Raymond women’s apparel

Priyadarshi bhattacharya | dms, iit delhi

Raymond women’s apparel

One of India’s biggest apparel companies, Raymond has been successful in almost every segment that it has ventured into. With iconic brands like Raymond, Color Plus, Park Avenue and Parx, the company commands respect in the industry. However, its women’s wear brands, launched in 2007 have been doing very badly. Even in a metro like New Delhi, there are just two outlets where the company’s women wear line is sold. In one of them at Select City walk, the shop owner reveals that even though the women’s wear line occupies 15 % of shelf space, it contributes to just around 5 % of sales. This article examines the reasons for the poor performance of Raymond’s offerings for women and recommends a possible solution.

Background to Entry into Women’s Apparel

Park Avenue: Park Avenue marked Raymond’s entry into the men’s Ready to Wear segment in 1986.A premium contemporary formal wear brand, Park Avenue targets men in the age group of 30-40 years.
ColorPlus: ColorPlus was launched in 1993 by ColorPlus Fashions, then a unit of Coimbatore-based Ambattur Clothing Limited and was acquired by Raymond in 2002.

From the 2 pyramids shown above it can clearly be seen that there has been a significant increase in the female work force size in India in the last decade.

Wooing Women

The Raymond group initially made an entry into women’s apparel through the Be: brand line of designer clothing launched in 2001. However, the brand failed to capture a sizeable market share and was withdrawn in 2007. In September 2007, Raymond made another effort to enter this category at two different points. Instead of launching a separate brand for women, the company decided to extend both the existing Park Avenue and Color Plus brands into women’s clothing. Thus, Park Avenue Woman and ColorPlus Woman were launched. The marketing strategies of the two sub-brands are analysed below.

Marketing Plan:

Marketing Mix

Product – 3 distinct lines –

· Modern Classic Range – For business formal wear.

· Urban Chic – For business leisure wear.

· Opium Delight – For business evening wear.

Product – 5 different product lines –

1. Day wear range

2. Sporty casual wear range

3. Outdoor range

4. Business casuals range

5. Evening wear range

Competition

Madura Garments was the first to extend the Allen Solly brand to the women’s line in 2002. The company subsequently did the same with the Van Heusen range. Other players followed suit, including Blackberrys, ITC’s Miss Player and Raymond’s Park Avenue and ColorPlus brands. However, using its first mover advantage, Madura Garments saw sales of the Allen Solly women’s wear sub-brand go up to 15 % of the total Allen Solly sales by 2004. Many other players are also positioning themselves to take advantage of this growing market. Potential entrants include Arvind Mills, which plans to launch women’s clothing under the licensed Arrow and US Polo brands, and foreign entrants like the innovative Spanish designer fashion brand Zara from Inditex.

Problems

The biggest hurdle to the success of the company’s women’s wear lines has been the image of the Raymond brands. Raymond and Park Avenue have always been positioned to maximize their exclusivity for men of class (with taglines like ‘The Complete Man’). Once that kind of image is created for a premium brand (for which a more comprehensive identity is needed), it is very difficult to change it in the short-to-medium term. Apparel is one of the key areas where men and women have traditionally had different needs. Also, brands like Allen Solly have been in the women’s market for eight years now, in which time, the perception of them as men’s brands has been successfully changed to a great degree. None of the other brands had ‘maleness’ as such a major component of their core identity as the ones from the Raymond group. The company erred by not highlighting the extension into women’s market sufficiently through the right media. By sticking to print advertisements, where a high degree of communication is sometimes not possible, women’s awareness about these sub brands remains low.
An additional mistake was to enter two different parts of the woman’s apparel sector at the same time. This meant that the company could not focus on building the core non-male identity necessary to make either extension successful. Some of the choices about sales outlets location may also have hurt the sub brands. For instance, in New Delhi, while Select Citywalk is a prime location, the shop is located on the same floor as the Allen Solly and Van Heusen outlets. Any female consumers looking for western wear would head to one of these shops, rather than to one with a male-centric image.

The Way Ahead

Given the lack of success of the women’s wear extensions over the past few years, company would be better off creating a completely separate brand for women’s wear. This would allow it to define a core identity and values that women can relate to. Trying to change the present subbrand(s) to give them such a makeover would risk diluting the parent brand. In this regard, the example of Zapp – the kidswear brand from Raymond is noteworthy. A possible marketing strategy for the new brand is outlined below.

Marketing Plan

Segmentation: Segment the women’s market by occupation (working woman vs. homemaker) and age (25-35 years and above 35 years). The opportunity in the working women segment is enormous.

Targeting: Focusing on the older segment (above 35 years) would be ideal as this segment would be better suited for building a premium brand with a deep-seated identity. This brand can be made an aspirational one and extended downwards in terms of age in the future.
Only one brand should be created so that the company can focus its resources in this segment. The brand can be targeted at the modern corporate woman in at a middle management or higher level initially. Once established, the brand can be extended to target young women starting their careers. Depending on the brand’s success, a new/related one can be introduced later on as a smart casuals brand for women.

Positioning: In the first phase (targeting of older professionals), the brand can be positioned as one which appreciates the unique nature of women who rise to high level positions while juggling family responsibilities. The brand shares the journey with them and when they get there, the brand is the woman’s way of making a distinctive feminine statement. ‘Women have arrived – at the very top’ is the message the brand would send out. Later on, a line under the brand can be extended to young women just stepping into their first jobs as a reassuring, comforting friend who is with them from the very beginning as they start their careers.

Marketing Mix

Product: The product range can be similar to that of the present Park Avenue Woman brand. Some of the features from the Raymond apparel brand can also be incorporated for class, with changes to emphasise the feminine nature of the clothing.

