Revamping Rasna – A Marketing Overhaul Saga
 <<Previous
HOPING FOR A SWEET FUTURE Contd...Analysts also
commented that Rasna was making a big mistake by trying to make Rasna
‘everything to everyone[1].'Commenting on this, Jagdeep Kapoor, Managing
Director, Samsika Marketing Consultancy, said, “If you try to be everything
to everyone you might end up being nothing to anyone.” Kapoor said that
focus on children had significantly contributed to Rasna's success. By
broadbasing its target audience, and by extending its product to all the
sectors of the community, Rasna brand lost its core slot, which its
competitor Sunfill captured with its commercial depicting a child on a
hunger strike giving in to his temptation for a glass of Sunfill.
|
However, Rasna countered this argument saying that
Rasna products were always targeted at the family and never specifically
for children. (However, company sources agreed that in the past,
children had been their means to get households to buy their product).
According to an advertising professional who was previously associated
with Rasna, “The problem with Rasna lies in its advertising, which is
clueless about where the brand really fits in today's scenario. Rasna
entered middle-class homes by saying you have so many glasses from one
pack, which works out to so much per glass. However, with the colas
getting belligerent and prices coming down steeply, that advantage
ceased to exist. A glass of cola would be at most 20% more expensive,
but that is offset by the cola associations – young, hip, aspirational.
Increasingly, in middle-class homes, Rasna is not seen to be ‘with it'.
So what is Rasna? Where does it fit? Is it still relevant?” |
|
Industry observers remarked that there were three critical
success factors in the preparatory drinks segment – economy, taste and
children's affinity. And with almost all the players focusing equally on all the
three factors, Rasna indeed seems to have a tough time ahead to retain its
leadership status.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. Analyze the environment in which Pioma started selling Rasna and highlight
the reasons for the brand's runaway success. Do you think Rasna is losing its
stronghold in the Indian beverages market? Justify your stand.
2. Critically comment on the failure of products such as Rasna Royal, Rasna Aqua
Fun and Oranjolt. What were the factors that led Rasna to go for a major
revamping exercise for the brand?
3. Discuss the initiatives taken by Rasna to rejuvenate its brand with specific
reference to the positioning and advertising aspects. In light of the changing
market dynamics and the intensifying competition, will the current strategies
help Rasna sustain its leadership position?
EXHIBIT I RASNA –INTERNATIONAL PRESENCE & OFFERINGS
EXHIBIT II SOFT DRINK MARKET IN INDIA
ADDITIONAL READINGS & REFERENCES
[1] www.agencyfaqs.com, April 2002.
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...