Food

SUPERMARKET

B U S I N E S S

Stirred
&
Shaken
Aggressive marketing, packaging flexibility, product innovation and even a legal
tangle – it’s all happening in the malted food drinks category.

only helped malted food drinks in Ltd., says, “The category grew over 15
By Juhi Sharma

I
retaining their relevance and popu- percent during the year 2008.”
larity among the consumers, but has “If we follow the market trends
n the days to come, brands that are enriched also catalysed steady growth in the regionally, South and East markets
by innovation and functionality while being segment. contribute nearly 78 percent of sales,
According to market estimates, with the key drivers being nutrition
strategic in positioning will make significant manufacturer interest in match- (from the mother’s perspective) and
inroads into the niche category of malted ing the pace of changing consumer promotions and taste (from the chil-
preferences has resulted in the MFD dren’s perspective). Consumption
beverages. segment growing to an estimated Rs drivers in the Northern and West-
1,900 crore in value, though some ern regions are largely taste-related,
In recent years, India’s new found several decades now. For ages Indian industry experts are more generous though functionality is also gaining
health kick has expanded the shelf mothers have been adding malted in their estimates. Adityea Kapoor, importance,” says Pisharodi.
space for functional foods. High- food powder to milk for their chil- general manager, CSD and modern The segment is generally segre-
fibre, cholesterol-free, nutrients- dren’s growth and development or trade of Glaxosmithkline Consumer gated as white malted beverage and
enriched, fortified with essential vi- as an essential nutrient supplement. Healthcare (GSKCH), says, “The brown malted beverage. Initially,
tamins, minerals, carbohydrates and In some cases malted food powders malted food drink market is grow- white beverages recorded higher
so on: today these are some of the have been added to the milk as a ing in India and is expected to be at growth at the expense of the brown
legends on nutrition labels on an ar- taste modifier as well. around Rs 2,000 crore.” variants, but brown malted food
ray of food products in Indian super- Over the years, a flurry of re- drinks currently hold significant re-
markets. However, India’s inclination launches, value-addition, product Trends tail share with an increasing number
towards health and wellness is not and packaging innovation, coupled of consumers preferring brown malt-
really a new phenomenon. Malted with comprehensive marketing Elaborating on the growth rate of ed drinks.
food drinks (MFD) or health food communications – tailored from the segment, Ashish Pisharodi, VP, Commenting on the same, Ka-
drinks (HFD) have been around for time to time – by brands, have not modern trade and CSD, Cadbury India poor says, “The HFD market is

62 • PROGRESSIVE GROCER • MARCH 2009 AHEAD OF WHAT’S NEXT WWW.PROGRESSIVEGROCER.COM

slowly moving from the white malt-
ed beverages to the brown beverages.
GSKCH has consistently indulged
in product innovation driven by
consumer research and has intro-
duced both white and brown malted
beverages to reinforce brand equity
and relevance amongst its core target
audience – mothers and kids.”
The list of brown malted food
drink brands currently includes
Cadbury’s Bournvita, Nestle Milo,
Amul Nutramul, Horlicks (choco-
late variant), Boost, Maltova, Com-
plan (chocolate flavour) and a recent
entrant – Dabur Chyawan Junior.
However, while the number of
brands in the brown malted beverage
sub-category has grown significantly,
white malted beverage consumers
still outnumber the brown powder
consumers. Horlicks, which is pre-
dominantly a white malted beverage
brand, rules the segment with over
50 percent market share. Besides
Horlicks other prominent brands of-
fering white malted drinks are Viva
and Complan.
The category overview suggests
that the growth has been supported
by repositioning and revamping of
the existing brands and their offer-
ings. The segment also evolved with
the introduction of more flavours –
caramel, toffee, mango, traditional
Indian flavours such as kesar-badam,
elaichi etc. – besides chocolate and
plain white powder.
Sharing his views on the scope of
innovation with respect to flavours,
Pisharodi at Cadbury India remarks,
“Introducing new flavours is one way
to drive excitement in the category,
with consumers looking forward to
different taste experiences by their
favourite brands. While not all new
flavours perform well, there are some
great examples in the category where
a new flavour has helped the brand
gain additional franchise and hence
market share. Bournvita Five Star
Magic is a case in point.”
