‘WORKING ON CONSUMER INSIGHTS HELPED US WIN’

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With a diverse portfolio of brands including Pulse candy, Rajnigandha and Catch, the DS Group pays special attention to consumer research and insights. Shashank Surana, Vice President, New Product Development, DS Group tells us how the group formulates strategies to leverage its strengths to win over markets 

By Samarpita Banerjee

Pulse touched the magic Rs 100 crore mark in barely eight months after its launch. What worked for the brand?

Pulse is a differentiated product. The differentiation in the product is that it has a tangy powdered centre. As a flavour, ‘kacha aam’ contributes about 26% in the industry whereas mango contributes about 24%. It’s a popular flavour that cuts across all age groups and markets in India. And then we thought about what can be done with the popular flavour. That is how Pulse was born. We realized from market studies and consumer feedback that ‘kacha aam’ is relished, liked and eaten mostly with a tangy note and never alone. We did a lot of research and sampling and that was how Pulse was born. When we launched Pulse, 86% of the industry was at 50 paisa, and only 14% of the industry was at Re 1. So, it was a very difficult call for us. The 50 paisa category was between 2 grams and 2.5 grams candies, but to relish this candy, we needed a substantial amount as the mouthful experience was very critical for which the ideal weight was 4 grams, which was impossible to get at 50 paisa. So we decided to venture into the Re 1 category. For placement of the product, DS Group has a global distribution network and about 8.5 lakh outlets in India directly. So, we piggy-back on that strength. When it came to promotion, we did a lot of sampling and in-shop promotions. The most important thing for any company or brand owner is to first fulfill the market demand, and then get to a TV commercial, because if you don’t have a certain level of placement in the market, the TV commercial won’t help. The brand saw a lot of popularity on the digital medium. Celebrities and even consumers came out and made their videos about the product. Consumers owned the product which gave us a big boost and the product was promoted a lot through word-of-mouth.

How is the hard-boiled candy market doing in India and at what rate is it growing?

The hard-boiled candy segment was at Rs 2,100 crore till March 2016. It has grown by about 23%. In the past two years, the category has grown by 12% and that 10% extra can be attributed to Pulse.

What is your market-share?

Our market-share right now would be about 6-7%.

Since the brand has almost touched Rs 150 crore now and still growing, what are the lessons learnt from the launch of the product?

The biggest lesson that anybody learnt from this is that a product has to be derived from the consumer. To quote Kevin Stritz, ‘Know what your customer wants most and what your company does best. Focus on where the two meet.’ A product has to be designed by consumer research which helps it succeed. And working with flavours is in our DNA. We amalgamated both and that’s how Pulse was born.

Since DS Group has a lot of brands under its umbrella, how different are the marketing strategies for each segment?

Each brand is handled by its own brand managers as each of the brands behave very differently. The marketing strategy then depends on the kind of audience that the product is catering to. We take a look at the TG and devise a communication and marketing platform around it.

A lot of brands under your portfolio have celebrity endorsers. How has that helped the brands grow over the years?

Sometimes, when the brand itself is a hero, like Pulse, you don’t really need celebrity endorsements. Even Rajnigandha does not have any celebrity on board. However, when we are introducing a brand in a new format, maybe we do use them if there is a synergy between the celebrity and the brand. For Rajnigandha Pearls, we have Priyanka Chopra, and for Catch, we have Vidya Balan because the synergy of a modern woman is very well defined.

You have recently launched the Pass Pass Chingles cola flavour. How will you be positioning this product and how will you be marketing it?

The positioning of the product is ‘Chew a Cola’. As you know, you have traditionally been drinking cola but with this new flavour, you will be able to chew it. For marketing, right now our focus will be on digital because most of our TG is there.

What is your media mix?

Right now, we are present on digital and outdoor. We are doing a lot of sampling and getting associated with shows. Apart from ATL, we are doing everything that a brand needs to do.

With consumers veering towards healthy products, how challenging is it to market products like Baba and Tulsi that a lot of people consider unhealthy?

Baba is a mouth freshener which contains chewable tobacco and silver coated elaichi. So they are into mouth freshener as well as chewing tobacco categories. In India, we are not allowed to advertise chewing tobacco. Rajnigandha has 0% tobacco content and is one of the most clean brands. When it comes to premium pan masala, it’s on top. When you look at it, nothing is healthy or unhealthy if taken in moderation. If consumed in excess, everything becomes unhealthy.

Other than Pulse, what are the other products in your portfolio that are doing well?

Rajnigandha is one of the top in the premium category of Pan Masalas. Catch is doing reasonably well and growing at 20% per annum. Rajnigandha Pearls is also seeing good numbers. Rajnigandha garners the maximum revenue as it is over 30 years old.

What will your broad marketing strategy be for the next few years?

Each brand has brand teams that decide the communication and the marketing strategy and the communication line that they want to cater to. None of our brands are synergized. So each will have a different strategy. But we have a 360-degree approach to market all our brands.

How are you planning to use digital in the future?

Most of our target audience is there on the digital platform. Mobile advertising is important for us as consumers can use them to access everything. That’s one area we are looking at. We are also going big on platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Dubsmash. We are also planning to start a YouTube channel to get our fans on one platform. We already have Facebook pages for every brand with huge numbers of fans. We also have different agencies on board for digital.

What are the challenges that the sector sees as a whole?

For confectionery, the primary challenge is the input cost. For years, the MRP has been set. For a long time, most of the products were stuck at 50 paise. However, after we launched Pulse for Re 1 and it saw success, other players are also moving to Re 1 which is a good sign for the industry. You should not compromise on the quality and consumer experience, but to maintain it, you need that extra amount.

What are the consumer trends that you might have observed?

Consumer preferences have changed today. Every consumer needs a different taste as he is exposed to a lot of cuisines. They are also ready to experiment. So there is a need for us to keep rejuvenating and adding differentiation to our products. One of the key problems today is that companies are increasingly focusing on competition rather than consumers. I think if we as an industry focus on consumers, notice what he needs and deliver that, it can be a sure-shot success.

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samarpita.banerjee@exchange4media.com

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