Brand Management

(TERM-IV PGDM -2012-2014)

Individual Assignment

Brand- Camlin

Submitted To: Prof. Rajeev Kamble

Asst. Professor (Marketing) IMT Nagpur

Submitted By:
Anuj Job Mathew (2012057)

About the Company: Camlin Limited started its operation in 1931 with Horse Brand Ink Powders and Tablets, and then followed by Camlin Ink. It was founded by the Dandekar family and was named as M/s. Dandekar & Co. Mr. Dandekar had converted the family kitchen into a laboratory in the evenings for want of a proper manufacturing place; The Company was incorporated as a Private Company in 1946. The Company was then converted into a Public Limited Company on 24th March, 1988 and the name was changed to Camlin Ltd. All its products are marketed under the brand names of Camel and Camlin. In 1994, Camlin Ltd. entered into a marketing alliance with Colart Fine Art & Graphics Ltd. U.K. In 1997, the Joint Venture Agreement with M/s. A. W. Faber-Castell Gmbh & Co Germany was terminated by both companies. Up till the year 2006, Camlin operated through three divisions: consumer products, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals; which was restructured into the consumer products and fine chemicals divisions. In order to improve focus and growth in both the divisions, Camlin Fine Chemicals Ltd (CFCL) was formed in December 2006. It was also the first company in the country to adhere to the Art & Creative Materials Institutes world standards in toxicity certifications. On 30th May 2011 Camlin Ltd executed Joint Venture Agreement with its promoters and Kokuyo S & T Co Ltd Japan, a wholly owned Subsidiary of Kokuyo Co., Ltd, which is a leading company in Japan with over 100 years of experience in stationery and furniture products, design and construction of Office and store interiors, and distribution having an annual turnover US$ 3200 Million. Through this Joint Venture, Kokuyo S & T Co ltd have acquired a controlling stake in the company by way of acquiring stake from the promoters, preferential allotment and from the open offer made to the public. The company is now a subsidiary company of Kokuyo S & T Co Ltd. Consequent to the company becoming a subsidiary of Kokuyo S & T company Ltd Japan, the company has sought Shareholders approval and received Registrar of companies approval for changing the name of the Company from Camlin Limited to Kokuyo Camlin Limited which has come to effect from 25.01.2012. The company's core values include entrepreneurial leadership, a belief in innovation, trust, integrity and continuous learning; these comprise all aspects of their business Brands Logo : It was initially a horse which was changed to a camel (because a fountain pen stores ink in a manner similar to a camel who stores water); and Camlin evolved from the amalgamation of Camel and Ink. For others . The Camel symbol was chosen because of its capacity to endure long periods of difficulty in trips across deserts Value propositions : As such the brand doesnt have a tagline of its own but the website and some of the ads gives high emphasis on the line Come , Grow with us which is highly related and easily connected with the consumers as the products which identify with the statement are related to watercolors , pastels , crafty glue etc and these being used in childhood by kids gets relevance

Target Segment: Initially, the product range of M/s. Dandekar & Co., founders of Camlin Ltd. comprised of ink tablets, fountain pen ink, office adhesives, sealing wax, school chalks, brilliantine, pain balm, etc. In 1964, the Company embarked on the first diversification of products by producing for the first time in India, the complete range of artist colours and materials such as water colours, poster colours, oil colours, fabric colours, geometry boxes, drawing inks, painting brushes and canvases the main target segment being kids 3-12 years , hobby segment started to attract youths. They also entered the Office segment to cover the other age group of working people Camlin Brand Portfolio: The Company, named as Camlin Ltd. in 1988, has now a product & brand portfolio of the following which is primarily present into 3 stationery segments: School and education - Camlin is a market leader in art colours products like water colours cakes/tubes, poster colours, wax crayons, oil pastels, plastic crayons, sketch pens, colour pencils etc. Other products in the school & education stationery segment include wooden pencils, scales, erasers, sharpeners, math sets, dissection boxes, notebooks, mechanical pens, hi polymer leads, fountain pen, ink etc. Some of the value propositions they tried were to make Camlin synonymous to Geometry Boxes in their ads, for Colors it was Express through Colors, Growing Up is fun with Camlin

Office - In the office stationery segment, Camlins major focus is on markers. Its product range in the office stationery segment include white board markers, permanent markers, highlighters, ball pen, gel pen, stamp pads, refills, paint markers, CD markers, carbon papers, glue sticks, etc. Excellent value propositions were made in terms of White Board Marker pens Easily Erasable & Permanent Marker Really Permanent Fine art& hobby - Camlins fine art & hobby segment comprises of products like artist oil colours, artist acrylic colours, canvas rolls, canvas boards, easels, artist water colours, oil sketching papers, drawing inks, brushes, painting mediums, glass colours, fabric colours, powder colours, fabric glue, artist poster colours, etc. They have formed a segment of Corporate Gifts which includes roller pens and Fountain Pen

