148 SUPERBRANDS

Mar ket
In India the sym bol of nourishm ent and health is
roti described by G abriel G arcia M arquez as
an edible spoon.W hole w heat flour is an
integral part of India's food culture.N ot
surprisingly,India produces 75 m illion tonnes of
w heat som e 12% of the w orld's output.
G iven the vast rural face and unyielding
tradition,m uch of the flour used in Indian
hom es is freshly ground in a local m ill or chakki.
H ousew ives believe that atta ground in front of
them is unadulterated and retains the goodness
of w heat.This is the reason w hy branded flour
has had an uphill fight
and accounts for,even
now ,no m ore than 2%
of the total m arket.
In this one fact is
opportunity.But the
challenge is to convince
the housew ife that
convenience apart,she
is also getting a no-
com prom ise product
m anufactured from
selected high-quality
grains using the w orld's
m ost m odern techniques.
It w as in this difficult m arket that,on 11th
M arch 1998,Pillsbury C hakki Fresh A tta w as
launched.It w as positioned as a high-quality
packaged alternative to hom e-ground chakki
atta.There w ere m any risks associated w ith the
launch;not least of all w as the fact that Pillsbury,
in a tradition-bound m arket,w as a foreign brand
that could sim ply not know enough about Indian
idiosyncrasies.The pundits had predicted a
quick dem ise.
Yet,despite all odds,the brand w as an
im m ediate success,scaling positions of
leadership in key m etro cities just three m onths
after launch.The brand w ent from zero
aw areness to 75% recognition in a very short
span.Today,ten years later,it is clear that
Pillsbury is here to stay.
Achievement s
Pillsbury is a stunning story
of success.W ith so m uch
stacked against it,the brand
has used im agination,
tenacity and research as the
tools to break resistance.
The launch itself w as
preceded by a year's study
to understand the m arket
and the psyche of the
housew ife.Four truths
em erged:first,the need for
a differentiation strategy.Second,to create a
high-quality product and ensure its credentials.
Third,to com m unicate the difference in an
incisive m anner.Finally,the execution,w hich the
com pany believed should be so sharp as to rest
on a knife's edge.
Part of its success w as assured w hen a w ish-
statem ent I w ish there w as a w ay to keep the
rotis in m y husband's lunch box soft till the tim e
he eats them w as picked by every consum er
group.The need-gap had been identified.
Pillsbury C hakki Fresh A tta w as launched in
1998 w ith a single-m inded statem ent Rotis so
soft they stay soft over six hours.The reference
to six hours w as borne out of the norm al tim e
the rotis w ere m ade at 7am and consum ed
at 1pm .
But a product to
survive in the harsh
m arketplace m ust
live through its
prom ise.To ensure
that the final Pillsbury
product literally
stood the test of
tim e,sophisticated
instrum ents w ere
used to test the
sheer value or
softness of the
rotis.
The third step w as
to com m unicate the
difference through
advertising.This w as
done using a variety
of situations,each
show casing the
husband and child
the tw o im peratives
in an Indian
housew ife's life
enjoying the rotis.
To create a
m em orable tw ist in execution,the softness
benefit w as rendered w ith the now -fam ous,
three-finger tear visual.
To ensure the continuity of its hard-w on
success,the com pany has introduced new
m anufacturing processes that com bine the
authenticity of traditional chakki-grindingw ith
m odern day,industrial scale m illing.
Six years later,having m ade an im portant
contribution to shifting consum ers to branded
products,Pillsbury took the next step in m arket
consolidation.In 2004,it m oved from the
softness platform to the higher order platform
of w ellness.It w as once again research that
cam e to the front.Studies had indicated an
alarm ing rise in cardio-vascular diseases
am ongst Indians and the em erging and
perceptible shift to health consciousness.
Pillsbury w as re-launched w ith the tag line
'W hole w heat atta is good for your fam ily's
heart.' This m atter-of-fact statem ent w as
endorsed by the prestigious H eart C are
Foundation of India (H C FI).
The brand m oved up another notch in 2008.
It reinvented the atta by laying claim to the
obvious belief that w hole w heat grain w as a
good source of fibre,iron and nutrients.This
w as a critical input given the fact that m illers
often rem oved the bran to m ake rotis w hiter.
W ith this new platform ,Pillsbury
urged consum ers to shift to a healthy
alternate and m ove to Pillsbury W hole
G rain A tta.
Today,Pillsbury is one of the top
three brands nationally and is
recognised as the im age and innovation
leader in the m arket.The brand is used
by m ore than 20 m illion consum ers and
has helped popularise and grow the
branded atta m arket in India.Research has
show n m ore than 90% brand aw areness
w hile advertising aw areness has registered
m ore than 75% recall.The brand also has a
strong distribution netw ork w ith products
distributed in over 100,000 outlets
throughout India.
Follow ing its
success,Pillsbury
has also
launched cake
m ixes and
verm icelli
products available
in prem ium retail
stores,bakeries and
food service outlets.
Hist or y
O ne of the w orld's
leading food
com panies,G eneral
M ills m arkets products
in m ore than 100
countries and its
portfolio contains m ore than 100 consum er
brands,including C heerios,H agen-D azs,N ature
Valley,Betty C rocker,Pillsbury,G reen G iant,O ld
El Paso,Progresso,C ascadian Farm ,M uir G len
and m ore.H eadquartered in M inneapolis,
M innesota,in the U S,G eneral M ills had fiscal
2008 global net sales of U S$ 14.90 billion
(Rs.71,520 crore).
