SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PROJECT

ON

MAGGI NOODLES

Submitted By:

704 Andrea Lobo

712 ArshishDastoor

725 JeneviaFargose

731 Kenil Shah

739 PareshPawar

753 Shweta Rajput

Analysis of the Maggi website:

Points derived from the analysis of the website:

The basic outlay of the webpage that is the homepage of Maggi looks like the way above.

The home page has various options where you can click and explore the category. The

headings include:

Maggi range

Maggi recipes

Maggi goodies

Kitchen help tools

Contact

Me & Meri Maggi

Privacy policy

Copyrights

Term of use

Site map

There is no login option as such but they have provided an innovative way of joining them

by becoming a member of Nestle. Here you need to click on the join option to be a member.

After clicking on join option it directs you to another site “familynestle.com”. Here you have

an array of things available ranging from login option, recipes, healthy living, and various

other options that make joining or becoming a member worthwhile.

This entire joining the family exercise provides you with rich information about cooking and

healthy living. Thus it actually adds value to the logger.

The members can engage in following activities:

Learning new recipes

Sharing their recipes

Fun

Cooking class training

Read lifestyle articles

Earn rewards.

The members are allowed to take part in contests and can win prizes. The members are

appreciated by displaying their names on the site.

This is the picture of displaying the winner. Thus this entire exercise leads to brand

building and maintain loyalty among users.

Analysis of the Maggi Homepage:

It uses flash but is pretty fast and takes no time to load. But again it depends on bandwidth and

also the main page uses lot of pictures so it becomes heavy. On clicking on Maggi range it leads

you to a page displaying all the SKU of Maggi.

On clicking Maggi Recipes you go to a page displaying recipe of the day, new recipes etc.

This page also makes available the kitchen help tools option and also the other options like

copyright, privacy policy and contact info are classified under the heading About Maggi.

Flaw:

By clicking on the recipe of the day or recipe search option the website actually leads you back

to the same page. This spoils the user experience and encourages the user to actually leave the

site.

Kitchen equipment page:

This page displays tools like spoons and spatulas that are commonly used in kitchen and gives

details regarding the methods of using them.

There is a very innovative way Maggi has used the buffering time to their advantage.

When you click on Me& Meri Maggi you actually take some buffering time to reach the

landing page. During this time you are shown the years Maggi has been around with the

percent of buffering going on below.

Here at this page information about the entire campaign is given right from the TVC’s to the

entries of the contestants.

Overall final words on Maggi website:

On typing Maggi in search bar the website of Maggi noodles appears first. This shows that

Maggi noodles enjoys top Ranking in search engine and can be inferred that this may be

because of the popularity of Maggi noodles website in various portals and forums.

But again on typing only Noodles the Maggi website doesn’t appear on front page. This shows

that the website should actually use the word Noodle and allied terms in order to establish

strong association to drive traffic towards Maggi.

Looking at the different forums like chowhound or cookingdiscussions it was found that Maggi

is being discussed but none of it drives traffic towards the website.

TECHNOLOGY:

The online strategy followed by maggi is more to drive customers to the website and to

motivate them to share their maggi story. This is the prime objective of this FMCG product to

have a website and help enhance its brand equity. Website has huge content about almost

everything related to the brand. Moreover to motivate consumer’s maggi has made efforts to

make the web experience effective as it is the prime source to motivate consumers to

participate in the campaign. The website has used its trade mark yellow and red colors giving

the user a very warm feeling. The bright colours and number of creative animations have made

the website very rich in experience. The information regarding the recipes and various uses of

different product range are also mentioned in great details. There is a page "tips" where the

benefits of consumption of natural fruits and vegetables are mentioned. All this together make

the viewer stay on the website for a longer time; hence increasing the probability of

registration for sharing their Maggi story.

Website is always driven by content or the execution of a process. However the processes will

not work without content and vice versa. These processes are application based; hence every

process on the website is driven by an application. Maggi’s website is very rich in content and

has a plethora of applications.

Applications:

Flash Player content: The home page of the website has two main flash play contents; one at the centre

(larger size) and other at the right side bottom (smaller one). This almost covers the homepage of the

website.