Camlin Brand Strategy Camlin enjoys market leadership with its brands Camlin, Camel, Exam in the profitable art colours products and stationery material. Camlins quality products, wide product range and strong distribution network have resulted in very good brand equity. Powered with technical expertise and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Camlin offers its products at highly economical & competitive prices. Various factors can be attributed to Camlin's growth story viz: increase in capacities, increase in in-house production, import of Chinese products to counter cost disadvantages; technological and marketing tie ups with Japanese and other niche international players; entry into premium segments with niche products. It also leveraged its strong distribution channel in building a favorable brand image. It also entered into the manufacturing and distribution of markers in a significant way in the office stationary segment. It entered into pre-school segment to leverage its brand strength in the field of education and developed strong association with its consumers- the school children at a very early age. It has well established distribution network comprising of self owned depots, 1500 distributors and more than 300,000 retailers across India. Competitors in the Stationery Market The stationary market interestingly is a fragmented one with no single player dominating every end of it. Each segment has its own set of requirements and complexities. Brands like Fevicol by the Pidilite Industries in the hobby segment, and Faber Castell of Germany and several other players are trying to make their mark in the industry. In the last few years, the Rs 10,000-crore stationary market has seen a steady influx of players from writing majors such as Cello, Reynolds, Linc and Luxor at one end to ITC with its Classmate brand of notebooks and allied products at the other. Traditional Camlin rivals have consolidated their position in the stationary marketplace. An example being Hindustan Pencils, which controls two-third of the pencil market with its Apsara and Natraj brands. Camlin is making investments in segments of the future even as it retains its stronghold in the school space. International brands, like Faber Castle and 3M, are also consolidating their presence here. Acquisitions of domestic companies by global brands are also on a rise: Societe BIC of France had acquired 40 per cent stake in Cello, Japan's Mitsubishi formed a joint venture with Linc Pens. Currently Camlin has a series of distribution tie-ups and this includes brands such as Zebra (for writing pens) and Kokuyo (for notebooks).

In the past, Camlin gave its account to smaller agencies like Mosaic (for colours), Madison (for corporate identity) and Chlorophyll (for brand identity). Camlin Ltd has now appointed Lowe (Lintas India Pvt. Ltd.) to develop its brand comprising school stationery and writing instruments.

Camlins innovative marketing strategies to counter Competitors Directly marketing products to schools through an exclusive school activation team Organizing All India Camel Colour contests Evolving a new hobby segment was a decision arising due to the need of making Camlin a brand that would attract the youth. The company launched a slew of products like fabric paint, glass paint, ceramic colours, body and face colours for tattooing etc, to sport a youthful look. Camlin plans to tap the rural markets for further growth. The thrust laid on education by the government and rising levels of income have created opportunities for the company to reach out to the B-grade and C-grade towns. Camlin also plans to take its hobby range of fabric, glass and ceramic paints to these small towns. Video cassettes demonstrating the usage of these products have been created and promoters have been appointed to market these products directly in smaller towns Social media marketing like blog posts, Facebook groups such as I grew up with Camlin,YouTube videos and Twitter tweets etc.

New product launches like T-shirt markers, Mehendi markers, ceramic paints and a new range of mechanical pencils are some of the fresh colours emerging from Camlin The Camel Art Foundation (CAF) was instituted in 1998 to bring talented artists to the limelight. The objective of Camel Art Foundations is to provide a platform for art students, amateur artists and professional artists to display their talent. All India Camel Colour Contest (AICCC): AICCC encourages school-going children to acquire a liking for playing with colours and to educate parents about the importance of art in a childs life for a richer personality. Today AICCC has featured in the Limca Book of World Records (1999) for the maximum number of entries in a drawing contest. Hobby Art Training: On 9th February 2009, Camlin Ltd. and Joshis Kohinoor Technical Institute (JKTI) entered into a joint venture to impart professional training. The objective was to provide state-of-the-art training to more people to learn hobby activities that could enable them to learn and teach the art of colouring various surfaces using Camel colours. Alpha Kids- Preschools To leverage & capitalize on the brand strength and equity in the field of education Benefit of emotional disposition of consumers towards the brand due to long association Associate with your consumer the school kid at an early age Align the Companys resources to gain advantage of various government initiatives on education such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan.

Example of Print ad provided by them :

The ad takes into account the emotional connect of it being in the industry for all most 80 years in the segment for stationery products with introduction of 2000 products as well as segment diversification Recommendations: Camlin has introduced the note book series of Kokuyo which needs to be promoted under Camlin so that people can relate the emotional attachment to the brand It can increase the segment of Corporate gifting through Diaries, scholastic point of view through Maps , graph book , project book , practical book etc. under Camlin, office stationery which includes conference pads , pocket Diaries Like Reynolds write site which is a store exclusive for Reynolds products, Camlin can start its own range which would cater Stationery as well as art and hobby items plus an additional area for kids to utilize their artistic skills. These can be positioned in malls , shopping centers. Although Camlin is established and well among the kids of age 3-12 still it needs to increase its visibility through ads to reach out to wider audience more so towards the reopening of schools.