Maggi , which created the noodles category in India has now none other than Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. The brand is being endorsed by a celebrity for the first time in its history. And Big B is an intriguing choice for a brand which is most patronized by young children.
Maggi holds a commanding position in the Noodles Segment with over 60% market share. Off late, the brand is facing competition from brands like Horlicks, TopRamen Sunfeast Yippie etc. And further the brand is feeling a disconnect with the new generation customers who now have more choices for indulgence other than noodles. Maggi now faces not only brand competition but also industry competition from similar products like Pizzas. Even fast food joints are taking away consumers from the brand. At this point , the brand needs to stay relevant to the consumers since consumers have a wider choice of indulgence.
Maggi's choice of Big B as the brand ambassador is little puzzling. Amitabh Bachchan as a celebrity commands immense respect among the audiences. He is an amazing story teller and has unmatched screen presence and Maggi wants to build more authenticity through his endorsement. The new campaign featuring Big B is an extension of the highly successful Me and Meri Maggi theme where the brand tried to crowdsource stories of customer experience with Maggi.
The campaign brought back many segments of consumers who moved away from the brand since they have grown up. The brand again brought back focus on itself and its heritage and the USP of 2 minutes. The campaign in a way was the counter strike against the competitor's focus on health and nutrition.
Big B was introduced as a story teller who narrates the various stories supplied by the consumers through the various touchpoints created by the brand. The brand is running a campaign featuring this stories.
Watch the ads Here
The ads focus on the ease of cooking ( convenience) and the happiness thereby attempting to take the consumer's focus away from the health platform adopted by Horlicks, Sunfeast Yippie etc. Sunfeast has roped in Saina Nehwal as its endorser.
The brand has a new slogan " 2 minute mein Khushiyan " . It is interesting to note that the brand has brought back the 2 minutes proposition after a long time.
Although Amitabh Bachchan is a master story teller, I find some how a disconnect between the brand and the celebrity. The thought is that " he is not the right person to endorse the brand". This is despite the fact that he commands respect from across age groups.
Having said that the presence of the powerful celebrity along with the smart collection of real life stories of brand consumption adds a big boost to this brand. The brand exactly needs such a boost at this point of its life cycle. The problem with such heritage brand is that over the period of time, the communication becomes boring. Booster shots like these will again revive the energy levels for the brand to move and face competition head on.
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Don't fully agree with your views on Bachchan not being the right choice for this ad. Though they could have gone for someone younger to win back the younger generation's attention, but the thing with Amitabh is, that you can never really go wrong with him. His celebrity status is second to none. Also, the idea of story telling. Usually its the elders who tell stories to children right? Finally, the release of this ad campaign coincides with that of the latest season of KBC, Bachchan will be on the audience's mind and the popularity of the show will generate goodwill for the brand indirectly.
ReplyDeleteHi Sir
ReplyDeleteYou worte that "The brand is being endorsed by a celebrity for the first time in its history." But as I remember, Priety Zinta has endorsed it before
totally agree with your opinion of the Amitabh Bachchan image disconnect with Maggi
ReplyDeleteAmitabh Bachchan connect with all generations especially with older generation. This new ad featuring Big B can help Maggi expand its customer base of old age people. Also as story are usually told to us by our grandparents, in My opinion his a good choice as a Brand Ambassader of Maggi.
ReplyDeleteAmitabh Bachchan connect with all generations especially with older generation. This new ad featuring Big B can help Maggi expand its customer base of old age people. Also as story are usually told to us by our grandparents, in My opinion his a good choice as a Brand Ambassader of Maggi.
ReplyDeleteAmitabh Bachchan connect with all generations especially with older generation. This new ad featuring Big B can help Maggi expand its customer base of old age people. Also as story are usually told to us by our grandparents, in My opinion his a good choice as a Brand Ambassader of Maggi.
ReplyDelete5 years (from the dateline of this post) and he (BigB) is still going strong!! I guess this guy's personal 'brand' is just unstoppable.
ReplyDeleteOooops!!! My mistake. I read the dateline wrong while writing my previous comment, but the general sense of the comment still stands. :-)
ReplyDeleteSaina Nehwal endorses TopRamen not Sunfeast Yippee.
ReplyDelete