Price: Here, the price range can either be similar to the Park Avenue Woman range or, given that the target segment consists of successful executives, a somewhat higher price can be charged.

Place: Given the profile of the target segment, exclusive brand stores can be opened in cities with a large number of big companies (Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad). It also can be sold through premium multi-brand retail stores.

Promotion: As a new brand, an aggressive campaign would be required in the initial phases. This would mainly focus on business channels and upmarket publications. The brand name needs to have a strong feminine component. Some of the suggestions for the taglines would be - ‘An idea whose time has come.’ and ‘I know no ceilings.’ In addition to the media campaigns, to position itself as the working woman’s brand, involvement with supporting women-specific initiatives launched by companies (like Infosys’ Women’s Inclusivity Network) can further strengthen the brand. For example, this could take the form of sponsoring a conference to share best practices for supporting women at work. Social media is another medium which can be used for this purpose, for instance, hosting Facebook groups for women to share their experiences and success stories.

Conclusion

All in all, the women’s western wear market in India is an extremely promising opportunity. No leading apparel company can afford to be left behind in this area. Raymond’s foray into this market has not given good returns so far, due mainly to the lack of a distinctive female brand identity, distributed focus and intensity of competition. While the competition will only get tougher over time, the company can reap major benefits with a course correction – launching a new exclusive women’s brand supported by a strong marketing campaign to emphasise its feminine identity and focussing on one segment at a time. Given the company’s proud record of leadership in many segments of the apparel sector, a day may soon be at hand when it leaves competitors behind in this burgeoning sector as well.

Building the Brand- Foodles

Sunil Mishra, IIM S

FOODLES – BUILDING THE BRAND

Introduction

GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) newest product Foodles has hit the markets about a month back in the instant noodle category. GSK, which is world’s fourth largest pharmaceutical, research-based company with a wide portfolio^[1] of pharmaceutical products covering anti-infectives, central nervous system, respiratory, gastro-intestinal/metabolic, oncology, and vaccines products and is known in India for its healthcare products and nutritional drinks, the most popular being Horlicks. The company generates a good revenue from the nutritional drinks division in India (in the range of Rs. 1,500 crore^[2]) and now wishes to diversify its product range. But it remains to be seen if it can compete with Nestle’s Maggi, the most dominant product in the said category with an unbelievable market share of 91 % in an industry which is worth nearly Rs. 1200 crore and growing at 20 percent per annum [2].

History of the Instant Noodles Category

Maggi was launched by Nestle in 1984 and been the market leader ever since. Other major products which have come into this category over the past 25 years have been Top Ramen Smoodles and Cup Noodles manufactured by Indo-Nissin Ltd. Some other players in this market also include Capital Foods (Ching’s Secret and Smith & Jones), Future Group (Tasty Treat) and CG Foods (Wai Wai). But in all these years, no product has ever even come close to beating Maggi in its market share. All others that came into the market either suffered due to their product quality, marketing strategies or the brand loyalty of Maggi customers. Only Top Ramen’s Smoodles came close to competing with Maggi in the last 1990s with its varying flavours and curry noodles. Maggi during this time had also changed its taste which did not go well with its customers. But when Maggi switched back to its original Masala flavour again, Top Ramen was left far behind and had to be content with being second with a very small share in the market. But lately, the growth rate and the revenue being generated from the industry has attracted the attention of a lot of players and the giants of the consumer goods like HUL which previously have kept away from the category. With the launch of HUL’s Knorr noodles and GSK’s Foodles, we can hope for some competition in the market which may at the end of the day gain the maximum advantage to the consumers.

Foodles – The Brand

GSK launched Foodles under the name of Horlicks Foodles( 2 b chked) with two variants of noodles. - Regular and Multi-grain. It was first launched in south India which currently is the stronghold of GSK through the Horlicks brand. It is to go national within a span of 6 months. The company aims to gain a higher single digit market share within a year or two and establish itself as a player in the salty confectionary foods division.

Foodles- What has been done

The problem with instant noodles has always been the fact that it is not very healthy. Keeping that in mind, Maggi few years ago came out with the tag of –“taste bhi , health bhi” which has helped it in maintaining sales. Foodles has taken this one step ahead and tried to create an USP out of the health factor associated with noodles. It has made TV advertisements which highlight the fact that even though it is an instant noodle, it is healthy and thus should be the consumer’s choice. Foodles also provides an "Health Maker" sachet which comes along with the noodles pack which contains the essentials of 5 vitamins^[3]. Foodles has tried to create a product category for itself by differentiating itself from instant noodles. Also, Foodles is currently trying to appeal to the upper middle class in the urban areas and placed the product at a premium price with Its multigrain variant costing Rs 15 for 80 gm compared to Maggi’s Rs 10 for 80 gm^[2]. Also, to use the distribution channel of Horlicks, initially single packs of Foodles were given for free. So far, the start of Foodles marketing strategy has been good, but is it enough to take on the leader of the market of 25 years? The past is not in favor of Foodles and it has also got to compete with brand like HUL along with Maggi. Let us examine what more strategies can they can adopt to appeal to the market.

Foodles- What next?

For one, the name Foodles is a bit confusing because Disney already has a product named Foodles , although Disney’s Foodles is available only via Disney’s outlets and thus problem of same names wouldn’t arise. Looking at the strategies Foodles has adopted and some of the more successful marketing campaigns of the same kind, some of the strategies Foodles may adopt are:

· PRESENCE IN THE WEB WORLD: Web publicity doesn’t take much of an investment and has been proven to give great ROI. Even for FMCGs, it has been proved that internet advertising has great paybacks [4] [5].The target segment of Foodles is Indian women and kids and latest market research have proved that increasing number no. of Indian women are becoming internet savvy and relying on it for their household decisions [6]. A website specifically for Foodles like one which exists for Amul products should also be designed. It can include information regarding its nutrient constituent for the mothers to read and some games for kids to enjoy. The games may be designed to relate it to the product in a way that makes kids want to buy the product may serve as a key marketing strategy as more and more kids are now- a- days spending time on the web.

