SOIL Markezine - Oct 2012

ezineMARkezineMarketing magazine of School of Inspired Leadership

October 2012

“With the variety on offer, customers have little to worry about issues like inflation. Life's not so blissful for the players though, and inflation is just the tip of the iceberg” says Savreen Gadhoke of B&E.

Moving alongwith Fast MovingConsuner Goods

FMCG Industry

TEAM MARKezine 's Doddle

October 2012

Dear Readers,

With a long battle won at last, the government has been able to allow FDI

in multi and single brand retail. FDI in other sectors like insurance, pension

and aviation are more than welcome in India. By allowing big players to

invade India, it seems like a second revolution after liberalization in 1991

which gave the Indian economy a high growth rate irrespective of the fact

that even at that time many of the political parties raised serious

objections. Even today the entire nation has mixed opinions about the

impact of such a decision. The future will tell us, whether the move is

meant to help the poor Indian farmer or the Indian consumer or to fuel

more foreign currency into the economy to offset the petrol price rise or is

it just a play of politics.

What we need to think about is that are we dependent on such timely

foreign funded revolutions to act as a catalyst to pump up the growth rate

of our economy? Well, No! We had an inspiring leader who created the Taste

of India and made the poor villagers proud owners of it. Dr. Verghese Kurien

(1921-2012), the founding Chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk

Marketing Federation (GCMMF) was behind the success of the Amul Brand of

dairy products. Today, India faces a dearth of such dynamic leaders who can

create a great impact on lives in the rural sector and build multinationals.

We, the students of the School of Inspired Leadership family pay tribute to

the father of the white revolution in India whose contribution to the farmers'

society has transformed millions of farmers’ lives.

1 | MARKezine ©SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

October 2012

One step in the right direction is followed by more. The news that

Companies Bill 2011 will make CSR mandatory for companies is another

such step. In a land of diversity, like ours, we also have mixed views about

whether it needs to be made mandatory of not.

In this edition of Markezine we have an insightful article focusing on the

FMCG in rural India. It examines the important growth drivers for Indian

FMCG industries, its impact on the Indian economy and growth prospects.

We have an interesting article on ambush marketing done by HUL. We have

also focused on how loyal is today’s FMCG customer.

As always, we try our best through our efforts to bring in excellence in our

work with a hope that we will all learn and grow together.

Happy Reading!Team MARKezine

THE MARKezine TEAM

Editors Ishwarya Lakshmi | Sabharish Koruturu | Sandeep Singh | Shivaraj Ganesh

Creative Design

Karan Chhabra | Nikhil Girhotra | Sheeza Shakeel

.........................................................................................................................................................................


ContentsOctober 2012

FEATURED ARTICLES

FMCG in Rural India

Important growth drivers and the growth in the rural

sector Sarvesh Pingulkar, School of Inspired Leadership

The Dirty Picture in FMCG

Ambush marketing by HUL

Kushagra Jhalini, School of Inspired Leadership

“Butterfly Consumers” of the FMCG Sector

Loyalty in the FMCG sector

Sandeep Singh, School of Inspired Leadership

4 Ps Unleashed

4 Ps for Dove

Sarvesh Pingulkar, School of Inspired Leadership

Dr. Verghese Kurien

Amulya person Lost

Shivraj Ganesh, School of Inspired Leadership

PAGE NO.

5

16

19

24

28

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................................


Sarvesh Pingulkar Business Leadership Program

What are FMCG goods?

FMCG is an acronym for Fast

Moving Consumer Goods (also

named as consumer packaged

goods), which refers to goods

that we buy on daily basis for

frequent consumption and

these goods have high turnover.

The goods in this category

include all consumables (other

than groceries/pulses) like

toilet soaps, detergents,

shampoos, toothpaste, shaving

products, shoe polish, packaged

food, household accessories

and certain electronic goods.

