Brand Analysis & Proposed Reviving Strategies for Onida

Submitted To: Prof. Rajiv Kamble

Introduction
Onida is one of the most popular Indian-grown electronics brand. The origin of the Onida is trademarked to Monica Electronics, a company which was incorporated in 1975 and which was owned by the Mirchandani family and which was acquired in 1981 by Mirc Electronics (also owned by the Mirchandanis). In 1982, Gulu Mirchandani and his brother in law Vijay Mansukhani along with Sonu Mirchandani started assembling television sets at their factory in Andheri, Mumbai. Since then, Onida has evolved into a multi-product company in the consumer durables and appliances sector. After few years, Onida also achieved a 100% growth in ACs and microwave ovens and a 40% growth in washing machines. In the 1990s Monica Electronics had allowed Onida International (through a letter) to use the Onida trademark since the company was set up by the Mirchandanis themselves to export Onida electronic products to the Middle East. Sonu Mirchandani owns 80% of the stake in Onida International while a minority stake is held by his brother Gulu Mirchandani. Mirc Electronics won an Award for Excellence in Electronics in 1999, from the Ministry of Information Technology, Government of India. The shipments to the Gulf contribute almost 65 per cent of Onida's export revenue, while shipments to the fast growing East African market (Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia) and the SAARC countries accounted for 16 per cent of export revenues. In addition to the Gulf countries ONIDA has a presence in Russia, Ukraine and neighbouring CIS countries. Apart from Television Exports to Russia, Onida also exports DVD Players and High end LCD Televisions. The wide range of products which ONIDA offers include: LCD / LED TVs/ Monitors Plasma TVs Televisions DVD and Home Theatre Systems Air Conditioners Washing machines Microwave Ovens Presentation Products Inverters

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Mobile phones LCD Monitors

Onida is a brand best remembered for its unique mascotthe green devil with horns, long nails and spiky tail slithering across television screens. Onida was synonymous with the devil that represented the electronics companys public image. The consumers loved the devil and identified Onida with the devil. The tag line, Neighbours Envy, Owners Pride, was as catchy as the mascot. The devil turned out to be an angel in disguisehis mischievous message stood the brand in good stead in times that saw many of its rivals capitulate under market pressure. The Devil was originally created by Mr Gopi Kukde of Avenues in 1982. It was a welcome break from the boring TV industry. Onida was the first brand to advertise in Television that is to create a TVC about TV in Television.

Strategy behind the Tagline

ONIDA came out with the famous caption 'Neighbour's envy, Owner's Pride' a popular theme of which has created larger than product impact when released on air during the 1980s. This slogan or tag-line was instrumental in giving the brand an identity or class in the market. It immediately opened the doors for the brand among the middle-class consumer market. The base line or the copywriting proved successful because it was derived from the analysis of middle-class mentality prevailing during those days. During the 1980s and early 1990s buying just to show off or to establish self-esteem in the society was the in thing. People were tuned into buying things just to bloom their pride and flash their life styles. Those were times when instalments and other feasible finance options had entered the consumer durable market and hence, people could change and buy at more frequent intervals. Colour TV was considered a part of elite lifestyle and whosoever owned one was but naturally envied by the others. This famous tagline of Onida very precisely targeted this insecure mentality and inferior complexity of the middle class and upper middle class. The hammer rightly hit the nail and the sale of Onida TV escalated beyond imaginations. For over 2 decades, it continued to deliver good results for the brand. A unique conceptualization with an equally creative and ingenious tag line was the highlighting feature. Onida was not only recalled just for its tagline but because of its catchy advertisements featuring a devil incarnate (as a bald man with two horns and a tail) in the 1980s.
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Market Share
In 1980s and 1990s the brand had a wonderful time and was in the top three brands in market share behind BPL and Videocon. Then the Koreans came and Onida too became a victim of liberalization. Korean heavyweights such as LG Electronics and Samsung came to India with aggressive pricing and distribution strategies and conquered the consumer electronics market. The older players, such as Mirc, Videocon and BPL, couldnt match their ability to scale up operations and cut prices while playing the volumes game. Most companies went into the red and rest became history. Onida stopped using the devil as its icon but after seeing the sales and brand identity suffer, the company thought of re-introducing the devil in 2004. The devil was a memorable mascot for Onida reintroducing the devil in 2004 was a wise decision. They observed that a lot of misbranding was the result of not using the devil as Onidas face for eight years. As soon as they reintroduced the devil in 2004, their sales shot up. People again started recognising the uniqueness of Onidas brand positioning in the market. As stated by Mr Sriram Krishnamurthy, VicePresident, Sales, Marketing and Service the company has re-launched its brands in September 2009, and invested nearly Rs 100 crore next year to set up its third manufacturing plant in Maharashtra. It already established its second factory at Roorkee, Uttaranchal, with an investment of Rs 60 crore. It rolled out 30 exclusive galleries to showcase its new products across India in 2011-12 as part of its Mission $1 billion' to achieve turnover of Rs 4,500 crore by 2012-13. But now Onida's well-known devil' of the Eighties and Nineties has been replaced by a regular Onida Couple' as neighbour's envy' has lost meaning in a durable market and owners take pride in changing their brands. Also the company has no plans to appoint a celebrity as ambassador to endorse its brands. Having identified its new growth drivers in the markets of air-conditioning, flat-panel devices (FPDs), microwave ovens and mobile phones, MIRC has also tripled its ad-spend to Rs 150 crore in 2011, primarily targeting the mass media for brand rebuilding. Nearly one-third of the revenues of around Rs 2,000 crore in 2010-11 came from sale of air-conditioners. Onida has got a 14 per cent share in the split airconditioning market and overall 9 per cent in this segment in 2011 and is also targeting to double its TV flat panel and mobile phone market shares to 6 per cent.