G eneral M ills has its
roots in tw o m ills built on
opposite sides of the
M ississippi River in
M inneapolis.In the 1800s,
entrepreneurs flocked to
build flour m ills that also
harnessed the w ater
pow er of this huge river.
Founders of today's
G eneral M ills,C adw allader
C W ashburn and C harles
Pillsbury,w ere am ong
the first.
O ver the years,Pillsbury
has grow n to be a global
brand of repute,w ith sales
on all continents,spanning
a diverse range of products
from flour to baking m ixes
and dough-based foods.
Product
For the last several
decades,the Indian
housew ife has been at a
crossroads,torn betw een
her em erging self-im age of
a m iddle-class hom e-m aker
w ho yearns for
convenience w ithout
com prom ise and w ho
seeks m odern w ays to
fulfill her traditional role
of a nurturer.
In the kitchen,she
finds in Pillsbury a
friend w ho has
prom ised her quality,
freshness,
w holesom eness
and authenticity.This bond of
trust has developed over the
years first as an atta that
offered long-lasting softness.
Later,Pillsbury dem olished
regional biases
by custom ising
the product to
m eet provincial
preferences.For
instance,Pillsbury offers
m edium ground atta in the
N orth and fine ground in the
W est,the tw o distinct
preferences in these zones.To
ensure that Pillsbury actually reaches
the housew ife chakki fresh the
other prom ise it had m ade the
brand has invested extensively
in double-layered lam inated
packaging.
Keeping its ear to the ground
Pillsbury,has renew ed its bond of trust w ith the
Indian housew ife by offering not just good,
consistent quality,but also by caring for her
fam ily's health and w ell-being.
Recent Development s
The brand reached another
m ilestone in 2008 w hen it
launched its m ulti-grain atta.
The Pillsbury team conducted
extensive research to assess
the trends of atta usage and
discovered that consum ers
w ere m ixing various grains like
soy and oat to m ake atta even
healthier.
Pillsbury A tta w ith m ulti-
grains w as launched as a unique
seven-grain m ix to keep the
fam ily,in a m anner of speaking,
seven steps ahead.A good
source of fibre,iron,proteins,
calcium and vitam ins,Pillsbury
A tta w ith m ulti-grains provides
w holesom e nutrition w ithout
com prom ising on the taste or
the softness of rotis.
Promot ion
Pillsbury's aggressive prom otion
strategy has played a key role
in changing the hitherto
com m oditised perception
of atta into a m arketable,
branded product.The
advertising has been
sem inal,from the launch
slogan of Thandi Ho Ya
Garam, Rotiyan Rahe Naram
(Rotis so soft,they stay soft),
to the current 'Shift to a
H ealthy C hoice' TV cam paign.
The Pillsbury D oughboy has
played a huge role in
overcom ing consum er inertia
and inviting consum ers to the
brand.A s a repository of the
brand's em otional qualities,he is
the hum an heart of the brand
and the source of unconditional
love.A s m om 's special friend,the
D oughboy brings convenience and
cheer to the serious task of cooking
for the fam ily.The Pillsbury
D oughboy has been leveraged in a
range of exciting consum er
prom otions over the years.A s an
Indian m other put it,this is the only
atta w ith a face.The D oughboy is
m om 's special friend and helper
in bringing w holesom e,
convenient,high-quality food
to the fam ily.
Br and Values
The Pillsbury brand prom ise
is all about em pow ering
m om s.The effect of Pillsbury's
rational and em otional benefits
is to liberate the housew ife from
drudgery,to reinforce her role as a
good m other and cook,to prom ote
her self-esteem ,to invite
appreciation and gratitude from
her fam ily,and to deliver quality
tim e for self-developm ent.
www. gener almills. com
Things you didnt know about
Pillsbur y
149 SUPERBRANDS
The Pillsbury barrelhead evolved from an 1869
tradition of selling flour in barrels
C harles Pillsbury painted his nam e on the top
of the 196-pound flour barrel,w ith nail heads
around the circum ference.A s packaging
evolved the barrelhead rem ained,looking m uch
as it does today:a blue and w hite circle w ith
the Pillsbury nam e and nail heads in w hite
The Pillsbury D oughboy is one of the top ten
advertising icons in the w orld.A little over eight
inches tall,he w ears a baker's costum e and has
the colour and texture of fresh dough.H e also
com es w ith expressive blue eyes and a m ild
sw agger w hen he w alks
The tum m y poke is a strategic ending to every
Pillsbury film ,w ith m om poking the D oughboy's
belly,causing the D oughboy to giggle w ith
happiness,reinforcing their unique relationship
Pillsbury A tta w as one of the first packaged
goods brand in India,to offer a toll-free help-
line service to its consum ers.This w as branded
Namaste Pillsburyand is operational from
9am to 9pm from M ondays through
Saturdays
The artist w ho first drew Poppin' Fresh (the
Pillsbury D oughboy) w as M artin N odell.H e is
w ell-know n in the w orld of com ic books as the
creator of the original G reen Lantern,for D C
C om ics