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 Who is Playing the Joke?
The organized snacks
market in India stands at 200 crore and is set to grow at 15-20%. The market is
dominated by Frito Lay which has brands like Kurkure and Lay's in its fold.
Catching up on the giant is a brand which is backed by the wackiest
commercials, Bingo from ITC. Sensing some opportunity after the ITC's foray in
the industry, Britannia is all set to launch Chutkule (and you thought Bingo
was weird name)
Let us understand the
snacks market dynamics in India which was by and large synonymous with
"Bole mere lips..I love Uncle Chips" and other small home-grown
brands like Haldiram and Bikanerwala, until Lay's came along and took over.
Uncle Chips had a strong brand value so the name was retained (something which
Coca Cola did with Thumps Up).After the super success in the potato chips
segment, Frito Lay hit another jackpot with Kurkure. Maybe they realised that
Indian consumer loves anything that is to do with masala (refer to Farah Khan's
directorial success) and saas-bahu (Kurkure used the saas- bahu theme for their
commercials).This was followed by Kurkure festive offerings in 2003 which was
helped by the Indian consumer's desire to move beyond the traditional gifting
options like sweets and chocolates (as a part of the no-sugar;healthy-living
bandwagon, incidentally companies like Dabur are offering 'gift-wrapped-health'
and 'packaged nutrition' this festive season..watch out Cadbury...!)
Just when it seemed
like Frito Lay’s juggernaut would continue to roll unhindered, ITC came up with
a series of whacky advertisements for the latest offering, Bingo. The TVC were
outrageous and prompted naysayers to write off Bingo immediately (ITC went too
far with their PoDs?), however, not everything goes by the book in the world of
advertising. The TVC did what they had to do, catch attention. Riding on high
cash and brilliant distribution network, ITC quickly flooded the Indian
markets. Multiple offerings (not missing out on the masala angle), bright
coloured packaging, designer racks in stores all played a part in slowly
gaining a share of the snack pie , Frito Lay could only manage a hopeless ‘Har Program ka main food’ theme as a counter
to ITC’s giant strides. Last heard ITC is aiming for a 50% share in the next
two years
Now, It waits to be
seen what Chutkule brings to the table, Britannia has had a not successful
outing in the snack segment with Snax, which they phased out. Already feeling
the heat in the biscuit segment with ITC’s (they are everywhere) sunfeast,
Britannia would be geared up for the challenge.
Snacks would qualify
as a low cost, low involvement product. Capturing the market is all about
variety, sensations and availability. The growing size of the young consumer
market (it’s remarkable how everything gets linked to the youth these days),
growing exposure to all forms of communication channels and a vast and largely
untapped rural market potential are all mantras of sustainable returns. Bring
on Chutkule, and we hope that it’s not just worthy of a laugh.
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