Haldiram's Group - Seeking the 'Right' Marketing Mix

<< Previous

Promotion Contd...

Posters highlighting the shelf life of its products carried the caption 'six months on the shelf and six seconds in your mouth.' During festival season, Haldiram's products were sold in attractive looking special gift packs. The showrooms and retail outlets of Haldiram's gave importance to point of purchase (POP) displays. Haldiram's snacks were displayed on special racks, usually outside retail outlets. The showrooms had sign boards displaying mouth-watering delicacies with captions such as 'Chinese Delight,' Simply South,' 'The King of all Chats¹¹.'

Posters containing a brief account of the history of Haldiram's, along with pictures of its products, were also on display at these showrooms. Haldiram's also diversified into the restaurant business to cash in on its brand image. The company established restaurants in Nagpur and Delhi. The restaurant at Nagpur devised an innovative strategy to increase its business: It facilitated people who were traveling by train through Nagpur station to order food from places where stockists of Haldiram's Nagpur unit were located. The customers could order for lunch/dinner by sending a demand draft (DD) or cheque to the Nagpur unit or giving the same to specified local distributors belonging to the Nagpur unit. Along with the DD/cheque, customers had to provide information such as the name of the train, its likely time of arrival at Nagpur, their names and coach and seat numbers. Haldiram's restaurants in Delhi also used innovative ways to attract customers. The restaurant located at Mathura road had special play area for children.

To cater to NRI's and foreign tourists, who hesitated to consume snack foods sold by the roadside vendors since it was not prepared in a hygienic manner, the Haldiram's restaurant located in South Delhi used specially purified water to make snack foods including pani puri and chat papri¹². These promotional strategies helped Haldiram's to compete effectively with local restaurant chains such as Nathus, Bikanerwala and Agarwals and with western fast food chains such as McDonald's and Pizza Hut.

Positioning

The above initiatives helped Haldiram's to uniquely position its brand. Haldiram's also gained an edge over its competitors by minimizing promotion costs. Appreciating the company's efforts at building brand, an analyst said, "Haldiram once was just another sweet maker but it has moved into trained brands first by improving the product quality and packaging. Through its clever products and brilliant distribution it had moved into the star category of brands."¹³

Haldiram's earned recognition both in India and abroad. The Nagpur unit of Haldiram's was conferred the International Food Award by the Trofeo International Alimentacion of Barcelona¹⁴, Spain for having maintained high standards in quality and hygiene, at its manufacturing unit. The Delhi unit was awarded the Keshalkar Memorial Award by the All India Food Preservers Association in the mid 1980s in recognition of its efforts for popularizing ethnic Indian foods in India and abroad.

In 1994, the unit was awarded the International Award for Food & Beverages by the Trade Leaders Club in Barcelona, Spain. The unit also received the Brand Equity Award¹⁵ in 1998. Manoharlal Agarwal, who played a key role in the success of the Delhi unit, was included in the eighth edition of Distinguished Leadership by the Board of Registrars of The American Biographical Institute¹⁶. Haldiram's was also admitted as the member of Snack Food Association, US¹⁷.

Next >>

---

11] A traditional Indian snack food item prepared by deep frying potato in oil and mixing it with spices and other vegetables.
12] Snack items that are prepared with a spicy, water-based sauce. These snacks are commonly sold by roadside vendors.
13] In an article titled 'Brands and Bollywood,' on the website www.indiainfoline.com.
14] It is an international organization in the food processing industry.
15] An award given by "Brand Equity," a publication of the Times of India Group, to companies that are successful in their respective fields.
16] Based in the US, the American Biographical Institute is a publisher of biographical reference works collected from all over the world.
17] An international trade association of the snack food industry, representing snack food manufacturers and suppliers.

---