INTEGRATED MARKETING PLAN

PROJECT

ON

MEDIA PLAN OF PULSE CANDY

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

(Prof. RICHA)

BY
M.AKSHAY CHARY (13)

SEM-3
PGDM-3 Program
GBS – Hyderabad.
Product Features and Applications:

Pulse (Pulse Candy), officially known as Pass Pass Pulse, is a hard candy manufactured by Noida-
based DS Group and marketed under its umbrella brand 'Pass Pass'. Originally launched in a
'Kachcha Aam' (raw mango) flavour, the hard-boiled candy is filled with tangly salt and spices
(alike Amchoor) in its central core. Pulse is available in Kachcha Aam, Guava, Orange, Pineapple
and Lychee flavours. In India, Pulse is sold for ₹1 per 4g candy.

 Hard boiled candy

 Tangly salt
 Amchoor
 Kachcha Aam
 Guava
 Orange
 Pineapple

A category breaker in the hard-boiled candy segment ‘Pulse’ is a different experience that
begins with the taste of fruity flavour and peaks with a tangy surprise. The unique and
innovative combination of various flavours has made Pulse stand out and become a nationwide
favourite.

Each flavour has the burst of tanginess, a mouth full of fun and peculiarity that is alluring. This
irresistible fervour for Pulse candy is extended to the brand communication, with a tag line of
‘Pran jaaye par Pulse na jaaye’.

Benefits/value offered by the product:

Candy sales are on the fast track, thanks to hard-boiled candies (HBC) such as Mango Bite, Pulse
Candy and Alpenliebe that are pushing the Rs 6,000-crore sweet candy market to grow at 1.5
times the FMCG industry growth in the country.

Despite constituting a third of the total candy market, the hard-boiled segment is witnessing
heightened traction due to entry of new players and innovation. For instance, Dharampal
Satyapal (DS) Group's Pulse Candy reached Rs 100 crore within just eight months of its launch,
its maker said, equalling the record of Coca-Cola's diet drink Coke Zero.

Industry experts said, Pulse Candy, a kaccha aam (raw mango) hard boiled candy with a tangy
salt filled centre, was one such innovation. "We launched it at Re 1. Other companies followed
suit. Before that, everybody was selling 4gm hard boiled candies for 50 paise," said Shashank
Surana, VP, new product development, at DS Group, the maker of Rajnigand ha pan masala,
Pass Pass and Catch spices.

Mandar Keskar, category head at Perfetti Van Melle India, agrees. "Although the confectionary
category in India is highly cluttered and price-sensitive with nearly 40% of the category volumes
still coming from 50-paise price point, an encouraging trend is consumers lapping up
innovations at higher price points”.

Potential product:
In India, the common practice is to eat raw mango with something tangy. Weather is a aam
paana or raw mango available at roadside, it is incomplete eating without something
tangy/spices that’s where the idea came from as pulse candy.

Also with already available candy flavor like mango, caramel and orange there was innovation
needed in it.

Pulse is an innovation value-added candy which gives a total different experience of eating with
peaks later as you reach power filling. In order to give consumers a full mouth feel for a
heightened experience of candy where the consumer has to feel active when he reach to the
peaks stage of the candy.

Product consumption, eaten by the people who smokes as a freshener and given in place of
change (money) or eaten just like that.
Marketing objective:
the unorganized candy markets in India is in large size, but no brand as able to broken
a tradition of flavor of the brand, whereas customers ask for mango, orange and mint
wali candy.

Pulse candy wanted to change that tradition of candy to impulse-driven to pulse-driven,

usually customers will buy candy in single piece but in case of pulse candy people are
buying in five to ten in one go.

Pulse candy marketing objectives are mainly focused on three aspects,

 increasing product awareness among targeted consumers

 providing information about product features
 reducing consumer resistance to buying the product.

Communication objective:
Pulse main communication objective is to capitalize on the fastest growing HBC (Hard-
Boiled Candy) segment in the confectionery basket. The makers of Pulse believe that it
is one of the most successful examples of brands built through word-of-mouth, with
social media facilitating the reach. While the company pushed the candy through in-
store promotions and an outdoor ad at select locations in NCR, its fans were active in
the online world. The brand has, thanks to them, a presence on all social networking
platforms including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. In fact, the catchphrase on the
outdoor ad - 'Pulse of India' - was also suggested by the fans of the pulse candy.

