INDEX

S.NO PARTICULARS PAGE NO.

1. ACTIVITY: Study of customer loyalty towards Maggi in

comparison to Top Ramen and yippee

Company profile 3

Demand 5

Pricing strategy 6

Competitors analysis 7

Retaining of customers 8

2. METHODOLOGY: Survey among the society

Objective of the study and informative areas 10

Sample size 10

Analytical overview 11

3. CONCLUSION 21

4. REFERENCES 21
ACTIVITY: STUDY OF CUSTOMER LOYALTY TOWARDS MAGGI IN
COMPARISON TO TOP RAMEN AND YIPPEE

COMPANY PROFILE OF MAGGI:

Maggi is a German brand of food. It is quick and easy solutions – like bouillons, soups,
seasonings and sauces – to aid cooking and add flavour. The company headquarter is in
Switzerland. The mission of Maggi is to become champion the goodness of home cooking,
renewing its global product portfolio with ingredients that people are familiar with, like those
they might find in their kitchen cupboard.

Points Information

Company Name Maggi

Date of Establishment 1884

Establishment Place Germany

Registered Address Switzerland

Net-worth $12 Million

Parent Company Nestle

Telephone No. +41 21 924 1111

Company Status Active

Website wecare@in.nestle.com

Email wecare@in.nestle.com
Establishment

Maggi established in 1884 by Julius Maggi. It contains vegetables and original flavours from
vegetables, herbs and spices, grains and other nutrient-rich ingredients. Maggi is an
international brand of seasonings, instant soups and noodles.

 Every second, 4,600 food portions are prepared with Maggi across the world
 Every minute, consumers add 100 tonnes of fresh ingredients (meat, vegetables, rice and
so on) to their Maggi meals
 Every hour, Maggi delivers 900,000 portions of vegetables to consumers through its
products
 Compared to 2005, a year’s production of Maggi products already contains more than
12,000 tonnes less salt – the equivalent of the Eiffel tower in weight.

“In the last 20 years we have Just asked 2 minutes of your time”. The Brand which clearly
comes to mind on first recall is Maggi Noodles. Maggi Noodles is manufactured by Nestle
under instant noodles portfolio. It was introduced with Maggi 2 Minute Noodles in India in
1982 when the only place to get noodles was Chinese restaurants. Maggi has undoubtedly has
been the lifeline of many teenagers when in home or away from home. Maggi, as a brand, has
seen many competitions in its Lifecycle. The brand has also diversified itself with launch of
product ranges like soups, tomato sauce, seasoning, cup noodles, various flavours of Maggi
noodles like Atta, rice, mixed grains etc. Nestle remains its market leader position with
59.84% of retail sales in India, 2009. But its market share is constantly eroded by new
entrants like GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Health with Foodles, Capital Foods with
Smith&Jones Instant noodles, HUL launching its Soupy Noodles under Knorr Brand
umbrella.

Brand Identity –
 Physique – Yellow Coloured Pack, 2 minute Noodles, fast to cook good to eat, Maggi
Logo, Healthy Snack between meals

 Relationship – Taste bhi Health Bhi, providing convenient food within 2 minutes with
health and hygiene factor, caring and nurturing

 Reflection – Health Conscious individual who is Hard pressed for time, Young and Fun
loving, living with family

 Personality – Enthusiastic, simple, uncomplicated, easily accessible, Fun loving,

carefree, On the move, busy schedule
 Culture – Reliable, Innovative, Aspirant Lifestyle for rural areas, Sharing happiness,
responsible

 Self-Image – Young, trendy, fun loving, Independent, Healthy inspite of Sedentary

Urban Lifestyle

Introductory and Initial Growth Stage

Maggi Noodles brand was in introductory and growth stage in 1982 – 1990s.Maggi took
advantage of its early mover’s advantage in closed economy scenario prevalent in India
during 1980s. The brand faced less competition due to few similar products available in the
market. Brand Maggi made best use of the time to increase its brand awareness by focussing
on product advertisement. The communication which was initially misdirected towards
women was shifted rightly towards children <16 years age group. Strong brand identity was
created through iconic Yellow packaging. The pictorial representation of noodles with added
vegetables helped strengthen the health factor. Umbrella brand Nestle provided the hygiene
factor assurance.