Reasons for Brand Ailment

1) Internal Management Problem: A Brothers Envy Owners Pride Clearly the Onida trademark has turned out to be A Brothers Envy Owners Pride. Given the popularity of the brand in the 1990s it was but obvious that the Onida trademark and the goodwill
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associated with it is an extremely valuable asset to Mirc Electronics and it was unlikely that Gulu Mirchandani is going to sit by and let his brother exploit the trademark especially after paying him handsomely for his stake in Mirc Electronics. The Onida trademark soon became the subject of an interesting legal battle between the Mirchandani brothers. The fight between the brothers: Gulu and Sonu Mirchandani and their brother -in-law Vijay Mansukhani over the control of the Onida group, destroyed the brand image of ONIDA. Gulu bought out Sonus holding in their company Mirc Electronic and Sonu started launching a range of electronic products under the Onida brand and through a company Onida International in which Sonu has an 80% stake. But Sonu did not intend to manufacture the electronic products himself instead he entered into a joint venture with a Japanese company to market their products under the Onida trademarks. Onida tried to stage a recovery after the successful re-launch of the brand and the return of the Devil. But the family feud made things difficult for the brand all the time. 2) Changing Advertising and Taglines: Problem worsened with changing Ad agencies The fight had severely eroded the share of the brand and even the marketing of Onida. In the face of India's changing consumer tastes and their financial capabilities, Onida has decided to say goodbye to their good old "Devil" mascot or their so called brand ambassador. With the stiff competition from international brands like LG and Samsung, Onida decided to rebuild its brand and to build a complete new brand mascot to grab the attention of India's new consumers. And therefore, the creative duties of the brand have partly moved from Rediffusion to McCann Erickson. But as usual, when the agency changed, the entire brand elements got changed. Things are consistent till the same agency handles the account. But when the agency moves on, the new agency resist continuing the existing strategy since it was crafted by the competitor. So whatever be the quality of the existing branding strategy, the new agency will try to change it. Same happened with Onida, as soon as they changed their ad agency; it resulted in a drift from a time-tested successful theme to uncharted territory and sink in further confusion with an unnecessary change in the positioning strategy. Even the brand was not been able to consolidate the earlier theme based on 'truth', the brand got repositioned again. For Onida, the quote Change is always good proved to be the worse. When O&M took the brand from Rediffusion, the famous tagline "Neighbor's Envy, Owner's Pride" and the Devil was taken off. The brand suffered for almost 10 years and has never recovered since .The change of agency again changed things and Devil returned in a new avatar and a new tagline "Nothing but the truth" came into existence. But the new arrangement did not made things better. And therefore in 2007, Onida launched a new campaign for its A/C and with a new tagline again "Enjoy in your life". And then a new campaign for the air conditioner features a new Devil and the tagline has again changed to "Experience the desire". They thought of changing their Tagline to a newer one to attract more customers but whenever it tried to replace its original tagline with new one, the results were disastrous. And this how Onida proved best for the case study about "How to Mess up a wonderful brand". Later the devil
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was even replaced by a married couple- Siddharth and Ritu, but even then the brand could not survive. Onida now has a new tagline- "Tum Ko Dekha to ye design aya" meaning "Designed with you in mind". With this new brand campaign, the company would address the youth and establish it as more than a TV brand. The brand replaced the iconic devil with a new-age couple as the protagonists. Onida has now done repositioning on the basis of "Customer Oriented Design". But in comparison with the classic old tagline, the new campaign falls short of expectations.