the strategy was very clear – listen to what your consumer wants and deliver what you
do the best. There has to be an amalgamation between the both – what you do the best
and what your consumers want. And that is what our strategy has been from Day 1. In
terms of market share, yes, we have reached the numbers very fast and we would like
to grow this number at the same rate next year as well. Hopefully, we are looking at
double digit numbers soon. In terms of distribution, we would be growing the distribution
market, of course. And as far as price point is concerned, we would like to be at Re 1 as
of now.
Communication mix:
Pulse makers believe it is one of the most successful examples of brands built through
the concept of word-of-mouth, with social media playing a big role. While the company
pushed Pulse through in-store promotions and one outdoor advertisement at certain
select locations in NCR, its fans were active in the online world. The brand has
presence on all social networking platforms including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
In fact, the catchphrase on the outdoor ad – ‘Pulse of India’ – was also suggested by
the digital fans.

DS Group awarded the mandate for Pulse to Scarecrow Communications last

December. The group believes that Advertising is not going to drive sales. It will be
reinforcement. Their main objective is to own the innovation Pulse stands for.

About the challenges of advertising a brand that is already quite successful, the group
feels there are various opinions about the product. People are claiming ownership, and
they do not want to violate that thought of ‘Meri Pulse Candy’.

TV campaign for Pulse candy

Pulse has rolled out its first TV commercial this year. Pulse Candy, with a tangy twist,
makes the ad standout! It offers a complete experience starting with a fruity taste and
peaking with a tangy surprise in the end. This irresistible taste of Pulse candy is
extended to the brand communication, with the tag line of ‘Pran jaaye par Pulse na
jaaye’, with humorous examples of how far people can go to save their favorite Candy,
Pulse. After all, parting with precious belongings is something one does not like. The
tagline ‘Pran Jaaye Par Pulse Na Jaaye’ truly establishes the right appeal of Pulse
candy.

The first TVC, conceptualized by J. Walter Thompson Company, is the master

commercial that outlines the length to which people will go to hide their Pulse Candy
and also the extent people will go to get their hands on a Pulse Candy.

Differentiating Factors

One Rupee Game – Any candy which can refresh the taste buds with an initial
sweetness followed by saltiness at a cost of one rupee is sure to have a decent hand
when it comes to number of boxes the shopkeepers bring to their shops.
Extensive Research – Pulse was conceptualized in 2013 and the product team
dedicated more than two years on it before it’s official launch.

They realized that kaccha aam was eaten across all ages around every part of the
country in one way or the other.

Apart from that, they capitalized on the fact that it is eaten with a mixture of salt and
spices to add more flavor to it. This led to the foundation of Pulse.

And this is where it beat its competitors, the extra inclusion of spices did the trick

The Surprise Element- Everyone loves surprises! Now this is what Pulse gives in here.
Eat, eat, …BOOM! – The powder which is in the middle of it suddenly scatters all over
the tongue and KaBoom it is!

This can be closely compared with Center Shock.

Communication budget:
Pulse plans on spending Rs 8 crore on a complete marketing campaign. The advertising and
marketing budget for Pulse Candy this year stands at 6-7 per cent of its annual turnover. Pulse
Candy will go ahead with a total approach to marketing in 2017 by releasing ads in popular
national and regional channels and support it with campaigns on digital, BTL and other
promotional platforms. Pulse also has plans to introduce new flavors and formats to keep the
consumer involved.
India has the largest number of young consumers who are also the decision makers in many
homes today, so the brand needs to break the clutter in the communications space within the
category.

A campaign has been planned on social media as well. Pulse candy will be focusing on
innovative ideas that will establish the brand thought as well as engage with the digital
audience.

Media plan:

SEGMENTATION

Geographic – North Region, Northeast Region, Central Region, East Region, West Region &
South Region

Demographics:

Age: Anyone above 5 years of age.

Gender: Male & Female

Income Groups: 5000-10000 || 10000-20000 || 20000 +

Psychographic: Low on Health Consciousness

Behavioral: Rate of Usage & Loyalty Status

TARGETING –

Raw mangoes are relished by people of all age groups and geographies in India, so there was no
particular target group singled out for Pulse. The candy, with its tangy taste, was expected to
cut across age groups in a market focussed on kids, and therefore, flooded with straight and
sweet flavours.

Pulse was intended to be an anytime, anywhere candy. And India being a tropical country
where you need to keep having something to keep the saliva going in the typical hot weather,it
is one of the most soothing candies.

Since Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisines share a similar tanginess as Pulse, the company decided
to test-market it in these states first. The exercise proved so successful that it had to be
converted into a full-fledged launch.

