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B goe one p on Necafe Maoom Gpe / Mmbai Decembe 16, 2011, 0:38 IST
Hindus tan Unilevers Unilevers brand h as finally become the volum volum e leader in the twoplayer player ins tant coffee coffee market, albeit by a slender margin. Its Its time for celebration at Hindustan Unilever. Bru, its instant coffee brand, has finally overtak overtaken en i ts closes t competitor, Nes cafe, in terms of volum volum e leadershi p. HULs sense of achievement is understandable as the competition competition in the Rs 800-crore instant coffee coffee segm ent has been intense between the two players. players. As per market research agency, Niels ens data sourced from the indus try, try, Brus market share stood at 50.2 per cent year-to-date (January – October 2011) as compared to its com petitor, petitor, at 49.2 49.2 per cent. While HUL does not comm ent on market share figures as a com pany policy, policy, an email s ent to to Nes tle did not elicit any respons e. Is Brus being the new m arket leader and its m ove ove towards upping the game by bringing in new variants, brand ambas sadors and even a coffee coffee shop chain, all in a single year, a co-incidence? Arun Srinivasan, VP – beverages, HUL s imply attributes attributes the FMCG FMCG majors renewed focus o n Bru to the growth opportunities in the category being propell ed by the emergence of a young, affluent affluent and urban India. Besides , the low-level low-level of penetration of the the drink als o prese nts players with ampl e opportunity to explore explore the s pace. Compared to tea penetration penetration at 96 per cent, coff coffee ee penetration is a s low as 16 per cent. The The brand's growth rate rate (year-to-date) (year-to-date) of 25.6 per cen t, ahead of the ma rket (20 per cent year-on-year) year-on-year) only eggs them on. And to continue on the growth path, Bru seems to have reverted to the oldest marketing m antra – straddling the pyramid pyramid . In sim pler parlance, offering offering a product at each price point and as Srinivasans puts it “a flavour for every taste palette”. So at the start of the year, HUL launched Bru Lite, for those who like thei r coffee light. Mid-year, Mid-year, around July, came Bru Exotica, Exotica, a prem ium range of coffees coffees for the the well -heeled, well-travelled well-travelled Indians who like international flavours. Currently, the flavours being offered include those from Brazil, Brazil, Colom bia and Kilimanja ro. With With Exotica, Exotica, Bru Bru has entered the premium ins tant coff coffee ee m arket, arket, with prices s tarting tarting at at Rs 180 for 50 grams (Brazil) (Brazil) and going up to Rs 300 (Colombia ). And the latest addition to the portfolio is Bru Gold, a non-chicory coffee, a 100 per cent coffee, for thos thos e who l ike their dri nk strong. s trong. With Bru Lite, Exotica Exotica range and Gold, HUL has beefed up its portfolio which previous previous included ice and hot cappucino and the original, Bru Green Green Label roas t and ground further. For brand consultant, Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Cons ults, introduction introduction of such variants by Bru Bru is an attempt to add sub-s egments to a relatively relatively boring boring ins tant coff coffee ee s egment that has been quite s tagnant. However, However, he als o express express es concern over Brus Brus efforts efforts l eading to cannibalis ing of its own sal es. “I dont think consume rs are a ware of coffee coffee types types or are as evolv evolved,” ed,” says Bijoor. .business-standard.com/india/print .business-standard.com/india/printpage.php?autono=45864 page.php?autono=458642&tp= 2&tp=
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Promoing he brand In this era of compe tition, no brand can afford to lag behind its competitors. So when Nes cafe roped in Bollywood actors Deepika Padukone and Purab Kohli late last year, Brus m ove to bringing in its own brand amba ss adors, Shahid Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra w as a m atter of time. And a perfect way it seem s for “making the brands im agery premium and contemporary” as intended. The only problem, there is much com mon b etween the two brands intentions vis-a-vis their brand images – perceived young and glam orous l ike the beverage itself. All in all the brand am bass adors s impl y even out the field without any room for differentiation.
A sim ilar logic is echoed by brand experts when com menting on the carefully desi gned comm unication for Brus new variants. The ads devised for them have been formulated keeping in m ind the intrinsic qualities of the products. For instance, Bru Lite comm ercials us e the theme of light mom ents sh ared by friends, whereas Bru Gold speaks of living life 100 per cent (interpreted as 100 per cent coffee as per tests carried out by the company). The Exotica ads on the other hand have been des igned keeping in m ind the individualistic coffee drinking experience and therefore use both the brand ambas sado rs sepa rately. Such attention to detailing m ay be los t on consum ers though w ho rarely pay attention to s uch nuances in advertisi ng s ays Bijoor. This year also s aw HUL s second foray into the services space. And after Kwality Walls ice cream parlours , Swirl came the Bru World Cafes. A space that its competitor Nestle has a lso dab bled in the past with Nescafe Coffee Parlours. While Nestles venture was dis continued, Bru views its own as “complem enting their portfolio”. Currently, there are seven cafes operating under the chain in Mumbai and the company is in no pa rticular hurry to expand. Industry experts are divided in their opinion on the foray. On one hand it can serve as a live s tation for advertising the brands and even as a point of sale or even a virtual lab for testing out any new blends in future. On the other, it wont be a m ajor value or volume generator, a reason largely attributed to Nes tle shutting down its own coffee shops. The big ques tions for the category now: how w ill thes e m oves by Bru pay off? Will Bru be able to sus tain its position as the volume l eader? No one is hazarding a guess yet.
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