IMB 519
SENSORY BRANDING: OREO IN THE INDIAN
CONTEXT
S RAMESH KUMAR, NALIN GOEL AND GIREESH GERA
S Ramesh Kumar, Professor of Marketing, Nalin Goel and Gireesh Gera prepared this case for class discussion. This case is not
intended to serve as an endorsement, source of primary data, or to show effective or inefficient handling of decision or busi ness
processes.
Copyright © 2015 by the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. No part of the publication may be reproduced or
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without the permission of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
After the liberalization of markets, consumer lifestyles in the Indian context had experienced a significant
shift. Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) had not only experienced a proliferation of categories (fabric
softener, surface cleaners, and liquid dish washing liquids to name a few), but the categories had also
introduced offerings that were indulgences. The biscuit category that was once associated with kids
developed several niches targeting adults. Cookies, health biscuits, and cream biscuits are some of these
niche markets. Sensory branding associated with indulgence (in the instance of biscuits, it is consumption
experience) is one of the routes followed by several brands in the category. Britannia, Parle, and Sunfeast
are brands that had attempted to create brand differentiation through taste, consumption experiences, and
visual imagery. Oreo, the well-known brand of cream biscuits had entered the Indian context. Chella
Pandyan, Country Head (Biscuits), Mondelez who was handling the brand pondered over the following
questions that formed the broad canvas for this case:
•
•
•
•
How should Oreo differentiate itself from competitors?
Should the brand reposition itself after it had created awareness in India?
How should the perception of consumers be taken into consideration if Oreo is to be repositioned?
Sensory branding and brand imagery are investigated in this case from several perspectives.
In March 2015, it had been 4 years since the launch of the world’s most famous sandwich cookie, Oreo,
in India. In those 4 years, Oreo had performed exceptionally well and India was already the 3rd largest
market for Oreo globally.
Chella Pandyan, the Country Lead for Biscuits at Cadbury (owned by Kraft Foods) in India was looking
at the latest market share figures. Oreo’s market share in the cream biscuit segment in India had remained
at a constant 6% for the last 2 years.1 He realized that well-entrenched brands such as Parle and Britannia
had a better distribution and knowledge of the Indian market. The other Indian brand, Sunfeast from ITC
had also launched various premium cream biscuits and cookies in the last few years.
In such a situation, was it possible for Oreo as a brand to sustain itself effectively? What could Oreo do to
tap the expanding premium creams market and increase its market share?
Chella Pandyan thought he would have to be prepared to reposition Oreo to confront the rapid changes
taking place in the market.
INDIAN BISCUITS INDUSTRY
The Indian biscuits market had a size of INR 2402 billion ($1 =INR 62 approx in January 2014) in 2014
and was dominated by three main brands – Parle, Britannia, and ITC. There were also many prominent
regional players such as Bisk Farm, Priyagold, Cremica, and Anmol. To add to the competition, there was
a large unorganized market for biscuits in India. The market had grown steadily over the last decade with
growth rates in recent years of around 11% (2010–2012).3 However, the growth rate reduced to 8% in
2014.4 This slowdown in the growth combined with consumers’ preferences for better varieties of biscuits
1
2
3
4
http://www.hindustantimes.com/business-news/late-entrant-oreo-finds-indian-consumer-willing/article1-866005.aspx
http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/the-biscuit-battles-114120800961_1.html
http://www.ibmabiscuits.in/industry-statistics.html
http://www.livemint.com/Consumer/txYZbg3WRT5uG9VgTHvUeP/Biscuit-makers-aim-for-a-bigger-bite-of-health-premium-mark.html
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
prompted leading brands to include them in their premium offerings which also promised better profit
margins. These additions were in the form of cream biscuits and cookies. The INR 72 billion cookie-pluscream market constituted 30% of the overall INR 240 billion biscuit market and comprised its premium
end. This segment was the fastest-growing among different segments of the biscuit industry and had
replaced glucose biscuits as the biggest segment.5 It was expected to grow at a rate of 17% per annum.
There was additional focus on premium biscuits by the well-entrenched brands as they altered the margins
of the biscuit business. Profit margins at the higher-end were very high, nearly two and a half times more
than the value segment, and the leading brands were keen to contest in the premium segment.
