aggi's turned 25 and it is still going strong, but there are challenges ahead.

Few ad jingles have survived 25 years. Some long-playing ones like Lifebuoy have been discontinued, while others like Titan are yet to celebrate their silver jubilee. Nestlé’s Maggi has stuck to the jingle that marked its entry in the country 25 years ago with instant noodles.

 The jingle has indeed helped in creating a formidable brand. Maggi’s market share is well above 90 per cent. It has seen no serious rival in the years it has been around, though some FMCG companies like ITC have tried to attack its flanks by launching ready-to-eat pasta. A survey

carried out by the National Council of Applied Economic Research named Maggi the country’s most valued FMCG brand. Only briefly in 25 years has the brand taken on board a celebrity (actress Preity Zinta). Maggi is the biggest brand in the Nestlé portfolio in the country, having overtaken Nescafé in the earlier part of the decade. So, why kill the jingle.

In fact, the campaign designed by Nestlé for Maggi’s silver jubilee hopes to work on the brand’s strong consumer connect through television, the Internet and print. The jingle gets a prominent play in the television campaign. Nestlé, India’s largest food products company, has decided not to litter the sky with hoardings on the occasion. Instead, the ads will play on nostalgia. Consumers who first sampled the brand as kids now run households. The campaign seeks to strengthen the association.

Thus, customers will be invited to share their “Maggi moments” with the company. If the company likes the way you prepare Maggi, you could find your photo on Maggi packs. A new website called www.meandmerimaggi.com is also in the works.

Convenience was the unique selling proposition of Maggi when it was launched 25 years ago. For the first time, consumers got something that was hygienically packed and convenient to prepare. It was also the first fusion experiment on food in India. Instant noodles was an entirely new category in the country, but it was given an Indian twist. Maggi came in four variants: Masala, chicken, sweet & sour and capsicum. Of these, only two have survived — masala and chicken which sells largely in the eastern states. Masala continues to be the flagship flavour. In the days that followed, it experimented with more variants, like a garlic- and onion-free one for Gujarat. Some of these still exist, others were discontinued.

The turning point came in 2005, when Nestlé came out with Maggi atta (whole-wheat flour) instant noodles. All over the country, atta is considered healthier than maida or refined flour which the company was using from day one. This helped the company take the health platform, though Nestlé General Manager (food business) Shivani Hegde insists that the product never ran the danger of being classified junk food. It was then that it added the tagline, health bhi, taste bhi (health as well as taste). Maggi’s properties were expanded from convenience alone to include taste and health as well. “It is an ally to the mother in the kitchen to make tasty and healthy food with convenience,” says she.

That was also the time when Nestlé was repositioning itself worldwide as a health and wellness company. At the grassroots level, Maggi started associating with quiz contests and other such events connected to mental and physical wellbeing.

This positioning gave Nestlé the platform to launch more products under the Maggi brand. It already had Maggi soups, sauces and coconut milk in the market, but given the strong equity of the brand, Nestlé could now extend it to newer categories. Thus, it recently came out with fried masala paste. More categories could follow, though Hegde is tight-lipped about it. But these could be distinctly Indian products. At the moment, over 90 per cent of the Maggi products in the country cannot be found elsewhere in the world.

Not that all Maggi brand extensions have met with success in the past. Nestlé had launched its Maggi range of pickles some years back. But the product was withdrawn. It has also experimented with Maggi soup cubes, the sales of which are now restricted to a handful of markets in the country.

Two reports recently put out by investment analysts, one by IDFC-SSKI Securities and the other by Citi Investment Research, say that the slowdown in the urban markets could impact adversely Nestlé’s prepared dishes and cooking

aids business which accounts for 21 per cent of the company’s annual revenue. Maggi, in other words, could become a victim of down-trading. “Nestlé may not gain significantly in an economic recovery led by the rural sector given its high urban exposure,” says the Citi report released early-March.

Hegde says that there is no evidence of down-trading so far.

Still, the company is taking no chances and is extending its distribution reach to smaller towns and cities. Maggi happens to be Nestlé’s most widely distributed brand in the country. Through independent channels, it reaches those villages where the company has no presence, according to Hegde. This is also the time that Maggi’s value-for-money pack priced at Rs 5 is expected to come handy. (The regular pack comes for Rs 10.) “It is no longer an aspirational product for any socio-economic category of consumers,” says Hegde.

