SMT.

CHANDIBAI HIMATMAL MANSUKHANI COLLEGE

ULHASNAGAR- 421003

PROJECT REPORT ON
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A STUDY OF NESTLE PRODUCT MAGGIE

SUBMITTED BY
AKASH RANA
(ROLL NO: 701)
M.COM PART-II (SEM.III):

SUBMITED TO
UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI
2016-17

PROJECT GUIDE

Prof.Varsha Chag

Department of Commerce

Certificate

Thisistocertifythat,Mr.AKASHRANAofM.Com.II,Sem.III(RollNO701)has
successfully completed the project titled A STUDY OF NESTLE PRODUCT
MAGGIE under my guidance for the Academic Year 201617. The information
submittedistrueandoriginalaspermyknowledge.

Prof. Varsha Chag

(ProjectGuide)

Prof.GopiShamnani
Dr.ManjuLalwani
patha(Coordinator,M.ComCourse)

(I/CPrincipal)

ExternalExaminer

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I acknowledge the valuable assistance provided by SMT.CHANDIBAI HIMATMAL
MANSUKHANI COLLEGE, for two years of degree course in M.Com.
I specially thank the principal Dr. ManjuLalwanipathak for Allowing us to use the
facilities such as library, computer laboratory, internet etc.
I sincerely thank the M.Com co-ordinator Prof.GopiShamnani for Guiding us in the
right direction go prepare the project.
I thank my guide Prof. Varsha Chag who has given his/her valuable time, knowledge
and guidance to complete the project successfully in time.
My family and peers were great source of inspiration throughout my project their support
is deeply acknowledged.

Signature

DECLARATION
I, AKASH RANA OF SMT.CHANDIBAI HIMATMAL MANSUKHANI
COLLEGE OF M.Com PART-II (SEMESTERIII), hereby declare that I have
completed the project on A STUDY OF NESTLE PRODUCT MAGGIE in the
academic year 2016-17. The information submitted is true and original to the best of my
knowledge.

(AKASH .P. RANA)

M.Com part-II, ROLL NO: 701
SEMESTER III

INDEX
Sr. No

Particulars

Pg. No

Introduction to Maggi

Brand Story

Various products of Maggi

Taste and preference of consumers

10

Demography and psychography of

consumers

12

Market Share

13

SWOT analysis of Maggi brand

14

Research methodology

15

Questionnaire

17

10

Analysis of questionnaire

20

11

Bibliography

25

INTRODUCTION TO MAGGI
Maggi is a Nestl 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. It quickly became a pioneer
of industrial food production, aiming at improving the nutritional intake of worker
families. It was the first to bring protein-rich legume meal to the market, which was
followed by 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.
Maggi Comes to India teething troubles Maggi noodles was launched in India in the
early1980s. Carlo M. Donati, the present Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle
India Ltd, brought the instant noodle brand to India during his short stint here in the early
eighties. At that time, there was no direct competition. The first competition came from
the ready-to-eat snack segment which included snacks like samosas, biscuits or maybe
peanuts, that were usually the bought out type. The second competition came from the
homemade snacks like pakoras or sandwiches. So there were no specific buy and make
snack! Moreover both competitors had certain drawbacks in comparison. Snacks like
samosas are usually bought out, and outside food is generally considered unhygienic and
unhealthy. The other competitor, homemade snacks overcame both these problems but
had the disadvantage of extended preparation time at home. Maggi was positioned as the
only hygienic home made snack! Despite this, Nestl faced difficulties with their sales
after the initial phase. The reason being, the positioning of the product with the wrong
target group. Nestle had positioned Maggi as a convenience food product aimed at the
target group of working women who hardly found any time for cooking. Unfortunately
this could not hold the product for very long. In the course of many market researches
and surveys, the firm found that children were the biggest consumers of Maggi noodles.
Quickly they repositioned it towards the kids segment with various tools of sales
promotion like colour pencils, sketch pens, fun books, Maggi clubs which worked
wonders for the brand.
Maggi was positioned as 2-minute noodles with a punch line that said Fast to cook!
Good to eat! And this gave the implied understanding to the consumer that it was a
between meals snack. The company could have easily positioned the product as a meal,
either lunch or dinner. But, it chose not to do so, because the Indian consumer mindset
did not accept anything other than rice or roti as a meal. Hence trying to substitute it with