· POSITIVE BRANDING: The current advertisement which is on air by Foodles shows that generally instant noodles are bad for health and Horlicks Foodles is an exception. This is an aggressive form of marketing and puts it in direct competition with Maggi. Rather than adopting this form of advertising, Foodles should concentrate on its own USP without attacking other brands. Currently it is new to the market and this form of marketing may put negative thought in the minds of the customers.

· MORNING SNACK: To further promote itself as an healthy snack, Foodles should elevate itself from the 4 o’clock food category and establish itself as a non lunch non dinner food. This can bring in Foodles as a breakfast option too and thus increase probability of people buying it.

· BRAND AMBASSADORS : To promote its brand as a healthy food even more, Foodles can bring in well known cooks of the country like Sanjeev Gupta or Tarla Dalal who are known for their health conscious food recipes and promote the brand through them in their media advertisements. Indian women connect greatly to these cooks and thus this can increase the brand’s value in their minds.

· FOOD RECIPES: Only promoting itself as an healthy food may not get Foodles the market shares it aspires for as other of products like Maggi have already switched to Atta Noodles to get into the healthy food category. Foodles has to come up with some innovative recipes (maybe an alternative way of cooking Foodles) with it to appeal to both kids and their mothers to buy the product.

· GIFT ITEMS: Though gift items aren’t a permanent market strategy, Foodles can give them out to attract kids so as to penetrate the market at the beginning even with its premium price. This strategy has worked wonders for McDonalds and Foodles can tie up with some firms like Hot wheels to initially provide some gift items.

Pepsodent Kids

DebDipta Majumdar | BIM Trichy

Pepsodent has established itself as a strong, reliable brand commanding the second place in terms of market share next to Colgate from Colgate-Palmolive Ltd. The product line of Pepsodent is wide spread right from lower end to the higher end addressing the basic needs of decay protection & advanced whitening to specific medical needs with Pepsodent G gum care and Pepsodent Sensitive. The customer expectations of the toothpaste market are good taste, fresh breath, clean teeth, more foam and proper cleaning.

Children are influencing around 41% of the total purchases in the total consumer market and children are permitted to make decisions in 65% of the total purchases in the toothpaste purchases. In this case ideally, a product for the children, launched properly should be a runaway success. Realizing this, Pepsodent introduced Pepsodent Kids and Pepsodent Junior in November 2007. Contrary to the expectations, Pepsodent Kids did not taste success. Colgate’s Bubble Fruit is the direct competitor of Pepsodent Kids. Pepsodent Kids comes with an attractive squeeze down pack in attractive colors with three variants, namely -

1. Barbie (pink color)

2. Superman (Blue color)

3. Tom & Jerry (Orange color)

Product Strategy

Retailer observations for product improvement mainly involve two factors:

1. Size of the Pack

2. Color Variants

Small sized packs

As against the popular notion of high price of the Pepsodent Kids, the market can be sustained based on the exclusivity of the product for the Kids. Indeed the high pricing of Pepsodent Kids as observed in survey is not real but a perception created by its ‘Pack Size’. Analyzing the competitor Colgate’s Bubble Fruit pricing strategy sheds light on the same as given below.

Product Weight(Gms.) Price(Rs)

Pepsodent Kids 80 45

Colgate’s Bubble Fruit 40 22

As it can be observed, the pricing is not high but it is the pack size that gives them that impression. Tooth Paste Customers (Parents) can be classified into:

1. Informed Customer - the one who looks into the details deep into the contents of the product even that is not communicated by the marketer.

2. Un-Informed Customer - An uninformed customer is one who doesn’t look into all the details.

? Alternatives

To take the product to the masses, the competitor reference prices in the minds of the customer must be made comparable. In other words, Price need not be reduced but the Pack Size can be reduced. Two inherent advantages in this approach are:

• The uninformed customers’ views that the product is in the same price as others.

• The informed consumer who may be price conscious will try to use it.

An average Indian family of 3 members uses single 80 grams pack for a month. Introducing 80gms pack in the child segment might not be well received because there is only one consumer in place of 3. The size of the family usually determines the quantity of the toothpaste bought and in our case the number of kids in the family forms another important factor.

Hence, reducing the size of the pack may be a viable and apt option to increase the children toothpaste market share.

Color Variants

It’s been a proven fact that children are attracted to bright colors more than the dull dark colors. The variants available in the market are Tom & Jerry (Orange Packs), Barbie (Pink Packs) and Superman (Dark Blue Packs). By the sales figures in the retail outlets, it was seen that the children respond positively only to first two variants.

? Alternatives

• Attractive colors can be introduced to keep children pulled in to try the new variants every time.

• Special limited editions during festive seasons & holidays can be sold to increase revenue.

New cartoon characters in the current day channels (Jetix, Cartoon Network etc.) can be added as new variants. By the TRP ratings, children are found to watch Jetix channel’s Power rangers show more and form a potentially attractive market for the new variant. Moreover, each character in the power rangers can form a pack design adding more income to the sales figure through the collectors’ series.

An additional survey conducted among the children of age 10-14 years indicated that children tend to remember the swadeshi products more than the foreign products. They are able to remember Ruf & Tuf jeans though the kids watch Lee and Wrangler advertisements more. Creating paste for our own Indian characters like Krish or Mowgli in Jungle Book may be more appealing to children.

