Marketing Warfare in Indian Context

Description
This presentation is about the Marketing Warfare strategies and covers topics like Types of defensive marketing warfare strategies, Fair N Lovely vs Fairever, Anchor vs Colgate, Wipro Baby Soft vs. Johnson & Johnson, Ujala Supreme vs. Robin Blue, Nirma vs. Wheel, branding strategies.

MANAGEMENT GURU ASSIGNMENT

GURU: Philip Kottler

Marketing Warfare- Indian Context
Submitted to: Prof Issac Jacob

MARKETING WARFARE Marketing warfare strategies are a type of strategies, used in business and marketing, that try to draw parallels between business and warfare, and then apply the principles of military strategy to business situations. In business we do not have enemies, but we do have competitors; and we do not fight for land, but we do compete for market share. It is argued that, in mature, lowgrowth markets, and when real GDP growth is negative or low, business operates as a zero-sum game. One person‘s gain is possible only at another person‘s expense. Success depends on battling competitors for market share. 1 The use of marketing warfare strategies Strategy is the organized deployment of resources to achieve specific objectives, something that business and warfare have in common. In the 1980s business strategists realized that there was a vast knowledge base stretching back thousands of years that they had barely examined. They turned to military strategy for guidance. From Sun Tzu they learned the tactical side of military strategy and specific tactical proscriptions. In regards to what business strategists call "first mover advantage", Sun Tzu said: "Generally, he who occupies the field of battle first and awaits an enemy is at ease, he who comes later to the scene and rushes into the fight are weary." From Von Clausewitz they learned the dynamic and unpredictable nature of military strategy. Clausewitz felt that in a situation of chaos and confusion, strategy should be based on flexible principles. Strategy comes not from formula or rules of engagement, but from adapting to what he called "friction" (minute by minute events). From Mao Tse Tung they learned the principles of guerrilla warfare. The first major proponents‘ of marketing warfare theories was Philip Kotler (Kotler, P. and Singh, R. (1981) "Marketing warfare in the 1980s", Journal of Business Strategy. In an early description of business military strategy, Quinn claims that an effective strategy: "first probes and withdraws to determine opponents' strengths, forces opponents to stretch their commitments, then concentrates resources, attacks a clear exposure, overwhelms a selected market segment, builds a bridgehead in that market, and then regroups and expands from that base to dominate a wider field.

By the turn of the century marketing warfare strategies had gone out of favour. It was felt that they were limiting. There were many situations in which non-confrontational approaches were more appropriate. The ?Strategy of the Dolphin? was developed in the mid 1990s to give guidance as to when to use aggressive strategies and when to use passive strategies. Today most business strategists stress that considerable synergies and competitive advantage can be gained from collaboration, partnering, and co-operation. They stress not how to divide up the market, but how to grow the market. Such are the vicissitudes of business theories. 2 Marketing Warfare Strategies Types of offensive marketing warfare strategies are:
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Frontal Attack - This is a direct head-on assault. It usually involves marshaling all your resources including a substantial financial commitment. All parts of your company must be geared up for the assault, from marketing to production. It usually involves intensive advertising assaults and often entails developing a new product that is able to attack the target competitors‘ line where it is weak. It often involves an attempt to ?liberate? a sizable portion of the target‘s customer base. In actuality, frontal attacks are rare. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, they are expensive. Many valuable resources will be used and lost in the assault. Secondly, frontal attacks are often unsuccessful. If defenders are able to re-deploy their resources in time, the attacker‘s strategic advantage is lost. You will be confronting strength rather than weakness. Also, there are many examples (in both business and warfare) of a dedicated defender being able to hold-off a larger attacker. The strategy is suitable when
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the market is relatively homogeneous brand equity is low customer loyalty is low products are poorly differentiated the target competitor has relatively limited resources the attacker has relatively strong resources

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Envelopment Strategy (also called encirclement strategy) - This is a much broader but subtle offensive strategy. It involves encircling the target competitor. This can be done in

two ways. You could introduce a range of products that are similar to the target product. Each product will liberate some market share from the target competitor‘s product, leaving it weakened, demoralized, and in a state of siege. If it is done stealth fully, a full scale confrontation can be avoided. Alternatively, the encirclement can be based on market niches rather than products. The attacker expands the market niches that surround and encroach on the target competitor‘s market. This encroachment liberates market share from the target. The envelopment strategy is suitable when:
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the market is loosely segmented some segments are relatively free of well endowed competitors the attacker has strong product development resources the attacker has enough resources to operate in multiple segments simultaneously the attacker has a decentralized organizational structure

Leapfrog (Bypass) strategy -This strategy involves bypassing the enemy‘s forces altogether. In the business arena, this involves either developing new technologies, or creating new business models. This is a revolutionary strategy that re-writes the rules of the game. The introduction of compact disc technology bypassed the established magnetic tape based defenders. The attackers won the war without a single costly battle. This strategy is very effective when it can be realized.

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Flanking attack - This strategy is designed to pressure the flank of the enemy line so the flank turns inward. You make gains while the enemy line is in chaos. In doing so, you avoid a head-on confrontation with the main force.