noodles would have been futile. The firm did not position it as a ready-to-eat meal
either, as the housewife prefers to make a meal for her kids rather than buy it for them.
And if she can make it in two minutes with very little effort, then obviously its a hit with
her! Whats more, if kids also love the taste, the product is as good as sold! So the 2minute funda coupled with the yummy taste worked!

BRAND STORY
Launched in 5 flavors initially Masala, chicken, Capsicum, sweet & sour, and Lasagna
Maggi had to fight hard to be accepted by Indian consumers with their hard-to-change
eating habits. The packaged food market was very small at this time, Nestle had to
promote noodles as a concept, before it could promote Maggi as a brand. It therefore
devised a two-pronged strategy to attract mothers on the convenience plank and lure
kids on the fun plank. Gradually, the market for instant noodles began to grow. The
company also decided to focus on promotions to increase the brand awareness. In the
initial years, Nestle promotional activities for Maggi included schemes offering
gifts( such as toys and utensils) in return for empty noodles pack.
According to analysits the focus on promotion turned out to be the single largest factor
responisible for Maggis rapid acceptance. Nestle\s Managers utilized promotions as
measured to meet their sales target. Gradually, sales promotion became a crutch for
Maggi noodles sales. Later many of the Maggis extensions also made considerable use
of promotional schemes. The focus of all Maggis extensions was more on below the line
activities rather than direct communication. In addition to promotional activities, Maggi
associated itself with main stream television programme and advertised heavily on kids
programme and channels. After its advertisements with taglines like mummy bhookh
lagi hai, bas do minute and fast to cook good to eat Maggis popularity became highly
attributed to its extremely high appeal to children. As a result, Maggis annual growth
reportedly touched 15% during its initial years.

VARIOUS PRODUCTS
The product mix of Maggi is divided into various categories defined below. The company
has launched various products under each category as mentioned below.
1. Noodles
Maggi 2-Minute Noodle ( Masala , Chicken, Curry
and Tomato)
Maggi Dal Atta Noodles ( Sambhar taste)
Vegetable Atta Maggi Noodles
Maggi Rice Noodles (Lemon Masala, Chilly Chow
and Shahi Pulao)
Maggi Cuppa mania (Masala yo, Chilli chow yo)
2. Sauces
Teekha masala
Tomoto chatpat
Imli khata mitha
Tomato ketchup
Hot and sweet
Tomato pudina
Ginger, Garlic & Coriander
Maggi Oriental Chilli Garlic
Ginger, Garlic & Coriander
3. Maggi Pichko
4. Soups Healthy
Chef Style
- Cream Mushroom
- Sweet Sour Tomato Noodles
- Tangy Tomato Vegetables
Home Style
- Creamy Chicken
- Mixed Vegetable
- Rich Tomato
8

Chinese Style
- Chinese Hot Sour Chicken
- Chinese Sweet Corn Chicken
- Chinese Sweet Corn Vegetables
- Chinese Hot & Sour Vegetables

5.Maggi soup sanjivni

Amla
Badam
Spinach
Dal
Tomato
6. Maggi bhuna masala
Bhuna masala for gravy dishes
Bhuna masala for vegetable dal
7.Maggi magic cubes
Chicken
Vegetarian masala

