Noodle Wars

Rahul Nair
&
Snigdha Kishore
 History
&
Product Innovation Charter
 Brief History of Maggi
• Despite the unfavorable circumstances, Maggi launched
itself in 1982.
• Appropriate realization of target segment, effective
positioning and effective promotion and sales made Maggi
the most loved noodle in India
• Maggi stood as a survivor, a brand that created and
dominated a category for the last 2 decades.
• Several Failed attempts to introduce the variants in flavor:
Capsica, sweet noodles, vegetable atta and change in flavor
of original masala.
• Lost market share from 90.7% in Dec 09 to 84.6% in Jun
2010.
 Brief History of Maggi
• The Dal Atta variant was also not accepted due to the
difference in taste
• Brand has successfully extend into sauces, soups & pasta

• Has taken help of a wide range of positioning lines &

statements in its long history

o   Fast to cook , Good to eat became a catchphrase

o   2min gesture of the magi mom was widely imitated
o   Mei aur Meri Maggi at its 25th anniversary campaign
to acknowledge the generation that grew with it and who
will now introduce it to their children        
 Brief History of Maggi
• Target BOP (Bottom of Pyramid) - Launched chota
magi for wider reach to combat competition
• Uneventful entry into Pasta - Has ventured into the
pasta market following sunfeast, with Maggi Nutri-
Licious Pazzta in two flavours “Masala Penne” and
“Cheese Macaroni” to stop customers from moving to
competing brand
• Arrows for the Rural Population - Also has products
for rural and semi-urban markets: Maggi masal-ae-
magic and Maggi Rasile Chow
2. Area of Focus – Dual drivers
• Market drivers
– The target segment will entail all age groups who just
love a quick spicy meal.
– The product should be quick to make/ ready to eat
and should merge with the fast paced life style of the
current generation.
– It should also be aligned with the traditional brand
image that Maggi holds – “fast to cook, good to eat”
– Should have a Chinese orientation to cater to the
eastern and north eastern India where a large chunk
of market share is lost.
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2. Area of Focus – Dual drivers
• Technology Drivers
– Packaging : The packaging should be attractive and at the same time,
easy to use. It should also maintain the freshness of the product.
– 10 months shelf life : air drying the noodles and adding anti-oxidants
to the taste maker.
– Maintain nutritional content and flavor. : State of the art
manufacturing process should be adopted to maintain the nutritional
content and flavor.
– Should get cooked in 2 minutes

– Low fat content : By using air drying technology as this process cuts
down on 60- 80% of fat content and 25% sodium content.
 3. Goals & objectives
• Goals
• Profit – To keep a profit margin of Rs. 4 and selling price
of Rs.15.
• Growth rate – To grow at a rate of 10% in an industry
which is growing at 20% (CAGR).
• Market share
– To increase the market share from 80 % to 90 % in
the next financial year.
– To gain a market share of at least 70% in the east and
north east where Wei-Wei currently holds a share of
90%.
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 4. Special Guidelines

• The product should be “new to the firm” or

“line extension”.
• The product needn’t be a first mover or a
quick second.
• It should be an improvement over the
existing products.
• The new product should be derived from
the current product to attain economies of
scale (Platform Commonality)
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Co-creation Experience
and DART
 Concept Generation

• Concept generation is the step 2 of the stage

gate process for NPD.
• There are 3 strategies for concept generation:
1. Co-Opting Customer Competence
2. Problem Based Ideation
3. Perceptual Maps/Positioning Maps
• All these strategies are stand alone strategies,
i.e. they can be used for both concept generation
and enhancing consumer experience.
1. Co-opting Customer Competence

