T ayyari Jeet Ki (preparing to win) has been the theme of Bournvita’s campaign since 2011. Two years on, the heritage brand believes it is ready to challenge Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK), the market leader in the malted foods category, by possibly adopting the same stance and using the same line.

With aggressive advertising, distribution and direct door-to-door sales in the smaller markets, Bournvita believes in literally ‘preparing to win’. But can it win against another heritage brand such as Horlicks or even its flanker brand Boost in the Rs 4,500-crore malted foods category?

Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing Director, Samsika Marketing Consultants, says, “In malted foods, Horlicks has always been the leader and Bournvita the challenger. Bournvita needs to move up the perception ladder with consistent aggression in the category and prove that from preparing to win, it can actually become a winner.’’

Bournvita has always been pitted against GSK’s Boost with almost equal shares, and Horlicks way ahead as the market leader. Today Bournvita claims to have gained share and overtaken Boost, which has a 12 per cent value share. Bournvita has a 16.2 per cent share (as per Nielsen data for the quarter ending March). It has also become the market leader in modern trade surpassing GSK’s Horlicks with 29.3 per cent share.

Narayan Sundararaman, Executive Director, Powdered Beverages, Cadbury Kraft Foods (or Mondelez International), said, “We want to take the fight to the market leader.” Both Boost and Bournvita are brown malted drinks and have been direct competitors. Horlicks has always been the market leader, with almost 45 per cent share in the category.

No tall claims?

“In the past three years Bournvita’s equity has been built by being a partner to the parent in bringing up children, which has been communicated through a series of campaigns. The brand has forged an emotional connect with consumers through its ads in the category rather than claiming it can make kids taller, sharper and smarter,’’ added Sundararaman, hitting out at competitors claiming to achieve such feats.

“Bournvita has always had a two-pronged strategy in its communication. While mothers are expected to feel good about buying into the rational benefits of health and wellness, for the kids it is more about the taste and fun of drinking Bournvita. Unlike other brands which have forced health benefits, Bournvita has always been about taste with heath benefits,’’ says Vispy Doctor, Managing Director, Ormax Consultants, a research-based consulting company.

The brand has also launched Mission Nutrition to reach out to small towns in States such as Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat and targeted one million households. “Through audio video presentations we have launched a door-to-door campaign through Mission Nutrition and have managed to get conversions,’’ adds Sundaraman. Its least priced sachets – Rs 25 (75 gm), are being used to make bigger inroads into these markets.

The company is tackling low consumption of malted foods in the North and the West.

“Unlike the South where malted foods have 70 per cent penetration, there are low penetration levels in the North and the West. Our priority is take up penetration numbers in these regions where we are already market leaders,’’ says Sundararaman.

Bournvita claims to be ahead of Horlicks (22.6 per cent) with 36 per cent share in northern India. But GSK is not too perturbed about the strides made by Bournvita. Boost has always been strong in the South while Bournvita’s strength has been the North and West. Boost has registered strong growth at 20 per cent on yearly basis and has not seen any slowdown in sales, says an official from GSK.

Horlicks, being a white malted beverage, has never really been a direct competitor to Bournvita. It started its journey as a milk substitute and has Chennai as its largest market even today. “In the past there was milk shortage in Chennai and this helped Horlicks become a popular brand in Chennai where consumers started taking it as a milk substitute. The brand is still deeply ingrained in the minds of Chennai consumers and is also one of the brands served at restaurants,’’ observes Doctor of Omax.

Unlike Bournvita which has been cautious about segmenting the category, market leader Horlicks has been steadily increasing its franchise with almost six variants. In 2009 Bournvita launched Bournvita Li’L Champs fortified with DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) targeting children aged 2-5. It has also experimented with a 5-star variant of Bournvita but has not been as bold as Horlicks in going ahead with more variants. Horlicks, meanwhile, has segmented the malted drinks category steadily since 1997 with Mother’s Horlicks, Junior Horlicks, Woman’s Horlicks and Horlicks Gold (30 per cent premium over the regular Horlicks). The brand has also been extended to biscuits and more recently instant noodles (Foodles).

“While GSK’s malted foods portfolio has been growing both in volume and value, most malted foods majors like GSK are looking at diversification into packaged foods,’’ says V. Srinivasan, analyst at Angel Broking.

The way ahead

But Bournvita may get adventurous in future. “We are seeing the potential in the health and wellness segment and want to grow in this space, maybe with some snacking options. There could be also more variants based on fortification and more age groups,” adds Sundararaman.

The Rs 700-crore Bournvita contributes nearly 20 per cent to Cadbury Kraft Foods India’s top line. However, for Kraft Foods (the new parent of Cadbury), malted foods is a new category. “Being such a big brand in Cadbury’s portfolio, Kraft has given us the licence to grow. It is also encouraging us to take inputs from its global nutrition centre in Chicago as Bournvita is in the area of health and wellness,’’ said Sundararaman.

While India continues to be the biggest market for malted drinks, neighbouring South Asia and the Gulf region could also be potential markets. “Today Bournvita reaches out to some markets through distributors. We may evaluate the need to take the brand to some of these markets but India continues to be the biggest market for malted foods,’’ says Sundararaman. Incidentally Nigeria is the only other country where Bournvita enjoys a market after India.

In India, Bournvita is getting ready to shed the tag of a challenger brand, having gained some additional share in the category. Taking a cue from its tagline, Kapoor adds, “From ‘preparing to win’, Bournvita should actually say that it has won. Only then can it prove it is a leader and not a challenger brand in the malted foods segment.’’

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