Introduction
Amul is a co-operative that changed the entire milk procurement process and spurred the White Revolution in India. A company that was founded by a few farmers with a mission to stop the exploitation by middlemen, gradually became the biggest brand in the nation. A brand that not only changed the lives of many poor farmers, but also took the nation to new heights.
‘Amul –The Taste of India.’ It all started 65 years ago when poor farmers who worked hard, day in and day out were exploited by the local traders and given small incentives. Angered by the unfair and manipulative practices followed by local traders, the farmers under the leadership of Tribhuvandas Patel approached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to resolve their grievances. Empathizing with the farmers, Patel Ji advised them to be self-sustaining entrepreneurs and work for themselves. The farmers took the advice seriously and formed their own cooperative societies. What started with only a few farmers producing 247 litres of milk grew into a full- fledged organization with more than 3.6 million milk producers producing around 14.85 million litres per day. AMUL dairy has five main departments like Finance, Personal, Commercial, Milk Procurement, and Production. The finance department does the clerical work and takes care of inflow and outflows of the cash. The other work of the Finance Department is to audit the annual work. The Personal Department handles the work like appointment, requirement, promotion, transfer, dismissal, demotion, performance appraisal, etc. The Commercial Department conducts all promotional activities of the local area. The pricing decision of buttermilk is taken by the Commercial Department. The marketing work is handling by the GCMMF. The Production Department produces the product with the help of the latest technologies. The production is done according to ISO mark requirement. The Milk Procurement Department gets the milk every day two times from 92 routes and 1084 societies. For the maintenance of the quality of the milk, there are 167 chilling units.
Objectives of the study
- To study the position of Amul products in certain established markets;
- To know awareness of people towards Amul products;
- To know the preference of Amul products over other brands; and
- To know consumer behavior towards price, quality, availability, etc.
Key Success Factors of AMUL
1. The Amul Girl (The Amul Advertising Campaign)
The Amul girl is the advertising mascot used by the company to promote the brand. The brand has been cleverly using the cartoon figure in its longest running ad campaign, to instil an element of humour into its print ads. The content is liked by the people and results in better customer engagement. This increases the brand recall value for Amul. Hence, the Amul girl advertising campaign is often described as one of the best Indian advertising concepts.
- Innovation
Amul has constantly been innovating, be it launching new products, creative marketing campaigns or challenging traditional societal trends to come up with better ones. In the 1960’s, Amul became the first brand in the world to make skimmed milk powder from buffalo milk. For its continuous innovation, the brand won the “CNN-IBN Innovating for Better Tomorrow Award” and “World Dairy Innovation Award” in the year 2014.
3. Strong Brand
Amul follows the Branded House Architecture way, wherein whatever they promote, they promote it under one common brand name – Amul. The prime focus is on promoting the parent brand, rather than an individual product, which helps them gain more brand visibility and results in lesser marketing and advertising costs.
4. Efficient Supply chain
Amul follows a three-tier cooperative structure, which consists of a dairy cooperative society at the village level that is affiliated with milk unions at the district level, which in turn is federated to a milk federation at the state level. Milk is collected at the village dairy society, procured and processed at the district milk union, and marketed at the state milk federation. The Amul model has helped India become the largest milk producer in the world.
- Diverse Portfolio of Products
With its diversified product portfolio, Amul has been able to cater to the needs of all the segments. From kids to teenagers, men and women, calorie conscious to health conscious, the company has ensured that it launches products for every segment. Providing value and benefits to its target segment, Amul has been able to build a strong brand association with its customers over the years.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF AMUL
Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Amul
- Very high market share in ice cream
- Excellent brand equity
- Excellent quality management Strong distribution network
- Good product portfolio
Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Amul
- Cost of Operations –Amul’s operation is huge. And so is the cost.
- Chocolates –Amul’s expansion to chocolate has failed and hardly any product of Amul chocolates is selling in the market.
Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Amul
- Export –Amul can export its product to other countries, thereby, increasing its turnover and margins exponentially.