Maggi Noodles sponsored ‘Hum Log’, India’s first indigenous soap opera which began
telecast on July 7, 1984. Maggi was launched with total advertisement slots of just 5 minutes
during the breaks of serial which ran for over 156 episodes. This helped Maggi to establish as
a popular breakfast and snack food across the country. This was also one the first instances of
introduction of Fast Food in India.

Growth Stage

Maggi Noodles brand was in their growth stage in 1990s till late 2006 with brief period of
declining sales due to faulty product innovation and formulae change from conventional
Maggi noodles in the form of launch of Dal Atta Maggi Noodles to noodles similar to Top
Ramen Noodles, noodles from stable of Indo Nissin Food Ltd. Maggi was quick to revert
back the original formulae to minimize damage.

Price

Price was kept competitive with other launches in the market like Nissin’s Top Ramen

Promotion

Maggi was launched in different packages of 50 and 100 gms to increase the consumer base
and attract the first time consumers. Variants like Cuppa mania was launched to cater to
mobile population, office goers.

CURRENT DEMAND OF THE COMPANY:

Maggi, India's go-to option for instant noodles, saw a significant boost in sales amid the
coronavirus lockdown. Sales of Maggi shot up by up to 25 per cent over pre-COVID numbers
as consumers under lockdown stockpiled the instant noodle brand. Managing Director of
Nestle India Suresh Narayanan said that the company ramped up manufacturing across its
five Maggi factories during the lockdown. According to a report in The Economic Times,
some kirana shops have also started stocking the 1.68 kg packs that have 24 Maggi noodle
cakes as they have run out of smaller packs. Demand for Maggi has surged 20-25 per cent
over the pre-lockdown period. The head of the Rs 12,000-crore India unit said that they
ramped up manufacturing across eight factories including the five factories that produce
Maggi during Lockdown 1.0. This involved reviving all the hundreds of suppliers, wheat
flour millers, packaging suppliers and service providers, he said.

"Enormous efforts have been put in by teams across factories in the most arduous situation.
The mission of my team was inspired to rise to a national cause and provide an essential
brand at that time," said Narayanan.

However, the love for Maggi seems to be inconsistent with the emerging trends of healthy
eating. Even though Maggi has been trying to revamp the health credentials of the brand with
improved recipes and wheat variants, the instant noodle does not really fall in the healthy
option bracket. Nevertheless, Narayanan believes that Maggi's convenience and versatility
and people lacking culinary skills would ensure that the noodle remains on the essentials list
and would continue to drive up sales. "Maggi is seen as a 'faithful friend'. There is a mixture
of love and adoration, giving Maggi a human form when it is a noodle - that's the power of a
brand and what it stands for in the consumers' head and heart," he says.

PRICING STRATEGY:

Maggi uses a cost based pricing strategy to tap in to various markets in the world. The
competitive prices are compensated with high volumes of the products. This shows that
competition and cost are the two major factors in the marketing mix pricing strategy of
Maggi. Because of rising prices in various countries Maggi has smartly started reducing the
quantity to keep the prices unchanged. Nestle strives to capture maximum market share with
low prices and high quality standards. As Maggi is trying to tap into all segments of income
category it keeps differential prices in depending locations and across countries. Also its
offerings are available in wide variety of packages so that people can buy according to their
needs. In recent times Maggi has started coming up with new products like the cup range and
Hot Heads noodles which it targets for the higher income level segments and hence are priced
at higher range.
COMPETITORS ANALYSIS IN THE MARKET AND THEIR PRICING
STRATEGIES:

TOP RAMEN:

Top Ramen is the second largest Noodles brand in India trying hard for the past 18 years to
beat Maggi Noodles. Top Ramen is a global brand from Nissin. Launched in 1991, Top
Ramen has been trying all possible marketing tools to dethrone Maggi.

First occasion was when the brand was launched; the brand quickly went into limelight with
its famous positioning as Smoodles. But after the initial trying, people again went back to
Maggi noodles. The next occasion was when Maggi changed the taste. That was an occasion
where, as a brand loyalist, people dumped Maggi. For a while people consumed Top Ramen.
When Maggi reversed the taste, many people again switched back. Top Ramen at that point
of time was one of the heavy advertisers in the media. And since the taste was also
comparable, many Maggi users may have switched to this brand. But it could not retain all
the customers. One factor is the price. Top Ramen was always perceived as a premium brand
compared to the affordable Maggi. The high price may have prompted many Maggi users to
switch back. Another factor was the promotion. Top Ramen could not sustain the share of
mind it generated during the formative years.

