Open Big Stores and die

Article from Forbes Magazine: 31st May 2013
"Open Big stores and Die"

COO of MAD OVER DONUTS ---> Tarak Bhattacharya

The challenge was to create a Pan  India Brand from scratch.

Achievement: He has turned MOD in to one of the most profitable doughnut chains in the country.

How he did it?

1. Fly under the marketing radar.
2. Invest well in the product.
3. Keep customers engaged.
4. Open small stores in the country.

• Started with the niche category first.
•  Market testing done:- Cold doughnut v/s hot doughnut. It was found that Indian consumers prefer hot doughnut.
• Started with 3 to 6 outlets. Now they have 46 outlets in just 15-18 months.

Size does not matter:

Invested in People and ERP
Average 335 sq-ft. per store.

"MOST IMPORTANT THING -----> engage the customer"

1. they have not done any ATL and BTL marketing
2. there are 5 lakh and more likes on Facebook.
3. Own database of 1.5 lakh customers to engage with them.
4. they spend more on internal campaigns like Hi5 to celebrate 5 years in India.
5. A festival celebration every 5-6 weeks
6. on average any other retailer spends 4-5% of sales budget in marketing, but MOD had spent only 2.5% last year.