POSITIONING-

In low price high volume, there is always a need of developing a sale story for the salesman, to
enable them to place the product at the outlet, and for the retailer to push the product trial to
the customers. As soon as the trials started gaining traction, the product strength took it
forward. Word of mouth started catching up as most people started referring the candies to
their friends and colleagues. At some places it became a mouth freshener of sort after lunch at
others it was a regular get together Candy among friends in a college class. The word had set in.

The awesome part of its success story in positioning itself is that Pulse has hardly spent a single
penny on any marketing. The whole lift in demand is due to word of mouth publicity. Demand
became much more than the supply and currently the company is able to meet only 60-70% of
the demand.
Particular cases that fostered success:

Brand loyalty – The unorganised candy market in India is big, and no brand has been able to
break the tradition of flavour over brand, wherein customers ask for “orange, mango or mint
wali” candy. Pulse has changed that. It has taken the category from impulse-driven to Pulse-
driven.

Pricing strategy-. Looking at the success of Pulse, other players have started launching similar
versions at Re 1. The shift in price points are mainly due to factors such as fluctuating raw
material costs, especially sugar that fuelled this trend almost three years back, and today, only
30-40 per cent products fall in the Rs 0.5 segment. The rest are Re 1 and above.

Volume: Since the unit price is low, one has to sell large volumes. It is difficult business. Our
Kaccha Mango Bite (Rs 0.5) has entered the Rs 100 crore league, while Melody (Re 1) still has
to. Other than Parle, DS group competes with companies such as Perfetti Van Melle, Mondelez
India, and ITC which have candy brands such as Alpenliebe, Cadbury Chocolairs, and Candyman,
respectively.

Barriers to entry and exit: According to Nielsen India, the category has low entry barriers as a
result of which new players enter the market every year; there are fairly quick exits too. Low
entry-exit barriers facilitate innovation on formats and flavours in the category, the most recent
one being in the coffee-flavoured segment. The eclairs and soft toffees’ segments grew in single
digits in 2015. The lollipop segment, too, is witnessing healthy growth.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

-Brand name of DS Group; makers of Pass Pass, Rajnigandha, Catch spices etc

-Very strong Word of Mouth publicity

-Distribution network of DS Group (close to 8,50,000 retails)

-Unique taste as well as packaging

Weaknesses

-Very limited number of flavours

-It has limited presence in the market

– Comparatively high price compared to other candies in the same segment

Opportunities

-Huge scope for increase in Market Penetration

-Huge scope in increasing variety of flavours

Threats

-Other candies offering similar products; eg: Parle Kaccha Aam

-Consumers wanting new taste and experience

-Other cheaper candies pose a threat to pulse

-Decrease in demand when consumers get used to the taste

Execution plan:
If I were to talk about the success, about the parameters, I would start with the 4P's of
marketing. I would start with the Product – the product has to be something which consumers
want, something which can be differentiated, which can be value-added, that is what was there
with Pulse. The market was stagnant. There were only two flavors coming in. There was
something new that could be added to the market. So, I think the product differentiation was
very critical at this point of time and in fact, the 'Kaccha Aam' flavour's contribution would be
about 26 per cent of the total industry, while 'Mango' flavour contributes around 24 per cent.
So together, Mango as a category contributes about 50 per cent and that's a huge number.
While raw mango is seldom eaten on its own owing to its sour flavour, in candy form with its
sweet and tangy flavour, it was very well received. That was actually one of the insights that we
took and we tried to capture that insight into the candy format. That's what the differentiation
was.
Now coming to the Price of candies, most were priced at 50 paisa. Only 14 per cent of the
industry was priced at Re 1. So, it was a major decision for us to take for the Pulse's price point,
because ultimately you have to go for Re 1 in the long term. At 50 paisa, the companies are
providing the 2.5 gm candy; you know to experience this product you need a basic mass to it,
you need a basic grammage to it and that is 4 gm. And for that you need a price point of Re 1
because you are giving a value-added product. Consumers are value conscious and cost
conscious. Thus, they were getting both value and cost in the Pulse candy. Another thing was
that the packaging stood out as well, in terms of the old segment, the color combination was
very much liked by the consumer and it was easy to identify this product.

Moving on to the Placement, at DS Group, we reach more than a million outlets directly. That is
one of our strengths and piggy backing on that strength we made available the Pulse candy,
along with the Paan Plus and all retail outlets. So that is the entire distribution channel.

