NEW LAUNCH IN READY-TO-EAT CATEGORY

Packaged foods is a fast growing category in India, with some of the key drivers being
convenience, nutrition and taste. Within packaged foods, the Ready to Eat segment is a small but
growing segment.
A team of young brand managers (you) have been given the task of creating a mix for entering
this segment. Some initial work on segmentation as well as demographic and behavioural
information is available for City X which can be seen as one of the top 10 metros in the country
where HUL is considering launching its mix.
The proposal needs a one-page summary that covers the following:
1. Who is the proposed target group for a ready to eat offering? Which of the multiple
segments that do exist should HUL launch a mix for? (Refer Appendix A for a qualitative
segmentation report that was done by the research team for Foods in general - you could
use either of those segments, or any other segment that you deem fit)
2. What would be the key consumer insight (in a line) that would help craft a mix for the
selected segment? Hence, what would be the proposition and product description in a line
each for the above selected segment?
3. Which of HUL’s current brands would you suggest this mix be launched under? (Kissan /
Knorr / Ayush) - why?
4. What is the price of the offering?
5. What would be the annual size of the opportunity with the proposed mix in the selected
segment?
6. What investment will you require in order to secure Rs 1cr of sale, and in what time frame
will you be able to achieve this in City X only? What are the top 3 activities that you will spend
on to achieve the Rs 1 cr of sale? Assume that you cannot spend on Television because you
cannot isolate TV to City X only?

APPENDIX A
Excerpt from research report on Segmentation of consumers in Metros of India

Category and brand choices tend to vary depending on their personalities (e.g. introverts vs
extroverts), motivations towards the category (e.g. Time pressed vs Convenience vs Value
conscious), cultural context (e.g. Traditionalists vs Modernists), consumption occasion (e.g.
in-home vs out of home regular vs travellers). Further, consumption of packaged food is often
dependent on disposable income and life-stage of the consumers. The various life-stages are
Kids, Teens, Young adults, Early Jobbers, Double Income No Kids people, Young parents, Empty
nesters (parents of grown up children) etc.

These dimensions are by no means comprehensive or exclusive and emerges only after an
in-depth understanding of the consumers. It is always a good idea to use one or a combination of
a few parameters to define the segments.
APPENDIX B: DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON CITY X
Total Households 3 Mn HHs

SEC HH Contribution
A 35%
B 27%
C 25%
D/E 13%

Age of Housewife HH Contribution

Upto 34 yrs 39%
35 - 44 yrs 37%
45 + yrs 24%

Working Status of Housewife HH Contribution

Unemployed 62%
Student 0%
Retired 1%
Part Time Work 6%
Full Time Work 31%

Occupation of Housewife HH Contribution

Unskilled Worker 11%
Skilled Worker 6%
Petty Traders 0%
Shop Owners 1%
Businessman/Ind. (None) 1%
Businessman/Ind. (1-9) 0%
Businessman/Ind. (10+) 0%
Self Employed Prof. 1%
Clerical/Salesman 2%
Supervisory Level 1%
Officer in Govt Service 1%
Others 76%
Age of Chief Wage Earner HH Contribution
CWE-Upto 34 yrs 12%
CWE-35-44 Yrs 33%
CWE-45+ 55%

Working Status of Chief Wage Earner HH Contribution

Unemployed 0%
Student 0%
Retired 6%
Work-Part time 7%
Work-Full time 88%
Occupation of Chief Wage Earner HH Contribution
Unskilled Worker 14%
Skilled Worker 33%
Petty Traders 2%
Shop Owners 6%
Businessman/Ind. (None) 5%
Businessman/Ind. (1-9) 1%
Businessman/Ind. (10+) 1%
Self Employed Prof. 5%
Clerical/Salesman 6%
Supervisory Level 6%
Officer in Govt Service 5%
Exec in public sector - Jr. 1%
Exec in public sector - Mid. 0%
Exec in public sector - Sr. 1%
Exec in private sector - Jr. 1%
Exec in private sector - Mid 2%
Exec in private sector - Sr. 0%
Exec in multi nat. - jr. 1%
Exec in multi nat. - mid. 1%
Exec in multi nat. - Sr. 1%
Others 5%

Food Eating Habits HH Contribution

Pure vegetarian 13%
Vegetarian without Onion/Garlic 0%
Vegetarian without Onion/Garlic/Root (Jain Food) 2%
Vegetarian but serve eggs 0%
Non-vegeterian 84%

Presence of Children HH Contribution

Child 01-04 Yrs 6%
Child 05-08 Yrs 12%
Child 09-14 Yrs 31%
Child 01-14 Yrs 40%

Presence of Adults HH Contribution

Adults 15-19 24%
Adults 20-24 30%
Adults 25-29 21%
Adults 30-34 25%
Also, the airport in the city handles about 600 aircraft movements everyday (passenger flights).

An MHRD report indicates that the state in which the city is has a total of 3281 colleges, with
almost 4.4 colleges per lakh of population. The average enrolment per college is 389 students.