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With competition intensifying in the category, premium cookies maker Unibic Foods India is looking to reach out to new consumers and strengthen its distribution further in the southern States, besides expand to new regions.
As part of this strategy, the company has roped in actor Shruti Haasan as its brand ambassador.
The company is launching a new TV campaign featuring Hassan, especially targeting consumers in southern India, besides leveraging on the digital media. It will be making significant marketing spends.
Nikhil Sen, Managing Director, Unibic Foods India, said that despite intensifying competition in the cookies segment, the company has maintained steady growth. It grew by over 50 per cent in 2015-16, he said, adding: “Our focus on expanding distribution of the brand across India as well as offering a premium taste and quality product contributed to this growth.” Talking about the strategy to rope in a brand ambassador, Sen said: “We want to focus on increasing awareness, getting new consumers to sample our products and strengthening the brand’s penetration further in the key States in South India, which contribute a large chunk to our revenues. We feel that Shruti Haasan is a great fit for the brand as she is a youth icon and embodies many of the same characteristics that are core to our brand.” While the brand’s products are available across over 2 lakh outlets in the country, it is also eyeing growth by expanding distribution in newer markets in the North and the West. The company aims to increase the reach of its products to an additional 75,000 to 1 lakh outlets.
Unibic India offers more than 20 variants of its products which include Scotch Finger, Doosra Chilli Butter Cookies, Multigrain Cookies and Honey Oatmeal Cookies, among others.
Asked if the company is looking to diversify into other categories, Sen said: “I believe there is still a huge potential to grow in the cookies segment. With growing disposable income, consumers are looking at various snacking options.” Last year the company also decided to offer some products at the ₹10 price point.
Sen added that this strategy helped increase volumes in the “quick snacking category”, especially in class 1 towns.
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