Major players in this sector

include HUL (Hindustan Unilever

Ltd.), ITC (Indian Tobacco

Company), Nestle India, AMUL,

Dabur India, Asian Paints

(India), Cadbury India,

Britannia, Procter and Gamble

(P&G) Hygiene and Health

What is rural market?

The FMCG sector is divided into

two distinct segments –

• The premium segment,

which caters mostly to the

urban upper middle class.

• The popular segment with

prices as low as 40% of the

premium segment. This

segment is further subdivided

into Mid-priced segment

(semi-urban) and Low priced segment (mass rural market).

Care, Marico Industries, NIRMA, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and others.

FMCG IN RURAL INDIAOctober 2012


Hence, the rural market,

present at the bottom of the

pyramid, is characterized by

presence of poor population,

low median income, poor

infrastructure and agrarian (not

industrial) activity.

But in recent past, this

perception has changed

because of the increasing per

capita income of the rural

population. The villages that

come under the sphere of

developing metros and

neighboring cities are

responding to the overall

development. Also, growing

size of educated population,

rising per capita disposable

income, along with the higher

aspirations of people have

transformed the rural market

into a place with immense

growth possibilities.

This change has also impacted

the growth drivers of FMCG

industry, which now focus on

The important growth drivers for Indian FMCG industry in near future will be–

• Availability of key raw

materials, cheaper labor costs &

presence across the entire value

chain, giving the Indian

companies a key competitive

advantage.

• Rise in per-capita consumption

and disposable incomes

(specifically in rural area)

enabling the companies to focus

on premium brands.

• Increase in category

penetration in rural markets with

strong distribution channels.

Investment in this sector stocks

also attracts investor’s attention

because the demand for

an FMCG product is throughout

the year.

• Constant innovation in existing

products from customer

feedback.

October 2012


Impact of Rural FMCG segment on Indian Economy –

The FMCG sector is the fourth

largest sector in Indian

economy (Rs.1830 billion) and

Rural segment forms 1/3rd of

the total FMCG sales in India.

The report by AC Nielson on

Indian FMCG industry shows

that FMCG sector will grow at

15-20% per year and reach the

size of Rs. 6000 billion by

2020.

At present, urban India

accounts for 66% of total FMCG

consumption, with rural India

accounting for the remaining

34%. However, rural India

accounts for more than 40%

consumption in major FMCG

categories such as personal

care, fabric care and hot

beverages, along with long

term growth categories like

food and dairy.

2010 2011 2012

2000

1500

1000

500

0

FMCG Industry - India 2012 (in Billion Rs.) _ AC Nielson Report

Industry Size

Urban market Size

Semi Urban abd Rural Market

Size

....................................................................................

....................................................................................

....................................................................................

....................................................................................

....................................................................................

...........................................................

...........................................................

The growing spending of rural

and semi-urban segment

towards FMCG products is

mainly responsible for the

growth in this sector, asking the

manufacturers to deepen their

concentration on high sales

volumes.

As per the analysis by

October 2012


ASSOCHAM, Companies like

HUL and Dabur India get 50%

of their sales from rural India.

While Colgate Palmolive India

and Marico constitute nearly

37% respectively, however,

Nestle India Ltd and GSK

Consumer drive 25% of sales

from rural India.

Why focus on rural markets?

With the presence of ~12.2%

of the world’s population in the

indian villages the Indian rural

FMCG market is something no

one can overlook.

Urban Rural

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................

.........................................

2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2012

FMCG: Urban vs Rural segment growth - 2003 - 2012

20

15

10

5

0

-5

-10 -8

3

1013

1418

1014

1618

17


• Slowing consumption rates

in urban markets

Currently, in urban India, rising

disposable income & are leading

to “value vaulting” wherein,

after a threshold level of

penetration, consumers move

up the value chain, rather

than increase consumption.

Hence, companies are looking

towards the rural segment for

higher sales volumes.

Also, the urban population is

developing a craze for organic

products in the FMCG sector and

since there will not be a large

number of FMCG organic

products in the near future, this

industry will have to look

towards rural markets

(ASSOCHAM report’11).

