How many of you can answer this?
What is one common thing among Nescafe, Caregrow, KitKat, and Maggi?
Any guesses?
Yes, they are world-renowned brands, are familiar names in every household, and are products you must have consumed in your life at one point.
Anything other than these?
Yes. All these belong to one and only Nestle.
Be it in the fresh smell of hot coffee, a short break, or a bowl of tasty noodles- we cannot deny that all of us have enjoyed the awesomeness of Nestle’s products.
The brand has come a long way, crossing so many hurdles and achieving success, and it keeps growing.
Today, nestle is a brand that everyone is familiar with and uses in their day-to-day life.
Curious to know how?
In this Nestle case study, we are discussing everything about Nestle company, the marketing mix of Nestle, nestle competitors in India, marketing sales promotion techniques of nestle, and much more.
Nestle owns more than 2000 brands, from global stars to local ones.
How did Nestle achieve this level of success?
The brand has been in the market for more than 150 years, but many companies got this opportunity but failed. Nestle survived.
How?
What is the secret of Nestle’s success?
This Nestle case study shows you a glimpse of nestle strategy and what digital marketing and social media strategies they followed that led to achieving this success.
So, let’s start by understanding a bit more about Nestle as a company.
Nestle had come a long way from when it entered the market by selling infant food in the 1860s with a motto to reduce child mortality rates.
Gradually, it became a renowned name in the wellness, healthy food, and pet care industry with its evergreen tagline, “Good Food, Good Life.”
Now, you must be thinking that how did Nestle reach this position? How can a company build a legacy which is so powerful that it has stood still since its birth?
The answer to this may lie in Nestle’s digital marketing and functional strategy.
Nestle Case study: Introduction of Nestle company
Nestle is a world-renowned manufacturer of packaged foods and beverages. It is the world’s largest food manufacturer operating in more than 186 countries and with over 2000 product brands.
The brand came to India in 1956. Since that time, from selling its first milk product in the 1960s to selling a wide variety of Nestle products in India, Nestle has grown exponentially in India.
With such exponential growth, Nestle’s umbrella keeps widening day by day. They are not only the largest food and beverage company in the world but also one of the best companies that have effortlessly collaborated with the online world and achieved immense success.
Gradually, Nestle India started making its presence felt in the FMCG sector, and now the brand enjoys a good market share in the food and beverage industry.
Being the most extensive food and beverage brand in terms of revenue, the pricing strategy of Nestle company, along with its targeting and positioning system, has played a vital role in reaching the position where it is currently.
Let us find out how it has served the Indian market with its products and services.
Nestle offers products in breakfast cereals, beverages, dairy, chocolates, nutritious foods like vending, and food services.
Popular food products like Kit Kat, Maggi, Milkmaid, Polo, and Nescafe come under Nestle’s products sold in India.
For more than 150 years, this iconic brand has been applying its expertise in Health, Nutrition, and Wellness to help its customers, pets, and families live a healthier and happier life.
However, they believe what is good today might not be suitable for tomorrow.
So, they keep exploring and focusing on pushing the boundaries to find more to experiment with foods, nutrition, and beverages.
Nestle unlocks the power of food to improve the quality of life for everyone, not just today but for generations to come.
The brand focuses on bringing more pleasure and enjoyment to the customers, how they can enable better health, and how they can make the best nutrition affordable to everyone.
Not just these, but the brand tries new ways to protect and improve natural resources.
History & Founder
Nestle was founded in 1905 by the union of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, set up in 1866 by brothers Charles and George Page and Farine Lactee Henri Nestle, founded by Henri Nestle in 1866.
Nestle originated in 1860 when two separate Swiss enterprises later created Nestle.
In the following decades, the two rival companies grew their businesses throughout the United States and Europe.
In 1866, George Page and Charles Page, brothers from Lee County, Illinois, USA, formed the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in Cham, Switzerland. The company’s British operation started in 1873 at Chippenham, Wiltshire.
It was during the First World War when the organization grew significantly, and again during the Second World War, the company increased its offerings beyond its initial condensed milk and infant food products.