Pricing strategy:

Nissin follows the competitive pricing strategy depending upon its key competitors in
different markets. The top competitors for Nissin are Nestle ltd, Knorr, Simply Asia, Lucky
Me, La Choy, and Pot Noodles. Nissin keeps its prices slightly lesser than the competitors in
case of similar products. For example, in order to tackle the existing large and loyal customer
base of Maggi instant noodles in India, Nissin had to come with more products and keep the
prices lower than that of Maggi. Along with that, they rarely offer discounts like buy one get
one free. They are constantly gaining customers via their cup noodles product range which is
extensively available in shops in all the countries of its presence. Along with these, Nissin
has taken care of the local tastes in different countries, like introducing Masala (Spicy) cup
noodles in India, beef noodles in EU, seafood noodles in Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong,
Singapore, and China, Chicken flavour in Brazil and USA.

YIPPEE:
ITC has always taken a very aggressive approach from the day it entered the FMCG sector
and has been giving a very tough fight to the already established players because of
the financial muscle that it has and the wider and deeper reach that ITC has got even
in the rural markets because of its tobacco business. This always provides it an edge
even over the established players in the market as not many players in India have got
such a deep and a wider reach for making the products available to customers in almost
every nook and corner in India. And ITC has taken the same approach for the newly
launched noodles brand Sun feast Yippee in the Indian market, which is dominated by Maggi
from decades.

Pricing strategy:

Sunfeast Yippee Noodles has targeted children and younger generation from middle, upper-
middle and upper class, which are in the look-out for a healthy in-between-meals snack when
hungry, as its target customers. It has positioned itself as instant noodles with different taste
and with no lumping even after thirty minutes of cooking. Sunfeast Yippee Noodles belong to
a cut-throat industry with very strong competitors. It has to handle its pricing strategy very
delicately so as to beat its competitors at their own game. The company has adopted
a competitive pricing policy and kept its prices at par with the prices set up by its rival. One
smart thing that Yippee did was increasing its quantity marginally so that at the near-about
same prices its competitors are giving less of the product. In a competitive market, this is a
huge factor and made an even bigger difference.  It has resulted in Sunfeast coming out at the
top with its strategy and increasing its sales figures to register better revenues and profits.

TOOLS/ TECHNIQUES BY MAGGI TO RETAIN THE CUSTOMER:

Maggi's MSG row in India was huge. A product which earns the major market share into the
instant noodles category faced a major blow when the lab results were out and there was no
clearance from FSSAI. From commanding 80% share of India’s noodles market, Maggi went
down to 0% in just a month. Concerned parents boycotted the brand out of its kitchen but the
truth is also that Indians love Maggi and they were equally disappointed on its ban.

Let's look into the instant noodles category. Maggi 3 decades back was the first one to enter
this segment. It became a metophoric brand for instant noodles just like Colgate meant for
toothpaste. The major players in this category started entering 2 decades ago trying their best
to come up with innovative ideas to market. Top Ramen noodles was the biggest rival to
Maggi for its taste. Then came Yippee noodles, Knorr and Chings. All tried their best and
relatively gained a good market share but still Maggi was people's brand.

Few of the strategies of Maggi which has made it a star brand since 3 decades includes:

1. Taste: Maggi very well understood Indian taste with its basic Maggi masala ruling
the stores with the same taste from long time.
2. Price: if you look at Maggi's prices graph you would hardly see any major
fluctuations. Still this day 10INR Maggi is loved by the poor and the rich.
3. Distribution strategies: Nestles logistics and distribution has been really strong. It
makes sure that the production is in surplus and it reaches all nook and corners of
India.
4. Marketing: since inception Maggi's tag line has been a constant. 2 minutes noodles.
It presented the brand in such a easy to cook way that every lazy goose got attracted
to it. It became mom's favorite in kitchen. It became a time saver for many
hosteliers. Also look at all the ads of Maggi, they talk about connecting emotions,
be it students, moms, new brides or mountain adventures. The promotion have been
realistic.
5. Recipes: There was a lot of promotion of Maggi based recipes. Call it Maggi
disagree, Maggi pakoda or any other combination. Where do you think that came
from? It was a brand's strategy.
METHODOLOGY: COLLECTING DATA THROUGH SURVEY

Objective of survey:

 To understand the influence of Maggi as a brand on consumer’s mind set.

