Nilgai Foods Case Study: Positioning Packaged Coconut Water in India

Topic: Marketing
Words: 605 Pages: 2

The marketing mix strategy consists of everything that a business can accomplish to impact demand for its commodity. Cocofly’s marketing scheme combined the 4 Ps of the marketing mix described below (Twin, 2022).

Product: The quality of the Cocofly brand is superior and stands apart from the competitors. Through its uniqueness, it has fulfilled consumers’ demands and expectations in various markets. Nilgai also places a strong emphasis on innovation in Cocofly and reintroduces its new brand regularly to keep the customers interested and satisfied.

Price: In comparison to its competitors, Cocofly was offered at a considerably cheaper price. It should be noted that originally, the product was only available in an expensive tetra pack (FNB News, 2017). However, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles were substituted for bottles and cans, allowing for additional size options and lower production costs. Cocofly size variants now allow Nilgai to have a consistent revenue stream, and it is an affordable option for all consumers, even those in lower-income income brackets.

Place: Cocofly is offered in major Indian cities such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan. These are all non-coastal areas where fresh coconut water was hard to come by. In India, it has over 10,000 retail stores (Anand, 2020). Its e-commerce system also helps it grow even further.

Promotion: Cocofly was propagated through commercial videos, radio promotions, and massive billboards. It was marketed as 100 percent virgin coconut juice that was both thirst-quenching and nutritious (Indiamart, 2020). In addition, the Cocofly PET bottle served as a foundation for significant marketing for the product.

Cocofly is using a cost leadership Porter strategy to gain a share of the competitive market. To enter this market, which was already well established, Cocofly had to use this strategy as evidenced by Cocofly’s scheme of targeting broad markets that has high demand and providing the lowest price available.

The beverage market can be divided depending on factors such as demographics, lifestyle, location, and preferences of the product’s target audience. For example, the companies operating in the beverage industry can segment the market into alcoholic (distilled and non-distilled drinks) and non-alcoholic beverages (soft and hot drinks) to satisfy the desires and wants of the customers.

The target segment for Cocofly should be non-alcoholic beverages which comprise energy drinks, fruit juice, and sports drinks. This is because it has positioned its brand as the most nutritious and conservative drink that has 100% fresh and pure coconut water. Thus, it will attract the non-alcoholic category that focuses mainly on health or exercise drinks.

The current Cocofly distribution strategy is not optimal for the product. Apart from selling Cocofly through its e-commerce, Cocofly makes use of selective distribution channels such as hotels and partnered retailers and distributors. Therefore, there is a need for Cocofly’s distribution channels in order to have a sustainable and profitable business. Moreover, some of the partnered distributors, like Patanjali, pose a challenge because they bring their coconut juice varieties.

First, Cocofly needs to discontinue its low-price approach, which has various disadvantages that do not guarantee long-term market domination (Abdelnour et al., 2021). Since it is only attracting price-conscious customers who are not loyal and are shopping for the best deal, secondly, Cocofly should adopt a product variety strategy. Cocofly needs to offer product versions like basic coconut water and another one that includes grated delicate coconut to keep the business thriving. Cocofly also has a specific stance as the healthiest and most nutritive drink. Therefore, it should start a targeted promotion; for example, it can target the diabetic population and pregnant ladies with a digital campaign to create awareness of the health benefits of coconut water.

References

Abdelnour, A., Bages-Amat, A., Moss, S., & Prabhu, M. (2021). Defying cost volatility: A strategic pricing response. McKinsey & Company. Web.

Anand, K. (2020). Nilgai Foods: Reinventing the culinary image of India. The CEO Story. Web.

Fnbnews.com. (2017). FNB News – Cocofly launches a 200ml bottle of 100% pure coconut water priced at Rs 20 | FNB News. Web.

Indiamart.com. (2020). Cocofly coconut water 200 Ml tetra pack. Web.

Twin, A. (2022). The 4 Ps. Investopedia. Web.