Problems with Olpers milk?

Olpers is a snazzy brand of pasteurized milk here in Pakistan. It is as good as a 3.5% fat standardized milk could be, like the rest of ‘em.

They have used red all over their brand. The problem is, they have not owned it. Just like UFONE has owned the color orange by their sometimes overkill on everything orange. I recently realized that I have been passing in front of a billboard, advertising some media agency and thinking all along that it was some UFONE ad. Why? The color orange. That’s called owning a color. Olpers have not done that. Why would they want to?

Because GoodMilk is red too.

Good Milk (some creative name, no?) is yet another brand of milk, that has used red, and have failed to own it. Like Mobilink’s indigo. I can go on here, in hope that you see that smart marketing companies are ‘owning’ colors.

Instead of solidfying their brand, Olpers came out with Olwell, a skimmed variety. That doesn’t enhance the brand as such, it diversifies it. And that is good as well. But not as important as enhancing the ‘brand image’. Olpers doesnt own anything. Quick, name the safest car in the world. How many thought of Volvo? The fastest car? (If you do it quickly, you probably have not thought of anything other than a Porsche or a Ferrari, no?). That is the kind of ownership I am talking about that I think can be done with Olpers, given its premium positioning and the willingness of the management to spend.

And then Olpers also fails to deliver on completeness; given the supposedly massive image the brand has built, there is no website. I mean, c’mon guys, we may be living in a third world country, but if someone like me can think of making a living by designing, marketing and selling websites then there must be something to it, no? Get on the old, battered down bandwagon that we call the Internet already. Everyone has even taken and booked your name to sell it to you guys at a premium price when you finally do realize the subtle yet significant importance of a website in this part of the world. Olpers.com, gone. Olpers.pk, gone. And if you are planning to host on Geocities.com/olpers, then forget it.

Other than that, oh, the milk is white and tastes like milk. That is a good start. But in business (and marketing), if you don’t differentiate often, you die quick. Wake up.

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Posted on: January 31, 2007

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36 Responses to “ Problems with Olpers milk? ”

mansoor Feb 4th, 2007 at 9:52 am

interesting analysis… yes, olpers has made multiple blunders where marketting is concerned, but where they have failed to own a color, they have managed to own a saying “subha bakhair” i’ve heard more people saying that, than good morning lately.. and it always brings to mind olpers.

One more blunder is the lack of supply chain management (SCM) they’ve done.. olpers is not really as available as some of the other brands (though they’re still way better than goodmilk or pakola milk).
Saad Durrani Feb 24th, 2007 at 4:37 pm

as far as owning the color is concerned, Olpers might not be successful but currently it is most widely sold milk brand in Karachi. During Ramadan, I saw that Olpers outsold its competitors like Good Milk or Haleeb. Why? The reason is that they did free sampling. During Iftar, they gave away free Olpers 250ml cartons. There SCM is not as bad as one can think. Olpers is a brand of Engro Foods, they can supply to rural places very quickly.

2007-02-24 16:37:08
Momekh Feb 27th, 2007 at 6:34 pm

Yes, and is not that beautiful? The brand similarities are such that you differentiate in your marketing in just one area (arguably, the only thing different about Olpers advertising is the ‘execution’, a typical post-production activity), and you become the market leader in the biggest city in the country! I confess, I donot know the figures and am taking your work for Olpers outperforming the competitors, and I am not surprised at their lead.
Nothing works like free milk samples, like I do over at Kemaak milk (only in selected areas of Lahore for the time being). Kudos for a giant like Olpers to do such grassroot activities as well.

2007-02-24 18:34:53
Jibran Syed Mar 16th, 2007 at 4:16 pm

I am a student of IBA and I have the privilege of learning “Principles of Marketing” course from none other than the “Director marketing Engro Foods”, Mr. Ali Akbar (who is assisted by Brand Manager Orwell Milk, Mr. Hassan Chowdri).

Before I proceed with the marketing aspect, let me brief you on the background of Mr. Ali Akbar. He has been the Brand manager for Coke (Middle East…i.e. 27 countries!), He Launched Sprite Zero in Pakistan.. he was also the brand manager of Dunhill (or was it B&H.. not sure..). Anyways, he’s an awesome teacher and an even better marketier.

