Executive Summary

Nestle has widened its offering of the Maggi brand of noodles with the launch of Maggi Cuppa Mania instant noodles. The company hopes that its instant noodles will be an instant hit with busy executives who are short on time, and consequently the product has been launched with the tag line Just add garam paani and carry on jaaani! The product, launched in two variants Masala Yo! and Chili Chow Yo! has been packaged with a disposable fork to make it an even easier snacking option. The noodles have added vegetables, and the company claims that each 75 gram pack of the instant noodles meets 20% of the recommended daily allowance for Calcium. Hence I with my project here want to find out how much the awareness of maggi cuppa mania in India is. It has landed in a soup, literally. Maggis latest variant Cuppa Mania noodles in two variants, Masala Yo and Chilli Chow Yo is likely to be withdrawn barely two months after a high-profile launch. Primary research was conducted with 100 respondents in the Vile Parle location which consists mainly teenagers, office goers and housewives which can be the target audience later for Maggie. The objective of the study is to find out the brand awareness for the latest innovative product by maggi which is maggi cuppa mania. It has been proved by further analysis and tabulation about the strong back up which this product has by the brand maggi. It has done a paradigm shift to the Indian trends and lifestyles by introducing a westernized snack to this huge and diversified market. Secondary research was conducted via websites, journals, and articles in the newspapers. Hence the awareness factor was found out and certain gist of strategies is suggested for maggi to have cuppa mania sustain itself in the market. It is a unique concept and maggi as a first mover in this market has had a head over heels advantage as compared to other players, global as well as local.

Introduction
India is a country of striking contrasts and enormous ethnic, linguistic, and cultural diversity. It has a population of 1.1 billion, and it is comprised of 28 states and seven Union Territories (under federal government rule). The states differ vastly in resources, culture, food habits, living standards, and languages. Vast disparities in per-capita income levels exist between and within Indias states. About 75 percent of the countrys people live in its 550,000 villages; the rest in 200 towns and cities. There are 27 cities with a population above one million people. India has the largest number of poor, with 35 percent of the population surviving on less than $1 per day, and 80 percent of the population surviving on less than $2 per day. Nearly 51 percent of Indians consumption expenditures go for food (54 percent in rural area and 42 in urban areas) 2; mostly for basic items like grains, vegetable oils, and sugar; very little goes for value added food items. In recent years, however, there has been an increased shift towards vegetables, eggs, fruits, meat, and beverages. Religion has a major influence on eating habits and, along with low purchasing power, supports a predominantly vegetarian diet. Some observers of Indias economic scene are, however, highly optimistic about consumption growth potential, and believe that rising income levels, increasing urbanization, a changing age profile (more young people), increasing consumerism, a significant rise in the number of single men and women professionals, and the availability of cheap credit will push India onto a new growth trajectory. These segments of the population are aware of quality differences, insist on world standards, and are willing to pay a premium for quality. Nonetheless, a major share of Indian consumers has to sacrifice quality for affordable prices. Potential US exporters should also bear in mind that Indias diverse agro-industrial base already offers many items at competitive prices. Results of the Market Information Survey of Households, conducted by the National Council of Applied Economic Research, show that the share of

households in the upper middle/high income group (annual household income > rs. 90,000, or $11,200 on purchasing power parity basis) has grown from 14% in 1989-90 to 28% in 2001-02, and is projected at 48 percent in 2009-10. Correspondingly, there has been a decline in the lowincome group. Some positive factors are: Rising disposable income levels Increasing urbanization and exposure to Western culture Growing health consciousness among the middle class Growing consumerism Changing age profile Increasing availability of cheap consumer credit