The IDFC-SSKI report says that almost 60 per cent of the FMCG volumes in the country come from price points below Rs 10. The share of such products for Nestlé has improved from 21 per cent some years ago to 30 per cent now and is expected to rise further. This is a clear indication of the company’s pricing strategy.

In the recent past, Nestlé has moved fast to plug any flank that could be attacked by rivals. It first launched Maggi rice noodles targeted at consumers in the east and south, where rice for the staple meal. Next, it came out with instant noodles in a cup which is ready to eat after pouring some hot water in it. This was meant for consumption on the go, including offices. It was a product for the urban markets. The volumes might be low but it has a wide lead over any company which might target these categories.

But some challenges remain. Large retailers like Vishal Retail have decided to launch instant noodles under their own private label. These are priced 25 per cent below Maggi, yet give the retailers a profit margin of up to 30 per cent. FMCG companies, in contrast, offer retailers margins between 12 per cent and 15 per cent. Hence, they have decided to push their own labels to improve their profit margins.

The same retailers, to be sure, had driven Nestlé’s growth in the last two years, the IDFC-SSKI report says. “Nestlé’s product portfolio is best suited to the Indian consumerism story and rides piggyback the organised retail platform. However, organised retail is seeing a slowdown…in metro markets it is also seeing a decline.” These are issues that Hegde, a veteran of over 20 years at Nestlé, and her team need to address in the days to come.

Analysts and sector experts admit that Maggi is no longer an impulse purchase like a chocolate or an aerated beverage. “It is now on the shopping list of most people,” says Technopak Advisors Associate Vice-president Purnendu Kumar. But some of them say the brand has got straitjacketed as an evening snack eaten by children. Indeed, much of Maggi’s promotion is centred on kids.

Hegde says instant noodles are now consumed right through the day by all members of the family, young and old. Some Maggi ads clearly show that it is targeted at all family members. Nowhere in the world does Nestlé sell such large volumes of instant noodles as in India. Hegde hopes to grow, notwithstanding the urban slowdown.

Maggi (pronounced [ˈmaɡi]) is a Nestlé brand of instant soups, stocks, bouillon

cubes, ketchups, sauces, seasonings and instant noodles. The original company came into existence in

1872 in Switzerland, when Julius Maggi took over his father's mill. He quickly became a pioneer of

industrial food production, aiming to improve the nutritional intake of worker families. Maggi was the first

to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, and followed up with a ready-made soup based on

legume meal in 1886. In 1897, Julius Maggi founded the company Maggi GmbH in the German town

of Singen where it is still established today.

In parts of Europe, Mexico, Malaysia, Brunei, German-speaking countries and the Netherlands, Czech

Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia, Poland and France, "Maggi" is still synonymous with the brand's "Maggi-

Würze" (Maggi seasoning sauce), a dark, hydrolysed vegetable protein based sauce which is very similar

to East Asian soy sauce except that it does not actually contain soy.[1] It was introduced in 1886, as a

cheap substitute for meat extract. It has since become a well-known part of everyday culinary culture in

Switzerland, Austria and especially in Germany. It is also well known in Poland and the Netherlands.

The bouillon cube or "Maggi cube", which was another meat substitute product, was introduced in 1908, .

Because chicken and beef broths are so common in the cuisines of many different countries, the

company's products have a large worldwide market.

In 1947, following several changes in ownership and corporate structure, Maggi's holding company

merged with the Nestlé company to form Nestlé-Alimentana S.A., currently known in

itsfrancophone homebase as Nestlé S.A..

Today, Maggi is known throughout the world for its dry soups, seasoning sauce and instant noodle

dishes. In New Zealand Maggi Onion Soup mix is often combined with reduced cream to create an Onion

Dip for Potato Chips that has come to be generally accepted as a Kiwi favorite. [2]

In India, Maggi instant noodles are a favorite for an anytime meal.From dorm rooms of school/colleges to

late night cooking in home kitchens, its an all time favorite.

In West Africa and parts of the Middle East, Maggi cubes are used as part of the local cuisine.

Throughout Latin America, Maggi products, especially bouillon cubes, are widely sold with some

repackaging to reflect local terminology. In the German, Dutch and Danish languages, lovage has come

to be known as "Maggi herb" (Ger. Maggikraut, Du. maggikruid or Da. maggiurt), because it tastes similar

to Maggi sauce, although lovage is not present in the sauce.

In Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam Maggi seasoning sauce is a popular condiment, and the bottles are

familiar sights on restaurant tables.

The story behind MaggiIn the early 1980s India was opening up to the world after three and a half decades of self-existence. Till then, the concept of “fast food” was practically

non-existent. Nestle had already been pipped to the post by Cadbury in the milk chocolate segment and it desperately wanted to create a niche for itself in the high potential Indian market. It was then that it realized that it could be a first-mover in the untapped “instant food” segment.Several years went by and a lot of money was spent and Maggi Noodles was born. The problems had only just begun. The biggest of them was the Indian psyche of the 80s. The conservatism which India showed in their culture boiled down to their palate also. They would rather stick to their Tandoori Chicken or Idli Sambhar than be a little more adventurous in trying a new taste. Maggi Noodles was a new taste from a new culture.It was then that Maggi Noodles became Maggi Instant Two-Minute Noodles. The whole point was to position Maggi as platform of convenience and soul food for the a fast growing section of the Indian population – the working women. Heavy promotion was done on the same lines.But even this did not work. Sales were good but not as good as they wanted it to be. A research was carried out which revealed that the largest consumers of the brand were not the working women but young children in the Indian households.Realizing this, Nestle repositioned their brand using new promotional strategies and smart advertising. Marketing teams were sent out to schools to distribute free Maggi samples to take home. The kids would inevitably take their Maggi packets home and ask their mothers to prepare it for lunch or as a snack. The mothers would find that it took them only two minutes to make a proper hot meal for their children who would love it. They would refer it to their neighbors who would pass it on to distant bachelor cousins who lived alone and had to cook for themselves. Thus, the hugely successful viral campaign ensured that Maggi created a distinct affection in the hearts of its consumers unlike any other proprietary food of its time.

But the story was far from over. In 1997, Nissin – the inventor of instant noodles – launched its flagship brand Top Ramen in the Indian market with Shah Rukh Khan – fresh from the success of super hits like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge – endorsing the brand. It was then that Maggi took its first false step – it changed its taste to align itself with that of Top Ramen’s.The results were disastrous. A generation which had grown up on Maggi could not accept the new taste and would rather give Top Ramen a try. Nestle was fast losing ground to Nissin. It took them two years to work out a new strategy – accept the consumer’s verdict and get back to the basics. In 1999, Maggi relaunched itself with its original taste. It paid off handsomely and the faithfuls returned to their master. Top Ramen could no longer sustain the growth it built up in the two years.The next big hurdle came in 2004. The SARS epidemic of 2003 in South East Asia had led to widespread concerns regarding personal hygiene and health. Mothers were now more concerned regarding what their children were eating and maida in general was always considered to be low on the health aspect.In 2005 Maggi launched Atta Noodles with the tagline “Taste bhi, health bhi.” Although the advertisements showed Atta Noodles replacing the rotis and chapatis, this was never Maggi’s intention. It knew that thinking about that objective was a far cry and the main purpose was to convince mothers that their children was eating the right thing. In this sense, it scored over the Licia and Bambino semolina-based Macaroni products, which, though being an healthier alternative to Maggi, always tried to position themselves as a substitute for wheat based items of daily consumption. Within 10 months, Maggi Atta Noodles was declared a success and now they are foraying further

with the “Taste bhi, Health bhi” campaign with products such as Multi-Grain Noodles.

The above examples show that Maggi as a brand knows the customer and is willing to learn from its mistakes. It knows that its USP is convenience to make and good to eat and it sticks to that without pushing the envelope further in its campaigns. It has also leveraged its success to other food products – the most notable of which is the Maggi ketchup which has garnered a market leader position of about 45% largely thanks to the Maggi brand and its positioning as a “Different” product ( Remember the tagline – Its different!). The savior of many students (and especially the ones staying in hostels), there is little doubt as to why many regard Maggi as the gre

Maggi: From two minutes to 25 yearsBy Khushboo Tanna, afaqs!, Mumbai, April 23, 2009 

Section: News Category: Advertising

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On its 25th anniversary, Nestlé’s Maggi has launched a campaign, inviting consumers to share their Maggi Moments

From a midnight snack to a lonesome bachelor’s emergency meal, Nestlé’s Maggi has, over time, been a part of

nearly everyone’s life. The instant noodle snack brand -- which is also one of the instant packaged food products that

Indian consumers were exposed to -- is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.

