Horlicks brand with the tagline Taller, stronger, sharper, introduced in India in the 1930s, stands taller than its rivals Bournvita and Complan, dominating the malt-based beverages segment with a staggering 43% market share. Horlicks also has a sharper positioning vis-a-vis any other in the category.
For the March-ended fiscal 2017-18, Patanjali Doodh(milk) biscuits had posted value sales of Rs 97 crore; the market for milk biscuits was worth Rs 1,450 crore, and Britannia’s Milk Bikis topped the chart with 50% value market share.
Taking a look at the March-ended fiscal 2019-20, Patanjali Doodh is now the second biggest milk biscuit brand with 13.6% market share, and Rs 249 crore in sales value.Horlicks biscuits has been dunked, to 11.5% value market share.
The biggest factor is that biscuits, especially glucose and milk ones, are not perceived or consumed for nutrients. Glucose and milk biscuits, says N Chandramouli, are largely just a substitute for hunger. “They are cheap hunger substitutes even for adults,” says the chief executive officer of Mumbai-based marketing and branding agency
In terms of positioning by Patanjali, the Doodh biscuits focused on three things: First, and the most important, was riding on the value of cow milk; second was to convey that biscuits were made 100% with wheat; and third was mentioning its claim on packaging in bold fonts that biscuits didn’t have cholesterol or transfat.
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Apart from positioning, what also immensely helped Patanjali—its overall biscuit value share jumped from Rs 284 crore in the 2017-18 fiscal to Rs 442 crore in 2019-20—was going back to the basics. Over the last few years, Patanjali had spread itself thin, entering as many categories as possible. “They chased width, which is never sustainable,” says Harish Bijoor, who runs an eponymous brand consulting firm. Now the company has taken a ‘depth’ approach, chasing substantial share in some categories versus marginal presence in all categories.
“Patanjali is reaping rewards in categories such as ghee, honey, toothpaste, Chyawanprash and biscuits,” Bijoor says. Retailers played a big role in taking up the cudgels against big brands that have always bugged them for margins.