3) Aging Customers Base: Brand Amnesia The customers of Onida have grown older with times and the brand has failed to connect itself to the current generation. The devil in the advertisements is not helping them either. ONIDA has reached a stage of Brand amnesia in which when a venerable, long-standing brand tries to create a radical new identity, such as when Onida tried to replace its original tagline with new one, the brand forgets what it is supposed to stand for and it runs into trouble.

4) No After Sales Service Provided Onida TVs got regular problems of complaints from different customers, but there was no one to listen to customers complaints and which had created a great dissatisfaction amongst customers. The regular feedback of poor after sales service posted by customers on social media, have ultimately resulted in reducing the brand sales from the market.

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What is the brand up to these days? Financials The brand ailment is clearly reflected in the financials of the brand wherein its profits for the first time is wandering in the negatives. It stands at -41.61 crores. A tough economic condition manned by slow growth and negative perception both amongst investors and consumers Also the recent fire at the Onida plant at uttarakhand in Haridwar further gave a severe blow to the brand and its operations and profits.

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Foray into LED Lighting category

Mirc Electronics Ltd, the maker of the Onida brand of consumer durables, has made a foray into the LED lighting space with the Onida and Igo brands. While Onida targets the urban sector (metro and mini metro markets), Igo plans to improve rural penetration. "The opportunity in lighting is immense, in urban as well as rural India, where LED lights can replace conventional sources," says Avnish Jauhari, business head; Mirc Electronics Ltd. Onida and Igo are looking at revenues worth Rs 500 million each in the first year of their operations in the LED space. We took the right opportunity to venture into this sector as LED lighting is an upcoming market and holds immense business potential, both in urban and rural areas, says Avnish Jauhari. Both Onida and Igo started manufacturing streetlights, flash lights and LED lanterns in September 2010, at Mircs Wada (Maharashtra) and Roorkee (UP) facilities. We already have Igo, a rural centric brand, as we used to sell low cost TVs in rural areas, says Sanjay Kumar, head marketing, Igo. The differing marketing strategies According to Sanjay Kumar, the marketing strategies of Onida and Igo are very different. The right product is a big part of a successful marketing strategy. The products should be suitable for the market you are targeting. Igo products have been developed keeping the rural markets in mind, where out of 7 lakh villages, around 4 lakh villages either don't have electricity or don't have proper electrical suppliants. So, we cannot sell them products that require electricity. Onida is developing LED streetlights and other lighting fixtures which will replace normal electrical light fittings like tube lights, bulbs, etc, that are used in homes and commercial areas. Igo, on the other hand, is developing LED lanterns and flashlights, which are back-up lighting products; they will run on stored electricity in batteries (dry cells, rechargeable cells and solar rechargeable cells). In other words, they are the inverters of rural areas. Igo products, predominantly sold in rural areas, aim to replace kerosene lamps.

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Onida Launched LED TVs with I-Care Technology and launched Pre cool range of Air Conditioners

Dealers Meet
Onida has been trying to maintain a good relation with dealers meet though sporadic to say the least.

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SWOT Analysis

Branding Strategies: The Older & Revival Strategies to be followed

Of 1) Brand Personality a. Logo: Though the primary concern at this point for brand Onida is to revive the brand via superior newer relevant product to relevant market, effective distribution channel integrated marketing communication, in all these reworking on the logo may not appear to be of primary importance but we suggest a logo that captures both the original devil horns and todays times, so we tinkered just a little bit and suggest the following.

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2) Strategies: Should stick to a uniform positioning segment.