The centre flash showed the three images in a slideshow of which two contains the consumers having

Maggi with their Maggi story in one line with the 2-min mekhushiya logo. Third image asks the viewers

about their Maggi story giving the motivation of them being on the website next time with their Maggi

story.

This flash also provides a link which leads us to a new page which welcomes us to the world of Maggi.

This is very well depicted by a clear and big message along with a flash of sparking stars on the Khushiya

logo whenever the cursor is moved on it. The stars bring about that ‘visual awe’ which gets associated

subconsciously with the brand.

This page gives two options of being on the maggi ads and packs and also of sharing the Maggi

moment..This links takes you to a login and also a facebook link where we can share the same. The

HYPERLINK ensures an easy login to the maggi fan club where the latest brand building activities are

demonstrated thereby aiming at creating a resonating customer base.

Another flash play on the homepage shows the images of the different Maggi products. This flash also

provides a link to enter the website into details from the homepage (which does not have much

information).This link first takes the user to the product range where the details of the product are given

along with the television commercials of the respective products.

Bottom of the homepage is divided into four parts which leads to four different links.

The welcome to the maggi 2 min meinkhushiya world:

This component welcomes you to the 25 year old heritage of the brand .It makes you encounter

all the memories you and other customers share over a bowl of Maggi. It reinforces the brand’s

value proposition and aims to maintain loyal consumer base or attract new users.

Share your minute meinkhushiya moment:

This is an extension of the offline strategy of the ‘Me and MERI maggi campaign’ wherein

consumers wrote down their own unique Maggi experience and memory which if good enough

was put on the website, Maggi packs ,FB or featured as an advertisement. This campaign was

hugely successful in increasing the emotional attachment with the brand.

My quick taste bhi, health bhi tips:

This app gives a plethora of innovative ways to use the Maggi TASTEMAKER in different recipes.

Information provision is the best way to enter a consumer’s mind especially in a food item.

Thus this tactic was a huge hit and also generated UGC in blogs. It also increases interactivity

and gains feedback via its rating scale. Consumers have to rate the recipe on a five point scale

based on two parameter.

TASTE AND HEALTH:

Hyperlink which connects the maggi website to the parent brand Nestles.

WEBSITE

Maggi is used as a standalone brand in India .People don’t recognize Maggi as Nestlé’s product

but recognize Nestle VIA the product Maggi. Thus to propagate and augment brand equity of

the parent umbrella brand Nestle, this hyperlink acts as a bridge. Via this hyperlink the

consumer gains information and knowledge about Nestlé’s sub brands, which gives it an

opportunity to cross, sell by piggybacking on the brand equity of Maggi.

Hence overall the homepage only provides the links to enter into the website where the actual content

is present.

The website is fully driven by applications mostly flash to enhance the user experience as main objective

of the website is to invite more and more consumers to get motivated and share their Maggi story with

the company. Few of the interesting applications and animations are shown below.

Kitchen tools:

It shows kitchen utensils hanging and shaking continuously. This engages the user and provides an

enriching experience.

Product Range: It shows the images of different recipes with the animated fumes coming out of the

dishes prepared in the flash play. These acts like a trigger to the taste buds which make u instantly crave

a bowl of Maggi.

Vegetable Tips: It shows images of different vegetables on which the animated water droplets are

dropping down to show the freshness of the vegetables. It advises which vegetables blend best with

MAGGI noodles preparation.

Maggi Goodies: it shows animated air bubbles flying depicting the happiness associated with the brand

which reinforces the ‘2 min meinkhushiya’ proposition.

Compatibility: The website contains flash player content and offers a plethora of information

with respect to new flavors, unique product usage and innovative recipes. This makes the

website complex even though it has rich content.This complexity of the website makes it

difficult for the user to access it in different operating environments such as different browsers.

We have checked the website with different browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, Google chrome,

internet explorer and Babylon. The website takes a lot of time to open i.e. 6 seconds via Google

chrome, 8 seconds via Firefox and 15 seconds via explorer. Also the animated content takes a

lot of bandwidth and doesn’t open fast.This may make the user impatient.Moreover the

compatibility of the website is moderate, considering the tradeoff between rich content and

time to open it.