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Guerrilla attack- This involves: 1) Targeted legal attacks on the competition 2) Product comparison advertising 3) Executive raiding 4) Short-term alliances 5) Selective price cuts

6) Deliberate sabotage of the competitions test markets, marketing research, advertising campaigns, or sales promotions 7) Orchestrating negative publicity for a competitor It can also involve choosing a modest market segment, geographical territory, or niche and defending it. No matter how successful the guerrilla becomes, he/she should never act like a market leader. A guerrilla marketer must be flexible. They must be able to change tactics very quickly : this includes abandoning a market segment, product, product line, brand, business model, or objective. Guerrillas are not ashamed to make a strategic withdrawal. The strategy is suitable when:
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the target competitor has relatively strong resources and is well able to withstand a head-on attack

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the attacker has moderately weak resources

The term Guerrilla marketing is sometimes used to refer simply to the use of unorthodox marketing tactics. Types of defensive marketing warfare strategies The main types of defensive marketing warfare strategies are:
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Position defense - This involves the defense of a fortified position. This tends to be a weak defense because you become a ?sitting duck?. It can lead to a siege situation in which time is on the side of the attacker, that is, as time goes by the defender gets weaker, while the attacker gets stronger. In a business context, this involves setting up fortifications such as barriers to market entry around a product, brand, product line, market, or market segment. This could include increasing brand equity, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, or repeat purchase rate. It could also include exclusive distribution contracts, patent protection, market monopoly, or government protected

monopoly status. It is best used in homogeneous markets where the defender has dominant market position and potential attackers have very limited resources.
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Mobile defense - This involves constantly shifting resources and developing new strategies and tactics. A mobile defense is intended to create a moving target that is hard to successfully attack, while simultaneously, equipping the defender with a flexible response mechanism should an attack occur. In business this would entail introducing new products, introducing replacement products, modifying existing products, changing market segments, changing target markets, repositioning products, or changing promotional focus. This defense requires a very flexible organization with strong marketing, entrepreneurial, product development, and marketing research skills.

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Flank position - This involves the re-deployment of your resources to deter a flanking attack. You protect against potential loss of market share in a segment, by strengthening your competitive position in this segment with new products and other tactics.

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Counter offensive - This involves countering an attack with an offense of your own. If you are attacked, retaliate with an attack on the aggressor‘s weakest point. If you are being attacked with an advertising. Advertising is the paid promotion of goods, services, companies and ideas, by an identified sponsor. Marketers see advertising as part of an overall promotional strategy. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal campaign; initiate your own promotional campaign aimed at the aggressor‘s weak spot. If a competitor introduces a new product, retaliate with a fighting brand that is designed to nullify any advantage the new product might have had.

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Pre-emptive strike - This is a ?defensive? attack initiated because an enemy attack is believed to be imminent. The objective is to use the element of surprise to create chaos. The enemy will need time to regroup and might have second thoughts about an attack. The advantages are that you gain first-strike advantage and you get to choose the battlefield, a battlefield that you can win on. This strategy is similar to the counteroffensive strategy except that it is proactive rather than reactive.

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Strategic withdrawal - This involves freeing your resources deployed in untenable positions. If an objective becomes strategically unimportant or tactically impossible to defend, then the best strategy can be to withdraw. The resources can be re-deployed where they will be more effective. In business, this can entail dropping unprofitable products, product lines, or brands. It could also involve exiting a market or market segment. At one extreme, a radical strategic withdrawal involves closing down the business completely. At the other extreme, it involves a contraction of resources in a market segment.

Companies typically use many strategies concurrently, some defensive, some offensive, and always some deterrents. According to the business literature of the period, offensive strategies were more important that defensive one. Defensive strategies were used when needed, but an offensive strategy was requisite. Only by offensive strategies, were market gains made. Defensive strategies could at best keep you from falling too far behind. The marketing warfare literature also examined leadership and motivation, intelligence gathering, types of marketing weapons, logistics, and communications.

How can established companies beat new emerging competitors
Ultimately, once the large company gets stung by you (or otherwise discovers you or your market niche), the large company may respond and try to take its ?fair share? of your market (if it is aggressive, the large company will try to take more than its ?fair share? of the market). In this we focus on the attack vectors that the large company can use against the emerging growth company and an assessment of how well they work in different situations. The nature of Goliath‘s attack… The large company product market attack can come from several different angles (the ?attack vectors?). They generally do one or more of the following (together or in sequence): 1. Confuse the market with their “new product” announcements. This is well known as creating ?Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt? (F.U.D.), and is fast becoming the classic

approach for large companies, especially those that sell to enterprises. The large company will have press releases, customer meetings, webinars and etc. to announce products and plans in your market, whether or not the products currently exist. They will also plant the announcements with the ?media? outlets and the industry analysts (to whom they make significant yearly payments) so that these ?influencers? can help spread the FUD. There are several dimensions that determine the effectiveness of the FUD attack:

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The size of the buyer organization (and buyer decision-making group). FUD works much better for large enterprise products. At the SMB/department level, the FUD is much less meaningful (in many instances it may even backfire on the large company) and as you move toward internet-based applications and data, especially browser-based applications, the issue goes away almost completely.

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The total cost of the product to the buyer. FUD works best the higher the price, the greater the implementation effort, the greater the user learning curve, and the greater the migration effort (the so-called switching costs) if/when the buyer moves off your product.

