In the 1950s, noodles became the most affordable meal for Japanese after World War 2. But they take a lot of time to cook. Momofuku Ando understood the problem and developed a product called instant noodles for the market. In no time, ramen captured 50% of the market share for instant noodles. Nestle realised that this instant noodles market was a goldmine in Japan, and it wanted to enter the market. But Nestle didn’t go to Japan for two reasons: first, its economy was not liberal, and second, why break a monopoly if you can create one of your own?
So Nestle tried to find the other best markets for its product. In 1983, Maggi arrived in India. Although the product was generic, i.e., everyone who eats noodles will be the customer, Maggi researched a lot to find the market segment. As they say, If you try to sell to everyone, you end up selling to no one.Maggi ended up on mothers and children for their customers and consumers, respectively, because the pain and intrigue of the mothers were best solved by Maggi. Mothers were worried about giving their children something to eat just after they came home from school. This meal should be tasty and not sabji roti, as per the children, and the meal should be cooked with less trouble, as per the mothers. Because they were too tired from working the entire morning, they wanted to rest a bit before starting to prepare for dinner. Thus, Maggi was the perfect toy for the crying baby. They started running ads showing mothers cooking Maggi for children. From this campaign the tagline bas 2 minute me maggi came.But soon, competitors like Hul and Nissin came. But it didn’t affect Maggi because of their 25-year-old evolving supply chain. Also, Maggi has become popular even in the lower pyramid of the economy with its Rs 5 product. Instant noodles were called out by Maggi. just like we call fevicol for adhesive.This is how Maggi became the leader of the market it created.
