Marketing Case Study ITC’s Bingo

Business Standard's Annual Brand Derby has picked Bingo as the most successful launch of 2007. Vodafone was a close second to Bingo for its highly effective simple message: Hutch is now Vodafone. Ten months after it entered the category with its wafer snack brand, Bingo, ITC's foray into the Rs 1,800-crore branded snack market has fetched the company a 16 per cent market share across the country (Source: AC Nielsen). What made the brand tick let's take a look

Research: After making the decision to launch Bingo it started by sending a cross-functional team of eight individuals were sent across the country to research the snacking habits of the Indian consumer. After travelling to 14 cities and speaking to more than 1,000 people, the team came back with an insight that Indian consumers were looking for novelty and excitement in existing snacks.

Taste: For the recipes, the company went to the chefs in its hotels. The chefs came back with 16 flavours with twists like bindaas masti chaas, chatkila nimbu achar and tandoori paneer tikka-flavoured potato chips, chilli and tomato-flavoured mad angles — inspired by khakras — and other snacks.

Targeting: The Company decided that youngsters in the age group of 16-30 are the most experimental and hence they would be the primary target audience.

Marketing & Advertising: Bingo touched a chord with consumers through humour and irreverent advertising. On television, the company booked 10 to 15 spots per channel per day on youth channels such as MTV and Star World, mass Hindi channels like Zee and Star TV, and news channels. It also had around 20 spots on a variety of radio channels and advertised in most leading national dailies. In the top-30 cities, over 1,000 outdoor hoardings advertised the product. It also created a website www.bingeonbingo.com with offers, online games, downloads and even mobile games. According to industry estimates, ITC spent close to Rs 100 crore on marketing.

Distribution: The Company distributed more than 4 lakh large racks, to display the brand at all points of sale. The racks created so much impact that even competitors like market leader Frito-Lay's introduced its own version of wafer racks. This incredible leveraging of distribution system is credited by many as major cause of Bingo's success. Source :Business Standard