Ready to eat

23 November 2002

The MTR brand has a great presence in the markets of northern and western India, where the number of women going to office is more. And MTR Foods, the owner of the MTR brand of food products, is launching a number of new products aimed at the northern markets, backed by a national advertising campaign.

The company also plans to widen its distribution network. It expects to increase its total sales to Rs 500 crore annually by 2006 from the projected Rs 120 crore this, year with the share of non-south region targeted to increase to 50 per cent from 15 per cent this year, says MTR Foods CEO J Suresh.

In just eight months of making a foray into north India, MTR Foods is already supplying its products to 12,000 outlets in the region. Suresh says in that period MTR Foods has penetrated all towns with over 5-lakh population, and in Punjab its reach is in all towns with a population of more than 1 lakh.

To back up the launch of its north Indian menu offerings like dal, rajma and bhindi, the company has released a new advertising campaign created by Ogilvy & Mather, which aims to familiarise consumers in the north and western parts of the country with the brand.

Brand width
Hence the campaign, mainly aimed at image building, will focus on MTR (originally Mavalli Tiffin Rooms) as a name that stands for “pure and perfect“ food instead of talking of the various product offerings from MTR. That will come later when the brand becomes more established.

Along with the positioning, the company has decided to launch a new-look logo and a contemporary packaging. The new logo will include the “pure and perfect“ positioning, with the tagline, “Since 1924,“ which the company feels will influence perceptions that it is a trustworthy brand, say officials.