• In this strategy customers and their

experience with the product is involved to
generate a concept or enhance the current
product experience.
• Companies can opt for customer groups/
Focus groups to get the new concept.
• Can be executed in 2 ways:
1. Using Experience Network
2. DART Framework
Customer Experience
Network
Customer Experience
Network
 Customer Co-creation
Experience
• Retailers- Influence the customer experience with appropriate product
placement on shelves. For e.g. on shelves where kids and elders can reach
it easily.
• Advertisement – Ad’s improve the customer experience by showcasing
mouth watering ads and tempting them.
• Online forums – provides a platform to share recipes and creative ideas to
improve customer experience.
• Household demographics – The home ambience and openness also
plays a part in customer experience.
• Maggi (feedback cell) – improves customer experience by providing a
platform to express their comments to improve and duly catering to it.
• Face book fan page – encourages customers to comment, share stories
and also lets the company to update about their favorite noodles.
• Other customers – customers exchange their experiences with each other
and hence influence the experience.
DART FRAMEWORK
 2. DART FRAMEWORK

• Stands for – Dialogue, Access Mode, Risk

Assessment, Transparency.
• Each of these can be used individually to
enhance the customer experience and can
be a source of new concept generation.
• Following slides describes the way in
which DART framework can be applied to
Maggi.
‘D’ of DART Framework for
Maggi
• Dialogue: Chat rooms and online forums provide a
gateway which can be used to invite customers to join
these platforms and discuss about the product.
• Since such forums are open to discussion for any one
around the world, there are possibilities that people
can misuse the platform or might not choose the
“right” words to present their thoughts.
• For these reasons, the rules for engagement should
be stipulated.
• A template for rules of engagement that can be opted
by Maggi is given in the following slide.
 Template for Rules

1. Do not spam or self-promote in the forums

2. Do not post "Free" threads
3. Do not cross post questions
4. Do not post "offensive" posts, links or images
5. Remain respectful of other users, moderators and
brand at all times.
6. Participants not adhering to the rules will be
warned and if the warning is ignored the
participant will be permanently banned from
contributing to the forum.
‘A’ of DART Framework for
Maggi
• Access Mode: relates to ease of availability of product, variety of packages,
and ease of use.
• The following access modes can help Maggi enhance its customer
experience:
1. Maggi has a strong distribution system in urban areas; Maggi can
work on its distribution system for semi-urban areas so that its standard
Maggi is available in all “kiosks” that populate the semi-urban areas.
2. Maggi is available in single pack, double pack, family pack and
Jumbo pack. It helps to serve different kind of customers with different
needs. For e.g single pack and double pack can be more appealing to
outstation students.
3. Its 2minute cook time, and instant cup noodles provide customers
with excellent ease of use of product. Even kids can make it. Its that simple!
4. Maggi can also be made available in vending machines outside
movie theatres or malls. Preferably cup noodles can be stored in these
machines with availability of hot water.
‘R’ of DART Framework for
Maggi
• Risk Assessment: Involves analyzing the pros &
cons of having customer community.
• Following risk should be taken into consideration:
1. Competitors can closely monitor the online
forum and can possibly adopt the ideas
discussed in the forum.
2. Criticism about product can spread just like
viral marketing which can damage the brand
image and the sales of the product.
‘T’ of DART Framework for
Maggi
• Transparency: refers to the extent to which the product
information should be shared with the customer community.
• Following are the few product specifications on which
transparency can be maintained to have a healthy customer
community:
1. Nutritional Content of the product
2. Shelf life
3. Health Hazards/ warnings
4. Ingredients used
• Transparency can also be maintained about the purpose
with which the company has opted for customer community.
Perceptual Mapping
 Attribute Rating Map
• We surveyed 15 people to rate Maggi and 2 other major players (Top
Ramen and Foodles) in instant noodle market in India.
• We asked them to rate the attributes on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1
being the lowest and 5 being the highest rating.
• The following attributes were taken into account:
- Taste
- Health
- Stickiness
- Consistency
- Cooking Time
- Shape of noodles
- Packaging
- Ease of Availability
Result of AR Perceptual
Mapping
 Factor Analysis
• We categorized the attributes under 2 factors: ‘additional
benefits’ & ‘core benefits’.
• This helped us to plot the results obtained from AR maps on a
2 dimensional graph (with core benefit in the y axis and
additional benefit in the x axis) .
• The attributes were grouped under the factors as shown
below:
Additional Benefits Core Benefits
1. Cooking Time 1. Taste
2. Shape of Noodles 2. Health
3. Packaging 3. Stickiness
4. Ease of Availability 4. Consistency
Result of Factor Analysis
After calculating the (x,y) coordinates, the entities were plotted on the
graph
 New Product Idea

