Revamping Rasna – A Marketing Overhaul Saga

THE MAKING OF RASNA Contd...

Rasna's SDC, comprised a powder sachet and a small bottle of thick, coloured liquid. While the powder provided the taste, the liquid gave the flavor. These ingredients had to be mixed with a specified amount of water and sugar. The resulting syrup could then be used over a period of time by mixing it with water. Though many analysts felt that Rasna's do-it-yourself concept would be cumbersome and hence unappealing to consumers, it became the very reason for its success. This was because Rasna was able to exploit the Indian middle class housewife's traditional distrust for food and drink not made at home.

Not only was Rasna easy to prepare, it was reportedly the first brand in the country that provided consumers real fruit-like flavor and taste. And at only 50 paise per glass, it was easily one of the most affordable drinks available in the market. With many popular flavors such as Pineapple, Orange, Mango and Lime becoming runaway successes, Rasna soon established itself as an effective alternative to other products such as squashes, soft drinks and syrups.

To ensure high quality standards, Rasna's products were manufactured in a totally automated environment. Advanced world-class technology was used for packaging. The packs were pilferage-proof with moisture-resistant lining, thus, retaining both flavor and freshness.

One of the major factors responsible for Rasna's rapid sales growth was its well-entrenched, efficient sales and distribution network covering the entire country. The sales force was managed by the company's five regional offices, which ensured availability of Rasna products to consumers in the retail outlets nearest to them. During summer, when the sales of the company soared, Pioma recruited additional sales force on a temporary basis to ensure availability of the products. The company had 24 warehouses in various parts of the country, 24 distributors and 2000 stockists. These stockists served over 2,00,000 retail outlets directly and over 2,00,000 retail outlets indirectly via wholesalers. Reportedly, Rasna's product range was one of the world's largest distributed food brands at that time.

To retain the interest and loyalty of its consumers, the company undertook various creative promotional activities. These included shop sampling, house-to-house calls, and live demos on the method of preparation, retail window displays, gift offers to customers and other trade schemes. The company devised innovative methods every year to sustain the element of fun and surprise. In addition, Pioma participated in various exhibitions and fairs that provided an excellent opportunity for direct interaction with the consumers. The fairs also helped the company increase its visibility in the rural markets by distributing large number of free product samples to consumers in the fairs.

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