Introduction to FMCG Sector in India

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) goods are popularly named as consumer packaged goods. Items in this category include all consumables (other than groceries/pulses) people buy at regular intervals. The most common in the list are toilet soaps, detergents, shampoos, toothpaste, shaving products, shoe polish, packaged foodstuff, house hold accessories and extends to certain electronic goods. These items are meant for daily of frequent consumption and have a high return. A major portion of the monthly budget of each household is reserved for FMCG products. The volume of money circulated in the economy against FMCG products is very high, as the number of products the consumer use is very high. Competition in the FMCG sector is very high resulting in high pressure on margins. FMCG companies maintain intense distribution network. Companies spend a large portion of their budget on maintaining distribution networks. New entrants who wish to bring their products in the national level need to invest huge sums of money on promoting brands. Manufacturing can be outsourced. A recent phenomenon in the sector was entry of multinationals and cheaper imports. FMCG is the fourth largest sector in the Indian Economy with a total market size of Rs. 60,000 crs. FMCG sector generates 5% of total factory employment in the country and is creating employment for three million people, especially in small towns and rural India. FMCG Sector is expected to grow by over 60% by 2010. That will translate into an annual growth of 10% over a 5-year period. It has been estimated that FMCG sector will rise from around Rs 56,500 crores in 2005 to Rs 92,100 crores in 2010. Hair care, household care, male grooming, female hygiene, and the chocolates and confectionery categories are estimated to be the fastest growing segments,

says an HSBC report. Though the sector witnessed a slower growth in 20022004, it has been able to make a fine recovery since then. With the presence of 12.2% of the world population in the villages of India, the Indian rural FMCG market is something no one can overlook. Increased focus on farm sector will boost rural incomes, hence providing better growth prospects to the FMCG companies. Better infrastructure facilities will improve their supply chain. FMCG sector is also likely to benefit from growing demand in the market. Because of the low per capita consumption for almost all the products in the country, FMCG companies have immense possibilities for growth. And if the companies are able to change the mindset of the consumers, i.e. if they are able to take the consumers to branded products and offer new generation products, they would be able to generate higher growth in the near future. The performance of the industry was inconsistent in terms of sales and growth for over 4 years. The investors in the sector were not gainers at par with other booming sectors. After two years of sinking performance of FMCG sector, the year 2006 has witnessed the FMCGs demand growing. Strong growth was seen across various segments in FY07. With the rise in disposable income and the economy in good health, the urban consumers continued with their shopping spree.

Packaged Food Industry in India

Packaged food retail value sales growth of 15% in 2007 was the fastest India had witnessed over a nine-year period. India ranked second behind Indonesia as the fastest growing packaged food market in Asia Pacific in 2007 as Indian consumers earned more and also spent more on packaged food products in this year. The strong retail volume growth that accompanied the value sales increase for most packaged food products was a reflection of growing consumer confidence underpinned by a booming economy and a growing desire for convenience. Price increases but there are no complaints from consumers. In addition to robust retail volume sales of almost all packaged food products, retail value growth was aided by increased average unit prices particularly of milk which had a ripple effect across most other packaged food products. There was, however, considerable variation in price increases, with staples such as fresh milk increasing by almost 17% in 2007 while average prices of bakery products increased by just 2%. Rising affluence and increasing affordability amongst Indian consumers meant that most manufacturers felt that the time was right to pass on the price increase to consumers rather than to absorb it. Fortunately for manufacturers there was no major consumer backlash following the price increase. The market for Pasta & Noodles in India increased between 2000-2005, growing at an average annual rate of 9.2%. The leading company in the market in 2005 was Nestle S.A. The second-largest player was Nissin Food Products Co Ltd with Chaudary Group in third place.

Companies selling packaged foods in India

Indian food processors may be divided into the following main categories: Large Indian companies that have their production base in India or neighbouring countries (for tax-saving purposes) Multinational and joint-venture companies that have their production base in India Medium/small domestic food-processing companies with a local presence Small local players in the unorganized sector The following table shows some of the major food-processing companies in India and their products. This list is neither exhaustive nor ranked according to the order of importance. The end use channels for most of them are retail and hotel, restaurant and institutional markets.

Indian Companies

Joint venture/Multinational Companies in India

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Introduction to Nestle India Ltd

Nestle India is a subsidiary of Nestle S.A. of Switzerland. Nestle India manufactures a variety of food products such as infant food, milk products, beverages, prepared dishes & cooking aids, and chocolates & confectionary.

