RURAL MARKETING STRATEGIES

Team 1
Silamabarasan
Kaushik
Thirumukkilan
Abhinesh
Gopi
Sriram

CONTENTS

Topic

Sl.no

number

History of biscuits

Biscuit industry in India

Britannia

Products

Consumer buying behaviour

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Rural markets

16

SWOT analysis of Britannia

20

Penetration of Britannia in rural market

21

Conclusion

22

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HISTORY OF BISCUITS

Page

The word biscuit is derived from the Latin words bis cotus, meaning twice baked.
The idea of making biscuits goes back to the Romans. However biscuits as we
know them were developed in the late Middle Ages.
People have eaten pancakes since the Middle Ages. (The earliest recipe dates from
the 15th century).
The word 'Biscotti' is also the generic term for cookies in Italian. Back then,
biscuits were unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their low water
content, were ideal food to store.
The history of biscuits can be traced back to a recipe created by the Roman chef
Apicius, in which "a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled and spread out on a
plate. When it had dried and hardened it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then
served with honey and pepper."

BISCUIT INDUSTRY IN INDIA

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 Biscuit industry in India in the organized sector produces around 60% of the
total production, the balance 40% being contributed by the unorganized
bakeries. The industry consists of two large scale manufacturers, around 50
medium scale brands and small scale units ranging up to 2500 units in the
country, as at 2000-01. The unorganized sector is estimated to have
approximately 30,000 small & tiny bakeries across the country.
The annual turnover of the organized sector of the biscuit manufacturers (as
at 2001-02) is Rs. 4,350 crores.
In terms of volume biscuit production by the organized segment in 2001-02
is estimated at 1.30 million tonnes. The major Brands of biscuits are Brittania, Parle Bakeman, Priya Gold,Elite,Cremica, Dukes, Anupam,
Horlicks, Craze, Nezone, besides various regional/State brands.

 The annual production of biscuit in the organized sector, continues to be

predominantly in the small and medium sale sector before and after dereservation. The annual production was around 7.4 Lakh tonnes in 1997-98
In the next five years, biscuit production witnessed an annual growth of 10%
to 12%, up to 1999-00.
The annual Growth showed a decline of 3.5% in 2000-01, mainly due to
100% hike in Central Excise Duty (from 9% to 16%). Production in the year
2001-02 increased very marginally by 2.75% where in 2002-03 the growth is
around 3%.

BRITANNIA
The story of one of India's favorite brands reads almost like a fairy tale.
Once upon a time, in 1892 to be precise, a biscuit company was started in a
nondescript house in Calcutta (now Kolkata) with an initial investment of
Rs. 295. The company we all know as Britannia today.
The beginnings might have been humble-the dreams were anything but. By
1910, with the advent of electricity, Britannia mechanized its operations, and
in 1921, it became the first company east of the Suez Canal to use imported
gas ovens. Britannia's business was flourishing. But, more importantly,
Britannia was acquiring a reputation for quality and value. As a result,
during the tragic World War II, the Government reposed its trust in Britannia
by contracting it to supply large quantities of "service biscuits" to the armed
forces.
As time moved on, the biscuit market continued to grow and Britannia
grew along with it. In 1975, the Britannia Biscuit Company took over the
distribution of biscuits from Parry's who till now distributed Britannia
biscuits in India. In the subsequent public issue of 1978, Indian shareholding
crossed 60%, firmly establishing the Indianness of the firm. The following
year, Britannia Biscuit Company was re-christened Britannia Industries
Limited (BIL). Four years later in 1983, it crossed the Rs. 100 crores
revenue mark.

On the operations front, the company was making equally dynamic strides. In 1992, it celebrated its
Platinum Jubilee. In 1997, the company unveiled its new corporate identity - "Eat Healthy, Think Better" and made its first foray into the dairy products market. In 1999, the "Britannia Khao, World Cup Jao"
promotion further fortified the affinity consumers had with 'Brand Britannia'.
Britannia strode into the 21st Century as one of India's biggest brands and the pre-eminent food brand of
the country. It was equally recognized for its innovative approach to products and marketing: the Lagaan
Match was voted India's most successful promotional activity of the year 2001 while the delicious
Britannia 50-50 Maska-Chaska became India's most successful product launch. In 2002, Britannia's New
Business Division formed a joint venture with Fonterra, the world's second largest Dairy Company, and
Britannia New Zealand Foods Pvt. Ltd. was born. In recognition of its vision and accelerating graph,
Forbes Global rated Britannia 'One amongst the Top 200 Small Companies of the World', and The
Economic Times pegged Britannia India's 2nd Most Trusted Brand.
Today, more than a century after those tentative first steps, Britannia's fairy tale is not only going strong but
blazing new standards, and that miniscule initial investment has grown by leaps and bounds to crores of
rupees in wealth for Britannia's shareholders. The company's offerings are spread across the spectrum with
products ranging from the healthy and economical Tiger biscuits to the more lifestyle-oriented Milkman
Cheese. Having succeeded in garnering the trust of almost one-third of India's one billion population and a
strong management at the helm means Britannia will continue to dream big on its path of innovation and
quality.

