It’s been an eventful year for Ferraro India, the parent company of the hazelnut cocoa spread Nutella, chocolate and hazelnut confection Ferrero Rocher, hard mint Tic Tac amongst others. The core business of Ferrero India - Ferrero Rocher, Nutella and Tic Tac – has grown faster than the category - and Ferraro India has launched innovations to drive growth and gain market share.
As its flagship Ferrero Rocher tends to be a seasonal product, a strategy adopted was the focus on key festivals such as Diwali, Christmas, Raksha Bandhan and even regional local festivals such as Onam, Baisakhi, Durga Puja amongst others. Zoher Kapuswala, Marketing Head, Indian Subcontinent (Tic Tac, Nutella, and Ferrero Rocher), Ferrero India says, “We partnered with e-commerce and quick-commerce players and activated these micro festivals on e-commerce. We were able to give the festive experience to our consumers on an online medium. When we did our main Diwali activation, we did not stop only at television or a digital activation but went ahead with point-of-sale marketing (POSM), larger than life displays in-store and so on and these initiatives worked. During Diwali, we did a campaign called ‘Light Up your Diwali’ contest with actor Hrithik Roshan and this initiative worked for us.”
Ferrero India also leveraged World Nutella Day with an activation with Ranveer Singh and bankers and mothers were leveraged as micro-influencers for Nutella. During the mango season, a limited-edition mango flavour for Tic Tac was launched. Ferrero India also made a jar in the shape of Tic Tac to be kept at the POS, this helped boost distribution and also garnered consumer traction. Multiple Gen Z influencers were also used for Tic Tac. Kapuswala says, “ It has been a great year for marketing activations. The brand funnels are looking positive and overall, the business in terms of the top-line and bottom-line is looking positive.”
Moving beyond gifting
Ferrero Rocher has become synonymous with gifting and the company has taken several initiatives to go beyond the gifting category. Sharing packs of Ferrero Rocher with four pieces and gift boxes with eight and 16 pieces was launched for everyday gifting and “indulgence.” In October 2024, Ferrero India launched Confetteria Raffaello, a crunchy almond and coconut treat, in packs of three and a gift pack, just in time for Diwali. In August 2023, Ferrero Rocher Moments - hazelnut and cocoa creamy filling inside a crispy shell, covered by cocoa sprinkles - was launched in India in a pouch pack of about eight pieces for sharing or self-consumption and larger packs of 16 or 32 pieces for gifting. To celebrate Valentine's Day, Ferrero Rocher Moments launched #MomentsOfLove campaign with actor Sara Ali Khan in a digital film. Kapuswala says, “ We built on the word ‘moments’ and build Ferrero Rocher Moments as an entity. The dynamics is gifting and we are trying to take some of the portfolio to self-consumption. We launched a pouch pack for Ferrero Rocher Moments, this can be gifted, but can also be for self-consumption or indulgence between families and can be a fridge pack. These are the roots by which we are trying to maneuver the brand.”
A ’sweet’ brand association
Ferrero India has partnered with Hrithik Roshan for Ferrero Rocher, Ranveer Singh for Nutella and Tic Tac and the newest addition is Sara Ali Khan for Ferrero Rocher Moments. According to Kapuswala, “ Brands and celebrities have to be of the same stature when you talk of brand endorsement. Celeb endorsement only works when you have a mirror image of the values together. If the brand is X and the values are Y, the consumers can see through it. For example, Hrithik Roshan, loves the product and he said,’ I would want to give my name saying that Roshans love Ferrero ’. That is the payoff and the power of the brand and the power of the association. Sara Ali Khan brought youthfulness to the brand and was able to build the property of Ferrero Rocher Moments in the market.” He continues, “The proof of the pudding is in the numbers or in the view-through-rates of the content we do. The view-through-rate of all our celeb related films are 2x, 2.5x, 3x compared to other content we do. If the view-through-rates are higher, we can easily decode that the consumer is perceptive, taking in the content what we are trying to say, is viewing the content with a positive and open mind and creating consideration for the brand. This is how we try and sell up for building relevance and consideration for the brand.”
Amping up distribution
Being a premium and sensitive product, Ferrero Rocher distribution is limited to top stores, modern trade, e-commerce and quick commerce. However, this limits Ferrero India’s reach with a huge traditional trade market untapped; this is where Ferrero Rocher Moments became an aspirational brand. Kapuswala explains, “ As Ferrero Rocher Moments is an affordable premium gifting pack for everyday occasions, it is the ladder for people to start from Ferrero Rocher Moments and then upgrade to Ferrero Rocher. Ferrero Rocher Moments has a much wider distribution base and is available in non-AC and non-temperature regulated stores thereby reaching more consumers. You build the brand franchisee with an affordable premium brand for everyday occasions and then slowly upgrade to a much better multisensorial global experience which is Ferrero Rocher.” He adds, “We are aligned on the shopper insight for each and every channel and sub-channel. Basis the consumer insight, we amplify and activate the right portfolio and activations for the right channel.” Other innovations in the Indian market was the launch of the Ferrero collection – includes Ferrero Rocher, Raffaello Ferrero Rondnoir (dark chocolate) – an assortment of Ferrero’s offering in a box.
Coming to the other star product in Ferrero India’s portfolio, Nutella, the positioning adopted is ‘morning tastes better with Nutella’, with the brand competing in the spreads category. The strategy is to pair Nutella which Indian options such as dosa, parathas, rotis etc. Ferrero India has also taken a position to not market to kids and all its marketing is targeted to parents. The company is also a big proponent of moderation and portion control when it comes to the consumption of its offerings.
Looking at Ferrero India’s hard mint Tic Tac, the brand leverages its sonic identity – Tic and TAC, the sound which come from opening and closing of the pack, creating the iconic rattle of the box. With the brand being music-centric, the approach has been to connect with the consumers, particularly the Gen Z, through music. Tic Tac collaborated with musicians Yashraj Mukhate and SlowCheeta for its ‘VIBE Mera Fresh’ campaign. The brand tied up with Spotify to create and suggest playlists for consumers using AI.
Looking ahead, Ferrero India will be amplifying its messages across festivals, starting with Christmas, Valentine’s Day for Ferrero Rocher and Ferrero Rocher Moments, and for Nutella on World Nutella Day in February. Also in the works are new flavours for Tic Tac with the brand also working on region specific flavours.
On a final note, Kapuswala says, “We want to have a big portfolio. We do not want to launch more brands together and will wait till the existing brands launched will mature. We launched Ferrero Collections and Raffaello and are giving the brands incubation time. As the brand matures, we'll see more brands from Ferrero’s portfolio coming in India.”
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