Changing consumer behaviour towards one’s brand offering is the holy grail of marketing. In a country like India it is indeed very difficult to get consumers to change their food habits, move from unbranded staples to branded foods. There is a term marketers use for this. Brandification. In most categories products are sold in several forms. In some categories they are sold loose [from gunny bags] to local packaged brands to nationally recognized brands. Brandification studies the extent to which consumers, using a particular category of product, are using brands and not just loose or locally packaged products. If you take foods, chances are almost 90% of Indian homes will be using a branded salt, and it is often Tata Salt. Quite simply it is not too expensive to move from loose salt to packaged Tata Salt and the brand is also available everywhere. The same may not be true for products like wheat flour or masalas or ghee or cooking oil.
In the late 1990s or 1998 to be precise, there was a ‘dropsy’ scare. Consumers, especially in north India, were coming down with dropsy. What is dropsy? It is a kind of swelling or oedema. The medical journal Lancet reported ‘A dropsy epidemic—caused by adulterated edible mustard oil—has hit India. Although the epicentre is in Delhi, more than 50 people have died so far and nearly 2200 have become ill all over India’. Food adulteration is not new to Indian consumers. In the days gone by the most common adulteration was the milkman surrepticiously adding water to the milk he was delivering. We also have the dangerous problem with adulteration in illicitly brewed liquor [that still continues unfortunately]. But cooking oil? What can happen to me if I save a few rupees buying a little known brand or even in the loose form?
The common consumer was in for a rude awakening after the dropsy epidemic. This was the fillip that the branded cooking oil brands were looking for. In the late 1990s the share of branded refined cooking oil of all refined oil sold in the country was around 20%; or more than 70% of Indian consumers preferred buying their cooking oil from their local ‘oil depot’. These oil depots used to sell oil by the ml, you could carry a small vessel and buy the oil your family needs for the week. Dropy scare gave branded cooking oils the much needed thrust.
Is it ghee next?
A lot has been written about the ghee that was procured by the Tirupathi Lord Venkateshwara temple for making their laddoos. As someone who has been to Tirupati several times and consumed the said laddoos, I was deeply saddened. The question remains, how will the lay consumer interpret this information. Will it make them start doubting the quality of ghee they use in their daily cooking? Just as Dropsy scare was a tipping point for refined cooking oil brands, will this Laddoo Ghee scandal be a tipping point for ghee brands?
In marketing there is a new buzz word. Moment Marketing. Every brand manager is trying to find a ‘moment’ to create an Instagram Reel or a Facebook Post riding this moment. Some even got into trouble for using celebrity athletes’ images in their message. Often these are just flashes in the pan. Here today. Gone tomorrow. Only the brand manager and her digital agency will know. But sometimes there is an opportunity to ride the moment in style.
Hat’s off to Amul for taking out a full page colour ad in the daily newspapers listing out all their ghee offerings. They did not just do an Instagram Reel or a Facebook Post. They put money where their money is. I am sure consumers who saw the ad could make a connection. The ad did not name the Laddoo scandal or anything that was politically incorrect. But it was probably very clear to any reader that this was a timely message, especially with the big festive season looming ahead.
It is difficult to change deeply rooted food habits. In fact some of the food we eat may have come down from thousands of years ago [no not pizza or noodles]. Similarly the way we buy the ingredients too has not changed in generations. A big moment like the Dropsy scare or the Laddoo Ghee scandal makes consumers re-evaluate their purchase decisions. And if brands can ride these moments well, they can end up reaping rich rewards. Hopefully get consumers to make some serious changes to their buying and eating habits.
And I am sure the Lord will smile on them too.
Appeared originally in Economic Times 30 Sept 2024