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Some of the famous brands of Nestle are Nescafe, MAGGI, Milkybar, Milo, Kit Kat, Bar-one, Milkmaid, Nestea, Nestle Milk, Nestle Slim Milk, Nestle Fresh Natural Dahi and Jeera Raita. Nestle was founded in 1867 in Geneva, Switzerland by Henri Nestle. Nestle's first product was "Farine Lactee Nestle", an infant cereal. In 1905, Nestle acquired the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company. Nestls relationship with India started 1912, when it began trading as The Nestle Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company (Export) Limited, importing and selling finished products in the Indian market. After independence, in response to the then economic policies, which emphasized local production, Nestle formed a company in India, namely Nestle India Ltd, and set up its first factory in 1961 at Moga, Punjab, where the Government wanted Nestle to develop the milk economy. In Moga, Nestle educated and advised farmers regarding basic farming and animal husbandry practices such as increasing the milk yield of the cows through improved dairy farming methods, irrigation, scientific crop management practices etc. Nestle set up milk collection centre that ensured prompt collection and paid fair prices. Thus, Nestle transformed Moga into a prosperous and vibrant milk district. In 1967, Nestle set up its next factory at Choladi (Tamil Nadu) as a pilot plant to process the tea grown in the area into soluble tea. Nestle opened its third factor in Nanjangud (Karnataka) in 1989. Thereafter, Nestle India opened factories in Samalkha (Haryana), in 1993 and two in Goa at Ponda, and Bicholim in 1995 and 1997 respectively. Nestle India is now putting up the 7th factory at Pant Nagar in Uttarakhand. Today, Nestle is the world's largest and most diversified food company. It has around 2,50,000 employees worldwide, operated 500 factories in

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approximately 100 countries and offers over 8,000 products to millions of consumers universally. Nestl had to promote noodles as a concept, before it could promote Maggi as a brand. It therefore devised a two-pronged strategy to attract mothers on the 'convenience' plank and lure kids on the 'fun' plank. Gradually, the market for instant noodles began to grow. The company also decided to focus on promotions to increase the brand's awareness. In the initial years, Nestl's promotional activities for Maggi included schemes offering gifts (such as toys and utensils) in return for empty noodle packs. According to analysts, the focus on promotions turned out to be the single largest factor responsible for Maggi's rapid acceptance. Donati said, The focused approach on Nescafe, which was the company's flagship brand over the last few years has yielded rich dividends and we plan to replicate the same in case of Maggi as well.

Maggi- The Power Brand of Nestle in India

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Maggi noodles are a brand of instant noodles manufactured by Nestle. The brand is popular in India, South Africa, Brazil, Nepal, New Zealand, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and the Philippines; in several countries it is also known as "Maggi me". Maggi noodles are part of the Maggi family, a Nestl brand of instant soups, stocks and noodles. In Malaysia, there are fried noodles made from Maggi noodles known as Maggi goreng. Maggi noodles recently introduced a new variety of its noodles, to cater for the health conscious like 'No MSG', 'Less Salt' and 'No Trans fat'. Whole wheat flour based noodle variation marketed by the name "Vegetable Atta Noodles" has been introduced in India (Atta flour is used in preparing most forms of wheat based breads in India) and caters to health conscious buyers wary of the refined flour used in the regular Maggi noodles. This move helps the brand in India as suburban mothers, who feed the noodles to children as an after school snack, are the primary customers of the brand. Recently a line of Rice noodles and Whole wheat with pulses, carrots, beans and onions has also been introduced in India. In fact, "Maggi" has become a generalized name for instant noodles in India and Malaysia. MAGGI is revolutionizing the Indian kitchen with its latest offering.

Strengthening its core proposition of taste, convenience and happiness, MAGGI Kitchen Secrets Bhuna Masala takes it to the next level- the mothers ally for conveniently cooking great tasting, wholesome food for the family everyday. Based on intensive research and in depth understanding of Indian food habits and cooking practices, MAGGI Kitchen Secrets Bhuna Masala allows the housewife to prepare everyday, a large variety of tasty dishes without the hassle of chopping & frying. The dishes retain that special touch of the housewife as she adds her own spices. Maggi Noodles is the market leader with 80 % market share in Noodles Market and Maggi Sauces and Ketchup is leader with 37 % market share. The products are producing cash for the company consistently. The Market is growing by 15 % in the Product Category of Noodles.

