Rebranding of Bajaj

Rebranding of Bajaj

People should now get used to saying Humara Pulsar’ or ‘Humara Discover’ instead of ‘Humara Bajaj’. The reason Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, has decided to drop ‘Bajaj’ from the two wheeler brand name.

According to reports, the company has decided to overhaul its distribution set-up and rename all its consumer touch points to just Pulsar or Discover with an estimated total cost of 21 Crores

Is this rebranding exercise makes sense? Does removing the parent company name make sense?

The Rationale

I would rather see this as a product portfolio management exercise which would give a clear vision to the product strategy and helps in streamlining promotional and product launch strategies.

Bajaj and Pulsar contributes more than 70% of Bajaj auto two wheeler sales and broadly these two brands serve the two distinct segments of Indian consumers.

So, instead of adopting product centric segments (like pulsar 150 CC, Discover 135 CC) Mr. Bajaj has created customer centric segments with Discover, a economy class segment with high fuel efficient bike for the families and Pulsar, a sporty bike for the youths.

Again if you look at consumers’ perspective, these brands (Pulsar and Discover) have a better recall due its high brand value rather than the brand equity of name “Bajaj”. Ask someone which bike they have? 8 out of 10 would say Pulsar or discover not Bajaj Pulsar or Bajaj Discover. So removing the brand name from the customer touch points and communications of two bikes would not harm the company.

Coming to the name Bajaj, it is associated with ‘broad’ values such as trust and reliability, especially in the two-wheeler category. While the strength of the Bajaj brand ‘identity’ is undeniable, its ‘equity’ is far from being well focused. The name Bajaj does not stand for any thing (Think of Volvo for safety, Mountain dew and Thumbs up for Adventure).

Ultimately it’s the brand value that drives the revenue not the parent name. It is up to the Bajaj to keep Pulsar and Discover relevant and refreshed.

Amanpreet.

AMUL - The Gentle Giant

AMUL stands for Anand Milk Union Limited. 
AMUL is the umbrella brand for a variety of products like Cheese, Milk, Ghee, butter, ice-cream etc.

The real name behind the 'Amul' brand is Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF). 
Amul has gone from strength to strength with a great fabric of Supply Chain Management and a low budget yet highly effective and aesthetically pleasing Marketing Campaign, and created history in Indian FMCG sector.

Amul has created a very simple, sociable and Indian brand; people identify themselves with the AMUL brand. 
Lets look at the Marketing Mix of Amul:

Product - Dairy Products, Cooking Products
Price -  Low Pricing Strategy
Place -  Rural and Urban Market, International market
Promotion - Advertisements, Show sponsorship's

A point worth noting is that AMUL spends a mere 1% of its turnover on promotions. The simple yet effective print ad campaign which creates adverts on the daily issues has been a MEGA success; and has greatly been able to identify itself with the people. A brand is nothing but a manifestation of trust. The Butter Girl Ad campaign is the longest ever ad campaign and has been running for over 40 years now (the same was launched in 1967) 

Some of the most enticing ads are posted here:

Ad on Shoaib Akhtar's book - Controversially Yours

Zidane's head butt in the WC 06:

 Ad on Lord of the Rings success:

Kumble's 10 wicket hall:

2008 US recession:

Raju's Satyam scandal:

Ad on Joker from Dark Knight:

Please refer to this link for a comprehensive list of the Amul's Billboard ads:
http://www.nofullstop.com/2009/04/30/125-mesmerizing-ads-from-amul-india-marketing-management-at-its-best/

The billboard campaign has indeed done wonders for the Amul brand.

Other than these ads, AMUL also sponsors TV shows like Chef of India Contest, Star Voice of India, Music ka maha muqabla etc. Association with these TV shows helps Amul gain mass media coverage and an opportunity to bind more with the youth. It also organizes competitions like Slogan Likho Disneyland Dekho. 

Amul has its presence in more than 40 countries till date. No doubt, with this so 'Indian' and unique way of advertising and Brand building, Amul will always pose a stiff task for the behemoths like HLL, Nestle, P&G etc.

Way to go AMUL, the taste of India :)

                                                                                                                                                                   - Amanpreet

The power of Internet Marketing

Hello friends,

I am back with an article to discuss the power of Internet as an effective Marketing tool.
The world is about to reach a population count of 7 billion; 27% people in the world use Internet, the same figure stands at around 5% in India. Google, Facebook, Twitter etc. are rapidly increasing their footprint in the Social Media gamut. Hence, it is the age of internet and high time for Marketers to have an online presence to try and reach out the prospective buyers.

