The managing director of Dalmia Consumer Care was greatly excited that the company’s R&D Centre had succeeded in bringing out a revolutionary product, the first-ever non-tobacco alternative in the world, ’Vardaan,’ which could save millions of people from the curse of tobacco smoking. The major challenge facing the company was how to market the product successfully across the country and also around the globe.

The Company

Dalmia Consumer Care was a concept marketing company created to establish safer, healthier alternatives to tobacco smoking and chewing in India and throughout the world. The company had a national presence with regional offices in Delhi, Kolkota, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and other cities. Over 100 highly motivated professionals with diverse backgrounds and vast experience worked for the company.

Dalmia Centre for Research and Development

In 1990, the Dalmia group established a research organization at Coimbatore called Dalmia Centre for Research and Development to integrate traditional Indian Ayurvedic knowledge with modern science to find solutions to several health problems including Lung disease, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, etc.

After decades of research, the research Centre brought out Vardaan's breakthrough formulation that mimics tobacco’s pleasure-giving properties without any tobacco or nicotine. This intensely researched formulation was further improved by developmental work based on feedback from consumer research.

Subsequently, the formulation was tested by two lead laboratories that certified the product were government of India’s Tobacco Research Laboratory at Rajamundry and Artisa Lab, Virginia, USA.

The managing director of the company was convinced that the product would appeal to consumers not only in India but all over the world. He called a meeting of various heads to work out a strategy for launching Vardaan in different parts of the country. In the meeting, he highlighted the harmful effects of smoking and how Vardaan will help save millions of people from the harmful effects of smoking.

Learning Objectives

1. Design the Marketing Mix for “Vardaan”.

2. What is your proposed segmentation, targeting and positioning plan for the product?