a) Using the product life cycle, develop marketing strategy at Growth stage for Britannia. {hint: take help from PLC marketing strategy table}. (10 marks)

its Makeover of Britannia: A Path Less Travelled An old maxim goes, 'Why does something when it ain't broke?' This may be the credo of most firms, but not of the food major, Britannia Industries Limited (BIL). In 1997, BIL, whose business seemed to be doing well, instead of concentrating on it, virtually charted a new course by seeking to reinvent itself. It built a new corporate identity and adopted a colourful and identifiable logo with a new base line - 'Eat Healthy, Think better.' From being a manufacturer of baked products, BIL kicked off a diversification exercise to become a comprehensive foods and beverages company making cheese and other dairy products, in addition to bakery products. BIL seemed to be doing something radical by venturing into totally new areas, while this puzzled many, some analysts felt that it was BIL was doing this out of compulsion. They reasoned that the 16% growth rate of BIL sales, which was just 8% in real terms when corrected for inflation, though good by the standards of a mature market, was not good enough for a growing market like India, specially in the foods segment. Others felt that BIL's makeover decision may have been influenced by the threat of potential competition. They also felt that with the organised biscuit market in India being commoditised, and the major chunk being controlled by the unbranded segment, reliance on biscuits alone could be detrimental to its long- term interests. However, some analysts were of the opinion that the diversification of BIL into relatively new areas was risky, and that it should have concentrated on its core competence, the biscuit business. By the end of 2000 the exploits of BIL seemed to have fructified, at least in the short-run. In a survey conducted by A&MI, BIL emerged as the number one food company well ahead of competitive brands like Nestle and Cadbury. BIL's dairy business seemed to be doing reasonably well. A Path Less Travelled Contd... In the cheese segment it stood second with about 35% market share. In the bakery segment also it A Path Less Travelled Contd... In the cheese segment it stood second with about 35% market share. In the bakery segment also it was doing well, with its biscuits business making significant inroads. Its positioning plank, 'Eat Healthy, Think Better' also seemed to have struck the right chord with its customers. Said Sunil Alagh (Alagh) "Our brand today represents family trust, quality with a contemporary, youthful image." 'Food for Thought' BIL, since its inception had been mainly involved in the manufacture of biscuits, which contributed around 85% of its revenues (1997). The biggest problem then, for the 80-year-old BIL was that its name was strongly associated by customers with biscuits (or more broadly bakery products). With the de-reservation of biscuits from the small sector and commoditisation of the Rs 3500 crore biscuit market, coupled with cutthroat competition after the entry of multinationals and stagnating net profits, BIL looked for a fresher approach to survive and prosper. BIL realised that it would have to scale up its marketing strategy in its main line of business and in addition tap new food categories to grow. One reason why BIL seemed to have woken late was that the company didn't have a proper parent until the French food and beverages major, Danone, acquired RJR Nabisco's holding in the company. BIL seemed to have realised that the time had come to change the rules of the game. It crafted a makeover plan to diversify into new but related areas, and at the same time consolidate and improve its core business, biscuits. By doing so BIL hoped to remain the market leader in biscuits and become a major player in related businesses also. Donning a New Look As a first step in its makeover plan, BIL hired a Paris based design studio-Shining Strategic design, to craft a new logo and corporate slogan. Its work involved understanding the perceived and potential value of the brand where everything from colours and symbols to the typeface, was evaluated. The work also involved looking at the potential of the market and seeing where BIL could venture in future. Research showed that the brand 'Britannia' was synonymous with trust and quality, and the wide portfolio of products was seen as a source of strength. But, BIL was aiming at faster growth, by expanding business within bakery segment and in select synergistic areas. its the 1. Although the brand had tremendous strength associated with it, it needed to communicate modernity strongly. 2. It needed to assure the customers that apart from being a trusted and a familiar brand, it was also a contemporary one, and changed with the times. Donning a New Look Contd... The fact that the existing brand was too closely associated with the bakery business, could have been a hindrance to BIL's diversification efforts. Therefore, Britannia needed a more dynamic expression. So there was a need to restage the logo, with the twin objectives of communicating modernity and dynamism. While developing the new logo and brand statement, the existing red and white shield like unit was retained with a modern rendition. The new corporate identity had three colours red (symbolising energy and vitality), green (nutrition and freshness) and white (purity) which collectively represented what consumers looked for in foods and beverage. Research has shown that the brand statement, Eat Healthy, Think Better, captured the essence of the Indian concept of the unity of body and mind. During the developmental process, care had to be taken to ensure that there was adequate representation of all social economic strata in urban and rural India, for 'Britannia' as a brand, cut across a cross-section of consumers. The red wave communicated the dynamic and energetic movement of BIL. Analysts felt that the redesigned shield made BIL powerful and was the identifying stroke that communicated the innovation and futuristic power of BIL and that the redesigned typography made BIL very contemporary and less industrial. The roundness communicated the value of nature Eat Healthy, Think Better. The concept communicated perfectly BIL's potential value from physical to mental benefits. Said Alagh, " The new corporate identity will testify to the implicit (good) quality of all our products and all our products and colours stand for things we look for in all foods and beverages