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It takes all salts
The Economic Times — August
14, 2002
It seems to have hit the jackpot: out of nowhere, apparently,
Tata Salt goes straight to fourth position in the tables of
India's Most Trusted Brands. The brand wasn't rated in the
last Brand Equity survey, but heightened media activity and
brand salience brought it into the sample - and it's come
out with flying colours.
"It feels pretty good," says Prasad Menon, MD,
Tata Chemicals, "We've put in a lot of effort last year."
He's pleasantly surprised that his brand has done better than
every single brand from marketing behemoth Hindustan Lever:
"One would expect them to be on top," he says.
The brand has scored particularly high among older segments
of our sample, with housewives and chief wage earners putting
it at number one. It's an 18-year-old brand, and that heritage
gave it an advantage during the mid-1990s, when branded competition
in the salt market intensified. "Some things that Tata
Salt stands for are purity, and value," says Menon. "Consumers
always get the value that they expect."
The other important factor in the brand's image is, of course,
the Tata name. "The general Tata umbrella brand has always
implied trust," he adds. It's given the brand a 17-per-cent
market share in the total branded salt market, though if only
national brands are considered, that share is 38 per cent.
Its closest competitor is HLL's Annapurna, with a 16 per cent
share, according to the AC Nielsen Retail Audit.
In the last year, Menon says, Tata Chemicals has completely
revamped its marketing network. It's presence in markets where
it was weak - the south and east - has been beefed up. In
the south, incidentally, Tata Salt receives its lowest ranking
ever, falling to number 25. "Taking over marketing ourselves
has improved the situation," says Menon. The company's
not only improved penetration in weak markets, it's hired
marketing professionals with an FMCG background to sharpen
its brand focus.
This year will see the company spend about Rs 10 crore on
advertising, between the Tata Salt brand and its south-specific
Samundar brand, aimed at taking on local competition. It's
been test-marketed last year, and is set to roll out across
Tamil Nadu. The main brand is also poised for a relaunch,
with new communication breaking on August 15, 2002.
Research has shown that though the brand has many lapsed
users, they're quite happy to return, and recent heightened
activity has pulled them back. "The loyalty factor is
quite high," says Menon. So with more emotional communication,
and activity across all media poised to take off, expect more
of the same. "I hope it keeps moving forward at the same
pace, and I'm confident it will," he says.
| The Top Ten |
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Dettol |
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Britannia |
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Colgate |
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Tata Salt |
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Lux |
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Coca Cola |
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Pepsodent |
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Pond's |
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Pepsi |
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Thums Up |
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