Mark-Avenue March 2011 Edition by Kiran Krishnan

MARCH 2011

- Monthly Newsletter

INSIDE THE ISSUE Page 2 NATIONAL BRANDING: - Is it all about encouraging tourism?

Page 3 THE ECONOMICS OF MARKETING FRESH FRUIT JUICE IN INDIA

Page 5 CREATE YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP)

Page 6 An unprecedented growth story:THE BOTTLED WATER INDUSTRY IN INDIA Page 7 TEN STEPS TO REVITALIZE A BRAND

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NATIONAL BRANDING :- Is it all about encouraging tourism? - Srinath Akula

build reputation, encourage foreign direct investment, increase tourist arrival, create internal pride, or be a support for exports from the country. Antonio Marazza of Landor Associates, says “A country brand is more than just a logo. The purpose is to attract and win customers from around the world.” It is the way a country is perceived by the audience. “Incredible India”, “India Inclusive”, “India Shining”. What are these slogans ? What is the objective of these advertisement campaigns? Is it one and the same? No! The objective of these three slogans is completely different. ‘Incredible India’ is the slogan being used by Ministry of Tourism to promote India as a destination for travellers. ‘India Inclusive’ was the campaign by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) during 2011 annual meeting of World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland. These two slogans are part of ‘Nation Branding’ of India. The third slogan ‘India Shining’ though started with the objective of promoting India interna-

The major emphasis is given to improve the nation’s image internationally, but equally important is to target nation’s own people. This is because, a nation is not just the land outlined by its borders, but also through its individuals. You can understand by this why government spends in broadcasting ‘Incredible India’ even inside the country. Advertisements which show scenic ads and tourist destinations in the country are mostly travel oriented. Advertisements like ‘India Inclusive’ are targeted at companies and governments who can be the potential investors or customers of India Inc. Let’s focus our attention on this branding for some time.

tionally, had been used as a political campaign by

Have you ever heard of IBEF? Can you recognize after

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This received wide

looking at the image, if you couldn’t earlier.

spread criticism for using taxpayer’s money for promoting political gain. 'Branding' is how an organization communicates, differentiates and symbolizes itself or its products to its prospects. ‘Nation branding’ is doing the same, but to a whole country. Remember your first week of classes in Planet-I? From Kotler: What is marketed? Goods, Services, Places, blah blah blah.. Nation branding comes under marketing ‘places’. The objective of nation branding is multi-pronged; to

I’m sure some of you might have referred to the reports published by IBEF about the status of different industries in India, while preparing for Industrial Awareness sessions during second term or while preparing Strategy report a couple of days back.

DO YOU KNOW the origin of company name “PEPSI” ? It once claimed to contain pepsin. Pepsi's creator, Caleb Bradham, claimed his cola contained pepsin, an enzyme crucial to digestion, so Pepsi allegedly aided digestion.

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IBEF is a public-private partnership

arena, many countries across the world

arena for nation branding. Jay Wang

between the Ministry of Commerce,

do nation branding. To cite a few;

from LA says “You can find out how

Government of India, and the Confed-

'Korea Sparkling,' 'Definitely Dubai,'

countries want to portray themselves

eration of Indian Industry (CII). The primary objective of the trust is to

to the rest of the world. In other words, how they brand themselves. It’s like an

promote

international

(expensive) beauty contest for na-

awareness of the Made in India label in

tions”. Expo 2010 organized in Shang-

markets overseas and to facilitate the

hai, China is one such event. 192 coun-

dissemination of knowledge of Indian products and services.

tries registered to participate and around 73 million visitors visited the

and

create

expo. Many countries had exclusive This trust prepares and publishes re-

National pavilions, showing their cul-

ports on the status of Indian industries,

ture and development of urban life.

promotes the brand of India Inc, publishes newsletters like India Now, In-

The government supports us in the

vest Now, conducts national and inter-

international arena by promoting the

national events to promote ‘Brand In-

nation as a brand and presenting a

dia’.

positive image of the Industrial face of the country.

To name a few, it organizes ‘Made in India’ show, runs different campaigns

To better understand this, I'd recom-

like ‘India Everywhere’, ‘India Inclusive’

'Amazing Thailand', 'Malaysia, Truly

mend you to see the short films com-

every year across the globe .

Asia', and ‘YourSingapore’. And un-

piled by IBEF at http://www.ibef.org/

doubtedly world expo is a wonderful

brandindia/indiafilms.aspx

Zooming out to the international

THE ECONOMICS OF MARKETING FRESH FRUIT JUICE IN INDIA -Kiran Krishnan “Uncle Ji, Ek Tropicana Litchi dijiye..!” For every visit up the hillock and down,

costing as high as 18Rs? For a conservative middle class

one tetra-pack of Tropicana/Real or

south Indian who was familiar

Saint..!! That is the thumb rule being

only with “Naranga Vellam

followed by many of us here in Planet-I.

and Sarbath” (read Nimbu

In the last edition, we talked how Planet -I and India as a whole is noodling too

Pani) and occasional road side sugar cane juice/mosambi juice, 18 Rs

much. I feel that another tectonic shift

was way too costly. I remember during

in our food consumption pattern has been characterized by an increased off-

my office days in Bangalore, Pune and Chennai, I could clearly see the visible

take of fruit juices. Yes, the beautifully tetra-packed Apple, Grape, Mango, Or-

difference in juice consumption pattern of my peers (no, I am not referring to

ange flavored so called “fresh fruit juices” marketed by the FMCG behe-

the “hot” consumption) where most of us started stocking family packs of

moths.