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Product line of Maggi:

The current product lines of Maggi in India are as follows:

MAGGI 2-Minute Noodles MAGGI Vegetable Atta Noodles MAGGI Dal Atta Noodles MAGGI Rice Noodles Mania MAGGI Cuppa Mania MAGGI Sauces MAGGI Pichkoo MAGGI Pizza Mazza MAGGI Bhuna Masala MAGGI Magic Cubes MAGGI Healthy Soups MAGGI Healthy Soup- Sanjeevani

Introduction to Maggi Cuppa Mania

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Each offering of MAGGI noodles has been developed keeping in mind the Indian palate & what the consumer likes and dislikes. Since in todays fast paced busy life, multitasking is a reality, the consumer wants something that fits with such a rushed lifestyle. He/she seeks a product which in addition to being tasty and healthy is convenient to prepare, eat and at the same time is also filling. New MAGGI CUPPA MANIA has been launched keeping exactly all this in mind as MAGGI CUPPA MANIA can be had anytime on the go. MAGGI CUPPA MANIA: Offers delicious taste combined with goodness of real vegetables Comes in two mouth watering variants Is convenient to make Only boiling water needs to be added Has a fork inside for on- the- go usage Comes packed with Power of Calcium In addition to the delicious new product, MAGGI CUPPA MANIA comes in attractive sleeved cups MAGGI CUPPA MANIA is an ideal offering for the new generation pressed hard for time trying to juggle multiple roles all at once.

Therefore the line Just add garam paani Carry on jaaani

It was a totally new concept in the Indian market. However, it failed to accumulate the kind of response that was expected. Hence, Maggi has to give a call for a market research. We were expected to delve into the market to find out where Cuppa Mania had failed. Likewise, we began our research process.

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The marketing research process involved a number of inter-related activities and do not rigidly follow a particular sequence. The first step was to identify the type of problem. There are three types of problems: 1) Overt difficulty 2) Latent difficulty 3) Unnoticed Opportunities Overt difficulties are those which are quite apparent and which manifest themselves. Maggi has been witnessing a decline in its sales for some time. This was an example of an overt difficulty.

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Brand awareness
Brand awareness is a marketing concept that refers to a consumer knowing of a brand's existence; at aggregate (brand) level it refers to the proportion of consumers who know of the brand. Brand awareness can be measured by showing a consumer the brand and asking whether or not they knew of it beforehand. However, in common market research practice a variety of recognition and recall measures of brand awareness are employed all of which test the brand name's association to a product category cue, this came about because most market research in the 20th Century was conducted by post or telephone, actually showing the brand to consumers usually required more expensive face-to-face interviews (until web-based interviews became possible). This has led many textbooks to conceptualize brand awareness simply as its measures, that is, knowledge that the brand is a member of a particular product category, e.g. soft-drinks. Examples of such measures include:

Brand recognition - Either the brand name or both the brand name and category name are presented to respondents. Brand recall - the product category name is given to respondents who are asked to recall as many brands as possible that are members of the category. Top of mind brand awareness - as above, but only the first brand recalled is recorded (also known as spontaneous brand recall).

There has been discussion in industry and practice about the meaning and value of various brand awareness metrics. Recently, an empirical study appeared to put this debate to rest by suggested that all awareness metrics were systematically related, simply reflecting their difficulty, in the same way that certain questions are more difficult in academic exams. While brand awareness scores tend to be quite stable at aggregate (level) level, individual consumers show considerable propensity to change their

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responses to recall based brand awareness measures. For top of mind recall measures, consumers give the same answer in two interviews typically only 50% the time. Similar low levels of consistency in response have been recorded for other cues to elicit brand name responses. A brand name over which the original owner has lost exclusive claim because all offerings in the associated class of products have become generally known by the brand name (usually that of the first or leading brand in that product class). Velcro is the brand - hooked fabric fastener is the generic name Xerox is the company- photocopy is the generic name, other examples rollerblades, Styrofoam,Jello, Vaseline, Q-tips, Kleenex.