How were these offerings in the premium segment perceived by consumers on various dimensions of
consumption? As biscuit brands, did these only serve the functional needs of satisfying hunger or was
there anything more to the consumption of these offerings? Did brands get themselves differentiated in
consumer perception?
BRANDS CHOSEN FOR THE STUDY
Among various brands in the biscuits space, Britannia was the leading brand with an estimated market
share of 30% in the cookie market. ITC as the largest brand with an estimated share of around 26% in the
cream biscuit market. Parle, the number two in both cream biscuits (22%) and cookies (27%) segment,
occupied the top spot when the two segments were combined. It had a share of 25% in the INR 7,200crore cookie-plus-cream market. The fourth brand of the premium market was Cadbury with its brand
Oreo. Oreo share of the market was 6%. ITC was still ahead of Mondelez (Oreo brand) in this segment
with its Dark Fantasy brand (2014),6 and Britannia re-launched its cream biscuits premium brand Pure
Magic in 2012.
Cadbury Oreo had to position itself against its two strongly entrenched brands in the premium segment:
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy, and Britannia Pure Magic.
Cadbury Oreo
Cadbury launched its cream cookie Oreo in India in March 2011 as Cadbury Oreo. Cadbury was
associated with attributes such as delicious, family-oriented, traditional, sweet, chocolate, purple
packaging,7 etc., which reinforced Oreo’s offering and provided a solid base for its successful
introduction in Indian market. At the time of its launch, Oreo was a well-established global brand but
comparatively new in Indian markets. Subsequently, Oreo gained a substantial share of the highly
competitive premium cookie market at the expense of its competitors such as Parle, Britannia, and ITC.
The primary target market included children and teenagers while the secondary target included the young
fun loving adults belonging to age group of 25–40 years.8 Targeted consumers belonged to the middle or
5
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/ITC-plans-to-eat-into-Britannias-cookie-pie/articleshow/45276582.cms
http://www.business-standard.com/article/management/britannia-wants-a-bigger-bite-out-of-top-end-biscuits-114060401567_1.html
7 http://mediapanther.co.in/branding/krafting-oreo-for-cadbury-in-india/
8 http://carpediemjournal.acu.edu.au/ data/assets/pdf_file/0019/500059/Carpe_Diem_8_-_Nabisco_Marketing_Analysis.pdf
6
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
upper classes of the economic spectrum and were conscious about the product quality and were also
influenced by the western appeal associated with the offering. Oreo, being a portable convenient snack
satisfied functional needs such as the feeling of being hungry or other cravings at untimely hours where
the target consumers desired to munch the crisp cookies. For kids, it was a medium for having fun with
the milk and cream biscuits.
Oreo was a sandwich cookie or cream biscuit and belonged to the premium segment of sandwich cookies.
The specially designed emboss on the cookie rendered an enigmatic look to ‘‘America’s favorite
cookie’’9 adding to its premium image. The biscuit consisted of two dark chocolate biscuits with vanilla
cream sandwiched between them. The company retained the original bitter chocolate cookie with sweet
vanilla cream (original taste was derived from Western tastes) to maintain differentiation with local
brands as well as match up to customer expectations of having the “real thing” from the aspirational
Western brand.
The product used its global positioning of “Twist, Lick, and Dunk” ritual to gain market share in the
Indian markets. Oreo used the affective appeal (emotional) to reinforce its product as a binding force
between relationships – siblings, parents, and kids. Initial advertisements showed a father and his son
bonding over the ‘‘Twist, Lick and Dunk’’ ritual associated with the brand. The brand later appointed
young and spunky Ranbir Kapoor as its brand ambassador to leverage his personality to tap the youngadult market in India. The brand’s advertisements were embedded with elements of fun and frolic and
focused on the bonding shared over Oreo along with the naughtiness in relationships of kids and adults.
The ad as in Exhibit 2 reflected yet another playful relationship between young adult siblings in a middle
class family setting, while also focusing on the product attributes of chocolatey cream and crunchy
cookie. The brand through its communications tried to focus on family orientation with social value
associated with the consumption of the product. The brand also exhibited some degree of aspirational
appeal as the country of origin was America which had highly influenced Indian consumers for a long
time. The product and packaging aspects are detailed in Exhibit 3.