Nestle Case Study: Facts & Figures
Here are a few interesting numbers about Nestle that sets it apart from others.
- Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company.
- The brand has 276000 employees
- Nestle has acquired 30 companies
Nestle Case Study: Nestle competitors in India
Nestle has many major customer brands like Carnation, Kit Kat, Nestle-water, and Stouffers, among others.
Thirty of its brands netted more than $1 billion in earnings in the year 2010, which makes the company a vital force in the worldwide food and beverage industry.
With around 42 % of its sales being in North America, Nestle is one of the most geographically distinct companies in the food and beverage industry. It places it in a position that helps it edge over its competitors.
Its brands are well established in a considerable market share in leading economies like U.S. and Europe.
Danone and Unilever are important competitors for Nestle. These two are giants in the food and beverage industry, like Nestle.
In 2010, Unilever posted around 26% growth in yearly profits because of its accelerated sales in the food and beverage industry, especially ice cream, frozen food, tea-based beverages, and cooking products.
On the other hand, Danone stated around a 38 percent increase because of its improved share prices. In addition, a rise in its yogurt sales also enhanced the growth in earnings.
However, nestle handles positioned itself in the market by adopting a new accounting method which aided a decline in its cost of sales.
The company could also incorporate discounts, allowances, and promotions for its retailers through sales profits rather than the marketing line.
Though its sale was lesser for a year, nestle pricing strategy helped them match its peers, which in turn, made it a famous manufacturer even though the competition was so high.
Being the world’s most popular food manufacturer, nestle has intense competition with its rival company, Unilever.
Unilever has around 1,49,000 employees and operates in 160 countries, with its headquarters in London for food, home, and personal care.
The company is trying hard to beat Nestle in terms of the quality of their product, which has made Unilever the second company in the Western European ready meals market with a market share of around 8.6%, i.e., 0.3 points behind the iconic Nestle.
Nestle’s Target Audience and Products for Each Segment
The unique thing about Nestle is that it offers a wide range of products that covers audiences of different ages, from 2-year-old to working professionals.
Here’s a breakdown of Nestle’s Target Audience and the products meant for them.
- Target Audience
- Kids
- Working Professionals
- General Audiences
- Products
- Koko Krunch, Caregrow, Lactogrow
- Sunrise, Nescafe
- Maggi, KitKat, Milkmaid
Everyone, especially coffee lovers, will know how Nescafe is a big hit among working professionals.
Nestle guarantees that Nescafe is the only coffee that would keep professionals fresh throughout the day, and who does not want to feel fresh?
Regarding kids, parents blindly trust the product “Caregrow” by Nestle. The product consists of cereals to keep young kids healthy.
However, nestle has several other products like KitKat, Milkmaid, and Maggi for the general audience.
It is how Nestle has designed something for everyone in India. In the coming section, we will dig into how Nestle has advertised itself and its products in the digital world.
Nestle’s Digital Marketing Strategies
By now, you must have understood that Nestle is the world’s largest food and beverage company in terms of revenue. So, it might be basic information for many of you.
But what if we say Nestle always tries to be one step ahead regarding marketing strategies and policies?
It has always focused on the most updated marketing ways no matter, whether it is digital marketing strategies or offline strategies.
Nestle’s marketing strategies will teach you to build marketing strategies that work and get a positive response from customers.
Let us start with Nestle’s Digital Marketing Strategies that must follow if they want to succeed as a brand.
Partner with influential celebrities
Nescafe, a product of Nestle, collaborates with celebrities to put forward their message and create more noise around their brand.
A few years ago, they announced Bollywood actress Disha Patani as their brand ambassador.
Recently, they launched a campaign with famous content creators called “Karne Se Hi Hona Hai,” which means “Only doing will make it happen.”
They created this campaign during the Covid Pandemic to inspire people and encourage them to keep working hard towards their dreams no matter their situation.
Through this campaign, they targeted the youth of India and asked them to dream, act, and achieve success.
- Run campaigns that foster connections and bring customers together
An ordinary 37-year-old guy named Arnaud, with 1,2000 Facebook friends, was challenged by the company to catch up with his friends over a cup of coffee.
