The Promotion Strategy

Promotion can be defined as any message or communication which is designed to persuade the consumer to purchase a product. The aim is to drive brand interaction which may lead to current or future sales.


Usually, there is a sequence of events that a consumer goes through before he purchases the product. Different promotional strategies are used in the different stages so that the consumer purchases it. During the introduction stage of the product, it is important to create awareness, this was done by Sunfeast Farmlite on the Bengaluru Airport- passengers were asked to ride a cycle and manually make the carousel work. It also created awareness by giving samples on the airport and in the Mumbai Marathon.


The second stage is to induce customers to actually buy the product – this is done through giving retailers incentives to stock the product. It also uses mass communication strategies such as Print and Television to stay on the top of mind of the consumer. There are many TVCs and Print campaigns of Farmlite.




There are two main approaches of promoting a product –

The Push Approach – This involves strategies used to sell the product by price promotions & advertising.

The Pull Approach – The pull strategy emphasizes on creating demand for the brand so that consumers will come to the store to buy the particular product.

Sunfeast Farmlite uses the Push Approach as it is competitively priced and uses promotions to sell its products.


 Integrated Marketing Communications


Marketing Communications are the means by which firms try to inform, persuade and remind customers about the products that they are offering. It also helps the customer to know how, when, where and by whom a product is used. Marketing communications is basically done to create awareness and build a strong perception in the minds of the customer about the product and/or the brand.

Integrated Marketing Communications is an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other. The task of IMC is to make sure that all messaging and communications strategies are unified across all mediums (traditional as well as non-traditional). Hence, the communication regarding a product should be uniform in all promotional methods used – Advertising (TV, radio, OOH etc), Digital, Public Relations, and Experiential.

The brand Sunfeast Farmlite, conducted an integrated marketing approach in creating awareness about its product. The message across all platforms was the same – Promote a healthy lifestyle.

                          1 Sunfeast Farmlite organized India’s first reverse run with P.T.Usha.

2. The product was launched in Mumbai by reaching out to the 7000 people in a marathon.

3. The activation in Bangalore airport in April 2014, where passengers were asked to peddle the exercise cycle in order to get the conveyor belt started and get their luggage. Post this they were introduced to the product. Brand launched with on ground promotional activity and distributed 1.50 lacs free sampling with simple message “Pick Me” at Bengaluru Airport. On –ground activity is one of the best strategy where you can connect direct end-users, brand reach level very high, generate strong awareness, get prompt review & feedback, brand recalling, and interact with end-users appropriately.

4. Online Presence

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

5. Print Ads

6. Television Commercials

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8r7wsSpNnU

The Distribution Strategy

The place or the distribution strategy of a good involves the entire process of making a product or service available for the purpose of consumption to the consumer by direct or indirect ways. Direct ways mean that the producer is directly approaching the final consumer of the product, while indirect means that the producer is reaching the final consumer through various intermediaries.


ITC has a wide distribution channel, because of which it has a high market penetration. ITC cigarettes are available in all kinds of stores in urban and rural regions. As distribution was their strength, they decided to use it to their advantage and other FMCG products such as Sunfeast biscuits and Bingo Chips became a part of that distribution network. Now, ITC products are available in all forms of convenience stores, from “hole in the wall” paan and beedi stores to organized retail stores across the country.

The Pricing Strategy

Pricing is the value added to a particular product or service. It is done depending on the total cost that the company uses for a product’s manufacturing, distribution, promotion, advertising and sales of a product.

Pricing structures for the product are also decided depending on external factors such as inflation, competitor’s prices etc. Out of the four Ps of the marketing mix, price is the only revenue generating element.

The consumer looks for the value that the product is giving him, and is ready to pay the amount for it, accordingly. The customer’s basic motivation to purchase a product comes from a need and then a want.

The need – I need a health biscuit to satiate my hunger.

The want – I need to have Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits.

The factors which determine the effect of pricing on consumer buying decision are -

· Standard of Living
· Competition Price
· Income


For the manufacturer, the price is the only revenue generating element of the 4Ps, which makes it essential to price the product aptly. For most FMCG products, the following are taken into account while pricing a product –

· The cost of manufacturing
· The situation in the market (Recession/ Boom etc)
· The price of competitive products
· Quality of the product.


