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| Has the devil got his due? |
| Sayantani Kar / Sep 28, 2009, 00:56 IST |
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While the jury is out on this, Onida says its products are the real heroes of the new campaign.
The jury is out on Onida’s decision to put the devil to pasture after 26 years. While some say the mascot had lost its relevance, there are many who feel that the devil and the brand were so integrated that Onida might face an identity crisis.
It is not the first time that Mirc Electronics (Onida’s brand owners) has withdrawn the mascot. It was earlier scrapped in 1998 for the same reasons that have been cited now. The explanation then was that Indian consumers no longer find the devil and the famous tagline – Neighbour’s Envy, Owner’s Pride – relevant.
But Onida brought back the devil, albeit in a modern avatar, after six years of drifting around.
This time, however, Mirc seems determined to bury the devil. A new-age couple setting up their home with Onida products has taken the devil’s place with a new tagline “Designed with you in mind” (Tumko Dekha Toh Yeh Design Aaya).
KPMG Advisory Manager (Consumer Markets) Anand Ramanathan says, “Onida needed to bring down the average age of its audience to remain relevant.” Add to that the fact that Onida is now a multi-category player, and not just a TV company, which the devil represented. Also, Indians have gone much beyond envying a neighbour’s TV.
“Most people still think of us as a TV brand. This campaign will make the audience see Onida in its entirety,” says Onida Vice-President (marketing, sales and service) Sriram Krishnamurthy. Onida expects the campaign to increase its national share in the non-LCD television market from 11 to 13 per cent, and in DVD players from 10 to 15 per cent by the end of the year. For the more recent product lines, Onida will have to bide its time. “For a category like durables, market shares don’t change overnight,” says Ramanathan.
But no one can accuse Onida of not trying hard. The TV and print ads categorise the products under different sections such as ‘Cook’, ‘Theatre’ and ‘Wash’ to highlight the features of its microwaves, TV and DVDs and washing machines respectively. Come February, Onida Chill on how friendly Onida air-conditioners are, would also get aired.
But Onida’s detractors say the company has been facing a marketing problem and not a branding problem. People recognised the brand and loved the devil, so there was no point in trying to reinvent the wheel again and replace it with a generic icon such as a couple. “Even the devil succeeded because it was backed by products that really created envy in others,” an analyst says.
But Krishnamurthy says that’s precisely the reason why product features are the heroes of the new campaign – something that will set Onida apart from other players. Onida’s DVDs, for example, come equipped with SD/ micro-SD card readers, apart from the usual media readers such as a USB port and CD-drive, to allow users to plug and play content recorded on phones directly into the player.
“An Onida TV I had bought 20 years back came with a slot for the remote control that wasn’t there in any other product. But the company never talked about these things,” Krishnamurthy says.
Now, Krishnamurthy and his team are not only talking about it but are also trying to walk the talk by aligning Onida’s points of purchase. Historically, Onida has relied on pulling the consumer to stores rather than pushing it through trade. But it realised that a brand can’t ignore pushing its products with dealers anymore.
So, Onida is opening 10-12 exclusive stores this year. The company is also streamlining its servicing by installing a national hotline (next month) and is gearing up for quicker turnaround time by striking deals with new logistics partners. Even though it would be doubling its spending – Rs 100-120 crore from Rs 60 crore now – on the new media campaign, the brand would also focus on word of mouth. “The seasoned media consumer is often cynical. So, for certain categories such as ACs, we would depend on referrals and word of mouth,” explains Krishnamurthy.
Onida is also reaching out to markets like the north and the east where it has been traditionally weak. This is where the new brand campaign with a Hindi tagline and a new factory in Rourkee would help. The company hopes that its share of the washing machines market in the north would go up from sub-6 per cent to double digits.
But the strategy hasn’t found favour with many. Ramanathan says “it could be a strategic mistake. Onida should play to its strength and focus on markets where it is strong”.
Most, however, agree that Onida’s aim to take its turnover to Rs 2000 crore this fiscal, up from Rs 1,600 crore last year, is achievable. “There is a lot of scope for growth in certain product segments in consumer durables,” says Ramanathan. He, however, warns against mere cosmetic changes and advocates greater customisation of products.
Others like Ernst and Young Partner and National Leader (retail and consumer practice) Pinakiranjan Mishra says Onida should now fall back on intelligent design and get its pricing right.
The Onida couple, it seems, has their hands full.
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