Distribution

HUL started UPL (unilever premier league) program and BETTER stores concept. Earlier it was super value concept: In this concept the retailers were paid on giving their shelves to the company for displaying their product and also they were given a target on achieving for which they were given rewards.

HUL has introduced kiosk channel to strengthen the distribution set up.These kiosks helped the company to increase their sales in the rural areas and they got a good hold of the customers and set up a good distribution channel to keep the customers intact. This made it difficult for the competitors to get hold of that market.

To penetrate the rural markets, HUL launched a four-tier distribution system in which markets were segmented based on their accessibility and business potential.

Direct Coverage: HUL appointed a common stockist to service all outlets within a town.

Indirect Coverage: HUL targeted retailers in accessible villages close to larger urban markets.

Streamline: Reaching markets inaccessible by roads

Project Shakti targeted the very small villages and tapped into the rural women group.

HUL’s products are distributed through a network of 4000 re-distributors, stockist covering 6.3 million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population and about 250 million rural consumers. 

Today,Kissan Jam has a strong distribution network.It is widely available in almost all local stores. 

Pricing Strategies

At the time Kissan was formed, consumers had limited purchasing power. Thus Kissan adopted a low-cost price strategy to make its products affordable and attractive to consumers by guaranteeing them value for money. Despite competition, it ensured that the product mix and the sequence in which Kissan introduces its products is consistent with the core philosophy of providing jam at a basic, affordable price to appeal to the common masses. This helped Kissan Jam to create its brand image in the household sector of the society.

The current prices are:

Kissan Mixed fruit jam

500 gms bottle: Rs.110

200 gms bottle: Rs.48

15 gms sachet- Rs.2

100 gms tub- Rs.24

70 gms squeeze tube- Rs.24

Life Cycles

A Product Life Cycle looks at the different stages through which the product goes at different times from the starting point till it exits the market.

So why do life cycle stages change?

Life cycle stages change as different consumers come in or go out, some adopt the product, some become loyal customers while some don’t.

This happens because consumer requirements are met by different formats as competitors start coming in. Consumers look at all available choices in the market. As more and more competitors come in, it no longer remains a product life cycle, it becomes an industry life cycle. Thus the appropriate unit of analysis would be Industry Life Cycle.

At the same time, it is important to look at how the brand grows over a period of time. After all, a strong brand name adds great value.

As Stephen King,WPP Group,London righly said: A product is something made in a factory, a brand is something that is bought by the customer; a product can be copied by a competitor,a brand is unique; a product can be quickly outdated,a successful brand is timeless.

A Brand Life Cycle helps the company understand and change accordingly, it’s strategies and positioning of the brand. 

The different life cycle stages are shown below:

There are five different life cycle stages:

1)Development:

The ‘incubation stage’ when the product concept is developed,conceived and tested before being introduced in the market.

Strategies:

-         Deciding on the concept,pricing etc.

-       Pre-launch and initial promotions

 2) Introduction: When the product is introduced in the market, promotional expenditures are high to create product awareness and develop a market for the product. Profits are non existent because of high promotion and low sales. In this phase, promotion is mainly aimed at innovators and early adopters.

 Strategies:

When to enter the market?

-pioneer v/s market leader

2)Growth: This stage is marked by a climbing up of sales. Focus is now on building product preference and increasing market share of the product as new competitors enter. This is aimed mainly at early adopters.

 Strategies:

-Improve product quality: add new features

- Enter new market segments

-Increase distribution coverage

-Lower prices to attract next layer of price-sensitive buyers

-Taking advantage of economies of scale

3)Maturity: This stage comes when the strong growth in sales diminishes and the objective is to defend market share while maximizing profit. This is aimed at middle majority customers.

 Strategies:

- Market modification: Expand the market

- Product modification: Adding new features

- Market program modification: Modifying price,distribution etc.

4)Decline: This stage starts when sales show a decline. It could be for a number of reasons: shifting consumer preferences,increasing competition etc.

 Strategies:

-       Harvesting: Gradually reducing the product’s or business’s cost while trying to maintain sales.

-       Divesting:  Sell the product to another firm

Kissan is a food brand that originated in 1935,was acquired by Brooke Bond in 1993 from UB group, after which it formed an independent brand under HUL in 1994. 

Today, it is the market leader with the largest market share of 65% . It has reached a stage where it has quite a few competitors. A lot of existing customers have shifted to alternatives but the loyal customers continue to buy kissan jam. So right now, it is in it’s maturity stage where it needs to keep making multiple offerings to multiple customers and maintain the market share.

Competition Analysis

According to Ohmae's 3C Model of marketing, a customer is making a choice at all  points of time between different offerings. Only by integrating corporation,customer and competition,can a sustained competitive advantage exist.Thus, tackling competition becomes very important. 

Kissan has the largest market share in jam(65%) and thus is the dominant brand in the industry. Some existing competitors would be

Direct Competitors: sil jam,mapro jam,druk jam,tops jam.