Versions: Website takes more or less the same time to open on different versions of the

browser. But it takes around 5 seconds to open on latest versions which indicate a relatively

higher degree of compatibility (which is version based).

Connectivity: As the website has a high level of graphics, animations and information the

resolution changes with different browsers. Website opens in AROUND 10 -15 seconds with

broadband, lease line connectivity (average download speed of 180 kbps) and 3G connection

on smart -phones. However it takes MORE THAN 15 seconds on 2G network to open-up totally.

Also all elements of the website doesn’t open up immediately on versions like internet explorer

or a smart phone ,which makes it inconvenient to the user and limits the user experience.

However withcomputers having advanced version of browsers with high speed of connectivity

(1-2 mb/sec) thewebsite opens immediately and displays a plethora of engaging apps. Thus we

infer that the web-site doesn’t have the required connectivity at the company’s end which is

required for compensation of poor connectivity at the users end.

Devices: The website is NOT SO adaptable to the different gadgets like smart phones and

tablets.

The changes in the website on the different gadgets are as follows:

Website as viewed on a computer:

Website as viewed on a Smartphone or tablet:

1. The content of the website is seen in a vertical format on the Smartphone or tablet as

compared to the horizontal format viewed on the computer.

2. THE 3 APPS(flash content based) visible on the website homepage on the computer i.e.

taste bhi health bhi recipe of the day, check the maggi range and the large 2 min main

khushiya story page, which keeps on changing aren’t displayed on the smart phone.

3. This is a huge disadvantage as smartphones are the newest technology having the

widest penetration and allows instant access to the internet. The key competency of the

smart phone i.e. ‘the mobility’ isn’t exploited because the low resolution limits user

experience drastically.

4. This reduces the extent to which the company could use LBS to entice the consumer for

a sales promotion to elicit the instant cash demand.

5. However the 4 apps at the bottom are retained i.e. the welcome to the maggi 2 min

meinkhushiya world, share your minute meinkhushiya moment, my quick taste bhi

health bhi tips, and the last hyperlink which connects the maggi website to the parent

brand Nestlé’s WEBSITE.

Privacy policy: Technology can be very intrusive to consumers and raise questions like, to what

extent the user will be tolerant to the company about his privacy.

Hence disclosing the private policy of the company is very important for the company. This

disclosure includes the information such as what information is gathered and how the company

uses that information.

MAGGIS PRIVACY POLICY:

‘At this website, we only collect personal information that YOU want to provide to Nestlé or that is

needed to provide to and improve Nestlé’s service to you. We collect direct personal information such

as name, telephone number and e-mail address as well as indirect information such as “cookies” or

connection or system information or the settings you have on your web browser. We however do not

actively seek to identify any individual visitor, with the exception of investigating security breaches or

cooperating with authorities pursuant to a legal matter.

“Cookies” is a tiny element of data that a Web site can send to your browser, which may then be

stored on your hard drive so we can recognize you when you return.

Your personal information will be used only for the purposes for which you provided it to Nestlé. It will

also be used to administer, support and obtain feedback on the level of our services and to prevent

breaches of security, the law or our contract terms.

Nestlé takes all necessary measures to keep your personal information private and secure. Only

authorized Nestlé Group staff, Third Party (Non Nestlé Group) companies (i.e. service providers) staff

or our business partners' authorized staff (who have contractually agreed to keep all information

secure) have access to your personal information. To ensure your personal information is protected,

Nestlé maintains a secure IT environment and has the appropriate measures in place to prevent

unauthorized access (i.e. hacking).’

Hence the privacy of information of the user given while registering is ensured.

Security issues: The Company mentions in the privacy policy that they are committed to ensuri-

ng that user information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure they

have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and

secure the information they collect online. This data was confirmed with the Maggi official via

an interview.

Monitoring data flow and Analytics are key tactics that Maggi follows since the content needs

to be adapted according to the changing flavors and trends .also the user generated content

needs to be analyzed to get consumer insights for new product development.

Accessibility: The website is very easily accessible on the internet.

Web presence is high i.e. as soon as you type maggi or any of its taglines like taste bhi health

bhi, or 2 min meinkhushiya, the maggi website pops out as the first on the list. Thus, they have

fairly decent SEO strategy.

