“You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself” –James A. Froude
My summer internship with Britannia proved to be a transformative journey for me on several fronts, it helped me begin a personal journey of introspection. An opportunity to work in the FMCG industry is a dream for most MBA aspirants; getting to work in one of the four biggest FMCG organisations of India was a dream come true for me.
My project was titled “GTM execution of Britannia Treat Croissant in West Bengal”, where I was required to connect with at least 15-20 stakeholders on a daily basis. It was an exciting project and it gave me an opportunity to interact with the field sales team, corporate sales team, brand team, planning and delivery teams. Understanding the importance of the functions of each departments in the successful implementation of Britannia Treat Croissant across West Bengal, which experienced Cyclone Fani, seasonal variations and constant comparison from its competitor, Bauli. Hence, I conducted market survey to understand the feedback regarding the product Britannia Treat Croissant in comparison to Bauli Moonfils. The method of survey was following manner. Visit a shop and observe the shoppers purchase trends for both the products then Based on the purchases of the shoppers from the outlet where both the products were present, the appropriate questionnaire was filled by them. The inference from the comparative study about people who buy Bauli Moonfils is that, they prefer the Cream filling of Bauli over the Britannia Treat Croissant. Another observation from the comparative study about people who buy Britannia Treat Croissant is that, they feel the spread of cream is marginally less compared to the competitor. Therefore, these insights helped the Product team to understand the reviews from the market and make necessary modifications in the product. Overall it was a demanding project which required a lot of data crunching as well as real time connect with on-ground activations taking place.
With strong support, motivation and guidance provided by my mentors and guides, I was able to design my own Promotional contests to drive sales in Kolkata &Siliguri, where constant support and push was required on daily basis. Being on the market visit with the salesforce gave me hands-on experience on how the delivery of the products, the relationship of the salesman and the reputation of the distributor in the market is an integral part for the brand to evolve in the market. This provided me a holistic knowledge and practical experience of trade marketing, developing a GTM model, channel management and other intricacies of sales and distribution.
In addition to my functional learning, I realised the importance of sharp business acumen, creative problem solving, relationship building and understanding every stakeholder in running any business. This learning will help me in every stage of my life and in my career.
The feeling that I get now while having Britannia products is that I am also a part of their finished product!