Market Research and Opportunities

Meaning of Market Research

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Research means a systematic study of a problem. Here, the details of the marketing problem are collected, studied, conclusions are drawn and suggestions are made to solve the problem quickly, correctly and systematically. In Market research specific problem is studied in depth by collecting and analyzing all relevant information and solutions are suggested to solve a problem which may be related to consumers, product, market competition, and sales promotion and so on. A company can obtain marketing research in number of ways. Most large companies have their own marketing research departments which often play a crucial role within the organization. There is a certain process by which Market research is carried out. In each step there is a horizontal choice through which the research should be carried out. First step is the objective formulation. The objective formulation for this particular survey was to find out the awareness, beliefs, approach and behaviour of the target consumer towards heart related problems. The rest of the process for the same is as follows:

Formulate Research Design

Research design is important as it prepares proper framework within which the research activity will be actually carried out. Research design acts as a blue print for the conduct of the whole research project. It introduces efficiency in investigation and generates confidence in the final outcome of the study. Research Design gives proper direction and time-table to research activity. It keeps adequate check on the research on the research work and ensures its completion within certain time limit. It keeps the research project on the right track. Research design means to prepare detailed plan and procedures for the conduct of the research project. It is like a master plan or a blue print for the conduct of formal investigation. There are three types of research designs which can be used as a base to collect relevant information. Those are:

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1) Exploratory research: Exploratory research is conducted when the researcher does not know how and why certain phenomenon occurs. Here, the hypothetical solutions or actions are explored and evaluated by the decision maker. For example, evaluation of quality and service of a bank, hotel or an airline. Here, the quality cannot assess directly as tangible features are not available. The main purpose of an exploratory research is to know the unknown. 2) Descriptive research: Descriptive research is undertaken when the researcher desires to know the characteristics of certain groups such as age, sex, occupation, income or education. The objective of a descriptive research is to answer the who, what, when, where and how of the subject investigation. Descriptive studies are well structured. It tends to be rigid and its approach cannot be changed often and again. As stated above in the summary of the project, market research design for flaxseed oil is done via Descriptive research as well. 3) Causal research: As the name indicates, causal design investigates the cause and effect relationship between two or more variables. This design measures the extent of relationship between variables. Causal research designs attempt to specify the nature of functional relationship between two or more variables. For example price and market demand relationship or positive/negative effect of advertising on sales can be studied through causal research.

Methods of Data Collection

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After we decided to select descriptive research as a tool for research design, the next stage requires developing most efficient plan for gathering the needed information. This involves decisions on the data sources, research approaches, research instruments, sampling plan and contact methods. The researcher can gather secondary data, primary data or both. Secondary data are data that were collected for another purpose and already exist somewhere. Primary data are freshly gathered for a specific purpose or for a specific research project. Researchers usually start their investigation by examining secondary data to see whether the problem can be partly or wholly solved without collecting costly primary data. When the needed data do not exist or are dated inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable, the researcher will have to collect primary data. Most Marketing research projects involve a certain amount of primary data collection using various research projects. So after learning about the industry, sector and product via secondary data, it was time to explore the market. As the fresh data which directly comes from the market is a reliable source we decided to prepare one questionnaire for consumers which consisted of Teenagers, house-wives, office-goers.

Questionnaire Design
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A questionnaire consists of a set of questions presented to respondents. Because of its flexibility, the questionnaire is by far the most common instrument used to collect primary data. Questionnaires were carefully developed, tested and debugged repeatedly before they were administered. Questionnaires were carefully chosen with their form, wording and sequence. The form of question can influence the response. As stated earlier, a single questionnaire was designed towards knowing the awareness of Maggi Cuppa mania. And on the basis of that we can interpret the data as to how can cuppa mania be positioned as a variant of a famous parent brand.

Conducting Pilot Study

A pilot, or feasibility study, is a small experiment designed to test logistics and gather information prior to a larger study, in order to improve the latters quality and efficiency. A pilot study can reveal deficiencies in the design of a proposed experiment or procedure and these can then be addressed before time and resources are expended on large scale studies. A pilot study is normally small in comparison with the main experiment and therefore can provide only limited information on the sources and magnitude of variation of response measures. Pilot Study was not carried out because of the limit of respondents which was 100. The aim and awareness will be plotted in the field study report.

