The document describes a case study about Dabur Honey's marketing strategies in India. It discusses how Dabur began branding and selling honey in glass jars in the 1980s, addressing quality and availability issues. In the late 1980s, smaller regional brands began gaining market share through lower prices and packaging. In response, Dabur increased advertising spending in 1991 with a purity message but saw limited growth. To expand usage and the market, Dabur later repositioned its honey as a tasty, nutritious food and promoted new uses through magazines and demonstrations. This led to 65% sales growth over the previous year.

1. How to analyze a
case study
Example: Advertising and sales
promotion: Dabur Honey
Anilesh Seth
Ideator, Co Founder & CEO, KROW
www.krow.in
Ex-CEO/MD: LGSI, Qatalys & Supervalu India
www.slideshare.net/anilesh
http://In.linkedin.com/in/anileshseth
anileshseth@hotmail.com

2. - Do quick reading of the case. Get a “feel”
First: Do a quick reading
- Look at the questions at the end, if any

3. First: Do a quick reading
- Make a summary of the key points
Read the case thoroughly - Make notations on how to use some of the
Information provided

4. Dabur Honey: Key points
• In India, Honey is seen as a traditional product (Existing mindset?)
• Most of it is in the unorganized sector
• Around 1985, Dabur decided to source from agriculturists and brand it and sell it in
glass jars on shop shelves, offering a consistent quality and ready availability (What
“need” was Dabur able to address?)
• This went well with their portfolio of ayurvedic products (What was the
positioning?)
• At the time only other company was Khadi Gramodyog – but this was unbranded
(no major competition)
• Low demand – restricted to therapy (sore throat), skin conditioner, ingredient in
other ayurvedic formulations. Dabur solved the reach problem but there was no
new incentive to buy. (main segment: Housewife)
• But they saw huge potential (why? Could they expand the uses and therefore the
market?). They had a huge plus in that the brand was synonymous with quality.
They were clearly not in a mature market ( large adoption, but potentially huge
competition)

5. Dabur Honey: Key points
• By late 1980s, small regional brands started eating away at the low volume
market, and although they lacked wide distribution, Dabur’s sales went from slow
to sluggish
• Other brands (Golden Meadows, Allied’s, Mehson’s) started gaining recognition in
the undifferentiated market by offering lower pricing and fancy packaging (easy
pickings!)
• 1991 Dabur took to national advertising – new platform (purity). Focus on towns
with population of 1 lakh plus - spillover effect into smaller areas
• Growth jumped to 20% but not good enough as the base was small
• The purity plank didn’t seem to help - (since Dabur anyway was synonymous
with quality). Problem was no new uses compared with just medicinal use
• Big competition like Lipton and Nestle started eyeing the market potential if it
were to be sold as a breakfast additive (looking at new uses for the product)
• Dabur still had low spends – 10 to 15 lakhs a year. When their agency, Enterprise
did focus groups, they found that using honey for other uses was a problem : the
goodness of honey was standing in its way!

6. Dabur Honey: Key points
• Dabur’s umbrella brand that was focused on Ayurveda simply went to confirm this.
The “personality” was dull and traditional. Could taste be another plank?
• Objective became to expand usage by targeting the mother who was involved in
family diet and health
• Three ad print campaign aimed to reposition Dabur as a tasty, nutritious health
food combined with TV ads to demonstrate its scope of use (repositioning)
• Magazines were used to give the housewife detailed suggestions on what it could
be eaten with (expand uses)
• Ad spending for 94-95 went upto 50 lakhs – started sponsoring recipe and food
sections in women’s magazines
• Increased the jar size, added POP, took more shelf space, gave more incentives to
wholesalers and the sales force
• 5 months later, 65 % growth over last year. Shift to the 500 gms jar. Per house
consumption is rising
• Dabur has 10% share – all other branded players together account for 4 percent

7. Questions for discussion
• What should be the advertising and sales
promotion strategies for a new competitive
product entering the branded honey market?
• Should the new competitor charge the same
price as being charged by Dabur or should it be
different? Give reasoning in support of your
answer.
• Suggest some new sales promotion techniques to
Dabur to increase the rate of product trial by
those consumers who have not used the product
so far

8. First: Do a quick read
Read the case thoroughly
- What tools/frameworks can you use?
Organize your information - Think SWOT, Product-Market Grid,
Positioning Maps, Segmentation,

9. Organize your information: SWOT
Strengths Weaknesses
- Financial? - Existing brand value?
- Distribution network?
Opportunities Threats
- 14% of the market is with branded - Transnationals
players. That leaves a potential of - Dabur
86% of the 8000 tonnes a year
market. Potentially almost 100
crores
- Market is not mature. Growth yet
to happen
- Sugar substitute? Other additives?
- Further sub-segment the market
(socia economic?)

10. Organize your information: Positioning
map
Premium
Pricing
Dabur
Low
Medicinal Tasty, nutritious, health food
Use

11. What position can you occupy?
Expanded
Premium
use…opportunity to
subsegment, repositi
on, offer multiple
brands
Pricing
Dabur
Low
Medicinal Tasty, nutritious, health food Sugar substitute
Use

12. First: Do a quick read
Read the case thoroughly
Organize your information
- Pretend you are actually there
Think 4 Ps of marketing
Immerse yourself!!
- Web research can provide some “added”
dimensions
- Pick a position. Debate! Role playing can
be fun!

13. Think: 4 Ps of marketing
Product Place
- Dispenser unit for ease and - Adjacent to breakfast foods as
accuracy of dispensing, with refill additive
packs - Adjacent to competitions’ jars
- No spill feature with flavours (eg Ginger flavored)
- Flavoured honey in small trial - Chemists?
bottles (Ginger, Lemon, Elaichi)
Price Promotion
- Potential to offer lower pricing on - Social media/Competitions
refill packs - Social media engagement – eg
- Potential to offer higher pricing on benefits of honey over sugar
flavoured variant - Free dispenser
- Free trial packs with branded
breakfast foods?

14. And finally answer the questions
• What should be the advertising and sales
promotion strategies for a new competitive
product entering the branded honey market?
• Should the new competitor charge the same
price as being charged by Dabur or should it be
different? Give reasoning in support of your
answer.
• Suggest some new sales promotion techniques to
Dabur to increase the rate of product trial by
those consumers who have not used the product
so far

15. Thank you!