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The relationship between your product and the large company product. The more your product relates to the large company product (competitive OR complimentary), the better FUD will work. This includes integration at the application or data level, and generally how closely related the buyer perceives your product to be to the large company product (btw, this point is stronger when the buyer already has the large company product installed!).

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The relationship between the buyer and the large company. The greater the relationship, the better FUD will work.

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The economic relationship that both your product and the large company?s products have with the large company?s channels of distribution. The more the

economic loss with your product, the more effective FUD will be (the channels will help the FUD effort). 2. Attack the reputation of the emerging growth company and/or its management. Most large companies probably won‘t execute a large-scale reputation attack from the senior management level, but rather the seeds will grow in their employees (particularly the front-line employees). Their local sales reps or business development people may attack the emerging growth company‘s reputation in one-on-one conversations. (There are much more aggressive strategies with respect to impugning the reputation of the emerging company and/or its management, but I like to believe that this is as far as it generally goes from an institutional level.)

3. Claim (or aid in the claiming of) patent infringement against the emerging growth company. This attack vector can either be a direct attack (?you infringed on my patent?) or an indirect attack (funding or otherwise aiding a third party in attacking you for infringing on the third party‘s patent). Of course, the approach only works when the large company has at least one patent that the emerging company might be infringing on OR if they can encourage a third party that has a patent the emerging growth company might be infringing on.

4. Lobby for regulations that will help the incumbent large companies at the expense of the emerging growth companies and lobby against regulations that will help the emerging growth companies at the expense of the incumbents. This attack vector is difficult to assess broadly, but has been long term successful in many instances and unsuccessful in others.

5. Execute an unfocused organic attack. Fortunately for the emerging growth company, this is the approach that many large companies take in many market situations. This

attack is essentially building and launching the large company‘s product within existing departments with existing staff. Generally, this attack vector will be much less effective, as the product will not get the attention and focus necessary to compete against a solid emerging growth company.

6. Execute an all-out focused organic attack. This attack has a much greater chance of success than the unfocused attack and generally gets launched after a heavy dose of FUD. The approach includes
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A reorganization of the large company to put together the right, focused team, Heavy spending on product development, Heavy sales and marketing, Promotions and/or permanently lower price (the most aggressive attacks include completely free products), and

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Some level of bundling, including possibly building your feature/function into their platform.

7. Offer to purchase you. This approach is most effective when the emerging growth company is interested in being acquired and the offer is in a range that seems fair to both sides. The offer a lot of times comes with a subtle threat of purchasing your best competitor and entering the market aggressively if you decline. Also, many people believe that at least some of these offers are intended more to understand your company and its products in detail rather than a true intent to purchase your company (truth here is difficult to determine, but there are many suspicious data points).

8. Buy your best emerging growth competitor: The better the competitor, the more effective the approach. The large company will choose how aggressive and from what angle and sequence they attack based on several criteria:

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How much they believe this new product market will damage their core business. The greater their fear, the more aggressive the response.

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How large and profitable they believe this new market is and will be in the future. The larger and more profitable the market, the more aggressive their response.

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How strategic this product market and/or your core strengths are to their current and future business needs. The more strategic, the greater the response (though, not as important a criteria as the first two).

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How aggressive they need/want to be with respect to growth. The more aggressive the growth need, the more they may steer toward an acquisition.

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Their interest and abilities with respect to organic growth vs. inorganic growth (i.e., growth through acquisition) and their buy vs. build analysis for your product market. Tough to handicap this one, although build analyses always underestimate costs and overestimate results.

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Their understanding of their ability to successfully execute on a particular attack vector. Again, hard to handicap.

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Their corporate culture and senior management style. Some companies are naturally more acquisition oriented, some naturally more organic growth oriented. Also, some are more oriented toward ?take the high road? behavior and some are more aggressive against their competitors (to the point their competitors call in the regulators).

Some of these attack vectors are pretty powerful and quite effective, particularly if you are not set up with a solid defensive strategic position.

How emerging products can beat established players

Emerging growth companies can benefit by creating a time advantage. Some ideas: 1. Pick a product market that is rapidly evolving or has dynamic needs or tastes. Markets with dynamic needs (needs that change quickly) or tastes (interests that change

quickly) are perfect for the small company. A great example a dynamic market is the gaming market, which has rapidly evolving customer ?tastes, as new games come out and fulfill older ?tastes, And gamers want MORE. These market characteristics are perfect for the company looking for a time advantage, as it is exceedingly difficult for the large company to move at the pace of change of these markets.

2. Pick a product market that has significant long-term innovation potential. This is really important to the time advantage, as the innovations that can take place between a large company‘s release cycles are tremendous. The large company essentially designs and launches its missiles, but by the time they hit, the innovation has moved significantly beyond where they aimed! If there is enough innovation left, you can do this again and again.

3. Build your market before the large companies know what hit them. The extreme approach here would be staying in stealth mode until all the release details are worked out, and then explode into the market. (Note, this is much easier said than done, but thematically the idea is to build your early market quickly before the large companies have time to act).

4. Use newer technologies and business model components. You are probably aiming at the early adopters, at least initially, so this approach will be advantageous, or at least somewhat expected, for a smaller company. Also, both you and the large company have to go ?up the learning curve on the new technology, and you should be able to do it more quickly due to the problems outlined above. (The effects of this approach are amplified when the newer technologies and business model components are evolving rapidly.)