Sampling Plan

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After deciding the research approach and instrument that is Questionnaire method, we had to design a sampling plan. That calls for two decisions. Marketing managers continually run the risk of making the right decision at the wrong time. Hence, it is very important that the marketing manager and the researcher decide upon the suitable time and space reference for the decision. The management is sometimes interested in knowing the behavior of certain types of firms under specific economic conditions. For example, the Maggi management might be interested in knowing how the market might respond to price changes of their products. Once the background of the data was found, the next step is to determine the sources of data to be used. In case of the primary sources of data, we adopted the survey method. We prepared a questionnaire. Once the field survey was over and the questionnaires were received, the next task was to aggregate the data in a meaningful manner. So we converted the data into a percentage form.

1. Sampling Unit: The marketing researcher must define the target

population that will be sampled. It is more of asking a question like who is to be surveyed. Our focus of questionnaire was to learn about the awareness of maggi cuppa mania. So we had to target the masses which are regular consumers of Maggi two minute noodles. Hence the office goers, housewives and kids below 16 years of age were targeted. This was the sampling unit.

2. Sample size: Large samples give more reliable results than small
samples. However, it is not necessary to sample the entire population or even a substantial portion to achieve reliable results. Samples of less than 1 % of a population can often provide good reliability, with a credible sampling procedure.

Conducting Field Study

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Objective of Consumer Survey: To study the brand awareness of new Maggi Cuppa mania in the Indian mass market Sub objective:

Is there any effectiveness of this unique concept introduced by Maggi in the Indian market? Will the customer opt for Maggi Cuppa mania in the near future?

Why Maggi Cuppa mania

Maggi noodles is a brand of instant noodles manufactured by Nestle.

It has diversified in many food items like ketchups and soups.

Has come up with a unique variant of Cuppa mania stressing on

convenience of the product.

It highlights on the mobility and out of the kitchen concept.

Questionnaire
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1) YES

Do you consume ready-to-eat food like pastas, noodles, etc.? NO

2) Which brands are you aware of the following? Maggi Top Ramen Sunfeast

3) Which of the following food items would you prefer? Maggi Noodles Top Ramen Noodles Maggi Cuppa Mania Noodles Sunfeast Pasta

4) What is the frequency of consumption? Everyday More than a week Once a week Once a Month

5) Do you eat Maggi Cup Noodles? Yes No

6) How do you rate the following attributes of Maggi Cuppa Noodles?

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High Brand Price Taste Package Health Convenience Ingredients

Medium

Low

7) What is the ideal time to consume Maggi Cuppa Noodles? After coming from outside Ideal breakfast Generally in weekends Whenever hungry Others 8) What do you prefer while consuming Maggi Cuppa Noodles? Tomato Sauce A cold drink Along with other snacks Only Cuppa Noodles Other 9) What comes to your mind when you think of Cuppa Mania?

10) Are you completely satisfied with Cuppa Mania? If not, please suggest some ways for improvement?

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Signature,

Personal Details Age a) Below 18 Gender a) Female Occupation a) Business/Self employed other Educational Qualification a) Graduate Any other City & Country of Residence: b) Post Graduate c) Doctorate d) Undergraduate e) b) Service c) Student d) Any b) Male b) 18-30 c) 31-45 d) 46 - 60 e) 60 + yrs

Tabulation, Analysis and Interpretation of the brand Q1.

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The research shows that 90% of the people do consume ready to eat foods like pastas noodles etc. The research shows that the consumer trends are changing towards westernized meals and snacks.

Q2.

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Amongst the readymade noodles market Maggi undoubtedly tops the list. Maggi being the early entrant in the market has the first mover advantage in the Indian mass urban market. Still top ramen has been in the market for considerable amount of time having 64% awareness. A surprise factor is Sunfeast atta noodles being new in the market has similar amount of awareness as top ramen in the mass market.

Q3.

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Again Maggi grabs the market with 90% of the share about the consumer preferences.

Q4.

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Maggi is consumed generally when people need a change from consuming monotonous diets which can get seldom boring. So once a week, people may want some different variant which contains energy as well as fat free product.

Q5.

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As one knows that Maggi Cuppa Mania is the brand which is a very recent launch of Maggi. But due to very strong brand equity in the minds of Indian consumers, every household has to give it a try for this diversified product in the same market launch by Maggi.

Q6.

