Pulse is a hard-boiled 'spicy-powder-filled' sweet-candy with a raw mango flavor priced at Rs1.
It comes from the stables of Dharampal Satpal Group, a Noida-headquartered conglomerate that also makes Paas Paas mouth freshener, Baba chewing tobacco, Rajnigandha paan masala.
It was launched in mid-2015 and has since notched sales of over Rs 100 crore. It crossed the Rs 50 crore mark within 6 months of its launch. It contributed 40% to the Group's revenue in the confectionery segment in the year gone by.
And We are discussing it because all this was achieved without any formal advertising push.
Its popularity has been attributed to its online-viral-phenomenon caused by its massive social media presence created by its eternally-satisfied customers:
Its users have created a lot of online-content on Quora, FB, Instagram, Youtube - praising/discussing the candy. This never happened with popular candies of earlier times like Poppins, Mango Bite, Phantom sweet cigarettes. In western markets, where internet penetration is deeper, many brands have created a loyal following and a recognizable identity by marketing intelligently on social media. As this industry report says, in the US, social media “now plays almost as large a role in purchasing decisions as TV, and 57 percent of consumers say they’re influenced to think more highly of business after seeing positive comments or praise online”.
But there is another theory that attributes its popularity to planned-&-clever-marketing:
"The candy is popular solely due to grocers who refuse to tend loose change. The candy shouldn’t have been this popular if it wasn’t forced on people through their purchases. Now, it has replaced chewing gum as the default thing people get when they want to have something in the mouth. The addiction people talk about is basically behaviour moulded through habits"
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the Story of Pulse's launch
Pulse was launched to capitalise on the fastest growing HBC (Hard-Boiled Candy) segment in the confectionery basket. As per the market research and insight firm Nielsen India, while the overall sweet candy category, pegged at Rs 6,000 crore, is growing at 14 per cent year-on-year, the Rs 2,100 crore HBC segment is growing at 23 per cent. Kaccha Aam (26 per cent) and Mango flavour (24 per cent) together claim 50 per cent share in the HBC market. Raw mango was thus, the obvious choice.
Pulse's makers also realised that there were only straight flavours such as mango, orange, caramel in the market. But in India, the common practice is to eat raw mango with something tangy - Whether it is 'aam panna' or a slice of raw mango sold on the roadside, it is incomplete without the tang/spices. That's how the group got the idea of a spicy-powder-filled candy.
It was named 'Pulse' because it sets your pulse racing.
The candy market had started shunning the Rs0.5 price point a couple of years ago with big players such as Mondelez, PVM (Perfetti Van Melle), Parle launching or re-launching their products at Re 1. High raw material costs, fewer 50 paise coins in circulation, and the demand for higher margins by retailers were some of the factors that propelled the wave. However at the time when Pulse was launched, 86% of the industry was at Rs0.5 for a candy weighing anywhere between 2-2.5 grams. The DS Group decided to go with Rs1 instead, and to justify the price, the weight was increased to 4 grams.
The experience life cycle of any other candy in the market, it is usually constant throughout. But, in Pulse, the experience of eating peaks later as you reach the powder filling. In order to give consumers a full mouth feel for a heightened experience, grammage was increased.
Raw mangoes are relished by people of all age groups and geographies in India, so there was no particular target group singled out for Pulse. The candy, with its tangy taste, was expected to cut across age groups in a market focussed on kids, and therefore, flooded with straight and sweet flavours.
Did the makers think of owning any particular consumption occasion? No. Pulse was ideated as an anytime, anywhere candy. India is a hot country where you need to keep having something to keep the saliva going. That's exactly the reason why candy sales are maximum in tropical areas.
Since Rajasthani and Gujarati cuisines share a similar tanginess as Pulse, the company decided to test-market it in these states first. The exercise proved so successful that it had to be converted into a full-fledged launch.
Distribution was no challenge for the Group.
The challenge was to scale up production to meet the skyrocketing demand. By January, the brand managed a pan-India presence. Meanwhile, cheaper imitations such as 'Spicy Beats', 'Plse', and 'Plus' exploited the need gap. As of now, Pulse is produced in 7 contract-manufacturing units.
The unorganised candy market in India is big, and no brand has been able to break the tradition of flavour over brand, wherein customers ask for "orange, mango or mint wali" candy. Pulse has changed that. It has taken the category from impulse-driven to Pulse-driven. This is true of the pricing strategy as well. Looking at the success of Pulse, other players have started launching their 'gold versions' at Re 1.
Xiaomi is a 7yr old Chinese manufacturer who does NOT hold the TOP slot in China, but has become the Top Smartphone Maker of India. India is currently world’s 2nd largest smartphone market. In Q3-2017 the top 3 smartphones sold in India were Xiaomi's.