He said within 8 months of launching Olpers Milk, they have penetrated 12% of the Tetra Pack (packaged milk) market in Pakistan.. which is outstanding to say the least (especially in light of BIG competitors like Nestle and Haleeb!).

I agree they donot have a very strong Internet presence, and even I preferred Good Milk over Olpers (without testing either.. just through advertisement), but when I used both the brands, I found Olpers to be a thousand times better than Good Milk (Which I think is just powdered milk with water added).

I remember Mr. Ali Akbar said once, “In order to succeed, you should ALWAYS capitalize on YOUR STRENGTHS, and NEVER on your “COMPETITOR’s WEAKNESS!”. Engro Food did exactly that. They used their decades of PR with farmers and used it to provide world class supply-chain management for delivering the ultimate quality milk in Pakistan.

Remember, effective advertisement might be successful in generating initial sales (user trials for the brand), but in the long run only Quality products are able to survive and generate repeated sales.

The high ethical standard of Engro Foods is the driving force behind a quality product which has outperformed all expectations and has penetrated the market at an enormous rate.

2007-03-16 16:16:47
Momekh Mar 16th, 2007 at 10:20 pm

Jibran, you are right in terms of Olper’s penetration.

And of course, you pull the right kind of people for the job (like Engro pulled Mr. Ali Akbar), you get the requirement.

As far as reputations go, I am sure there is a good reason for Mr. Akbar’s oversight in terms of the Internet. I can tell you this much that it is necessary enough to be done. The latest count of people coming to Treetech’s website while searching for olpers has crossed 20 per day. That is a lot of people specifically searching for your brand for you to pay the kind of attention a website demands.

How about perhaps emailing this post and the ‘mini case study’ of olpers that I have posted here to your teacher Mr. Akbar? Let’s hear it from the man himself as to why have they not invested in such a significant yet easily doable project in the very grand scheme of things?

By the way, I am based in Lahore, and I also have a small milk company distributing ‘raw’ milk to homes. I have researched the milk market considerably and given that I understand a bit of the Internet as well, just search for best milk in lahore on Google. Why is it that so much budget and so much creativity missed this little yet significant thing? The effort required to do this is not much so why not that effort, especially given the reputations and everything?

God bless and good luck for your studies,
keep on keepin’ on,

2007-03-16 22:20:42
m.ali Apr 29th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

salam
can any one tell me about the distribution channel system of olper or in how many cities olper milk available this is a part of my assignment given by university BIZTEK plz any one can tell me
Asif Ali May 28th, 2007 at 5:28 pm

Well the AD campaign of Good Milk was far far better as compaired to Olpers…i really hate the commentry by a bass oriented voice…it sucks!

woh jo har aney walay din ko bakwas samajte hain

People dont need lectures to drink milk!

very pathetic Advertisment
shafaq naeem Jun 12th, 2007 at 2:07 pm

hey guys
quite a long discussion on Olpers. i m a student of Government college university lahore and i m working on a project of Haleeb Good Day. i hope not all but some of u guys can give me some suggestions or tips or any reasoning for the failure of haleeb Good day. i would really appreciate ur response if it comes in within 3 days that means uptill thursday. u can post something here or write me at shafaq.nikki@gmail.com
please carry on ur discussion thank u so much
genius aura Jun 17th, 2007 at 11:58 am

Assalamoalikum to all!! im a student of virtual university of pakistan. i was searching for our research project on the subject”why olpers is not getting sufficient penetration in pakistan” but fluckily i cudnt get any of the information abt the company regarding its history and wat is its root company and a complete company’s profile. iurgently require this information within a day of this message. can nayone help in this regard and provide me a detailed information about this. it would really helpful for me to put my project into action. i gained much from above discussion and looking forward for more.
thank you so much. waiting for a considerate and welcome reply form u people.
regards
sana Sep 5th, 2007 at 4:17 am

asalmualikum,
guys i just read ut discussion its really inetresting…
i am in a problem and need ur help… regarding it…
i want to conduct a reserch on the failure of haleeb and good milk and market positioning of olpers milk.. but unfortunately i m not getting any secondary data plz as u guys have already conducted such researches can u provide me the matter with in a day or two.. its really urgent. u r mail me at adsimpatel@gmail.com i will be very very thank ful to u all
javed Sep 14th, 2007 at 8:52 pm

hi
olpers used red color to stand out in the market cause no one was using that color on UHT Pack
Jibran Sep 16th, 2007 at 11:27 am

Sorry for the long delay.. was busy in exams and stuff..

