Complan Case Study
Complan Case Study
Complan Case Study
Complan was launched by Glaxo Laboratories as a complete and balanced nourishment for serious medical and surgical patients unable to take normal food.Complan when it was first launched in India was promoted ethically. But in 1970 , following the plan to increase the over the counter sales of Complan Glaxo decided to mass advertise this product .It was positioned directly against milk by claiming to have all the 23 vital nutrients as compared to milk's 9. This resulted in creating a high degree of awareness and trials .The consumer off take rose by almost 3 times .But after the initial success this campaign was dropped as it was not practical for Glaxo to replace milk with Complan. So in order to market the product to the masses Glaxo decided to compete against other health beverages players like Horlicks,Viva and Bournvita. As Horlicks was the then market leader the fight was basically against Horlicks.Complan was portrayed to have more vital ingredients as compared to Horlicks but this strategy flopped and sales declined during the 74-75 period for the first time. After various consumer surveys and review of strategy , marketing strategy of Complan went through a radical change. It was repositioned and was now positioned - not by competitor but by target user and usage occasion. Children who were fussy eaters ,workaholic husbands, elders and women(housewives) who were busy taking care of others in their families were now targeted.
In addition new flavours were introduced like the chocolate(popularity),cardamom and saffron(rich flavour and health benefits) and strawberry(reserved) to increase appeal and acceptance among different target groups. By this new positioning Glaxo was able to place Complan in a unique slot that did not had a real substitute and at the same time a new price-value perception was created for the brand. The repositioning strategy along with introduction of new flavours increased the sales of Complan by almost 2 times in 4 years. Availability of a full-fledged commercial and heavy use of television advertisement gave Complan much needed popularity.