Connectivity: As the home page is very much rich in content due to applications, graphics and

flash content the connectivity of the website is very low. Hence there is a tradeoff between the

enriched content and with high connectivity wherein maggi chose to be a richer website with

lower connectivity.

Usability:

Enriching User experience

Ease of use and information retrieval

1. Enriching User experience:

The website has a large number of applications, graphics and flash used. Hence, the user is

intrigued and navigates from 1page to another .There is engaging content which increases the

STICKYNESS of the website. The MORE time the user spends on the website greater is the brand

awareness and greater are the chances for brand building by positive word of mouth publicity.

Thus Overall the website has an aesthetic design and gives a pleasant and enriching user

experience.

2. Ease of use and information retrieval:

The website has too much content and information which is not demarcated in the best

possible manner. The website is divided in a confusing manner which makes the user

experience a little difficult. The website can be rated low-moderate on the part of simplicity and

retrieving much information. Hence to an extent it fails to satiate the primary purpose of

providing proper information easily, quickly in the simplest manner possible.

Recommendations:

Maggi should 1st consider its strategy i.e. how imp is online presence to its growth and in

fulfilling its objectives i.e. does it want to be a core online strategy or being an FMCG it just

needs its online strategy as a support to its offline strategy. If IT CONSIDERS online strategy as a

key weapon it should take the following measures.

The website cannot deliver the same effect of animations, flash content and

videos on different devices as it contains flash player animations which mostly

don't work on smart phones or tablets. Hence the user experience is only

depended on laptops and personal computers. Thus to increase usability it

needs to create content which can be adapted to all operating systems

The website is very confusing and navigation from 1 page to another is

confusing. Also there is no systematic arrangement of the content which is

essential to make the website user friendly. E.g.: the home menu of all websites

is on the left hand side but maggi has it on the right hand side as an icon and not

written as ‘home’. This may confuse the user as he may think it’s just an image

of a house due to his previous comfort zone. Thus the website designing should

be intuitive and ergonomic.

The connectivity from the company’s end is slow which makes the website very

slow. THUS, the server strength needs to be increased to make it accessible to a

greater audience.

Another suggestion would be reduction in the flash animations and excessive

hyperlinks as user’s value simplicity and ease of use.

Forums:

Forums are excellent source of relevant information you need that you wouldn't

just find elsewhere. Through an effective signature link on your posts it will help

you get more backlinks and traffic, plus a possibility of making relationships with

other forum members for mutual benefit.

Analysis of Forums:

Presence and reach :

Forums are very important with regards to understanding opinion, involvement of

the users etc.forums helped in knowing the market reach of maggi noodles and

the response of the consumers. The example from :

http://indiansinkuwait.com/iikforum/threadView.aspx?id=79462 proves this

point.

Atta Noodles

posted by Atta Noodles

Can anyone suggest where I can buy maggiatta noodles in Kuwait?

Thanks

REPLY

Posted by :maggi On 11/10/2011

10:30:55 PM

check edee store salmiya

[Report Abuse]

Posted by : JM On 11/11/2011

In fahaheek Highway it is available.

[Report Abuse]

2:13:15 PM

Posted by : Jayan

Abraham On 11/13/2011

9:33:19 AM

U can get it from HiWayAbbassiya shop

[Report Abuse]

Posted by

:NOODLES

YUMMY On 11/13/2011

1:50:21 PM

CHECK IN SHARQ FISH MARKET

[Report Abuse]

Posted by : Atta

Noodles On 11/18/2011

1:54:44 PM

@YUMMY NOODLES, i checked in your dads shop in sharq

fish market. He said, his stupid son ate all the atta

noodles.

[Report Abuse]

Posted by :Tomato

Flavour On 11/18/2011

2:31:38 PM

Can anybody suggest me where can I get same Maggi

Noodles in Tomato Flavour (Made in India)?

[Report Abuse]

Posted by : plz help On 11/18/2011

7:30:26 PM

ismaggi masala also available in kuwaitcausse my daughter

loves it and we have to wait for someone to come from

india to get it for her. plz post here is anyone knows about

this flavour?????