How to create our Online Presence?
We can always start with a website, the website is your online identity. It should be a good looking and easy to use and migrate website. The website should clearly illustrate your message or provide the relevant info you seek to communicate to your prospective customers; it should clearly specify your goals and ideology. The website should be hassle free and easy to use.
Customers reviews and feedback; and evaluations by web designers are two parameters which can be used to judge the quality of a website.

Now, after website provides us an online presence; we need to market ourselves on the internet as well. Internet marketing refers to one or more of the following:

1) Communicate the company's message about itself, its product and services.
2) Conduct research on various demographic needs of prospects/customers.
3) Selling products and services online.

Some of the components of internet marketing are as follows:
Setting up a website, Search engine Marketing, Search engine optimization, email marketing, Banner advertising, e-press releases, blog marketing, article marketing, Social Media Marketing

The underlying principle of using these components is to reach out to the prospective buyers. Social Media is increasingly becoming a very effective marketing tool. We can create Facebook pages, YouTube videos, use Twitter etc. to reach out to the people; one can also pay for Google Listings, or pay per click ads; similarly FB also provides you paid advertising space. Usually a mix of free and paid advertising on Google, FB etc. works out really well for firms. Again it all depends on the kind of product/service to be marketed and the marketing mix and marketing budget of the firm.

For example, i got some ads for ISB Application help in my Gmail inbox, i contacted some of the suggested sites and eventually ended up with the services of one of the Vendor; this was a paid Google ad listing delivered right to my inbox based on my mailing activity. A classic online advertising example.

Effective online Marketing is all about the following:

1) Building a list: This is the generation of traffic or rather targeted traffic; these are the people whom you target to sell your stuff. You can use ads, banners, blogs, social media etc. etc. to generate this traffic.
2) Establish relationship with the list: In this step you direct the traffic to your personal capture page, you get their emails and phone numbers; this is the process of Lead Generation. Now you follow up with this list using emails and telephone and build a relationship with them. This is the start of manifestation of TRUST.
3) Market to that list: Now, you can market to that list and drive them to your primary business.

The advantages of this approach is that it increases your credibility and visibility, the customers are more familiar with you, and provides you an opportunity to command premium prices.

On an ending note; As Kotler says, Marketing is a mix of Creativity and Science; Science ensures safety, it proposes marketing approaches which are less risky; on the other hand Creativity can at times lead to wonders. What is needed for successful marketing is a blend of creativity and science. Use ample science but do not drive out creativity!

Happy Marketing! :)

Strategy or Stunt

Micromax enters TV market

Mobile handset maker Micromax announced its foray into the television segment with the launch of a range of LED TVs priced between Rs. 15,990 and Rs. 1,29,990. The company expects a revenue of Rs. 225 crore from this the TV segment in this fiscal.

"Televisions is a natural progression. As consumers evolve, they want their devices and experience to be smart and personal. We aim to partner the growing aspirations of the digital consumers at all levels," says, Rajesh Agarwal, Micromax Managing Director and Co-founder .

The company is targeting 5-8 percent of revenues (Rs. 140-225 crore) this fiscal from the television segment, he added.

The LED TVs will be initially launched in nine states like Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Rajasthan across 24-inch to 55-inch range. The televisions will be priced between Rs. 15,990 and Rs. 1,29,990.

Micromax, which sells mobile phones and tablet PCs in India, SAARC and the Middle East countries, is aiming to grow overall revenues to Rs 2,800 crore for year ending March 2013.

"In the next one year, we are looking at sales of one lakh units (TVs)...In the next two years, the aim would be to increase the TV segment contribution to 20 percent of the revenues," Agarwal said.

He added that though the overall television market is growing at 15-16 percent, the LED TV segment is witnessing 100 percent. LED and LCD TVs comprise 35 percent of the 17-18 million units market and is a fast growing segment.

The company is targetting 8-10 percent market share of the LED TV market.

Micromax will assemble the LEDs at its new facility in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand. It is investing Rs. 100 crore in the plant.

"We have set up an assembly line in Rudrapur, which has a capacity of 2,000 units. This will eventually be ramped up to 5,000 units. The facility will also manufacture tablet PCs and mobile accessories," he said.

A major chunk of the investment has already gone in and in the next 2-3 years, a total of Rs 100 crore would be invested.

For distribution and after sales, the company will use its existing channels. Its also in the process of setting up its own service centres.

Micromax is launching its home theatre range and SMART Stick, using which users can connect to the Internet through their television sets.

"SMART Stick will be priced at Rs. 5000 and will connect to any television with an HDMI port. Its like a dongle and will help users access Internet on their TVs," Micromax Director Mukesh Gupta said.

Amkette and Akai have similar devices available in the market.

Source: NDTV

- Amanpreet.