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Comparative Analysis of competing brands
Subject: Product and Brand Management
College: T. N. Rao College of Management Studies
The year 2010 saw a sudden spurt in this instant noodles category with two major FMCG players, GSK and ITC venturing in. Besides, existing competitors are also trying for a rebound.
Circa 1982. All it took was two minutes to woo the hungry souls. The country had just been introduced to a revolutionary product, which took over hundreds of households by their hunger pangs, offering them an instant solution. Maggi Instant Noodles had entered the kitchens of India, the first one of its kind to do so. It was not only a new brand, but also a new food product for many Indians. It's been 28 years since then, and Indian consumers have continued to be loyal to the brand.
The reason is because Maggi has not had much competition. Even though it has been nearly three decades, the brand did not face any serious competition. Instead, in all these years, Maggi has grown exponentially to become a generic brand, and has single-handedly taken the instant noodles category from being almost non-existent, to a Rs 1,200 crore one, of which it currently has, as per industry estimates, a 70 per cent share, approximately.
The only competition Maggi had until now was from the Japan-based Nissin Group's Top Ramen, and the Nepal based CG Foods' Wai-Wai Noodles. Wai-Wai, till recently, was restricted to the eastern market of West Bengal and Sikkim, where it controlled 70 per cent of the market. Its strategy was to first build-up the distribution network, which it successfully did - the brand was available on the shelves of super stores, as much as in the local Kirana stores. It was then that they started building the brand.
Top Ramen, on the other hand, was aggressive in its marketing - it even roped in Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador, but failed to get its distribution network in place. The brand had