PRAXIS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Brand Dossier of KISSAN

Submitted To:

1|Page

Prof. Srinivas Govindrajan

Contents
Sl.no.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.

2|Page

Particulars
Early History of the brand and its Evaluation over
time
Initial Positioning and Repositioning
Advertising , Sales Promotion and Segmentation
Followed By the Brand
Product Analysis
Strategies Adopted over the time by Brand to
tackle competition or prime market expansion
Distribution Strategy
Summary regarding the future directions of the
brand
Sources
List Of Group Hypothesis
Justification Of Hypothesis
List of Information Required to be collated from
the research
Data collection method
Method Of Data Analysis
Questionnaire
Phase 3

Page No.
3
4
5-7
8-10
11
12-13
14
15
17
17
17
18
19
19-20
23-29

1. EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRAND AND

ITS EVOLUTION OVER TIME
Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives
of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods &
Beverages. The companys Turnover is Rs. 17,523 cores (for the financial year 2009 - 2010). Hindustan
Unilever Limited (HUL), formerly Hindustan Lever Limited (it was renamed in late June 2007 as HUL).It is a
subsidiary of Unilever, one of the worlds leading supplier Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company with
strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of about 40 billion in 2009.
Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL.
HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters. The mission that inspires HUL's over 15,000 employees,
including over 1,300 managers, is to "add vitality to life. HUL meets every day needs for nutrition, hygiene,
and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. HUL has got
many brands under its umbrella like, Dove, Lux, Knorr, kissan etc.
Kissan is a food brand that was acquired by Brooke bond in 1993 from the UB Group. And later it got
separated from Brooke bond and came under HUL as a separate brand in 1994.The Kissan range consists of
ketchup and other sauces, jams, squashes and ready-to-drink products. For mothers and children, Kissan is
today one of the most trusted brands in the country. Kissan continues to be a pioneer in the categories that
it operates in. The Kissan range consists of deliciously wholesome products for kids. Kissan continues to be a
pioneer in categories like jams, ketchup and squashes.

3|Page

2. INITIAL POSITIONING AND

REPOSITIONING
Initial positioning
In marketing, positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or
identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. It is the 'relative
competitive comparison' their product occupies in a given market as perceived by the target market.
Kissan wants to be the brand which will help dissolve tension between mother and the family during informal
good food moments. With Kissan, good food is loved not shoved
Jam being a sweet product attracts kids. Kissan jam aims to be present at every households breakfast table.
At the moment Kissan produces jams, ketchups, squashes and tomato puree.

Repositioning
During the early 2000, the brand Kissan was rebranded as Kissan Annapurna. Kissan Annapurna was
marketing not jams and squashed but atta, salt and other staple foods. Later Annapurna and Kissan was
splitted into two separate brands. One is concentrating on staple foods and other on processed foods.
According to a former marketing manager of foods at HUL, there was a time when HUL even thought of
divesting its Kissan brands as it wanted to focus on its high margin international brands.
Even a brand like Annapurna which started out well and was built from scratch was found not to be feasible
as HUL did not want to build a commodity brand any longer. Today HUL is growing its foods portfolio on the
back
of
its
beverage
brands.
HUL wants to focus on value-added products, drive up its margins and become a premium player and stress
on its global brands. Being a market leader with its Kissan jam it is attempting to make its jams exciting
enough to go with tradition chapattis and roti.

4|Page

3. ADVERTISING, SALES PROMOTION

AND SEGMENTATION THEORY
FOLLOWED BY THE BRAND
Advertising
Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is
identified and the message is controlled. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an
audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio, especially on clothing.

Kissan Jam:
From the very beginning, Kissan introduced a new theory to advertise their product Kissan Jam. The theory
was called Law of appetite. Then it came up with the new idea headlined as Roti disappears with Kissan
Jam. This promotion earned much popularity among the kids.

The two pictures below depict the evolution of Kissan jam advertisement:

5|Page

Kissan Ketchup:
Kissan ketchup used their advertisements to attract the junk-food savvy. It used samosas taste to promote
this ketchup. Then in 2005, it came up with New Squeezo Pack which was a handy size which again changed
its packaging and was advertised in a fresh look in 2009.

Kissan Squash:
Kissan launched its squash for those who wanted to have refreshment in their home during summer time.
Though it was a luxury drink back then, but Kissan squash was advertised by the tagline 'Sachche phalon ki
praapti'. Later in the year of 2002, it launched fruit kick which was a big hit.

