Every family in India recognises the importance of education for their children. Unfortunately, many children arrive at school each day, keen to learn but having eaten nothing or very little. Energy levels and their ability to learn wane rapidly even before their mid-morning break.
Mars were working with Tata on ways to improve the nutritional intake of children before they went to school. If the children consumed sufficient protein and micronutrients before arriving at school their energy levels and ability to learn could be improved significantly.
To ensure that sufficient children chose to eat the product before school it needed to be attractive to them, but also to their mothers. It needed to be easy to access and to eat – preferably while on the move on the way into school.
Mars had developed a roasted Dal and vegetable product that delivered the nutritional requirements but were struggling to make it truly attractive to younger and older children as well as their mothers.
They asked The Marketing Clinic to help get the flavours, textures, positioning and communications right to encourage children and mothers to choose these over and above other less nutritional, but often more popular, morning snacks.
Working with mothers and children in poor urban and rural areas across India we explored the psychology around breakfast and eating in the morning. We teased out the practicalities and emotions of getting the family up and out for work and school. We understood what – if anything – was consumed before school and why these choices were being made.
We unpicked the desires and motivations of younger children, older children and mothers. We understood the conflicts, tensions and compromises that were being made and why.
We were then able to develop a taste profile that was immediately appealing to children with different flavour variations to appeal to younger and older school age children while also having sufficient real food values to appeal to mothers.
We also developed a way of positioning and communicating these snacks to make them appealing to the children and that gained mothers’ approval.
GoMo was launched in July 2019 and is now helping school children across India to receive essential protein and micronutrients that ensure healthy growth and enhance learning.
Chris Lukehurst is a Consumer Psychologist and a Director at The Marketing Clinic:
Providing Clarity on the Psychological relationships between consumers and brands
