Thursday, February 18, 2010

Go Cheese : From 100% Cow's Milk

Brand : Go
Company : Gowardhan Dairy ( Parag Milk Foods)
Ad Agency : Scion Brand Incubation

Brand Analysis Count : 444


GO is the new brand of Cheese from Gowardhan Dairy which is a part of Pune based Parag Milk Foods. Gowardhan Dairy is one of the largest players in the dairy market in India. The company owns India's largest cow farm and also has constructed Asia's largest cheese plant near Pune.

GO cheese brand is the company's venture into the value added product category. The Indian cheese market, although in a nascent market stage ,having a market size of about Rs 2000 crore is dominated by brands like Amul, Britannia, Mother Dairy etc.

GO cheese has entered a market which is growing at around 20% p.a. But the market is dominated by established players on one side while there is a large unorganized market on the other side.
GO Cheese in now running the launch campaign in various channels.
Watch the ad here : Go Cheese

GO cheese is positioned on the basis of the attribute that it is made from 100% cow's milk. The ads are really good and infact I thought GO is an international brand. More than the 100% milk factor, what is more striking about GO cheese is its packaging.

GO cheese has took packaging very seriously and it will be one of the brand elements that is going to help the brand with lot of customer trials. The packaging looks international and the wedge shaped Cheese pack SKU is appealing to kids and will help the brand get lot of customer trials. It is good to see lot of Indian brands utilizing the potential of packaging in their branding efforts.

Besides the smart packaging and interesting communication, GO brand also has a brand mascot - the cow. The mascot ( although the name is not mentioned anywhere) is shown in the pack and reinforces the positioning of 100% cow's milk.

The 100% cow's milk positioning is a good strategy but not new. Infact Amul used the same positioning for its icecream product range. The problem with 100% cow's milk is that competitors can easily copy the USP and hence negate the point of difference created by GO Cheese. If Amul or Britannia starts showing that their cheese is also made from 100 % cow's milk, GO Cheese may lose its USP.

Hence GO Cheese either needs to OWN up this platform or find another USP which could be sustainable over time. GO can only own this positioning through heavy ad spends reinforcing the consumers about their claim. I am not sure whether the brand can spend that much on the promotions . Another way is to create an ingredient brand which can own up the 100 cow's milk proposition . How ever , the brand needs to protect this proposition from the competitors.

There is always a space for new brands in the large untapped Dairy market in India. GO is in the right position to create a space for itself. There are larger issues to consider like the distribution reach and supply chain management. Cheese is a perishable item and needs a very strong supply chain set up if the brand wants to create a national impact.The brand's task will be to get the distribution and logistics correct and ensure enough retail support for the brand. The brand is expected to go on a phased approach while catering to a large market like India. Even Amul is finding it difficult to get its distribution right in many markets. For example, in my city Cochin, Amul dairy product's distribution is erratic with the products not available in many retail outlets. I hope that GO will go after volume only after setting up a strong distribution reach across the markets.

7 comments:

  1. Pallav Pancholi2:20 PM

    sir,

    last day i was at a laariwala here in udaipur who sells snacks..... i was surprised to see that he is using go cheese, after mah conversation he revealed me that though the brand is nt available here in Udaipur..he is byuing it 4m ahemdabad......n according to him this brand is superior than others..... it makes me feel that the brand will do good it near future..
    regards
    Pallav Pancholi
    FMS Udaipur

    ReplyDelete
  2. This packaging, communication and positioning of this product remind me of the French cheese "La Vache qui rit" (The Laughing Cow) which has been one of the most popular cheeses with children in Europe.
    http://www.bel-uk.co.uk/the-laughing-cow.asp

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Marie, very true, infact there is a report that Bel cheese is in talks with Parag Milk foods on a tie up. May the similarity in positioning reflects that tie up.
    http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/11/12/stories/2009111250861600.htm

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello sir,

    Do you think that it can reach atleast the 5th or 6th position in the market after Dunone also entering the market.. even if it does.. what will be the mind share and the pocket share?? Considering the Marketing muscle of Amul, Financial Muscle of Dunone and Mother Dairy how well will they be able to fair??

    at last but not the least.. amul ad campaign which has penetrated deep in the minds of Indians.. whats the go's answer to it.. to see all of the incidents that Amul took advantage of in its marketing campaign do see my blog Amul Ads

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  5. Harish, I'd like to try that Go Cheese but it's still not available in our country...

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  6. Harish....Go cheese is now available in kerala. It is slowly building up its distribution chain. now u can find Go cheese in Reliance,Big Bazar,Reliance n Spencers> If any distributors interested for general trade can contact me-

    Bilbin johnson
    Sales Incharge- South Kerala,GO
    9567610025

    ReplyDelete
  7. thank you for sharing this blog.We are processing around 2500 Lit of Milk every day.milk product

    ReplyDelete

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