|
Our third annual listing ofmarketers who know consumers the best. Arguably, these are terrific times formarketers. Salaries are soaring, more and more consumers are entering the marketplace, and there's a sense of optimism all around. But these are also tough times for marketers. As consumer markets grow, newer and bigger competitors are stepping in, and the consumer is spoilt for choice. Creating winning brands and loyal consumers, then, is no easy task. Yet, there are some marketers in India who have excelled at it. Helped by six marketing experts—Rama Bijapurkar, Harish Bijoor, IIM Calcutta's AnjanRaichaudhuri, and IIMAhmedabad's Arvind Sahay—Business Today has identified the 10 best marketers of today. Turn the page for the listing: |
Biscuits, anyone? Deveshwar has quickly created some top-selling brands in the market
ITC
We Also Make Cigarettes
Imagine getting into a fragmented andmessy market for wheat flour (atta), where there's no supply chain, no consistency inquality, no brand loyalty, or even proper packaging. Kolkata-based tobacco giant, ITC, didjust that more than three years ago, and far from get scared, it plunged right into themarket. Result: Its Ashirwad Atta today boasts of a whopping 45 per cent share in thebranded and packaged wheat flour segment. It did something similar in biscuits, where ittook on two major players (Britannia and Parle) and has generated 8 per cent of the marketin just two years.
Sure, it helps that ITC is amarketing behemoth that spends a staggering Rs 226 crore on advertising. But that alonecan't explain why ITC has been able to crack the staples and biscuits markets. "ITC'straditional strengths of brand building, trade marketing and distribution providedistinctive sources of competitive advantage in the market place—whatever may be theproduct or service," says ITC's Chairman, Y.C. Deveshwar. The company believes, sayits executives, that at the heart of a great brand is a great product. That meansinvestment in product development. Last year, for instance, ITC spent Rs 54 crore onresearch and development of various products. "For any leader in its field,innovation is a byword for success. ITC's marketing prowess has been significantlyenhanced by a constant flow of innovations that have become benchmarks in theindustry," says Kurush Grant, ITC's head of FMCG and tobacco businesses. Pre-printedvinyls instead of hand-painted hoardings, and planograms at points of sale are two suchinnovations.
Aggressive marketing has sentITC's non-tobacco FMCG sales soaring. In 2004-05, that part of the business fetched arelatively modest Rs 564 crore (it's a Rs 16,510-crore company we are talking about here),but last year the figure almost doubled to Rs 1,013 crore. Agreed, ITC has some consumerproducts such as incense sticks, stationery and even apparel that aren't doing as well,but it is evident that with each passing year, the company is looking less and less likethe tobacco giant it once was. "At the fundamental level we haven't changed,"says Grant. "We still retain our passion for obtaining consumer insights andunderstanding consumer behaviour," he says. At the end of the day, marketing is allabout reading the consumer's mind.