Hindustan Unilever: Harping on health

Hindustan Unilever’s oldest tea brand, Brooke Bond Red Label, has launched a new TV campaign. Bollywood actor Anupam Kher can be seen in it propagating the health benefits of tea. It shows Kher discussing healthy living with his grandson. The youngster believes the best way to keep fit is through exercise and is working with dumbbells. And Kher, the health-conscious grandfather, reveals his secret to health — a cup of chai. The TVC concludes with the grandson convinced by his grandfather’s point of view and drinking a cup of tea himself.

According to a company spokesperson, the new positioning seeks to bust the age-old myth of tea being unhealthy, and focuses on how the beverage can improve health. “We decided to rope in Kher as he fits in well with the brand’s positioning. He is a veteran in the film industry and has maintained fitness levels over years,” says Hindustan Unilever Category Head (beverages) Arun Srinivas. This positioning comes a month after Brooke Bond launched Tea Council to generate awareness about the health benefits of tea.

A KPMG report pegs the organised tea industry in India at Rs 5,000 crore per annum. The market is growing at 20 per cent in terms of value and a sluggish 2 per cent in terms of volume. “Increasing growth through volume will be difficult as there is 100 percent market penetration. Thus, the way forward for companies will be through gains in market share,” says Kotak Institutional Securities Analyst (consumer division) Manoj Menon.

Currently, Hindustan Unilever is the market leader with a share of 29.6 per cent, followed closely by Tata Tea with 24.8 per cent. The rest of the market is populated by Duncan Industries (7.8 per cent), Wagh Bakri (3.1 per cent), Goodricke (1.3 per cent) and other regional players.

What impact the health positioning will have on Red Label’s effort to increase market share? Will this act as a point of differentiation, and allow Brooke Bond Red Label to bite into the market share of competing brands like Tata Tea and other regional players? Or, will it inadvertently increase the pie as a whole?

“The company is taking advantage of the trend towards healthy foods to create a buzz. Tea always contained flavonoids which were good for health. The TVC is simply positioning the brand in a different context,” says Menon. Anand Halve, the co-founder of Chlorophyll, a brand and communications consultancy, says that positioning Brooke Bond Red label on a health platform will not work in this category. “Most people don’t drink tea for health reasons. It is perceived as a rejuvenating beverage; for example: ‘my mind will work once I drink tea’”. For instance, Tata Tea’s ‘Jaago Re’ campaign a few years ago had played on the term ‘waking up’, but also doubled up as a drive that motivated youth to cast votes. Given the success of the campaign, Tata Tea subsequently launched an extension of the first campaign.

This is not the first time Brooke Bond Red Label is associating the brand with health. In 2006, Brooke Bond had introduced the health-oriented line extension Red Label Natural Care, which analysts believe did not create much of a buzz. Earlier this year, Hindustan Unilever had launched Brooke Bond Sehatmand targeted at the economy market. Brooke Bond Sehatmand is a healthy variant of tea fortified with folic acid, calcium and vitamins.

Is this move in light of the increasing demand for different formats of tea like Darjeeling tea, or Earl Grey or to safeguard against other beverages like coffee? Menon doesn’t believe so. “In India, the way we consume tea is different. New formats will hardly gain ground due to consumer demand for milky tea. However, branded tea companies will continue to lose throat to other beverage manufacturers and staying relevant in the consumers mind is essential,” says he.