- Concentrate more on chocolate market –Amul has a no advertisement policy, which creates a problem for its foray into additional products. Amul should in fact have separate SBUs and concentrate more on increasing its product line through chocolates or other such products.
Threats in the SWOT analysis of Amul
- Increasing competition in ice cream segment –Many players, local and international, are entering the ice cream market, thereby, taking away share of wallet from Amul. Kwality Walls, Naturals, London Dairy, Havmor, Arun Ice Cream, Vadilal, and Ramani are some of the few brands who are directly in competition with Amul.
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Sample profile
The data required for the analysis was collected by conducting a random survey on consumers of Amul products within the city of Mangaluru. About 76% of the respondents purchase Amul products because of its quality, followed by 24% because of its price. Around 44% respondents came to know about Amul products because of television, followed by 36% because of friends; 60% of the respondents feel Amul products are good, followed by 40% that it is average. Majority of the respondents buy the product through personal buying, 40 % is monthly buyers, and the remaining purchase weekly, daily, and occasionally. Nearly 76% of the respondents have been using Amul products from less than a year, followed by 24% from 2 years; 68% of the respondents feel Nandini may be a competitor for Amul, followed by 12% feeling it to be Mother Dairy. About 88% of the respondents are satisfied with the advertisements of Patanjali, followed by 12% as impressive and not satisfied; 75% of the respondents recommend Amul products to others and 25% do not because of switching products every now and then.
FINDINGS
- Majority of the respondents are consumers of Amul products.
- The reasons for the purchase of Amul Products have been quality and price.
- Majority of the consumers are satisfied with Amul products.
- From the survey, it was seen that consumers come to know about Amul products through TV, advertisements, and friends.
- Majority of the respondents rated Amul products as excellent.
- Majority of the consumers prefer personal buying as a mode of placing an order.
- Majority of the consumers feel that Nandini is a major competitor for Patanjali products.
- Majority of the consumers are impressed with the advertisements of Amul products.
- Brand awareness for Amul chocolate is very low.
SUGGESTIONS
- Amul products currently do not offer any discounts or other offers on their products. Therefore, they can come up with offers like buy one get one free and discounts so that they can increase their sales.
- Apart from the existing products, they can also bring in more varieties.
- Projector films may be shown to the villagers emphasizing on the quality and hygiene of Amul, to convince and create a favourable attitude towards Amul products.
- Arrangements should be made to ensure regular supply of Amul products to the consumers in new places once a new product is introduced.
Conclusion
This Polish proverb is right in saying, ‘If the farmer is poor then so is the whole country’. It was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Tribhuvandas Patel, and Dr. Verghese Kurien who must have understood what this quote meant and took certain measures to stop the exploitation of the farmers. It was their sheer determination and hard work that ensured a self-sustaining state for the farmers. Today, the brand has enabled farmers to be entrepreneurs and earn their own living. The whole process is transparent and has ensured that there is no exploitation. The Amul brand has proved that it is not just a product, but a movement that represents the economic freedom of farmers. The brand has given farmers the courage to dream, to hope, and to live. Amul in all its sense has proved that it is Amulya, i.e., ‘Priceless’ for the nation and must be preserved.
Reference Website
Books
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- Sachiffman L.G. and Kanuk L.L. (2008).”Consumer behaviour.”9th edition, Pearson Prentice Hall of India, New Delhi, p.23.
- Malika Rani (2012). “Women’s role in buying behaviour for durables: A study of Malwa region in Punjab”. Indian Journal of Marketing, Vol.42, Number 12, December 2012, pp.42-53.
- Prof. Mr. D. Nidhyananth & S. Sugapriya (2013). National Conference on “Innovative Business Practices in Technological Era”. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSR-JBM), pp. 64-66.
5. T. Ravichandran & G. Arumugasamy (2013). ‘Consumers Attitudes towards Arokya Milk in Nagercoil Town’. Indian Journal of Applied Research, Volume 3, pp.297- 299.
PRAVEEN D.
Assistant Professor
SDM College of Business Management,
Mangaluru
SHREEPRAJNA
Assistant Professor
SDM College of Business Management,
Mangaluru