses a continuous advertising schedule for its TV ads since its products are not seasonal. TRPs for programmes as calculated by TAM Media Research are used by the company to decide its sponsorship strategy for different programmes aired on TV.

Print Media
Maggi did not focus heavily on print media during its launch since its initial target audience was mothers and kids. Some advertisements in the print media were used to highlight the convenience factor of Maggi.

Maggi introduced this advertisement in various magazines in 2003 to celebrate 20 years of its product in India. Maggi has recently come out with advertisements in some weekly magazines for its new Atta noodles and Rice noodles variants. Maggi Rice Noodles Mania had the Highest Column Centimeter in Print during Jan Aug 07 among the instant foods category. Growth in noodles/pasta print advertising grew by 42% in Jan-May 05 compared to Jan-May 04. Of this, Maggi Vegetable Atta Noodles had 92% share. Maggis expenditure on print media is much lower compared to other media.

Source: AdEx India (A Division of TAM Media Research)

Other Media
In-shop cut-outs of Maggi noodles were used to encourage impulse purchase.

Maggi launched its Maggi Club in 1989 which allowed users to trade in empty covers for Maggi in return for exciting gifts. This strategy was a huge success among kids.

Internet
Nestle Indias website (www.nestle.in) features all its recent Maggi offerings in its products section and allows users to view TV commercials online as well. Recognizing the growing exposure of Indian middle class kids and youngsters to the Internet, Maggi has relaunched its Maggi Club in an online version. The idea of a club or engaging customer to constant cues by way of a social networking environment is picking up in India after the success of sites like orkut.com and facebook.com. The site (www.maggi-club.in) has an India specific extension to enable it to rank higher in searches done from India. It is also accessible from Nestle Indias website. Registration to the Maggi club online is open only for those between 10-23 years of age. The site features a crossword, quiz of the day, contests, opinion polls, group discussions and a hall of fame to highlight top scorers. It also encourages word-of-mouth promotion by allowing users to score points by spreading the word about the club. The highest scorers are rewarded with gifts.

The content on the site is diverse and sufficient to keep viewers engaged. Users can also sign up to receive mails about Maggi promotions, special offers and new introductions thus enabling direct marketing to the e-savvy audience.

The club acts as a smart differentiator to engage Maggis target segment (kids in their pre-teens, teens and immediate post-teens) on an ongoing basis and build brand loyalty. The Maggi Club website which was launched in June 2008 currently attracts less than 1000 hits per day and hence does not appear in search engines for the keywords Maggi India. Various blogs about the site are however expected to increase its hits over time. To quash recent rumours that consumption of Maggi on a daily basis is harmful for children, Nestle has displayed a statement on its main page stating that Maggi noodles does not contain wax or MSG.

References
http://www.nestle.in/ http://www.afaqs.com/ http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/others/analysis191007.asp/ http://www.maggi-club.in/ http://www.yaxis.in/2008/07/maggi-club-is-back-and-with-vengeance.html/ http://www.magindia.com/

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