To make consumers part of the brand’s journey, its latest communication talks about various memories people

associate with Maggi. The ad has been conceptualised by Publicis India. “It gives you a feeling of nostalgia, and

works on the basic truth that everyone has at least one Maggi story to tell,” says Emmanuel Upputuru, national

creative director, Publicis India.

Hemant Mishra, president and chief operating officer, Publicis India, goes a step further and declares that the ad is a

co-creation of the brand and the consumer. Whenever there is mention of Maggi, a consumer will immediately start

talking about his favourite style to cook/consume it, he says, while sharing an incident that happened with his own

children. While they were on a family vacation to Leh, they came across Maggi that was cooked in local spices, which

became an instant hit with his children. The new campaign is “inspired” by such truths, he explains.

Maggi is born: The product journey

Back in 1984, instant noodles were an entirely new category. Maggi was then available in four variants -- Masala,

Chicken, Sweet and Sour and Capsicum. It is now available in Chicken, Masala, Tomato and Curry variants.

In 2005, Nestlé introduced Maggi Atta instant noodles and then Maggi Rice Mania as well. Both of these, apparently,

couldn’t match the original Maggi. Other products from the Maggi stable include Maggi Cuppa Mania, Maggi Sauces,

Maggi Bhuna Masala, Maggi Healthy Soups and Maggi Magic Cubes.

Elements that have stayed constant in any Maggi film include the jingle -- ‘Maggi, Maggi, Maggi’ in a sing-song voice,

the family setting, and the ‘two minutes’ promise, which started off as a USP, but took a backseat eventually.

Maggi has generally stayed away from taking the celebrity endorsement route. The only exception was roping in

actor, Preity Zinta for a brief period, to promote the Rs 5 Chotu Maggi and the Maggi family packs. According to

Mishra, all ads for the brand usually focus on the mother-child relationship; therefore, the brand has deliberately

stayed away from celebrity endorsements. “The mother and child are the celebrities for Maggi,” he states.

Cooking up a nostalgic story

The latest Maggi ad opens with a voiceover, which says that one has many memories attached with Maggi over a

period of 25 years. The ad is a collection of short vignettes, showcasing consumers’ memories of Maggi. For

instance, one child remembers eating Maggi on a camping trip; while another person remembers serving Maggi,

when people were stuck in the Mumbai floods.

The ad concludes with consumers being invited to share their own Maggi story, through which they can get a chance

to feature on the Maggi packs or ads. The film has been directed by Arun Gopalan from Storytellers.IN. The team that

has worked on Maggi include Anindya Banerjee, Ashutosh Sawhney, Vishal Chemjong, Sudhir Das, Niloy Som,

Lobsang Wangchen, Hozefa Alibhai, Istling Mirc and Smriti Chawla.

As a part of its promotional drive, Maggi has launched a website, meandmeri.in, where consumers can upload their

Maggi moments and submit their favourite Maggi recipe. Consumers, whose stories or recipes are a hit with the

company, will get a chance to be featured on Maggi packs or ads.

The aftertaste

afaqs! spoke to industry professionals to find out whether this bowlful of Maggi is yummy or not.

Charles Victor, national creative director, Law & Kenneth, admits that he has grown up watching Maggi commercials,

but as far as this communication is concerned, he is unsure what the attempt is. “Is it about a generation that grew up

on it? Or that we've all had moments when Maggi bailed us out? Or is it to let people know Maggi has been around

for 25 years? But we already know most of that!” he declares. He adds that he did connect to some of the stories

showcased in the commercial and the brand still continues to connect with him, the way it did years ago.

Saji Abraham, vice-president, planning, Lowe, says that Maggi has realised that an entire generation has grown up

on it and that it has a bank of nostalgia to fall back on. “This is a very interesting space for Maggi to get into and has

rich potential. Imagine the strange places and memories we have attached to eating and cooking Maggi,” he adds.

Furthermore, he feels that nostalgia should be a theme for some time, because only a handful of brands have the

privilege of accessing that.

