Ajanta biscuits

Case study -1

Ajanta biscuits, Bangalore, are in the field for a little over 6 years. During this time, they have consistently increased their sales. This was possible mainly due to good quality of biscuits, a good distribution network and promotion policy.
The company has shown innovative ability by bringing out variety of biscuits to cater to various tastes in the consumer market. A study made on the biscuit industry by the Indian Biscuit Manufacturers Association highlighted that out the total consumption of biscuits; almost 21% are consumed by children below age of 11. The management of Ajanta biscuits decided to develop special biscuits to cater to his market segment. After working out different possibilities, it was finally decided that biscuits made in different animal shapes would be introduced which would certainly appeal to the younger generation. As such, samples were prepared. The company carried out a small exercise in test marketing the biscuits in their home town. A sample size of 200 was selected for this purpose. Majority of the sample consumers showed their interest and informed that the children have liked the products. With a lot of publicity, the company introduced this new range of biscuits in
four metropolitan towns of Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and New Delhi besides Bangalore. The results for first 6 months were encouraging. However, from the seventh month, the sale started declining. In the twelfth month, the total sales of
this type of biscuits were reported only at 25% of the peak reached. The quality was maintained. The price right from the beginning was 10% higher than the other types for same weight.

Questions:
1. What caused the downward trend of sales for animal-shaped biscuits?
2. What remedial actions would you suggest to maintain the sales at a particular level?