REPORT

ON

BRANDIING ANALYSIS OF
AASHIRVAAD ATTA

SUBMITTED BY:

Geeta M Shenoy
17A1HP208

SUBMITTED TO:

Prof. P.K.Mohanty
 Introduction
In May 2002, ITC entered the wheat flour i.e. Atta market with a brand ‘Aashirvaad Atta’ which
became the country’s number one packaged Atta brand in a short span of time. It contains minimum
6% wheat protein according to FSSAI regulations.

According to the ITC’s divisional chief executive food’s division Hemant Malik, Aashirvaad has
become an Rs 4000 crore brand in the wheat flour market. It captures 28% market share in the
branded wheat flour segment. (Period: March, 2018)

The leading competitors in branded packaged atta are Shakti Bhog Atta
, Patanjali Atta, Pillsbury Chakki Fresh Atta, Nature Fresh Sampoorna Chakki Atta, Rajdhani
Chakki Atta, Annapurna Farm Fresh Atta, Samrat India Atta, Hathi Atta, Laxmi Bhog Atta

Variants

Product length of Aashirvaad atta comprises of 5 variants that are depicted below:

Sugar Release Control Select Multigrain Superior MP atta Shudh Chakki Atta

Each product is available in pouches of 1kg, 5kgs, and 10kgs, thus indicating the product depth.

Methodology followed to study the brand: Analysis of secondary data.

Brand Growth
• Since last many years, the brand is growing at a rate of 16 to 17% CAGR.
• Aashirvaad whole wheat atta was launched on 27th May 2002 with its basic variant of
Shuddh Chakki Attawhich claimed to contain 0% Maida (refined flour) and 100%
‘sampurna atta’.
• In March 2005, it launched a premium quality atta made of 100% MP Sharbati wheat
harvested in 7 districts predominantly in Sehore region of Madhya Pradesh.

• In May 2010, they launched Aashirvaad Multigrain Atta which had a mix of 6 different
grains thus marking its presence in the healthy food segment.
 • In March 2016, Aashirvaad sugar release control atta was launched with a GI value lesser
than 55 which was clinically tested.

This is how Aashirvaad Atta had grown to become a Rs 4000 crore wheat flour market.

Customer’s Experience
Positive: -

Customer1

“I am not fond of Roti. Being a Bengali by birth, I prefer rice for both my lunch and dinner. But, I had to
change this habit when I went to a city from other states for my higher studies. I developed this habit of
having Roti/ Chapati along with rice in both lunch and dinner.

Now, for last 5 years, I eat only Roti in my dinner due to weight management. As I am not a genuine lover
of Roti, I need my Roti always soft and smooth, I do not like extremely hot roti too, I like moderately heated
version. But, when the roti is not that heated, the real taste seems to be disappeared, even if you put them
in casserole. So, my mother and wife always find me a bit difficult to satisfy my taste bud when it comes to
making roti.

I have purchased lots of Atta brands and even tried for loose Atta from local shop. I believe that always an
expensive brand cannot give you the good taste. After so many years of trying and tasting, I have found out
the best solution in Aashirvaad Atta. I have found out that roti made from this brand really makes me
satisfied, and I can eat them even if they are put in casserole for a long time.
I find rotis made from Aashirvaad atta soft and tasty and not hard like rock after 1 hour of making, so it
serves my purpose. So, I have not looked for other brands while I got this one. I sincerely recommend
Aashirbad Atta.” Customer 2
“Here I am sharing the experience of using aashirvaad atta from last one year. We are using before
shaktibhog atta but after using this we found very good and healthy product. Aashirvaad is now days very
good brand in the market and easily available at every general store or shops also. The chapati makes very
good from this atta. No blackness found if preserve for a day as other brands shows little blackness. It is
good for health and very soft after final roti comes to us. Hence we are very much satisfied with aashirvaad
atta.”
Customer 3
“Aashirvaad Atta is awesome just don’t have words to explain this, it really good quality and rich in
minerals, when I consumed roti of this atta I feel like soft and smoothness in mouth.
I prefer who should buy this one who does not go to the flour mill for grinding & cum back home again &
do other stuff. ladies have a better option for them just to buy it from the market & prepare the rotis it saves
time for them if they buy readied atta.
Packing is also nice with good quality of plastic used. I am very happy to use this Atta and I prefer this only
and recommend to others, just try for this who didn’t consume it.”

