Soups

AN IN-DEPTH MARKETING STUDY

OF ONE OF INDIAS MOST LOVED
BRANDS
Team Members : Sumita (C002) Ankit Chowdhary(C013)Ayush Jain (C023)
Vivek
Kuruvilla
(C035) Venkat
Pogaru(C045) Sharan
Sistla(C056)
Yaradi(C066)

Sharanya

NESTLE MAGGI
Founded in Switzerland in 1872 by Julius Maggi
First company to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market
Followed it up with a ready made soup (instant bean soup and instant pea soup) based on
legume meal in 1886
Merged with Nestle in 1947
Came to India in 1980
Launched Maggi soups in 1988 with a plan to create a market for packaged soup

MAGGI SOUP FLAVOURS

SOUP INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Canned/Preserved
Soup
Chilled Soup
Dehydrated Soup
Frozen Soup
Instant Soup
UHT Soup

Variants of Soups available Internationally

Flavors of Soups available in

India

Tomato
Sweet Corn
Vegetable
Chicken
Mushroom
Hot & Sour
Chicken Noodles

Source : Euromonitor International Soup in India January 2014

SOUP INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Sales of Soup by Revenue (Million)
Canned/Preserved Soup

Dehydrated Soup
2621.7

2132.8

Revenue and Sales for Soup variants in the

Indian Market

1761.9

Sales of Soup by Volume (Tonnes)

21.7
FY - 2011

20.6
FY - 2012

20.2

Canned/Preserved Soup

Dehydrated Soup
4690.1

FY - 2013
4066
3510.6

Among the variants only 2 present in

Indian market , with dehydrated
soups having 90% share.
211.2

191.9

178.3

FY - 2011

FY - 2012

FY - 2013

Source : Euromonitor International Soup in India January 2014

MARKETING MIX
Target supermarkets, convenience stores and direct selling for small and
medium sized stores
Tie-ups with intermediaries like Big Bazaar, More and Spencers to serve
as the main outlets of the product
Offers a quintessential combination of quality and price
It is as economical as its counterparts, with an inherently impressive quality
of the noodle
Flavour dependent pricing Rich Tomato 50 grams 40 rupees , Hot and
Sour 50 grams 42 rupees
The product idea of Maggi soups is to provide a healthy snack which can be
prepared quickly
The product is packaged in a quantity which is sufficient to substitute a meal
6 different flavours offered to serve the variety-seeking customer
Maggi soups are promoted with the tag Healthy soups
TV commercials, print ads, partnering with supermarkets and direct
marketing

SEGMENTATION
MAIN DIMENSION

VARIABLES

BREAKDOWN

Demographic

Gender

Male, Female

Age

Kids , Teens and Adults

Occupation

Students, Workers,
Professionals

Region

Nationwide

Density

Urban & Suburban

Personality

Persons who are health

conscious and who are
always on the go

Lifestyle

People who love to eat

healthy foods

Benefits Sought

Easy to cook and affordable

Occasions when to Use

Everyday

Geographic

Psychographic

Behavioural

TARGETING & POSITIONING

TARGETING

POSITIONING

DIFFERENTIATION

KIDS

EASY TO COOK, GOOD TO

EAT

TASTE

YOUTH

HEALTHY SNACK

FLAVORS

OFFICE GOERS

QUICK TO COOK

PACKAGING

BRAND EQUITY
Energized Differentiation : HIGH
Overall leader in the instant foods market, thanks to its dominance of
the instant noodles segment.
Earns instant recall and has become synonymous with the 2-minute
instant noodles in India owing to its first-mover advantage.
Relevance : MEDIUM
Young adult and office-goer markets have been Maggi 2-minute
noodle consumers for years, hence may be likely to try Maggi soups
The overpowering image of Maggis brand as being convenient and
tasty, rather than healthy, serves as a drawback to Maggi soups
however.

