When one mentions ‘Tata’, two words instantly come to mind — trust and quality. Parag Gadre, AVP- Strategy, Consumer Products Business and Head-Water Purifier Business, Tata Chemicals Ltd tells us how the firm abides by the parent company’s ethos in all its products and initiatives, be it the iconic Tata Salt or the new unpolished dals and water purifiers
By SIMRAN SABHERWAL
Q] What is the fundamental principle of your marketing strategy?
At Tata Chemicals, our vision is ‘serving society through science’ and our consumer products or the ‘Living Essentials’ business is committed to providing value-added products to meet the essential needs of consumers. Tata Salt pioneered the packaged iodised salt movement in India, acquiring an iconic brand status. Recently, we ventured into the pulses category and introduced a range of dals under the label Tata I-Shakti unpolished dals. We also launched water purifiers under the Tata Swach brand, to make quality drinking water accessible to Indian households.
Q] What does your media mix look like?
Our media mix depends on the objective, whether it is to build equity for the mother brand, such as Tata Salt, or to drive conversions and consumption in existing as well as new geographies. In case of Tata Salt, for instance, we follow a micromarketing approach depending on the need of that market. While awareness creation is driven through mass media, trial generation is facilitated with on-ground activations and product demos such as ‘purity tests’ or ‘iodine guarantee tests’ that establish the product’s superiority compared to other regional and local salts.
Q] How have your associations with Sanjeev Kapoor helped the brand?
Having Sanjeev Kapoor associated with Tata I-Shakti unpolished dals has helped us enhance our engagement with conscious consumers, who seek food that tastes great and is nutritious too. Our recent research studies in metros have given quite encouraging preference scores for Tata I-Shakti unpolished dals, further substantiating how this tieup is helping the brand.
Q] Food inflation has remained continuously high. What has been the impact of this on Tata Chemicals?
Besides food inflation, even the cost of transporting goods to end users and new markets has risen steadily. Being in branded commodity like pulses which is subjected to market price fluctuations and crop patterns, we have to cope up not only with inflationary trends, but also with market price volatility in case of pulses. However, we always ensure that the consumer is not unnecessarily burdened with frequent price increases.
Q] Unpolished dals, though healthier, are sold at a premium as compared to other dals. What is the price difference between I-Shakti and polished dals? How do you sell this proposition to a pricesensitive consumer?
With Tata I-Shakti unpolished dals, there are multiple propositions like protein retention, low moisture content, better taste, less gas consumption and hence faster cooking time. There is always a risk of polished dals coming in contact with water, oil or even leather and being packed in unhygienic environment. It is just a matter of time when a consumer realises that they are paying the right value with Tata I-shakti unpolished dals, rather than around 15% premium with others.
Q] How have you leveraged your experience of retailing Tata Salt to dals in terms of distribution?
Our extensive retail availability in over 16 lakh retail outlets and direct coverage of 4 lakh+ outlets across the country came handy while dealing with distributors for the dal business. Tata I-Shakti Pulses is now available in 21 states in 5 variants: chana, toor, moong (whole moong, moong dal, moong chilka), urad (urad dal, whole urad, urad kali) and masoor (whole masoor, masoor dal) all in different sizes of packs. The dals are available both in large and medium-format stores as well as neighbourhood provision stores in cities.
In the first year of operation, we created decent awareness but what we could not fathom correctly was retailers’ response — rather, the lack of it — to the emerging category of packaged branded pulses. I-Shakti faced unprecedented resistance at retail level. The same retailer who wholeheartedly supported all our initiatives on salt looked upon the dals as infringement into a category uniquely discretionary to the retailer where he could maneuver the dal type and price. We had our share of learning over the year and then put plans in place to engage retailers. This also triggered various ‘direct route to home’ formats such as ‘Dal On Call’ which provides home delivery of the unpolished dals in select cities.
Q] What has been the response to your ‘Dal On Call’ service so far?
The ‘Dal On Call’ initiative has been well-received by health-conscious consumers and the demand has been growing by 10% every month. Following the success of this initiative in Mumbai and Delhi, we have launched the service for Tata I-Shakti dals in Bangalore, through which Bangalore residents can dial a toll-free number for dal and pulses to be delivered at their doorstep. In the first year, we got more than 10,000 consumers in Mumbai and Delhi, and will soon be launching the service in Chennai.
Q] Tata Salt is synonymous with salt in India. What have been the advantages and disadvantages of this?
Launched in 1983, Tata Salt was India’s first vacuum-evaporated, packaged iodised salt brand. It provided a hygienic, standardised product in a market that was characterized by loose, unbranded salt of dubious quality. Since then, Tata Salt has lived up to its claim of being ‘Desh Ka Namak’ that provides consistent quality. The key to a brand’s success is gaining the homemaker’s trust by giving the promise of purity and consistency. As the brand continues to grow, an important aspect is identifying future market needs and addressing them innovatively. Tata Salt defied the legacy baggage syndrome by reinventing itself in terms of contemporary product offerings. In this effort Tata Salt has launched a bouquet of products designed to cater to specific consumer segments, like Tata Salt Lite (low sodium salt), Tata Salt Flavoritz and Sprinklers.
Q] What is your market share in the packaged salt segment?
Tata Salt is the market leader, reaching more than 70 million households every month and leading the national branded salt category. As per Nielsen Retail’s audit data, the brand’s share in the national branded salt segment stands at 51.5%.
Q] Are you looking at increasing your offerings, not just dals but other commodities too?
We entered the branded pulses category under the Tata I-Shakti brand in 2010 and launched Tata Swach water purifiers, to tackle one of India’s biggest social and technological challenges, the need for safe drinking water. This reaffirmed the centrality of innovation and added strength to our ‘Living Essentials’ vertical. We intend to continue our efforts in introducing new products in the water purifier category. We are also exploring the health and wellness space and other nutritive food categories.
Q] Branding of agriculture commodity is a recent phenomenon in India, and even organic foods have become popular in metros. Looking ahead, what is the growth you’re expecting? Will metros continue to be your area of focus?
As a marketer, one must have a vigil on and sensitisation of the ever-changing lifestyles and needs of consumers. They are becoming increasingly discerning and health-conscious, and as custodians of one of the most trusted brands in our country, it is only our responsibility to heed this need. Many research leads are showing exponential growth potential in health food category and consumption formats can be multifold. Metros cities, the ‘first 20 billion’ as they are known, will be consumption growth drivers where as next 20 billion will catch up soon with evolution and new consumption patterns over a decade.
Feedback: simran.sabherwal@exchange4media.com
