Nestle Digital Marketing & Social Media Strategy: Case Study

In this Nestle​ case study, we will go through one of the oldest and most famous brands of our time, Nestle. It is a Swizz multinational company that has been operating worldwide for more than a century now.

In a country like India, where there is so much competition in the industry already, Nestle has come a long way and has given its counterparts a run for their money.

This Nestle case study will examine how the company that exists in the Indian market has maintained a unique brand image for itself through innovative marketing campaigns and strategies and has created a strong brand connection among consumers even in this increasingly digitised world.

About Nestle India

Founded in 1867 by Henri Nestlé, the company began with an infant cereal product. Today, Nestlé is the world’s largest food and beverage company, operating in 189 countries. The company’s mission is to enhance the quality of life and contribute to a healthier future. Nestlé’s portfolio includes well-known brands like Nescafé, KitKat, and Maggi.

It first arrived in India in 1956. Since then, the company has grown exponentially in India.

It currently offers a range of beverages, breakfast cereals, chocolates and confectionery, dairy, and nutrition foods as well as vending and food services. Popular products such as Maggi, Kit Kat, Polo, Milkmaid, and Nescafe fall under Nestle India’s portfolio. The brand’s mantra of ‘Good Food, Good Life’ transcends mere slogan status; it represents a dedicated pledge to offering nutritious and flavorful products that foster a healthier way of living.

Today, Nestle India has a significant presence in the FMCG sector and enjoys a healthy market share in the food and beverage industry. The company has established ambitious objectives that focus on sustainability, aiming to attain zero net greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and implement 100% recyclable or reusable packaging by 2025.

The brand observed a 14.8% sales growth in the year 2022. This is a representation of the decade-long growth that Nestle has gained.

What’s New With Nestle?

Before discussing the marketing strategies of Nestle, let’s first explore recent interesting developments related to Nestle:

Business News

Nestlé announced a strategic partnership with Starbucks to launch a new range of premium coffee products, expanding its footprint in the global coffee market.

Product Launch

In early 2023, Nestlé introduced a vegetarian version of its popular Maggi noodles, catering to the growing demand for vegetarian and vegan options.

Marketing News

Nestlé launched the ‘Good Food, Good Life’ campaign, emphasising their commitment to health and wellness through better nutrition and sustainable practices.

Celebrity News

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay partnered with Nestlé to promote their new line of high-quality cooking products, enhancing the brand’s appeal among culinary enthusiasts.

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Buyer Persona

A buyer persona typically entails comprehensive details about an ideal customer for a company. This buyer persona will help you understand the attributes of this brand.

Considering the factors mentioned above, the company can create marketing initiatives on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook, and blend cooking with fitness that aligns with their preferences. For those, one might benefit from a free Instagram marketing course to enhance her social media strategies further.

Before we dive into the marketing strategy of Nestle company, let’s gain an understanding of its product mix.

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Product Mix Used While Formulating the Marketing Strategy of Nestle Company

• Nescafe
• Gerber Cereal
• KitKat
• Ceregrow
• Maggi
• Purina – For Pets

Nestle’s targeting and positioning strategy has played a key role in establishing itself all around the world.

Noted below is a detailed analysis of how Nestle has positioned its products in India.

Nestle’s Digital Marketing Strategies

As touched upon before, Nestle is the world’s largest food and beverage company in terms of revenue. Considering the same, it’s no surprise that the company’s marketing policies and tactics are on point. Here, the brand only incorporates the latest marketing methods (be it offline or digital marketing strategies) which is what matters most in today’s day and age.

Nestle’s Website Overview

Nestle has a very strong website presence compared to its competitors. It has separate websites for its brands as well which helps Nestle to rank itself better on Google Search (Search Engine where people look for information).

In today’s world where brands are working on spreading awareness via social media, Nestle has gone one step ahead and made its audience visit its websites by releasing various campaigns.

We would go through how Nestle has been doing on its official website by analyzing the Search Engine Optimization aspect of its official website to understand its strength in the internet space.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization helps us rank better on Google Search. It also reflects how well a website does in terms of customer experience.

According to UberSuggest (SEO and keyword research tool), the website is very well-optimized. Nestle has nearly 3,55,206 Organic Keywords (Natural search terms that drive traffic). The company also has more than 2,547,008 monthly organic visitors (Visitors from natural search results).