Apart from various flavours, the
category also witnessed prolifera-
tion with respect to introduction of
need-specific variants such as Hor-
licks Junior, Bournvita Li’l Champs,
Complan Family Lite, Women’s
Horlicks, Milo Smart Plus etc target-
ed at particular consumer segments.
Such diversifications in the segment
have unquestionably enabled expan-
sion in the consumption base –from
WWW.PROGRESSIVEGROCER.COM AHEAD OF WHAT’S NEXT MARCH 2009
mothers and children to working
women, aged people and even an en-
tire family.
At the MFD front, innovation
or advancements in packaging have
also played a great role in expand-
ing consumption among price-sen-
sitive middle and lower-middle class
consumer sets. Keeping in mind
consumers’ expectations and afford-
ability issues, malted food drinks are
now available in refill packs, pouch-
es, sachets, pet jars and large family
size packs. For instance, Bournvita
is available in a wide range of pack
sizes to match both usage and finan-
cial requirements. The brand offers a
trial or low put-down price pack of
85 gm for Rs 20 for the regular vari-
ant; a 200 gm jar priced at Rs 64 for
infrequent users – available both in
regular and Five Star Magic flavours;
a 500 gm jar for Rs 131 and a 500
gm refill pouch at Rs 124 for fre-
quent users in both regular and Five
Star Magic flavours. Bournvita is also
available in a big family size pack,
which is priced at Rs 225 for a 1 kg
regular variant. Cadbury Bournvita
Li’l Champs is available in two pack
sizes – 200 gm priced at Rs 90 and
500 gm for Rs 175.
Other brands also display such
pack size flexibility – Women’s Hor-
licks is available in a 200 gm jar
with a unique flip-top cap, priced at
Rs 100. Complan’s multiple flavours
are available in pack sizes of 15 gm
Category king Horlicks’ range ad-
dresses pregnant women, children
and entire families.
sachets, 200 gm and 500 gm jars
and refill packs, 1 kg refill pack and
Complan kesar-badam in a 400 gm
pack for Rs 166.
Dabur Chyawan Junior is being
retailed in three SKUs of 500 gm
bottles priced at Rs 128 each, a 500
gm refill pack at Rs 121 and a 90 gm
sachet at Rs 20.
Supporting the importance of
packaging in the category, Kapoor
says, “Most companies acknowledge
the importance of innovative pack-
aging to reach out to all the segments
of society. At GSKCH we recently
launched Boost in 100 gm sachets
as well as in Tetra Pak as a ready-to-
drink product.”
GSKCH had earlier also under-
taken packaging innovation for mod-
ern trade by launching a 1 kg pack
of Chocolate Horlicks. Continuing
with this strategy, the company in-
tends to launch a new pack size for
the Boost brand, which is currently
available in a maximum pack size of
500 gm. The company will launch a
special pack of 750 gm for modern
retail chains.
Elaborating on the importance of
packaging flexibility, Pisharodi says,
“The pack size plays a key role in in-
fluencing purchase decision in this
category. The number of consumers
in the family, rate of consumption,
frequency of replenishment, grocery
budget, etc. determines the optimal
pack size for a family.”
“While the large pack sizes con-
stitute most of the sale, smaller pack
sizes are growing very fast by driving
wider accessibility and hence, larger
penetration among varying consum-
er segments and frequency.”
Further commenting on the av-
enues of innovation in the category,
he adds, “There are several possibili-
ties around pack sizes. In addition,
various delivery mechanisms are pos-
sible to offer the same functionality
such as liquid concentrate, premix,
ready-to-drink, etc. Also, the brand’s
nutritional promise can be delivered
in the form of cereals, nutrition bars,
etc.”
Journey so far
Malted food drinks were first
introduced to India during the Brit-
ish rule in the 1920s, when the UK-
based Associated British Foods (ABF)
Company started exporting its malt-
ed food drink brand, Ovaltine to the
country. Over the years, the brand
disappeared from the market shelves,
but in 2007 the company expressed
its intentions to re-enter the Indian
market by relaunching Ovaltine.
ABF is a global food and ingredi-
ents business, with sales and manu-
facturing operations across Europe,
Americas, Africa, Asia and China.
It is also considered to be a major
• PROGRESSIVE GROCER • 63

producer of malt based hot beverages
in continental Europe, Thailand
and China.