TASTE AND PREFERENCES OF CONSUMERS

Health is the flavour of the season. Food companies in India are growing aware of the
increasingly changing consumption trends and taste preferences among the Indian junta.
No surprises, but this is the reason more and more companies are coming up (or are
actually re-marketing) with products that are healthy. Take for example Coke and Pepsi;
both have already started looking into the non-carbonated drinks category section. Maggi
first introduced in the market Maggi Atta Noodles which it claimed was a healthy food
as
it
was
made
of
wheat
flour
followed
by
soups.
Nestle India, in an effort to carry on with its trend of providing the Indian consumers
healthy food recently introduced a range of Healthy Soups. The entire range consists of
the following; maggi tomato, mixed vegetable, tomato vegetable, mushroom, chicken,
sweet corn chicken and hot and sour vegetable. The product is priced at Rs 25 for 70
grams.
Maggi became successful because it understood consumers . The brand never wanted to
change Indian consumer's habit. It did not had ambitions about changing Indian's
breakfast or dinner preferences. What Maggi did was to slowly attach itself to Indian
consumer's
need
without
disruption.
Maggi was also closely watching consumer preferences.When consumers wanted healthy
food, Maggi launched Atta Noodle variants that was healthy . More importantly this
move addressed the concerns of Homemakers. The brand extended itself to multiple
segment
but
without
diluting
the
core
brand
equity.
Maggi over these years have made lot of mistakes. It made mistakes because the brand
was willing to experiment. More importantly the brand learned from those mistakes and
corrected
itself.
Maggi also invested heavily in brand building. The campaigns for one of Maggi's
products were always there in the media which kept the brand fresh in the mind of the
consumers. Maggi personifies the basic principles of understanding consumers,
innovating and investing in the brand.

10

Maggi is one packaged food brand that has only seen its popularity grow in the past many
years and the secret to the success is that instead of trying to change the food habits of
consumers, it has tried to align itself with local tastes and preferences with the fast to
cook and good to eat promise.
To commemorate its successful journey through a quarter of a century in the worlds
largest consumer market, the brand, last year, launched an innovative campaign inviting
its loyalists to share with it their Maggi stories and promised to broadcast them to the
world at large, thereby, making them the superstars overnight. Along with television
commercials, which aired individual consumer stories of their lasting memories of
Maggi, the brand displayed pictures of these loyal customers on the Maggi packs. Nestle
also introduced a website Meandmerimaggi.in for engaging with them.
The company also rewarded its consumers by adding to the Maggi portfolio, that hitherto
had sauces and soups in various flavours, a range of prepared dishes and cooking aids
such as Maggi Bhuna Masala and Maggi Pazzta. So far focussed on urban consumers, the
company also made a pitch for rural consumers by launching Maggi Rasile Chow
noodles at an inviting price of Rs4. Again, local tastes and recipes have been at the core
of all these marketing innovations.
Creating delight and happiness in everyday meals is not just about providing tasty food.
It is about providing taste and health in a convenient combination, says Shivani Hegde,
general manager, foods.

11

DEMOGRAPHY AND PSYCHOGRAPHY OF CONSUMERS

Demography:1) Age and sex: Maggi products are consumed by people of different age groups.
They are consumed by children, teenagers, adults as well as old people. They are
consumed by both genders male and female.

2) Income :- Maggi products are available at reasonable prices. So they are

consumed by the lower, middle as well as the higher class.

3) Religion and nationality:- Maggi products are famous and are consumed by
people of all religions and nationality.

Psychography:-

1) Attitude:- Consumers of maggi have a positive attitude towards the

product which makes it the leader in the market. Maggi dominates the market.

2) Lifestyle:- Lifestyle determines the way of living of people. It describes how a

consumer leads his life. Maggi products are consumed by all.

12

MARKET SHARE

Maggi
has
a
market
share of
45%
which is a
high
percentage. It dominates the market in the ketchup segment.

Maggi has a market share of as high as 80% in the noodles segment. It

dominates the market. It is the leader in this segment.

13

SWOT ANALYSIS OF MAGGI BRAND

The SWOT analysis of Maggi brand clearly indicates the strengths of Maggi as a Brand
in Indian market. The Brand was found to be a leader in its category of Noodles, with
strong customer loyalty. Intensive distribution of Maggi as a Brand was seen in urban
areas of the country. The major threats of the brand as shown in the figure below
indicates that Maggi has made several attempts to revamp itself as a Healthy Product
but till date its perseverance towards the tag line is low by the consumers. The brand is in
the growth stage of product life cycle with a strong inclination towards the maturity
stage.