5. Package your “whole product offering, so that the package includes innovations in product, marketing, sales, and service all at once. When the large company must create change in multiple snowballs (departments) and multiple snowball groups (divisions), the time-based advantage is amplified (due to the communication and decision-making issues).

6. Rapidly evolve all aspects of your business. Use your information advantage and the observations that large companies must have long time horizons to rapidly evolve all aspects of your business, such as your product, your marketing messages, your distribution approach, and your customer service. Again the key is to not be there when the large company missiles land!

7. Put your senior management, particularly you?re CEO, out in the field as much as possible. Your senior management team will have much more time available than the senior management of the large company. Get outside the company and meet with customers, prospects, the press, industry analysts, and others. It will give you better information and will give you the edge relative to the large companies. Time is an important strategy to have on your side. The large companies have a natural disadvantage with respect to time. You can have a large impact on your strategic position by exploiting the opportunity!

FAIR N LOVELY Vs FAIREVER

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Fair & Lovely (FAL) is the brand that revolutionized the Indian Skin care industry. This brand is World's first and largest Fairness cream brand with a presence in 40 countries and a value of around Rs. 6 billion

Indian skin care market was dominated by conventional beauty care products like Bezan, Multani Mitti etc. FAL changed all that. Launched in 1975, FAL is the product born in the Unilever research center. In 1988 the brand went international. FAL commands a market share of over 70% in the Rs 1000 crore fairness market in India. ?

Fairever is a challenger brand. It was the first brand to challenge the market leader Fair & Lovely. This brand was once touted by the media as the DAVID who fights against the Goliath. Fairever was launched in 1998. Initially launched in South India, this brand went national a year after. It was the time when Fair & Lovely (FAL) was ruling the Indian fairness cream market. The phenomenal success of FAL and the marketing might of HLL scared off many potential rivals. It was interesting to note that ever since its launch FAL never faced any competition from any players till Cavinkare decided to take on the behemoth.

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Unlike many challenger brands from small companies, Fairever was never a price warrior. At one point of time Fairever was expensive than FAL. The courage of this small brand to standup and challenge a market leader with clear non price positioning makes

Fairever a special brand.

From the launch, Fairever was clear about its positioning and differentiation. The brand was positioned on the basis of its main ingredients Saffron and Milk. Saffron is traditionally considered to be a fairness enhancing ingredient. So a product with the unique blend of Saffron and Milk was appealing to the target segment. With in six months of the launch, Fairever garnered a neat six percent of the fairness market. Fairness market in India is huge with a market size of Rs 800-900 crore. The saffron based positioned worked well with the brand. The packaging and the excellent use of brand elements like the Color gave this brand an up market look. ?

FAL sustained the pressure from the competitor by careful branding and new product launches. The brand never failed to emulate and learn from the competitor .When Fairever launched the ayurvedic variant, FAL launched a much better variant.

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Then came the competition from Ozone Ayurvedics with their brand No Marks trying to carve a niche. HLL countered with FAL Antimarks and launched a controversial comparative ad that took the steam out of No Marks.

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When Fair ever launched the soap, FAL also responded with soap. FAL never allowed the competitors to gain an upper hand in the market which it created.

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FAL achieved such tremendous success because of careful branding and ad campaigns. Initially HLL to do some ugly talking about fairness. Some of the ads were controversial because of gender inequality and stuff like that. It was necessary at that period because the category was new and the brand should first talk about the need to be fairer.

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Again ads of FAL was predictable and was revolving around Girl becoming fair and then attractive to men. But it was Fairever who broke these cliche ads and turned that attention to Achievement rather than Fairness. But in the ad war that ensued, FAL took over the

concept of Women Empowerment and owned the positioning. Fairever also faced some legal issues with FAL. HLL challenged that Fairever has violated the Patent formulation of FAL. But later the matter was amicably settled out of court.

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Fairever was a brand that has worked hard to survive in the market. The success of Fairever prompted many players to enter the market. This made differentiation difficult for the brand. Fairever then chose the Green Path. In 2005, Fairever went Natural. The brand was relaunched with Natural tag. The brand also launched a premium Fairness cream subbranded Manthra aimed at the upmarket customers.

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These moves along with heavy ad spends have ensured that Fairever carved a 12 % market share nationally and 17% share in the South India.

Anchor vs. Colgate

THE Shah Brothers at the helm of Anchor Health & Beauty Care Pvt. Ltd came out with Anchor toothpaste. They differentiated themselves with only one line which says 100% Vegetarian toothpaste, the brand is called Anchor. When it launched multinational companies like Colgate-Palmolive and HUL dismissed Anchor as low cost & inferior quality product. In 2002, it killed these types of statements, Anchor was No3 toothpaste brand. Anchor toothpaste has grown amidst de-growth for competition and the segment, offering a value proposition amazingly overlooked by established players. AC Nielsen figures (moving average total) for end-September 2002 show the rural toothpaste market fell by 10.7 per cent, but Anchor grew by 51.8 per cent even as Colgate and HLL declined. In urban markets, total sales dipped by 8.6 per cent but Anchor grew by 62.1 per cent with reversals again for Colgate and HLL. More important, Anchor placed second in sales, ahead of HLL, in Gujarat and Rajasthan. For years, Anchor was synonymous with electrical switches. Its 70 per cent market share built on growing electrification touches 500,000 retail outlets. Trust came naturally because Anchor dealt with taming potentially dangerous electricity. With that to lean on, all it needed was a good product differentiator for its foray into toothpaste and thereby the FMCG business. In the mid 90s, when work on Anchor toothpaste began, only 15 per cent of the Indian population used toothpaste. A dominant concern, in a predominantly vegetarian country, was the nature of ingredients used. Of the three main inputs — calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate and glycerin — the latter two were cheaply had from animal sources. The Shahs found alternative sources in vegetable oils and mines. The end product, similar in looks to mainstream toothpaste to differentiate it from herbal varieties, was certified by the Vegetarian Society of

