Revamping Rasna – A Marketing Overhaul Saga
 <<Previous
RASNA WAKES UP TO THE CHALLENGEPioma finally
decided to extend Rasna's brand portfolio and launched a pre-sweetened
mix-and-drink product in 1996. Targeted at the upper end of the market,
Rasna International was a nutritious and vitamin-enriched version of the
regular Rasna SDC version. This was followed by the launch of Rasna Royal,
positioned as a vitamin-enriched version of Rasna. It was targeted at
health-conscious consumers who did not prefer Rasna SDC on account of its
synthetic image (that is usage of synthetic colors and artificial flavors).
These two products were priced at the higher end, as against the ‘low price'policy followed by Rasna for the other products.
|
The sales of Rasna Royal did not pick up from the very
beginning. Analysts attributed its failure to the strong positioning of
Rasna SDC as a cost-effective drink. While consumers were willing to
bear the inconvenience of preparing the SDC version on account of its
lower cost, they were unwilling to do so for Rasna Royal as they had
paid a higher price for it (Rasna Royal was priced Rs 4 higher than the
SDC version). Eventually, the company had to discontinue Rasna Royal. |
|
On the other hand, Rasna International became quite
successful, primarily because it did not need any preparation. Commenting on the
analysts forecasts that Rasna International might not succeed given the high
pricing of the product, Khambatta said, “Contrary to common perception, Rasna
International has done exceedingly well and has created a market segment for
pre-sweetened fortified soft drinks.” By 1999, Rasna International's sales
accounted for an estimated 15% of the Rasna's total turnover of Rs 650 million,
even as SDC's contribution kept declining.
In summer 1999, Rasna also went against its tradition of launching
‘one-new-flavour per season'and launched two new flavours, Rasna Yorker
(Yorker) and Rasna Aqua Fun (Aqua Fun). The company launched these products in
order to exploit the Cricket World Cup fever. Kapil Dev was brought in to
endorse Rasna Yorker. Though Yorker succeeded moderately, Aqua Fun was a dismal
failure. The failure of Aqua Fun was attributed mainly to its blue color, which
was not readily accepted by the Indian consumer in the food products segment.
Pioma's efforts at broadening its product portfolio continued with the launch of
Oranjolt in 2000, an aerated fruit drink, available in 1.5 litre PET bottles.
The brand, launched in selected outlets, failed to attract customers and soon
had to be withdrawn. Commenting on Oranjolt's failure, Khambatta said “Oranjolt
was never meant to be an aerated drink and it was just, one in the range of
innovations that Rasna constantly did.” However, he agreed that Oranjolt's
failure was a result of certain inherent product problems. It was common
practice for many Indian retailers to switch their shop refrigerators at night.
This resulted in quality problems, as Oranjolt required refrigeration at all
times. The short shelf life of the Oranjolt also contributed to its failure as
the company failed to set up a strong distribution network for the product,
which could allow it to replace Oranjolt every three to four weeks. Following
its failure, the company sent the product for further improvement at its R&D
facility.
More...
FACING CHALLENGES – THE SECOND INNING
TABLE I
RASNA'S NEW BRAND PROFILE
HOPING FOR A SWEET FUTURE
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
EXHIBIT I RASNA –INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE & OFFERINGS
EXHIBIT II SOFT DRINK MARKET IN INDIA
ADDITIONAL READINGS & REFERENCES
2010, ICMR (IBS Center for Management Research).All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted
in any form or by any means - electronic or mechanical, without permission.
To order copies, call +91- 8417- 236667 or write to ICMR,
Survey No. 156/157, Dontanapalli Village, Shankerpalli Mandal,
Ranga Reddy District,
Hyderabad-501504.
Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.
Ph: +91- 8417- 236667,
Fax: +91- 8417- 236668
E-mail: info@icmrindia.org
Website: www.icmrindia.org
|
More Classifications...