Horlicks, which is a most
popular and leading player in
the category, marked its pres-
ence in the country in 1930,
at which time it was imported
into India. The brand got a new
lease of life after it was acquired
by SmithKline Beecham Consum-
er Healthcare Brands Ltd, which is
now GlaxoSmithKline Consumer
Healthcare Ltd. In 2003, Horlicks
was relaunched and the new Horlicks
was then available in three flavours
– vanilla, chocolate and elaichi. The
revitalised packaging was synergistic
with the new brand personality, and
one that helped Horlicks in becom-
ing a favourite with both mothers for
its nourishment and children for the
variety of tastes it offered. In 2005
a toffee flavour of Horlicks was also
launched, adding to its width.
“The contemporary Horlicks
not only provides nourishment but
scores on taste as well. Horlicks has
always been scientifically developed
to cater to the needs of Indian diet
by supplementing it with essential
nutrients such as iron, vitamin etc,”
Kapoor emphasises.
The brand portfolio was espe-
cially strengthened with the launch
of Mother’s Horlicks in 1997. This
variant was fortified with DHA and
supplemented with 26 essential nu-
trients, designed keeping in mind
the special needs of pregnant wom-
en and breast feeding mothers. In
2005, Horlicks’ brand basket was ex-
panded with the launch of Horlicks
Lite. This variant was formulated
keeping in mind the needs of adults
and people with diabetes. It had no
added sugar and no cholesterol, was
enriched with 26 vital nutrients, es-
sential antioxidants, and was high
fibre and low in fat. Next to hit the
market was Horlicks Junior 1-2-3 in
2006. New Horlicks Junior, espe-
cially introduced for pre-school chil-
dren, offers complete nutritional re-
quirements. It is fortified with DHA
for brand development, calcium for
bones and other essential nutrients
needed for proper growth and devel-
opment of little children.
As recently as 2008, the com-
pany introduced Women’s Horlicks,
a malted health powder especially
formulated for women. Primarily
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Bournvita ++ is en-
hanced by addition
of natural ingredi-
ents and scientifical-
ly proven essential
nutrients.
targeted at women aged between 19 packaging for both the variants.
to 50 years, this powder is avail- Meanwhile, the company con-
able in two flavours – chocolate and tinued expanding its span in the cat-
caramel. It is enriched with HEMO- egory with acquisition of two brands
CALTM nutrients – a unique combi- – Viva and Maltova – from Jagatjit
nation of good quality milk protein, Industries in the year 2000. Maltova
and 100 percent daily requirements was positioned as ‘fun’ health drink,
(in two serves) of iron, calcium, vi- extremely tasty and especially nour-
tamins B2, B6, B12, folate and vita- ishing for kids. The brand was re-
min C for healthy blood and healthy launched in 2002 with an enriched
bones. With no added sugar and low formulation and improved packag-
fat, Women’s Horlicks promises to ing, active rechargers, and a combi-
address the daily nutritional needs of nation of essential vitamins, miner-
the busy, overstressed modern Indian als and carbohydrates. Maltova was
woman. again restaged in 2004, with an
GSKCH continued boosting the attractive new packaging that con-
segment with the launch of another noted a high taste appeal and a sense
MFD brand, Boost, in 1975-76. of fun and excitement. On the other
This was a chocolate flavoured drink hand, Viva was positioned on the
developed by company’s R&D team belief that a good start to the day
in 1974. Boost’s success characterised ensures that the rest of it goes well
GSKCH’s development skills and too. Offering a combination of nine
analysis with which they countered essential vitamins (vitamin A, C, D,
the changing needs with time. Further B1, B2, B6, B12, niacin and folic
sharpening Boost’s relevance the com- acid), iron, phosphorus and calcium,
pany revamped the brand in 2005. Viva contains the natural goodness
The new Boost was a better product of milk, wheat and malted barley.
with advanced energy boosters such With these four brands under its
as zinc, iron and magnesium, along span, GSKCH is currently regarded
with other key vitamins and minerals as a category leader with approxi-
and was made available in two vari- mately 75 percent market share.
ants – Boost and Boost Chocoblast Horlicks, the category king, holds
(with extra chocolate). Its packaging more than 50 percent market share.