[Report Abuse]

Posted by :Tomato

Flavour On 11/18/2011

7:58:38 PM

@ plz help

Yes, the Masala Maggi is available in all Indian stores.

Some times Tomato Flavours are also avaialbe but very

rare. Tomato Flavour was to come in Kuwait Maggi also

(Not sure where it is made) but this Flavour is stopped and

only Veg, Chicken & Cheese is available. I tried to find but

could not get any answer to this.!!!!!!

[Report Abuse]

User generated content:

User Generated Content (UGC) marked its initial traces with product reviews and

blogs. However, the arrival of social media took it to a completely new level with

the support of the picture and video economy. Leveraging this kind of content can

help brands not only create a higher level of interactivity, but also makes content

management easier as the brand and the consumers are on the same page.

Maggi have realized that the biggest way by which brands leverage user

generated content is developing and creating crowd sourced campaigns. Involving

fans and users to contribute to their campaign gives these fans

a sense of belonging and an opportunity to talk about and

engage with the brand.

One of the stand out example has been Nestlé’s Maggi

Noodles’ ‘Meri Maggi’ campaign. The campaign urged users to

take pictures of their special moments with Maggi and share their experiences

and different recipes they try with the noodles. The stories were then printed on

the packets, thus creating storytellers out of their fans.

U.G.C. tends to b source of help, advice and information .given below is one such

example of it.

Be Aware about Maggi Noodles...

Be Aware about Maggi.

BE AWARE.....!!!

Many of us can't do without “Maggi“especially when one is away from

home, in a foreign land. Here is a piece of information to share so that we

can remove the potential health hazard of consuming Maggi.

Maybe you should print this e-mail to keep as a reminder, pin it up in the

kitchen or dining room as reminder or in your purse if you are always

travelling.

DO NOT IGNORE THIS ... Especially those fond of Maggi...

'

Normally, how we cook the instant noodles is to put the noodles into a

pot with water, throw in the powder and let it cook for around 3 minutes

and then it's ready to eat.

This is the WRONG method of cooking the instant noodles.

By doing this, when we actually boil the ingredients in the powder,

normally with MSG, it will change the molecular structure of the MSG,

causing it to be toxic.

The other thing that you may or may not realize is that, the noodles are

coated with wax and it will take around 4 to 5 days for the body to

excrete the wax after you have eaten the noodles.

CORRECT METHOD:

1. Boil the noodles in a pot of water.

2. Once the noodles are cooked, take out the noodles, and throw away

the water which contains wax.

3. Boil another pot of water, add the cooked noodles into the hot boiling

water and then turn off the stove.

4. Only at this stage when the stove is off, and while the water is very

hot, add the flavoring powder into the water, to make noodle soup.

5. However, if you need dry noodles, remove the noodles and add the

flavoring powder and toss it to get dry noodles.

Dietician's Note:

If you buy plain Hakka noodles which you make, you initially need to boil

in water and discard the water. This will soften the noodles but to

prevent it from sticking we need to add a tbsp of oil and also the noodles

are deep fried partially to make them crunchy and then dusted with flour

to prevent them from sticking while boiling. Hence when you buy the

noodles they are already made unhealthy and this is the type we use to

make stir fry noodles and the regular Maggie too is made the same way,

plus they add MSG / Ajinomoto and other chemical preservatives.

A large number of patients with ages ranging from 18-24 years are

ending up with pancreatitis either as a swelling or infection of the

pancreas due to regular consumption of instant noodles... If the

frequency is more than 3 times a week, then it is very hazardous...

Please share this info and help others to lead a healthy life.

FACEBOOK:

Maggi India’s Facebook page:

The facebook page has 229370 likes and 2478 people are talking about it.

This page is positioned as “the place where millions of savoury flavours

come together and inspire you to spread joy in the hearts of your family

through your impeccable cooking and our unmatched taste!”. It is a

platform /forum where recipies are shared for everyday meals and ideas

related to cooking. It is a forum where Maggi can post recipies which can

be made using several Maggi products.

FACEBOOK PAGE FOR MERI Maggi CAMPAIGN

In addition to that it has a Facebook page for the Meri Maggi campaign.