The smaller sized packs launched by the brand made it more suitable for sampling as well as attracting the
consumer towards impulse purchase which is prominent in the premium cookie segment. It also helped
the brand to leverage its distribution network in urban as well as rural markets.
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy
ITC entered the biscuit market in 2003 by launching the Sunfeast range of biscuits.10 Sunfeast biscuits
were known for their quality and innovative offerings as wholesome biscuits. Sunfeast represented the
moods associated with happiness, pleasure, and satisfaction through its brand communication. It was
launched as a sub-brand (Sunfeast Dark Fantasy) and then later promoted as a standalone brand.
The target market included teenagers and young fun loving adults belonging to the age group of 15–25
years.11 The offering targeted consumers who belonged to the middle or upper classes of the economic
9
10
11
http://www.americasgreatestbrands.com/volume6/pdf/Oreos.pdf
http://www.itcportal.com/businesses/fmcg/foods/sunfeast.aspx
http://www.slideshare.net/SoochnaSahu/repositioning-of-sunfeast-dark-fantasy?related=1
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
spectrum and were conscious about the product quality. Generally, college-going students or young
professionals who had recently started their career and were enthusiastic about new tastes formed the
target segment. The usage situations for these segments arose out of cravings at untimely hours when they
desired to enjoy the creamy biscuits or out of functional needs such as satisfaction of hunger pangs.
The product Dark Fantasy had thick, rich and delicious vanilla and chocolate cream packed between two
crispy crunchy chocolate cookies. The website defined the biscuit in a rather mesmerizing manner as
“Inspired by the Master Chefs of ITC hotels, it is the richest of chocolate vanilla biscuits. These biscuits
are created using carefully chosen premium ingredients for a sensory experience unlike any other. Dark
Fantasy is more than a biscuit; it's a luxurious mix of aromatic cocoa and vanilla.”12
Sunfeast launched the brand as a premium and aspirational product at the time when premium niche was
not very competitive in the Indian market. It was built on the emotional plinth by offering the
differentiated proposition of ‘'Indulgence'’. It had the tagline “Pure Indulgence” when it was launched.
Later the tagline was changed to "Escape into One ".13 The brand was projected as a biscuit which
satisfied the sensory cravings and let one immerse in an indulging experience. The imagery was built and
supported by great campaigning and a balanced marketing mix. The storyboard in Exhibit 2 talks about
the advertisement that provided luxurious, premium, and aspirational associations to the product in rich
royal settings with focus on materialism. The representation of melted cream flowing between crispy
cookies created an affective appeal to one’s sensory receptors of the body, urging the consumer to revel in
that “sweet sin”. At the time of writing the case, the Facebook page of the brand had a following of 1.6
million subscribers. The page served high visual content enhancing the sensory appeal of indulging in
tasteful cookies.
With respect to brand elements, the brand launched itself with an ultra-premium packaging in a matte
finish and a bold use of rich colors and calligraphic script to supplement the brand's aspirational
positioning. The product pricing was at a higher price point than the non-premium offerings to augment
the premium positioning of the product, while the small SKUs helped the brand to encourage the impulse
purchase of the indulgent cookies.
Britannia Pure Magic
Established in 1892, Britannia was a large food-product corporation engaged in dairy and biscuits
businesses. The company's biscuit offerings in 2015 were spread across the spectrum with various brands
including Marie Gold, Tiger, NutriChoice, Good Day, 50 50, Treat, Pure Magic, Milk Bikis, Bourbon,
Nice, and Little Hearts among others.
In the cream biscuits segment, Britannia Pure Magic biscuits were nationally present in India in 198914
and later the brand was revamped several times, the last one in 2012.15 Before the 2012 rebranding, the
Pure Magic portfolio consisted of cream biscuits and Danish cookies. The price points varied between
12
13
14
15
http://www.itcportal.com/businesses/fmcg/foods/sunfeast.aspx
http://www.itcportal.com/media-centre/press-reports-content.aspx?id=1531&type=C
http://www.moneycontrol.com/company-facts/britanniaindustries/history/BI
http://www.mydigitalfc.com/news/rivals-force-britannia-relaunch-pure-magic-506
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
INR 35 and INR 200 and the biscuits were available mostly in Delhi and Bangalore.16 Britannia relaunched Pure Magic in 2012 to cope with competition from international players such as Kraft’s Oreo,
and local players such as ITC’s Sunfeast Dark Fantasy. The relaunch enhanced the product experience
and introduced international quality chocolate. It provided the brand new packaging and new variants.
