Quaker Oats Marketing Strategy & Marketing Mix (4Ps)

Published in Products category by MBA Skool Team

Marketing Strategy of Quaker Oats analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on Quaker Oats marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. Let us start the Quaker Oats Marketing Strategy & Mix to understand its product, pricing, advertising & distribution strategies:

Quaker Oats Product Strategy:

The product strategy and mix in Quaker Oats marketing strategy can be explained as follows:

Quaker Oats is one of the leading FMCG companies which specializes in breakfast food products. Quaker Oats has the strong backing of PepsiCo. The product portfolio in its marketing includes breakfast cereals, snacks, mixes, beverages etc. Quaker Oats also offers breakfast cereal bars, ready to eat food items etc. Quaker Oats is a quick and convenient breakfast cereal made from 100% wholegrain oats, which is a source of protein and dietary fiber.

Considering the healthiness factor, oats are much better as compared to any other option and are also most convenient meal to cook. If we consider the Indian market for branded breakfast options, it is valued somewhere around thirty million. If we look at the market in volume terms, it is slightly less than 0.15 million tonnes. Oats stand at one third of the total volume and is valued at 20% of the total market value which is a prominent share.


Image: flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/


Quaker Oats Price/Pricing Strategy:

Below is the pricing strategy in Quaker Oats marketing strategy:

The pricing strategy of Quaker Oats aims at maintaining an average price for all its products, so that it can be made accessible to a greater segment of customers. Quaker Oats aims at maintaining its customer loyalty by offering the products at a reasonable price without compromising on the quality of the products.

The company felt that it would help them to gain more share if they introduced their products in different packs. To get the audience try the product, a small pack was made available in the market with a price of eight bucks. Simultaneously, Quaker Oats also made the product available in different pack sizes of one Kg, two hundred and four hundred gram pack sizes with price advantage in bigger packs. It also made a tempting offer of same price for 1 and a half kg pack as that of 1 kg pack which helped them to get their stock moving faster.

Quaker Oats Place & Distribution Strategy:

Following is the distribution strategy in the Quaker Oats marketing mix:

Due to the fact that it has well set network of distribution, Quaker Oats has a huge presence in the market. It selects its distribution networks based on the various conditions that affect the purchasing choice of its customers. It takes into account the needs of the customers, the characteristics of the products it offers and the prevailing trade practices in the local region. The types of distribution systems Quaker Oats uses are:

• Direct Store Delivery

• Customer warehouse

• Food service and vending distribution networks

Quaker Oats with its distributor’s network operates the Direct Store Delivery system that allows it to deliver snacks to the retail stores. The products are offered in the retail stores which help in increasing the visibility of the brand. For Quaker Oats, meal kit distribution can be considered as another distribution channel, which has a strong growth potential. It also encourages users to think of oats as dinner food, changing the perception of it being a popular breakfast meal. Recently, to expand its international business with respect to nutrition, PepsiCo Inc announced the opening of their very first manufacturing facility of Quaker Oats in China. It is located in Beijing in the Daxing district and includes a production space of 30,000 sq.meters.

It has the capacity to make 50,000 tons of Oats yearly with its well-equipped production lines.


Quaker Oats Promotion & Advertising Strategy:

The promotional and advertising strategy in the Quaker Oats marketing strategy is as follows:

Quaker Oats’ promotional campaign focuses on different ways of promoting using different channels which include both traditional channels such as print media and modern channels such as digital media. The brand keeps an eye on the latest promotional trends prevailing in the market and accordingly decides on its own promotional strategy. To expand the usage of Quaker Oats’ , the company had an innovative campaign executed in the month of October in different media such as print and digital. It gave the customers various cooking recipe options for making cookies, muffins and oatmeal by using Quaker Oats. Various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc. were also used. Additionally the company took help of several well know culinary experts and other influencers by making series of videos. The response to this action was found to be positive and it was estimated that more than eighty percent of the consumers respect these influencers and this helped to boost the sales. Apart from this the company has understood the importance of using the mobile technology and as a medium to improve the awareness of the brand. Quaker Oats went out to consumers and ran a campaign in which they asked pin pointed question to seed a thought in the mind of the consumers that whether their present breakfast is healthy, convenient to make, interesting enough to have, quick to make and so on. Normally, Indians are likely to skip breakfast due to one of the above reason not met to their satisfaction. The company made the consumer aware that Quaker Oat meets all the dimension that an Indian consumer looks for. This completes the marketing mix of Quaker Oats.


About Quaker Oats:

Quaker Oats was founded in 1850 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. Earlier, it was known as German Mills American Cereal Company and it was renamed as Quaker Oats in the year 1901.

Currently it is operating as a subsidiary of PepsiCo since 2002. The brand is largely known for breakfast cereals but has also grown into product segments like snacks, beverages & packaged mixes.

This article has been researched & authored by the Content & Research Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.

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The names and other brand information used in the Marketing Strategy & Mix section are properties of their respective companies. The companies are not associated with MBA Skool in any way.

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