This is how they did it: 1. Excellent Online Marketing: [1] Initially sold only via e-commerce [2] Did successful Flash-Sales [3] exclusive partnership with e-com giant Flipkart [4] Initially single-mindedly mastered online retail (30% of India's smartphone sales) & satisfied online customers, then moved to offine retail
2. Optimized offline Supply-chain: [1] Instead of targetting all cities in one go, targetted few cities, captured them, then added new cities [2] In small cities started “Preferred Partner Programme” & tied-up with multi-brand outlets [3] In big cities, partnered with already-successful retail chains like Croma, Univercell, Poorvika, Sangeetha [4] Opened direct stores called 'Mi Home' [5] Made sure 'demand-vs-Supply gap' was minimal 3. Manufacturing intelligence: Unlike competitors that import devices, Xiaomi set up manufacturing facilities in India itself where it manufactures 75%+ of the handsets that it sells here
4. Mastered the Pricing & Products game: Captured the mid-price smartphone segment (Rs10k-20k) which is the fastest growing-smartphone-segment by launching phones with more & better features than its rivals’ products. This segment's initial owners (home-grown brands like Micromax, Intex, Lava, Karbon) failed to compete because they had already missed the 4G-VOLTE wave. 5. Latest Masterstroke: Launched '#DeshKaSmartphone' - an awesome phone at jaw-dropping price Rs6k with a Rs1k early-bird discount
Cogratulations to Manu sir and his entire Xiamoli India team.
I feel profoundly lucky to have worked with him at Jabong.
Dear readers, with the above post I complete my 1st Century on this blog. Also, this post was Selected by Quora for it's Quora Digest !!! Thank you so much :)
Satya Nadella was announced as the CEO of Microsoft on 2014 Feb 4th.
This is the 1st mail that he sent to all the Microsoft employees on that day.
From: Satya Nadella To: All Employees Date: Feb. 4, 2014 Subject: RE: Satya Nadella – Microsoft’s New CEO
Today is a very humbling day for me. It reminds me of my very first day at Microsoft, 22 years ago. Like you, I had a choice about where to come to work. I came here because I believed Microsoft was the best company in the world. I saw then how clearly we empower people to do magical things with our creations and ultimately make the world a better place. I knew there was no better company to join if I wanted to make a difference. This is the very same inspiration that continues to drive me today.
It is an incredible honor for me to lead and serve this great company of ours. Steve and Bill have taken it from an idea to one of the greatest and most universally admired companies in the world. I’ve been fortunate to work closely with both Bill and Steve in my different roles at Microsoft, and as I step in as CEO, I’ve asked Bill to devote additional time to the company, focused on technology and products. I’m also looking forward to working with John Thompson as our new Chairman of the Board.
While we have seen great success, we are hungry to do more. Our industry does not respect tradition — it only respects innovation. This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft. Make no mistake, we are headed for greater places — as technology evolves and we evolve with and ahead of it. Our job is to ensure that Microsoft thrives in a mobile and cloud-first world.
As we start a new phase of our journey together, I wanted to share some background on myself and what inspires and motivates me.
Who am I?
I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and we have 3 kids. And like anyone else, a lot of what I do and how I think has been shaped by my family and my overall life experiences. Many who know me say I am also defined by my curiosity and thirst for learning. I buy more books than I can finish. I sign up for more online courses than I can complete. I fundamentally believe that if you are not learning new things, you stop doing great and useful things. So family, curiosity and hunger for knowledge all define me.
Why am I here?
I am here for the same reason I think most people join Microsoft — to change the world through technology that empowers people to do amazing things. I know it can sound hyperbolic — and yet it’s true. We have done it, we’re doing it today, and we are the team that will do it again.
I believe over the next decade computing will become even more ubiquitous and intelligence will become ambient. The coevolution of software and new hardware form factors will intermediate and digitize — many of the things we do and experience in business, life and our world. This will be made possible by an ever-growing network of connected devices, incredible computing capacity from the cloud, insights from big data, and intelligence from machine learning.
This is a software-powered world.
It will better connect us to our friends and families and help us see, express, and share our world in ways never before possible. It will enable businesses to engage customers in more meaningful ways.
I am here because we have unparalleled capability to make an impact.
Why are we here?
In our early history, our mission was about the PC on every desk and home, a goal we have mostly achieved in the developed world. Today we’re focused on a broader range of devices. While the deal is not yet complete, we will welcome to our family Nokia devices and services and the new mobile capabilities they bring us.
As we look forward, we must zero in on what Microsoft can uniquely contribute to the world. The opportunity ahead will require us to reimagine a lot of what we have done in the past for a mobile and cloud-first world, and do new things.
We are the only ones who can harness the power of software and deliver it through devices and services that truly empower every individual and every organization. We are the only company with history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.
Qi Lu captured it well in a recent meeting when he said that Microsoft uniquely empowers people to “do more.” This doesn’t mean that we need to do more things, but that the work we do empowers the world to do more of what they care about — get stuff done, have fun, communicate and accomplish great things. This is the core of who we are, and driving this core value in all that we do — be it the cloud or device experiences — is why we are here.
What do we do next?
To paraphrase a quote from Oscar Wilde — we need to believe in the impossible and remove the improbable.
This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that will lead us to imagine the impossible and deliver it. We need to prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value of empowering users and organizations to “do more.” We have picked a set of high-value activities as part of our One Microsoft strategy. And with every service and device launch going forward we need to bring more innovation to bear around these scenarios.
Next, every one of us needs to do our best work, lead and help drive cultural change. We sometimes underestimate what we each can do to make things happen and overestimate what others need to do to move us forward. We must change this.
Finally, I truly believe that each of us must find meaning in our work. The best work happens when you know that it’s not just work, but something that will improve other people’s lives. This is the opportunity that drives each of us at this company.
Many companies aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources, and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance. And as the new CEO, I can’t ask for a better foundation.
