Nestle India Spends Rs. 400 Crores To Win Back The Hearts Of Its Customers

Nestle India has increased its spending on advertising to a whopping Rs. 400 crores during the months of January to September 2015. The increase in spending coincided with the ban on Nestle’s Maggi noodles due to the higher level of lead content found in its ingredients.

The increased spending on advertising is notable since Nestle hadn’t spent this much in any of the previous fiscal years since 2001. The Swiss company is said to have invested more in advertising to protect the image and the brand of the company since FSSAI’s decision to ban its famous Maggi noodles and calling them hazardous. Nestle India’s managing director Suresh Narayanan, who has taken up the unenviable task of managing the negative backlash of the Maggi noodles controversy has been advised to “spend more on advertising, marketing and promotions across categories to counter impact on sales caused by the Maggi ban.”

Nestle India has been trying to win back the confidence of its customers by issuing ads and building a campaign on social media based on the nostalgia factor for Maggi noodles. Abneesh Roy, associate director of Edelweiss Securities, speaking to Livemint said, “Though Nestlé has already started advertising and there’s a comeback of Maggi on social media (#missingyou), it will not be an easy task, particularly when other players have already started aggressive advertising.”

Ever since the Maggi ban was instituted, competitiors have increased their advertising spending to try and take a piece of the market share from the dominating Maggi brand. Although companies such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd have always spent more on advertising than Nestle India, they have increased it even more due to the Maggi controversy.