London with further endorsement by the British Dental Health Foundation on its ability to keep teeth stronger and whiter and gums, healthier. There was however a problem. It was costly toothpaste to manufacture. But the Shahs traded margins for volumes, pricing the product less than competition, a toothbrush packed free alongside and offering twice the usual dealer margins. By end-97 Anchor toothpaste was national. Anchor targeted rural markets, the segment which was not much tapped by Colgate. They used the existing distribution channels to promote the sale of new product for enhancing its visibility. They offered the retailers higher margin (15-25%) to make the retailers promote Anchor. Their packing was similar to that of Colgate i.e. red and White in the ratio of 2:1. They used local advertising to create awareness about the product. Anchor Healthcare priced their offerings at over 40% discount, giving market leaders like Colgate a run for their money. These low priced competitors accounted for more than 80 per cent of the growing ?discount segment‘. It looked as if the multinational companies were helpless against challenger brands. Colgate, an oral hygiene product line and one of the namesake brands of the Colgate-Palmolive Company, is a manufacturer of a wide range of toothpastes, toothbrushes, and mouthwashes. In 2001, Colgate pursued Flank position defense strategy to gain back its market share which was reducing due to the advent of local toothpaste makers, providing toothpaste at much cheaper rate. It revitalized one of its existing brands, Cibaca as Colgate-Cibaca. It was to act as the price flanker brand in the portfolio. Ditto by HLL with Aim. At prices similar to the low priced challenger brands it took the battle right into their turf. The market dynamics changed. Within a year, Colgate Cibaca managed to garner whopping 50% of the market share in the discount segment and established Colgate‘s supremacy once again. HLL‘s Aim however could not match the success and was subsequently withdrawn from the market. Today not only has Colgate's flagship brand grown, but Colgate Cibaca has risen to become the 4th largest paste brand in the country in volume terms after Colgate

Packaging of Anchor and Colgate

Soon after Colgate launched a new look can for their toothpowder in August 2002 comprising the red and white colour combination with splashes of yellow, Anchor almost immediately came out with its own look-alike version of toothpowder packaging .i.e. Red and White in the ratio of 2:1. They pursued frontal attack strategy In 2003, Delhi High Court has restrained Anchor Health & Beauty Care Pvt Ltd from using Colgate's colour combination of red and white on the packaging of its toothpowder, according to a release issued by Colgate-Palmolive (India). This affected Anchor‘s brand image. In 2004, Anchor reduced its price further but failed to regain its market share.

It is interesting to note that Colgate Cibaca became big without any intensive communication support. It relied more on trade level activities and below the line strategies for its success. However the journey for brand Colgate Cibaca has just begun. Having come up this far, Colgate

now aims to move Colgate Cibaca to the next level of growth. Hence the challenge is increase the share of Cibaca without cannibalizing mother brand Colgate Wipro Baby Soft vs. J&J

J&J is the market leader in the Rs200 crore Indian Baby Care industry. J&J India, known better for its baby soap is a part of the global health care conglomerate was established in India in 1947. In 1948 J&J launched the first baby powder in India. J&J‘s parent company was established in 1886 in New Brunswick in Newjersy, USA. J&J has an impeccable tradition of social responsibility and brand building. In India, J&J has been the undisputable market leader in the baby care market with its soap, lotion and shampoos having virtually no competitors. In 1991, J&J was the market leader of the baby care products. The reason: ? ? ? Since it‘s a sensitive product, no Indian brands were able to get the trust of the Mothers. When it comes to health of child, mothers are ready to pay high price for the product.

Hence, it commanded high premium for product

J&J weakness: ? ? Penetration was low because of high price. The J&J soap was available only in primarily chemists shop and high end grocery stores.

This created an opportunity for new proposition on ?value for money segment‘ and Wipro exploited this opportunity by launching Wipro Baby Soft soap.

Wipro Baby Soft?s exploitation attempt: ? They reinforced the quality of soap by promoting ingredients like lanolin, saffron, almonds, tulsi, etc. ? ? They priced baby oil and soap at 15% less compared to J&J products. They made the products available through channels unexplored by J&J like small grocery stores, mom and pop stores, etc. Hence increased the visibility of the products. But there were a few limitations since it‘s a baby product because of which Wipro couldn‘t succeed as it expected. Wipro tried to increase its market by: ? ? ? Coming up with new logo Extended the product lines like feeding bottles that followed in 1994, Baby Soft oil, Baby Soft diapers, etc Launched WBS Saffron & Milk of Almond soap that is enriched with the goodness of milk of Almonds and Saffron which nourishes the baby‘s skin and keeps it glowing and beautiful. ? Campaign: It launched emotional campaign: Father‘s involvement in raising the child.

