Kareena pulls a Deepika

No...Kareena hasn't managed to pull Ranbir.... This is with reference to Kareena Kapoor endorsing for Vivel the latest of the soaps launched by ITC in its all out war against HUL. Not so long ago Kareena kapoor was luring customers towards her seductive advertisement for LUX Chocolate seduction limited edition. As a direct jump that is akin to Sourav Ganguly jumping from Coke to Pepsi Kareena has shown that loyalty is not necessarily a precondition for endorsement jumping from HUL's LUX to ITCs Vivel

If we do remember an upcoming, then soon to be famous Padukone in her lemon green bikini managed to win hearts in the Liril Advertisement. Now she is off showing how to have a "Beautiful you, today and Tomorrow" endorsing Fiamma Di wills the luxury soap range of ITC.


Maybe all these celebrities are finding ITC products better(to the pockets atleast:-)), or it is just a coincidence, but nevertheless ITC is making life real tough for HUL. The giant Levers which beat P & G fair and square, has met someone its own size. But the real interesting point to be seen here is the loyalty expected of customers is very rarely exhibited by the brand ambassadors who themselves are rarely loyal to a brand. Although celebrity endorsements do seem to be very effective(although not measurable), such jumps across brands does pose a big problem for the marketing organizations.

Marketers need to come up with loyalty programs that suit the brand ambassadors too nowadays:-)

Rural Retail: The latest buzz

The New Entrant

Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloon Retail, which operates a number of retail format primarily catering to the urban India, is looking at expanding in the rural markets to enhance its presence. Reports exist of Pantaloon Retail's plans to pick up 70 per cent stake in the Godrej Group's rural initiative--Aadhaar. With its latest plans to focus on the rural side, the Future Group looks set to join the bandwagon along with ITC Group. ITC also has a considerable presence in the country's rural side with its e-choupal retail initiative, which is basically aimed at providing a support system to the farmers. Pantaloon Retail currently operates over 6 million square feet of retail space across 48 cities in India with multiple delivery formats covering areas like fashion, food, general merchandise, home, leisure and entertainment, financial services, communications and wellness.

The Biggie - Choupal Saagar

ITC has built a strong platform for its growth through e-Choupal and Choupal Sagars and is best placed compared to others in cashing-on from the growing rural demand. The e-Choupal network comprises of more then 6500 e-Choupals and covering 40000 villages and ~4 million farmers. Apart from the e-Choupal network, ITC also has 21 Choupal Sagars, a chain of retail malls that caters to the needs of rural community by offering FMCG products, farm equipments, medical facilities, banking operations and vehicles. The company has also entered in retailing of fruits and vegetables through three Choupal Fresh cash and carry stores and six Choupal Fresh retail stores.

Hariyali Kissan Bazaar

Another company that has seized upon the importance of reaching out to the rural market is the Rs 2000-crore DCM Shriram group that has launched a chain of rural business centres under the brand name Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar. The Bazaar sells consumer products like farm fuels like petrol and diesel, kerosene and gas, fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, farm implements, vet products, lubes, irrigation equipment, auto parts, consumer durables, drugs, financial services like farm credit, retail banking, insurance and integrated storage facilities. It also acts as a last mile agri-advise and customised agri-solutions on a 24x7 model, explains Chhabra. Each Bazaar is part of a three-four-acre campus, which can accommodate other facilities like farm output warehouses, fuel pumps, tractor service centres, warehouses, bank branches, ATMs etc. The company is planning to rapidly scale up the operations and create a national footprint with over 500 centres across the country.

Godrej Adhaar

The Godrej group is another industrial powerhouse that has walked into the hinterlands by opening its rural malls under the brand name Godrej Aadhaar Stores, which are a complete solution provider for the village folks. A complete solution provider, each Aadhaar facilitates rural credit, water management, agri-inputs supply, advisory services, marketing of rural produce, consumer goods, vet services etc. Aadhaar doesn’t sell its wares at lower price unlike in urban malls but retails only at MRP but only branded items.

Mahindra ShubhLabh Stores

The Rs 6,000-crore Mahindras, the largest farm equipment maker in the country is another key player, that is also into agri-extension services, contract farming. Its branded rural retailing foray is a chain of superstores called Mahindra ShubhLabh Stores, while the farm extension arm is called Mahndra Krishi Vihar. The company has already got into agreements with the governments of Punjab, Haryana, MP, Chattisgrah, Karnataka, AP and TN for contract farming, says an official.ShubhLabh Stores, began in 2002, are present in 11 states—AP, MP, TN, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Bengal and Delhi.Over the past three years, the company has pumped in Rs 20 crore into these stores. Now, it is planning to get into food retailing, following its reported loses in contract farming.

Bingo!!!!