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Backlinks

Nestle has a Domain Score (Domain score reflects website authority) of 68 and has about 128,114 backlinks (Links pointing to your site). This is huge when compared to any other FMCG brand in India. No other brand has as many backlinks as Nestle has. For those interested in building similar digital prowess, Digital Marketing Courses in Hyderabad offer comprehensive training to achieve such an impactful online presence.

Let now go through this unique campaign launched by Nestle to drive traffic to its website in the coming section.

Ask Nestle Campaign

In this campaign, Nestle India introduced a digital tool, NINA (Nestlé India Nutrition Assistant) on AskNestle.in. This tool uses artificial intelligence to provide real-time nutritional information on the foods we intake. The tool helped Indian parents create a custom, nutritious meal plan for their children.

AskNestle’s NINA was dubbed as India’s first artificially intelligent assistant that helps you find nutritional information for children.

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Nestle’s Social Media Marketing Strategy

Nestle India is active on all three major social media platforms, that is, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Based on the target market of Nestle, and what platform is often used by its customers, the company can decide on the ratio of time and money it needs to invest in each platform. Here’s an overview of the same:

Now that you have an idea about Nestle’s presence on major social media platforms. Let’s now understand how and what it is doing on each social media platform.

Facebook and Instagram

Nestle India’s Facebook and Instagram profiles are designed to look similar to one another. The brand shares posts related to what they are currently up to. The company also uses its social media profiles to announce new launches, talk about different corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures, and so on. It maintains separate pages for its subsidiaries such as Maggi, Kit Kat, Nescafe, and Koko Krunch which also have an insane amount of followers on both Instagram and Facebook.

Nestle’s Facebook Pages

Currently, Maggi has roughly 16 million followers. Nescafe has 36 million followers and Kit Kat has about 11 million followers on Facebook.

Nestle’s Instagram Pages

On Instagram, Maggi has roughly 105 K followers. Nescafe has 156K followers and KitKat has about 1 million followers.

The creation of different social media profiles has helped the brand organise marketing campaigns effectively. This has resulted in a strong brand connection with its customers.

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Nestle on Twitter

Nestle India has maintained its Twitter profile as a medium of communication between the company and its audience. It also solves queries related to its products by replying to every comment made by the general public on the platform.

Nestle’s Twitter handles

Just like Facebook and Instagram, Nestle has maintained separate profiles for its various subsidiaries on Twitter as well. This helps them promote their products effectively.

Nestle on Youtube

Nestle India’s YouTube channel has about 95K subscribers. They typically post advertisements on this platform while maintaining the same strategy of maintaining a separate profile for their various subsidiaries.

Now that you have a complete overview of Nestle’s social media presence, let’s have a look at some of the campaigns rolled out by Nestle’s subsidiaries. Want to learn social media marketing? Check this free masterclass on Instagram.

Marketing Campaigns of Nestle

One of Nestlé’s most famous campaigns is the ‘Nescafé Plan,’ which focuses on sustainability and improving the livelihoods of coffee farmers. This campaign demonstrates Nestlé’s commitment to ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility, reinforcing its positive brand image.

The example mentioned above was just one instance of Nestle’s marketing strategy and how this brand connects emotionally with its consumers. Noted below are a few more marketing campaigns that have left a lasting impression on the Indian audience.

1. A Campaign for the Youth: Karne Se Hee Hona Hai

The Covid-19 pandemic has changed a lot of things for everyone, especially the millennials who were accustomed to doing certain things in a certain way.

The ‘’Karne Se Hee Hona Hai campaign’, which was launched by by Nescafe in July 2020 took advantage of the fact that India was preparing to come out of lockdown and begin life in the ‘new normal’.

Through this advertisement, the company encouraged the youth of the country to dream, act, and achieve their life goals while simultaneously promoting their products through their ‘It all starts with a Nescafe and establishing that Nescafe plays a vital role in keeping the youth alive and fresh.

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Nescafe, in the above advertisement, encouraged the youth of the country to dream, act, and achieve their life goals.

And in the process, Nestle also highlighted to millennials that “It all starts with a Nescafe”. Thus promoting Nescafe and once again establishing that Nescafe plays a vital role in keeping the youth alive and fresh.