Limitations restricting growth of Baby Soft: ? ? ? J&J has a strong customer loyalty which is difficult to break Since its baby care product, it is highly sensitive. Campaign: It was ineffective.

In spite of many attempts, Wipro failed to gain a sustainable market share. Thus now Wipro with their Baby Soft is now looking at alternative segment by reducing the price. Wipro is now building the brand in the price conscious segment.

Ujala Supreme vs. Robin Blue Ujala – The Supreme Whitener

Origin of Jyothy can be traced back to M P Ramchandran (MPR), an accountant in a chemical company in the suburbs of Andheri, Mumbai (Maharashtra). MPR had developed a formula for fabric whiteners in 1960 since he was not satisfied with the products available in the market at that time. For many years, he looked for an opportunity to market his formula (his whitener, unlike the blue powders available in the market, was a violet colored liquid that dissolved easily in water). In 1972, MPR set up a small factory in Guruvayoor in Kerala, with the help of one of his acquaintances at the chemical company. The first batch of whiteners, named Ujala, consisted of only 500 bottles, and was sold mostly to MPR's friends. These customers found the whitener to be very effective and came back again and again to buy more.

MPR continued to manage his small venture along with his job for more than a decade. Finally, in 1983, he left his job to concentrate fully on the whitener business. Jyothy was thus born with a capital of Rs 5000 and just five employees. In an attempt to create a market for Ujala in Mumbai, MPR continued to work from Andheri, although the factory was located in Kerala. The initial days were hard, with no demand in sight. At one point of time, MPR had even decided to close down operations. An unexpected order of 1000 bottles from a small shopkeeper near Guruvayoor changed it all. Ujala never looked back again. Over the years Jyothy registered a growth rate of 50% p a. The factory at Kerala was expanded and in 1991 Jyothy set up another factory at Pondicherry with a capacity of 5 lakh bottles a day. By that time, Ujala had become the market leader in South India, thanks to its superior product characteristics. Jyothy concentrated on the southern markets till 1998 when it went national. By then it had captured 90% of the market in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Within a year it captured 25% of the Rs. 2 billion organized sector fabric whitener market in the country

This development brought Ujala on par with Robin Blue, which also had a 25% share of the market. Alarmed at the rapid erosion in Robin's market share and Ujala's growing popularity, R&C decided to reinvigorate Robin. In 1999, the company changed Robin's logo, launched a liquid variant of Robin Blue named Robin Dazzling, and invested substantially in promotion and advertising. However, Robin Dazzling had low sales off take. R&C then came up with another variant, Robin Sunglow, which again received a lukewarm response in the market.

In 2000, Jyothy transformed itself from a proprietary concern to a corporate entity. In 2001, the blue market was estimated to be about Rs 4 billion, of which around 75% was dominated by the liquid variety. The market for blue powder was shrinking. Interestingly, Ujala's market share kept rising in spite of the fact that it was priced higher than Robin. It was able to capture more than 60% of the market, while Robin Blue, lagged behind with a mere 6% market share (the remaining 34% was in the hands of local manufacturers).

Ujala's impressive success was clearly the result of a well-planned and executed marketing plan coupled perhaps, with a bit of luck and good timing. The whitener became one of the few smalltime brands to become so popular in the intensely competitive Indian FMCG market Branding Strategies Brand differentiation based on function combined with a clear brand personality. They also had to devise a strategy that would break down the attitudinal barriers of going against trying a new brand. Devised the communication around the family and also gave it an aspirational tinge. An integrated marketing communication strategy was followed to position the brand and create strong brand values.

Before Ujala was launched, the common perception was, whiteners had to be blue in colour and powder in form. So, the challenge before Jyothy Laboratories was to break this mindset, as Ujala was a purple liquid. The challenge was successfully surmounted through the tagline ?Safedi ka naya rang.’ In order to drive home the message better to its target audience they used the mother-in-law in their ad as the symbol of a blocked mindset. The conversion of the mother – inlaw to Ujala was seen as the triumph of the modern over the traditional product. The value for money aspect, which was promoted as a brand differentiator, was also cleverly used through the jingle ?chaar boondon wala’. Dasgupta mentions about another misconception that had to be cleared, ?We had to circumvent the problem of the misconception that like neel, the colour purple too would remain on the clothes. We also had to establish the key benefit of the perceptible difference in whiteness due to the violet ?magic‘ formulation.? Therefore, the ads used a strategy of comparison to show the superiority of Ujala over other brands and demonstrate the use of the product and the quantity to be used. School going children were used to establish brand good will. Media mix included television, print media and outdoors. Press, for example, particularly the back covers of women‘s magazines were used as a secondary medium. Radio is still being used as a reminder medium. These were supplemented with the use of dispensers, direct mailers, promo ads, outdoors - all carrying the basic four Violet drops, Insta-Whitening SystemTM , and slogan line.

To quote the Economic Times dt.30th Jan, 2001 ?Ujala has whitener market has gone up from 26.6 percent in September 1998 to over 65 percent in February 2001 onwards.?