Marketing Strategy

First, the child, the consumer watches the advertisement, urges the mother or father for the ownership of the same, parents verifies whether it is safe and purchases for the child.

Alternatively a child can get impressed by the product attractiveness, on visiting a retail outlet or through his friends in school. The urge may come at first sight or because of the impact of the advertisements. But in either case, the stress will be higher only when the product has established its footprint in the child’s mind.

In the second stage Decider or Ultimate Buyer, the parent analyzes the products safety and whether it is good for the child’s health. Based on their inferences and the level of urge by the child they decide to buy the product.

Retailers strongly feel that the ‘urge’ from children is missing in the case of Pepsodent Kids. Hence the marketing strategy must be targeted in two directions – towards the children and the parent.

? Alternatives

• Colorful television commercials featuring cartoon characters of interest for current generation children.

• At the same time, Newspaper/Television commercials must convince the parents that the product is effective and makes brushing fun for children.

Pepsodent has already established trust in the minds of customers as a total family toothpaste. The time of telecast of the two advertisements and the programs which need to be sponsored should be different for two sets of advertisements.

The one which aims at the mothers must be telecasted during day hours and sponsoring the vernacular TV Serial shows will help the product. The message can be “Mummy, my mouth tastes sweet and look my teeth shines like silver.”

The other aimed at the children must be telecasted in Cartoon Network, Jetix, Animax and others. Thus, the marketing strategy gets tuned to winning the child’s heart and parent’s trust at the same time.

More than the Survey

In an FMCG industry, any consumer contact with theproduct/brand initiates a communication between the product and consumer/customers.The following personal suggestions derived from the survey, emphasis on the way the product is presented to the end customers.

“Pepsodent Junior” and “Pepsodent Kids” can be bundled together. Pepsodent Junior launched along with the Pepsodent Kids is moving well in the market. Pepsodent Junior can be bundled with the Pepsodent Kids in a small total dental solution kit.

1. The kit can be introduced along with a “Kids Stand” to hold only the Pepsodent Kids toothpaste and toothbrush in sockets. The sockets must be made to hold only the Pepsodent products.

2. The Kids Stand can be introduced in variety of themes matching different characters. The kit can also contain a booklet/ sheet depicting a small story or characters description. The children view these as their toy and also feel proud of owning it.

3. Children generally use the toothbrush for 3 months but the toothpaste gets over in a month considering 40 gm pack. Hence once the tooth paste gets over, children refill the socket with Pepsodent Kids toothpaste in that place.

Promotional Strategy

Every children’s product has to be promoted not only through TV commercials but also from non-conventional events. A nation/State wide drawing competition can be organized for children of classes 1 to 7 standard. The competition can be conducted only to the children belonging to upper class, upper middle class and middle class families i.e., in the schools in which they study. The competition can be conducted in district levels, state levels and national levels. Prizes can be characters in the Kids series or the Pepsodent Kids Kit itself.

This campaign must be supported with a newspaper campaign and the combined cost will be lesser than a TV campaigns. The school management will support the initiative since such initiatives bring out the inborn talents of the children.

Display pattern

During the personal interviews with the store managers and the assistants, it is noticed that in some stores that the product is not actually displayed at a height easily assessable to the children. In a research for consumer browsing pattern of the products done with help of eye cameras fitted in the goggles, it is found that the adults mainly look at the products at the level between their chest and hip and the children at their eye level. Adults do not generally look at the products at their eye level. HUL’s sales representative must be informed to ensure the product placement at a height range of 110cms to 130cms. This enables easy identification of the product needs by the children and they urge their parent to buy.

Conclusion

By following this marketing strategy we can bring up the sales and market share of Pepsodent Kids in no time.

Branded Fuels: Future Tense?

Priyanka Pandit | IIM S

By the time this article gets published, an Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by the Finance Minister has probably decided whether the petrol and diesel prices are to be freed from government control or not. Decontrol would effectively increase rates by over Rs 6 a litre and cut down on the loss of Rs 46,051 that the three public OMCs (Oil Marketing Companies) incurred in 2009-2010.

But the OMCs are not rejoicing. The government subsidizes them to compensate for below-market prices, and this in effect eliminates private competition. The decontrol would mean losing the edge over competitors; the ones forced to shut down as well as the ones eyeing the market from the foreign shores.

Fuel Branding in India

Branded fuels were introduced in the early 2000s as a means to cash in on the growing number and variety of vehicles on the Indian roads. The premium product seemed to be the only way to make a little profit for the loss-making OMCs. The initial years showed positive results too, but then the crude prices hit the sky in late 2008 and the special tax on the branded fuel also kicked in. The price differential between the branded and the regular fuel rose to over Rs. 4/litre.

The average Indian passenger car owner began to think of RoI on his purchase of branded fuels and the sales have been dropping since then. Are these specialty fuels going to be another branded product buried in the Valley of Death?

Analysis of Present Offerings

Firstly, the similar positioning statements of all the brands, as mentioned above in the chart, make it obvious that the average consumer of branded fuel is confused about the identity of the brand he is using.

Second major concern is the quality assurance aspect of the product. Although all the OMCs have special initiatives at their major retail outlets for the same, there is almost zero assurance to the buyer that the premium paid for the branded fuels have any returns. A rare inquisitive consumer may find the names of the companies from where the additives are sourced, at best. But there is no validation of the claims about better mileage or engine life. It creates the impression that there is no major difference between the regular and premium fuel. This is one of the prime reasons for the drop in usage after trials.

The target for these fuels seems to be, predictably, the urban youth who prefer branded products. IOCL has however, introduced it at some of its KisanSevaKendras in rural areas with positive feedback. A deeper segmentation even in the branded fuel users can be done, as shown by Hi-Speed which focuses on Green Technology.

