Neem Cake Fertilizer
Branding and packaging case study
Brief
The classroom project demanded the creation of a brand that basically suits the needs of the rural market, and that can be extended to the urban sector as well. The process involved fabricating a brand name for the product, and creating brand identity and packaging for the same.
About the product
Neem cake fertilizer is a bio-fertilizer which enriches and protects the soil, unlike its chemical counterparts. It promotes plant growth and increases the yield by three fold. Its dual activity as a fertilizer and a pest repellent has made it a favoured choice.
Target Audience
Primarily from Rural Villages
Age group 25 to 40 years
Involved in agricultural Practices
The secondary customer group
consists of garden enthusiasts
from various age groups.
Word Map
I put together a word map by brainstorming for associative words which will act as cues for coming up with a name for the brand.
I finalized on the name Neemax as it had the indication of both Neem and maximum yield.
The initial explorations were not very satisfactory and the name "Neemax" sounded foreign and did not seem to appeal to the rural market. I looked for ways to understand how brands are perceived in the rural context by looking at brands that have overcome the challenges of branding for the rural audience. The following were few insights i picked from different examples.
- The building of a brand starts right from the name itself, which should have the rural fragrance. Ex: Kissan, Hariyali Bazaar
- The creation of the brand identity usually involved coming up with a personality who connects and talk to the customers. Ex: Sarpanch tractors from Mahindra. As the tractors had been associated with the personality who is the head of the village, the people where able to easily associate with and trust in the brand.
- The method to create brand awareness is different from the conventional urban marketing.One of the best ways to capture the attention of the rural audience is through Event-management. Live Demonstrations, Melas and local media are ways to reach the audience.
Naming
I derived the name Maari from Mariamman (Maari - Rain ; Amman - Mother) the South Indian Goddess of Rain.She is worshiped for fertility and good health. As neem(leaf) possesses the same qualities, they are extensively used in her worship.
The worship of nature is generally followed in India and is more predominant in the villages and with farmers. Among them rain and sun are the most adored by farmers. Most of the harvest festivals are centered around it. So Maari (meaning - rain) fits perfectly as a name for the neem fertilizer brand.
Packaging
The form of the packaging was explored with the following things in mind: easy to handle, convenient to transport and economic. The packaging was done for one / two kg and five / ten kg
The cap used for pouring seemed little difficult to use when the product was near end. The consumer had to tilt the box completely to get out the last of the fertilizer powder. This seemed to work better for fluids than for powder forms.
The Stand up pouch though was easy to use but the side handle was not able to hold the weight of the product.
One / Two kg
After the explorations i decided to use box packaging with a dispenser pout on the top for 1 kg and 2 kg packaging. Paper board foil lined on the inside is used to make it moisture resistant.
Five / Ten kg
Polypropelene bags was used for packing the 5 kg and 10 kg fertilizer. The material is light weight and resistant to moisture and other adverse climatic conditions.
Considerations for Packaging
The following are the main things farmers look for in a packaging when making a choice while buying fertilizer
- Value for money
- NPK value (Nitrogen - Phosphorus - Potassium)
While looking through the existing fertilizer packaging, i found an information overload and providing too many choices of NPK values. The farmers had to be either knowledgeable to choose a fertilizer that would fit his requirement or seek help from others to decide what to buy.
The idea was to clearly categorize the product based on the mode of application of the fertilizer (like flowering plants, vegetable booster, lawn mix, cash crops and so on) and represent them visually to create a familiarity and help the farmers select a product easily based on their needs.
I decided to use patterns to depict each category of fertilizer as the colors and visual association would facilitate easy recall.
