CREATING & MANAGING BRAND EQUITY

Title: Assessment 1- Brand Audit for Maggi

Anastasia Savvopoulou – 100404651

Tutor: Miss Apostolia Loukopoulou

History of Maggi - brand of NestléMaggi is an over 100-year-old Nestlé brand of seasonings, instant soups, and noodles that originated in Switzerland. It was acquired by Nestlé in 1947.

The company originally started in Switzerland in 1885, when Julius Maggi took over his father’s mill.

In 1947, following several changes in ownership and corporate structure, Maggi's holding company merged with the Nestlé company to form Nestlé-Alimentana S.A..Maggi. [Online]. (Accessed: 8 March 2016).

Maggi’s brand elements (1)Brand elements refer to anything that identifies the brand including name, web urls, logos, symbols, characters, slogans, jingles, packaging, and signage. (Keller, 2007).

Brand elements are important tools for building brand equity, as they can enhance consumers’ brand awareness.

The main ‘elements’ of Maggi’s visual identity are:

• Name – the part of the brand that can be spoken which is the word “Maggi”

• Logotype – symbol or design elements

• Trademark – brand logo given legal protection

Maggi’s brand elements (2)• Packaging – Maggi has a range of packages because of all the different types of products and in many cases the same products in different packages of 50, 100 and 200 mg.

• Slogan – Maggi as a brand is followed by various slogans, some of them are:“Maggi Takes The Health Route” & “Happiness is homemade”.

Brand HierarchyThe Corporate Brand

The Sub-brand

Brand ArchitectureCompanies need to improve their efficiency on a regular basis. One way of doing this is to reorganize supply under parent brands that fulfill more than an endorsing function. These brands are a source of strong and unique values shared by all products and sub-brands.

In our case, Nestlé is the corporate brand followed by the sub-brands. Maggi is a sub-brand with a rich products portfolio.

Product portfolio:

• Maggi Noodles

• Maggi Sauces

• Maggi Healthy Soups

• Maggi Cubes

Strategic branding alliancesA brand alliance is a branding strategy used in a business alliance. Brand alliances, as a term is often followed by a variety of terms such as co-branding, joint branding or cross-promotion. Maggi uses symbolic and physical alliances.In general Maggi introduces new products by promoting them through:

• Celebrity endorsement (Symbolic alliance)

• Bundled Products (Physical alliance)

The brand’s current positioning in the marketplace (1)

Brand positioning is more than just stating your case, all brands do that, whether they are successes or failures. The real test for a successful brand is whether it finds or creates a relevant space in the target customer’s mind, and if it cements its brand definition and values there.

Adapted from Kapferer, 2012

The brand for what benefit?Maggi has always positioned itself as “Healthy Noodles”. Furthermore phrases like “Fast to cook, good to eat” & “2-minute noodles” build the mental image of the brand.

The brand for whom?Maggi’s target markets are:• Chefs who innovate• Working mothers• Health conscious people

The brand’s current positioning in the marketplace (2)

The brand against whom?

Maggi’s top competitor is Knorr due to the similar products and prices.

The brand why?

The reason why consumers should use Maggi’s products is because it’s healthy!The main message as it is referred previously is that “Maggi Takes The HealthRoute”.

Brand Health (1)The key elements for Brand Health are:

Leadership Liabilities

One of the key driving forces for Maggi products is the availability in the markets. Maggi has retailers as intermediates that sell its products (supermarkets and mini markets).

On June of 2015, Union Food & Consumer Affairs Minister ordered safety checks on Maggi instant noodles due to the fact that food inspectors said the test batches of the popular snack were found to contain dangerous levels of lead – 17.2 parts per million on instant noodles which is 7 times the legal limit.

Brand Health (2) Attractiveness Distinctiveness

People like Maggi due to the convenience of preparation. The preference for instant food is because of lack of time and the need of a quick snack.Some of the driving forces for Maggi are: brand image, taste, packaging, preparation time and availability in market.

Brand image is the “perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand association held in consumer memory”. (Keller, 1993)Maggi as a brand differentiates due to the range of products and the reason that gives to consumers to buy. The slogan “Ready to Cook” made Maggi a strong brand. Maggi brought the innovative “2-minutes noodles” and the brand name became a synonym for its products.

Brand Health (3)Satisfaction:

Brand PersonalityBrand Personality is the psychological nature of a particular brand as intended by its sellers, though consumers may see the brand otherwise (brand image).

Most of the times we choose brands that they are familiar with our personalities.

As a result Maggi could be characterized as:

Traditional Honest Domestic

Brand Equity sourcesThe brand equity for Maggi comes from Brand Loyalty and Brand Awareness.

Maggi always highlighted and emphasized its consumers and customers as their ambassadors. They made it clear that it is only because of the Moms and their kids love and likings; they are now one of the strongest brands in instant food market. So the consumers through the years have become loyal to this brand and its products and of course the result of all this is brand awareness.

The “2-minute noodle” product created a bond that no other brand in the category, or even across categories of instant food could build. Maggi is to instant noodle what Xerox is to photocopies, where the product and brand have become synonymous.

Maggi has achieved differentiation through the other competitors in the category of Noodles. That has as a result other products to be blocked from extending. The brand needs loyal customers to all of its products. New strategies could be followed in order to help other products become popular, too.

Branding through the marketing mix elements

1. Products: Variety, Quality, Packaging/sizes – family packs available, Name, Logo.2. Price: Discounts, Low prices, Offers in different package sizes.3. Place: Retailers – Intensive distribution network in the city.

4. Promotion: Word of mouth, Advertising, Sales promotion – Use of posters, Point of sales.5. Physical Evidence: Factories, Transportation, and Services.

6. Process: The production of the products and the transportation.

7: People: The individuals involved in the production, sale and purchase of products - Manufacturers, Distributors, Employees, Consumers.

ReferencesKapferer, Jean-Noël. (2008) New Strategic Brand Management: creating and sustaining brand equity long term. 4th edn. Kogan Page

Cheverton, Peter. (2004) Key marketing skills: turning marketing strategy into marketing reality, a complete action kit of strategies, tools and techniques for marketing success. 2nd edn. Kogan Page

Maggi. [Online]. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggi (Accessed: 8 March 2016).

Meri Maggi, A Curious Tale of Brand Loyalty!. [Online]. Available at: http://marketingbuzzar.com/2015/06/meri-maggi-a-curious-tale-of-brand-loyalty/ (Accessed: 11 March 2016).

Marketing mix of Nestle. [Online]. Available at: http://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-nestle/ (Accessed: 11 March 2016).

Thank youfor your time!