Roca, maker of Parryware products, to focus more on digital marketing

With 30% market share for Parryware, it is placing its bet on digital push to be the leader in organised bathroom segment

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Spanish sanitary-ware major Roca has said that it would be focusing on more promotion of its brands, including Parryware, through digital mode, considering the shift of trend to digital from the print publications. 

The company said that the new looks, including the new colours added to the product line, the R&D measures initiated along with the digital push, would improve its presence in the market for brand Parryware in the country.

The company recently entered into brand promotion through digital medium, including the social media and online space. In July, it hired a digital manager, and tied up with a digital agency to spread its brand promotion over digital space.

“The AMP (advertising, marketing and promotion) focus, year after year, is shifting from the traditional medium to social channels, and the change is tremendous," said Pau Abello Pellicer, managing director, Roca Bathroom Products Pvt Ltd. 

The response in the digital medium is much gaugeable compared to the print medium, considering that the data on who spend how much time on the advertisement material and how much interest is created could be recorded and viewed to study the trend in detail in the digital space, he added.

The company’s AMP expenditure is around 4-5% of its sales and is growing every year with the growth in sales. The company has posted around Rs 800 crore turnover last year.

Roca, which launched a new brand image and range of its mass segment brand Parryware, said that the brand revival after almost 60 years of existence in the market, has been welcomed. 

"After a few months from the launch of the new brand and logo, we are satisfied with the response from the market," he said. However, he said that the result of the brand revamp could not be quantified with the increase in number of sales in a short period and will have to be proven over a period of time.

The change has seen in the daily operations, the response from the customers through calls, messages and social media are satisfying for the company at present. The brand revival was carried out after interviewing around 5,000 people.

It may be noted that the company is also planning to launch more electronic bathroom products in the Parryware range in India, by importing products from its overseas facilties.
 

Roca, which has been selling an electronic toilet product i-klin under the Parryware brand in India, is planning to launch around four to five electronic toilet products under the brand. This would include automatic seat covers and seats which could change temperature. It may be noted that the company has positioned the Parryware brand, which originated in the Chennai-based Murugappa Group firm EID Parry, as a mass brand.

The brand, currently, has around 30% market share and competes with products in the Hindware and Sera brands in the bathroom products and Jaguar among others in the faucet segment. At present it has around 1,000 dealers and 9,000 sub dealers for Parryware.

The company would also launch an experience centre for Parryware products in Gurgaon in February, the first such store for the brand. The centre will showcase the products under the brand and also introduce the new products in the centre.

"Our target is that Parryware has to be the undisputable leader in the orgainsed barthroom segment," said Pellicer. While almost 80 % of its business comes from Parryware brand, it currently has brands including Armani Roca, which is the top most brand in terms of value in its offerings, followed by Laufen, Roca and Johnson Suisse. It also owns a brand Johnson Pedder, which is placed below Parryware in terms of offering of the product.