Nestle Marketing Strategy [2024]: An In-depth Analysis

Introduction 

From toddlers to teens to adults, Nestle is a brand that has successfully reached every age group in India. It is one of the biggest names in the Indian consumer goods market. Even though the company is Swiss in origin, some of its iconic products made it an Indian household name. 

The biggest reason for this might be the company’s successful attempts to make each of its products relevant to Indian consumers. Amongst ethos, pathos and logos, the company truly leveraged the pathos side. 

This blog takes you through a detailed analysis of the Nestle marketing strategy to understand how this Swiss conglomerate became an Indian household name. 

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History Of Nestle & How It Came To India

Nestle and India’s relationship began back in 1912 with minimal trading. Back then, Nestle was an Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company that exported very few products to the Indian Market. 

It was only after 1947, when India gained independence, and the Government emphasised the need for local production, Nestle decided to set up its first factory in India, along with forming a new company. So, in 1961 Nestle built its first Indian factory at Punjab’s Moga. 

Responding to the market demand of India, Nestle decided to form a milk economy and set up milk collection centres across different places in Punjab. After catering to this targeted audience, Nestle decided to expand into other categories like nutrition, food, health and wellness. 

This was when the company came up with some of its most iconic products, such as Nescafe, Maggi, Cerelac, Milo, KitKat and so on. Today Nestle India is one of the largest conglomerates catering to fast-moving Indian consumers and has around nine manufacturing facilities in different regions of India. 

Recent Achievements Of Nestle in India

Over the years, Nestle India has won and received numerous awards and titles. Here are some of the recent ones. 

• In 2021’s India Business Leaders Awards, Nestle won the title of Outstanding Company. Of the Year. 
• In 2021, Nestle India won the “Maverick of The Year” Award for the Management category.
• CNBC Awaaz Consumer Awards honoured Nescafe as India’s most preferred coffee brand. 
• Most Innovative Mobile Campaign of the year at MOBEXX Awards 2019. 
• Nestle Health Science won Nutrition and Wellness Awards 2019 by CIMS Medical. 
• The Advertising Club’s MARQUEES Awards 2019 For Maggi
• Nescafe revoked the title of the “Buzziest Brand” of India in 2016

Famous Marketing Campaigns From The Past 

Maggi, in 2 minutes 

It is fair to say that this instant noodle has been a huge part of the Indian millennials growing up. The infamous claim of getting ready in 2 mins became so popular that it almost became the identity of the product. 

On top of that, the clever ad campaigns that perfectly hit the Indian nostalgia showed how clever the marketing team has been. 

The company has been running TV ad campaigns since 1985 and has produced some of the most iconic marketing campaigns, such as “Guess the Taste” or “Me and Meri Maggi” in 2011. 

Their marketing and brand identity in India is so strong that even some of the biggest controversies of the time could not stop them from emerging back. 

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Nescafe

Nescafe is a brand that played a big role in availing coffee in Indian middle-class households. The brand has been praised by many for its active nature. Similar to Maggi, Nescafe’s ad campaigns also targeted the emotional quotient of the Indians. 

The only difference was that Maggi targeted preteens and teens, such as schoolgoers or who live in a hostel, whereas Nescafe targeted the youths, those who lead a busy life and need to kickstart their day. 

While Maggie’s campaigns displayed emotions like warmth, comfort and cosiness, Nescafe promoted emotions like enthusiasm, zeal and building new doors. Nescafe’s remarkable post-covid campaign “Karne Se Hi Hona Hai” encouraged the nation’s youth to step out and restart the new normal with zeal, making it one of the most widely appreciated campaigns by the brand.

Kit Kat

Like Maggi and Nescafe, Kit Kat has its famous slogan, “Have a Break, Have a Kit Kat”, which suggests taking a step back from the pro-life we lead and relaxing for a moment. The one common thing between the three brands is that they all present the product as an emotional support system at different times. 

They understand the pain points of their targeted audience and emphasise that. All of their ad campaigns successfully highlight the USP of the product, claiming how taking a break with Kit Kat can help them refuel. Following the USP and creating campaigns promoting the same have helped nearly all Nestle products to come up with extremely successful marketing campaigns. 

Besides rolling ad campaigns on TV and social media, the brand takes its marketing tactics a notch higher by doing real-life campaigns. For example, recently, Kit Kat installed “Break Zone” benches made from recycled plastic packaging across different youth hangout spots to encourage people to take a break. 

Present Nestle Marketing Strategy Broken Down

Here’s a breakdown of the Nestle marketing mix. 

Nestle Product Strategy

Since the beginning, Nestle’s product strategy has been to develop consumer goods that have nutritional value and can be a part of daily life. They have introduced brands like Cerelac and Lactogen, baby food, and dietary supplements such as Milo, a health drink for teens. 

Apart from that, under the umbrella, there are brands like-

• Nescafe instant coffee
• Nestle Gold Crunchy oats and corn flakes
• Chocolate brands like Kit Kat, Barone, Munch, Milkybar etc.
• A range of probiotic drinks, milk and yoghurt brands like GREKYO, Nourish Dahi etc.
• A range of instant noodles, pasta and sauce brands like Maggi 

The company has also been planning to replace its animal-based dairy products with fibre-rich plant-based products to reduce its carbon footprint. Nestle’s marketing strategy has always revolved around comprehending user demands and delivering the same. Keeping its marketing strategies as human as possible, Nestle takes inspiration from human emotions and daily lives, enabling it to become an imperative part of the same. 

Nestle Pricing Strategy

Nestle barely positioned itself as a high-end or premium brand. The company has always planned on targeting the biggest demographics, that is, the lower to middle-income groups. Due to this, it has always priced its products reasonably to create a sense of “value for money” among consumers. 

This has significantly helped Nestle to establish itself as the largest food production company not only in India but in the world. If we look closely at the Nestle pricing strategy, it follows a price skimming strategy, where the initial price of a product is higher. Then looking at the market response, the prices are lowered over time. 

It also uses the strategy of bundle pricing for some of its products, like Maggi and Munch. They now sell the product in bundles of 16 packets in one or more. 

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Nestle Promotional Strategy 

Nestle has always been extremely active with their digital marketing aspect. From social media to television, their promotional strategies are always evolving. The company is known for coming up with some of the most clever and sensational ad campaigns, such as the Nespresso promotion by George Clooney or creating an entire 42 minutes documentary with a commoner and seamlessly promoting Nescafe in it. 

Besides, the company is extremely active on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Whether running ads on these platforms or engaging with the audience through making content, the company has done it all. 

Nestle Place/Distribution Strategy 

The company has been extremely clever with its distribution strategy as well. It focuses more on offering product mixes and presenting consumers with a maximum number of Nestle products. 

For example, they place ketchup sachets with Maggi bundle packs, promoting both products simultaneously. Not only does it cost zero in promotion, but it also reduces cost in terms of distribution. 

Along with that, the company is very cautious about the availability of the product, which is why it ensures that its highest-performing products are never off the shelf. 

Conclusion

Nestle, as a company, has a presence that is unparalleled, unmatched and simply hard to compete with. It is present in 147 countries, and the secret behind developing an appropriate marketing strategy for every country is closely analysing the market and adapting to its needs. 

For India, Nestle chose an emotional and inspiring image to go with, which has played very well for the company. Its consistent efforts in marketing and advertising are equally commendable and are one of the biggest hurdles for competitors to overthrow Nestle. 

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