• Rising rural markets

in the rural and semi-urban

areas and the FMCG market

penetration is currently about

2% in general as against its

October 2012

total growth rate of about 8%. The Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offered a huge opportunity that FMCG companies cannot afford to ignore. With 150 million households, the rural population is nearly three times the urban population.

• Governmental Policy

Government has enacted

policies aimed at lifting of the

quantitative restrictions,

reducing excise duties, FDI and

food laws resulting in an

environment that fosters

growth. The government


recently announced has a cut of

4% in excise duty to fight with

the slowdown of the Economy.

This announcement has a

positive impact on the industry.

But the benefit from the 4%

reduction in excise duty is not

likely to be uniform across

FMCG categories.

Due to the recent waiver of

loans, national rural

employment guarantee scheme

and increasing minimum

support price, disposable

income in rural India has been

increasing.

• Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI)

Automatic investment approval

(including foreign technology

agreements within specified

norms), up to 100% foreign

equity is allowed for most of the

food processing sector except

malted food, alcoholic

beverages and those reserved

October 2012

for small scale industries (SSI). There is a continuous growth in net FDI Inflow.

• Vast Market opportunities

Rural India accounts for more

than 700 Million consumers or

70% of the Indian population.

The working rural population is

approximately 400 Million. And

an average citizen in rural India

has less than half of the

purchasing power as compare

to his urban counterpart.

• Export - “Leveraging the

Cost Advantage”

Cheap labor and quality product

& services have helped India

achieve a cost advantage over

other countries. Even the

government has offered zero

import duty on capital goods

and raw materials for 100%

export oriented units. Multi-

national companies outsource

their product requirements from

their indian branches. It

provides a cost advantage in

addition to easy availability of

raw materials.

• Sectoral Opportunities

Dairy Products - India is the

largest milk producer in the

world, yet only around 15% of

the milk is processed. The

organized liquid milk business is

in its infancy and also has large

long-term growth potential.

Packaged Food - Only about

10-12% of output is processed

and consumed in packaged

form, thus highlighting the

huge potential for expansion of

this industry.

Oral Care - The oral care

industry, especially toothpastes,

remains under penetrated in

India with penetration rates

around 50%. With rise in per

capita incomes and awareness

of oral hygiene, the growth

potential is huge.

Beverages - Indian tea market

is dominated by unorganized

October 2012


players. 50% of the market is captured by unorganized players highlighting high potential for organized players.

RURAL MARKETING BY FMCG SECTOR

Few of the FMCG companies

had understood the importance

of the untapped rural market

and explored it with innovative

techniques.

1. Hindustan Unilever

Limited (HUL) – Project

Shakti

HUL is a major established

player in rural markets. Project

Shakti started in 2001 with the

objective of capturing the

media-dark regions by turning

rural women into direct-to

home distributors of HUL’s

mass-market products, after

analyzing the slowing

consumption patterns of urban

markets. This project is also

aimed at increasing the

company's rural distribution

reach.

The Shakti Entrepreneurs or

volunteers (Shakti Amma)

invest Rs. 20000 initially

October 2012


to buy products and then sell

the products door-to-door and

earn 10-15% margin on the

products. This program helped

the women increase their

income from Rs. 25/day to Rs.

100-120/day. A support

program, Shakti Vaani, trains

people in schools and villages

on sanitation and hygiene.

The main advantage of the

Shakti program for HUL is

having more firm feet on the

ground. Shakti Ammas are able

to reach far flung areas, which

were economically unviable for

the company to tap on its own,

besides being a brand

ambassador for the company.

Currently the Shakti network is

of 55,000 Ammas covering

140,000 villages across 15

states reaching 3 m homes. The

long term aim of the company is

to have 100,000 Ammas

covering 500,000 villages and

reaching 600m people. With


this initiative, HUL has been

successful in maintaining its

distribution reach advantage

over its competitors.

