You will be surprised to know that Amul, owned by 4 million milk farmers, is the largest milk cooperative in the world. Today, it is the long-standing FMCG giant in India with a revenue of Rs 61,000 in FY 22.

Amul’s origin dates way back to the 1940s. Polson back then dominated the dairy sector and Polson butter was so popular that the name Polson was synonymous with butter. However, Polson purchased milk from farmers at a low price and sold it to customers at much higher prices. The farmers suffered as they did not get a fair price.

The farmers then created their organization to supply milk to Mumbai directly. Thus Amul or Anand Milk Union Limited was formed. Soon, there arose the need for a strong brand identity to market their products. Dr. Varghese Kurien handed over the advertising to Sylvester Da Cunha.

That’s when the idea for the iconic Amul girl and her slogan, "Utterly Butterly Delicious," emerged. The Polson mascot served as the model for the Amul girl.
Cunha and his colleagues purposefully designed the Amul butter girl to be the exact opposite of the polished, soft girl that served as the Polson mascot. That is, a cheeky and amusing young child who made fun of the nation's recent happenings!

Now, Amul's commercial and advertising success with less than 1% of revenue spent is almost unbelievable. How then did they accomplish this?
Amul does not invest independently in building a brand for each of its goods. Instead, it emphasizes umbrella branding or family branding. Therefore, people recognize every product as coming from Amul because the name is synonymous with "Taste of India." 
The iconic mascot is a huge hit among Indian consumers and can be seen in every household adorning the pack of butter.