Business Case Challenge

“ITC Bingo! Case Study: New Launch Strategy”

September 2023

Instructions:
• Teams will submit a case analysis document addressing the expected outcome, comprising a
10-slide power point presentation with footnotes wherever applicable.

• There is no pre-determined structure to analyse the case. Participants are free to use any
format which best illustrates and provides convincing arguments supporting their solutions.

• Wherever necessary, the participants must refer to the sources of information and data.

• Case presentations will be judged based on the following criteria:

• Originality, creativity and uniqueness of the idea

• Feasibility of implementation, sustainability and scalability of the idea;

• How does the solution fit with ITC’s vision and how it can leverage ITC’s strengths

• The thoroughness of research, analytics and economic logic used to defend the viability and
execution of the idea

• Last date for submission of case solutions is 13th September, 2023. Teams must send their
entries to the link provided to your Campus Point of Contact.

For full details, please refer to the ITC Interrobang Season 13 Case Challenge Brochure available with
your Campus Point of Contact or contact interrobang@itc.in.
 Interrobang?! : ITC On Campus – Season 13 – Case Challenge

Birth of Bingo! Snacks

In 2006, ITC decided to foray into a Rs 980 Cr packaged salty snacks industry [1]. The western salty
snacks industry was clearly divided into 3 major categories:

a. Potato Wafers
b. Bridges
c. Extruded

Basis a Usage and Acceptance study, the brand checked over 140 different kinds of snacks and
classified them into 3 types across user groups:

1. Super hits – Snacks which are seen as trendy and which are also consumed a lot e.g. Potato
Chips, Bridges [Kurkure, Takatak] etc.
2. Specialty snacks: Are seen as trendy but not consumed very often e.g. the wet snacks (Chaat,
Bhel etc), Pizza etc
3. Habbit Snacks: Are not seen as trendy but consumed in large quantities – typically the
Namkeens Sev, Bhujia, Ghatia, Fafda etc

Clearly the opportunity for the new enterprise was in creating differentiated Super hit products e.g.
products like Potato Chips and Kurkure with relevant differentiation. The brand hence created a
innovation guardrail of converting Habbit products to Superhits by reformatting the product while
retaining local tastes and improving the imagery and positioning of the product.

Foundation of Bingo! Product Philosophy: Making the two consumer desires meet
➢ Making the exotic familiar and familiar exotic
o DOs:
▪ Differentiated & Innovative products
▪ Play between base, format, shape, texture, flavour
▪ Keep products high on imagery
▪ For example:
• Chaat taste in a spicy finger format (familiar taste in an innovative
format)
• Delta – Khakra taste in an innovative Nacho format (familiar taste in
an unexpected format)
o DONTs
▪ Niche products
▪ Incremental changes achieved by clubbing two familiars
▪ Complete newness by clubbing two unfamiliar (e.g. Oregano Penne products)

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Hence the brand was set on providing “irresistible combinations”.

Target Group
• Category truth – Everyone snacks
▪ The Young are the center of gravity in any society, the prime force in generating
excitement and buzz
- Hence, critical that the youth buy into our brand
- And if we have a buy-in from youth, the brand will be aspirational for kids,
hence they are bound to follow
- And then the moms would be forced to bring it home
• Our epicenter will be the Youth, with the following guardrails
▪ Inclusivity
▪ Humour
▪ Differentiation from competition

Launch of Bingo! Snacks

Post establishing the guardrails – the brand tested out over 30 names out of which the name “Bingo!”
was shortlisted. The name carried multiple connotations for the consumer and ranked high on appeal
and aesthetics [2]. The brand was launched Pan India in March 2007 across urban markets covering
35 cities [Metros + Tier 1]. This helped the brand cover 50% of the Pan India snacks shops. Within the
next 6 months, the brand was able to cover Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, effectively reaching all snacks
markets. The brand leveraged ITC’s strong sales and distribution infrastructure by adding additional
workforce and providing merchandising inputs to all the outlets.

