Meri Maggi Has A Few Marketing Lessons To Teach!

6 mins read

There has been a time in our lives when we’d be more than excited to open our tiffins during lunchtime at school. The eagerness to fill our rumbling belly with the tasty food our tiffin contained would make it difficult to sit through the first half of school hours. Soon, the bell would ring and we’d be surrounded by friends, all of them waiting for the tiffin to click open so that they could relish that one spoon of Maggi. Yes, we’re talking about our favorite two-minute Maggi noodles that bring with them an aroma of nostalgia, of memories. 

Indeed, the marketing team at Maggi has pulled all the right cords to make both children and adults yearn for their noodles, so much so that a mere advertisement leaves us all salivating even today. But there is a lot more that goes behind the yellow banner and that is what makes yellow the color of Maggi today! So, before I’m tempted to pick another bowl of Maggi, let’s talk about the numerous marketing lessons that one can learn from their favorite two-minute noodles - Maggi. 

The pits and falls

Back in 1947, Maggi was acquired by Nestle, but till date, it dominates the center stage fearlessly, and independently. The noodle brand which can easily be termed a crowd-puller, suffered a massive setback in the year 2015 when unacceptable MSG levels were detected in the noodles. Soon after, tests were conducted and a government order was passed to remove all packets of the noodle brand from the counters of every thela, store, or supermarket in the country. The internet got flooded with memes and pictures of Maggi, and people succumbed to less popular noodle brands, some of which were later taken away for testing as well. 

Five long months passed and just when people were about to forget all about their favorite noodle brand, Maggi made a heartfelt comeback! Everybody was ready to battle it out for the first few available packets. Now, months and years later, Maggi seems to have settled back on track, just like the old days, when its aroma would fill the room with memories. 

What’s crucial to note here is how quickly Maggi reinstated its position in the market, like a ruler. It had governed the industry of packeted food products before the ban and soon after it was lifted, its business steadily came back on track, without much hassle. Here is where Maggi’s marketing team must get its due credit, for it is they who worked tirelessly to re-establish the brand and renew its former reputation. 

Marketing lessons to learn from Maggi

Without further ado, let’s take a glimpse into the number of marketing lessons one can learn from Maggi.  

Play to your strengths, Make use of emotions

This, undeniably, goes a long way when Maggi comes into the picture. We’ve always pictured Maggi being cooked by our mothers as a reward for something great that we’ve accomplished - be it full marks on a class test or the cricket match that you’ve won. It has been presented as a family food for years and even today, the image stays intact. One major lesson that this tactic of marketing teaches us is this, always try to strike a chord with your consumer - and that most likely will happen if they are able to connect with your product or service emotionally. 

Keep in touch with consumers through ads 

Another key factor that helped Maggi change the game is the number of ads that the noodle brand played with, especially after the ban was imposed. Nestle, Maggi’s parent company, decided to exorbitantly increase its ad volumes and a growth of 96 percent of ads was witnessed by the two-minute noodles, two months prior to its re-launch. In fact, the print advertisement that went along with the announcement of the relaunch read, “Your Maggi is safe, has always been”. This is how it reached its customers, sending across a message that it's back with a bang! 

Playing with words - Short and meaningful taglines!

Maggi knows how to play with words and over time, it has mastered this art. Not only are its tagines catchy but they also connect well with the consumers. It’s unique tagline - “Taste bhi, health bhi” assures customers of taste as well as the quality of food, which even attracts people who earlier believed that noodles aren’t a healthy choice for consumption. Thus, brands must ensure that they voice their beliefs in the tagline itself and convey a message that lies well in line with their consumers’ beliefs. 

The need to be obsessed with its customers

Another marketing lesson we get to learn from Maggi is that brands must be obsessed with their customers. If a brand chooses to make customers its priority, it will flourish. To make that happen, you must learn to anticipate their feedback, their needs, and the innovations that work well with your customers. But to garner such responses from your customer, a brand must essentially stay in touch with them, in order to understand where they are coming from. It is only when customers realize that they are being heard and cared for, that they return to buy products again and again and again. 

Today, we are able to devour our favourite two-minute noodles without having to think twice about the ban that was previously imposed on Maggi. This speaks volumes about how far the brand has come since the day the ban has been lifted, both in terms of staying afloat in the market and marketing strategies. Apart from all the marketing lessons that we learn from Maggi, one thing is certain, it managed to sail through the toughest circumstances and make it to the other side. And this is what a brand needs to learn and do during high tides and low.