Harsh Rai, CEO & Managing Director, NourishCo elaborates on the ‘Live Natural’ proposition and collaborations with Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014 and the new Himalayan variant launch under way
By Saloni Dutta
Through an association with renowned designers Shantanu & Nikhil and artist Brinda Miller, Himalayan, the natural mineral water brand from the NourishCo portfolio, will present a collection and customized art piece respectively at Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2014. They will also be launching a new variant, Sparkling Himalayan, at the platform. Harsh Rai, CEO & MD, NourishCo Beverages Limited, India believes that the unique collaboration will provide the right push for the new variant’s launch.
“Following the success of our association with LFW in the past, we have elevated this partnership by tying up with not just designers but also an acclaimed artist. The brand positioning of Himalayan’s ‘Live Natural Couture’ found immediate resonance with Shantanu & Nikhil’s latest collection which has been inspired by the beauty, fluidity and grace of water, and the purity of the Himalayas,” says Rai.
The company also plans to build accessibility by spreading the brand to 59 top Indian cities. For a natural mineral water brand, this is the first of its kind claims Rai. With growing awareness among the Indian population, anything that is natural and organic has increased value today. Rai comments, “As Indians, we love our tastes and Himalayan natural mineral water draws that particular taste from a source which is natural, untouched, pristine and pure.” There is no syndicated research on the natural mineral water category currently but Himalayan claims to be a leader based on the market intelligence they have gathered.
Elaborating on marketing and brand building channels, Rai said there are three particular channels on which Himalayan is sold in a big way. First being on-premise like fine dine restaurants, 5 star hotels and multiplexes. Second is the modern trade channel and third are the general trade stores. Commenting on the media mix, Rai says, “For a brand like Himalayan, where consumers are more discerning and targeted, we use some of the non-television channels extensively.
Television continues to play the biggest role because we want the category to expand but even within television, we choose niche channels like HBO, Star World and Discovery. Among other media, print magazines such as Lonely Planet are relevant to us. Digital plays a big role and is the third medium that we use extensively. If you have to break the spends, the top slot goes to television with a focus on niche channels followed by digital and then print. We have increased our marketing spends by a couple of percentage over the last year.”
Himalayan adopted Digital only recently and will start building on it in a big way with LFW. Using digital in an active way is one of the biggest shifts by the brand in terms of media spends.
The new variant, Sparkling Himalayan, which will be unveiled at LFW, will tap on the absolutely nascent category of carbonated water, with whatever little presence there being contributed for imported products.
“We have added a little zenniness to the natural mineral water by adding some carbonation. It is a great repertoire of usage that people will find, especially the young population,” adds Rai. Until LFW begins, the marketing mix for the new launch will fundamentally be around PR and digital, with a little bit of press being used. Post LFW, there will be a significant section that will be devoted to above the line activities such as advertising on television as a significant media.
The bottled water category in India is at its nascent stages of evolution. “India is an emerging market with a huge opportunity. Per cap consumption of any packaged goods is very low today, so with the passage of time as the disposable income of consumers goes up, as they become more sensitive about high quality products, the scope for brands like ours magnifies,” concludes Rai.
Feedback: saloni.dutta@exchange4media.com