2. ITC Limited - Project

e-Choupal

ITC designed the e-Choupal

model to tackle the challenges

posed by fragmented farms,

weak infrastructure and the

involvement of numerous

intermediaries, among others.

Appreciating the significance of

intermediaries in the Indian

context, 'e-Choupal' leverages

Information Technology to

virtually cluster all the value

chain participants, delivering

the same benefits as vertical

integration does in mature

agricultural economies like the

USA.

'e-Choupal' ensures world-class

quality in delivering all these

goods & services through

several product / service

October 2012

specific partnerships with the

leaders in the respective fields,

in addition to ITC's own

expertise. While the farmers

benefit through enhanced farm

productivity and higher farm

gate prices, ITC benefits from

the lower net cost of

procurement (despite offering

better prices to the farmer)

having eliminated costs in the

supply chain that do not add

value. Launched in June 2000,

'e-Choupal', has already

become the largest initiative

among all internet-based

interventions in rural India. This

initiative, which has covered

over 70,000 hectares, has a

multiplier impact and reaches

out to over 1.6 million farmers.

3. Proctor and Gamble -

Project SB

P&G is trying hard to enter the

battle on rural FMCG market,

which will give them a base for

their vast product portfolio.

They have created a character

“Sangeeta Bhabhi” to hardsell

their products in rural India.

The personality of an educated

married woman was conceived

to push P&G's leading brands,

Tide and Head & Shoulders as a

dual proposition called 'kamyab

jodi' in rural areas of Uttar

Pradesh. The company is

planning to roll the initiative

further to cover nearly 5,000

villages across the state of UP.

Growth prospects of FMCG in rural India –

In the future, planned growth of

rural India will help companies

leverage their efforts.


October 2012

Increased focus on farm sector

will boost Rural income, 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 the growing

demand in the market. Because

of the current low per capita

consumption of almost all the

products in the rural areas of

India, FMCG companies have

immense possibilities for

growth. Hence,

if the companies are able to

convince the rural consumers to

buy branded, new generation

products, they would be able to

generate higher growth in the

near future. Surely, the rural

income will rise in future,

boosting purchasing power in

the countryside. But it will test

innovative approach, targeted

product development, product

access and robust distribution

channels offered by FMCG

companies.

References: Google Images

October 2012


Communication Links• Distribution systems• Communication Links

Shaping Aspirations• Consumer education• Sustainabledevelopment

Creating Buying Power• Access to credit• Income generation

Tailoring local solutions• Targeted product develpment• Bottom - up innovation

Kushagra JhaliniHuman Resources Leadership Program

Traditionally, Ambush Marketing

refers to a company's attempt

to capitalize on the goodwill,

reputation and popularity of a

particular product/event by

creating an association with it,

without any official authorization

or consent of the necessary

parties.

Ambush marketing has

traditionally been the bread and

butter for companies craving for

that extra attention during

promotion of major sporting

events (most of us would

certainly remember how Nike

attempted to ambush Adidas

during 2012 Olympics). But

Indian advertising industry,

being a powerhouse of think

tanks who run their imagination

beyond traditional boundaries,

have utilized ambush marketing

in the most creative means,

including advertising campaigns

for companies belonging to

FMCG as well as aviation

industry.

Procter and Gamble began an

aggressive advertising

The Dirty Picture In FMCGOctober 2012


campaign, which seemed almost

ubiquitous as the company

deployed its billboards at

multiple locations (including

advertising space available on

bus panels as well) for about a

couple of weeks or so. Their

billboard advertisement only

conveyed: “A mystery shampoo.

Eighty percent women say is

better than anything else”,

without even mentioning that

the advertisement is about

Procter and Gamble’s Pantene

shampoo.