Branding a commodity is a very tough proposition and once a company sets out on the road, it has to keep investing to build on the brand else it is sure to lose consumers mindspace. Of all the brands reviewed here, only Speed has had a continued association with a well-known brand ambassador and stands out with a regularly updated microsite.

With the Web 2.0 being driven by social networking, it is disheartening to see no activity on this front by any of the brands. Not only could they be important touchpoints for connecting with the customer, they might as well be used for inventory management and faster complaint redressal.

Considering the fact that most of the buying in this category is need-based and not impulse, the question whether the ‘Branded Fuels’ are anything more than commodities must be answered by the OMCs honestly.

Gearing up

International petroleum companies like Shell and even Indian ones like Reliance and Essar are waiting for a more deregulated market to re-enter. Before the private players had to exit the last time, they had resulted in an erosion of about 10 per cent in the market share of the public sector companies. If the OMCs want to play Round Two, they would have to pull up their act together.

The three things which need to be looked at with maximum priority are:

• Believing in their brands and investing to build on the existing identity

• Quantitative proof of claims made to build trust

• An Integrated Media Communications plan to leverage all forms of media relevant

Branding a product can never be done away with a day’s work. What has been built must be maintained and taken care of, else ultimately they will only add to the long list of dead brands.

Digital TV: The current Landscape

Abhijit Kamra, Jeeta Das, Jitin Sharma | NITIE, Mumbai

The Digital segment, though largely untapped, faces intense competition on the basis of content, price and quality. Decreasing ARPU is a reality and the only way to increase revenues is to capture more market-share in the short run and then slowly increasing ARPU over time. However, to increase market share it is paramount to identify the target audience and what is relevant to them.

Methodology

Questionnaire based survey conducted to come up with the following:

• The Targeted Consumers:19-35 yr olds, both in metros and non-metros

• Gap Analysis: Expectations from a channel of entertainment and communication an entertainment and communication channel together with the current offerings.

Adding to the further woes of DTH players are:

• High operating costs

• Extremely high last-mile costs

What is required?

A “convergent medium” backed by good customer services and meeting the consumer’s expectations.

Our Proposition

Aggressive Marketing of IPTV even at the expense of De-Marketing DTH

1. Full triple-play gateway with broadband access, Voice over IP and Quality of Service (QoS) features supporting IPTV delivery and Wi-Fi home networking

2. Bouquet of video (IPTV), audio (telephone) and Data(broadband internet)

Key Parameters

• Financials

The fixed and operating costs of IPTV over DTH are considerably lower. To capture larger market shares ARPU would be lower.

However with time, subscribers can be expected to graduate to more value added packages and hence leading to increase subscribers and ARPU.

• Competitive Advantage

a. Threat of new entrants: LOW

The big broadband players (Reliance, BSNL, MTNL have already entered)

b. Threat of substitutes: HIGH

DTH- Very high

Cable TV- High

Online- Medium

Terrestrial- Low

c. Bargaining power of suppliers: HIGH

CPE suppliers- Medium

Content- Very high

d. Bargaining power of Buyers: HIGH

Price sensitive

Numerous options

e. Inter-firm rivalry: HIGH

Price wars

Litigation and fight for content

Although all the four forces appear to make the scenario highly competitive, Airtel has the inherent advantage over its competitors of having a vast Broadband network.

• Scalability and Current offering

The proposed scheme for scalability is explained in brief, diagrammatically.

Essential Capabilities

1. Human Capital

The cost implications of a training program for the workers would be offset by consumer lifetime revenue streams over a long term relationship.

• Our survey showed that one of the biggest grievances customers had was of poor and ill-addressed customer care. Redressing this would go a long way in building customer loyalty.

• 82% of respondents do not complain because they do not know whom to complain and whether their complaints would be answered.

• 67% of these said they would re-purchase if their complaints were resolved promptly

2. Technology

Provide the user with excellent Quality of Experience (QoE) which is the overall IPTV user experience:

• Application responsiveness

• Functionality usability

• Surrounding Service context

• V-QoS (video quality)

Bingo with an Unconventional Attitude

Pranab talukdar | iim s

Scientists at Bingo Mad Labs have come up with a simple substitute for the conventional clinical preg-check card. All you have to do is nibble at a Bingo Mad Angle Achaari Masti snack to find if your tummy is going to bulge more. According to David Ogilvy, the new Bingo Mad Angle Achaari Masti ad both entertains and true to its spirit. It is "no confusion," only "great combination" of taste and fun.

I hope this reminds you the famous bingo ad that was screened during the 2007 world cup.

The Bingo brand of chips was launched by ITC on 14th March 2007. During the time, the market was dominated by the Frito Lay group (owned by Pepsi Co) with a slew of brands like Lays, Kurkure and Uncle Chipps holding 50 per cent of the market share. The other was the Haldiram group with 25 percent of the market share.

Segmentation

Snacks category is divided into the Traditional segment (Bhujia, Chana etc) and the Western segment (potato chips, cheese balls, puffs etc) and the Finger snacks segment dominated by the Frito Lay group. The total market size could be to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore, of which Rs 2,000 would be organised, growing at 25 percent per annum. The unorganised sector could be growing faster than the organised sector. You can always see a chaat-papriwala doing brisk business every time you walk down the road.

Promotion

ITC spent nearly 40% of their media budget on digital media, because they felt this would be the best way to connect with the market. Bingo brand building was through the digital media, something unheard of, for Indian companies. According to Ravi Naware, divisional chief executive (foods), ITC, two things were important. First was consumer insight and for that ITC invested heavily finding out what tickled the Indian consumer’s taste bud, what turned him on. ITC put a whole team of chefs in place to craft new flavours for this category. Idea was to tempt the consumer with flavours that are exotic, but not strange, somewhat different from what is available in the market. The second is the manner in which you launch your product, the communication/execution part and the distribution strategy. ITC evolved a completely new and modern merchandising solution for the launch which included attractive stands and other display material for Bingo at the retailer ends. The communication strategy with a heavy dose of humour has also been different and daring.

