INTRODUCTION The report entitled “A research done on Maggi Brand ” deals with the study of Maggi brand thatwas launched in India in the year 1983, by Nestle India Limited, which became synonymous with noodles. This research paper tries to find a solution to a real life problem of Maggi to launch its products as a Healthy Product. The introduction provides the company background, operational & other important information provided by the company which would assist in taking the decision for the right brand extension strategy for Maggi. Further, it provides information on the research methodology and problems faced during the research. It also throws some light on the research objectives and design. Lastly, this project shows the sampling method used and data collection tools adopted for this project. The focus of my research was the measurement of customer satisfaction provided by Nestle Maggi. There can be no better opportunity to interact with the external as well as the internal customers of an organization. Finally the results of the research verify the fact that keeping the customer satisfied is the best strategy to not only retains the existing customers but also to expand the business to new horizons. 1 BACKGROUD OF MAGGI The industrial revolution in Switzerland in the late 1800s created factory jobs for women, who were therefore left with very little time to prepare meals. This wide spread problem grew to be an object of intense study by the Swiss Public Welfare Society. As a part of its activities, the Society asked Julius Maggi miller to create a vegetable food product that would be quick to prepare and easy to digest. Born on October 9, 1846 in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, Julius Michael Johannes Maggi was the oldest son of an immigrant from Italy who took Swiss citizenship. Julius Maggi became a miller and took on the reputation as an inventive and capable businessman. In 1863, Julius Maggi came up with a formula to bring added taste to meals. Soon after he was commissioned by the Swiss Public Welfare Society, he came up with two instant pea soups and a bean soup - the first launch of the Maggi brand of instant foods in 1882 - 83. Towards the end of the century, Maggi & Company was producing not just powdered soups, but bouillon cubes, sauces and other flavourings. The Maggi Company merged with Nestlé in 1947. Today, Maggi is a leading culinary brand and part of the NESTLÉ family of fine foods and beverages. Under the Maggi brand, which is today known worldwide for quality and innovation, Nestle offers a whole range of products, such as packaged soups, frozen meals, prepared sauces and flavourings. 2 MAGGI BRAND IN INDIA Maggi Comes to India – teething troubles Maggi noodles was launched in India in the early 1980s. Carlo M. Donati, the present Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India Ltd, brought the instant noodle brand to India during his short stint here in the early eighties. At that time, there was no direct competition. The first competition came from the ready-to-eat snack segment which included snacks like samosas, biscuits or maybe peanuts, that were usually the bought out type. The second competition came from the homemade snacks like paratha or sandwiches. So there were no specific buy and make snack! Moreover both competitors had certain drawbacks in comparison. Snacks like samosas are usually bought out, and outside food is generally considered unhygienic and unhealthy. The other competitor, "homemade" snacks overcame both these problems but had the disadvantage of extended preparation time at home. Maggi was positioned as the only hygienic homemade snack! Despite this, Nestlé faced difficulties with their sales after the initial phase. The reason being, the positioning of the product with the wrong target group. Nestle had positioned Maggi as a convenience food product aimed at the target group of working women who hardly found any time for cooking. Unfortunately this could not hold the product for very long. In the course of many market researches and surveys, the firm found that children were the biggest consumers of Maggi noodles. Quickly they repositioned it towards the kids segment with various tools of sales promotion like colour pencils, sketch pens, fun books, Maggi clubs which worked wonders for the brand. 3 The sample is selected by a simple random sampling method. their perception of noodles and how do they associate themselves with Maggi? Are the consumers aware of Maggi Brand or they associate noodles with some other brand? Do they consider noodle as a healthy product or they are aware of the company"s strategy of repositioning it to a healthy product by the launch of some of the new products? 4 .RESEARCH METHOLODOGY The research has been carried out in the form of a survey. This includes primary research in addition to secondary research as stated below. How do customers perceive Maggi as a stable brand. Each respondent is interviewed through a Questionnaire. The survey address the following information area: Information Areas: The objective as spelt out can be elaborated into specific information areas to be studied. juices. chips etc? 5 .Which product from the entire basket of Maggi products do the consumers consider as the best selling product for Maggi and to which the consumers frequently buy? Are the consumers willing to accept Maggi brand extensions to some other products like chocolate. Confused responses from the people. 6 . Courtesy bias. There was a hurdle in the collection of data from primary sources i. The results and conclusions of the project cannot be generalized in all area of an organization.RESEARCH PROBLEM Every attempt will be taken to obtain the error free and meaningful result but as nothing in this world is 100% perfect I believe that there will still the chance for error on account of following limitations.e. risky as well as incomplete. Time pressure and fatigue on the part of respondents and interviewer. There was a shortage of time and resources for the functioning the operation. The problems faced during the research were: Respondent’s unavailability. Brand image. 