The above reviews create a positive customer based brand equity of Aashirvaad Atta, as when they bought
and used the product, they reacted favourably to the product, which will also help Aashirvaad to become
more accepting in the eyes of the consumers even there is an increase in price, less advertisements about
the product or they adopt any new sales or distribution strategy, the consumers will be less sensitive to these
facts and would focus more on the value the product have build in their life in terms of usage.

Negative:
Customer 1
“Aashirvaad aata. Whenever my family members prepare when it is hot it will be tasty and soft. When I
take roti in box for work it gets hard and crisp and not taste good. Aashirvaad atta should not be that much
chewy. These days it not coming in good quality. Whereas coming to ratio I feel seventy percent of wheat
and thirty percent of maida. And the atta is not as fine”
Customer 2
“I am using Ashirwad Select Atta from last 6 months but this time the bag I brought, the quality of the Atta
is very poor. There is no softness in the rotis made and the taste lacks the grainy aroma as if it is of very
low quality. After eating this aashirvaad atta, we were suffering from motions. I want my complaint to be
heard and if I do not receive any reply I am forced to cease the use of this brand.”

On the contrary to the previous reviews of the consumers, these reviews will lead the brand to build a
negative equity in the market, henceforth the consumers with bad experience will react less favourably to
the marketing activities for the brand. And the brand needs to put a lot of efforts in terms of pricing,
packaging, product and placement of its items to please this segment of the consumers. Such kind of
customer experience build a negative consumer-based brand equity.

Brand Equity
Brand equity of any brand is based upon 3 key ingredients

1. Differential effect
2. Brand Knowledge
3. Consumers response to marketing

1) Differential Effect: - This is developed based on the differences in consumer response when they
compare aashirvaad Atta with its competitor’s product, w.r.t Aashirvaad Atta it was based on the following
fact: -

• Handpicked Sharbati grains from MP, giving Atta its finest quality and authentic taste.
• Whole wheat Atta, where they claimed to have 0 % Maida and 100 % wheat. In their
multigrain Atta, they have a mix of 6 different grains.
These created different opinion in minds of the consumers. But if these differences of opinion are not created
through the product, pricing becomes the differentiating criteria.
2) Brand Knowledge: - Based on the marketing done by the Aashirvaad, the consumers gain
knowledge by what they have learnt, felt, seen and heard about the brand. W.r.t Aashirvaad they have
portrayed their product as a convenient, low involvement, Atta which is pure, nutritious and healthy, and
tasty. They told their consumers about the 4-step cleaning and packaging process of the flour. Then they
also came up with the assurance tag of ITC.
This can further be divided into

a) Brand Awareness: - It is generating familiarity about the brand, Aashirvaad did by connecting with
the fact of getting selected grains, its name, symbol, logo, packaging and promotion linking it to
key terms like mother, roti, family time, health benefits, and promise.
b) Brand Image: - It is what assumed by the consumers perceive about Aashirvaad, this was done by
associating it as pure, tasty, nutritious, healthy, easy to use product.

3) Consumer Response to marketing: - The perception, preference and behaviour of the consumers
about the marketing of the product make up its brand equity. This criterion can be measured on the
following factor: -

• Improved perception of the product performance

• Greater loyalty
• Less vulnerability to competitive marketing actions
• Less vulnerability to marketing crises
• Larger margins
• More inelastic consumer response to price increase
• More elastic consumer response to price decrease
• Greater trade cooperation and support
• Increased marketing communication effectiveness
• Possible licensing opportunities
• Additional brand extension opportunities
In case of aashirvaad Atta these points can be proven by the fact that it had the highest market share of 28%
and is constantly growing at the CAGR of 16-17% per year.
 Brand Resonance

Brand building blocks and their sub-dimension

Salience: - Achieving the right brand identity means creating brand salience with customer meaning how
often the brand is evoked under various circumstances. The pictorial depiction of whole wheat, roti, color
combination of red and cream aided customers to recognize the brand.