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Surprisingly the people rate packaging as the most reason to consume maggi. But the percentage is only 10.2%. Second best is the brand. As Maggi being in the maturity stage of the Product lifecycle, the brand awareness is tremendous. Hence Cuppa mania might be successful in the long run. Also taste and health are major factors which influence the consumer buying behaviour. As this product is positioned as convenience, it is most important attribute for this brand to flourish.

Q7.

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As the basic idea of Maggi Cuppa mania noodles is to provide it whenever hungry, it has been more spiced up as a convenient foodstuff. Hence this question helped me in the positioning aspect of the brand which is the most important intangible factor for the brand.

Q8.

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As the sales figures of Maggi Cuppa mania are not increasing and before it starts to be a failure in the market, I thought if people who have tried it before need any complementary product with it. It was important to have products which complement each other. So a tomato sauce or a cold drink can be a good booster which can be added by the company to get more awareness of the brand.

Final Outcome of the Survey:

After analyzing the product maggi cuppa mania in the market, it shows that it has considerable amount of awareness. Basically the target audience is the urban population and hence most of the people know about the brand by seeing it on television. Others by word of mouth.

STPD Analysis for Maggi Cuppa mania

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STPD Analysis
S e g m e n t a t io n T a r g e tin g P o s it io n in gD if f e r e n t ia t io n
Ag e K id s J u s t A D DT a s t e GAR AM PAANI NOW CAR R Y On j aan i Fl avo u r s Pa c k a g in g

Ea t in g Ha bit s

Y o u t h

Lif est y l e f f ic e O o f u r bang o er s f a mil ies Mo bil it y Wo r k in g Wo men Heal t h c o n sc io u s peo pl e

Strategies used by Maggi

Maggi has faced lot of hurdles in its journey in India.

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 The basic problem the brand faced is the Indian Psyche. Initially Nestle tried to position the Noodles in the platform of convenience targeting the working women. However, the sales of Maggi was not picking up despite of heavy Media Advertising.

To overcome this Nestle India Limited (NIL) conducted a research.

NIL's promotions positioned the noodles as a 'convenience product', for mothers & as a 'fun' product for children. The noodles' tagline, 'Fast to Cook Good to Eat' was also in keeping with this positioning. They promoted the product further by distributing free samples. Giving gifts on return of empty packets, etc. Effective Tagline Communication.

Current innovative product differentiation

Market Penetration Strategies of Maggi Noodles Promotional campaigns in schools Advertising Strategies Availability in different pack sizes New product innovations Brand Recall and Future Trends

Introducing a fictitious character who can connect with kids for better
brand recall

Organizing contests , games and industrial visits for school kids to further strengthen the brand image

Invite Housewives to send new innovative recipes made from Maggi

and introduce rewards for the same Foray into the Chinese food segment by introducing branded products for chowmeen, schezwan and hakka noodles Hurdles faced by Maggi

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 Sales saw a decline in 1990s: - Formulation changed from Fried base to Air dried base.

Competition increased in noodle segment:

Top Ramen - Indo Nissin (Japanese co.)

New product launched in market but failed:

Dal Atta Noodles Sambhar flavour.

Maggi launched some new products under their brand, but these
products were not successful: Ketchups, Soups, Tastemakers, etc.

The Promotional Campaign

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Creative Execution of TV Advertisement: Cuppa Mania

Time in Seconds 1st Sec Video Two young boys shown with their bags, as if they have 2 to 6 Secs come to a jungle trek. One of the boys throws a newspaper towards a tree 6 to 22 secs which contains honey comb. The honey bees seem to be whole flock tries to attack the boys, whereas boys with no option start running for their lives. Various parts of jungle 22 to 27 secs are shown. All of a sudden during the chase one boy amongst the two boys stops and says to the situation Here the product unveils to just add hot water to consume it. After than carry on with the work you were Comic sound ends with a dialogue. Boys says to other boy, Bhuk Lagi The comic sound Audio A conversation of the boy on his phone with his mother. A comic sound.

disturbed by the boys and the continues.

something very contradictory hain yaar. 28 to 47 secs Bhuk to kabhi bhi lag new maggi cuppa mania, taste ki kahani, just add garam paani, pause and

showing its convinence factor sakti hain, introducing

doing. The boys eat and then then CARRRY ON continue to run away from the JAAANNIII bees.