PRODUCTS
Tiger Banana
Britannia is committed to help secure every child's right to
Growth & Development through good food everyday.
Purposefully taking forward the credo of 'Eat Healthy,
Think Better ', we have launched a new variant under our
power brand TIGER - TIGER BANANA - power packed
with IRON ZOR & and with the delightful taste of banana.

IRON ZOR helps make mind sharper and body stronger. A Rs.4 pack has as much
IRON ZOR as that in 1 kg of Banana.
R&D in Britannia has spent considerable time to develop this nutritious and
delightful snack for children.
Britannia Tiger Banana packed with IRON ZOR and goodness of Banana is
accessible to all, being available in convenient packs priced at Rs.2, Rs.4 and
Rs.10.

NutriChoice SugarOut
Sounds like yesterday when people commented that healthy foods meant
"compromising on the taste." NutriChoice SugarOut is the most novel product
range to have been introduced in the market. The product is not just sweet but
tastes great, and yet contains no added sugar.
This is because NutriChoice SugarOut is sweetened with "Sucralose," derived from
sugar, which provides the same sweetness as any other biscuit, without the added
calories of sugar.
This range is available in 3 delicious variants namely Litetime, Chocolate cream,
and Orange cream, targeted towards all health sensitive people. It is also relevant
for consumers with sugar related ailments.
We are sure that you will be pleasantly delighted with its great taste and equally
surprised to know that it has no added sugar.
Don't be taken for a ride when you read "Sugar Free" label on many biscuit packs
marketed in India or abroad. Even with 100% no-added sugar, wheat-cereals in
biscuits have their own natural sugar content. Britannia has chosen to represent

these biscuits with "No Added Sugar" claim, as there is no added sugar in the
processing of NutriChoice SugarOut.

Britannia 50-50 Pepper Chakkar

The launch of the latest 50-50 variant left everybody
guessing "What it eez?" From TV ads, radio, outdoor and
in-store display materials to events, a website and SMS and
email blasts, traditional and new media were blended synergistically to create
excitement and curiosity about the unique taste of the biscuit. The tangy and
distinctive pepper flavoured biscuit, that's thin and crispy and more like a snack,
caught the imagination of a younger audience craving something to nibble on. The
50-50 Pepper Chakkar launch is truly a case of leveraging the marketing mix to
best advantage.

NutriChoice Digestive Biscuit

Nothing can be more difficult than making small efforts in
our daily life towards healthy and active living. 24/7 we are engrossed in our busy
schedules; skipping meals, missing walks, along with inadequate sleep and
frequently eating-out, all take a heavy toll on our health.
At least with the new and improved NutriChoice Digestive Biscuit, we have one
less thing to worry about. Made
with 50% whole-wheat and packed
with added fibre (10% of our daily
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dietary needs), these delightfully tasty biscuits are amongst your healthiest bites of
the day.
In your next visit to a shop just look out for its Golden-green international carton
pack.
Try one and you'll know that you've made one smart choice - NutriChoice.

Treat Fruit Rollz

All kids who have relished the yummy creamy treasures of Britannia Treat in
exciting flavors, have yet another reason to celebrate! Britannia Treat launches the
amazingly yummy Treat Fruit Rollz!! These tasty soft rolls are filled with real
fruits and provide a healthy yet mouth-watering treat to the kids. Fruit Rollz comes
in four masti fruit flavours - Juicy Apple, Strawberry Surprise, Tangy Orange and
Delicious Dates!
Want to know a little secret? They make the best tiffin treats! So during snack time
what better than to munch on the delicious and healthy Fruit Rollz and discover the
yummy fruit flavor from within the shells. Keeping up with Britannia's platform of
'taste bhi, health bhi', Fruit Rollz is indeed a yummy snacking option for kids,
while keeping the Moms assured about the goodness provided by the fruit filling.