Imagery: - It refers to the intangible aspect of the brand. Aashirvaad did this by showing mother’s love for
their child, which she gave them in the form of rotis made by this flour, whereas it also linked the
convenience and low involvement required in this product with respect to working women and their guilt
of not being involved in the end to end process of making rotis out of wheat. It also perceived as trustworthy
because it associates the mother and homely food.

Performance: - It describes how well the product or service meets more functional needs of the customers
by satisfying utilitarian, aesthetic and economic needs. The brand provides refined whole wheat flour which
is ready to use, it has a convenient and attractive packaging and is available in various sizes under mid-
range category of pricing.

Judgments: - It is customer’s opinion about the brand and evaluation of the same. This can be both positive
and negative. The positive judgment helped Aadhirvaad to increase its sales and grow at a rate of 16-17 %
per year and capture 28% market share. Whereas the negative judgment helped them to work on the
improvement of the product and packaging to fulfill the customer’s need.

Feelings: - it is customers responses and reaction to the brand, it involves the social currency evoked by
the brand. The trust of being healthy and pure, created by the product in their customers, where many
families have shifted from the traditional buying and storage of wheat in bulk to ready atta packets by
aashirvaad, and also elevating these feelings by the advertisements showing mother’s love and care towards
their child and how they connect with recipes made by this atta.
Resonance: - it is the ultimate relationship level, and level of identification that the customer has with the
brand. The extent to which the customers feel that they are in sync with the brand. Brand resonance has 4
categories:

a) Behavioral loyalty: - This can be inferred by the fact that the brand is continuously growing, as
once a person has tried aashirvaad, they tend to go for repeat purchase due to its ease, convenience
and availability.
b) Attitudinal attachment: - The attachment which consumers have with the brand depicts their
attitudinal loyalty, where when there is availability of all the competitor’s product in the store, but
the customers go for Aashirvaad, because they are habituated to its taste and has become almost
irreplaceable part of their daily life.
c) Sense of community: - It’s the identification with the brand community that may reflect an
important social phenomenon due to which customer’s feel affiliation with other people associated
with the brand. Considering Aashirvaad Atta is an FMCG product that is a raw ingredient of a final
product, sense of community is on the lower side of scale.
d) Active engagement: - It’s the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty when customers invest time,
money, and other resources towards the brand post actual purchase and consumption. When the
customers of Aashirvaad atta are delighted with it, they endorse it by themselves to others. Thus,
being advocates of Aashirvaad and engaging in Word of Mouth endorsement without receiving any
incentive from the brand.
 BRAND TRACKING SURVEY

To understand brand tracking, conducted a micro-study.

Reponses and Analysis

Salience- Brand Awareness: The responses depict that, all the respondents are aware of
Aashirvaad Atta, followed by Patanjali Atta and Pilsburry Chakki Fresh Atta.

Salience- Purchase Preference: The responses depict that, majority of buyers prefer to buy
Aashirvaad atta amongst other packaged atta brands.
An upward of 56% feel that the packaging of Aashirvaad Atta is attractive, while 38% respondents
are indifferent and 4.8% respondents think that it needs to improvement.

Performance- Price based image: Consumers feel that Aashirvaad Atta is priced on the higher
side as comparison to Patanjali Atta and Samrat India Atta.
Brand Recall: The above question shows the extent of brand recall. As we can see it is very high
for Aashirvaad Atta.

Judgement- Quality: Satisfaction level for the consumers of Aashirvaad Atta is on the higher
side.
Imagery: Consumers associate this to be a high end brand and thus prefer buying it fom Super
Markets as compared to local Kirana Shops.

Resonance- Attachment : Brand internalization: However, despite its efforts, Aashirvaad Atta
is not able to connect its customers on an internalized basis.
Majority of the respondents think that Aashirvaad Atta is value for money which means it is high
on credibility and quality.