Suggestive Promotional Strategies

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Focus on creating distinctive image, based on twin benefits of INSTANT and HEALTHY with emphasis on health conscious and rural market. Conduct promotional campaigns at schools in small towns with population more than 10,000. Strengthen the distribution channel of the rural areas within 100 KM of all the metros. Launch new advertisement campaign (T.V., Radio and print media commercials) with the brand ambassador.

Conduct Market Research to find out the market penetration of the

product in the rural areas covered.

Current Scenario of Maggi

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World Market Share

Maggi 94%

Top Ramen 4% Other Local 2%

Maggi 94%

Top Ramen 4%

Other Local 2%

Leading Brand in India and abroad for packaged noodle market.

Current Sales: Approx 90000 boxes Rs.4,79,49,000 in Mumbai 10, 00,000 boxes 55 cr. in India. Reasonable competitive pricing. Creative interaction blogs for customers: www.maggi-club.in Focus mainly on Health Benefits.

Conclusion
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With the launch of Maggi noodles, NIL created an entirely new food category - instant noodles - in the Indian packaged food market. Because of its firstmover advantage, NIL successfully managed to retain its leadership in the instant noodles category even until the early 2000s. Over the years, NIL extended the Maggi brand to a variety of culinary products like soups, sauces and ketchups, and cooking aids among others. However, these product extensions were not as successful as the instant noodles. In 2005, NIL started offering a range of new 'healthy' products under the Maggi brand, in a bid to attract health-conscious consumers. This project looked at the various phases in the product life cycle of Maggi noodles plus its new product maggi cuppa manias performance in India. It talks about the various measures taken by NIL to keep the Maggi brand fresh in the minds of Indian consumers. It also talks about the various extensions of the Maggi brand and tries to analyze why only the noodles category, among all the other product extensions, managed to succeed.

It further discusses the measures taken by NIL to reposition Maggi as a 'health product'. The project has now ended with a discussion whether NIL would be successful in sustaining this new image for Maggi in the market. Hence one can conclude from the research conducted by me is that there is a lot of brand awareness created towards the brand maggi in the market. But it has to be further altered and monitored of the performance of cuppa mania. My sub objectives were also stated in the report, which are as follows: 1) Is there any effectiveness of this unique concept introduced by Maggi in the Indian market? Yes it is indeed effective.

2) Will the customer opt for Maggi cuppa mania in the near future?

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That really depends on their sustainability of this product in the mss market. Current position is very dicey and there are rumours that maggi might draw this product from the market in not more than 2 months of the time. They must reconsider while doing this as it is a unique concept that talks about convenience for office goers both male and female. Adding garam paani giving a perfect snack for hunger is the message which this product gives from the market. More research is needed to determine the dimensions of consumers and these studies also need to be conducted for different variants of the product. Maggi in the current scenario keeps their market penetration strategy intact but has to go into search of different markets like rural India in which almost 85% of the population resides. That will be an apt market to target for a market penetration strategy.

Bibliography
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Websites:
www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi_noodles www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/Maggi%20Brand %20in%20India.htm www.nestle.in www.managementparadise.com/forums/marketing-management-rmim/43660-excellent-ppt-maggi.html www.livemint.com/2008/04/01193846/Maggi-Cuppa-Mania-Nestlelaun.html www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Service s/Advertising/Yo_Maggi_Cuppa_Mania_lands_in_a.../3104065.cms http://www.nestle.in/PreparedDishes_CookingAids.aspx?OB=3&ID=31 http://www.domainb.com/companies/companies_n/Nestle_India/2008 0402_maggi_noodles.htm www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/03/23/stories/20050323018204 00.htm - 16k http://www.scribd.com/doc/6519321/Maggi-2-minute-noodle http://www.scribd.com/doc/10773254/Maggi-THE-PRODUCT-LIFECYCLE www.naukrihub.com/india/fmcg www.ibef.org/artdisplay.aspx?cat_id=444&art_id=7933 Exracts from a food report from Indian Chamber of Commerce www.euromonitor.com/Packaged_food http://www.domainb.com/companies/companies_n/Nestle_India/2008 0402_maggi_noodles.html

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