The page is heavy on images but there is a twist to it, it will get you hooked

on to it. These are real photos being shared by Maggi lovers with the page

under me and Meri Maggi campaign. Sticking to its theme, the updates are

about how Maggi brings people together for a happy time. Thus it has an

amazing engagement rate!

Tag, Like and Vote: Meri Maggi lets you tag people with a twist. You don’t

just tag them, you tag them because they are special and you would like to

share your Maggi with them. Who would you like to share this bowl of

MAGGI with? Tag that person and let them know :)

While most business pages on Facebook are filled with photos, tagging

fans in photos and posts, posting contests and taking polls, the trouble

really is that all of them end up doing the exact same thing. If you want to

stand out in the crowd you have to be different. If you are doing what

every other brand or business is doing on Facebook then you are not going

to be able to engage fans or grow your fan base.

The Meri Maggi campaign is a step in the direction of personalizing the

Maggi experience for anyone and everyone who has tasted the snack. It

was using photos and posts but it was using them well and strategically to

involve and engage with fans. Its multi-pronged strategy hinges on

leveraging the power of its Facebook fan page. Meri Maggi goes beyond

comfort food. It extends to celebrations.

Hit Like

Liking the status update on your brand’s Facebook page is something you

do once in a way. But with a large fan base of college students MeriMaggi

hits the right

button with

statements

like…College ke

long lectures aur

fir break for

MAGGI! Hit ‘Like’

if you have ever

done that!

Find what it is

that your target

audience identifies with the greatest ease and pitch that to grab attention

and create instant engagement.

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

Source: Simplify360 – A Social Media Analytics Tool

TWITTER:

Maggi India has an account called twitter @Maggi_India. However the

company is not very active on this forum and there is not much activity

happening here. The company should invest in this media as it can use this

as an source to collect consumers feedback. Consumers can share their

experience with the company through twitter. The company can also

provide the consumers with an on the spot reply to queries or feedbacks

through this medium

YOUTUBE:

Maggi has officially posted around 24 videos under Maggi creative kitchen.

This includes the ad campaigns and various recipes which can be made

using Maggi products. It has 63 subscribers and 656,442 views. However it

does not have any ongoing discussions

MAGGI INDIA WEBSITE

The website of Maggi clearly depicts thatMaggi clearly understands the

Indian mindset and likings. The colors, the font, the content, the whole

look of the Maggi web site is much pep, happy, bright and exciting. Initially

it targeted only kids but now they are looking at consumers of all age

groups. To this effect it has started the Me and MeriMaggi contest where

it encourages customers to share their memories related to Maggi.

Customers can also post a variation of their Maggi noodles on this website.

There is also a video section where customers have posted videos of them

eating Maggi or the memories that they associate with Maggi. It basically

helps customers connect and share their experiences with the company.

And these activities have earned Maggi brand loyalty which is a combined

result of the product quality and good content marketing.

Blogs:

Bloggers usually blog about their experiences while eating Maggi noodles,

on blog. Along with experiences, bloggers take great pride in boasting

about their new combinations that they tried while making Maggi. These

combinations may result in new recipes or new ingredients that they add

to make Maggi noodles.

Analysis of blogs:

Helps in positioning and understanding new target segments:

Maggi 2-minute Noodles are almost a ‘cult’ brand in India. While it is

targeted at children, young adults seem to feel passionately about the

brand as well. Some consumer exchanges in blogs suggest that Nestle

would do well to consider variants for adults, a completely new target

segment. Some blogs were:

“Maggi’s ads always feature mummies and bachchalog (kids) but I bet a

good deal of their sales come from hostel junta (inmates) tired of aloo

(potato) in its nth incarnation. If you’ve ever been subject to the vagaries

of a hostel “mess” (which is what the food tastes like!), you’d agree Maggi

is a gourmet option”.

“For sure the good ol’ Maggie will forever be young. Hostels and

bachelors will always remember it as the last (favorite) meal to be called

for when tired of eating the regular food”.

“Maggi has positioned itself “BACHON ka DO (Two) Minute wala Food”. If

they (Nestle) go to their marketing basics, the positioning will be different”

Response on new product launch:

Maggi Noodles once introduced in a whole wheat variant, with the

understanding that many mothers – as well as youth – restrict

consumption because refined flour is unhealthy. the variant has been a

roaring success. A couple of months after it were launched based on the

opinions in blogs maggi realized the response was good to the product.