7 . superiority and feelings. consideration. Brand Extension of Maggi in terms of product diversity. Analyse the repositioning of Maggi brand as a “Healthy product” and the consumers perseverance towards the same. To understand Brand Imagery. Brand recall To understand the Brand performance of Maggi products. Brand credibility. Sources of Brand equity of Maggi like Brand awareness. Brand association. Brand Quality perceived by customers.RESEARCH OBJECTIVES To understand the influence of Maggi as a brand on consumers mind set. 8 . Text books. Marketing reports of the company and Internet.DATA COLLECTION Tools of data collection Tools used for this project are:- The primary data collection method used for this project is Questionnaire. The secondary data is collected through News papers. 9 . Maggi is quite famous with the different types of customers in the market.ANALYSIS & INTERPRETATION Q-1 Are you a customer of maggi ? Yes No 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Yes No Interpretation This survey suggested that out of 40 customers are consumers of Maggi products. 10 .2 How often do you have Maggi? Fortnightly Once a day Once a week Dont eat maggi 25 20 15 10 5 0 Fortnightly Once a day Once a week dont eat maggi Interpretation Most consumers have maggi once a week followed by Fortnightly.Q. 11 .3 You have maggi for? Breakfast Lunch Evening snacks Dinner 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Breakfast Lunch Evening snacks Dinner Interpretation Most consumers have maggi as evening snacks.Q. Q-4 what comes first in your mind when you hear the word Maggi? Noodles Fast food Snacks None of these 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Noodle Fast food Snacks None of these Interpretation The survey suggested that 35 out of 50 consumers associated maggi with noodles. People are familiar with maggi as a brand for noodles in majority . 12 . It suggests that 30 out of 50 consumers associates noodles with magi.Q-5 what is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word noodles? Maggi Top Ramen Yippie Noodles Sunfeast Noodles 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Maggi Yippie Top ramen Sunfeast Interpretation The survey suggested that Maggi is the most popular brand with the customers of noodles . 13 . People purchase Maggi noodles in majority . The frequency of purchase of maggi noodles is very high. Noodles Ketchup Cubes Soup Pickles 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Noodles Ketchup Cubes Soup Pickles Interpretation Most customer given rank 5 rating to the noodles in purchase of maggi product. 4 to the ketchup. Rate the following Maggi products with respect to frequency of purchase with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. 14 . 3 to the cubes. 2 to the soup and 1 to pickles.Q 6. 15 .Q-7 With what products would you associate the brand Maggi? Ketchup Noodles Soup Masala 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 · Ketchup · Noodles · Soup · Masala Interpretation The survey suggested that 38 out of 50 people associated the brand maggi with noodles . Q 8. 4 rating to hygiene/purity and packaging. On a scale of 1 to 5 rate Maggi on the following parameters wherein 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest:Taste Hygiene/purity Variety/flavor Availability Packaging 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Taste Hygiene/purity Variety/flavor Availability Packaging Interpretation The product Maggi have been rated well on the above parameters by most of the customers. From the scale 1 to 5 the consumers gave 5(highest rate) to the taste and avalability. 16 . 3 (lower rate) to variety and flavour. So the company need to introduce maggi in different variety & flavour. 17 .Q-9 Rate the categories which Maggi should look in future in order of your importance wherein 1 being least important and 5 being the most important: Chocolates Salted Potato Chips Fruit Juices _____________ _____________ _____________ ____________ Atta _____________ 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Processed foods Salted potato chips Chocolate Atta Fruit juice Interpretation Here the consumer rated that maggi should look in future in order of their importance giving most important tag to processed food. and least to Fruit juice. So company should take the action to fulfill the consumer demand according to their importance. 4 to expertise. According to survey . Market leader) Trustworthiness (Dependable and keep customers interest in mind) Liability ( Fun . Innovative.Q-10 how do you rate Maggi brand in terms of following parameters: Expertise (Competent. Maggi brand is using expertise strategy to look forward in future . 3 to liability & 1(lowest) to the other factors.interesting) None of these 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Expertise Trustworthiness Liability None of these Interpretation The consumer gave 5(highest) to the trustworthiness. 18 . Ready to eat. 19 .Q-11 How do you perceive Maggi products? Good for health. Junk food Tasty / Fun eating 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Good to health Ready to eat Junk food Tasty/fun eating Interpretation 25 out of 50 people percieve maggi product as ready to eat. 8 consume maggi rice noodle mania.Q-12 Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy? Maggi masala Maggi vegetable attar noodles Maggi dal Atta noodles Maggi rice noodles mania Others 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Maggi masala Maggi vegetable atta noodle Maggi dal atta noodle Maggi rice noodle mania others Interpretation Out of 50 half of consumer consume maggi masala. 5 consumer consume dal atta noodle& remaninig consume other. 10 consumer consume maggi vegetable atta noodle. So the marketing & sale of maggi masala noodle is more as compared to other maggi noodle. 20 . 