Snacks Industry in FY22-23

Post its launch in 2007, the brand has been able to create formidable standing in the industry as the
2nd largest player in the western salty snacks market and one of the top 5 players in the salty snacks
industry. As of Dec’22, the salty snacks industry is sized at Rs. 41957 cr and is the second largest
packaged food category (after biscuits at 47K cr). It is also one of the most widely distributed with a
handler base of 84 lac outlets (Biscuits at 91 lac outlets). After a brief setback in MAT Dec’20 (dropping
8%), the industry has seen a strong recovery and is clocking robust growth. Over the long run (6 yr
CAGR) – the industry has grown at 14% with Bridges (16%) and Namkeens (15%) driving the growth.
In the past year, the potato wafers segment spearheaded growth (MAT Dec’22 growth at 22%),
followed by Bridges (19% GOLY). Within Bridges, the traditional segment (Punjabi Tadka, Gathiya &
Soya Sticks) has grown by 21%, while modern formats (Sticks and Triangles) have grown by 18%. The
Nachos format has grown by 30% & now stands at 346cr [3]. ITC has been able to maintain its
leadership in Bridges segment whereas Haldiram is the largest player in the industry with traditional
namkeens contributing to 74% of its sales. ITC was able to add 402 cr in topline, the highest annual
addition since the launch of the brand. The business was able to launch 7 new products into the market
which contributed to 8% of its overall sales in Jan’23.
Bingo!’s position in Industry – FY 22-23
ITC has retained market leadership in bridges segment with a MAT Jun’23 market share of 22.6 %
while Kurkure was at 20.4%.

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MAT MAT MAT MAT

MS BRIDGES
DEC'20 DEC'21 DEC'22 JUN'23
All India Bridges 4792 Cr 6011 Cr 7461 Cr 7788 Cr
ITC 25% 22.90% 22.7% 22.6%
BINGO MAD ANGLES 7.7% 6.40% 6.3% 6.3%
BINGO TEDHE MEDHE 17.3% 16.0% 16.0% 15.8%
BINGO TEDHE MEDHE PUNJABI TADKA 0.0% 0.0% 0.4% 0.6%
KUR KURE 22.5% 20.9% 20.1% 20.4%
BALAJI CHATAKA PATAKA 6.4% 7.2% 6.6% 6.5%
HALDIRAM PUNJABI TADKA 7.2% 7.4% 5.9% 5.9%
HALDIRAM TAKA TAK 7.5% 7.5% 7.4% 7.4%

ITC potato wafers shares are at 11.8% with drops in North, East & West. Bingo! continues to dominate
South India with a market share of 42.5% . PEPSICO lost share on account of Uncle Chips.

MAT MAT MAT MAT

MS POTATO WAFERS
DEC'20 DEC'21 DEC'22 JUN'23
All India POTATO WAFERS 6315 Cr 7978 Cr 9734 Cr 10616 Cr
ITC 13.2% 13.0% 11.9% 11.8%
BINGO POTATO CHIPS 8.6% 8.4% 7.4% 7.0%
BINGO ORIGINAL STYLE 4.6% 4.6% 4.3% 4.3%
BINGO HASHTAG 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 0.5%
PEPSICO INDIA 43.4% 43.5% 42.8% 42.5%
LAYS 37.1% 37.9% 38.0% 37.9%
UNCLE CHIPPS 6.3% 5.6% 4.8% 4.6%
BALAJI 13.5% 14.6% 15.1% 14.9%

Bingo!’s Multi chip Line – FY 2018-20

In 2018 - the overall snacks

industry was at 18,000 crores with
a CAGR at 10%. Bridges and Potato
wafers contributed to 16% and
25% of the industry respectively,
with Bingo! being the market
leader in Bridges.

In its 10 years journey, Bingo! was

able to establish itself as a brand
that has always worked towards
offering innovative products – unique formats and flavours to the consumers. With innovation being
one of the core value of Bingo brand, ITC is planning to introduce MULTICHIPS – a unique lentils based
snack. This snack was launched with the purview of “health” quotient rising in popularity amongst the
youth driven by brands like Too Yumm.

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The business launched Bingo! Starters with the proposition of “Kalyug ka Snack”. The product was
launched Pan-India at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 price point in 4 flavours [Masala, Chatpata, Minty,
Peppery]. The grammage offering was at par with the offering for potato chips [at 24g for Rs 10] The
brand supported the launch with a 360 campaign with a new advertisement with erstwhile brand
ambassador Ranveer Singh, Print and digital campaigns. The new launch was met with an initial
positive response; however, the stickiness of the product was low. Post analysis, the brand conducted
consumer immersions to identify the reasons for the lack of pick-up for the product:

Communication Packaging Product

Pros Cons Pros Cons Pros Cons
Eye
Resonance
catchy, No oil -
with Spice fades after
distinctive indicates
"Kalyug" first bite
No and health
theme No
expectation premium
differentiation
Health set about New and
between
benefits the product unique leaf
variants
retained taste Health shape Heavy product -
benefits Orangish in can't eat more
Good fit
visible colour - than 1 pack
with Bingo!
indicates
Humour
good spice

Re-birth of Multichip line with Bingo! Street Bites – FY 2020-23

Bingo! Starters was perceived to be a unique novel product which generated a high intent for trial
amongst the TG. However, there were multiple barriers to purchase which the business had to resolve:

• Apprehensions about taste and texture of healthy snacks: Having tried Too Yumm, consumer
believe that the product would have less flavour of masalas along with a dry mouth feel

• Need for Spice: Consumers were unwilling to switch to a healthier snack as their snack of
choice due to perception of lower taste appeal.