STRENGTH
Market leader in their segment
Strong brand loyal consumer base
Wide range of distribution channel
Product according to the need of
Indian consumer
Innovative Product

WEAKNESS
Product are dependent on each
other
Not so much presence in rural
market

SWOT
ANALYSIS

OPPORTUNITY
Increasing number of working youth
Product has been acceptable in youth
category
Shift to rural market
Changing preference of consumer
towards Chinese food and fast food.
Can foray into other food markets with
its strong Brand name

THREAT
Price war with competitors.
Strong presence of regional
competitors
Consumers dont perceive it as
a Healthy Product

14

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:OBJECTIVES OF QUESTIONNAIRE

To understand the influence of Maggi as a brand on consumers mind set.

Sources of Brand equity of Maggi like Brand awareness, Brand image, Brand
association, Brand recall.

To understand the Brand performance of Maggi products.

To understand Brand Imagery, Brand Quality perceived by customers, Brand

credibility, consideration, superiority and feelings.

To know the medium of media through which they became aware of Maggi.

15

METHOLODOGY
The research will be carried out in the form of a survey. This will include primary
research in addition to secondary research as stated below. The survey research method
will be descriptive research design. Each respondent will be interviewed through a
Questionnaire. The sample will be selected by a simple random sampling method.
The survey will address the following information area:
Information Areas:
The objective as spelt out can be elaborated into specific information areas to be studied.
How do customers perceive Maggi as a stable brand, their perception of noodles
and how do they associate themselves with Maggi?
Are the consumers aware of Maggi Brand or they associate noodles with some other
brand?
Which product from the entire basket of Maggi products do the consumers consider
as the best selling product for Maggi and to which the consumers frequently buy?
Are the consumers willing to accept Maggi brand extensions to some other products
like chocolate, juices, chips etc?

16

QUESTIONNAIRE
Q 1) Are you a consumer of Maggi?
Yes

No

Q 2) What comes first in your mind when you hear the word Maggi ?

Noodles
Fast food
Snacks
None of these

Q 3) what is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word noodles?
Maggi
Top Ramen
Surya Noodles
Anil Noodles
Q 4) Rank the following Maggi products w.r.t. frequency of purchase with 1 being the
highest rank
RANK

Noodles
Ketchup
Soup
Pickles
Cubes

_________
_________
_________
_________
_________

Q 5) With what products would you associate the brand Maggi?

Ketchup
Noodles
Soup
Masala
Q 6) On a scale of 1 to 5 rate Maggi on the following parameters
Taste
Variety/Flavours
Hygiene/Purity
Availability

____________
____________
____________
____________
17

Packaging (SKUs)

____________

Q 7) Rank the categories which Maggi should look in future in order of your importance :

Chocolates
Salted Potato Chips
Fruit Juices
Processed foods(Ready to use pastes, masalas)
Others ( Please mention)

_____________
_____________
_____________
____________
_____________

Q 8) How do you perceive Maggi products?

Good for health.
Ready to eat.
Junk food
Tasty / Fun eating

Q 9) Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy? (Repositioning

awareness)
Maggi masala
Maggi vegetable atta noodles
Maggi dal atta noodles
Maggi rice noodles mania
Others

Q 10) You came to know about Maggi from:

Newspapers
Radio

T.V advertisements

Word of mouth

Other source
18

Q 11) Do you remember any of the T.V. advertisements of Maggi Tomato Ketchup?
Yes

No

Q 12) Do you perceive Maggi noodles as a healthy product?

Yes
No
Q 13) If No then your suggestions for improvement as a healthy product?
________________________________________________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

19

ANALYSIS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE

Q 1) Are you a consumer of Maggi?
Yes

No

Analysis: The survey suggested that out of 20 consumers all 20 are consumers of maggi
products. Maggi is quite famous with the different types of consumers in the market. Our
survey took the sample of consumers in general.