Bingo launch was around the 07 World Cup. “A Happy Coincidence”, according to Mr. Naware. The innovative ad was telecasted on almost all channels- national, regional, sports, news and kids’ channel. The sudden media blitzkrieg left a mark on the audience mind. The objective was achieved as Bingo was in the pure impulse purchase category. In certain areas market share touched 50% and not less than 15% in other areas. ITC launched website www.bingeonbingo.com to target the youth and then www.petkapaap.com for its “Bingo mad Angles- Aachari Masti”. Viral marketing was used to create brand awareness. It also sponsored various events at colleges and a lot of happenings of channel V- targeting the youth. On the negative side, some reaction to the Bingo advertisements has not been very encouraging. The advertisements are sometimes classified as ‘irritatingly humorous’.

Customization and SKUs

Bingo has 16 variants (priced at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 a pack). A good majority of these are region-inspired. Like the mustard for eastern parts and paneer tikka for North Indian market. But there are some generic national flavours, such as premium salt, tomato and chilly formats. The potato chips are available in many flavours Masala Chaas, Chatpata Nimbu and Paneer Tikka. In addition to these 4 flavours, the classic flavours of Masala, Tomato and Salted are also available. In the finger snacks segment pakoda inspired chips like Live Wires, Khakra inspired Mad Angles, and corn based chips like Tedhe Medhe.

On the other hand, several SKUs caused problems in forecasting and stocking. Retailers were taking a small variety of each variant leading to frequent stock out situation for popular ones.

Packaging and Production

The packaging of the product has been slick and eye catching. Bingo is available in packets in myriad colours like orange, blue, red, yellow, green and purple. Not only do bright colours attract the attention of little children but also of adults. Snack food is an impulse buy. The bright coloured stands with the Bingo label on top make it more visible in a shop. Bingo is the most seen brand in snacks and thus increasing its chances of being bought.

On the production front, the strong farm linkages of ITC (e-Choupal) ensure that only the selected grades of raw materials are used for Bingo.

Distribution

The large, country wide distribution network of ITC built up over the years was a key factor in Bingo’s ubiquitous availability. In small town’s villages, one won’t find a Lays or a Haldiram but a Bingo along with the local unbranded snacks. It has also entered into an agreement with the Food Bazaar chain of outlets for retailing of Bingo which is not there for Frito Lays and Haldiram. Bingo was also offering a 4% to 5% higher margin than that of for Frito Lays. Overall, ITC is fast catching up Frito Lays’ national reach of 8 lacs outlets.

Pricing

Bingo learnt from a failed pricing strategy of Frito Lays. Lays increased its price from Rs 10 for 35 grams to Rs 15 for 45 grams. This affected the sales of Lays and it finally went back to the Rs 10 formula. Bingo priced its 16 SKUs at Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 a pack and had a consistent pricing strategy. Combing this pricing with the innovation of the product won the heart of the Indian consumer and also higher margin for channel members made them happy.

Having written all this, I would like to mention a quote of Mr Ravi Naware during an interview with Financial Express, “With Bingo nothing was planned, we went wherever and whenever there was a good opportunity”.

Do the new with TATA DOCOMO

Bhawna Sajwani | Welingkar institute of management development & research

TATA DOCOMO is the pioneer of “PAY- FOR-WHAT-YOU -USE”. A joint venture of Tata Teleservices (TTSL) and Japan’s leading mobile operator NTT, DOCOMO took the right steps to penetrate into the overly crowded Indian telecom market. The first step was of knowing their target audience well and hence emerged plans like per second charging scheme for calls and per character charging scheme for SMSs, with Rs 95 for unlimited GPRS. The innovative concept was mixed with perfect marketing to win over other players.

Differentiation

It used tariff plans to differentiate itself from other major players like Vodafone, Airtel and Idea in the GSM category. It has cheaper rates than any other CDMA service provider and the added advantage is that unlike CDMA, a different handset is not required. Pulse rate of per second, where all other services used one minute gave TATA DOCOMO the first mover advantage.

Also, services offered were customised as per subscribers. TATA DOCOMO has unveiled a portfolio of Value-Added Services that has reinvented mobile telephony in India. It offers products and services like diet SMS, Free VoiceMail, Timed SMS Service, Missed Call Alerts, Call-me Tunes, etc. All of them are customized to liberate and refresh the subscribers.

Positioning

TATA DOCOMO has positioned itself as a “value for money” brand. The first move on this front was to cut through the clutter and redefine the entire pricing paradigm. In the clutter of confusing service providers, TATA DOCOMO is positioned as the country’s most transparent, innovative and liberating telecom brand.

Launch

Country-wide TATA DOCOMO service rollout is set to be completed this year itself. Best coverage was ensured in every state of India at the time of launch. It started its rollout from Southern India and continued to other parts of India. The launch was supported with “DIVE-IN” stores. The stores have a unique concept that offer a relaxing and interactive environment for consumers and are aimed at inspiring and educating them on the benefits of mobility. These stores are perfectly placed to execute aggressive sales promotion of the new brand and to connect with customers.

Promotion

DOCOMO has invested heavily into outdoor, print and television media. But the fact that they are open to the idea of using social media marketing is in itself laudable. TATA DOCOMO has understood the Indian fondness for E-MEDIA and has used social sites like Twitter and Facebook. This demonstrates their social marketing approach.