• It can be inferred from factor analysis plot that:

– Even though Maggi has scored moderately well in
additional benefits (like cooking time, attractive
packaging and ease of availability), it still has a long
way to go in core benefits.
– The market has potential for a new Maggi product which
has strengthened core benefits like taste, nutritional
value, non stickiness and masala consistency. This
product with the same/ slightly improved additional
benefits can soar over its competitors thus capturing the
lost market share in Indian soil.
Problem Based Ideation
 Problem Based Ideation

• We conducted a survey among 15 customers to

find the problems that they find in noodles.
• They were asked to weigh the problems and
weights were allotted to each problem.
• From the survey we also obtained the frequency
of problem occurrence.
• Then, we multiplied the weights with the
frequency to rank the problems based on
importance- performance analysis.
Problem Based Ideation

Fig. Problem Based Ideation Table

 Problem Based Ideation
• From the table in the previous slide, we come to know that:
o People find Maggi to be low on health benefits and also that it
lacks consistency (masala spread) when cooked.
o Another major problem that they face is that noodles are too
thick and tend to form lumps when kept open for some time.
• The team members then brainstormed to better understand the
problems faced by users and also find potential for a new product
launch

• Hence the product that Maggi wants to release should ideally

be healthy with proper Masala penetration. It should also be
thinner and should not form lumps after a few minutes post
cooking.
Concept Testing and QFD
 Connecting the dots

• The results obtained from problem based

ideation and AR perceptual maps
indicated that maggi can do better on
taste, health and consistency of noodles.
• Based on the above results, we designed
the prototype* and narrative for concept
testing.
• Presenting before you………………….
The
New Maggi

Chow King Noodles

Flat Bole Toh Fun !!!!
 Concept testing

• Narrative-For the narrative, we adopt a

promotional tone and mention the price point.
• Diagram – A diagram will be included to tempt
the customers and enhance their experience
while tasting the prototype.
• Prototype – This forms an important part of
testing as the surveyed candidates get to taste
and give their feedback about the product which
carries a lot of validity.
The New Maggi Chow-king
Narrative
• “Presenting the New Maggi Chow-King noodles. The 2 minute healthy
tasty Chinese noodles. It’s saucy melt-in-the mouth taste gets you asking
for more, every time. It’s Flat structure gives you the most consistent
and mouth water flavor throughout. Chow-King is so smooth and non-
sticky that you can enjoy your chow-king even hours after cooking
without any loss of taste. All these at an attractive price of Rs.15.
So, Hurry up and grab you chow-king NOW”
Concept Statement Research
• Who are the respondents?
Respondents include people who eat/love noodles.
• What is the mode of reaching them?
Face-to-Face interview; as the interview will involve
prototype testing (tasting) before the survey.
• Individual or group response?
Individual response is ideal in this case as opinion biasing
may occur in group testing.
• Real-time response survey?
The survey will involve real time response and can be
conducted in malls and shopping complexes.
 Questionnaire

• Age? Sex? Profession?

• Do you think the price point is justified?
• Will you buy the product when it is
launched?
Definitely buy
Probably buy
From ATAR model
Probably not buy
Definitely not buy
Quality Function Deployment
 Process Adopted

• We interviewed 15 customers, probing them on

what they expect from Maggi.
• We brainstormed on what we can deliver to the
customers.
• We related customer wants with what we can
deliver.
• We identified relationships between the firm’s
hows.
• We developed importance ratings.
• Finally we evaluated competing products like
Top Ramen, Foodles and Yippee.
QFD Matrix
 Conclusion

• From The QFD matrix we came to the

conclusion that – what the customer
wants, matches with what we can deliver.
• Hence, we expect the product “Chow-King
Noodles to do well in the market”.