Tropicana, Real etc. That was sup-

Initially I used to feel why on earth is a juice packed in a meagre 200 ml pack

posed to be the “IN” thing. Also, most of us were being health conscious as

well with the added advantage of mixing it with Vodka whenever required J Yeah, Smirnoff with Tropicana orange totally rocks..! Coming to the point, as per a study by McKinsey & Company, the Indian food market is poised to grow to $ 310 billion by 2015 and $ 344 billion in 2025 – at an approximate compounded annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent. Currently, India ranks second in fruit production and

BY MERCUR—I

Page 4

third in vegetable production in the

banana make up 50% share. And con-

cisely why most of us still cherish the

world. Consumer taste & preference is

sequently India ends up importing

road side fruit wala’s fresh nimbu/

one of the major drivers for this indus-

most of the other fruit concentrates.

masala juice.

try. Increased health consciousness, high disposable incomes, changing

This exposes the manufacturers to the fluctuating commodity prices and the

More surprisingly, there are not enough technologies developed or ex-

demographics and lifestyle are driving

only way out is to stock up the concen-

ploited for exploring the feasibility of

demand for quality fruit products that

trate reserves which is also possible

bottling sugarcane juice/coconut water

can be consumed at ease.

only to a certain limit as it severely

etc.

This is evident from the huge rise in demand for ‘pulpy’ beverages as com-

cashes out your working capital. Another important cost driver is the pack-

Even though, Lemon flavoured juice drinks exploded onto the juices scene in 2010 with the launch of brands like Nimbooz by 7-Up (PepsiCo), Minute Maid Nimbu Fresh (Coca-Cola) and LMN (Parle Agro) accounting for 10% of off-trade value sales of juice drinks, bottled nimbu pani is a distant second favourite when compared to the mango market share which is quite surprising for the taste of Indian consumers. These fresh juices are not marketed as thirst quenchers but as health drinks.

pared to carbonated beverages, in the

However, with more serious efforts in technology up gradation, indigenous

last few years. The fruit-based beverages market in India is divided into

aging costs. For every 15 Rs 200 ml pack, the packaging costs sums around

three segments – fruit drinks, nectar

to 4Rs. But this cannot be given away

development of green and sustainable

and 100 per cent juice – and is getting

as safe packaging especially in hot/

packaging solutions, Indianising the

increasingly competitive. Parle Agro’s

humid conditions is very critical for the

Frooti, Coca- Cola’s Maaza and PepsiCo’s Slice are the three major brands

safe consumption. Transportation costs in covered trucks also add to the

in the fruit drinks space, which is the

logistics costs unlike other bottled

largest chunk of the fruit-based bever-

juices. Moreover, the retailers won’t

ages category. It is not a coincidence

keep the packs even for one extra day

that all of them are mango flavoured. In the nectar and 100 per cent juice

after the shelf life period. Another solu-

space, Dabur’s Real controls half the

re-filled and recycled. However this

flavours etc, these players might be

market, while Pepsi’s Tropicana has

requires extensive distribution network

able to bring down the overall cost to

over 30 per cent share.

which excepting Coke and Pepsi, no

the consumer and it would be only then that they would be able to further cash

But ironically, in this 2nd largest fruit growing country, hygienically packed

development of fruit concentrates,

tion would be to use bottles which can

others can exploit currently. The technology of fruit processing and

in on the Indian middle class explosive growth story.

fresh fruit juice is still a middle class

preserving the taste is only getting

luxury. India grows 70 million tonnes

continuously evolved and thus limits

Until then, let the roadside juice waala

fruit annually, of which mango and

the challenge to taste. And this is pre-

smile..!!

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CREATE YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP) -Harish Kumar Raju The factor or consideration presented by

vates customers. Initially you can go beyond the known demographic pa-

a seller as the reason that one product

rameters of customers, such as age,

or service is different from and better than that of the competition.

gender, race, income and geographic location that most businesses collect to analyze their sales trends.

Brand Positioning is the process by which marketers try to create an image

3) Know your value. Uncover the real

or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or or-

time service. Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.

reasons customers buy your product instead of a competitors.

ganization. It is about offering different from, and placing the idea more

Here's how to develop a Unique Selling

As your business grows, you'll be able

valuable than competitors in the minds

Proposition (USP) and use it to power

to ask your best source of information:

of customers. Hence it is imperative for

up product sales:

your customers. For example, the pizza

distinguishing offering from everybody else's.

entrepreneur could ask them why they 1) You are also a customer i.e., put yourself in your customer's shoes.

like his pizza over others, plus ask them to rate the importance of the

In order to pick out the product or service USP, requires some hard soul-

Remember, price is not the only reason

features he offers, such as taste, size, ingredients, atmosphere and service.

searching and creativity. One way to start for getting basics right is to ana-

customers buy. It is often learnt that entrepreneurs admire or fall in love

Many retailers routinely drop into their competitors' stores to see what and

lyze how other companies use their

with their product or service and forget

how they are selling.

USPs to their advantage. This requires careful analysis of other companies'

that it is the customer's needs, not their own, that they must satisfy. Put

Well, successful business ownership is

advertisement and marketing mes-

your focus on business daily operations

not about having a unique product or

sages. If it says about what they sell,

and also carefully scrutinize what cus-

service; it's about making your product

not just their product or service charac-

tomers really want.

stand out even in a market filled with

teristics, one can learn a great deal