The price of Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits is Rs.50 for a pack of 150gms. This product is competitively priced because the market is growing and competitors are also offering health biscuits at similar prices. 

Britannia is offering its Oats biscuit at Rs.55 and Mcvities is offering its Oats Cookies at Rs. 38. Setting a price which lies between its two direct competitors could be a strategy used by Sunfeast

The Product Strategy

The Product
The product may or may not be a tangible one – it refers to anything that can be offered to the market to satisfy human wants. Product could include tangible goods, services, experiences, events, ideas, people, places, organizations and information.


The Product Hierarchy –

Need Family – Snacking
Product Family – Biscuits
Product Class – Healthy Biscuits
Product Line – Sunfeast
Product Type – Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits









The Product Level -

The product can be divided in five distinct product levels, each level adds more customer value and this constitutes the customer- value hierarchy.

1. The Core Benefit – The service or benefit that the customer is really buying. In the case of Farmlite Biscuits, it includes the benefit of snacking with the evening tea.


2. The Basic Product – The marketer must turn the core benefit into a basic product – the snacking benefit is derived by consumption of biscuits.


3. The Expected Product – This includes a set of attributes buyers normally expect when they purchase the product. In this case, the buyers expect a healthier version of biscuits and not the regular flour biscuits that are available in the market. Hence, ITC food division decided to introduce a health biscuit for its consumers, instead of flour, they introduced oats biscuits.


4. The Augmented Product – The product is made such that it exceeds the expectation of the consumer. ITC did this by introducing 2 variants – Oats & Raisins and Oats & Almonds. There aren’t any health biscuits in the market which have dry fruits in them.

5. The Potential Product – In encompasses all the possible augmentations and transformations the product or offering might undergo in the future. ITC can do this by introducing new variants in the category such as Ragi Biscuits and Oats Biscuits with Honey etc and expand its market share

Marketing Mix

The marketing mix of a product refers to the 4Ps of Marketing - the Product, the Price, the Place and the Promotion.

In order to implement the model of 4Ps effectively, it is important to connect it with the model of 4As by Mr.Jagdish Seth and Mr.Rajendra Sisodia.


The model of 4As consists of - Awareness Acceptability, Affordability and Accessibility.

• Prior to launching a Product, it is essential to know that it is desired by the target audience and that it caters to their need. This denotes that the product has to be acceptable to the consumer.In the case of Farmlite Biscuits, it was launched as a healthy option for snacking, acceptable to the health conscious consumer. 

• The Price of the product is essential because it may be the deciding factor for a consumer to purchase the product. It has to be affordable to the target consumers. Farmlite biscuits are priced reasonably, so that the consumers can purchase them. 

• The Place where the product will be available is of great importance because it needs to be accessible to the consumer at all points in time. Farmlite biscuits are available at all forms of grocery stores, be it departmental or local "kirana-wala". 

• Once the product is ready, the company needs to create awareness about it and this is done through promotions. Farmlite biscuits have done various print,television commercials as well as activation campaigns to attract its potential consumers.

Hence, in order to create a successful marketing mix, one needs to collaborate the 4Ps with the 4As.

Life Cycle Concepts

Product Life Cycle –


A product life cycle is a business analysis tool which attempts to identify a set of common stages in the life of various goods and services. It consists of four stages –


· Introduction – A period of slow sales growth as the product is introduced in the market. Profits are non-existent because of heavy expenses of product introduction such as advertising and promotions.


· Growth – A period of rapid market acceptance and earning of profits.


· Maturity – A slowdown in sales growth as the product achieves acceptance by most potential buyers. Profits stabilize or start declining because of an increase in number of competitors.


· Decline – Sales show a downward drift and profits decline.


Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits is in the growth stage as it has started earning greater profits as compared to its introduction stage.











Brand Life Cycle -


The three phases through which brands pass as they are introduced, grow, and then decline. The three stages of the brand life cycle are the introductory period, during which the brand is developed and is introduced to the market; the growth period, when the brand faces competition from other products of a similar nature; and, finally, the maturity period, in which the brand either extends to other products or its image is constantly updated.


Sunfeast as a brand is also on the growth stage of the brand life cycle.