So, he filmed these meetings and turned them into a 42-minute online video documentary. During the sessions, Arnaud enjoyed a cup of Nescafe with his pals.
The documentary was a big hit on social media. It got almost 8 million views on Facebook, around 63,050 likes, 4,850 comments, and 5,550 shares.
The Facebook Page of Nescafe saw an increase in the number of fans by 400%.
Fans were excited by the documentary and wanted to know how to turn their online friendships into real-life relationships.
As a reaction, it created the “le Defi Nescafe,” a Facebook campaign to allow winners to reinvent the same experience.
More than 26,000 people applied, around 19,000 liked it, and nearly 1,725 shared.
Instantly, Nescafe became an online sensation by marketing itself as an item that stimulates connections and friendships.
2. Localization of Products
Localization is adapting an organization’s products to the local market. Nestle has gone huge on localization in various markets where it now manages.
For example, consider Japan, where the organization’s primary foray was through coffee-flavored chocolates.
Japan is traditionally a tea-drinking country, and the company established these candies so that kids could also get to know the taste of coffee.
Later, it introduced Nescafe and KitKat, and what happened is history.
3. Content Marketing
Nestle has created many video content on every brand’s YouTube channels. The content ranges from informative “how-to” videos to cooking tips to better insights on using the right products.
For example, the “Meri Maggi” has more than 530 videos with more than 5,71,000 subscribers.
Though video content is an expanding channel in Nestle’s marketing strategy, it has recognized other avenues to share relevant information with its consumers.
4. Out-of-Home Advertising
Nestle’s brands, including Maggi, Milo, KitKat, and Nescafe, use different ways to grab customers’ attention.
Whether benches, hoardings, or banners, Nestle’s brands have made it to the limelight for their contextuality and creativity.
What are the advantages of using OOH ads? First, most people correctly receive these ads. They are worth sharing.
People can take photos online, send them to their friends or relatives, and even marketers discuss them.
In addition, with the help of OTT, they can reach many people at a low cost.
Also, Nestle’s marketing strategies are exceptional and generate some customers.
5. Co-branding
Have you ever heard about Android KitKat?
A few years back, Google and Nestle united and invented an Android KitKat operating system.
Nestle was facing a new scandal with their pet product and wanted to capitalize on the image of Google. This movie created a buzz and surpassed the crisis.
Lately, nestle signed another deal with Starbucks to kill two different birds at a time.
First, the brand entered the new product development stage-i.e., roasted beans- and improved its brand by discovering a wide range of Starbucks Nespresso Capsules.
Did you understand how co-branding helped Nestle?
Co-branding is great for stepping into a new market and widening your reach. This marketing benefits startup that wants to create brand awareness or launch a new item.
It would help if you found companies that complement your products and collaborated with them to run co-branding promotional ads.
Nestle – Challenges Faced
Undoubtedly, Maggi was the most popular instant noodles brand in India. The brand had established its presence in India’s food industry, but suddenly it became controversial.
State food regulators stated that Maggi contains Monosodium Glutamate and lead above the recommended limits, which were dangerous, especially for kids.
When nestle encountered lab results, it said that they had a world-class quality control procedure and that their products were safe for consumption.
Ultimately, the National Food Regulator FSSAI ordered to ban on the selling of Maggi, including product recall.
Consequently, various state governments imposed a temporary ban on selling Maggi noodles in a few states. As a result, the future of the company suddenly started looking dark.
Another acquisition of Nestle by the critics was they accused that the brand discouraged mothers from breastfeeding.
They showed that their baby formula is much healthier than breastfeeding, although they didn’t have any proof to support this.
It resulted in a boycott of Maggi for the first time after its launch in 1977 in the United States and slowly spread to Europe.
Several reports have acknowledged the widespread use of child labor in Cocoa production, slavery, and child trafficking, throughout the Western African plantations on which Nestle and other important chocolate companies depend.
As per the 2010 documentary, The Dark Side of Chocolate, the kids working are usually 12 to 15 years old. Nestle faced criticism from The Fair Labour Association for not properly checking.