Brand Derby ranked Bingo as the greatest brand launch of this year and beat stiff competition from the likes of Vodafone and Axis bank with their rebranding efforts respectively.

A look at what made Bingo the number 1 launch last year.

The NPD Process

You cannot find a better application of the new product development process that we have read in the Kotler than Bingo. Extensive research was carried out to find the tastes and the likes of the Indian palate to land up at a laundry list of local namkeens (murukkus, matris, etc). It was further formulated into a product by using the knowledge of the chefs of the ITC hotels (Bukhara and the likes) . After trimming it they were able to come up with a total of 16 flavors.

The complete Multimedia approach

ITC went for it all out with their media coverage. Apart from the traditional advertising through TV ads their internet campaign requires special mention. The site www.bingeonbingo.com is a wonderful example of how to engage the net surfing young crowd of today. With capturing data on the user preferences on the first screen to educating the customer about the product the website has it all. But one thing I felt was wrong was the fact that in case an individual gives a birth date that results in his/her age outside 15-25 it denies access. So the user has to enter a fake birth year to fall within this age band. My mom loves Bingo and if she ever has to be rejected by the website she is going to reject Bingo the next minute. A small mistake but nevertheless the website is a trend setter.

The Opposite positioning adopted

Al Ries would have been proud of ITCs' execution of their positioning. Just as he says in his book origin of brands about how a second brand can enter the market and gain share by staying far away from the leader in terms of mind space or by taking an opposite positioning, Bingo was positioned with its Indianised flavors. As Lays was selling its American spicy onion and Spanish tomato Bingo had its own Tandoori paneer tikka, Spicy paneer and more. Wonderful way to hit the Indian mind

Clutter breaking ads

Much has been spoken about the absolutely wacky ad campaign that ITC came up with which clinched the first step of the ladder. The ads with their slapstick humor and irrelevant themes gathered enough eyeballs to result in the awareness of the product. This breathtaking ad campaign fits well into the AIDA model generating enough awareness to make Bingo a household name. Now to take it further and generating interest through subsequent ad ampaigns is a real challenge and I am eagerly looking forward to it.

The muscle power of ITC s distribution

Obviously the brand promise was delivered thanks to ITC s wonderfully strong distribution network. The manner in which close to 4 lakh racks made it to the shops within a short span of time shows their ability to reach out. In fact the sucess of their racks prompted Frito Lays to introduce racks of its own. But just as the prime mover Bingo managed to get that most needed space in front of every store. The care taken to design the racks is also commendable. Visibility was the prime target and to ensure that even the last three racks are never stacked and once they got stacked the impulse took are of the rest to ensure product trials.

Well begun is half done, but the challenge now is to deliver the brand promise. Lays is no more taking it lying down and has responded with its "Chale Change Ka chakkar" campaign. But what's interesting is the fact that Lays uses a brand ambassador approach with Bollywood superstars Saif Ali Khan, Juhi Chawla and latest signing of star cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whereas Bingo still doesn't have an ambassador. Finding one to match its image is quite a task.

Overall a good battle for shelf space, market share and mind space is on cards!!!!

Goliath Vs Goliath: The upcoming Soap Wars

ITC to foray into soaps
The buzz about ITC plunging into the highly penetrated toilet soap market is getting louder by the day.It is learnt that the cigarette-to-hotels major is eyeing the mass segment of the soap category, which is why some existing players are said to be sitting on old stock and holding on to the price line.Sources said ITC plans to unveil its soap brand in the next two-three months. The name of the brand is being kept closely under wraps, and, it is not going to be the same brand, Superia, which the company was test marketing over a year ago in some rural areas, sources added.A senior industry official told TOI: "Companies are holding on to the price line for the moment, despite pressure building on the raw material price front. We don't want to get caught in a situation where we raise prices and ITC launches its soap brand at a lower price."Palm oil prices are currently ruling at around $650 per tonne. Industry analysts are skeptical whether I TC should enter the market at such high raw material prices.Dealers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies said that the last price increase that took place in the soap segment was initiated by Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in July this year.HUL had taken a mid-year price increase on various products across categories. Prices of Pears soap and Lux were revised upwards. In the case of its popular soap brand Lifebuoy, HUL had reduced the grammage, keeping the price intact.HUL is the leading soap maker in the country, with a market share of 54%.As for Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), the second largest soap maker with a market share of 10%, the company had recently said that prices would be raised soon.Industry analysts said ITC's entry is bound to create excitement in the Rs 4,400 crore toilet soap category.Decible levels on the advertising and promotion front are set to soar in the next few months.

ITC, as we have seen during the BINGO launch is going to enter the market with all its might. HUL is expected to preempt the same and come up with its own defensive strategy in a market it has ruled till date. Expect severe casualties when these two giants fight it out!!!!!