Few opinions were:

“The reason I’m inspired to write this is the recent introduction of Maggi

“vegetable atta noodles”. I tried them out recently and must say - they are

surprisingly good”.

“The new ‘health bhi, taste bhi’ Maggi gets my thumbs up as a mom. I’m

happy to be able to send Maggi in my daughter’s Tiffin box once a week

without feeling any guilt”.

“I too am happy coz i always had this guilt feeling of MAIDA (refined fl our)

and had often thought WHY don’t they try it in the ATTA (whole wheat

flour) form and BINGO they did it!”

This picture was posted

by a blogger on her blog.

Here, she listed out the

entire process of making

Maggi noodles in her

own way, which was

appreciated by many in

the comments section.

The people were happy

to have received a new

way or recipe of making

maggi noodles and hence

commented about the

same thanking the

blogger.

The making of maggi

noodles in a new way is what bloggers post about on their blogs these

days. This is a positive action for maggi as the people commenting on

maggi are usually the ones who like maggi and would like to try out maggi

in a different way. This leads to an increase in popularity of maggi noodles

in the minds of tech savvy consumers, who usually check blogs for new

recipes and read out on user experiences.

One of the bloggers posted:

My girls are big fans of noodles especially the instant kind. The other

day as I was bringing back the kid no 2 from her classes in the evening she kept on telling me that she was hungry and she wanted something warm, hinting hugely at the packet of magi noodles I had brought.

Normally the packet is for the days I am not around and they come back from hungry and my cupboards are bare (which is the happening too often these days). Finally instead of facing the uphill task of convincing her to have something else I made the stuff.

As I went on making it and adding stuff to it I could not help but remember my days in hostel.

The day we had lunch with sweets the mess was closed and my roommate and I made Maggi. Of course we did not add any veggies to it as we never had any in the room and neither of us went doing regular shopping for fruits or vegetables “Kon buy karega?” in fact as we did not want to maintain separate bottles (they were glass bottles then) of oil for cooking and hair oil we used the same coconut oil for cooking. Eeek! How could we? But back then we were happy with our solution.

As I started making Maggi noodles I could help but think how much I have changed now. I want my kids to eat healthy even instant noodles.

Here is what I did.

Initially I stared out with 2 blocks of Maggi and 3 cups of water but even after the requisite 2 minutes ticked away to 5 the water level was not coming down. My elder daughter came in and told me more the water should have been just 2 cups and not 3!!

Likewise, there are several bloggers who blog about their own personal

experiences while consuming Maggi noodles in the past. Past experiences

help the readers in visiting their past happy moments they spent while

consuming Maggi. People have blogged about Maggi being eaten in

hostels, school/college trips, eating when they are home alone, etc.

Try this Chatpata Maggie Recipe

This is something I ate at a highway-side dhaba on my trip to Dalhousie:

Fry some onions and chopped chilies together (tomatoes optional) and

add the tastemaker

Roast all the ingredients (with salt, pepper and red chili powder according to taste). This brings out the flavor of the Masala much better

Add the noodles once the masala is fried You can either boil the noodles separately or add it to the roasted Masala

or you can break the uncooked noodles into smaller portions and roast it a little before adding water and bringing the whole thing to a boil.

Apart from boasting about the experiences, bloggers also mentioned

about the different flavors of Maggi available in the market and their

experiences while consuming the same. Consumers related Maggi as a

generic name for noodles or spaghetti in India.

Few bloggers also posted the pictures of their Maggi and maggi making

process:

On one of the blogs, following things were posted:

Ingredients of Maggi Noodles:

1. High in Sodium- 1/4th Package have 950mg of Sodium. American Heart Association limited to less than 2000milligrams of sodium per day.

2. Caramel Color- "Caramel coloring, when produced with ammonia, contains contaminants, 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole. In 2007, studies by the U.S. National Toxicology Program found that those two contaminants cause cancer in male and female mice and possibly in female rats. TheU.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP)has again determined that both chemicals cause liver tumors, lung tumors, and thyroid tumors in rats and mice. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization, concluded that 2- and 4-methylimidazole are "possibly carcinogenic to humans." Then, the State of California's Environmental Protection Agency listed ammonia-caramel coloring as a carcinogen under the state's Proposition 65. The state lists chemicals when they pose a lifetime risk of at least 1 cancer per 100,000 people.

