Ujala’s violet strategy!! A change from Blue to Violet.

Today’s customers are becoming more conscious about the brands they use and the value they get from it. They take more care in maintaining their cloths. The cleanliness of the cloths is considered to be the main factor which gives image to the individuals and it also shows the ability of the home makers. Even majority of the detergent and washing soap advertisements emphasized upon whiteness
and shows ‘shining’ white clothes as a symbol for a good personality.

The concept of “Blue” in India is very popular that people believed the pigment in the blue powder which makes the cloths whiter and brighter. Reckitt and coleman was the first organized player in the sector despite there are large number of unorganized players in the market. They introduced Robin blue powder which is very lower in prices and possessed a good market share in this sector. This brand “Robin” becomes much famous that the blue was considered to be the synonym for Robin. Since there are no significant threat R&C had never took any marketing effort to enhance the performance of the brand.

Then Jyothi laboratories came with the pioneer idea of whitener which was a violet colored liquid that dissolved easily in water. They decided to introduce under the brand name” Ujala”. The man with the strategic thinking for this brand is Mr. MP Ramchandran. This was the first innovative product in the fabric whitener segment which gives more advantages when compared to other powder blue competitors. The high performance characteristics of the product made the company, register a growth of 50% and grabbed a 25% of the market share in the Rs 25 billion organized fabric whitener market of India.

Strategies used:
Concentration upon the rural markets for its innovative fabric whitener liquid and they made a huge distribution network in the country. Robin lacks in this regard since it is from a foreign company which doesn’t focused upon the rural markets.

Ujala’s Focus on Direct marketing: The company got the required information and the feedback from its staffs who make direct marketing with the customers of the product, helps customers to get more and more customized product.

Innovative radio advertising which had a localized touch in it. This makes path to the word of mouth advertising for the company which made it a huge success and consequently led to the dominance of “Violet” which invaded “the blue”

Advertising agency for Ujala: Situations advertising and marketing services

Other brands of the company:
Maxo – Mosquito repellant
Maya – Incense stick
Jeeva – Soap
Exo – Dish wash bar

Cielo: A Strategic Blender?

As we all familiar with the brand Cielo sometimes before, is dormant today.
What actually pushes this brand to such a quagmire?

Cielo was the brand owned by Daewoo motors India limited, was a part of the $ 65 billion Daewoo Group founded in 1967 in Korea. The group diversified into general trading, construction, machinery, automotive, ship building electronics and tele communications. Cielo was launched in India in July 1995, since there is no option for the Indian customers in the mid size segment except Maruti esteem. Within a short span of time Cielo saw a large volume of bookings from the customers. This made a intense competition for Maruti. Soon after the situation turned upside down that all the bookings made by the customers for Cielo were cancelled and it faced a huge problem.

Circumstances:
Daewoo motors saw a intense competition and higher customer expectations in terms of quality and performance in developed markets. Hence the company decided to penetrate in the emerging markets where the demand for automobiles was expected to increase in the future; it launched the brand Cielo in India.

Strategies used:
Promotional campaign, called the ‘Diwali Bonanza scheme’ for corporate, offering one Cielo free on purchase of every ten cars. This campaign was initiated by the marketing head of Korea, who had no idea about the Indian auto industry and the target market.
Frequent changes in positioning. The car was positioned as ‘technology with aesthetics’ which was later moved on to a ‘premium family car’ positioning followed by “value-for-money” car.

Consequences:
The customers began to look the brand with a suspicion because of the way it had been marketed
The Cielo had been promoted as a feature-rich, luxury family car. But the frequent change in the positioning made confusion among customers. Since there is a gap between a premium car, a family car and value for money car. Cielo fails to grab a good image for themselves in the minds of the customers.
The Nexia was promoted as being an upgraded version of the Cielo. The move failed badly because the customers failed to see any worthwhile additions to the earlier Cielo model.

Cielo fails in “Positioning”. Even though Daewoo is one among the first multinational player to enter into the Indian auto market only after Maruti Udyog Limited, improper market study leads to the fall of the brand Cielo.

Will we learn a lesson to concentrate upon giving importance to “Positioning”?
Other brands of the company: Matiz – small car segment