Assignment-Rural Marketing: Submitted By-Ankit Tiwari (MBA II Year)

Assignment-Rural Marketing
Submitted by- Ankit Tiwari (MBA II year)
Marketing Strategies of Britannia in rural Market

Biscuit maker Britannia Industries Ltd is deploying strategies for rural markets that straddle all
its key focus areas for the future, in a bid to boost revenue contribution from those regions to at
least 30-35% over the next 2-3 years, a top executive said.
Expanding its direct distribution reach, product innovation, and increasing sales from the so-
called Hindi belt are the other priorities for Britannia.
Rural India currently accounts for more than 20% of the company‘s total revenue. And in line
with its first priority of expanding its direct reach, Britannia has already set up 13,000 stock
points—distribution points from where it supplies to shops in surrounding areas—across rural
markets.
―Rural is where the headroom is and there are many programmes that the government is driving
on that front. There is going to be far more momentum that will come from there. Disposable
incomes will go up and consumers‘ appetite for better products will also go up," Gunjan Shah,
Britannia‘s vice-president of sales said in an interview.
Britannia reported an 11.52% jump in net profit for the July-September quarter and the
company‘s managing director Varun Berry attributed volume growth during the period, partly, to
the focus on rural markets. Revenue from the rural side continues to grow in double-digits, the
company said in a presentation to analysts on 15 November.
To ramp up sales in rural areas, especially of its more premium biscuit brands like Good Day and
Marie Gold, the company has experimented with innovative packaging options. It sells smaller
packs of these brands that cost Rs5-10. It has also piloted a few marketing campaigns in the rural
markets and now plans to run those on a much larger scale going ahead
―One thing we are looking at doing is ensure that we develop awareness and activation at the
local level in those villages. We can activate weekly markets where we can set up stalls and
make them aware of our products like cream biscuits and brands like Tiger," Shah said. This is
the first time Britannia will be running branding campaigns in rural markets.
Expanding sales in rural India also aligns with the company‘s second priority of increasing its
penetration and market share in the Hindi belt, which it views as large swathes of Rajasthan and
Gujarat, to Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh among others.
Britannia has traditionally been weaker in these parts, which are dominated more by larger
national names like Parle Products Pvt. Ltd and several region-specific brands.
The rural market should be viewed as two sets of consumers in India—the rural middle and
upper class, and the rural mass, according to Sreedhar Prasad, partner and head of consumer
markets at KPMG in India. Marketing campaigns need to be tailored to both segments in order to
be more effective, he added.
―For the rural middle and upper class, the growth story can be achieved through newer channels
like assisted commerce as well as alliance partners, wherein the availability is enhanced through
new age distribution channels. For the rural mass, the retailer is the biggest influencer and
retailer schemes and promotions would still be the sales initiative that could help grab the
market," Prasad said.
Rural Offerings
The company‘s strategy has mostly been to enter the rural markets through its value products
under the ―Tiger‖ brand. Once the distribution is established, Britannia looks to push its ―non
value products‖ – mid–tier and premium – offerings through the same channels.
Similarly, another strategy has been to opt for ―low sized‖ or pocket sized offerings of smaller
value. The strategy has worked well with Rs 5 packs of ‗Good Day‘ – a predominantly urban
brand – witnessing good traction.
―About 3.5 years back we decided to get back (in the rural markets) with a Rs 5 value packs.
And we followed it with the best execution. We now have smaller value packs for ‗50:50‘;
Marie; and the value segment,‖ he said adding that ―there will be horses for courses‖.
Exploring Rs 10 packs can also be explored in some cases where Rs 5 offerings are unlikely to
work.

Assignment-Rural Marketing: Submitted By-Ankit Tiwari (MBA II Year)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment-Rural Marketing: Submitted By-Ankit Tiwari (MBA II Year)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment-Rural Marketing: Submitted By-Ankit Tiwari (MBA II Year)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Assignment-Rural Marketing

Submitted by- Ankit Tiwari (MBA II year)

Marketing Strategies of Britannia in rural Market

You might also like