Sales Promotion
Sales promotions are non-personal promotional efforts that are designed to have an immediate impact on
sales. Media and non-media marketing communications are employed for a pre-determined limited time to
increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability.
In 1997, Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) has undertaken a new promotion drive aimed at making its Kissan brand
a leading Indian food brand. Old products have been phased out and contemporary products and ethnic
flavours have been introduced. As a result, HLL recorded a 40 percent growth in sales between January-May
1998. In ketchups, it gained an additional 8.5 percent market share through the introduction of Indianite
flavours like chilli and imli. Its chilly variant, Kissan Tomchi was launched in May 1997, while its tamarind
variant,
Tom-Imli
was
launched
in
December
1997.
Thereafter, sales of squashes were increased by 15 percent. Then the revolutionary Kissan Fruit Kick has
been launched in reusable pet bottles price. When Rahul Dravid was in his pick form, he endorsed the
product using his nick name JAMMY.

Change in promotional strategy

Kissan was synonymous with Jams and Squashes during its initial years. Kissan Ketchup was a market leader
in ketchup segment but these experiments and myopic strategies pushed the brand behind the focused and
aggressive Maggi. While in squashes, the aggressive campaigns of Rasna and other cola marketers made the
squash
category
irrelevant.
So all through the period 2001-2005, Kissan was in a sticky wicket. But now according to reports, the brand
mandarins of HLL is now clear about Kissan as a brand for processed food like Jams ,ketchups and like.
That change is visible in the recent campaign of Kissan which takes a unique view of Ketchup.

Segmentation
Market segmentation is the process in marketing of dividing a market into distinct subsets (segments) that
behave in the same way or have similar needs. The process of segmentation is distinct from targeting
(choosing which segments to address) and positioning (designing an appropriate marketing mix for each
segment).

6|Page

BASIS OF MARKET SEGMENTATION

Geographic segmentation

Demographic segmentation

Psychographic segmentation

A)

Geographic Segmentation

Kissan, as its a part of HUL, which has a huge distribution setup which helps it to reach the masses and rural
areas better than the other brands present in the market. It has both width and breadth in marketing.

B)

Demographic Segmentation

Primarily for Kissan jam and jelly the company considers children to be the most lucrative customers. Kissan
ketchup has a different take on the type of customers. It looks for more Samosas and Pakora freaks who
truly outnumbers many others in the consumption of Kissan ketchup.

C)

Psychographic Segmentation

Kissan provides special offers during festivals to attract more people towards their product. Offers in special
social festival allow a large number of consumers to experience and enjoy the Kissan Tomato Ketchup taste.
The main target segment for the brand was the growing kids and the tagline used was: Deliciously
wholesome products for kids to grow up. Consequently, most Kissan ads show kids eating food only when
Kissan jam or ketchup is applied to it. The most popular product under the brand is the tomato ketchup and
the recent tagline of the same is just lagao, kuch bhi khao (HUL WEBSITE)
Foods (4% Revenue, 0.8% EBIT): In spite of having one of the best distribution networks (coverage of 6.3 m
outlets) in the country, the food business has never constituted a big part of revenues. That is why this is the
current focus area for HUL. Presence in the foods category is mainly through Kissan brand. HUL is clearly
keeping a low profile in the staples category, which is low margin business. Foods margin dipped partly due
to launch related costs for Amaze brain foods (launched in two southern states during the JanuaryMarch
2008 quarter). In 2001, HLL spun off two separate umbrella food brands under Kissan and Annapurna. While
Kissan would be used to market food brands for kids, Annapurna would stand for staple foods such as atta
and iodized salt.

7|Page

4. Product analysis
Kissan Tomato Ketchup
Kissan Tomato Ketchup is a table product used in households, restaurants, canteens etc. It is used with
sandwiches, snack food items and while cooking many vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.

Competition: Maggi is Its Different. Heinz is Grown not made. Instead of trying to claim
All, Kissan Ketchup has come out with a very clear positioning. It directly stresses on its utilization as ketchup
and hence only talks about 'making samosas and pakodas taste better. Its a novel product which has a
sharp and attractive positioning.

Kissan Jam
Kissan jam's law of appetite, the eat ability of breakfast is in direct proportion to the rising level of
appetites which is again in direct proportion to the volume of Kissan jam spread on the toast. All your
favourite fruits come together in Kissan Mixed Fruit Jam to make one great flavour. Think of different ways
to eat it in. Spread it on the crunchy cracker. Roll it up in a chapatti. A great milkshake or put a dollop on ice
cream for a sundae. Drink it stirred in milk. Kissans fruity goodness makes almost everything more delicious.
The Kissan range mixed fruit, pineapple, strawberry, mango, apple, apricot & guava jelly. A little sweetness
goes a long way.