Different Campaigns by Nestle
- Ask Nestle Campaign
In this campaign, Nestle India launched a digital tool, NINA, which stands for Nestle India Nutrition Assistant on AskNestle, which used Artificial Intelligence to offer real-time nutritional information on the foods we consume.
In addition, it assisted Indian parents in designing a nutritious customized meal plan for their kids below 12.
This campaign by Nestle was India’s first artificially intelligent assistant that permits one to find nutritional information for kids.
So, this is how Nestle India set its foot on digital fronts and started driving organic traffic and improved overall engagement compared to competitors.
2. #WeMissYouToo Maggi Campaign
Maggi suffered a massive loss after it got banned as Maggi contained a high amount of Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) and lead content- more than what is allowed.
It was hard for them to hope for a comeback, but Maggi did their best and experienced huge sales. As a result, the price and volume of Maggi are now much more significant than before.
How did they do so?
They did so through their different marketing campaigns. One among them was the #WeMissYouToo campaign.
In addition, they published a few videos showing how people are kissing Maggi and how their life was better with Maggi.
Videos showed how Maggi has been a staple food for many and how its absence had affected their lives.
In campaigns, characters addressed Maggi as “yaar” or a “close friend” who is always there for them when in need.
Therefore, they considered Maggi’s return as a huge celebration that brought people’s life to normalcy.
3. A Campaign for kids: Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli
Nestle Caregrow started this campaign in 2019. The campaign targeted couples living in the cities who had kids between the age of 2 to 5 years.
India is where parents are very concerned about their child’s health and nutrition right from birth. Nestle kept this in mind and decided to portray this care through its campaign.
The brand portrayed how Indian mothers worry about their kids’ proper nourishment.
The brand came up with a new product, Caregrow, which controls a child’s hunger and offers all the essential nutrients for enhancing the child’s immunity and overall development.
4. Celebrate the Breakers- KitKat campaign
Across the world, people consume around 12 billion KitKat chocolates every year.
It is one of Nestle’s most famous chocolate products available in India. The company also released “KitKat Senses, a premium “slow-whipped” chocolate.
Nestle sought to influence Instagram to support its “Celebrate the Breakers” campaign by raising awareness and message association among enthusiastic 15- to 34-year-old Instagram followers.
Nestle came up with a new worldwide advertising campaign that takes a different approach altogether with a famous slogan, “Enjoy a break, enjoy a KitKat.”
“Celebrate the Breakers” was a new idea that identified the different forms of breaks that generally “breakers” take.
The animated movies showed KitKat chocolates are the best for enjoying a break in life.
Instagram was the appropriate platform for Nestle to showcase this idea graphically.
The brand posted a series of pictures with the hashtag “#mybreak over seven weeks,” showing how people enjoy different types of breaks, like sleeping at their workplace, enjoying a party, or listening to their favorite music.
The images of KitKat match efficiently with its customers, as Instagram is a place where people share their daily moments and experiences.
Future Plans of Nestle
Nestle planned to invest Rs. 5,000 crores in India in the coming 3 ½ years, as per Mark Schneider, the company’s CEO.
The FMCG company, which has nearly 2,000 brands across the globe, believes that this initiative will help Nestle to improve its core business in India and enjoy new growth opportunities.
It marks the brand’s most significant investment in India since the year it started manufacturing.
Conclusion
Nestle is renowned in food, nutrition, health, and wellness.
Its competitive strategies mainly focus on overseas direct investment in ready-to-eat, dairy, and other food businesses.
Though there is rising competition, Nestle has remained on top for a long.
It maintains its dominance by balancing sales between high-risk and low-risk nations.
Over the years, Nestle has proven itself as a leader in the food and beverage industry with product innovation and innovative marketing strategies.
It creates campaigns that are memorable, relatable, and share-worthy.
As it is moving toward developing a solid presence in the future, digital marketing will play an essential role in the future growth of Nestle.
As Nestle continues to follow its values, mission, vision, and purpose, it will continue to grow.
