Full Case Study: How Nestle’s Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy Is Winning

Updated on: May 3, 2021
Nestle’s Marketing Case Study - Featured Image

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My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India.

Practical assignments, case studies & simulations from Harvard Business Review helped the students from this course present this analysis.

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In this case study, we would go through one of the oldest and most famous brands of our time, Nestle. It is a Swizz multinational conglomerate 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 case study will examine how this mega-corporation in the Indian market has maintained a unique brand image for itself through innovative marketing campaigns and strategy that has created a strong brand connection among consumers even in this increasingly digitized world.

So let’s start by understanding a little more about Nestle’s company profile.

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About Nestle India

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study

 

Nestle SA is a Swiss multinational food and beverage conglomerate operating its business in India under the name of Nestle India.

It first arrived in India in 1956. Since then, from selling its first milk product in the 1960s to offering a wide range of quality products in the Indian market, Nestle has grown exponentially in India.

It offers products in 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.

Nestle’s Marketing Case Study - Nestle India

Today, Nestle India has a significant presence in the FMCG sector and enjoys a healthy market share in the food and beverage industry.

Being the largest food and beverage brand in the world by revenue, Nestle’s targeting and positioning strategy has played a key role in establishing itself all around the world. So let us understand how it has positioned its products to cater to the Indian audience.

 

Nestle’s Target Audience

Nestle India has positioned its wide range of product offerings in such a way that it covers audiences beginning from 2-year-olds to working-class professionals. Let’s check out Nestle’s Target Audience based on age demographics.

 

A Demographics-wise Breakdown of Nestle’s Offerings
Demographics Products
Kids Ceregrow, Koko Krunch, Lactogrow
Working Professionals and above Nescafe, Sunrise, Protein Products
General Audience KitKat, Maggi, Milkmaid

 

Nescafe has been a hit among working professionals as Nestle has promised Nescafe to be the coffee that would keep them fresh throughout the day and who would not want to be fresh?

Parents have been tempted to feed their little ones with ‘Ceregrow’, a product from Nestle that contains cereals to keep young children healthy. It also has ever-popular products such as Maggi, KitKat, and Milkmaid which are targeted toward the general audience.

This is how Nestle has designed its targeting strategy in India and let’s now understand what it has done to market itself and its offerings in the coming section.

Nestle’s Digital Marketing Strategies

By now, you are aware of the fact that Nestle is the world’s largest food and beverage company by revenue. This might also come as very basic information for you.

But what if I told you that Nestle has always been one step ahead when it comes to its marketing policies and tactics? It has always worked on the most up-to-date marketing methods be it offline or digital marketing strategies, which matter the most in today’s day and age.

Let’s start with Nestle’s social media marketing strategy first.

Nestle’s Social Media Marketing Strategy

Nestle India is active on all three major social media platforms Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Here’s an overview of the same.

 

Nestle Social Media Overview
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Digital Marketing - Social Media - Facebook Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Digital Marketing - Social Media - Twitter Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Digital Marketing - Social Media - Instagram
About 11 Million people like Nestle’s Facebook Page It enjoys about 27.8K followers on Instagram Nestle has about 91.8 K followers on Instagram

 

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 has designed its Facebook and Instagram profiles moreover the same. It shares posts related to what Nestle India is currently up to. It also announces its new launches, talks about its corporate social responsibility (CSR) measures, etc.

It maintains separate pages for its brands such as Maggi, Kit Kat, Nescafe, Koko Krunch, etc. which also have an insane amount of followers on both Instagram and Facebook.

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Facebook Pages

Nestle’s Facebook Pages

 

To put it in a gist, Maggi has around 16 million followers. Nescafe has 36 million followers and Kit Kat has about 11 million followers on Facebook.

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Instagram Pages

Nestle’s Instagram Pages

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

Having separate social media profiles for its various brands, helps them organize marketing campaigns effectively and thus resulting in a strong brand connection with its customers.

Nestle on Twitter

Nestle India has been maintaining 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 and mentions done by the general public on the platform.

