 "Goodbye Dr Kurien, the man behind the brand of India")
When we think of Amul, we think of milk.
Yet, if you pause and think, there’s so much more to Amul than just milk.
Indeed, for people like me who were living (then) in a place like Kolkata or Chennai, Amul was not milk at all. It was so much more. Amul was the butter we spread on the toast every morning, Amul was the cheese we had once in a while as a special treat, and Amul was the metal container of powdered baby food you saw in the kitchen.
Amul, later, became the chocolate you shared, breaking up the bar into as many pieces as there were people around. After all, Amul Chocolate was ‘A gift for someone you love’.
Years later, Amul was an ice-cream, Amul was among the first foods you saw in a Tetrapak, Amul was cheese powder, and Amul was shrikhand.
Amul, by now, was the Taste of India.
From the time you stopped breast feeding, there was at least one Amul product you consumed every day. Walk around the kitchen, open the fridge, and count the number of Amul products you have in your house.
Think of when you consumed an Amul product last. For me, it was an hour ago, when I buttered a couple of slices of toast.
How many multi-product marketing organisations can make a similar claim?
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAnd these achievements by a cooperative society, not a multinational, not a government funded navratna, not even an organisation owned by a big Indian industrialist.
And how big was it? Huge.
To give you an idea, here are some wonderful reference points (thanks to Anand Halve; all data from his book Darwin’s Brands - Adapting for success).
Amul’s turnover in 2009-10: Rs 80,054 million
Nestle India (calendar year 2009: Rs. 48,008 million
Britannia Industries (2009-10): Rs. 34,246 million
[caption id=“attachment_449013” align=“alignright” width=“380”]
The Amul girl[/caption]
Amul is not just the taste of India; Amul is the brand of India. And the man who created Amul, the Brand of India, is no more.
RIP, Dr Verghese Kurien, the visionary behind Operation Flood, which led to the creation of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which in turn led to the creation of the brand Amul, and the birth of product after product under the same umbrella.
Today, the Consumers of India will remember the man who created the Brand of India.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.