8|Page

Kissan Mixed Fruit Jam

Kissan is India's leader in quality-assured jams/jellies. Kissan Mixed Fruit Spread is a delicious combination
of fine fruit. The medley of different flavours creates a unique fruity experience that can be enjoyed in so
many ways.

Kissan Mango Jam

Kissan Mango Spread is made from fine, juicy mangoes and can be used in a variety of ways. Enjoy with toast,
on ice cream or in milkshakes for a mango accent.

Kissan Pineapple Jam

Kissan Pineapple Spread is made from fine, juicy pineapples and can be used in a variety of ways. Enjoy with
toast, on ice cream or in milkshakes for a pineapple accent.

Kissan Squash
Kissan squash is a refreshing drink. It is available in various flavours like orange, pineapple, mango, lime etc.

Kissan Squeezo
Kissan introduced an innovative packaging - Squeezo, which is an upside down plastic bottle and is the first of
its kind in the country. The packs innovative format is much more convenient to use versus a glass bottle. The
new pack is easy to hold and squeeze.
The launch was led by the Communication idea of khud banaao khaana dilchusp. It has received an award
for the most innovative packaging.

Green Apple
Strawberry

9|Page

Mango

Pineapple

Kissan Amaze
Kissan Amaze Brain-food claims to be India's first specifically designed brain-food for school children. It is
available in three formats: Bars, Bites & Milk Mixes. Bars & Bites are like lunch-time snacks & milk mix is like
your Horlicks/Bournvita. Bars are available in two flavours: milky mango and orange honey, Bites in
chocolate and strawberry flavours.
Milk mixes in chocolate and vanilla flavours. All in all an offering of six products fewer than three formats.

10 | P a g e

5. Strategies adopted over time by the

brand to tackle competition or prime
market expansion.
Kissan Ketchup:-

In this segment Kissan was the leader in the ninetees unless maggi overtook it after

that. Maggi is the biggest competitor of kissan in this segment other than heinz and other local brands.
Maggi has the current market share of 32% with kissan at 27% and the remaining is shared by heinz and
other local brands. Kissan lost its position due to its over confidence and neglicting the brand and quality. But
now it has again started to taking positive and aggresive measures to regain its position of No.1 in the market
by modifying its marketing and distribution strategy.
It has launched sachets of ketchup to add new and small customers to this segment and who can buy
according to their demand. Kissan is the only company to have sachet in ketchup category.

Kissan Jam:- kissan is the market leader in the Jam Segment with 65% of market share. The competitors
of kissan in this segment are Druk and other local competitors. Kissan jams are available in various flavours
and sizes. By doing so, a customer has more choice.

Kissan Squash:- Kissan Squash has the market share of approximate 28% in the beverages segment (Not
cola and mineral water segment). Kissan Squash has many flavours like mango, orange, pineapple etc.
It is a very slow growing segment of kissan as it is seasonal. But in the current year, it has seen a growth of
135% which is very huge and has given kissan a good strong hold over the competitiors.

Generic competition:
The brand realized that it wanted to enter a new market and kissan wanted to tap that section of the society
with a product that would help the brand to acquire a part of that market. Butter has saturated fats,
monotonous taste, high calories, whereas jam is sweet. For health conscious people, jam was anyday a
better choice.
Pickle is serving as a good substitute to butter and jam in the indian household since we indians prefer the
traditional way of diet rather than some western ways of being content.

11 | P a g e

6. Distribution strategy
HULs products are distributed through a network of 4000 redistributors, stockist covering 6.3 million retail
outlets reaching the entire urban population and about 250 million rural consumers. There are 35 C&FAs
(carrying and forwarding agents) in the country who feed these redistribution stockists regularly. The general
trade comprises grocery stores, chemist, wholesale, kiosks and general stores.

HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LIMITED

CARRYING & FORWARDING AGENTS

STOCKISTS

WHOLESALERS

RETAILERS

CONSUMERS

12 | P a g e

STEPS ADOPTED:

HUL started UPL (unilever premier league) program and BETTER stores concept. Earlier it was super
value concept: In this concept the retailers were paid on giving their shelves to the company for
displaying their product and also they were given a target on achieving of which they were given
rewards.