The distribution was enhanced to expand the reach of the brand. In 2015, the brand consisted of variants:
vanilla crème, chocolate crème and praline crème,17 which were available at INR 25 for a 100 gram pack.
Britannia Pure Magic since the beginning was a top end, premium biscuit. It was a cream biscuit targeted
at the neo-rich, self-indulgent, worldly-wise young beings who “lived the moment”.18 It evoked its target
segment to identify with excess, luxury, and indulgence. The spirit of the brand was to create a mood of
greed, craving, pampering, and enticing through product packaging. The brand communication
encouraged consumers to grab the biscuits to satisfy their hunger pangs or sweet cravings.19 Calling itself
as fine chocolate artistry, the brand promised a truly magical escape into a chocolicious world by the
combination of gooey cream nestled between crisp chocolatey biscuits. The TV advertisement is referred
to in Exhibit 2. Both the advertisement and the packaging showed liquid cream sandwiched between two
cookies in a mouthwatering fashion, which was embodied in the tagline – “Pure Bliss, Pure Magic”.
UNDERSTANDING PERCEPTIONS OF THE BRANDS
After considering and deliberating on the brands competing against Cadbury Oreo, Chella Pandyan
decided to conduct a survey in order to explore the three dimensions of consumptions namely functional,
emotional, and symbolic by anchoring them to the three brands Cadbury Oreo, Britannia Pure Magic, and
Sunfeast Dark Fantasy. The objective of the study was to understand if there existed any differences
between these brands across these consumption dimensions in the perception of consumers of premium
offerings. Chella Pandyan constructed a survey instrument (questionnaire) containing a series of
statements seeking responses of respondents on a 5-point Likert Scale. The range of 1 to 5 captured the
respondents’ intensity of disagreement or agreement for a given item in the questionnaire. The results
obtained are shown in Exhibit 1.
There were 62 respondents, who belonged to the young-adult segment, within the age group of 18–26
years. They were well educated with most of them having post-graduate degrees. The respondents had
seen and/or consumed the given brands. They were young and enthusiastic people who were willing to try
new products and new experiences.
In addition, Chella Pandyan also decided to conduct a focus group discussion with six people from among
the respondents to gain some more insights that might not be accessible through the survey. The
discussion provided interesting insights into the premium cream biscuit brands. Almost all respondents
agreed that such biscuits were consumed by people mainly in cities, who were willing to spend more to
satisfy their cravings and indulge themselves. However, unlike normal biscuits such as glucose, Marie or
basic cookies were consumed as basic snack items daily: premium cream cookies were not consumed in
the same fashion. There was no particular ritual attached to their consumption and some respondents were
16
17
18
19
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/britannia-eyes-premium-biscuits-segment-with-pure-magic/articleshow/2370156.cms
http://www.britannia.co.in/brandstories_puremagic.htm
http://www.rebrand.com/2009-merit-britannia-industries-pure-magic-brand
http://bigbasket.com/pd/297678/britannia-pure-magic-vanilla-biscuits-100-gm-pouch/
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
confused as to when to consume such biscuits. Participants pointed that there was a guilt feeling attached
to the consumption of these biscuits. They knew that the biscuits were sugary and full of calories and
hence could not be consumed daily. Also, they mentioned that it was difficult to fight their urges if they
opened a biscuit pack and they felt compelled to finish it in one sitting, thus adding to the guilt. Some
participants felt that they could now proudly serve these cream biscuits to their guests. Earlier, they would
buy premium biscuits from local bakeries to serve their guests. However, all participants possessed
similar imagery with respect to the three brands under consideration. When asked for their perceptions
about the brands in consideration, the participants strongly related Dark Fantasy to sensual appeal. They
called Pure Magic or Dark Fantasy as something that they would enjoy alone. They linked consumption
of these brands to pampering themselves. On the other hand, they related Oreo with sharing between
friends, or with collective consumption. To the question of what their expectations were from a cream
biscuit brand, they mentioned the need fulfillment of hunger pangs, anytime and portable snacking, and
fulfillment of their craving for sensory indulgence as benefits that they would expect from a cream
biscuit.
