With the advent of the digital age and given that today’s milieu is heavily dominated by the internet and social media, the speed at which brands connect with their target audience is much faster than at any other time.
However, before social media came on the scene, it was the rule of television, which was the most sought-after platform for advertising. January 1, 1976, marked the first television advertisement in India, a spot for Gwalior Suitings. Fast-forwarding to 1982, Nestle launched Maggi noodles in the Indian market to bridge the gap between time and nutrition.
In 1983, Maggi’s launch commercial was aired on Doordarshan. Ad filmmaker Prahlad Kakkar mentions that the agency that took up the mandate was Hindustan Thompson Associates (HTA) (now known as JWT). The executive head at the agency was Ambar Brahmachary, and it was Kakkar who went behind the camera to shoot the commercial.
Storyboard18 got in touch with Pradeep Pant, who was the advertising manager at Nestle India at the time of Maggi’s launch, and he threw light on the advent of brand-sponsored programmes in India, and how Nestle went on to sponsor the critically acclaimed Doordarshan show Hum Log.
He says the sponsored programme that aired daily “was followed by the advertising time for brands which lasted for 40 seconds. This resulted in regular exposure of the product. That was fantastic.”
During the interaction, Pant also touched upon the advertising and marketing strategies used for Maggi and the relevance of celebrity endorsements, among other subjects.
Edited excerpts:
Who were the main competitors of Maggi during its launch in India?
There were some traditional Chinese noodles sold in the marketplace. This kind of an offering did not exist in the market. There are two areas to define here: one is to be in the area of the noodle business, and the other is to be in the snack business. Through the commercials, we were not trying to replace homemade meals. It was focused on bridging the period when kids come back from school or after playing and expect to snack on something which was easily available or could be prepared quickly.
Our offering through commercials was, we are feeding them something nutritious as compared to junk and is very convenient to prepare. If it was just pulling out of the packets and feeding her children, the mother did not feel involved. Putting in the vegetables during preparation enhanced the role of the mother and the nutritional value of the noodles.
A large amount of time came with the programme which would be telecast during prime time. During the ad break, Nestle’s Maggi commercial began to appear in the beginning, midway and towards the end of the serial. Nestle had the bandwidth to use its multiple brands, and ride on that advertising time period.
Could you speak on the advertising and marketing strategies that were adopted for Maggi during that period?
In any food advertising, the product has to be made to look appetising. Other than that, it has to create the right consumption move. Since it was a completely new concept, product demonstrations were required to be shown. All this had to be compressed in a 30- or a 45-second commercial.
Apart from advertising, the factor of pricing was considered vital for the success of Maggi. If I remember correctly, Maggi was going to be launched at a price of Rs 5. The managing director of the business, Barry Ryan, who was Irish, was of the opinion that if one wanted to make a big success of the product, pricing had to be done right. He managed to push through a pricing which was 50 percent off what was initially decided upon. That was critical in getting the product to start rolling.
Nestle’s Maggi began to sell faster than we had imagined. We didn’t launch everywhere immediately. But wherever Nestle’s Maggi was introduced, restocking became a big issue. Hence, we had to increase the frequency.
During that period, this was the category which required a high amount for advertising and promotions.
On its release, how did the commercial work in favour of the brand?
We were selling a new concept and tapped on the ‘consumption moment’ when there were no real solutions for housewives. The ad promoted those aspects. Without advertising, I don’t think the brand would have worked. Advertising played its part in providing visibility. If I remember correctly, the ad was released in 1983.
Could you also touch upon the print and outdoor advertising of Maggi?
There was print and there was outdoor work that was done for Maggi. We advertised Maggi in certain cities via the medium of bus shelters (where the product is advertised on shelters at bus stops. As per a site, this medium guarantees a high degree of exposure where commuters driving past or people waiting to catch a bus get to see the advertisement). This was an underutilised medium used in the past.
The primary medium was television and if I remember correctly, there was also a radio campaign that went with it. The ad was released pan-India, and in at least seven or eight languages. Nestle was one of the early pioneers that did ads in multiple languages.
Could you speak about the advent of television advertising? How did Nestle come to be the sponsor of Hum Log?
During that period, sponsored programmes did not exist. Shobha Doctor, producer of Hum Log, approached Nestle. We saw the pilot episode of the show. The challenge here was the cost per spot to advertise because Nestle handled a number of brands. A large amount of time came with the programme, be it at the beginning, midway or towards the end of the show.
Nestle had the bandwidth to use their multiple brands and ride on that advertising time period. The cost per exposure during prime time looked very good. There were two challenges involved here. One was that we were making a long-term commitment. If we become the sponsor for the programme, we would have to be for a year or more.
The other challenge was that, since the serial was aired five times a week, we had to infuse capital which would be used in the making of the programme. This request was put in by them for funding, which was made upfront.
Nestle had the courage and foresight to back up the show. The marketers were very excited about it and we got support from the seniors. We went ahead and sponsored Hum Log, and that changed the whole landscape of television advertising, and brand-sponsored programmes. The impact was huge.
Two things became famous at that point of time. One was brands sponsoring programmes, and the other was sports sponsorships. During that period, a cricket tournament was taking place in Australia. Nestle went ahead and took the airtime for that too.
How did sponsoring Hum Log give visibility to Maggi and the commercial?
Maggi was one of the products which was on air. Maggi, Nescafe and Milkmaid are those products which are consumed frequently by the masses. A company cannot advertise for one week and go cold for the rest of the three weeks.
With an instrument like sponsored programmes which aired daily, followed by the advertising time which lasted for 40 seconds, it resulted in regular exposure of the product or the brand. That was fantastic. A product like Maggi had more than one advertisement. We used to keep rotating the ads.
Celebrity endorsement was a fairly new concept then. What do you think were the main ingredients that led to the success of the commercial, without the presence of a well-known persona?
Personality advertising or getting a well-known face to advertise your product is dependent on the product category. A celebrity is not needed in advertisements. Through the ad, we were speaking to average housewives. Anyone could be a hero or a heroine in the eyes of children if the job was done well. So there was no requirement to feature a personality to anchor a product.
For example, in the case of Nescafe, while advertising the product for the Southern region, we roped in cricketer Ravi Shastri, and told him that he would have to do the ad in four languages. He did it.
There was a story behind it. Most thought that Ravi Shastri hailed from Mumbai. Originally, his family is from Bangalore. The story in the ad goes like this, ‘I am from Bombay, my family is from Bangalore and we understand coffee.’ In this case, personality advertising made sense.