and appearance also changed com- Even as Horlicks began its jour-
pletely. Recently, Boost underwent ney in India, another breakthrough
another revamp with a brand make- occurred in 1948, when Cadbury In-
over – an all-new look and innovative dia launched the chocolate-flavoured
malted drink, Bournvita. The brand
not only scored on its flavour, but
also became an enduring symbol
of mental and physical health
over time. It is hardly surprising
then, that after Horlicks, Bourn-
vita continues to hold a domi-
nant share, estimated at around
17.6 percent, of the malted food
beverage segment. With its rich
heritage, the brand has always been
known to provide the best nutrition
to aid growth and all round develop-
ment. Throughout its history, Cad-
bury Bournvita has continuously re-
invented itself in terms of product,
packaging, promotion and distribu-
tion in pace with changing consumer
preferences. Today Cadbury offers
three delightful variants to appeal
to children – Cadbury Bournvita,
with its popular chocolate taste, and
Cadbury Bournvita Five Star Magic,
which was launched in 2006, lever-
aging the rich chocolate and caramel
flavour of Cadbury Five Star choco-
late. Besides these two, the company
recently expanded its brand port-
folio with the launch of Cadbury
Bournvita Li’l Champs for young
children, aged between two to five
years. It is a specially created nutri-
tional supplement with the goodness
of natural ingredients and the power
of 20 scientific nutrients. Bournvita
Li’l Champs also contains DHA and
whey protein.
Speaking at the product launch,
Sanjay Purohit, executive direc-
tor, marketing, Cadbury India said,
“Throughout its history, Cadbury
Bournvita has aimed to provide nu-
trition that aids growth and all-round
development. The core proposition of
Bournvita Li’l Champs is to provide
mental alertness and physical fitness
for children in the age group of 2-5
years. This offering has milder cocoa
content and with the great Cadbury
Bournvita taste; it will help children
realise their innate potential.”
With the launch of Bournvita Li’l
Champs, Cadbury aims to augment
overall Bournvita volumes by 10 per-
cent in the malted food drinks cat-
egory in the next two to three years.
Cadbury Bournvita is currently
being positioned as Bournvita ++,
fortified with additional natural in-
gredients and scientifically essential
nutrients.
From the Heinz India’s stable now,
Complan, a prominently established

MFD brand, was first introduced
in India in 1964 by Glaxo Labora-
tories. It was in 1995 that Complan
was acquired by Heinz. Like other
MFD brands, Complan too has re-
invented and repositioned from time
to time. It is considered to be a com-
plete planned food drink, enriched
with vital nutrients. In 2005, Heinz
introduced a new product – Com-
plan Family – for the first time in the
country at Kochi. The new product,
promising nutrition and good health
for every member of the family, was
specially created in two variants –
Delicious Malt, a special formulation
having low fat derived from plant
origin, making it cholesterol-free,
and Complan Family Lite , a fat-free
and no-cholesterol, no-added-sugar
version. In 2008, Complan was in-
troduced in another exciting kesar
badam variant in addition to the ex-
isting flavours of chocolate, natural,
mango and caramel.
Milo, one of the leading malted
chocolate health drinks around the
world, was rolled out in the domestic
market in 1996-97 by Nestle India.
Milo has been promoted on the planks
of energy and taste. The company has
been continuously promoting the
brand in way that could immediately
appeal children. Keeping pace with
changing consumer demands, Milo
has been refurbished as Milo Smart
Plus, which is enriched with nutri-
tion of energy, essential vitamins and
is fortified with iron and iodine.
Sometime after 1996, further
stretching the MFD category, Gu-
jarat Cooperative Milk Marketing
Federation (GCMMF) forayed into
the malt food drink segment with
the launch of chocolate flavoured
Nutramul under Amul’s portfolio. In
2005 Nutramul was rebranded with
all new packaging and communica-
tion strategy, and was promoted as a
source of high protein for children.
In 2005, Britannia New Zealand
Foods Pvt. Ltd. – a joint venture be-
tween Britannia Industries Ltd and
Fonterra Co-operative Group of New
Zealand – entered the segment with
the launch of Anlene, a calcium-en-
riched malt-based health drink. Un-
like the most of the health drinks in
the category that targeted children,
Anlene targeted adults susceptible to
bone decay or osteoporosis.