The theme of marketing being used by the brand gives a trigger to “forget the old ways and do the new”. The launch of DOCOMO was carried forward with the association of the brand with the thought “do”. Such theme connects with everyone in diverse segments. Also the fact that they achieved this feat without any celebrity endorsement is laudable. Recently, it has struck a deal with Neo Cricket as season partners and is promoting itself heavily during the ongoing India vs. Sri Lanka test series.

Segments for TATA DOCOMO are not restricted to any particular age, sex or mood; it includes all Indians who have the potential to use a mobile phone.

The print advertisements are customised as per the states. Different states with respective culture, dances etc. are shown with TATA DOCOMO highlighted on the ads.

Also, the TATA DOCOMO signature tone is being liked and recognised by the Indian public in general; especially the advertisement with “Friendship Express” is gaining popularity. To complete the promotion strategy the website for TATA DOCOMO has all the elements to engross the GEN-X. Currently they have the “Animator Ahoy” contest to engross the visitors.

Competition and Challenges

Other players in market have stolen the success formula of TATA DOCOMO. Vodafone, Airtel, Loop, Aircel and others have introduced 1 sec pulse. But TATA DOCOMO still has the edge over competitors.

As they are in the GROWING phase of product life cycle, their innovative rates planning is keeping them ahead of the crowd. The customisation provided in VAS is still a novel concept in the market. But to sustain the lead they have acquired, they need to innovate continuously.

Maggi: A friend, A philosopher or a guide?

Shweta Jaiswal, Pooja Mandalia | NMIMS

In 1997, Nestle India launched a ‘new improved’ formulation of its noodles brand. This was the first change that was introduced since the brand’s launch in 1980s. A major shock was in store for Nestle with the consumers rejecting the new formulation.

The above situation is an excellent example which emphasizes the importance of consumer attitude, usage and belief about a product and how it determines a product’s success or failure in the market.

Different consumers have different perceptions about Maggi. Most use maggi and noodles interchangeably. Over the years the association of Maggi noodles has moved from being functional to emotional. Hence, Maggi Noodles is not just a “2 minute” noodle now but is “Me & Meri Maggi” concept, wherein consumers associate Maggi with some special moments of life.

The “core benefit” which Maggi provides is its instant recipe and a tag line which assures that it is “FAST TO COOK & GOOD TO EAT”. The “Basic product benefit” which it promises the target market, is good taste and good health –“Taste Bhi Health Bhi”. The “Expected product benefit” is proper packaging to ensure customers a good quality, fully packed seasoning tastemaker at affordable price. But in case of the “Augmented product benefit” how does the product prove to be an emotional connect with the consumers: a friend or a philosopher or a guide?

The beliefs associated with a brand constitute the brand image, and the customer may have uninformed beliefs which are likely to generate a negative image about the brand. The marketer must ensure that consumers have all relevant and correct information about the brand to facilitate formation of a positive brand image.

Certain beliefs developed are neutral and are more dependent on the situation or circumstances of purchase or usage of the product. Maggi Noodles being an almost “Cult” brand in India with respect to noodles has a variety of beliefs associated with it. Beliefs associated with Maggi have largely been developed because of situations in which the consumer has used the product which again has been successfully portrayed in the “Me & Meri Maggi” Campaign.

Consumers still remember the “Bas 2 minute” campaign so much so that Maggi has become synonymous with noodles. This is has been evident for well established brands like “Cadburys” and “Colgate” which were synonymous with Chocolate and Toothpaste respectively. Unlike Maggi, the above two brands have lost top of the mind share of consumers due to increasing competition from other brands.

An attitude is a person’s enduring favorable or unfavorable evaluation, emotional feeling and action tendencies toward some object or idea. Attitudes lead to the liking or disliking of a product and it is very difficult to change the attitudes of consumers. Thus it is advisable for companies to mould the product and its utility according to the attitude of the target group rather than developing new attitudes.

For the very same reason, Maggi came out with the campaign of “Taste Bhi Health Bhi” in order to shift the attitude of consumers towards a positive direction. Increasingly consumers had become health conscious and were moving towards more nutritional options. To retain the same, it was extremely important to strengthen their positive attitude towards Maggi as a nutritional instant option to hunger pangs.

If we talk about the kind of personality that Maggi evoked: there are two kinds of personality that are a marketer’s tool: the brand’s personality and the consumer’s personality. Going by the Freudian concept of personality whereby consumers act unconsciously towards a product, Maggi would be satisfying the basic need of hunger i.e. the “id” in the “id, superego and ego” concept. Maggi can be seen as a social tool; a hangout snack, a snack that people motivate others to use. Hence, Maggi is like a friend that everyone wants to hang out with, a friend that everyone wants to introduce to others. Maggi is identified with the always on the go, urban, aspiring, ambitious youth.

Let’s talk about the packaging of Maggi: the yellow

color brings out a feeling of warmth and belonging, red brings out exciting, strong and passionate and the new addition blue (to commemorate the 25th anniversary) indicates respect and authority for the brand.

If Maggi were to be personified, what would he/she be? Maggi is no longer only a product. It is brand that has evolved and journeyed from the marketer’s mind to the consumer’s mind. Is Maggi is a sincere person with down to earth, honest and cheerful characteristics or is Maggi a competent person who is reliable, intelligent and successful?

Whether Maggi is a friend, philosopher or guide can be answered with the responses that Nestle has received for their “Me & Meri Maggi” campaign.

Consumers have Maggi when they are hungry, they have it when they are happy, they have it when they are tired and to add to it they even have it when they are sad! Maggi serves as a friend you turn to after a hard day at work, someone you turn to when you are in the mood to celebrate. There is an innocent yet naughty childlike appeal in Maggi that attracts you towards it. There have been consumers who turn to Maggi to bail them out too. For e.g.: consumers have cooked Maggi for a romantic meal when they didn’t know what else to cook.

