This article will share insights into how Maggi instant noodles came to India and became household names in the country where rice and roti is the traditionally preferred food item.
Entry Of Maggi :
When Maggi instant noodles arrived in India in 1983 – the year when India lifted the cricket World Cup for the first time – they instantly caught the nation’s imagination Nestle introduced Maggi in Switzerland, mainly to serve working women, who were left with little time to cook food due to the ‘Industrial Revolution’. Maggi Noodles was launched in India, targeting the same segment of working women. Their positioning was a “Convenience Product” and an alternative for Meals and Dinner.
Failed to understand Consumers taste :
Nestle tried to capture the Indian market as the women population is high among the other countries. But it failed miserably as the people had a strong routine to rice and roti and hard to break.
Maggi was not competing against any competitor products but against consumer’s traditional behaviors
Nestle understood that spending huge money on advertisements would not change the consumer’s mind. They decided to do detailed research to understand Indian consumers.
Getting the pulse :
Nestle found that it’s hard to break the daily routine food habits for lunch and dinner of Indian consumers and the company started looking for occasions, where habits would be weak as this process of change might be relatively easy to initiate
They also observed that when children came home in the evening after school, they were generally hungry and women had to cook something fast and give them. (Evening Snacks). The mothers were facing a problem here and it was a major pain point
Nestle after User research and Market research, figured out that “Maggi” has to be promoted as an “in-between” meals product and an alternative to “Evening Snacks”
Nestle also identified that Children liked the taste of Maggi Noodles. So, Nestle changed the target segment from Working Women to “ Children”. They were the ones who were ready to accept tasty food(Their behaviors are not strong yet like adults), compared to older people who were still reluctant and attached to their habits.
Then comes the AD Campaign :
After getting the target audience, nestle came up with Maggi’s advertisements of “Mom, I’m Hungry and Mom says “Bas 2 minute” on TV acted as a huge trigger among the children and mothers.
Maggi Ad 1985
2 minutes cooking” added a huge selling factor, mothers felt easy to cook in less time for their children to serve as snacks without much effort. Nestle leveraged its existing distribution channels and made Maggi noodles available in all nearby stores. The company distributed free Maggi samples in schools to habituate the habit among children.
Maggi created an emotional connection among children in meeting their hunger and happiness by eating Maggi. After understanding the Indians’ love for masala, it even launched different masala flavors to come close to the consumers.
Maggipreuners – A livelihood for many :
Maggi has not only become a household snack item, but it has also become a business and created maggiprenuers who sell Maggi in different ways and make their livelihood. I think Nestle might have not done that many experiments in inventing Maggi. Now we will get the Maggi in each and every corner of the country right from the Kanyakumari to the highest heights of the Himalayas.
Happiness and Memories :
Maggi is the best noodle brand in India as it is loved by people of all age groups. When I observed what makes Maggi connect is Happiness and Memories we get as many of us having a hot Maggi after school and late night Maggi trying adding our own masalas as we don’t get tasty food in hostels. The ease with which Maggi can be made is amazing with friends
What Xerox is to photocopier and Colgate to toothpaste, Maggi is to noodles in India.”
– The Economic Times, a prominent newspaper in India, in 2003
Thanks, Maggi, now it’s time to have the next bowl of Happiness