 Sources of brand equity of Maggi like Brand awareness, Brand image, 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.

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 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?

Sample size: 50 people

Age group: 18 to 50 years

ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW:

1) Are you a Maggi consumer?

TABLE NO.1: MAGGI CONSUMER

Yes/ No Percentage
Yes 72%
No 28%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 persons, there are 36 people (72%) who consumes Maggi and 14 people (28%)
who doesn’t.

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

TABLE NO.2: MIND-SET

Mind-set Percentage
Noodles 18%
Fast food 44%
Snacks 34%
None of these 4%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 9 people (18%) who thinks Maggi as noodles, 22 people (44%)
who thinks it as fast food, 17 people (34%) who thinks it as snacks, and 2 people (4%) who
consider it in other categories.

3) What is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word Noodles?

TABLE NO.3: MIND-SET

Mind-set Percentage
Maggi 36%
Top Ramen 50%
Yippee 14%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 18 people (36%) who consider Maggi as noodles, 25 people
(50%) who consider Top Ramen as noodles, and 7 people (14%) who consider Yippee as
noodles.

4) How do you perceive Maggi products?

TABLE NO.4: MAGGI PRODUCTS

Maggi products Percentage

Good for health 4%
Ready to eat 38%
Junk food 36%
Tasty/ fun eating 22%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 2 people (4%) who thinks it is good for health, 19 people (38%)
ready to eat, 18 people (36%) junk food and 11 people (22%) tasty/ fun eating.

5) Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy?

TABLE NO.5: CATEGORY

Category Percentage
Masala 40%
Vegetable atta noodles 36%
Dal atta noodles 20%
Rice noodles mania 2%
Others 2%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 20 people (40%) who buy masala, 18 people (36%) who buy
veggie atta noodles, 10 people (20%) who buy dal atta noodles, 1 people (2%+2%) who buy
rice noodles mania and others.

6) You came to know about Maggi from:

TABLE NO.6: REFERENCE

Reference Percentage
Newspapers 36%
Radio 10%
TV advertisements 30%
Word of mouth 22%
Other 2%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 18 people (36%) who came to knowledge about Maggi through
newspapers, 5 people (10%) through radio, 15 people (30%) through TV ads, 11 people
(22%) through word of mouth and 1 people (2%) through others.

7) Do you believe that Maggi contained levels of lead and MSG up until 2015?

TABLE NO.7: LEVEL OF LEAD AND MSG UNTIL 2015

Yes/ No Percentage
Yes 62%
No 24%
 Maybe 14%

Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 31 people (62%) who believes, 12 people (24%) who doesn’t and
7 people (14%) who are confused.

8) Were you aware of the news of ban on Maggi?

TABLE NO.8: AWARENESS

Yes/ No Percentage
Yes 68%
No 32%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 34 people (68%) who were aware of the ban and 16 people (32%)
who weren’t.

9) Did you thought after this negative news Maggi will be able to achieve the same
position in the market?

TABLE NO.9: POSITION AFTER BAN

Yes/ No Percentage
Yes 16%
No 42%
Maybe 42%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 8 people (16%) who thought that Maggi will be able to achieve
the same position, 21 people (42%+42%) who didn’t and were confused.

10) Which category do you belong to?

TABLE NO.10: CATEGORY OF RESPONDENT

Category Percentage
Student 40%
Parent 30%
Working 30%
Interpretation:

Out of 50 people, there are 20 people (40%) who are students, 15 people (30%) who are
parents and 15 people (30%) who are working.

CONCLUSION OF THE STUDY:

“What Xerox is to photocopier and Colgate to toothbrush, Maggi is to noodles in India” –

The Economic Times

Maggi is more preferred by the respondents as compared to the other instant noodles.
From this data we can conclude that respondent like to eat Maggi at every age. There are
some people out there who not eat any other instant noodle if Maggi is not available no
matter what. We can observe from this data that ban on Maggi reduced the sale of it but after
its relaunch it had the same or we can say large number of sales than before. Nestle and the
respondents both have believe that Maggi will achieve its position back in the market.

REFERENCES:

 https://deshicompanies.com/company-profile/maggi-brand-wiki-company-profile-
founder-noodles/
 https://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing
 https://www.businesstoday.in/latest/economy-politics
 https://www.mbaskool.com/marketing-mix
 https://www.conzumr.com/br/NOODLES
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/
 https://www.marketing91.com/marketing
 https://www.academia.edu/35584367/