The TG clearly demonstrated that while they have high

intent for “guilt-free” snacking, in most binge-eating or
snacking occasions – they would not be willing to switch
to the guilt free snacking options as their preferred
snacks of choice. The decision of the consumer was
clear – they displayed high stickiness for their flavour
and brand of choice, and not for novel “health” codes.
With this learning in mind, Bingo! Started searching for
other avenues driven by flavours. With the COVID-19
wave disrupting the way people lived their lives, the
brand saw a strong opportunity in the bringing street
food to the consumers in a convenient chip
format.Hence the brand came up with the concept of
“Bingo! Street Bites” – A proposition which lets
consumers satisfy their street food cravings anytime anywhere. This proposition was led by the
insight that street food is more than just snacking, it was a ritual in India – with high levels of

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involvement and emotions attached. The health codes from the product were removed and the new
launch was to be driven by the flavour proposition. In Q2’FY 2022 – the new product was launched in
western states of India [Maharashtra, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh]. The brand was launched with a
higher grammage offering – 33g at Rs 10 [Vs a Lays/Bingo! Chips at 21-22g] with the pack size visibly
bigger to show higher amount of product in the pack. The launch was supported with innovative
marque activities such as wall art mural, a rap song and multiple on ground events – including a
concert with Nucleya. This generated high interest and trials in the product and the new product was
extended in the Northern states of the country.

Fall of Bingo! Street Bites: Current Business Problem

Despite the positive response on the new product, the brand faces the same problem again – there
was an initial excitement around trying the new product and high flavour appreciation, however the
product failed to gain repeat consumers. While the consumer feedback is positive on the flavour and
the product, the proposition was perceived to be too niche. Hence the consumers predominantly shift
towards the following flavour buckets [refer Annex. 6 for major flavour buckets]:

1. Masala [14% salience to Industry]

2. Cream and Onion [25% salience to Industry]
3. Chilli [11% salience to Industry]
4. Tomato [15% salience to Industry]

The brand now wants to relaunch the street bites range in the potato wafers category. The brand
needs to be rebranded as a “Unique potato based snack brand” which is similar to your potato chip
but is better than that.

Problem Statement
1. Understand the evolution in the snacking category category and consumers in detail- what
are the triggers to repeats and stickiness and how has it evolved?
2. Identify key insight/s to drive adoption of the new launch and basis on your insight – create a
new USP for the relaunch. Justify how will you differentiate yourself from potato wafers [e.g
Lays, Bingo! Chips, Balaji etc]. Create a unique brand name and cite the initial flavours and
pricing strategy [gm/Rs] which should be launched.
3. Basis your insight, ideate a 360 degree campaign addressing this audience segment. You may
suggest innovation in communication, campaign format, on ground activation.
4. Create a GTM strategy for Pan India [focus on how your strategies cater to geography specific
demands] -Channel specific ideas can also be explored- General Trade (GT) & within that the
Wholesale channel, Modern Trade (MT), Ecommerce, Institutional (catering to other
businesses- e.g. offices, schools etc) also detail out key success metrics to track the success of
your proposed strategy

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Annexures

Annexure [1]: Salty Snacks Industry in 2006

Annexure [2] : Selection of Bingo! As a brand name

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Annexure [3] : Salty snacks industry – MAT Dec’22

Annexure [4] : Communication for Starters https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J2Z1jhvlpU

Annexure [5] : Communication for Street Bites

Rap Song : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhPVG1T2KkU

Brand Film : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2IjrhZGdTQ

Nucleya Concert : https://www.instagram.com/p/CimUPRBrhgq/

Digital first launch of Street Bites:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CfmPFiRDmTo/

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn9MhG0PG5x/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CocYCA_sxq2/

Annexure [6] : Major flavour buckets dominant in India in Potato wafers industry

% salience in PW market
[as of MAT June'23]
Industry Size 10218 Cr
CREAM & ONION 24.6%
SALTED 20.5%
TOMATO 14.9%
MASALA 14.2%
CHILLI 11.1%
SPICY 2.7%
PUDINA 1.8%
HOT N SPICY 1.6%
TOMATO CHILLI 1.7%
LEMON 1.4%
PERI PERI 1%
CHATPATA 0.6%
SALT N PEPPER 0.5%

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CHILLI LEMON 0.5%

CHATPATA CHILLI 0.4%
SPICY MASALA 0.3%
BARBEQUE 0.4%
SWEET CHILLI 0.1%
PEPPER 0.1%
CHEESE 0.1%
LIME N PEPPER 0.1%
TAMARIND 0.1%
OTHERS 1.3%

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