HUL has introduced kiosk channel to strengthen distribution set up. Purpose to reach interior those
are having capacity of Rs <500.These kiosks helped the company to increase their sales in the rural
areas and they got a good hold of the customers and after that the set up a good distribution
channel to keep the customers intact. And it rather made difficult for the competitors to get hold of
that market.

FCS (field capability score) concept has introduced to assess the distribution in field force level. It
motivated the sales person to increase the sales as they were also given target of sales. On achieving
the target the employees were given special incentives and bonus.

13 | P a g e

7. SUMMARY REGARDING THE FUTURE

DIRECTIONS FOR THE BRAND
The future of KISSAN seems to be bright and positive in JAM AND SQUASH segment. It is very challenging for
the ketchup segment as competitors like maggi and Heinz are gearing up and are planning to hit the market
with new products. Kissan has also launched a new flavour CHATKADAAR which is having the combination of
sweet sour and chilly.
This new product has been marketed very positively and effectively. Now Kissan is focusing more on its brand
and is trying its best to capture the market with more effective advertising and more measures to reach the
masses with small and affordable packages, like its available in all price variances starting from Re.1 to Rs.90
in both ketchup and jam segment. With the increase in competition, KISSAN is also reducing its prices when
compared to its competitors. It is also giving the retailers a margin which is irresistible for anyone to not to
accept the offer and hence the retailers to sell only Kissan to customers who just need a sauce and also the
BRAND IMAGE OF IT WORKS. Kissan also has a lot of variety in the ketchup and jam segment when
compared to its competitors. So the future of the brand is bright and looks like it will again gain its No.1
position in the ketchup segment.

14 | P a g e

8.Sources:
1) www.hul.co.in (information about the company)
2) www.theubgroup.com (when kissan was taken over by HUL)
3) www.financialexpress.com (market position)
4) www.mouthshut.com
5) http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5122882.cms
6) www.indiaprwire.com
7) http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/05/kissan-totally-confused.html

15 | P a g e

16 | P a g e

Phase-2
List of Group Hypotheses
17 | P a g e

Availability of the product in the market is the key driver for higher market share
Kissan requires a brand ambassador

Justification of the hypotheses

As per the literature review, it has been seen that the market availability of Kissan Jam is one of
the sole reason for its high market share. Through the 1st hypothesis, we are trying to analyze, of
the two variables place and product, which one is the key driver. For instance when a customer
walks in a store and wishes to buy Kissan Jam, if he/she does not find it, what does the customer
do? Does he/she stick to Kissan Jam or chose another brand?
In the second hypothesis, we are trying to infer whether market availability is the only key driver
leading to purchase or a brand ambassador will create any impact.

List of information required to be collated

from the research
Consumers awareness about the product.
Analyze the consumer buying behaviour what instigate to buy the product.
Alternatives available to the consumers.
Effect of advertisement on the consumers.
Importance attached to a brand ambassador by the consumers of this product category

18 | P a g e

Data Collection Methods

Sample Survey:
In this technique, a sample size is selected for the survey to get the consensus of the
consumers about the product.

Personal Interview:
In this technique, a direct contact is established with the customers and their feedback is
taken.

Online Survey:
In this technique a survey is conducted online by uploading the questionnaire on the
internet which enables to capture a versatile sample. This is done in order to reach out to
those customers who cannot be reached easily.

Sampling Plan and Sample Size:

Empirical research will be based on a sample survey & Judgment survey. The sample size of
75 for the survey will be drawn from consumers and thus appropriate representation of all
market segments is ensured.

19 | P a g e

Method of Data Analysis

Likert Scale
Graphical Representation
Rank Correlation

Questionnaire
1 .What would you prefer most with bread?
JAM/BUTTER/OTHER
2. If yes, then which brand do you consume?
3. Given below are some of the attributes of jam which may have led you to choose the above mentioned
brand. Kindly Rank the following attributes on a scale of 5 in the order of their influence (Rank 5 for the
attribute which you feel has the most influence and Rank 1 for the least influence)
ATTRIBUTES
Quality
Taste
Price
Availability
Recommendation
by retailer

RANK

4. Is Kissan jam easily available to you?

a. Yes
b. No
5. From where do you buy Kissan jam? (Please tick whichever is applicable)
a. Nearby store
b. departmental store
c. supermarket
6. If you do not get Kissan jam in the shop, which of the following would best describe what you would do?
(PLEASE TICK ANY ONE)
A) Ask the shopkeeper to get it on a later date
B) Go to another shop and purchase

20 | P a g e

C) Buy any other brand

7. Do you remember any recent KISSAN advertisement?
Yes / No
8. Given below are 2 Kissan advertisements. Which of the two advertisements do you associate with more?
a. Rahul Dravid ad
b. Cute Girl ad

9. Given below is a statement. Kindly express your agreement with the statement
If a celebrity were to endorse Kissan, it would have made a difference to my purchase decision
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

I Strongly Agree
I Agree
I am indifferent
I Disagree
I strongly disagree

10. Tell about yourself

Name:
Age:
Gender:

21 | P a g e

22 | P a g e

Phase-3

23 | P a g e

After the approval of the proposal, a survey was conducted in Kolkata through Personal Interview and
Online Survey with a sample size of 75. The analysis of data collected and the inferences drawn from the
analysis are given below.