But just before Procter and

Gamble was about to reveal the

mystery, Hindustan Unilever

deployed its billboards adjacent

to those deployed by Procter

and Gamble in most of the

cases, which stated: “There’s no

mystery. Dove is the number

one shampoo!!” We don’t know

about Procter and Gamble, but

this campaign certainly left the

target audience

spellbound! Hindustan Unilever

certainly proved that apart from

cricket, timing can be

immensely important in FMCG

industry as well. It was a

mind-boggling effort by

Hindustan Unilever to grab a

greater pie of the market share.

This campaign spearheaded by

Hindustan Unilever attracted

tremendous attention from the

general public, advertising

industry and the competitors

alike.

It was, indeed, a watershed in

the Dove saga. And that’s what

happened to Procter and

Gamble’s gamble.

(References: Wikipedia.org,

gala-marketlaw.com)

October 2012


Sandeep SinghMarketing Leadership Program

The demand created by

fast-moving consumer goods

(FMCG) will never die out. From

a simple detergent to clean the

floors to a pain relief spray, the

need will always be forever.

The rapidly increasing

competitiveness within the

FMCG market compels an

organization to not only entice

the consumers to buy the

organization’s brand, but

compel the consumer to

continue with the same. It is

therefore essential that an

organization does not merely

create, but also and maintain

loyalty among consumers.

“Loyalty” means faithfulness. it

means unwavering devotion. Yet

the concept of loyalty, at times,

runs parallel to our own

interests. But this romantic

ideology is not feasible in a

commercial setting. Today, the

big brands are asking the Indian

youth, not only for their devout

loyalty but at a certain level,

commitment as well. And this

commitment is born when the

consumer feels they a are part

of the bigger initiative.

The “Butterfly Consumers”of the FMCG sector

October 2012


Therefore, the focus of most of

the FMCG companies has

shifted to creating more of

consumer engagement,

involving the consumers in purchase decisions.

Instead of a physical

company-to-consumer

approach, big brands are

seeking the help of social

media, blogs and digital

technologies. Increasingly,

brand awareness through social

media is becoming a key

strategy for any tech savvy

FMCG firm. The most recent

initiative by NOMARKS to get aface from the consumers for packaging itself is a great way to engage consumers, advertise the brand and build consumer

loyalty.

With growing competitiveness, the companies are directly targeting the consumer’s psyche. One of the better

examples of this was a 24-year

old female, shopping at a posh

mall in Delhi. Walking past a

cosmetic counter, she was

stopped by a saleswoman.

Some twenty minutes later, she

had bought a new brand, at a

300% premium to her regular

brand.

What happened in these 20

minutes to delight her was that

a frontline person of the store

engaged her and offered her a

personalized skin analysis to

better understand her skin.

Based on the test, she was

advised on her diet, fitness and

finally, recommended a specific

skincare product. She walked

away, delighted with this

personalized experience. She

October 2012


would, of course, discuss this

with many of her friends. She is

not unique. She represents 50

million young Indian consumers

who account for over 60% of

the new consumption in

discretionary categories such as

durables, skincare and apparel.

A friend bought a fabulous blue

shirt from LOUIS PHILIPPE,

earlier this year. On his birthday

a month later, to his surprise,

he was greeted with a card

wishing him happy birthday and

telling him that the card

certified that a tree had been

planted in his name at Satkosia

Gorge Sanctuary, Orissa, in

association with Grow Trees

NGO for him, for us and for

mother earth. The company

drew him in by informing him

that this year, friends and

relatives would not be the only

ones singing on his birthday.

The sky, clouds and winds will

also join in the celebration.

Hundreds of birds will sing,

while, dragonflies & many other

will join in, flowers and fruits

will bloom, an odd owl and

pussycat will sing along, and the

entire planet will form the

chorus and wish him a long life.

A genuine effort to save the

planet and create customer

loyalty, isn’t it?

Most FMCG products are low

involvement products, so

incentive and not the product

becomes the primary reward.

This becomes more relevant, if

the incentive is exotic & not in

proportion to the cost of the

product. But due to its low

margins, most FMCG products

cannot afford to do so.

