About the Company
ITC has a diversified presence in Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards & Specialty Papers, Packaging, Agri-Business, Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Information Technology, Branded Apparel, Personal Care, Stationery, Safety Matches and other FMCG products. While ITC is an outstanding market leader in its traditional businesses of Cigarettes, Hotels, Paperboards, Packaging and Agri-Exports, it is rapidly gaining market share even in its nascent businesses of Packaged Foods & Confectionery, Branded Apparel, Personal Care and Stationery. The FMCG product line has products like Kitchen of India (Ready to eat), Aashirvad, confectionary, snack foods, staples, safety matches and agarbattis. The snack foods constitute of about 20 types of Sunfeast biscuits and variants and confectionary constitutes Minto and Candyman and many more…
The Challenge
The FMCG division of the company has a huge distribution and dealer network in the country. The challenge was that new products introduced were not getting sufficient visibility in the market and hence insufficient orders were received from the network. Even though aggressive advertising was happening, the product placement was not adequate and the demand created through advertising did not reflect in the sales. A thorough study of the ordering process was undertaken and it was found that the process lacked conclusive understanding of the new products launched. On the theory, “all that glitters is gold”, we decided to make the process more visibly positioned.
The Solution
When we were placed with this challenge, the company wanted to create a tabular form of list so the dealers and shops could order from the elaborate list. Since the list itself consisted of a huge range of items, we suggested instead that we present the items pictorially for easy cognizance. The client agreed for the altered approach that we intended to take.
After much deliberation and immense brainstorming, finally, what was created for them was a effective small size folder with 1/8 size leafs dedicated to each of their FMCG items. The page displayed pictures of the product and the sizes in which they were available. For example Sunfeast biscuits section had multiple pages. Each page took one category like Cream biscuits. The page clearly displayed the types of cream biscuits – strawberry, chocolate, orange, butterscotch, etc. with pictures and the weight. All items were easily identifiable at one look and hence, this made it easier for the dealers or shopkeepers not only to book the order but also understand and match the ranges with the requirement of his customers.
In our study, previously, we also understood that, a lot of the shopkeepers might not be very well versed with English, so pictures helped in giving them familiarity with the product. These leafs were then filed in a folder such that new leafs could be added whenever a new product or packaging or size was launched. All products, hence, which would be added or withdrawn, subsequently, could be conveniently modified. All the important details from an ordering perspective were clearly marked and highlighted in the product leaf such that order taking was not only easier but quick as well.
The Result
The feedback received from the shopkeepers was great and the utility of the finished product enhanced the orders even more. The way all items were listed and presented pictorially was well taken and raised curiosity among the dealers. The result can be arbitrated by the repeat orders we got year after year for this ‘Dealer product catalogue’ from the company. This is how a Small folder got in Big results.