List of Hypotheses:
Availability of the product in the market is the key driver for higher market share
Through this hypothesis, we are trying to analyze, of the two variables place and product, which
one is the key driver. For instance when a customer walks in a store and wishes to buy Kissan Jam, if
he/she does not find it, what does the customer do? Does he/she stick to Kissan Jam or chose
another brand?
Kissan requires a brand ambassador
In the second hypothesis, we are trying to infer whether market availability is the only key driver
leading to purchase or a brand ambassador will create any impact.

PRIMARY RESEARCH
1.What will you prefer most with bread?
This question will give us an insight into the preference of the customer and which product is more preferred
with bread. The graphical representation of the data collected is given below.

The pie-chart clearly shows that 44% of the respondents prefer jam with bread, closely followed by
preference of butter. Thus from this we can draw the inference that there is a thin line between the
preference of jam and butter.
24 | P a g e

We see from the above graph that jam and butter are the most preferred in their segment but the analysis
has to be whether jam users arepreferring Kissan jam over the other brands. For getting an answer to the
requiresd question, the group went ahead to ask the 33 jam users whether they prefer kissan jam or not.
The question was a direct question and the answers involved the name of the brand which the customer
consumed.
2. If jam, then which brand does you consume?
The graphical representation of the data collected is given below.

This pie-chart clearly shows that 90% of the jam consumers prefer KISSAN as their brand.
3. Given below are different attributes of jam. Kindly rank how these attributes influence to choose your jam
brand. Rank the attributes on a scale of 1 to 5 (Rank 5 - most influence to Rank 1 - least influence)
By doing the Kendalls Rank Correlation test we proved that our hypothesis is rejected.

4. Is Kissan jam easily available to you?

25 | P a g e

This implies that Kissan has a very strong distribution channel, so the products of Kissan are easily available in
every store.

5. From where do you buy Kissan jam?

From the bar diagram we can infer that Kissan jam is easily available in stores, which means that the
distribution of Kissan jam is very strong.

26 | P a g e

6. If you do not get Kissan jam in the shop which of the following would best describe what you
would do?
A: this implies that the customer is partially loyal to the brand and more loyal to the retailer.
B: this implies how loyal the customer towards the brand is.
C: this directly implies where the customer is indifferent to the brand he purchases.

We can infer from the above pie-chart that the brand loyalty factor is very high. This is proved by the fact
that when the customer is unable to find Kissan jam in a particular shop goes to any other shop and buys
Kissan jam.

7. Do you remember any recent Kissan advertisement?

27 | P a g e

Through this pie-chart we can infer that brand recall through advertisement is very low. Very few
consumer of Kissan jam can recall any advertisement of Kissan jam.
8. Given below are 2 Kissan advertisements. Which of the two advertisements do you associate with
more?

This implies that if Kissan goes for a celebrity endorsement in the future then it will have an impact
on the customers mind and will have a high brand recall.

9. Given below is a statement. Kindly express your agreement with the statement 28 | P a g e

If a celebrity were to endorse Kissan, it would have made a difference to my purchase decision
In this question we did Likerts scale analysis and the result was negative which proves that the
buying behaviour of the consumer is indifferent to the celebrity endorsement.
Analysis of the hypothesis with inferences drawn from the survey
1st Hypothesis: Our first hypothesis was Availability of the product in the market is the key

driver for higher market share. With the inference drawn from questions 3, 4, 5 and 6 we can
conclusively say that .
2nd Hypothesis: Kissan requires a brand ambassador hypothesis was tested with the help of
questions 7,8, 9 ( likert scale analysis).we have seen that the data collected for question 7 & 8 imply
that celebrity endorsement will help in the brand recall but the likert analysis proved that the consumer
is indifferent to celebrities endorsing the brand.

Conclusion
Hypothesis 1 is rejected, hypothesis 2 is partially proved.

29 | P a g e