Snax Attack: How We Bit Off More Than We Could Chew CC6

I was brimming with excitement and ideas when I transitioned from sales to marketing. A major rebranding exercise was underway at the company, consolidating brands under larger umbrellas for efficiency in advertising. However, some brands didn’t fit into this neat structure. Standalone stars like 50-50, Little Hearts, and Snax held their charm, and our research revealed an opportunity to expand Snax into the growing “on-the-go snacking” category. I was given charge of this " youth portfolio"

The insight was fascinating: biscuits, a childhood staple, were ditched during teenage years for snacks better suited to adolescent coolness—chips, namkeen, and other munchables. Young adults returned to biscuits only when they started working or reached their early 20s. If we wanted to capture this elusive teenage audience, we needed to break into their snacking portfolio.

The Grand Plan

Our research identified three promising sub-segments under the Snax umbrella:

1. Western Snacking – Think Cheetos-style flavor-dusted snacks.
2. Baked, Not Fried – Pop-in-your-mouth products like Cheezlets.
3. Fried Snacking – The domain of local giants like Haldiram’s, offering sev and chanachur.

Each had its quirks, but all were massive, palate-driven markets with room for us to make a mark.

Armed with this insight, we dove headfirst into the project. Greenfield manufacturing units were established in remote areas to reap tax benefits. Our R&D team collected snack samples from across the country, tweaking recipes to suit local preferences. We picked tangy tomato for one region, pudina for another, and chanachur for Kolkata. It was thrilling—a full-throttle innovation engine fueled by endless taste trials.

The Snax Spectacle

The marketing blitzkrieg was equally ambitious. We used ?Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak for quirky commercials and designed comic-strip packaging for the Western snacks line. Baskets and nets were procured to hang these colourful packs in stores—merchandising that screamed fun! Could get only one reference for the ethnic snacks.

https://youtu.be/i_1Ziezgujo?si=HDI0kmnrCHX8WSRm

Sales teams were trained to understand that snacks weren’t biscuits. “Jo dikhta hai, woh bikta hai” (what’s seen is sold) became our rallying cry. Sampling drives were conducted, feedback was gathered, and energy levels hit the roof.

Finally, the launch day arrived, and it was a spectacle. Products hit shelves with selling-in schemes, dazzling displays, and widespread trials. For a while, it felt like we were unstoppable.

The Crumble

Then reality hit. About eight weeks in, the cracks—or should I say clumps—began to show.

• Burst Packs: Customers complained about packaging failures.
• Oil Issues: Sev clumped together in colder, hilly regions because the oil’s freezing point wasn’t accounted for.
• Localization Failures: What worked in Kolkata flopped in Delhi. Our one-size-fits-all approach didn’t fit anyone.
• Merchandising Missteps: Sales teams, trained to sell biscuits, often skipped merchandising altogether, leading to unopened returns.

Despite the excitement and hard work, the launch didn’t take off as planned.

Lessons in Hindsight

Looking back, I realized we were so caught up in the thrill of the launch that we overlooked the fundamental differences between biscuits and snacks. Snacks required localization, not standardization.

• Packaging Matters: Nitrogen flushing techniques needed to be adapted for different climates.
• Oil Composition Counts: The oil that worked in the plains turned traitor in the hills.
• Market Trials Take Time: Rushing to market left us exposed to avoidable pitfalls.

The Humble Pie

The experience was humbling—and hilarious in hindsight. I imagined the snacks staring at us from the shelves, clumping and bursting as if to say, “You thought you could handle us?”

Ultimately, it was a lesson in respecting the nuances of a new category. Expertise in one domain doesn’t guarantee success in another. If anything, it demands even greater attention to detail and the humility to learn from scratch.

Snax may have stumbled, but it left me with a lifelong mantra: test, test, and test again. Because in business, as in life, it’s the little details that make or break the big picture.

Life’s like a bag of Snax—sometimes it clumps, sometimes it bursts, but it’s always a learning experience. Cheers to biting off more than we can chew and living to tell the tale!

Would love to hear your tale of such an adventure.

#MarketResearch #Innovation #ConsumerInsights #ProductLaunch

P.S If you have enjoyed reading this article then you might want to read the other in this series https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/day-life-bridging-great-divide-between-sales-cc5-gaurav-suri-cfp-ilpof