BAV (Brand Asset

Valuator) Model

BRAND EQUITY
Esteem : HIGH
Maggi consumers are highly loyal
Solidifies its leadership position in instant noodles by projecting a healthy image to stop
consumers who think of defecting.
Knowledge : MEDIUM
Maggi as a brand has consistent TOM recall in the instant foods segment.
Primary research and sales figures show that Maggis soup business is still unknown to a lot of
consumers.
CONCLUSION : MAGGI as a brand, is still in a leadership position, but is
sliding towards becoming a declining brand due to the mixed results of its
repositioning campaign through the Taste bhi, Health bhi campaign. The
campaign has worked partially in the instant noodles segment, but is failing in
soups.

Competitor
COMPETITOR Analysis
ANALYSIS

2013
Ching's; 11% MTR; 1%
Maggi; 23%
Knor; 65%

This is the snapshot of the entire idustry,the $2.6

Billion soup industry grew at 23% last year with the
major players being HUL, Nestle, Capital Foods Ltd. &
MTR
The top three players accounted for more than 97% of
the categorys value
Dehydrated soups and canned soups were the only
two product categories that were sold by Maggi as well
as its competitors

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
More than 15 flavors
Positioned as an ideal
snack option before
dinner
Kajol - brand
ambassador
Claims to be light,
healthy, tasty, easy to
prepare
Primary target
audience - kids & office
goers
Extensive digital
marketing
Piggy riding on the
strong distribution
network of HUL

Variety of Chinese
flavored soups
Positioned as provider
of authentic Chinese
soups
Very strong
distribution channel
across 250 cities with
more than 900 C&FA
Only domestic brand
competing with
international brands
Coming up with an
extensive advertising
campaign

A small basket of
selected Indian flavors
Positioned as a local
delicacy
Weak distribution
channel in North India
Uses an unattractive
tagline : Tasty
Delights
Low budget for
marketing activities
High brand equity and
awareness of MTR in
RTE segment points to a
high growth potential

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Conducted primary research, gathering a total of 164
responses to a questionnaire designed to understand the
customers perception of Maggi soups and the soup
industry in general.
Profile of subjects who took the survey :
Age : 15-35 years
Occupation : Students/Young Working
Professionals/Housewives
Location : Mumbai and other metropolitan cities

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
Market penetration remains low,
with even the target group expected to
be early adopters still only consuming
soups to the tune of 44%.

Further analysis shows that a

significant proportion of consumers
simply prefer other instant foods to
soups.

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS

Our research shows that 54% of consumers who opt to

buy oats, noodles and other instant foods over soups,
do so because they do not consider soup as a food or a
snack. 32% also blame taste for their choice of staying
away from Soups.

CONSUMER PERCEPTION
PRODUCT INSIGHTS
A major observation of our research was that despite
their tagline being Taste bhi, Health bhi and the
emphasis on health in their promotions, Maggi soups is
tainted with the Maggi brands overall image of taste
and quickness of preparation.

A staggering 31% of soup consumers who

chose brands other than Maggi, were
unaware that Maggi makes soups.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
CONSUMPTION HABITS
Only 10% of consumers considered soup
to qualify as a full meal, while others
used it as a mid day snack or an
appetizer.

43% of consumers had soup less

than once a month : This points to
poor consumer retention amidst
competition from other instant
foods.

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Knorr leads both in sales and in perception,
but Maggis perception remains better than
faster growing competitors like Chings and
MTR.

The soup consumer is a highly

variety-seeking consumer, which
explains the growth of Chings and
MTR, as they offer flavours different
from what the traditional soup giants.

SWOT ANALYSIS

PORTERs 5-FORCES

SUGGESTIONS
Introduce variants in soup like Frozen or Chilled Soup : first mover advantage in
these variants may help consolidate market share.
Targeted ad campaigns to reinforce the health aspects of Maggi soups in the
eyes of the consumer.
Improve stocking of SKUs at large and small supermarkets across urban
centres. Shelf visibility must also be made a priority. Currently, Knorr and
Chings are winning the distribution war despite Nestles reach.
Promote more regular consumption of soup by offering increased options in
packet sizes : This strategy has already worked in the favour of Maggi 2-Minute
noodles, and is currently not adopted by the competition.
Target the office-going and youth population by offering On-The-Go packs.

THANK YOU!!