Strategies Adopted Ujala is a product of Jyothy laboratories which is a regional brand. Jyothy took on well-known, established brand Robin Blue by pursuing a flanking strategy which can be of two types geographical or need-based.

1) In a geographical attack, the challengers identify regions where the opponent is underperforming 2) The other flanking strategy is to serve unfulfilled market needs

The essence of a flanking strategy is identifying shifts in market segments that are causing gaps to develop, moving into the gaps and developing them into strong segments. Flank attacks make excellent marketing sense and are particularly attractive to challengers with fewer resources than their opponents. 1) Jyothy launched a geographical attack by targeting the southern India initially and gaining around 90% of the target market in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It then went nationwide in 1997 and captured around 25% of the market with a year. Selecting a narrow terrain to fight.

The stratagem of this new breed of marketing is deciding the opponent to fight. In case of most of these brands, it is seen that they fight their marketing battle by selecting a particular company and in many cases a particular brand, which often is the market leader. Then they deploy their entire marketing arsenal on this selected competitor. Ujala applied this tactic to full advantage against Robin Blue and now it commands nearly three-fourth of the Rs2bn ultra marine blue market. 2) Need based attack Here Robin Blue was basically a powder based product and had certain problems associated with it.

1. The powder created blotches on the clothes which would then not go 2. The packaging was entirely of paper which caused it to be useless once it was opened. Jyothy took into account these and came up with a novel product which was liquid based and packaged n plastic bottles, thus solving both the problems

Various factors have contributed to the rapid emergence of challengers in the past decade. In many product categories, technology is easily available. It is no longer the exclusive preserve of established players. Moreover, many entrepreneurs today are qualified tech-savvy people, if not technologists themselves. They understand the importance of technology. Earlier, resources were a constraint. So established brands created high barriers to entry. But today even if the entrepreneurs don't have money to back their plans, angel investors and venture capitalists are around to fund them. The smaller brands have also started delivering on the quality front. No longer can national brands pose as the sole guardians of quality. Probably the biggest strength the smaller brands bring to the table is that they are often close to the market and respond to changes faster. They are typically managed by more entrepreneurial teams which are flexible and willing to learn from mistakes. Indeed, one of the main points of criticism against HLL is the management hubris, that has grown out of years of experience in brand management and the comfort level that comes when a huge parent company's backing (in this case, Unilever) is available.

A second threat on the horizon for the established brands is the store brand or the private label. Many large retail chains are sourcing items from original manufacturers and in some cases making them on their own. They don't have to bear heavy advertising and promotional expenses. The store label signals quality and consumers are attracted by significantly lower prices. These are not regional brands in the sense that they are sometimes found all over the country. But their strategy closely resembles that of regional brands. Obsession with mainstream markets and inadequate attention to the bottom-of-the-pyramid markets will create serious problems for today's market leaders. The established brands cannot afford to sit idle in the face of this threat from regional brands and private labels. They need to do a lot of soul-searching and keep reinventing themselves so that they do not leave any flanks uncovered. That calls for both smartness and hard work on the part of the owners of these brands to segment markets carefully. While the upper end of the market can be targeted in the traditional way, at the lower end, they must come up with an innovative business model that can break even at much lower prices.

Nirma vs. Wheel

It was in 1969 that Dr. Karsanbhai Patel started Nirma and went on to create a whole new segment in the Indian domestic detergent market. During that time the domestic detergent market only had the premium segment and there were very few companies, mainly the MNCs, which were into this business. Karsanbhai Patel used to make detergent powder in the backyard of his house in Ahmedabad and then carry out door to door selling of his hand made product. He gave a money back guarantee with every pack that was sold. Karsanbhai Patel managed to offer his detergent powder for Rs. 3 per kg when the cheapest detergent at that time was Rs.13 per kg and so he was able to successfully target the middle and lower middle income segment. Sabki Pasand Nirma… Nirma became a huge success and all this was a result of Karsanbhai Patel‘s entrepreneurial skills. Karsanbhai Patel had good knowledge of chemicals and he came up with Nirma detergent which was a result of innovative combination of the important ingredients. Indigenous method was used ,and also the detergent was more environment friendly. Consumers now had a quality detergent powder, having an affordable price tag. The process of detergent production was labor intensive and this gave employment to a large number of people. Nirma focused on cost reduction strategies to make a place for itself in the

market. Nirma has always been known for offering quality products at affordable prices and thus creating good value for the consumer‘s money. In the 1980s Nirma moved ahead of Surf, a detergent by HLL, to capture a large market share. Later, Nirma successfully entered in the premium segment of soaps and detergents. Nirma went on to become the largest detergent and the second largest soap company in India. Nirma had more than 35% market share in the detergent segment and around 20 % market share in the toilet soap segment. The company got listed on the stock exchanges in the year 1994. Nirma adopted backward integration strategy for the regular supply of raw materials, 90 % of which they manufacture themselves. Nirma also gave due importance to modernization, expansion and upgradation of the production facilities. The company also made sure that it uses the latest technology and infrastructure. Nirma clearly hit the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid as proposed by C.K. Prahlad. Nirma was innovative in its technique and by innovation; it does not mean that it should be only a technologically new product. Here Nirma innovated a new product line for its customers at affordable prices and hence their mission statement is ?Better Products, Better Value, Better Living?. It offered its basic detergent powder, Nirma, in an attractive package at an affordable price. Another reason for Nirma‘s success story was low manufacturing costs. They carefully established backward integration with state of art manufacturing units embedded with latest technology. The kind of margins Nirma was offering to its distributors were marvelous, they were as high as 140% in shampoos and 50% in premium soaps. Today, Nirma has become the largest detergent and the second largest toilet soap brand in India with Late 80‘s advertisement of Nirma was a major hit with punch line ? Maan gaye, aapki paar ki nazar and Nirma Super dono ko?. Nirma went ahead with category extension with new products in premium segment. It entered into new line of toilet soaps and soon become the second largest toilet soap manufacturer in the country. In 2000, the company also entered into hair care market with a product Nirma Shikakai.