Q 2) What comes first in your mind when you hear the word Maggi ?

Noodles
Fast food
Snacks
None of these

Analysis: The survey suggested that 14 out of 20 consumers associated maggi with
noodles. 3 for snacks and masala each. People are familiar with maggi as a brand for
noodles in majority.

Q 3) what is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word noodles?
Maggi
Top Ramen
Surya Noodles
Anil Noodles
Analysis: The survey suggested that Maggi is the most popular brand with consumers
of noodles. It suggests that 18 out of 20 consumers associate noodles with maggi.

20

Q 4) Rank the following Maggi products w.r.t. frequency of purchase with 1 being the
highest rank
RANK

Noodles
Ketchup
Soup
Pickles
Cubes

_________
_________
_________
_________
_________

Analysis: Most of the consumers have ranked noodles as 1. People purchase maggi
noodles in majority. The frequency of the purchase of maggi noodles is high.

Q 5) With what products would you associate the brand Maggi?

Ketchup
Noodles
Soup
Masala
Analysis: The survey suggested that 12 out of 20 people associated the brand maggi with
noodles. 6 consumers associated it with masala. 2 consumers associate the brand with
soup and 1 with ketchup.
Q 6) On a scale of 1 to 5 rate Maggi on the following parameters
Taste
Variety/Flavours
Hygiene/Purity
Availability
Packaging (SKUs)

____________
____________
____________
____________
____________

Analysis: The products of maggi have been rated well above 3 in the above parameters by
most of the consumers.

21

Q 7) Rank the categories which Maggi should look in future in order of your importance :

Chocolates
Salted Potato Chips
Fruit Juices
Processed foods(Ready to use pastes, masalas)
Others ( Please mention)

_____________
_____________
_____________
____________
_____________

Analysis: According to the survey, maggi should look for salted potato chips in future as
it is highly demanded by the people in the market.

Q 8) How do you perceive Maggi products?

Good for health.
Ready to eat.
Junk food
Tasty / Fun eating
Analysis: The survey suggests that most of the consumers perceive maggi products as
being good for health.

Q 9) Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy? (Repositioning

awareness)
Maggi masala
Maggi vegetable atta noodles
Maggi dal atta noodles
Maggi rice noodles mania
Others
Analysis: The survey suggested that most of the consumers regularly buy maggi
vegetable atta noodles while a few of them preferred maggi masala noodles.

22

Q 10) You came to know about Maggi from:

Newspapers
Radio

T.V advertisements

Word of mouth

Other source

Analysis: The survey suggested that a majority of the people came to know about maggi
through television advertisements. Maggi advertisements are quite famous with the
consumers.

Q 11) Do you remember any of the T.V. advertisements of Maggi Tomato Ketchup?
Yes

No

Analysis: The survey suggested that the advertisement of maggi tomato ketchup is
remembered by the consumers. 12 out of 20 consumers remember the advertisement of
tomato ketchup.

Q 12) Do you perceive Maggi noodles as a healthy product?

Yes
No
Analysis: The survey suggested that majority of the consumers perceive maggi noodles as
a healthy product. The survey suggests that 20 out of 20 consumers perceive maggi
noodles as a healthy product.

23

Q 13) If No then your suggestions for improvement as a healthy product?

________________________________________________
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Analysis: The survey suggests that 20 out of 20 consumers perceive maggi noodles as a
healthy product and need no improvement as a healthy product.

24

25

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Saxena, Ranjan, Marketing Management,

Kotler, Philip,.
C.R.Kothari, Business Research methodology, New age publication.
OXFORD dictionary

MAGAZINES, JOURNALS & NEWS PAPERS:1. Business world.

2. Economics Times

Websites:www.timesofindia.com,
www.wikipedia.com,
www.google.co.in,
www.businessmagzine.com
www.scribd.com
www.airtel.in

www.maggie.in

26