2. A Caring Campaign: Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli

This campaign was initiated by Nestle Ceregrow in 2019 and targeted urban couples who had children between the age of 2-5 years.

Throughout their campaign, Nestle highlighted the worry that mothers feel when it comes to their child’s nutrition. Once done, they showcased their product and talked about how Ceregrow not only fulfils their child’s hunger but also provides the right kind of nutrients for the child’s immunity and overall development and nourishment.

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3. A Campaign for Maggi lovers: Meri Maggi

Meri Maggi is one of the most successful mass campaigns led by any brand in India. The Meri Maggi campaign was created to pitch Maggi as a snack. Here, the marketing strategy of Nestle was a brilliant one as it encouraged its consumers to personalise Maggi as per their wants and tastes and share it on social media pages to get featured on Maggi’s official Facebook page.

Nestle’s marketing team for Maggi is serving up some serious social media genius! They’ve ditched the generic noodle pictures and started posting relatable content featuring Maggi in different situations. Think cosy pyjama parties or a quick bite between college lectures – Maggi’s there, making itself relevant to everyone’s life. This clever strategy is skyrocketing their brand engagement – people are loving the relatable content and connecting with the Maggi brand on a deeper level.

Watch the Meri Maggi Ad campaign here,

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This is how Nestle India strategically uses its social media as a tool for its marketing and campaign-related activities. Let us now examine how it is doing on its website in the next section of this case study of Nestle.

Top Competitors That Influence Nestle’s Marketing Strategy

• Unilever: Known for its wide range of food, beverage, and personal care products.
• PepsiCo: A major player in the food and beverage industry with a diverse portfolio.
• Coca-Cola: Offers a variety of beverages and has a strong global presence.
• General Mills: Known for its cereals, snacks, and baking products.
• Danone: Specialises in dairy products, plant-based foods, and baby nutrition.

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Marketing Strategies of Nestle – Failed Campaigns

Nestlé’s Maggi Noodles Recall

Issue: In 2015, Nestlé faced a major setback when its Maggi noodles were found to contain excess levels of lead, leading to a nationwide recall in India.

Backlash: The incident resulted in significant consumer distrust, legal battles, and financial losses. Actions like improving safety measures, conducting extensive tests, and launching a robust marketing campaign were undertaken to regain consumer trust and reintroduce Maggi noodles to the market. To better manage such crises and improve their digital outreach, Nestlé could benefit from enrolling their marketing team in Digital Marketing Courses in south delhi to sharpen their strategies and communication.

Key Learnings from Nestle Marketing Strategy

Some important points that we should learn from the marketing strategy of Nestle company are:

1. Diverse Portfolio

In the fiercely competitive FMCG industry, thriving can be a daunting task. Nestle, however, has strategically utilised product diversification to not only overcome challenges but also achieve remarkable success. When faced with adversity, such as the ban on Maggi in India due to the detection of a harmful ingredient, Nestle responded by embarking on a comprehensive diversification initiative.

They revamped the Maggi brand and expanded their product range, showcasing their adaptability and resilience. Offering an extensive array of products ranging from coffee to milkshakes, beverages to breakfast cereals, seasonings to infant foods, soups to chocolates, and refrigerated foods to pet foods, Nestle demonstrates its versatility and ability to cater to diverse consumer needs.

2. Localization of Products

Nestle customises products for local markets adeptly. For example, in Japan, where tea is prevalent, Nestle launched coffee-flavoured candies to cultivate a taste for coffee among children. This was followed by successful introductions of Nescafe and KitKat, leading to over 300 KitKat flavours in Japan today. Similarly, in India, Nestle tailors products such as Maggi Atta Noodles, garlic and onion-free Maggi noodles, and Maggi Special Masala to suit local preferences.

3. Co-Branding

Nestle has effectively utilized co-branding strategies to bolster its product promotion. One notable instance is its collaboration with Starbucks to introduce a line of coffee products under the Nescafe brand.

4. Promoting Sustainability

Nestle’s marketing strategy prioritises sustainability and reducing its environmental impact. Nestle revealed its commitment to utilising food-grade recycled plastics and investing over 700 million in sustainable coffee production for Nescafe. Additionally, the company has taken proactive measures to combat deforestation. These consistent efforts have positioned Nestle as a globally recognised sustainable brand.

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