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Twitter Pages

Nestle’s Twitter handles

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

Nestle on Youtube

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Digital Marketing - Social Media - Youtube

 

Nestle India’s Youtube channel has about 95K subscribers. On this platform, they post all the advertisements of their brands. However, Nestle maintains the same strategy of maintaining a separate profile for its various brands.j

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Youtube

Nestle’s Youtube Channels

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 brands and along with a few creatives under their marketing campaigns which have helped them to maintain the attention of Indian consumers.

 

Marketing Campaigns of Nestle

Nestle has rolled out several campaigns all these years but here are the few marketing campaigns that have left a lasting impression on the Indian audience.

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

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - 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.

This campaign by Nescafe was launched in July 2020 as India was preparing to come out of its series of lockdowns and begin life in the “new normal”.

 

 

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

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - A Caring Campaign Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli

 

Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli: This campaign was initiated by Nestle Ceregrow in 2019 targeting urban couples who had children between the age of 2-5 years.

In a country like India where parents pay a lot of attention to their child’s health and proper nourishment right away from the child’s birth.

Nestle very smartly portrayed how Indian mothers are worried about their child’s proper nourishment. The brand showcased its product and communicated that Ceregrow not only fulfils the child’s hunger but also provides the right kind of nutrients for the child’s immunity and overall development and nourishment.

You can watch this short 45-second video by Nestle Ceregrow which delivers the message beautifully and convinces urban parents why Ceregrow is a must-have for their growing toddler.

 

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - A Caring Campaign Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - A Caring Campaign Poora Poshan Poori Tasalli

 

 

3. A Campaign for Maggi lovers: Meri Maggi

Meri Maggi has been one of the most successful mass campaigns led by any brand in India. The Meri Maggi campaign started with the motive to promote Maggi as a snack.

In this campaign, Nestle also encouraged its consumers to personalize Maggi as per their wants and taste and share it on social media pages to get featured on Maggi’s official Facebook page.

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - A Campaign for Maggi lovers Meri Maggi

 

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Marketing Campaign - A Campaign for Maggi lovers Meri Maggi

 

Nestle started posting pictures of Maggi with different captions to make it relatable for different sets of audiences. Be it a Pyjama Party or a Break after Long Lectures in the college, Maggi made sure it relates to everyone and at the same time creates a strong brand engagement.

It did not stop there! Maggi then asked its followers to write back to them about their “Meri Maggi” and people started sharing their versions of Maggi and when they would have it. What’s your version of “Meri Maggi”?

Watch the Meri Maggi Ad campaign here,

 

 

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.

 

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.

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.

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Brand Websites

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 the google search. It also showcases to us how well a website is in terms of customer experience.

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Website Overview - SEO

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Website Overview - SEO

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Website Overview - SEO

UberSuggest tells us that the website is very well-optimized. Nestle has nearly 3,55,206 Organic Keywords. That’s something commendable. Not only that, but it also has more than 2,547,008 monthly organic visitors.

Let us understand further by going through its backlinks as it also has its own separate websites for its ever-popular brands.

 

Backlinks

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Website Overview - Backlinks

 

Nestle has a Domain Score of 68 and has about 128,114 backlinks. This is huge when compared to any other FMCG brand in India. No other brand has such a high number of Backlinks as Nestle has.

 

 

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

 

Ask Nestle Campaign

 

Marketing Strategy of Nestle - A Case Study - Ask Nestle Campaign

 

In this campaign, Nestle India introduced a digital tool, NINA (Nestlé India Nutrition Assistant) on AskNestle.in which uses artificial intelligence to provide real-time nutritional information on the foods we intake. This helped Indian parents to create a nutritious custom meal plan for their children below 12 years of age.

AskNestle’s NINA was dubbed as India’s first artificially intelligent assistant that allows you to find nutritional information for children. So this is how Nestle India played its cards on digital fronts to drive organic website traffic growth and better overall engagement compared to its competitors.

With this our Nestle Case study comes to an end, Let’s now conclude the case study in the final section.

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Conclusion

Nestle India’s campaigns have always been short, sweet, and easy to relate to. The company has always relied on organic growth and does not run paid promotions on social media or Google or any other digital platforms.

So far, Nestle’s digital marketing campaigns have been very successful. However, it should continue to work towards unleashing its creativity to its full potential to remain connected with its customers.

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Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs......[Read full bio]

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