The newest active kid on the block
is Dabur India’s Chyawan Junior.
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Offered in chocolate-flavoured gran-
ules and packed with the power of
more than 35 active ayurvedic herbs,
Dabur Chyawan Junior claims to
help build immunity from within,
thanks to its rich herbal composition
which comprises herbs such as amla,
brahmi, yashimadhu and draksha,
to provide growing children with
androoni shakti (stamina) and im-
munity.
A year before the national roll-
out, Dabur Chyawan Junior was
test-marketed in key states such as
Maharashtra and West Bengal. At
the product launch, K. K. Rajesh,
executive vice president, market-
ing (healthcare), Dabur India Ltd.,
said, “Unlike existing malted drinks,
Dabur Chyawan Junior contains
herbs that provide the immunity
which is much needed in growing
children. Dabur, with its ayurveda
expertise, has been able to success-
fully combine the power of herbs in
a format that children love and to
bring about radical changes in the
way the MFD category operates.”
“Dabur is putting in a concerted
effort towards offering the benefits
of Chyawanprash to a wider audi-
ence with the national roll-out of
this innovative product. The launch
of Dabur Chyawan Junior reiterates
our commitment to the consumers
Boost and Boost Chocoblast are advertised as be-
ing enriched with advanced energy boosters.
Segment growth
has been catalysed
by intelligent value-
addition, brand
relaunches and high
frequency marketing.
by providing them the age-old bene-
fits of ayurveda in a modern format,”
he added.
As per company sources, Dabur
Chyawan Junior hopes to capture
10 percent share of the malted food
drink market within the next two
years.
Mass communication
For any packaged food brand to
live long and successfully capture
significant market share, creating
brand visibility, spreading awareness
about the innovation and value addi-
tion in the brand portfolio through
deployment of various Above-the-
line (ATL) and Below-the-line
(BTL) vehicles are essential. In the
MFD segment specifically, market-
ing communication has played a key
role in sharpening the relevance of
malted drinks among the consum-
ers over the years and pushing the
demand that supported the category
enlargement.
For instance, going by the pro-
motional and awareness strate-
gies adopted by the category leader
GSKCH, endorsement of nutrition-
al or functional foods by recognised
certification/ regulatory bodies goes
a long way in pushing the envelope.
Horlicks’ recent campaign, which
claims that consumption of Hor-
licks makes children ‘taller, sharper
and stronger’, has been backed with
scientific data from the Hyderabad-
based National Institute of Nutrition
(NIN).
Elaborating on the campaign,
Kapoor says, “We believe that a
product’s USP is dependent on what
the shopper expects from the prod-
uct offerings. To be able to deliver
on the expectations set by the shop-
per, we believe in understanding the
shopper needs, by doing research to
provide new products or reformulat-
ing the existing products and com-
municating the same to the shopper
with sharp and compelling commu-
nication. The perfect example would
be the campaign on Horlicks, now
proven to make kids taller, stronger,
sharper.”
Heinz India moved from its un-
forgettable “I am a Complan girl, I
am a Complan boy” jingle to suit the
modern children’s needs and kept re-
positioning its brand through media
promotions from time to time. Ac-
cording to Complan’s new television
commercial, children who supple-
ment a regular diet with Complan
grow twice as fast compared to those
only on a regular diet, because Com-
plan contains 100 percent milk pro-
teins and 23 vital nutrients. Com-
plan’s claim has been supported by
an independent study conducted
by the reputed Department of Food
Science and Nutrition at Avinashi-
lingam University, Coimbatore, in
Tamil Nadu. The study, which has
been peer-reviewed, was conducted
on 900 Indian children in the 7-12
year age groups over a period of 12
months.
In another related advertisement,
Complan shows that the children
who consumed a regular diet with
Complan in milk grew twice as faster
than those children who were served
only a regular diet. Even the boys and
girls who consumed a regular diet
along with Complan in water grew
two times faster than those only on a
regular diet. Besides gaining height,
Complan children fell sick less often,
indicating an overall improvement
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in their health. These findings were
proven to be statistically significant
when compared with children from
the control group with similar age,
height, weight and socioeconomic
characteristics.