Feelings- Engagement through communication: 68% respondents are engaged by an

Aashirvaad Atta ad. This means it can captivate the audience attention, thus create brand awareness
and brand retention.
Performance, Judgement- Credibility :Although majority of the respondents believe in the
claims made, Aashirvaad atta needs to work to create more credibility so that there is no more
negative Word-Of-Mouth happening against it. Especially considering the recent plastic vs gluten
controversy that engulfed Aashirvaad Atta.

Judgement -Credibility: More than 70% of the respondents think highly despite the recent
controversy. Thus, securing a respectable position in the minds of the consumers.
Upward of 75% of consumers will recommend this brand to others. This makes them the brands
unpaid endorsers.

Resonance -Loyalty: Scoring high on the loyalty aspect is a cumbersome task for a commodity
based product as it is required to fulfill the basic needs. However, Aashirvaad Atta seems to be
doing pretty well on this aspect as well.
Resonance- Attachment However as mentioned earlier, it being a product catering to the basic
need of human beings and being a staple at that, unavailability of the product won’t make a much
difference to the consumers. Even the most loyal consumer will take the next packet available and
make his purchase.

Resonance- Community A product catering to the basic needs generally doesn’t create a high
resonance in the minds of the consumers. They need the staple to sustain and won’t mind shifting
away. The switching cost is low as well. To sustain for longer in the consumer’s minds and
purchase list, along with promotional activities, the brand must also see that its distribution is at
an optimum level and the consumer doesn’t get the opportunity to switch.
 PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES

Projective techniques are diagnostic tools to uncover the underlying opinions and feelings of
consumers when they are unwilling or otherwise unable to express themselves on these matters.
The customers are presented with ambiguous and/or incomplete stimulus and are asked to interpret
it. The idea expressed by the customer put forth their innermost true feelings (and apprehensions)
about the brand. The Marketer can thus work on these to create a positive impact in the minds of
the customer.
These tests help in finding out the level of brand recall and the significant position it occupies in
the minds of the customers. With the responses, we can gauge the actual P.O.D. that the consumers
feel the brand has.
Some of the projective techniques that can be used for Aashirvaad Atta are as follows:
Bubble exercise:
Cartoons/comics are placed in the scenes to represent the thoughts, words, or actions thus depicting
the cognitive, affective, or conative component regarding the brand/product. For Aashirvaad Atta
the following type of comics can be used and the respondents can be asked to respond with the
first thought that comes to their minds.

The respondent’s level of brand recall can be tested through this apart from finding out their
thoughts on wheat flour market, especially Aashirvaad Atta.
Sentence Completion Test:
In sentence completion tests respondents are provided with beginning of a sentence and
respondents are then supposed to complete the sentences in ways that are meaningful to them. The
responses flourish insights of attitudes, beliefs, associations, motivations, or other mental states.
Therefore, sentence completion technique promotes the respondents to disclose their innermost
underlying concealed feelings. Aashirvaad Atta can conduct this test to know what its target
audience has on top of its minds for roti and wheat flour.
Examples:
• My meal is incomplete without __________
• Prabhu ke gunn gao________

Comparison Tasks:
Consumers convey their impressions by comparing product brands to people, countries, objects,
fruits, etc. The association helps the researcher assign to get a sneak peek of the consumer’s
mindset. It helps in understanding the personality of the brand from the customers view point.

Examples:

• If Aashirvaad Atta were an actor which one would it be?

• Amongst the following people who do you think would be consuming Aashivaad Atta?

Archetypes:
Archetypes help elucidate the factors that determine purchase decisions. These factors are
present in the subconscious mind and the consumers aren’t aware of them. It’s a primitive
mental image learnt early in life that has a lasting impression on a person.
For a brand test such as Aashirvaad Atta a lot can be understood based on the family, social,
and cultural aspects.
Example: Friends from North India association with roti as a mandatory part of their meals.
 Logo Identification:
To test brand recognition, Aashirvaad Atta’s semi-blocked i.e. only a part of it logo can be
shown to customers to test whether they can identify the same.

