Brand Life cycle- Nescafe

Nescafé is a brand of instant coffee made by Nestlé. It comes in many different product forms. The name is a portmanteau of the words “Nestlé” and “café”. Nestlé’s flagship powdered coffee product was introduced in Switzerland on April 1, 1938. a brand introduced by the Nestlé company, can be traced back to the 1930s.

FIRST STAGE – LAUNCH OF THE BRAND.

Nescafe launched under the umbrella brand of Nestle. It offers its buyers premium roasted coffee. The strategy that Nescafe took was to offer a different and better taste of coffee at an affordable price. It was first launched in India in Delhi. Initially it targeted the housewives and office goers. Therefore they first studied he most effective places to promote it in. Then came the various mediums through which they will promote it. Nescafe right from the launch has come up with various TVCs. Television advertising is the most effective way to maintain the brand awareness and reaching a mass audience at one time. By creating advertisements it was able to reach its potential and target audience. Whether housewives or working professionals – all have access to a television. It had been portrayed as a drink to start your day with and getting rid of tiredness, fatigue, sleepiness and providing a superior and different taste.

The brand had a niche look and feel to it, yet priced reasonably. Nescafe also targeted Offices and big enterprises; where they exclusively put vending machines. This not only increased the consumption of coffee but also helped in the promotion of their brand. And people were so impressed by the taste that they would also purchase it for home so in turn their sales increased. We have also seen such vending machines in Malls and cafeterias. This way more and more people were able to taste the brand and in turn it created brand awareness. It also spread brand awareness through print media, lot of newspaper and magazine advertisements. A very important aspect for the growth of the brand was its parent brand- Nestle. By the time Nescafe launched in India Nestle has a strong brand image amongst the audience and shared a relationship of trust and heritage.

Therefore more and more people opted for the brand. As a product strategy they always promoted the fact that they are giving its customers the best selection of coffee and 100% pure; that in turn became its USP. They also launched various types to cater to the different coffee lovers- mild, rich, and espresso, instant and so on. This way they had captured the market. As for the pricing of the brand they kept it reasonable- not very low or very high. They knew that Indians are very economical and look for the best deals. Therefore providing superior taste at an affordable price will attract many. Nescafe also created small campaigns that would intrigue its customers- these campaigns were seen on television and even through print media.

These campaigns worked towards creating a stronger brand image. As though to make Nescafe synonymous to coffee. One of their most popular campaigns being the Nescafe “Red Mug”. Even today we all can associate Nescafe with its signature red mug. What more they even gave out these mugs as freebies with coffee bottles.Similarly they provided “shakers” for making cold coffee and etc. For the new flavours of coffee, sample sachets were distributed. In the beginning any company needs to spend a substantial amount of money and time in strengthening their brand image amongst the masses and creating maximum brand awareness whether it’s through pricing or promotion. Nescafe has used all possible mediums in doing so and today it has emerged as the Market leader.

SECOND STAGE- MATURITY

For a brand maturity is that stage when the people are fully aware of the existence of the brand. With this comes in its competitor brands. For Nescafe thankfully there hasn’t been much competition in the Indian market except for Bru. Bru is under HUL and entered the market shortly after Nescafe. It also claimed to offer high quality coffee. Bru’s USP was that was India’s largest coffee brand. Bru targeted almost all sectors of audience, even the younger generation. It’s ads and promotion was more customer centric. It talked more about bonds and emotions therefore captured a lot of attention. At such a stage Nescafe had to remind its customers of its presence. Nescafe as a brand has already created awareness therefore what they did was tried to connect with it’s audience.

There was no need o promote the product anymore as people were already aware of it and liked it. So what they did was got create campaigns where people could relate with the brand. Nescafe indulged into below the line promotion like celebrity endorsements and sponsorships. In their recent ads they have got popular actors endorsing the brand and promoting the fact that they too drink a cup of Nescafe everyday whether in between work or over a conversation. One of their lastest campaigns being “to know your neighbours”.

This campaign doesn’t really talk about the goodness of Nescafe or coffee. It concentrates more on bonding, relationships and how coffee can be a conversation starter. They had actors like Deepika Padukone endorse it therefore this also fulfilled their aim at targeting the younger generation as well. They have also entered into social marketing with such campaigns- through facebook, twitter and of course it’s own website. Nescafe as also opened cafeterias and coffee lounges therefore giving its customers a complete coffee experience. They have also cleverly targeted the places in which these cafes will be opened. Places which are in close proximity to colleges, offices and malls will attract maximum number of customers. Strategies like these were used just to keep the brand alive and sustainable in the minds of its customers.

THIRD STAGE- DECLINING STAGE

Nescafe has still not reached a declining. It is still the market leader and has a strong presence in the minds of its customers. If at all it ever reaches a declining stage it must recover by the following methods- When a brand reaches a declining stage it means that it has lost out to other competitor brand on the basis of quality ,taste, variety, promotion etc. So first stage is to identify the cause and then work upon it. If its quality or taste they must improve upon it and relaunch it to let its customers know that the new product is better,tastier,richer and so on. It can launch a variety of new products- this will excite the customers and they will have something new to look for to.

Tying up with other brands- Maybe Nescafe can tie up with other brands under Nestle and promote itself with it. Maybe by giving it’s customers attractive offers. Bundling the two products and selling it. Buyers are always economical and looking for the best deals. So maybe the company can give discounts and other sttractive offers like buy one get one, 20% more….etc. Make fresh TVCs and emphasise on brand heritage since its an old brand.