So go on and treat yourself to the lip-smacking

snack!

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New Britannia Milk Bikis

Milk Bikis, the favourite growth partner of Kids, now brings greater value and
delight to all with its new product and pack design. Recently re-launched in its
existing Southern & Eastern markets, and extended across India, the new Milk
Bikis is all set to add excitement and appeal to nutritious food. Whoever said that
good food needs to look dull and boring, will just have to take a look at Milk
Bikis.
With a unique and attractive honeycomb design and an
enhanced product experience, the new biscuit prompts the
Kids will love it reaction amongst mothers. The milk
goodness in the recipe is now enhanced with SMART
NUTRIENTS 4 vital vitamins, iron and iodine, proven to
aid mental and physical development in growing kids. The
premium packaging, besides appealing to kids, also ensures that the biscuits remain
fresh and crisp.
So, whether its breakfast time or snack time at school, rest assured that kids will
look forward to munching these crunchy, milky biscuits which even helps in their
development. And yes, adults wont be far behind in reaching out for a pack

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CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR

Understanding the buying behavior of the target market is the essential task of
marketing management under marketing concept. The consumer market consists of
all the individuals and households who buy or acquire good and services for
personal consumptions. The buying behavior tries to find out the answers for the
questions, who buys? How do they buy? Where do they buy? Do they buy?
(A)FACTORS INFLUENCING CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR
There are four major factors that influence the buying behavior such as cultural
factors, social factors, personal factors, and psychological factors.
i.

CULTURAL FACTORS: Culture is the most fundamental determinant of a

person wants and behavior. Values, perceptions, preferences, and behavior
are the main variable under culture of an individual. Each culture contains
sub-culture like nationality, religious group, geographical area, and linguistic
divisions etc.

ii.

SOCIAL FACTORS: A consumer behavior is also influenced by social

factors such as the consumer reference group family and social roles and
status.

iii.

PERSONAL FACTORS: A buyer decision is also influenced by his or

personal characteristics, notably the buyers age, lifestyle, occupation,
economic circumstances etc.

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS: a person buying choice is also influenced by

four major psychological factors such as motivation, perception, learning belief
and attitudes.
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(B) BUYING DECISION PROCESS

It includes buying roles, types of buying and steps in buying process.
I.

BUYING ROLE

The buying role could be classified into four parts. These are initiator, influencer,
decider and buyer.
II. TYPES OF BUYING BEHAVIOR
Consumer decision taking varies with the type of buying decision. There are four
types buying behavior such as Complex buying behavior, Habitual buying
behavior, Variety seeking buying behavior.
Market segmentation and selecting target market
It is an effort to increase a company's precision marketing. The starting point of
any segmentation discussion is mass marketing. In mass marketing, the seller
engaged in the mass production, mass distribution and mass promotion of one
product for all buyers. Market segment consists of a large identifiable group within
a market with similar wants, purchasing power geographical location, buying
attitudes or buying habita. It is an approach midway between mass marketing and
individual marketing. Through this the choice of distribution channels, and
communicaton channels become much easier. The researchers try to form segments
by looking at consumer characteristics; geographic, demographic, and
psychographic. After segmenting the market then target market selected.
2. Positioning:- The positioning is a creative exercise down with an existing
product, the well known products generally hold a distinctive position in
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consumer's minds. The positioning requires that every tangible aspect of product,
price, place and promotion must support the chosen positioning strategy. Company
should develop a unique selling proposition (USP) for each brand and stick to it,
PPL consistently promotes its DAP fertilizer by Higher yield at lower cost. As
companies increase the number of claims for their brand, they risk disbelief and a
loss of clear positioning. In general a company must avoid four major positioning
errors. Those are under positioning over positioning, confused positioning and
doubtful positioning.
3. Product:- A product is any offering that can satisfy a need or want. The major
types of basic offerings are goods, services, experiences, events, places, properties,
organizations, information and ideas. The company gives more importance in
quality, packaging, services etc. to satisfy the customers. The products has it's life
cycle. The product strategies are modified in different stages of product life cycle.
4. Price:- It is the most important aspect in company's point of view. Price of the
product will be decided by the company according to the competitor's price.
5. Place:- This plays a major role in the entire marketing system. the company
emphasis on it's distribution network. Proper distribution network gives proper
availability of the product.
6. Promotion:- Promotion is the one of the major aspects in marketing strategies.
By adopting various promotional activities the company create strong brand image.
It also helps in increasing the brand awareness. It includes advertising, sales
promotioins and public relations etc.
7. Research and Development:- after testing, the new product manager must
develop a preliminary marketing strategy plan for introducing the new product in
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to the market. The plan consists of three parts. The first part describes the target
market's size, structure and behavior. The second part out lines the planned price,
distribution strategy and marketing budget for the first year. The third part of the
development describes the long run sales and profit goals and marketing mix
strategy over time.

