Britannia Makeover

Question 1:- Why change in logo and corporate slogan was critical to BIL’s makeover?

Answer:- Change in logo was critical to Britannia because it having 16% growth and lot of
analyst says its out of compulsion. But change of logo and corporate slogan is necessary for BIL
to give competition to the foreign players and domestic players. To make BIL a food company it
is necessary to give Britannia a new and fresh look which associate brand with consumers.

Britannia was leader in biscuit industry and its 85% revenue come from Biscuits segment. It was
also a core product of Britannia and have its core competencies in biscuit manufacturing.
Analyst feel that diversifying business from this segments is too risky. Changing of logo and
slogan may loose identity of Britannia and trust on the public which Britannia achieved over a
period of time.

Its new slogan was “Eat Healthy Think Better”, which was used to communicate the fact that BIL
is closely associated with modernity. The brand was still synonymous with trust and quality, and
a wide range of products which are seen as a source of strength and nutrition. The new identity
had three colours i.e. red, green and white. The new brand statement captured the Indian
concept of unity of body and mind.

Q2. For a company that wish to cater to a varied customer-base, BIL needed to posses a large
portfolio of brand, with different USP’s positioned at different price-point, yet unified under a
uniquely differentiate mother brand.” In the light of above statement, discuss various strategies
followed by BIL?

Answer:- BIL changed its packaging strategy by launching biscuits in small sachets. It
launched the low-priced sachets, 'Tiger Tikis-nibblets' priced at Re 1-targetting the mass
market. BIL simultaneously revamped its distribution channels, increasing its retail distribution
network to more than 1.20 million outlets. To increase penetration, more than half of the new
outlets serviced, were in the rural and semi-urban markets-a break from the past, when BIL's
distribution was distinctly skewed towards urban India.

Over the past few years, Britannia promised to consumers to make products that are not just
enjoyable but also good for them. This is perhaps best exemplified by Britannia's decision to
remove 8,500 tons of transform fat from its biscuits in the last year, making them completely
trans fat-free. The company was under no regulatory compulsion to do so; in fact, it is the only
biscuit manufacturer in India to have taken such a step. Over the last few years, Britannia has
also fortified many of its products with vitamins and micronutrients such as iron. Currently, 50%
of its products are fortified.
Britannia brand positioned as both enjoyable and healthy brand. Britannia was not in the
"health food" business, but rather "in the business of delight and enjoyment," competing not
only with other biscuits but also with savories, chocolates and other snacks.

By marketing itself as a healthier alternative, however, Britannia seeks to sharply differentiate

itself from other brands -- and that move has paid off. Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill
Gates included Britannia's fortified snacks in a list of eight examples of 'creative capitalism'
published in Time magazine. The company was also recruited to participate in former U.S.
President Bill Clinton's campaign against childhood malnutrition through the high-profile
Clinton Global Initiative.

Other initiatives include introducing personal consumption packs to attract youth and people
on the move, adding transit points such as bus stops and small roadside shops to its distribution
network, and addressing workers in the business process outsourcing industry as a potential
new market.

BIL entered the dairy segment in 1997 with cheese and milk powder or dairy whiteners. By
2000, BIL captured about 35% of market share of the cheese market and 20% in the dairy
whitener segment. It launched butter in 1998, flavoured milk, sub-branded 'zipsip' in tetra
packs in 1999 and ghee in February 2000. The company re launched its entire dairy business in
late April 2000 by bringing it under the 'Milkman' name. The pricing, communication, package,
design had all been revamped.

Q3:- Do you think diversification is the wise move?

A:- Yes, diversification is the wise move of the Britannia Industries. Because more and more
players coming in the Bakery segment (both foreign and domestic). To need to expand their
business and achieve their mission of becoming “Food Company” they need to diversify their
business portfolio. Britannia is the leader in the Biscuit manufacturing/segment, this will
provide easy acceptance of its other Brands and products. Britannia very carefully diversify its
business and brings its new brands in markets.

For diversification Britannia had done its makeover of its brand and corporate identity:-

1) BIL hired a paris based design studio for craft a new logo and corporate slogan. It
involved understanding the perceived and potential value of the brand where
everything from colours and symbols to the typeface, was evaluated. The work was also
involved at the potential of the market and seeing where BIL could venture in future.
 2) Key Objectives which Britannia keep in mind to diversify its business :-
(i) Communicate modernity and new look of the brands.
(ii) Ensure customers, being a trusted brand and familiar brand, changed with
times.

3) Britannia keep new corporate identity with three colours red(symbolizing energy and
vitality), green (nutrition and freshness) and white(purity) which collectively
represented what consumers looked for in foods and beverage.

4) Craft new Logo “Eat Healthy, Think Better”.

5) Reduce its dependence on Biscuit and diversify its product portfolio into product
categories that fitted its overall objective of transforming itself into a food company.
6) Change its flavored milk products into its new umbrella brand “Milkman”.

Q4. Why did Britannia re-launch its dairy products under the “milkman” umbrella?

Answer:-Britannia followed the strategy of 'brand clustering' with regard to brand building.
Britannia remained the mother brand to act as a guarantee to its customers and a number of
sub brands existed under it. Britannia differentiated its brands and brought it together under
the 'Eat Healthy Think Better' banner.

It was under the 'MILKMAN' name that BIL relaunched it dairy products. The word 'flavored'
was dropped from the milk products range because it was considered artificial. This was move
taken because Britannia as a brand had already been associated with “nutrition, health, purity,
freshness and strength”. Hence anyone buying a Britannia product was assumed to be buying a
nutritious food product.

Therefore, the whole objective to re-launch the dairy products under the 'milkman' umbrella
was to prevent brand dilution of BIL and so that brand identity can be retained. Britannia
decided to broaden its menu by diversifying, which meant going beyond biscuits, which has
been the most difficult challenge and a litmus test for the company. Britannia entered the dairy
category with the launch of Britannia Milkman range of products. With the success of Britannia
Milkman cheese, it achieved a niche for itself in a category that was defined by a competitor
that had created the categor

Q5. If you were the brand manager of BIL, what would be your course of action?

Answer:-As a Brand Manager of BIL, I would suggest the company to follow the following points
for better course of action. Britannia has been very good at developing its current business, but
it has not come out with any innovations in recent years. There has not been a single new
product in the past few years which has been pioneering for the category. There has been no
new energy, no 'wow' factor. Britannia needs to innovate.

A company like BIL, which wished to cater to a varied customer-base, needed to possess a large
portfolio of brands, with different USPs, positioned at different price-points, yet unified under a
uniquely differentiated mother brand.

BIL seemed to have realised that its customers weren't really buying biscuits; they were buying
health, nutrition, and food. If it was nutrition, not biscuits, that the customer was buying when
he bought Britannia, BIL could easily extend the brand to other markets where the customer
looked for nutrition in every purchase. It was a repositioning that did not have any intrinsic
boundaries and BIL, by taking a heath platform could enter other markets.