The Hindu Business Line : For Marico, the focus now is on Saffola salt

FMCG major Marico is stepping up focus on promoting its salt business under the Saffola brand name. According to Mr R. Chandrasekar, Category Head, Marcio Ltd, the company would significantly increase its promotional expenditure to establish its position in the domestic salt market.

"We have been present in the salt category for some time now. However, our focus initially was to establish the Saffola oil brand. Having done that successfully, we are now looking to aggressively promote Saffola salt and improve its visibility."

The company would be spending around 5 to 10 per cent of its advertising and sales promotion expenditure on marketing Saffola salt, he added.

For Saffola oil, Marico adopted several approaches to reach out to the consumer over the past two years. Starting with TV commercials to organising heart health camps, the company has not left any stone unturned. Mr Chandrasekar said, "We have been communicating the brand based on real-life insights. Our attempt to make the advertisements more pertinent to the consumer has been very successful."

With regard to growth opportunities, he said that the company is evaluating several organic and inorganic possibilities.

Although the other FMCG giants are ramping up their operations in the rural markets, Mr Chandrasekar explained that currently Marico would not. "The potential is huge in the rural markets, but I feel that we have just touched the tip of the iceberg in the urban markets and that is where we would be operating." However, catering to rural markets would be the next logical step, he added.