Just now remembered that Olpers has launched a website… http://www.olpers.com.pk

They have also introduced (like they did last year) a Ramazan special edition pack. Looks cool.

Cheers.
Maverick Oct 4th, 2007 at 7:29 am

hi everyone..
Do u ve any idea why olpers quarter liter pack is not getting the market share as others have for quater liter pack????
MAS Nov 7th, 2007 at 3:39 am

i ve tht olpers might purchase haleeb in coming months.
Momekh Feb 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm

The comments that were here initially are yet to be ported onto this database.

Please feel free to leave a comment related to the above post. Thank you and God bless
Amer Malik Mar 17th, 2008 at 10:47 pm

You are right on with the branding aspects and i am really amazed to read this and actually it is so true.
I being a marketing student and reading about brand building and doing all the right things with the brand just fail to understand what all these big names are thinking about their brand (regarding the online/ E-Strategy). Yes! i agree that they are all doing well. Lets jut talk about Olper’s. Doing great! But for how long.
You yourself, the brand manager is admitting about the lack of online presence and the first site that popped up in google results was olpers.pk. Some smarta$$ looking to make some money off it. My suggestion to Opler’s. Spend the money people. It wont be long before the target market of the milk industry (moms) start using the internet and check up on their favorite milk’s website online.
I just hope the olpers.pk guy dont sell it off to some porn site.(I know the competition is high, and anybody for that matter may as well think about haleeb.com or goodmilk.com and starting a porn site at it (bad publicity). Well its all fair in love and war but business ethics dont allow that. And that was just to ignite some humor and interest and nothing more).
The whole point of saying this is that its high time these companies should think about their e-strategy and you for one is thinking on the right lines in terms of building the brand further.

To be continued…..
M Khan Mar 17th, 2008 at 11:08 pm

Thank you for your comment, Amer.

This post, so far, has had more than 16 comments. Due to shifting servers to a bigger, better account, I have somehow lost those 16 comments. And I assure you, these comments were by people like you, who are interested in Marketing and are probably doing it not because they want to get paid, but also because they love advertising; some fall for the creative bit, some love the selling part and some both.

And all of them have, unanimously, agreed. I am only ‘waiting’ for the Olpers’ brand manager to read this and comment on it. (One of the commentors was a student at IBA, where the brand manager of Olpers was teaching him Marketing)

Your ‘to be continued…’ is now making me wait
Sohaib Athar Mar 26th, 2008 at 2:32 pm

A bit off-topic - sorta - but of all the brands in the market, I find Olpers to have the yuckiest taste, either alone, or when mixed with tea/coffee. Any idea what animal they use?
Website Design by Treetech Design » Problems with “Problems with Olpers Milk” are no more a problem Mar 30th, 2008 at 2:56 pm

[...] Comments Momekh on Problems with Olpers milk?Sohaib Athar on Problems with Olpers milk?M Khan on Problems with Olpers milk? [...]
Muhammad Muazzam Ali Apr 17th, 2008 at 8:54 pm

Ur analysis are much strong but plz also mention that what colour it should has occupied instead of RED.
M Khan Apr 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm

@Muazzam: the point is not that Olpers should have opted for a different color. The point is that they ‘could have’ capitalized on their powerful branding by associating the color red to their brand. How they could have done it (or not done it) is a different matter altogether.
Irfan May 2nd, 2008 at 11:57 pm

Can any one plz tell me, whts the total market ahare of Packaged Milk (tetra pack) compared with loose milk. I am talking about all the brands whether it is Olper, goodmilk, haleeb or nestle etc.
Kindly do reply me and let me know the source also where i can go thru the info myself.

Thanking you all
m_i_mir@hotmail.com
zafar May 12th, 2008 at 10:34 pm

i m zafar can anyone plz halp me in my topic ‘distribution management research’
zafar May 12th, 2008 at 10:36 pm

this is my topic of annual workshop of MBA and plz feel free to contact me at mzafarfsd@yahoo.com to assist me. i will thakful to all of them being a teacher of me.
Qudsia Jun 12th, 2008 at 12:48 pm

yes i recenty tried Olpers but didnt like the taste
Fraz Ahmad Abbasi Sep 12th, 2008 at 12:22 am

Well , for those who say the quality of Olper’s is not good, I believe they should give it a try…OLPER’S is positioned as an all purpose milk unlike Haleeb which is posiioned as ” Gahra Jo Hay ” milk for tea and unlike milkpak, good for drinking only…..On contrary Olper’s is a milk which will fullfill all of ur requirements of a full cream milk.