Substitute Products: Honey,Nutella Spread,Butter

All the direct competitors occupy a small percent of the market share. As far as the substitute products are concerned, butter can be a substitute for jam, but health conscious people may opt for mixed fruit jam rather than butter. Nutella Spread is also a substitute but it’s pricing is comparatively higher and availability is not as widespread as Kissan Jam.Honey could be a strong competitor since people who are health conscious might switch to honey. However, as far as the kids segment is concerned, kissan jam is more popular,thanks to the fun advertising and different flavors by kissan jam that are targeted specifically to attract kids.

Kissan jam has been innovating in different ways to differentiate it’s product and tackle competition:

Product diversity: Different flavors like pineapple, mango, orange, strawberry, guava etc.

Innovative packaging: It was the first to bring in easy to use squezee bottles, tubs and sachets. This attracted the kids as well as mothers who thought it is easy and safer for the kids to use squeeze bottles viz-a-viz the glass bottle.

New ways to use the product:

The roti disappears with jam advertisement encouraged the use of kissan jam with roti as well. It showed roti rolls with different flavor jams.

Also, in order to compete with the other healthy options like honey, Kissan launched a new breakfast spread- Kissan fruit kick spread, with no added sugar,targeted mainly at teenagers and the health conscious youth.It is available in two different combinations- dry fruit and mixed fruit.

Buying Decisions

Who all will buy Kissan Jam?

-A major consumer segment for Kissan is kids and the younger generation. Mothers buy Kissan Jam for their children to give them something that is nutritious and at the same time tasty for them to eat.

-However, it can also be anyone who wishes to have a swift ,tasty and wholesome breakfast or snack. So this would include people living outside their homes in paying guests or hostels who want tasty and healthy on the go food.

What problem will it solve?

Kids want tasty food and in the process they end up eating more junk food and less nutritious food. With Kissan jam being a combination of good taste and nutrition, it will solve the purpose for both mothers and children.

Also, it will solve the problem of a healthy and a tasty spread for a swift breakfast or snack.

Which attributes of the product are important and why?

-The unique taste

-Taste combined with nutrition

- Easy to use squeezee packs and sachets viz-a-viz the glass bottle




So a consumer usually goes through the following steps before making a buying decision:

Creating and delivering value

Theoretically speaking, customer perceived value is the difference between the prospective customer’s evaluation of all the benefits and and all the costs of an offering and the perceived alternatives.

So how does Kissan jam add value to the customer?

Strong Brand Image: It adds phenomenal value with it’s strong brand presence, being a brand that is trusted by millions of people. Today it is more than just a bottle of jam, it’s about kids eating happily and growing up happily.

So when a mother buys Kissan jam for her children, the value to her is the satisfaction of feeding her children with tasty and nutritional food. For children, it is the unique taste that adds value.

Competitive price: Kissan Jam is sold at a price almost equivalent to that of it’s competitors.

The fun factor: Targeted majorly at kids, Kissan Jam has always had a fun factor to it. This has been seen in it’s excellent advertising and visibility. The jammy ad campaign with Rahul Dravid,the roti disappears with jam advertisement,the Kissan Jammy art carnival are just some examples of how it has created value with it’s fun factor that kids can relate to.

Product diversity: But it’s not just children who love Kissan Jam, a lot of people who wish to have a delicious wholesome snack consume Kissan Jam. Apart from the unique taste, it also adds value with it’s product diversity i.e  a variety of different flavors like pineapple, mango, orange, strawberry, guava etc. which give more choice to consumers.

Innovative Packaging: For those who like a quick on the go snack , Kissan Jam comes in easy to use squeeze packs and sachets. It is also available in tubs packaging. This makes it easy for customers to buy in different quantities as per their needs and also easier to use viz-a-viz the glass bottle, considering that a major consumer segment is children.

Easily available:Kissan Jam also has one of the strongest distribution channels so the product is easily available in most stores across India.

Value to retailer: For the retailer, Kissan Jam can add value when he/she keeps complementary goods along with it.  For example: bread

Kissan Jam- An introduction

How Jams came into play:

The Romans were the first to record their methods for preserving fruit and producing jam to store for the harder winter months when fruit was scarce. Originally jams were made using sweeteners such as honey, but as sugar began to be imported from the British colonies this became the preferred sweetener.

A common problem when producing the first jams and chutneys was storing it. In order to stop the preserves from spoiling the storage container needed to be airtight. It wasn’t until the mid nineteenth century, when Caleb Kilner developed the revolutionary glass plug and liner method, that a reliable and safe method of storing became available.

So from a simple need to preserve fruits to storing them, came the concept of jams, which Kissan then introduced as an exciting, delicious and healthy product.

Kissan is a food brand that originated in 1935,was acquired by Brooke Bond in 1993 from UB group, after which it formed an independent brand under HUL in 1994.

The brand offers a variety of products like ketchups,jams,ready to drink products etc. Today, it is one of the most trusted brands in India.  It has been a heritage brand in providing happiness to millions of families.,finding a way to keep both mothers and kids happy. In the year 2000, the brand was worth Rs. 400 crores. It is the market leader in the jam segment with 65% of the market share.

So for anyone who wants a quick and delicious snack, Kissan jam is the solution-whether you spread it over bread,roti or add it to your ice cream, you get a  mouthwatering snack within minutes. Summarizing it in one sentence, I would say - it is a rare combination of good taste and good health.