3. Sodium-bicarbonate- May cause side effects that usually do not require medical care, according to healthline.com. These include increased thirst, stomach cramps and bloating.

4. Guar Gum- It is unclear if prolonged ingestion promotes cancer or suppresses Cancer.

5. Nutrient Absorption: Noodles inhibit the absorption of nutrients for the children under 5.

6. Junk Food: Instant noodles are enriched with full of carbohydrates, but no vitamins, fiber and minerals, no matter what their ads shows. This makes instant noodles junk food.

7. Digestion: Instant noodles are bad for digestive system. Regular consumption of instant noodles causes constipation.

8. Metabolism: Regular consumption of instant noodles affect the body’s metabolism, because of the chemical substances like additives, colouring and preservatives inside the noodles.

9. Overweight: Eating Noodles and maggi is among leading causes of obesity. Noodles contain fat and large amounts of sodium, which causes water retention in the body and surely it leads to obesity.

10. Sodium: Instant noodles are power packed with high amounts of sodium and excess consumption of sodium leads to heart disease, stroke, hypertension and kidney damage.

11. MSG: Mono sodium Glutamate is used to enhance the flavor of instant noodles. People who are allergic to MSG consume it as part of their diet and end up suffering from headaches, facial flushing, pain, burning sensations. And 60% people suffering from this allergy are not even aware of their medical condition.

12. Propylene Glycol : The ingredient in the instant noodles called “Propylene Glycol” which has a anti-freeze property. This ingredient is used because it prevents noodles from drying by retaining moisture. It weakens the immune system of our body. It is easily absorbed by our body, it starts accumulating in kidneys, heart and liver. It causes abnormalities and damage to those areas.

13. Miscarriage : Women who eat instant noodles beyond limits may face the danger of miscarriage because it affect development of foetus.

14. Cancer Causing : The ingredient in instant noodles called "Styrofoam" is a cancer causing agent.

15. The normal 80 gram packet of Maggi noodles that many of us gobble almost on a daily basis has over 3.5 gram of salt, enough to take care of over 60 percent of our permitted daily salt intake as per the National Institute of Nutrition and the World Health Organization.

This has created negative impression of Maggi noodles in the minds of diet

conscious people as the ingredients of Maggi Noodles have greater

amount of side effects and affects the health of a human being.

People, who viewed these blogs showing the negative sides of Maggi, also

commented on the same by saying “they would not allow maggi noodles in

their house net time onwards”, “this is very shocking for me as I am a daily

consumer of Maggi noodles”, etc.

One blogger also commented on the above mentioned issue in the flowing

way:

Every time when a spokesperson from a company is asked about their violation of the standards and the misinformation they are giving to consumers, their readymade reply is that they are complying with the standards and regulations of the national law, etc and hence they are having pleasure selling harmful products under the slogans like of Maggi, "Taste bhi, Health bhi".

May be they just pay bribes to get their illegal products pass the regulations and then they sell it.

This means that many consumers would not trust the brand because of its

truth about the ingredients being revealed. These types of blogs create

dissonance in the minds of the consumers who refer to blogs and are

active on blogs.

One of the bloggers posted:

If you are a Maggi lover, then you’ll feel sad to know that these 2 minutes noodles are made with 6 day old Maida Flour and moreover, pork is added to it for taste. Yes, we know it very well that there is no such absolute proof about it, but since these news came out, the marketers have started promoting it more & more and with new & emotional ideas. You may notice some superstars promoting it or a group of friends

showing their love for it or some new promotional words like It Is Made of Wheat Flour, It Is Now Tasty and Healthy Both etc.

This led to a wide outrage among the vegetarians who read this blog. This

topic was widely discussed among vegetarians and they started avoiding

Maggi for this sole reason of Maggi noodles being made with pork, in

order to add taste to it. However, in spite of a huge noise created by

vegetarians on this topic, it was found that people at Nestle didn’t respond

to this claim at all.