21 .Q-13 Do you perceive Maggi noodles as a healthy product? Yes No 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Yes No Interpretation According to survey Maggie is perceived as a healthy product for most of the consumers. % of Vitamins.Foray into other food products like chips.The company should advertise its products by depicting attributes related to Health like Nutrition values. Targeting these segments will not only enhance the company"s profit margins but also it will leverage the brand image of Maggi. .This would help in customers perceiving the product as Healthy. . Proteins etc. .To gain maximum leverage in terms of profit the company should pay emphasis on segments with age groups 25-35 and above . 22 .RECOMMENDATION After the conducted study following recommendations could be sited for Maggi Brand.Advertising is the key to success. chocolates etc under its sole brand name would not only help in Brand extension but will also enhance Maggi's market share. Maggi's aims to create value for consumers that can be sustained over the long term by offering a wide variety of high quality. safe food products at affordable prices.FUTURE PLANS .The company continuously focuses its efforts to better understand the changing lifestyles of modern India and anticipate consumer needs in order to provide convenience. shareholders. taste. employees and business partners. 23 .Nestlé India"s objective is to manufacture and market the company"s products in such a way so as to create value that can be sustained over the long term for consumers. nutrition and wellness through its product offerings. . . Working women – Target Market – Working Women – Positioning – Convenience of Cooking • Later – Target Audience – Mothers – Target Market – Children – Positioning – 2 Minute Noodles Finally. found that Maggi was liked by consumers of all the ages • Turned their focus to health conscious consumer with the launch of “atta -noodles 24 .MAGGI – SOME FACTS Manufactured by Nestle Entered Indian market in 1982 Market leader in instant noodles category Main challenge faced is changing the mind-set of the Indian consumer Initially : – Target Audience . sauces. Riding on the success of noodles. soups. When Nestle changed the formulation of its tastemaker. Also. ketchups. gathering considerable sales volumes and have a satisfactory presence even today. Indians believe in consuming fresh stuff rather than packaged or frozen. but the trend is changing and the new fast food generation is slowly changing. only about 10% of the output is processed and consumed in packaged form thus highlighting huge potential for expansion and growth. Traditionally. the macaroni and pickles didn"t pick up as expected. The soups and sauces did somewhat fine. This helped Maggi to win back its lost consumers and pushed up its sales volumes again! 25 . Maggi's competitor "Top Ramen" took advantage of the situation and started a parallel aggressive campaign to eat into Maggi's market share. tastemakers and macaroni in the mid-1990s. "Maggi Noodles" itself faced a bit of difficulty with respect to "taste". and nearly lost its position in the minds of Indian consumers in the late 1990s. pickles. But the company quickly realised this and went back into making the original formula coupled with a free sampling campaign. Nestle India. the ominous packet that came along with Maggi Noodles. Unfortunately. tried to make extensions of the Maggi brand to a number of products like. a major chunk of consumers were put-off and sales started dropping.CONCLUSION The food processing business in India is at a nascent stage. Currently. the parent company. 26 . Nestle India Limited has certainly encouraged the brand to enter into other culinary products. The brand has grown to an estimated value of Rs 160-170 crore and contributes at least 8–9% to Nestle India"s top line. the size of the instant noodles market is yet quite small at Rs 300 crore. But yes.Maggi Today The year 2008 saw India leading in worldwide Maggi sales. Even after 25 years of its launch. All the same. some FMCG analysts feel that the brand has not done much to expand the noodles category. 3 You have maggi for? Breakfast Lunch Evening snacks Dinner Q-4 what comes first in your mind when you hear the word Maggi? Noodles Fast food Snacks None of these 27 .Annexue Questionnaire Q-1 Are you a customer of maggi ? Yes No Q.2 How often do you have Maggi? Fortnightly Once a day Once a week Dont eat maggi Q. Q-5 what is the brand that comes to your mind when we say the word noodles? Maggi Top Ramen Yippie Noodles Sunfeast Noodles Q 6. Rate the following Maggi products with respect to frequency of purchase with 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest. Noodles Ketchup Cubes Soup Pickles Q-7 With what products would you associate the brand Maggi? Ketchup Noodles Soup Masala 28 . On a scale of 1 to 5 rate Maggi on the following parameters wherein 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest:Taste Hygiene/purity Variety/flavor Availability Packaging Q-9 Rate the categories which Maggi should look in future in order of your importance wherein 1 being least important and 5 being the most important: Chocolates Salted Potato Chips Fruit Juices _____________ _____________ _____________ ____________ Atta _____________ Q-10 how do you rate Maggi brand in terms of following parameters: Expertise (Competent. Innovative.Q 8. Market leader) Trustworthiness (Dependable and keep customers interest in mind) Liability ( Fun .interesting) None of these 29 . Ready to eat. Junk food Tasty / Fun eating Q-12 Which Maggi products in noodles category do you regularly buy? Maggi masala Maggi vegetable attar noodles Maggi dal Atta noodles Maggi rice noodles mania Others Q-13 Do you perceive Maggi noodles as a healthy product? Yes No 30 .Q-11 How do you perceive Maggi products? Good for health. com economictimes.R.studymode.indiatimes.Kothari Research Methodolgy .Concept and cases -by Deepak Chwala WEBLIOGRAPHY www.BIBLOGRAPHY Research Methodology -by C.com 31 .