| Name of Publication | Place of Publication | Date of Publication |
| A&M | New Delhi | 15 Mar 1998 |
Going Round the Circles
|
Surprisingly, no other
domestic player hopped on to the mint brand wagon. Meanwhile Polo began
selling in paan and spearmint flavours as well. Splitting Image The summer of 1997 saw Bakeman's Industries Ltd amicably split its closely-held family business into bakery and confectionery divisions. The company insisted that the spilt was necessitated because both businesses were getting too large to handle under one roof. Confectionery was siphoned off into a company called Candico (I) Ltd., While bakery, along with a couple of other small businesses (detergents and cinema theatres), were retained by Bakeman's. Candico (the name was chosen because of its obvious association with confectionery) began with a turn over of Rs. 65 crore, while Bakeman's stood at Rs. 140 crore. Candico reworked its strategy for mints, and decided it was high time it 'stopped the joke about the hole'. The idea was to change Mint-O's core attribute from the all important -but-frivolous hole to that of a mouth freshener. Candico added to its mint family by launching Mint-O fresh in a pack of eight tablets (price Rs. 2.50). The regular Mint-O, which existed alongside the new variant, could be brought for Rs. 5.00 (20s pack). Against the original green -and-blue Mint-O,Fresh came in all blue pack. While Mint-O regular had always been aimed at adults, the target audience for fresh-banking on its mouth freshening properties- was narrowed down to the younger consumer. Ambience slotted the brand as an 'anytime, anywhere freshener for both mouth and soul'. Last August, Candico came up with a breakthrough in its packaging. Mints generally tend to loose some of their Flavour after three four months of being packaged, (though the shelf life is anywhere between six months to a year). To get around that problem, Candico began shrink wrapping its mints. Late last year, Mint-O took the rights to sponsor a polo tournament and Ambience devised a 'cheeky singles' campaign. The theme: 'Mint-O sponsors Polo.' according to Candico, the 40-lakh project was initiated 'to keep the |
market vibrant'. For
1997-98, the overall promotional budget for Candico's products(including ad
spend and events)is expected to be about Rs. 1.5 crore.
Combining Forces Subsequently, Candico got itself a distribution network separate from its parent company. Besides regular retail stores (where Bakeman's biscuits are stocked), Mint-O is also being retailed at paan shops and chemist outlets. The company claims to have about 900 distributors nationwide. In 1998-99, it expects the number to increase by another 300. And while the brand
is stocked at two lakh outlets currently, it is expected to go up to three
lakh in 1998-99. Candico insists that Mint-O has completely shed its
northern bias, and is now evenly spread in all markets of the country. The
company manufacturing base at Nagpur, which has a production capacity of
3,600 units of confectionery a minute, is claimedly the largest in the
country among all confectionery marketers. Transportation of candies is
cheap and, Candico brand are on retailers' shelves within three weeks of
starting from the factory. |