Following Heinz’s aggressive pub-
lic comparison of Complan versus
Horlicks, the two rival manufactur-
ers are currently facing off in court
over each other’s ad claims backed
by scientifically researched studies.
Heinz had first objected to adver-
tisements for Horlicks showing both
brands in direct comparison. The
ads highlighted the nutritional con-
tent and price gap between the two
rival brands, and showed Horlicks as
a better and more inexpensive health
drink.
In India, Horlicks also tied up
with popular movies such as Ice Age
II and Superman Returns. Apart
from Horlicks, GSK has been ac-
tively promoting its other brands as
well.
Cadbury Bournvita’s advertising
plank has also shifted with the times
to reflect the changing needs of the
consumers. During the 1970s the
communication centered on good
upbringing and Bournvita became
an essential building block for child-
hood. ‘Goodness that grows with
you’ was the campaign idea that
communicated this thought.
In the ‘80s the focus shifted from
‘upbringing’ to ‘intelligence’ with the
Complan’s range offers
wholesome planned food
solutions in several
variants.
Modern MFD
promises to address
the specific needs
of varying consumer
segments.
more aggressive “Brought up right,
Bournvita bright” campaign, which
was very successful during its time.
In the early ‘90s all brands in
the category extolled purely physical
benefits such as nourishment, energy
and growth. It was at this time that
Bournvita decided to raise the bar
by promising mental benefits along
with physical gains. This resulted in
the famous “Tan ki shakti, man ki
shakti” campaign, which became an
anthem for the brand.
In the new millennium, keep-
ing pace with the evolving mindsets
of the new age consumers, Cad-
bury Bournvita focused on arming
consumers with the confidence to
take on extraordinary physical and
mental challenges, resulting in one
of the most successful advertising
campaigns based on the tagline:
‘Real achievers who have grown up
on Bournvita’.
More recently, Cadbury Bourn-
vita had launched a Bournvita Folk
campaign that showcased jugalbandi
between distinguished talents from a
metro and a small town. The insight
of the campaign was if an individual
was confident he or she would never
be caught unawares. This advertise-
ment was released in sync with the
company’s initiative, in which young
prodigies’ confidence was put to a
whole new challenge on Pogo TV
with the launch of an innovative
reality show ‘Bournvita Confidence
Academy’ (BCA). This advert associ-
ates Cadbury Bournvita’s functional-
ity in boosting the confidence of tal-
ented people under challenges.
Cadbury’s recent Bournvita ++
campaign is promoting it as having
the dual advantage of being enriched
with natural and scientifically-essen-
tial nutrients for a strong and healthy
mind and body.
Explaining the importance of
brand promotion, Pisharodi says,
“Given the competitive environ-
ment and high decibel campaigns, it
is critical for brands to be heard and
to differentiate themselves to give
the consumers a unique reason to
buy. The new Bournvita ++ nature
and science campaign aims to do the
same. The campaign publicises the
goodness of natural ingredients and

power of scientific nutrients that the
brand provides the child, which ulti-
mately gives the child the confidence
to realise his/ her potential.”
“We use different media ef-
fectively to be able to further drive
this differentiation. The BCA show
on POGO, showcasing real achiev-
ers and the confidence they display
while facing challenges, is a fine ex-
ample. There is also a tie up with the
Times of India to drive on-ground
activation of the BCA event,” he
adds.
Another important promotional
initiative by Cadbury India that had
significant importance in dissemi-
nating the brand message among
children and parents was the iconic
Cadbury Bournvita Quiz Contest –
an Indian quiz contest that began in
1972. Considered to be one of In-
dia’s most famous and longest run-
ning quiz contests, it was originally
held live in cities across the country,
it later became a radio show and
then, in 1994, a highly popular tele-
vision show, which was hosted by
Derek O’Brien.
Going ahead, merchandising
strategy at the retail end, in-store
promotions or cross-branding ex-
ercises to promote product features
and USPs have become increasingly
ubiquitous, and will continue to
gather pace in times to come.
Elucidating on the importance of
in-store promotions, Kapoor says, “At
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health-
care, we believe that merchandising
is a key driver in grabbing consum-
ers at the point-of purchase (POP)
for any category. It enables us in es-
tablishing compelling shopper con-
nect with the target audience for the
product. We believe in a tailor-made
approach to merchandising in retail,
as part of our integrated 360-degree
customer marketing strategy. Our
merchandising, point-of sale (POS)
communication is in line with the
selling environment or the channel,
which includes both general trade
(chemist, general merchant, grocers,
semi wholesale and rural) and mod-
ern trade (hypermarkets, supermar-
kets, convenience/fresh formats).”
