Homegrown Pulse breaks out of the candy jar; mango-masala beverage on cards

Pulse looks to launch a range of beverages under its label

Pulse, the hard-boiled candy brand from the Noida-based D S Group that turned in sales worth Rs 300 crore in 2018, the third year since its launch, is expanding its label. The candy that sells for Rs 1 a piece will now also have a mango-flavoured line of beverages and it is adding more flavours to its candy portfolio. But as the brand that is commonly cited as a case study in word-of-mouth marketing, steps out its comfort zone; is it biting off more than it can chew? 

In its favour, Pulse has already taken the battle to the doorstep of global and national giants and emerged unscathed so far. Pulse competes with Perfetti’s Alpenliebe, Mentos, Chlor-mint and Parle’s Mango Bite among others. For the D S Group that also owns Pass Pass and Rajnigandha Pan masala (mouth fresheners) and Catch spices, the tastes that sway the mass market are something it knows well. It also has built up a cadre of loyal consumers that the company expects will carry forward into new categories. 

On the flip side, beverages is a more contested category where in recent years, health and nutrition concerns have opened up a whole new box of marketing tools. The cola majors have increased their ad and marketing spends in non-cola beverages with Coca-Cola’s Maaza and Minute Maid and Pepsico’s Tropicana leading the multinational charge while Parle and a band of indigenous brands such as Paperboat, Raw Pressery among others are the large national brands.

The group believes that the brand pull that Pulse has generated in recent years will stand it in good stead. And it is working to create greater awareness; it has launched a campaign with short videos (10-30 seconds) with a tag line of ‘Pran jaaye par Pulse na jaaye’ (I may lose my life but not my Pulse) with quirky and humorous examples of how far people can go for their candy. Apart from that it says that it is putting in the rigour required to build a differentiated product, just as it did with Pulse candies.

Getting the taste right

The journey to Pulse was a natural progression says Shashank Surana, VP, New Product Development, DS Group. Pulse was launched in 2015 and since then the group has spent significantly on research and innovation, he adds. As a result the category that was growing at 7-9 per cent at the time is now moving at an average of 20-22 per cent.

In 2016, hard-boiled candies contributed around 40 per cent in the non-gum, non-chocolate confectionary market and when the D S group first toyed with the idea of stepping in, it looked to differentiate itself on the basis of taste. The group chose raw mango as the flavour to begin with as it was the most popular taste cited by people. But Parle already had its bestseller Mango Bite in the market and that led the group to add a tangy twist to the regular sweetness of mango. And thus there came about a powder-filled kacha aam (raw mango) candy. 

“Consumers loved it during test marketing initiatives and we had to convert that into a full launch. Such was the rage that usually candies are sold in pieces, ours sold in jars,” says Surana. 

The group has since expanded the range of flavours, apart from raw mango it now has guava, orange, pineapple and litchee, all with a tangy core. A healthy variant, ‘Pulse Zero’, a salt and sugar-free candy has also been launched in the raw mango flavour. 

For beverages, a mango-masala variant is on the cards. Surana says that the group is also looking at other formats of food and beverages and wants to add new flavours and products.

“Since the candy business is worth about Rs 3,200 crore, there is huge scope for us to expand and grow” 

Shashank Surana, Vice-president, New Product Development, D S Group

Pitch and price

When Pulse stepped into the confectionary market in 2016, most brands were targeting children. The group wanted to expand the market to young adults and adults and that is where the tangy flavour coupled with some smart positioning and advertising helped. 

Pulse is now looking to carry the image forward into its beverages. The group believes that the lessons learnt in building up the Pulse candy brand will come in handy in navigating the new market. 

“In the beginning we were trying to simply meet demand. After that we assessed the kind of growth we need. The industry currently averages about 10 per cent CAGR and we are growing at similar percentage,” says Surana. 

Research showed that Pulse could expand by increasing the flavour basket. “Since the candy business is about Rs 3,200 crore, there is huge scope to expand and grow,” he adds. The group started its confectionery business with Chingles, a chewing gum, in 2013. It has also repositioned Pass Pass, a  mouth freshener as a confectionery product, partly on account of changing tastes and also because of the group’s growing hold on the category. 

When Pulse was launched, almost 86 per cent of the market was selling at 50 paise. Only 14 per cent was at Rs 1. Today, while 66 per cent of the industry is at 50 paise, the 14 per cent at Rs 1 price point has moved up to 34 per cent. 

By pricing it at the higher end and through product differentiation, the company believes it set itself up to a higher standard. It has paid off as  today consumers ask for the brand by name. 

As Pulse gets set for the next phase, it hopes it can put its marketing lessons to good use and repeat the success it has had with its candies. But the big difference is that the competition today is stiffer and, competing brands are also well-versed with the Pulse story.