Maggi is someone you look up to as a Western appeal but you believe he has Indian roots. Maggi identifies with consumers who aspire but not at the cost of their values. A philosopher may be/ may be not?

Maggi is like the next door neighbor, who you are so habituated with, who you can comfortably flirt with, who can share your joys and sorrows with, which you turn to while you’re in trouble. Maggi is your friend who shares your philosophies, who does not guide you like a mentor but approves all you want to do with your life.

Maggi is and always will be a friend for its consumers: you and me!!!

Pulsar: The birth and rise of an enigmatic brand

Sarvesh Chowdhury | IIM Shillong

"You can't make bikes. Even if you make bikes, you can only make 100cc bikes with the help of Kawasaki. That too with issues of quality. Then you need hundreds of Japanese to come and set it right".

In words of Rajiv Bajaj, this was what people used to tell him. It happened because Bajaj Auto had seen success only in the scooter manufacturing, and its reputation as a motorcycle manufacturer was not that positive. Its motorcycle manufacturing cost was high, the quality too low and its initial models failed to excite the consumer. The company needed drastic measures to survive the 21st century consumer demands.

With the beginning of new millennia, India saw a dramatic shift in the preference of consumers. The two wheeler market showed a clear shift towards bikes and with the launch of Hero Honda CBZ in 1999, the sales of motorcycles overtook scooter sales for the first time. Bike manufacturers, Hero Honda, Yamaha and TVS removed Bajaj from its no. 1 spot and moved it down to 4th.

The Birth Of Pulsar

Rajiv Bajaj and Sanjay Bajaj, two young and vibrant leaders, set to change the way things worked at Bajaj Auto. They created a team who were themselves crazy about bikes and loved biking, this new team had a clear vision of what exactly the customers needed.

The marketing team guided the basic concept of bike by providing crucial inputs. They found that the users looked at bikes not just as a mean of commuting but it was more of a style statement. They were thus looking for a bike having power as well as rugged style. These features later became the differentiating factor as well as the USP for the bike.

Answering the needs of the marketing team, the design department came up with various designs fulfilling the latent consumer requirements. These were carefully

studied by making prototypes and getting feedback on styling and comfort through market surveys. The team worked not only on design but also developed an engine specially fabricated to suit the Indian roads and driving habits. The entire process took over two years. Finally the Pulsar was launched in November 2001 with two engine options of 150 cc and 180 cc.

Success Factors

Pulsar was designed keeping in mind the age group of 20-30. But the concept soon became a hit and successful across the entire biking ages (20-45). The reason why even the older people enjoyed riding the Pulsar was attributed to the stance that riders took while driving the bike. The posture gave riders a feeling of energy thus making them feel younger. Perhaps in the same way the formally dressed executive in the US may drive a Range Rover SUV to create the image of a man who seeks adventure.

Pulsar was not immune to quality problems. There were few minor issues just like the critiques had predicted but it was the only bike which best satisfied the needs of the Indian Biker. It was powerful, cheaper and muscular looking than other bikes in its category. The only other bike which came close to the Pulsar was Hero Honda CBZ, which had its own list of issues. It was expensive, less economical in fuel consumption and had poor resale value. Pulsar was very cleverly positioned in a manner to answer these shortcomings of its (only) competitor.

Definitely Male

Pulsar’s performance, feel and looks were the main aspects that triggered its success. Moreover a major success factor for Pulsar was its innovative campaign conceptualized and designed by Ogilvy & Mather Advertising.

There is an interesting story behind the birth of “Definitely Male” campaign. The creative heads found the new product from Bajaj ‘distinctly different’. Pulsar would be the first bike that Bajaj would market without the Kawasaki label. It was an R&D and design marvel. O&M felt that the communication for this bike needs to be different. Working on a lot of ideas, they zeroed in on the Big Idea of India's He-Bike. Although lots of bike takes the persona of Macho bikes; it was more oriented towards being "sexy". The Big Idea was to position the bike as World's first bike endowed with a Sex (Gender).Thus born the classic campaign of all times "Definitely Male".

This innovative campaign along with the looks and performance catapulted the brand and made it a youth icon. It is the only bike in India after Bullet that has built a cult following.

Continuous Innovation

Bajaj did not rest after the success of Pulsar. They continuously innovated and improved the bike to cater to the changing needs of the consumers. They saw Pulsar as the key to regain the no. 1 spot and to control the entire bike market.

The first set of improvements took place in 2003 with the introduction of DTSi technology. DTSi stands for Digital Twin Spark Ignition which delivered more power and efficiency. It was the first two wheeler engine in the world with the twin spark ignition. The increased performance of the brand took Pulsar to greater heights.

2003 and 2005 saw some cosmetic changes in the brand which kept the design fresh and excited the customers.

Another major design change happened in 2006 in reply to growing competition in the 150CC bike market. With Honda entering the market and Hero Honda and TVS expanding the offerings, the new “Digital Look” Pulsar, left others far behind.

In 2007 Bajaj introduced the 200CC and 220CC variants of the Pulsar, and offered some features that were never seen by the Indian Consumers, which were used only in the sports bikes. Recently (April 2009) Bajaj released the UG IV (fourth upgrade) versions of the Pulsar 150 and Pulsar 180.

Everything’s perfect, Bajaj’s heavy reliance on Pulsor is also dampening its market share. With premium segment capturing only 6-7 % of the market, it cannot achieve its dream of being numero uno, unless develop some alternative strategy. Definitely Pulsor has played the most crucial role in not only reviving Bajaj’s brand equity but has also created new dimensions for Indian two wheeler industry.