For those who say that Adv of good milk was better, I refer them to Olpers signature adv and Ramzan adv of 2007 and 2008…..If the Adv of good milk was excellent then why their market share is 1.5% of total tera market..On the other hand Olper’s is eyeing at 25% of market share by the year end 2008

Asfar as SCM is concerned we are comparing a company whcih was born 2 and a half year back with companies which are working in dairy sector for last decades.

IRFAN….reply to ur question is Raw milk has market share of 96-97% of total milk marke while all braned have 3-4% market share.
Advertising online is getting easier Sep 26th, 2008 at 12:34 pm

[...] is just laziness. I have discussed olpers on numerous occasions on this very blog before that how they are not using the Internet properly. [...]
Arshad Oct 15th, 2008 at 12:31 pm

i have used olpers milk but taste was not good somthing dovlopement for taste and also color therefore no body is useing olpers.
shakoor Dec 18th, 2008 at 9:15 pm

marketing report of olpers required
hunny Dec 27th, 2008 at 3:39 am

hy every body……ASLAM-O-ALIKUM
i need the total information about the 4P’s (product,price,promotions,place) of olpers…i m a student of NCBA&E and on the 4P’s of olpers i hav to give presentation on monday (29/12/2008)….if any one can sent me this data i will b v.thankful…..plzzzzzzzzzzz if someone hav anything about it send me as soon as can b possible….my mail i.d iz …….nature_iz_beautiful@yahoo.com…..plz send the data on this i.d
i m waiting
Zahir Gul Jan 29th, 2009 at 4:31 pm

I am student of Fcc university Lahore and i am searching on Olpers vs Haleeb so its good to see different ideas on the olpers
Asif Apr 16th, 2009 at 9:06 pm

hello guys
I m the student of International Islamic university,need some information about olpers their positioning and marketing strategies.
Afraz Rafi Apr 29th, 2009 at 9:51 am

Personally i think olpers has done absolutely great advertising by pumping in so much money as they have (using Engro’s financial muscle). Quality of ads are great and they have managed to take something so commonplace as milk and turned it into a lifestyle brand so to say.

The issue with owning the red color? Today, i think it doesnt matter for them, as their brand name is doing all the work. PLus other companies like Supreme or Tapal, use the color red heavily that olpers shouldnt follow suit. But yes i still agree that certain elements need to be established for the longivity of a brand.

Like Haleeb for example, their color Blue and their daisy flower is more or less identifiable anywhere, which is good.

Btw i tried Haleeb milk recently and they have really improved on their quality 10 fold! It is definitely much better than olpers. infact most of their product range is pretty decent so i guess they’re focusing on quality, finally!
mohammad saeed qureshi Jun 5th, 2009 at 11:35 pm

WE are consumer of olpers milk since it is launched, the quality and the taste is observed inconsitent in these current month of summer the services and consumer care at company level is not as we expect owing to profile of the brand i have purchased a carton from Naheed super market mfg date7.5.09 and exp date is 7.8.09 the smell is effecting the taste of TEA very badly . The mail failed to address foodconsumer@engrofoods.com how we could get the replacement of this stuff . Concern distributor or company field force is advised to plz contact. 0322 2815870.
zain ghufran Jun 8th, 2009 at 1:39 pm

thank u for sending a free sample to my mother of owsum,i liked it,but u didnt send mango flavour which is my favourite.i study in class 4 at beacon house school system
Ramlahred so is Jun 12th, 2009 at 10:47 pm

Hi All,

I am a student of SZABIST and I m taking advertising as an elective, I have to make and ad on Olpers Vs Good Milk. Our Facilitator wants us to change the theme and the target audience of the AD.He always says everything or every ad that looks good is not really good,I use to like olpers ad but then I thought that if we put any of their competitors brand in it, it would work rite? They are red so is Good Milk..i feel that they r not communicating anything about the product, all they are talking about is culture which makes no sense beacuse there is no connectivity and again THE INSIGHT as we call it is missing.

You guys have any suggestions for a new OLPERS ad?