Sushil Matey, Chief Operating Officer, H&R Johnson (India) tells us that the company is keen to be seen as a serious player in the bathroom, kitchen and marble & quartz space. While the connect between tiles and Johnson is strong, the challenge for the company is in extending the same association to its other offerings and making it aspirational
Q] What is the insight behind your latest campaign for the Johnson Bathroom range?
Bath communication in India essentially talks about the bathing experience, it looks at the bathroom as a private, intimate space while some have used sensuous elements to make it aspirational and glamorous. We felt there was a need to break this clutter. Besides being a private place, the bathroom is also a place where you think and clear your mind. Hence the tagline ‘Find Clarity’, which says a good bath cleanses your body and a great one clears your mind too. You are always looking for clarity in life; Initially people could not find the link between bathroom and clarity but our campaign clearly says that it’s only in Johnson bathrooms that you get clarity of thought and mind. Our film breaks the clutter and the whole treatment – the creative, sepia tones, black and white imagery and the lyrics - “Bas Yaha, Sirf Yaha, Milte hai Mujhe, Sawalo Ke Jawab” bring forward the brand philosophy clearly.
Q] How do you leverage the presence of Katrina Kaif as your brand endorser?
Johnson is a trustworthy brand, a leader in the tile category which is international, contemporary, relevant, modern and young. Katrina also represents the same values and we feel that this association will help reinforce this and also appeal to a larger cross section of India, which is young and with disposable incomes. This is our second film with her, the first was for our tiles, and we wanted to make the bathroom look glamorous and aspirational. We did a dipstick in the organization as to what Johnson is known for, what are the core values that a consumer sees in the Johnson brand? What came across was trust, a rich legacy and innovations, but most identified all the virtues with tiles. And though we were in the bathroom space and kitchen space for some time, people didn’t identify us as a serious bathroom or kitchen player which is when we thought of getting a celebrity on board to endorse all our four brands. In the tiles, bath, marble & quartz and kitchen category, no company has taken the route of engaging a brand celebrity because they are all seen as commoditised. There is a limitation to the type of price premium you can get in a commoditised category and you need to break the clutter.
Q] What are the fundamental principles of your marketing strategy and what are your marketing spends?
We would like to be seen as a young and vibrant brand which is reinventing itself, a company which has led innovations and will continue to do so. While we were focussed on BTL earlier, we are now doing both ATL and BTL. In our media mix around 30-40% is allotted to ATL, about 50% BTL and the rest on digital. Our marketing spends for the financial year FY14-15 would be around Rs 60-70 crore. We are leveraging the ATL and BTL mediums together. While BTL creates awareness, if we have to look aspirational, the only medium we can use really is Television. Also, this year we are looking at cricket properties on Television. While we have engaged with consumers on the digital platform, going forward we want to up the ante. We are looking at property portals and other initiatives which are frequented by consumers looking for all things related to homes. We are also working in the online selling space and will soon cover Category A towns in India.
Q] How would you define your TG?
My TG starts at 30, because it’s then that you look at tiles, bath products, etc, when you are married and start doing up your home. We cater primarily to Sec A & B which together form a reasonable chunk of the market and are present in Tier-I, Tier II and also in Tier III towns.
Q] From a tile player to a diversified business, what were the challenges encountered in the expansion and what role did your communication play in this?
As a brand, the challenge for Johnson is to be seen as a serious player in bathrooms, kitchens and in marble & quartz because as an organization we are identified with tiles. Our communication will improve our salience in the category and it also shows our intent to be seen as a serious player across categories.
Q] What are the challenges faced by the company in the market place?
One is competitive price pressure, consumers getting tremendous choice and hence the competitive landscape getting more competitive. The third challenge is getting the right distribution partners who will take the brand forward and display our products.
Q] What is your market-share vis-a-vis your competition in the same space?
Our four key verticals are tiles, bathrooms, kitchens and marble & quartz and we have 22% of the organized tile market-share. In the bathroom space, we clocked a turnover of Rs 125 crore last year and are looking at Rs 500 crore in the next three years. For kitchens and marble & quartz we are targeting Rs 50 crore each for FY14-15. For wooden flooring and wallscapes, we cater only to developers. In terms of the overall mix, 75% of our revenues comes from B2C and 25% from B2B.
Q] Can you tell us about your retail efforts?
We have four retail formats - Upper Crest, Square, Select and House of Johnsons - common across all four key verticals of H&R Johnson, i.e., tiles, bathrooms, kitchens and marble & quartz. The first three are Shop in Shop (SIS) tie-ups at dealer outlets. Johnson Crest is an exclusive retail space for all verticals where Johnson brand is exclusive in the category. Johnson Square has nonexclusive multi-brand retail spaces. Johnson Select has small dedicated display areas or corner of display stand of Johnson in a multi brand environment. We also have House of Johnson & Johnson Corners across the country, which are our company stores, sell all our products under one roof.
Q] How has the modular kitchen concept evolved in India?
This category is approximately Rs 2,500 crore, of which MNCs have a 10% share. The rest 90% is Indian brands and barring the top two-three Indian brands, it is unorganized with over 500 manufacturers of kitchens. However, as more organized players enter the market and offer better value proposition to consumers, this category and pie will grow. Kitchens will also see a phase of consolidation and few big players will emerge and people will start valuing brands and service more as people are now investing more than a lakh in kitchens.
Q] What is the future roadmap for the company?
We would like to be seen as a category innovator and be a company which offers a one-stop solution for all the needs of a developer and consumers at large. We have put ambitious plans in place and are expanding our distribution network. We are opening exclusive stores in India for bathroom specifically. We currently have around 25-30 shop-in-shops and are going to add 100 more such stores this year. That’s a big initiative of ours to be seen in the market place with the entire display which we have at our disposal. We look to give a good value proposition and are seen as aspirational and still affordable.
Q] How are you tackling the distribution and logistics challenge?
Logistics can only be tackled through opening more supply points across the country. As an organization, we have invested huge resources in meeting the consumer needs in the fastest possible time. We have 40 depots in the country, the largest in the category, so that we can cater to the end consumer as fast as possible. Our huge network reach in tiles, in terms of dealers, is our strength and we leverage this distribution strength to also push other products of ours, to expand our portfolio other than tiles.
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