Industry Life Cycle –


A concept relating to the different stages an industry will go through, from the first product entry to its eventual decline. There are typically five stages in the industry lifecycle. They are defined as -

i. Early Stages Phase - alternative product design and positioning, establishing the range and boundaries of the industry itself.

ii. Innovation Phase - Product innovation declines, process innovation begins and a "dominant design" will arrive.

iii. Cost or Shakeout Phase - Companies settle on the "dominant design"; economies of scale are achieved, forcing smaller players to be acquired or exit altogether. Barriers to entry become very high, as large-scale consolidation occurs.

iv. Maturity - Growth is no longer the main focus, market share and cash flow become the primary goals of the companies left in the space.

v. Decline - Revenues declining; the industry as a whole may be supplanted by a new one.



The health biscuit industry as a whole is at the cost or shakeout phase, where the dominant players are emerging and economies of scale are achieved.

Competition Analysis

India is the 3rd largest biscuit market in the world worth Rs.150 million and is moving towards preimumisation. Premiumisation means creating a  bridge between the desirability of the luxury world and the function and necessity of the mass market.


Overall, the market for healthy and nutritious biscuits fall in the range of Rs 500-600 crore. The sector includes sub categories such as digestives, diabetics, oats and others.


The major competition for Sunfeast Farmlite is -

Britannia

The health biscuit segment in India is growing and one of the first brands to launch them was Britannia by launching Britannia NutriChoice Biscuits in the nineties and it was re-launched in 2006. The re-launch coincided with the trend of the market moving towards healthy foods. The brand is credited with the creation of a healthy biscuit segment in the market.


The success of this brand can be attributed to the timing, persistence and constant improvement. The brand went for a change in the packaging along with re- branding which made the brand look more up-market and attractive.


It also launched various variants in the market to keep the interest levels of the consumers high.


Its digestive biscuit range comprising Britannia NutriChoice Digestive and Britannia NutriChoice 5 Grain, offered at Rs 20 per 100 gm and Rs 50 per 200 gm, respectively.

Apart from Britannia, other players in this category are- United Biscuit’s Mcvitie’s, Parle’s Actifit and Unibic Oat Cookies.

Consumer Decision-Making Process

The consumer decision making process involves the customer to  identify his needs, collect information, evaluate various options and then make his decision. In order to be a successful marketer, it becomes essential to understand this process. For ITC Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits, the decision making process can be explained as follows -

1. Who buys this item?


Health biscuits are a category which is aimed at people with the following characteristics –


· They are conscious about the importance of healthcare and diet.

· Worried about the family’s nutrition intake.

· Intention to purchase International Items

· Affluent people with a high disposable income.

· Erratic Lifestyle

· Having a “go-getter” attitude. Competing and performing well is essential to them.


In other words, the people who are expected to purchase Sunfeast Farmlite Biscuits are those living in urban or semi-urban regions, educated and having a middle or higher level job in the corporate sector. These people are health conscious and are constantly finding ways to stay fit.


2. What problem will this product solve?


The target consumers are constantly finding ways to stay fit and healthy and they also don’t want to make any drastic lifestyle changes. They would prefer doing this step by step and Sunfeast Farmlite biscuits would be one of the steps in achieving a healthier lifestyle. These biscuits aim to change snacking habits, at home or at the workplace, from traditional fried snacks to healthy and tasty biscuits.



3. Which attributes are important and why?

The following attributes are important –

· Taste
· Health benefits (Low fat, carbohydrates and sugar)


4. If this decision is the first time, how will it go? If it is repeat, how will it go?


If the decision to purchase this biscuit is for the first time, people will generally do that to try its taste. Taste will be important, because if the taste is similar with the existing competitors, then repeat purchase is unlikely. The introduction of another flavor can add as an incentive for repeat purchase.

Customer Perceived Value

 Customers tend to be value maximizers. They purchase that product which they believe delivers the maximum value. The concept of Customer perceived value describes the difference between the potential customer's evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of a product's offering and the perceived alternatives. Managers do this analysis on the basis of the following diagram, which describes the total customer benefit and the total customer cost, in order to understand the over customer perceived value concept.

Total consumer benefit is the perceived monetary value of the economic, functional and psychological benefits that a consumer expects from a market offering. For Farmlite Biscuits, the consumer benefits are - 

Total Consumer cost is the perceived bundle of costs that a consumer expects to incur in the process to evaluating, obtaining, using and disposing a product's offering. This includes monetary, time, energy and psychological costs. For Farmlite, the total consumer costs are -