Suchitra Gahlot, executive creative director, Bates 141, is of the opinion that everyone has their own Maggi story and

everyone believes their way is the best. Coming from a real truth, the commercial does a good job of capturing these

moments in people’s lives. “While a story or two could be a touch more emotive, overall, I think the commercial is

successful in creating a ‘Me and Meri Maggi’ idea,” she says.

The ad is good for reinforcing brand loyalty, feel some. Says Atisihi Pradhan, senior vice- president and executive

planning director, Contract, “My first reaction when I saw the ad was: Why would consumers be interested in a

brand's birthday?” But she concedes that the silver jubilee is an afterthought -- what the campaign actually does is

get consumers to remember why they love the brand and how it fits into their lives.

“On a personal note,” she adds, having worked on the brand many moons ago, “I miss the original music score; this

modern musical adaptation is not as endearing.”

The new rendition of the jingle has been crafted by composer, Vipin Misr

Campaign Analysis: Maggi goes the Buzz way !

Maggi has come up with a new integrated campaign, for its new noodles flavor, launched in the form of a variety of teaser and hype-generating commercials. The crux of the current set of commercials show people trying to ‘guess the taste‘, or in other words, the main flavor of the new taste. (Maggi says that the taste is so great that they were unable to zero in on anything specific, and hence they ask you to tell them the taste)This is an extensive campaign by Maggi for this new product launch, ranging from TVCs, online Facebook activity, Video Submissions (UGCs) as well as packaging change (the new product has a dedicated temporary packaging on the theme of ‘guess the taste’).

The campaign was initiated along with the ads of the other recent launches of Maggi, Tricky Tomato,

Thrillin Curry and Romantic Capsica, as can be seen on the commercials listed on this Nestle

webpage:Nestle ProductsThe aim, obviously, is to create a stir . Their own regular Masala Maggi is so strong a brand, that even for

Maggi to launch a new product in the market, a bang is needed to make people notice. Maggi has almost

gained the generic brand status among noodles, and it being such a power brand, the marketers of the

new flavor knew that the campaign has to be big to at least grab sufficient attention.

Maggi, the undisputed (though not unchallenged) leader in the Rs 1300 Crore Indian market (with 85%

market share) is now taking actions to protect its turf. Earlier, there were minor regional and small scale

players attacking Maggi, such as Wai Wai and Indo-Nissin’s Top Ramen (Even though Top Ramen

brought on an abassador no less than SRK!!). But now, the biggest of the bigshots in the industry, HUL

(Knorr), GSK (Horlicks Foodles) and ITC (Sunfeast Yippee) have tossed their hats in the ring, challenging

Maggi to respond. The market is heating up, and the leader was bound to respond.

Maggi’s other launches in recent times, such as Vegetable Atta Noodles, Multi-grainz, etc, in my view,

were less about boosting sales than about protecting against flank attacks. These ‘healthy’ variants were

backup option to keep in hand, under attack by other health-oriented campaigns by Knorr and Foodles.

Knorr, with its soup-association, and Foodles, carried by Horlicks brand equity, are particularly well placed

to leverage on the health angle.

But now, the newer flavors are the latest offensive reaction from Maggi. They add diversity of taste in the

product portfolio. They have recognized that the Classic Maggi Masala, while a huge driver of sales,

forming a chunk of their revenues, has been quite unchanged for years now. They understand that the

consumer wants variation in taste from time-to-time. It is this need for variation that is being tackled

here. They want that if a consumer wants to try something different, he should go for other flavors from

their own stable instead of going to the competitors. The newest flavor, accompanied by the biggest

campaign, might just be the boost that Maggi needs in the Maturity stage of its Product Life Cycle to take

on new challenges, and to hedge some risks from being solely dependent on one product variant.

The campaign, in my opinion, is an excellent one, although the product (having tried it myself today!)

lacks the sort of pull which the campaign is building upon. (It could be because I am myself a die-hard

Maggi Masala fanatic and instinctively rejected the new variant). But still, the market is built around

themetros and tier-1 cities, and with rapidly changing taste preferences, who knows what might

catch the customer fancy!

P.S.: This is the second major step that Maggi has taken to stamp its authority, with the first one being

the popular viral campaign about ‘Me and Meri wali Maggi’. (I would venture to say that Maggi’s

campaigns are a marketing purist’s delight, first with the viral campaign and now this buzz marketing

endeavor. They are taking pure marketing strategies and molding them to best fit the consumer appetite)