Chella Pandyan had to decide on the repositioning strategy taking into consideration the results of the
survey.
The authors would like to thank Chella Pandyan, Country Head, Biscuits, Mondelez India Foods Private Limited for all his support to the
case study.
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
Exhibit 1
Perception of the brands – Scores
Sl.
No.
Statement
Oreo
1
Consuming these brands of biscuits provides me energy
I associate these brands of biscuits with comfort food; food
which makes me happy
I associate these brands of biscuits with expensiveness
I can identify with these brands of biscuits
I consume & share these brands of biscuits with my friends
I consume these brands of biscuits as a quick snack
I consume these brands of biscuits for satisfying my hunger
pangs
I feel like treating myself by consuming these brands of
biscuits
These brands of biscuits are consumed only by specific
type of people
These brands of biscuits are indulgent
These brands of biscuits are made by careful processing &
handling
These brands of biscuits are very creamy
These brands of biscuits communicate who I am to other
people
These brands of biscuits have a great taste
These brands of biscuits have a very crispy cookie
These brands of biscuits have a very pleasing appearance
These brands of biscuits have wonderful aroma
These brands of biscuits have excellent quality
These brands of biscuits help me become the type of person
I want to be
These brands of biscuits induce strong feelings and
sentiments in me
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
2.82
Sunfeast
Dark
Fantasy
2.79
Britannia
Pure
Magic
2.74
3.52
3.63
3.48
3.34
3.35
3.45
3.50
4.18
3.16
3.34
3.39
3.73
2.94
3.23
3.34
3.42
3.29
3.19
3.27
3.56
3.18
3.05
3.47
3.15
3.63
4.11
3.71
4.05
4.00
3.87
3.87
4.03
3.66
3.27
3.23
2.97
4.13
3.85
3.98
3.45
4.19
4.16
3.82
4.23
3.77
4.27
3.77
3.66
3.74
3.40
3.92
2.47
2.34
2.21
2.82
2.77
2.63
Note: Higher score on the scale indicates a higher degree of agreement
Source: Data was obtained from the survey conducted by the authors. The questions have been drawn by Liselot Hudders, Mario Pandelaere and
Patrick Vyncke, Consumer meaning making - The meaning of luxury brands in a democratised luxury world. International Journal of Market
Research, 2013, 55 (3), 391-402.
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
Exhibit 2
Brand Communications
Storyboard for Cadbury Oreo
Ranbir Kapoor (Indian celebrity) is an Air Force pilot who is ready to leave home for duty while his sister
tells him that she would miss him. Ranbir then asks her to have Oreo biscuits whenever she would miss
him. He mentions that Oreo has a very chocolatey and sweet cream, just like him; and then further says
that it also has a chocolatey and crunchy cookie, again just like him. When his sister asks how Oreo is like
her, he teases her and says that Oreo’s crunchy wrapper is like her as the crunchy wrapper is similar to her
chatting all day long. The ad having a middle class setting thus features love and playfulness in the
relationships among young adults.
Storyboard for Sunfeast Dark Fantasy
The ad shows two parallel imageries. The first one is of a beautiful lady in a faraway castle who is shown
with her expensive diamonds, jewelry, exotic pets, and in a satin dressing gown. The other imagery is of
molten cream and chocolate flowing like a river and covering the cream biscuits, biscuits falling into
molten chocolate, white cream oozing between two layers of cookies, and biscuits falling into chocolate
powder. There are alternating clips of the above mentioned imagery. The lady then eats the cream biscuits
in a sensual manner and the voiceover says: "How far will you go for your dark fantasy? Sunfeast Dark
Fantasy – Escape into one".
Storyboard for Britannia Pure Magic
The ad starts with the imagery of strands of liquid cream and chocolate being mixed together and
sandwiched between two chocolate cookies. The cream biscuits are then seen falling into melted
chocolate. The background voice provides a sophisticated makeover by saying, “Pure Crème, Pure
Chocolate. Voila. Pure Magic”. The product is shown in a very mouthwatering way, with the imagery of
liquid chocolate sandwiched between two cookies and ending with a display of the product package.
Source: Authors’ analysis of advertisements of brands
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Sensory Branding: Oreo in the Indian Context
Exhibit 3
Product & packaging aspects of Cadbury Oreo
Source: Company
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