“At GSKCH, innovative in-store
promotions are classified in two
parts – Shopper Promotions and
Consumer Promotions. A shopper
promotion is targeted at the per-
son who is buying a product not
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The malted food
necessarily for his / her consump-
tion, for instance, mothers shopping drinks segment is
for their children’s needs usually fall
under this bracket.” still under-penetrated
“Consumer promotions focus on
and offers plenty of
room for innovation.
the actual consumer of the product.
These promotion types are routed
through either on-pack or a cross-
promotion mechanism. An on-pack
promotion for consumers can take
the form of getting a free gift with
the product, such as a free pencil box
with Horlicks. Similarly, an on-pack
promotion for shoppers includes dis-
counts on large packs to trade up.
For instance, a discounted rate for 1 additional nutrients too. This cre- Bournvita has been to reinforce at
kg Horlicks pack. We also do cross ative communication endorsing the POP, the functional benefits of
promotions in store for shoppers and Women’s Horlicks has been extended the brand. We use in-store messaging
consumers, such as Sugar-free tablets to the men’s section as well to remind and activation to do the same. For
free with Horlicks Lite, our special- them to be vigilant about the health Bournvita Li’l Champs, we would be
ist health drink powder or adults,” of the special women in their lives. cross-merchandising it appropriately
he adds. Weekly prizes awarded through the to cue association and drive pur-
Kapoor points out that for a pro- campaign include free annual maga- chase.”
motion to be successful it should find zine subscriptions, vouchers from
relevance with the consumer or the Shoppers Stop, three months’ supply Powering on
shopper basis the target audience. of Women’s Horlicks and discounts,
GSKCH’s latest promotion is amongst others. Comparing and analysing the
centred around Women’s Day but “Through this special initiative, market pattern in India and else-
will run through March. In a spe- we want to address the daily nutri- where, Pisharodi points out that
cial initiative at select modern retail tional requirements of the modern malted food drinks are an under-
outlets, the company has launched a Indian woman, which are often ig- penetrated category in India as com-
month-long campaign across seven nored,” says Kapoor. pared to developed markets. The two
metros to salute the Indian woman in Earlier last year, the company also key differences between domestic
celebration of International Women’s relaunched Boost and enhanced the market and other developed markets
Day. Focused on message with massive are:
women’s health, in-store promotions • Consumption is largely led by
this innovative at modern grocery children
in-store initia- chains with cricket • Nutritional benefits (rather
tive has been stadium displays, than taste-enhancement) are key
undertaken in basketball pillar floor consumption drivers.
association with standing units and “The range of products available
modern retail other interesting col- in the country are also very limited.
partners, and laterals and touch- Brands in the developed markets ex-
includes health points to establish the tend into ready-to-drink, biscuits,
awareness kiosks, brand to connect with brunch bars, ice-creams etc. While
contests, interac- the children. The all- this has also begun to happen in In-
tive sessions on new Boost’s tag line – dia, the range is currently small and
healthy living, “More I play, more I the opportunity is under-leveraged,”
and weekly prizes learn” – explained the he states.
among a host of importance of sports “Going forward, we see great
activities across in teaching valuable opportunity at both the premium
these outlets. life lessons to chil- end and the bottom of the pyramid.
Primarily tar- dren. More specialised offerings can deliv-
geted at women, On strategic mer- er focused functionality for different
the campaign is chandising at the consumer segments – once such ex-
spread across the retail end, Pisharodi ample is Bournvita Li’l Champs, the
stores beyond says, “Merchandis- special formulation for 2-5 year old
just the health ing certainly plays a children. Given the fact that category
drinks section, powerful role in driv- penetrations are lower as compared
highlighting ing saliency and cue- to many other food categories, there
the fact that a Dabur’s expertise of ayurve- ing key brand mes- is a great opportunity for product in-
woman’s body da has been blended into sages. The approach novation especially at the bottom of
needs certain Chyawan Junior. we have followed for the pyramid,” he concludes. n