HLL launched its detergent, Wheel, in the low segment market. Nevertheless, Nirma started frontal attack by positioning its products straight against to the HLL products like Nirma Bath against Lifebuoy, Nirma Rose against Breeze etc. In past few years HLL has regained its position in detergent market. Strong distribution network of HLL and huge resources are creating problems for Nirma. Currently Nirma is facing problem to penetrate deep into rural India. More over the customer needs are changing, now Indian customer is becoming more demanding and it is ready to pay high price for quality products, in this process HLL is gaining its ground. Therefore, Nirma has two options to go ahead first to concentrate only on bottom of pyramid and develop a huge distribution network to reach to every corner of the country and other is to cater to needs of growing middle class, which is a primary target customer of all the companies. Nirma also had innovative marketing strategies. In the mid-nineties, Nirma successfully extended its brand to other product categories like premium detergents (Nirma Super Washing Powder and Detergent Cake), premium toilet soaps (Nirma Premium, Nima Sandal, Nirma Lime Fresh). It followed its original marketing and pricing strategies in the economy segment as well as in the premium segment. In 2000, the company entered the hair care market with Nirma Shikakai, Nirma Beauty Shampoo, and Nirma Toothpaste.

RANGE OF PRODUCTS:

Nirma Washing Powder ::... This product created a

Nirma Detergent Cake ::... Deriving inspiration from its success Powder in the market, Detergent Nirma

marketing

miracle,

when

introduced in the domestic marketplace. In 1969, when the detergents were priced so

expanded its product portfolio by introducing the ?Nirma detergent cake? in 1987. Here again, the excellent price-

exorbitantly that for most of the Indians, it was a luxury item. Nirma envisioned the vast Fabric and Wash market a

quality equation tempted the consumers to try the product. Available in 125g and 250g pack sizes, this brand has done exceptionally well. AIMS

segment

sensed

tremendous potential therein. This product was priced at almost one third to that of the competitor brands, resulting into instant trial Owing by to the its

survey ranked Nirma detergent cake as ?The Most widely distributed detergent cake brand?. Due to its unique formulation, this product offers benefits like less melting in water, better stability, and therefore lasts longer. As per the ORG-MARG Rural

consumers. unique

environment-friendly, formulation,

phosphate-free

the consumers became loyal to this brand, helping it to overtake the decades‘ old brands, in terms of volumes. This brand had been ranked as the ?Most

Consumer Panel [December 1998] survey, Nirma brand is

widely distributed detergent powder brand in India? as per All India Census of Retail Outlets carried out in 435 urban towns by the AIMS (Asian Information Marketing & Social Research agency )

ranked highest in terms of penetration in washing cakes / bars Market category Watch, [BT Rural

Business

Today, June 22, 1999].

Super

Nirma

Washing

Super Cake::... To

Nirma

Detergent

Powder::... Exploding the myth that ?better quality always demands higher price?, Nirma introduced a spray-dried washing blue powder coloured in the

meet

the

growing

aspirations of consumers and to offer them value-chain Nirma Nirma in 1992.

product introduced Detergent

portfolio, Super Cake,

premium segment, in 1996. Available in 25g, 500g and 1000g packs, this product outclassed its competitor brands. Though, priced almost 40 % lesser, thus providing a very attractive „value-for-money? proposition. This brand,

Available in 125g and 250g pack sizes, this product, within a short span, convinced the consumers of competitor

brands to switch their loyalty towards Super Nirma detergent cake. With a high detergency

within a short span of two years, had cornered substantial market share in the premium detergent segment and

value, quality

this

product to

offers their

wash

consumers. Super Nirma Detergent Cake was ranked as the fastest Climber for the year 1997-98 in the detergent cake/ bars category [BUSINESS

continues to perform well.

TODAY, Octobers 22, 1998].

Nirma

Popular

Detergent

Nirma Cake::... The

Popular

Detergent

Powder::... To cater to the needs of the specific target audience, Nirma launched a good quality

positioning

of

Nirma

Popular Detergent Cake is similar Popular to that of Nirma Powder.

product at a very affordable price. The objective is to

Detergent

This product is available in

convert

the

non-users

of

125g and 250g pack sizes, targeted to first-time detergent cake user segment.

detergents into users and also prevent the competitors and local manufacturers to lure away the prospective Nirma consumers by sub-standard

products. This product has created a loyal consumer base of its own and has established substantial amount of volumes. It is available in pack sizes of 500g and 1000g pack sizes.



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