Advertising For All....

 Have you come across brands like Anu Coco - a beverage available down South... Plus, XXX, Power some detergent bar brands of local Origin - UP, AP and TN respectively.... These small brands or better said specific - limited geography brands today are not limited to mere distribution strength and high trade loads to drive business....

They have realised that it is important to trigger the consumer to drive pull from the shelves... The local competition in every category is becoming so intense that the locals and other small brand players today don't have just the MNC's to fight against for shelf space but the local players itself are becoming competition to each other and the shelf space is becoming smaller and to survive today they have to get the attention of the consumer... 

Some small brands did invest in local mediums like wall paintings, shop paintings and others from time to time - but TV and other ATL mediums were always considered out of reach.... 

When I worked with Cavinkare and we took over Maa as a brand which was then popular down South... We devised a 360 degree activation plan to make the brand known to the consumer - and the brand grew 3 times its turnover during the period 2008 - 2011 when I worked on the brand.... Maa could achieve this with 2 things - being a smaller brand - it gave a better product and coupled with awareness to the consumer which happened post merger with Cavinkare the brand could build in consumer connect and the brand for the first time was actually a brand - when the consumer came to the outlet and asked for the brand and not just bought it when the retailer pushed it to the consumer in the event of the consumer's preference brand not being available....

Today most small brands have realised the potential they can achieve - and the media is being supportive... an article on afaqs that I read re-confirmed this... Do read this on the link below it is worth it...

http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=32186_Local+Advertising:+Coming+of+Age

The Unorganised Markets in India - The True Market Creators!

The unorganized market is a very special market feature in the Indian context. There are several categories where we have MNC’s and Indian companies battling out for that 1 percent additional market share in their respective categories… Many knowingly/unknowingly ignore that their measure of the category size is reduced to a drop in the ocean once we add the unorganized market figures to the category numbers…

Some categories where I feel the unorganized players are mighty strong are beverages, snacks, candies, pickles etc in foods to Agarbattis, floor cleaners (phenyl) etc… It is amazing how these unorganized players operate and their size… In beverages – Fruit based drinks particularly – the unorganized market is 10X the organized category size!!!

Some interesting characteristics of this unorganized market that I believe helps them thrive despite the presence of MNC’s with big bucks are listed:

1. They are very very localized companies – thereby – they have advantages in terms of major savings on logistics cost plus they are able to more frequently service markets with fresher products (this model especially works brilliantly for low shelf life products – e.g. Badam Milk down South)a. The bottle water business particularly the bubble top business is thriving due to these extremely localized players!

2. They do not care much for investment in branding/visibility/ etc… they heavily discount trade and ensure that they keep their primary customer the happiest – the Retailer… Hence these brands are generally push brands where the consumer generally is OK with what the retailer gives – more so in captive outletsa. Selling of local brands of Fruit Based Drinks like Sparta, Dailee in captive outlets like Railways/Bus Stands etc. is an example

3. They have unions within themselves which lay down clear ground rules and territories of operation so that everyone can get a piece of the market opportunity cake a. The local Bubble Top water dispenser provider is a case in point. They operate very very specific to certain localities and do not disturb other markets! And just a point they have very high service levels compared to your branded counterpart!

4. They are able to offer local tastes, flavours, traditions in the most authentic format… You can expect a Jeera soda / Jaljira / Aam Panna from an XYZ brand but not so much from a Coke… 

 The unorganized players also thrive because of these small blue ocean opportunities/market gaps that the biggies don’t find worthwhile investment!!These unorganized markets work beautifully and I believe there is a strong learning from these small companies as they are very strong operationally with their limited investments and at the same time they truly unearth insights and opportunities with bare minimum resources!!!