• Let operation ‘Flat-Attack’

Begin……..
Product Use Testing
 Key Testing Dimensions
• User groups to contact – We will use external stakeholders (customers in
particular) for the test.
• Mode of contact – We will use personal face-to-face interviewing in a
centralized location like a shopping complex or a mall. The interviewer will
go to each candidate, give the prototype for tasting and get their feedback.
We are against using a group interview as this may cause biasing in the
feedback given.
• Identity disclosure – We would use both branded and unbranded test as
this would give us numerous insights and managerial implications.
• Degree of use explanation – We would not use any ‘use explanations’ as
it’s a product of common usage.
• Degree of control over use – It would be a supervised test as the
prototype will be taken to individual subjects and tested.
• Singularity – We propose to use a triangular comparison to get a
comprehensive feedback about the product. We plan to give Maggi Chow
king (prototype), Top Ramen smoodles and Horlicks Foodles for test.
 Key Testing Dimensions
• Duration of use – The test will be single use test at first. After the test we
would request the subjects to participate in a 5 week extended test (1 pack
per week). This would indicate whether users prefer the noodles for repeat
use and thus give an indication on repeat purchases in the future.
• Source of product – We will use batch products.
• Product form- Single product.
• Mode of recording reaction - We propose to use a combination of
preference and descriptive feedback for the test as it’s a triangular
comparison.
• Source of norms (past experience, market research firms)- As Maggi is a
company with 25 years of experience in noodles industry, we plan to use
past experience for norms.
• Research service (internal vs. outside personnel). – We plan to use
outside personnel for research service as the product is not complex.
 Questionnaire
• Try the products and tell how much you like them:
Product 1

Product 2

Product 3
 Questionnaire
• Which one among the 3 products do you prefer? Why?
 Product 1
 Product 2
 Product 3

Because:_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________
___________________________________________
• Would you be interested in taking a 5 week extended test of our
product? (product will be delivered home)
 Yes
 No
Market Testing
 Strategy for Maggi
• After successfully contemplating the results obtained
from concept testing & product use testing the next step
was to market test the prototype that we prepared.
• Market testing will help us to understand the product
deficiencies better and also predict future sales.
• Market testing can also give us the opportunity to probe
and learn more from the prototype so that the final
corrections required in the product can be taken care of
before the product is launched nationally.
• Following slide describes the ways in which we decided
to market test the prototype we prepared.
 Techniques to Market Test
Maggi
A) Pseudo Sale: Simulated Test Marketing
- Here we will organize false selling in a room by keeping several noodle
products in that room.
- The subjects will then be shown numerous ad’s of noodles along with Maggi
Chow king advertisement. (gives an indication of ad effectiveness)
- We will let the customers inside the room and issue false currency to buy the
products displayed in the room.
- And after they are done, we will ask them to fill a questionnaire explaining why
did/did not they choose our product.
- Following are the answers that we expect the simulated test marketing will
give us:
1) Are the customers happy with the package type? If not,
why?
2) Are the customers convinced on the price point? If not, why?
3) Are the customers resistant to buy the new flavor from Maggi? If yes, why?
 Techniques to Market Test
Maggi
B) Controlled Sale – Mini-marketing
- Here we will select a retail store in which we will display our product on their
shelves.
- The prototype will be available for customers to buy and try at home.
- The retail store will be selected on the basis of its location. We will see how
many near by housing localities can access this retail store.
- The store should also have a loyalty card membership for better
understanding of customer buying behavior.
- The more the customers that surround the retail store, the better will be the
results of testing.
- Following are the answers that we expect mini marketing to provide:
1) The frequency with which the shelves are refilled and the amount refilled.
(i.e. the total sales of Maggi Chow-king)
2) The team deployed in the stores will record what kind customers are buying
the product.
3) By checking the sales data for customers who hold the loyalty cards for this
retail store we can get accurate data on age, sex, and profession of customers
who buy the product.
 Techniques to Market Test
Maggi
C) Full Sale – By Geography
- Here we will test the prototype by making it available in the
4 regions of Indian geography one after the other.
- The results achieved from these regions can be compared.
- We propose to launch the product first in the south; see
how the market takes it then proceed to north, west and
finally east where we have a tough competitor in the form
of Wei-Wei.
- This is a tried and tested strategy by one of the competitors
(Horlicks foodles) and has proved to be a good one to test
the market; one step at a time.
 The Result from Market
Testing
• Will help us understand what is “good” and
what is “bad” about the product.
• The “good” can be used for incorporating it
in the advertisements for TV, posters,
package etc. and promote the brand on
those features.
• The “bad” can be corrected, so that the
final product does well in the market.
Launch Strategy
Pre-Launch Control Plan for
Maggi
A) Set of possible negative events:
- Competitors release the same product before you.
- FDA does not approve the product (if the approval was pending all throughout the
process).
- Distributor refuses to shelve the product.
- Assembly line breaks down.
- There is a fire in the manufacturing plant.
- Some other company sues for copying the product.
- Natural Disaster/Terrorist Attack
- NPD Manager Resigns/Some Sr. official is ransacked
- R&D Team indicates that the product has some health hazard which was not detected
before.
- The competitors slash the prices of their product.
- People unaware of the product.
- People not buying the product
- People not going for repeat purchases.
Pre-Launch Control Plan for
Maggi
B) Negative Events with enough impact to warrant investigation:
- Competitors release the same product before you.
- FDA does not approve the product (if the approval was pending all
throughout the process).
- Distributor refuses to shelve the product.
- Some other company sues for copying the product.
- R&D Team indicates that the product has some health hazard which
was not detected before.
- The competitors slash the prices of their product.
- People unaware of the product.
- People not buying the product
- People not going for repeat purchases.
Pre-Launch Control Plan for
Maggi
C) Negative events with high probability & damage:
- Competitors release the same product before you.
- FDA does not approve the product (if the approval was
pending all throughout the process).
- Some other company sues for copying the product.
- R&D Team indicates that the product has some health
hazard which was not detected before.
- The competitors slash the prices of their product.
- People unaware of the product.
- People not buying the product
- People not going for repeat purchases.
Pre-Launch Control Plan for
Maggi
D) Events that cannot be contingency
planned any better:
- FDA does not approve the product (if the
approval was pending all throughout the
process).
- Some other company sues for copying the
product.
Pre-Launch Control Plan for
Maggi
E) Events that can be given contingency planning:
- Competitors release the same product before you.
- R&D Team indicates that the product has some health hazard which was not detected
before.
- The competitors slash the prices of their product.
- People unaware of the product.
- People not buying the product
- People not going for repeat purchases.