Tagline Completion:
To test brand recall, Aashirvaad Atta’tagline can be shown to customers to test whether they
can recollect and recite the same.
Their tagline ‘Khushiyaan Chun Chun Ke’ can be tested across the target audience.

BRAND COMMUNICATION

Sales Promotion Techniques

Aashirvaad Atta engages itself in many sales promotion techniques such as

Discounts:
The communication of price discounts given is communicated majorly through print ads in
regional newspapers.

TV ad engagement offers:
To engage customers with its ads and o get a rough idea of the ROI on ad spends and check its
reach, they came up with a competition. In which the participants had to watch the TVC and answer
the question to avail a free 1kg sample of Aashirvaad Select.
 Retailer discounts:
They also permit the retailers to sell
Aashirvaad Atta with discount or free
packet such BOGO offers to enable fast
movement of SKU’s.

Product bundling at brand level:

At the brand level, Aashirvaad Atta offered various offers to enable the reach of ITC’s other
products such as Sunfeast Yippie Noodles, engage deos, Santoor etc

Product bundling at retailer level:

They also permit the retailers to sell Aashirvaad Atta to be sold with other products to enable
fast movement of SKU’s in both brick and mortar and online stores.
Print Ads:
Aashirvaad promotes its Atta through various print ads in newspapers especially regional and
in magazines targeting the housewives.

OOH
Aashirvaad Atta’s ads can be seen in various billboards and places such as bus stops and
busses. They began with this in 2015 and predominantly focussed on the South Indian States
to cultivate the habit of roti eating and also to tap the North Indians who have migrated for
work.
TVC
Aashirvaad Atta uses the Indian family orientation of the mother cooking food for her
children and tries to encapsulate the viewer by associating the love of a mother to her children
to the goodness and wholesomness of the Atta.

Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qVWevGkw4c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHXv8Lf_wrI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULxd2B4RZDw

Events
Aashirvaad Atta was the chief sponsor and partner of the Food Fiesta event which had Chef
Vikas Khanna as the chief guest. Participants from all over the country could exhibit their
culinary skills in this competition. The partnership in this event could help Aashirvaad Atta
get a much required presence as an PR activity.
Twitter Campaign
To make use of the Social Medi and leave an imprint therea, they conducted a Twitter
campaign in the form of a competition. This was done in association with Radio city.

Sub brand collaboration

ITC’s Sunfeast launched Farmlite Digestive biscuit in the healthy snack market and
mentioned that the source for the batter is Aashirvaad’s Atta. Thus, depicting the
wholesomeness, goodness, and reliability of Aashirvaad Atta.
 BRAND ELEMENTS

Brand Name : Aashirvaad Atta

URL: https://www.aashirvaad.com/

Logos and Symbols:

Characters: Aashirvaad has not created any special characters as of now.

Slogans : Chun Chun Ke Khushiyaan

Brand Mantra: Sarva Gun Sampanna
Packaging
 REFERENCES

• Strategic Brand Management, 4e, by Keller, Kevin Lane; Parameshwaran, Ambi M. G.; Jacob,
Isaac.
• http://www.aashirvaad.com/ProductListing.aspx
• https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/itcs-
aashirvaadbecomes-rs-4000-crore-brand-forays-into-new-segments/63196814
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/itc-v/s-the-rest-of-the-
indianfmcg-world/articleshow/5919859.cms
• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/itc-v/s-the-rest-of-the-
indianfmcg-world/articleshow/5919859.cms

• http://www.aashirvaad.com/ProductListing.aspx

• https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/business-of-brands/itcs-aashirvaad-
becomes-rs-4000-crore-brand-forays-into-new-segments/63196814

• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/itc-v/s-the-rest-of-the-indian-
fmcg-world/articleshow/5919859.cms

• https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/brand-equity/itc-v/s-the-rest-of-the-indian-
fmcg-world/articleshow/5919859.cms

• http://www.media4growth.com/campaigns/itcs-aashirvaad-atta-gives-ooh-audience-food-for-
thought-1554