RURAL MARKETS
The main reasons for Britannia entering into rural markets are
Rural India accounts for over 75% of India's population.
Strength of Market
Size of Market
Incomes in rural India have improved dramatically.
The rural markets are growing at about two time faster pace than urban
markets.
Rural India accounts for 60 % of the total national demand.
The snaking habit in rural market consists of tea with biscuits, so there is demand
for biscuits in rural market.
Problems in Rural Marketing
Under developed people
Low levels of literacy

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 Physical Communication Facilities

Media for Rural Communication
Multiplicity languages and dialects
Vast and Uneven Spread
Low per capita income
Logistics, Storage, Handling and Transportation
Marketing Organisation and Staff
Product Positioning
Hierarchy of markets
Seasonal demand patterns

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MARKETING MIX
Target Market
Product

Price

Promotion

Place

Product variety

List price

Sales promotion

Channels

Quality

Discounts

Advertising

Coverage

Design

Allowances

Sales forces

Assortments

Features

Payment period

Public relation

Locations

Brand name

Credit terms

Direct marketing

Inventory

Packaging
Sizes
Services
Warranties
Returns

SWOT ANALYSIS OF BRITANNIA

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Transport

Strength

Weakness

Fulfill one of our Basic

Decreases nutritional value

Requirement among Air , Water ,

Increases the cost of food product

Food, Shelter

Industry and technology requires

Widely accepted in all Generations

Easily available in various forms

Provide good Instant Remedy for

high investment

Regular usage of processed food

can cause alteration in health

hunger in the form of readymade

food

Preserves the non seasonal food

and makes it available all
throughout the year

Opportunities

Threats

Increase economy of India

Generate employment opportunity

Good quality of Goods

Increase in pollution

Provide competition to foreign

Sometimes provide poor quality of

oriented

product for more profit

companies

Improve living standard

Lack of technology

Provide goods to nation at cheaper

Unable to utilize all the resources

rate

Inflow of foreign reserve and funds

for the govt.(taxes)

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Many companies are result

efficiently

PENETRATION OF BRITANIA IN RURAL MARKET

Over the last five years the share of glucose biscuits, a segment that has
traditionally found favour in rural markets, has fallen from 35% to 15% of
Britannia's biscuit sales. The $1-billion company now plans to push its slightly
more premium offerings like Good Day cookies and Britannia Marie brands in to
the country's hinterland in value packs of Rs 5.
"The rural consumers are also looking for quality. They will not stay with a ParleG or Tiger (Britannia's glucose biscuit) for life. Agricultural income is growing
pretty rapidly and consumers are looking to upgrade for better consumption
experiences," said Varun Berry, India business head and executive director at
Britannia.
Britannia is stepping up its rural presence as well as expanding its food and snacks
portfolio to drive long-term growth. Notably, rural markets have remained fairly
stable as compared to urban markets during this slowdown and hence, companys
strategy of increasing rural penetration seems to be appropriate. Improved financial
health of its Dairy and International businesses will also aid growth. While an
unprecedented rise in input costs remains the key risk, monetisation of its land
assets at Chennai and Bengaluru will act as key stock price catalysts.
Staying away from rural and smaller markets wasn't a conscious decision for
Britannia. "However, we hadn't built around that market to the extent that we were
bullet proof," says Berry. He adds that going rural would not mean selling only
low-priced biscuits in these areas. Premium brands such as Good Day would also
be sold there but in smaller packs and at prices local residents can afford.

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New launches by Britannia have been not been too successful. The company has
tried oats and snacks (Snackuits), which it quickly took off the shelves when they
failed to attract customers. Considering Berry's past experience as head of the food
and snack business at PepsiCo, many expect Britannia to give snacks a second
shot.

CONCLUSION
From the above report are able to learn about the presence of Britannia in market
both in rural and urban market and the issues faced in it ,threats posed by
competitors and their lack of knowledge .thus certain plans such as creative
advertisement and strategic planning can be done in order to penetrate eh market of
rural as even rural people has started to have a good spent thrift thus by segmenting
and targeting the correct sector of people will lead the Britannia to recapture its lost
market by its effective strategy.

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