Analyzing Business Markets

Brand to brand:

• Earlier, Quaker Oats was importing raw material from Australia. However, in 2008, it tied up with farmers in Punjab, MP, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, West Bengal, for growing oats rather than exporting it. Thus, covering about 50000-60000 acres, involving around 40,000 farmers in 10 states of the country including those mentioned above.

•  The company is associated with Indian Grassland and Fodder Research Institute (IGFRI) in Jhansi, under the administrative control of ICAR and is mandated to conduct basic, strategic, applied and adaptive research development and training in forage production and it's utilization.

• It has a manufacturing plant spread over about 7.5 acres in Channo, Patiala where it is producing other snacks under PepsiCo.

• Currently, the majority of our packaging is made with recycled materials. So far this practice has enabled the reuse of over 9,500 tons of recycled paper per year.

• The retailers for the same are online stores and stores spread all over India in the major cities, at the major locations within the cities.

• The supply chain is improved by looking at the consumer database at a particular location.

Brand to Consumer:

Analyzing Consumer Markets:

• Quaker oats lies in the category of food; therefore, it lies in the physiological need which means that it meets your basic needs. 

• It is produced on a mass-scale.

• Since it directs "health" of the consumer, it somewhere fits in "need to belong" category in order to say, stay slim and healthy.

Sales Management

• Giving discounts on buying quantities in bulk.

• Giving out the offers. For example:- 3 packets of Oats of Rs 10 each would cost Rs 30 altogether but the offer could be to buy 3 packets of oats for just Rs 27. Thus, selling more of your product in bundles and making sure that saving on the price bundle must be enough to induce the customers to buy it.

• Provides a mechanism for free online health check-ups from time to time.

• They first aimed at creating the habit of consuming oats regularly of the existing customers rather than tapping a new market.

• Easy availability to the customer that is by avoiding delay right from the beginning of the chain i.e. for instance, delivering to the distributor must be quick.

• CRM application is used to determine profitable customers, potential sales opportunities, customer interaction and relations.

Holistic or Sustainable Marketing

PepsiCo focuses on sustainability of several domains:

• Talent sustainability (includes employment sustainability) by creating appropriate employment opportunities and being open to diverse workplace.

• Human sustainability by managing the nutrition needs; they joined with International Food & Beverage Alliance (IFBA), a Swiss-based NGO, comprising multinational food and beverage manufacturers, to promote only healthy products for children below 12 years of age.

• Environmental sustainability by  taking care of the natural resources and being careful about the harm caused to the environment. 

• Food safety sustainability by using the bioengineered crops which offer various economic and productive benefits like resistance to weeds, pests and diseases,reducing the need for agronomic chemicals, resistance to climatic stress and so on.

• Water Sustainability: In 2009, PepsiCo India achieved a significant milestone, by becoming the first business to achieve ‘Positive Water Balance’, verified by Deloitte. 

• Farmer Sustainability: In 2006, PepsiCo India developed a Direct Seeding Machine for paddy which can sow the seeds uniformly at a specified gap and at a uniform depth. Using this seeder, direct seeding was carried out in the fields of 12-farmers, covering about 20-acres. PepsiCo also studied the advantage of sowing the seeds, followed by herbicide treatment and thereafter irrigation. Pre-treatment with an herbicide helped reduce de-weeding labour from five times to two times in direct seeding compared to flood irrigation.

Thus, it ensures healthy living of people throughout the world and also ensures that the earth's resources aren't depleted and utilized optimally.

Branding

Brand Building is the key!

• Pepsico had just launched a campaign called the "Quaker Smart Heart Challenge" on TV, radio, cinema, digital, and new media to build awareness of the product.

• They are also doing massive sampling (both wet and dry) in retail, corporate, hospitals, etc. to introduce customers to the benefits of the oats.

• In order to build customer relationship, several ways to meet customer service goals are: Increasing online customer service and interaction.

• Provide answers to problems online.

• Become reliable and gain consumer trust.

• Start conversation and engage consumers by giving them health tips.

• Creating health awareness through polls and quizzes.

• Giving nutritional value of complementary foods along with oats.

• Create a user-centric experience policy Offer rules, tips and ways to get involved with Social, Service Media Team.

•  Listen to consumers' needs and problems Respond quickly and efficiently.