When it comes to Promotion, the question that everybody asks us is how we made this brand
without marketing and promotion. And I would always say the same thing – that promotion
doesn't mean only a TV commercial. It is a much wider perspective than a TVC. We did a lot of
outdoor promotions. The main objective for us was to deal with the consumer and get them to
like the product. If you just go back two steps, how does word-of-mouth happen? It happens
only when you try the product, like the product and recommend that product to your friends.
So that only happens when you do the trail. So, we did that and the consumers liked the
product and started to do word-of-mouth. That, in today's day and age, is very difficult to
achieve. And all the word-of-mouth marketing for Pulse happened from the digital space, along
with the offline spaces. But digital was one of the major platforms for word-of-mouth, where
celebrities tweeted about the product, about the experience of the product, etc. So, a lot of
material content on Pulse is there on digital to the extent that people have made their own
advertisement on it.

Going international:

The maker of the raw mango candy Pulse, is now taking the brand to international markets, a
top company executive said. DS Group is introducing Pulse in its raw mango, guava, pineapple,
and orange variants in the UK, Gulf countries, and southeast Asian markets (Singapore and
Malaysia), Shashank Surana, vice president, DS Group, said in an interview.
“We have started distribution our markets in UAE, UK, and southeast Asian markets (Singapore,
Malaysia)—wherever the Indian community is there,” Surana said. DS Group will primarily sell
Pulse in Indian ethnic stores—a network shops where the Indian diaspora shops for ethnic
ingredients and brands from the home market.

“We got to know that Indians abroad love Pulse candy and it was not available there,” Surana
said. “So, we got a lot of queries coming in from these countries.”

DS Group has also upgraded Pulse’s manufacturing capacity, signing on a total of seven contract
manufacturers, up from just one when starting out in 2015. The company plans to invest more
than Rs20 crore—nearly 7% of its total sales from Pulse—in marketing and advertising the
brand, Surana said. Pulse candy first made news in 2015 when word of mouth helped the brand
earn Rs50 crore in sales within just six months of launch even as it sold at Rs1 per candy, double
the price of hard boiled candies in India. In March this year, Pulse crossed R300 crore in sales.

The brand now leads the hard-boiled candy market in India, with 12-13% market share in the
nearly Rs2,650 crore organized market. Pulse has left behind the likes of Parle Products’ Mango
Bite and Perfetti Van Melle’s Alpen Liebe.

The market for hard boiled candy is expected to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth
rate) of 9% between 2016-2021 led by the top 10 metros, according to a November 2017 report
by market research firm TechSci research.

Evaluations and feedbacks:

Speaking about the lack of brand loyalty in this category, "The unorganized candy market in
India is big, and no brand has been able to break the tradition of flavor over brand, wherein
customers ask for "orange, mango or mint wali" candy. Pulse has changed that. It has taken the
category from impulse-driven to Pulse-driven. This is true of the pricing strategy as well.
Looking at the success of Pulse, other players have started launching their 'gold versions' at Re
1."

Pravin Kulkarni, "Pulse is a case of a small, but remarkable innovation that caught the
customer's fancy." While he agrees that the brand's success is unprecedented, he differs with
Surana on the shift in price points. According to him, factors such as fluctuating raw material
costs, especially sugar, fuelled this trend almost three years back, and today, only 30-40 per
cent products fall in the Rs 0.5 segment. The rest are Re 1 and above.
Giving my perspective on how big is Rs 100 crore for a confectionery brand, "Rs 100 crore is a
big number in confectionery -- anything beyond Rs 50 crore is, particularly in the sugar candy
segment. Since the unit price is low, one has to sell large volumes. It is difficult business. Our
Kaccha Mango Bite (Rs 0.5) has entered the Rs 100 crore league, while Melody (Re 1) still has
to." Other than Parle, DS group competes with companies such as Perfetti Van Melle, Mondelez
India, and ITC which have candy brands such as Alpenliebe, Cadbury Chocolairs, and Candyman,
respectively.

According to Nielsen India, the category has low entry barriers as a result of which new players
enter the market every year; there are fairly quick exits too. Low entry-exit barriers facilitate
innovation on formats and flavours in the category, the most recent one being in the coffee-
flavoured segment. The eclairs and soft toffees' segments grew in single digits in 2015. The
lollipop segment, too, is witnessing healthy growth.

Commenting on the challenges and opportunities that exist within the category, "Innovation
and introduction of new flavours are two major growth drivers for this category. Distribution
continues to play a key role, and newer players and brands in this space face the formidable
task of expanding distribution to reach the vast traditional trade universe. Innovation will also
help the category move away from the 50-paise price point, as today, consumers are willing to
pay a premium for innovative and new flavours. Positive word-of-mouth by consumers will
drive trials."

Thank you