Further, there is low product

differentiation that leads to low

customer loyalty and high

switching. Customer retention

becomes very important as

acquiring a new customer is

five times more costly than

October 2012


retaining the existing customer.

If one organization is not

providing customer satisfaction,

then its competitor will provide

the same and drive it out of the

market. This is why most efforts

in the direction of loyalty

program are limited to short

term efforts to boost sales to

achieve quarterly targets or to

promote new categories / brand

extensions. Innovation in

products has become an

important aspect which the

company needs to address, in

order to keep the customer

happy and loyal as there is not

one market in India but many.

In this age of instant

satisfaction, the Indian psyche

is tuned towards a decreased

level of tolerance and greater

expectations. Thus, we can

'satisfy' such a customer but

level of tolerance and increasing

expectation from them to be

'loyal' is stretching the issue a

bit too far.

Another problem with the

loyalty program is that they

have become so popular that

there are actually too many of

them. We all probably have a

reward card for every major

supermarket in the country, but

do any of them actually have

our exclusive loyalty? And when

it comes to supermarkets in

particular, we are often bound

to shop at our nearest and most

convenient shop and not

according to

the best loyalty scheme.

References: www.facebook.com

October 2012


Introduction –

Dove was introduced to the world by Unilever in 1957, not as soap but as a beauty bar. This product used the marketing strategy - “the product would not dry your skin because it has one-fourth of cleansing milk”. Dove then slowly changed its strategy from “cleansing cream” to “moisturizing cream”, which made it America’s one of the most recognizable brand.

Dove entered India in 1995, as

a personal care brand of

Hindustan Unilever and soon in

2000; it was tapped to become

Masterbrand with long term

strategy.

From its introduction, Dove has

always been known to be

having characteristic marketing

strategies and in 2004, for the

first time, Hindustan Unilever

won “marketer of the year”

award for its brand Dove.

Product Mix (4 Ps)

1. Product Strategy –

The important criterion to

decide on product strategy is

to differentiate the product


4P Unleashed Dove Soap: Movement of Self Esteem

October 2012

Sarvesh PingulkarBusiness Leadership Program

Product Promotion

Place (Distribution)

Pricing

from its competitors and it also

involves knowing its competitive

strengths and insights about

consumers' motivations. The

product positioning strategy is

aimed to find a benefit that

distinguishes the brand from

competitors in the same competitors in the same

category and that is valued by

consumers.

• Dove soap has differentiated the product as a beauty bar

with maximum moisturizing

content having pH value zero.

• Dove also uses image differentiation with idea of

“Moisturizer” and “good skin

cleansing agent”.

• Brand focused on main customer segment of

“Non-Model” women –

beautiful in their own way.

• Considering the product life cycle, Dove soap is at growth

stage of the cycle.

2. Promotion –2. Promotion –

Major promotional campaigns

for Dove have been

• 2006 – Dove Self-Esteem campaign.

• 2008 – Dove Real Beauty campaign. This campaign put

October 2012


Dove at the third position in

India

• Currently Dove runs the

promotion campaign using

“Market Specialization Concept”,

which promotes the product as

“Real Beauty” and good for

people of all ages.

• Dove’s promotional video on

social media (Facebook and

Youtube) has been watched by

over 30 Lakh people.

• Dove also promotes using

consumer magazines,

newspaper.

3. Price –

Dove entered the Indian market

in 1995 with price tag of Rs.

50/-, which made it difficult for

the consumers to accept it.

Dove then lowered the price to

Rs. 28/-, focusing on broader

Indian consumer market.

• Dove India priced the product

with clear promotions, which

convinced the consumers to

pay for combination of good

moisturizer and skin nourishing agent.

• Dove has priced the product

such that high levels of

perceived quality are related to

higher price but just high

enough not to be unattainable

to target consumers.