F) Events that will not be tracked:

- R&D Team indicates that the product has some health hazard which was not detected
before.

G) Events that will be tracked:

- Competitors release the same product before you.
- The competitors slash the prices of their product.
- People unaware of the product.
- People not buying the product
- People not going for repeat purchases.
Post Launch Tracking Study for Maggi
Category Usage Questions
In the past six months, how many times have you bought instant noodles?
What are the other brands of noodles that you have heard of?
Have you ever heard of Yippiee, Foodles, Wai Wai, Knorr Soupy Noodles?
Have you ever bought Yippiee, Foodles, Wai Wai, Knorr Soupy Noodles?
About how many times have you bought these brands in the past six
months?
Advertising Awareness Questions
Do you recall seeing any advertising for Maggi?
Can you describe the advertising for Maggi?
Where did you see the advertising for Maggi?
What are the other brands noodles that you recall seeing advertisement for?
Can you describe the advertisement for these brands?
Where did you see the advertisement for these brands?
Post Launch Tracking Study for Maggi

• Purchase Questions
Have you ever bought the new Maggi?
IfIf “yes”
"Yes": – If "No":

How
How many many time
times have you Did you look for the new
bought it? Maggi in the
How likely are you to buy store?
this new Maggi again? Why didn't you try the new
What did you like/dislike Maggi?
about the new Maggi? How likely are you to try the
What do you think about new Maggi in the future?
the price of new Maggi?
 Tracking Variables

• Are the customers aware of the product?

• If they are aware, have the customers tried
the product?
• If they have tried the product, have they
repurchased it?
• If they have not repurchased, did they not
like the product? If yes, why?
• If they have repurchased, what did they like
about the product and why?
 Our Final Product
The result of our carefully
followed ‘New Product
Development’ Process –

The New
Maggi
Chow King
Noodles
Flat bole to fun ……………..