Amul butter- a marketing success story The run away success of the brand amul is one of the best case studies about the product, pricing positioning and delivery. Amul is delivered from the Sanskrit word amulya which means 'priceless'. Amul is also the acronym for anand milk union ltd. Amul butter has lived up to its name for sure. Such as been the growth and popularity of the brand, which has given MNCs a run for there money, has a long history to it. It is also intrusting to note that a co-operative movement has become one of the best examples of brand building. Amul as a brand presents a case of effective and smart communication. It also exemplifies the power of good and deep-rooted distribution as well as value for money.Amul butter is processed at eight plants. With 48 sales offices, 3000 distributors and 2.5 lakh outlets, it has a robots marketing net working. It is also exported to over 30 countries, including U.S. amul butter account for over 90 percent of the rs 500 corer domestic market (2005). Clearly it has the infrastructure that is needed for an organization of its size and kind. The history of amul can be traced to December 1946, when some dairy farmer under the legendary leadership of tribhuvandas Patel registered the kaira district co-operative milk producers' union. The father of the white revelation in India, verghese kurien joined the union as GM IN 1950. IN 1957, kaira co-operative registered the brand amul'. In 1973, the Gujarat co-operative milk marketing federation was set up, and today it is the country's largest dairy marketing organization. The co-operative movement not only assured good returns to farmers but also provided consumer with quality products under the brands names of amul and sugar. To make it distinctive from the butter available in the market those day's and also to convey the message that amul butter was produced using buffalo milk, additional co lour was added to it.The amul girl a bubbly mischievous little girl with an orange face, blue hair and polka ditz on her frock has been the amul mascot since 1966. Amul campaigns were all light-hearted advertising with hard-sell.

Amul was the market leader all over India, barring Bombay. Hence, in 1966 the amul account was given to advertising and sales promotion company with the simple brief: "disoldge'polson'from its 'oremer brand' position in Bombay" Polson butter was started by pestonjee edulji in 1926. The 'utterly butterly delicious' campaign was started after research in early 1966 had found that 50 percent of Bombayites had not tasted amul butter. This hinted at a lack of awareness. The media, because of lack of color printing facility, offered little help as a vehicle for advertising. They searched for a vehicle that allows them a large impact. It was noticed that just one hording at bobby's kemps corner used to give air India a lot of publicity mileage. So they sdecided:'way not try something like the air India campaign? They had a media plan that included about 17 hoardings. Bus panels were also used effectively. Justification for hoarding and bus panels as media vehicles was that such a judicious mix would give the brand advertising 'frequency of the clock' as different from the 'frequency of the calendar in the case of the press.' The hoarding and bus panels also offered them the choice of color. The campaign was a roaring success. 

It gave amul a strong foothold in the market. It was also the first ad that used outdoor so intensively, bus panels and posters. The path breaking 'utterly bitterly delicious' campaign (created by advertising and sales promotion company) established the fact amul is not as expensive as consumer think. And since then amul was on the road to success. Polson dairy lost it supremacy in Bombay. Many other butter brands entered the market, but none was able to get any significant market share. Amul's brute dominance created a big entry barrier for others. Such was the dominance that even companies like the Swiss dairy major nestle had to make a hasty from the domestic market. Even today amul hording continues to dot the skies, with smart spoof ads on topical issues. And being ahead of others in creating interesting tag was lines were its strength. After the bambini break-up, amul hoarding read 'sharer the bread equally'. The success of bounty aur bubbly was captured in 'bun' tea aur bitterly'. Amul's spoof ads are much like R.K laxman's 'common man 'cartoons. The amul hoarding campaigns are also in the business recorder for being the longest running advertising campaigns- for over four decades. Amul ads have become a mirror of life, reflecting the myriads of festivals, cricket events and even politics!It is not mere smart communication that has led to the runaway success of the brand. Distribution and value for money seem to be the major strengths on which the brand's popularity rests. About 12 lakh units of butter (all packs put together) are sold daily. They need to ensure that the same quality product is available to a consumer at his nearest outlet and in the pack sizes required by him. Availability assumes a greater significance when one considers the availability of several alternatives of several alternatives to butter. They ensure that their distributors strive to improve the net work, availability market presence and hygiene. Amul's advantages are the loyal consumer base and the value for money proposition that it offers. That apart, it enjoys a tremendous distribution net work edge over the competition, if any. Another notable feature of the brand is its deep social concept .the brand has also done its bit in terms of serving good causes whenever needed. During the chariness aggression in 1962 amul diverted all the milk and milk powder collect to the army to meet their requirement. The brand amul butter signifies various success stories be its massive distribution net work or catchy advertising and its value for money nature .the four decade long leadership is a shining examples of how a good operating model can create brands like amul that surely has made sense of its name-utterly priceless! 

Discuss the factors that contributed to the success of amul brand? 
 How did amul solve the media problem?