Bournvita: Sustaining Brand for 60 years

Bournvita is one of the oldest brand in the malted beverages (chocolate flavored health drink ) segment and was launched in 1948. It has market share of over 17% and still after 60 years it market leader. Cadbury has been able to sustain this brand over these years. The main reason for such longevity is its investment and changing the brand as per changes desired by the market.

 When the brand was launched, it focus was to solve the problem that many mothers faces that of a need for a healthy food which is as well tasty. Its unique value proposition of both health and taste made it a success initially. However whenever there was any change required in its positioning it did not hesitate. In 1970s t he brand was repositioned as a product that helps in good upbringing with the tagline: Goodness that Grows with You.

During 1980's the brand changed its focus from Upbringing to Intelligence. The tagline was changed to: Brought Up Right, Bournvita Bright. In 1990's the brand felt that it should be focusing on the overall health of the kid thus changed its focus on Body and Mind. The brand also took energy as a main focus and thus the famous tagline : “Tan Ki Shakthi , Man Ki Shakthi”.

It had till 1998, no major competition but things changed with launch of Nestle’s Milo. At this time, the brown health food drink segment was facing issues of stagnation because of lack of value addition. Bournvita then changed its positioning on the health platform. The brand used a marconym RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) to reinforce the health positioning. The brand used a clever Nutritional meter to communicate the RDA formula : 2 cups of Bournvita for balanced nutrition.

It also set up a unique proposition of Bournvita Nutritional Center where nutrition experts recommended the right RDA percentage to kids. The brand at that time used the cricketer Ajay Jadeja to endorse the brand. The brand also harped on the taste and used the tagline "No Bournvita No Milk" to reinforce the taste attribute.

Now in this new decade, it has repositioned its brand once again and identified Confidence as its Core Brand Essence. The brand realized that every kid have a chance to excel in his chosen field of endeavour if he have confidence . The realization has enabled the brand to chalk out the current marketing strategy. The brand now uses the tagline "Do you have Bournvita Confidence".

Currently it faces stiff competition from Boost brand and in order to defend the leadership position, Bournvita has invested heavily in product development, advertising and sales promotion. In the product development front, Bournvita had significantly changed its packaging. In the advertising campaigns, Bournvita has always been a heavy spender. Apart from Bournvita Confidence Academy it is also associated with highly successful Bournvita Quiz contest. The association with Cartoon Network enabled this brand to use the famous characters like Powerpuff girls and Dexter to the brand's advantage.