4. Place and Distribution channels –

• Major distribution channels

for Dove have been HUL’s

regular distribution channels,

including 2500 distribution

stockists, 2000 suppliers and

6.3 million retail outlets. This

created a competitive

advantage for Dove.

• General trade comprised of

grocery stores, chemist shops,

wholesalers and general shops.

October 2012


AMUL- Brain child of Dr KurienIt all started 60 years back at

Anand, an unknown village but

as years passed; it became the

Milk capital of India due to the

presence of AMUL dairy. AMUL

was started in the year 1946 by

Tribhuvandas Patel as KDCMPUL

(Kaira District Cooperative Milk

Producer’s Union Limited). The

phase of KDCMPUL changed

when a young engineer, Dr.

Verghese Kurien was employed

at Anand, later to be known to

the whole world as "the

Milkman of India". Today, India

is 'The Oyster' of the global

dairy industry offering opportunities galore to entrepreneurs worldwide.

White RevolutionMr. Kurien gave a unique name to KDCMPUL and it was named as Amulya and then modified it to AMUL which stands for priceless. The brand AMUL (Anand Milk Union Limited) came into existence and became the leading market player in Gujarat. AMUL adopted a strategy of forming several co-operative societies for a group of villages. The upstream supply chain was entirely designed by Dr. Kurien.

Dr. Verghese Kurien – an Amulya person Lost

October 2012

Shivaraj BabuMarketing Leadership Program


Co-operative mechanism of Dr.

Kurien kept getting better and

by the end of 1960, Amul had

become a success story in

Gujarat. Late in 1965 with the

combined efforts of Prime

Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri

and Dr. Kurien NDDB (National

Dairy Development Board) was

established.

Building the Brand AMULThe slogan of AMUL- “Taste of

India” was given by Dr. Kurien.

The first advertisement of AMUL

came in 1966 for AMUL butter

with AMUL girl to compete

against polson butter girl. The

AMUL girl became a huge

success and it is has been

continued for more than 40

years and it is the longest

marketing campaign in India.

The Amul girl is still as young

as she was 46 years back; in

fact she is glowing even more.

Be it politics, sports, Bollywood,

the Amul girl is everywhere.

AMUL is often said to be playing

the role of a “social observer

with evocative humor”, their

billboards are always very

creative and unique. The

punch-lines by AMUL girl are

inimitable and they have won

the maximum number of awards

in India for any ad campaign

ever! Many other brands tried

copying what Amul has done

but they have failed miserably.

October 2012


Promotional strategy of AMUL

In Dr. Kurien’s mind Amul stood

for an umbrella brand which

straddled many categories, and

stood for the ‘Taste of India’. He

relentlessly focused on this;

that’s why such a big brand was

built on less than one per cent

marketing outlay, while other

companies spent upwards of

seven to 10 per cent as

marketing expenses. He was

conscious that this was farmers’

money and had to be judiciously

spent. Dr. Kurien believed that if

the quality of your product is

good it sells by itself and that is

how with less than one percent

of marketing outlay, he was able

to built a huge reputation

among consumers

Conclusion

Dr. Kurien is the recipient of

more than 150 national and

international awards, including

the Raman Magsaysay Award

for Community Leadership

(1963), Padma Shri (1965),

Padma Bhushan (1966), Wateler

Peace Prize (1986), World Food

October 2012


Prize (1989) and Padma

Vibhushan (1999). Dr. Kurien

writes in his life history, My

unfinished dream will only be

accomplished when the farmers

of India have a level-playing

field to compete with other

forms of businesses. Although

Dr. Kurien is no more with us

his, his contribution to the

country is immense.

RIP Dr Kurien…!!!

October 2012

31| MARKezine ©SCHOOL of INSPIRED LEADERSHIP

We want to hear from [email protected]

October 2012

We’ll be back soon

SOIL Markezine - Oct 2012

Education

indian economy

growth prospects

growth rateof

tasteof india

edition of markezine

fmcg sector sandeep

rural sector sarvesh

high growth rate