Country Wide extensive consumer research: to give a fresh lease of life to the brand Onida should start at the very basic and grass root level and have a soul search about the perceptions of the brand the market of tier 2 and tier 3 cities in general the current mood amongst the consumers the trends their aspirations behaviour and purchasing patterns. It can probably outsource an outside research agency to maintain the objectivity and have a wider perspective one that will give brand truth market truth and competition truth.

a. Targeting and Positioning: What we as a group thought that brand ONIDA should take stock of the current situation and target the Tier 2 Tier 3 cities at the outset the brand recall is still present which will further help the product. The market potential is huge with growing consumerism and also digitisation of television and set top boxes television and other electronic products have become more of a basic need even to the lowest strata of the society. It can later after successfully tapping into this segment think of further penetration into higher SECs. We recommend it to concentrate on air conditioners and washing machines apart from LED televisions, Onida has been coming with Android television but it should concentrate more on providing a basic LED television set with flat screen higher quality picture and sharper image superior sound because tier2 and tier3 cities still appreciate the basic television with contemporary looks sleek design at an affordable price hence enhancing their value for money. It can even look at providing a greater choice in terms of screen size by coming out with 14 21 and other such varieties. Onida TV should be positioned as a medium for entertainment providing advanced technology at affordable prices. The focus of the company would be to allow those people to upgrade who want to upgrade but do not have the means. Target consumers should see it as an aspirational home appliance. Onida TV should continue to be neighbors envy owners pride! Onida owners are regarded in high esteem they are special, and this can act as a strong differentiator

b. Bundling of products: This concept successfully utilized by brands like LG could be the capsule making the difference since the market that it will try and tap would definitely appreciate bundling and since ONIDA is already into making of other consumer electronics it is in a position to try this specially this offer can be made available during festivals of various regions. Air conditioners washing machines micro waves and television are already being manufactured and should be bundled together.

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3) Communications Strategies: a. Road-shows in mobile Cars: Since Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities throws up a great many avenues for organizing road shows in public places haats and even the malls which are on the rise in tier2 cities. They can have games interactive events contests and involve the customers as well as inform them. Merchandising and giving them crisp and relevant information distributing free pamphlets brochures. Organizing certain contests to have the customer engagement in place and put in place brand recall. b. Promotional Strategies: They should bargain for more shelf space in speciality stores like Croma, eZone etc. They may negotiate with discount stores like Big Bazaar for promoting Onida TV. They should also invest more in dealer promotions (Videocon has had reasonable success due to aggressive dealer promotions) i. Consumer Promotion: Promotions like contests, lucky draw, exchange offers etc. will help in brand awareness and better brand recall. This way they can capture a good part of replacement demand. Another aspect we thought was connecting with the mid aged people who in some way or the other are the influencers in the decision making process of the final purchase those who saw the golden age of Onida and their emotional connect can be leveraged to re connect with the brand. ii. Celebrity Endorsement: The Company can rope in a celebrity to endorse its brand in a fresh advert. This way the brand can be benefited from celebrities brand equity. We suggest rope in a sports icon or a Bollywood star rather than the inconspicuous couple (as per the current ads) where the recall value is poor. This will also help in better brand awareness. If we have a look at the other consumer electronics brand be it Samsung Videocon and others all have roped in a celebrity and successfully and creatively used all the celebrities to create brand identity and recall value, Onida on the other hand started with a devil it was innovative at the outset in the early 90s but during todays times it needs a celebrity to leverage the brand and create a new refreshed identity along with the devil a series of creative can be formed where the devil and the celebrity are seen in a notorious confrontation. Since the other two big khans namely Shahrukh and Aamir are already endorsing other brands the brand can think of roping in Salman Khan and his notorious image goes well with a confrontation creative with the devil that we seek to proprose. iii. Association with events: To regain old customers and to regain visibility, Association with events can help. Onidas problem of low visibility will be solved with its sponsorship of events like cricket matches (ICC World Cup & IPL), rock

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shows, other games, marathons etc LG co-sponsored ICC World Cup and got tremendous mileage in terms of increased sales and brand building. A part from Cricket they can be associated with sports that are trending like badminton, golf etc. iv. Innovative Advertisement: They should come up with catchy advertisement ahead of Cricket and IPL seasons. Their decades old Devil can be portrayed to find a connection with todays mid-age generation, who are their potential customers and confront with the celebrity roped to create a series of recurring ads with a theme in them during a sports season. c. After Sales Service: This is one aspect where a lot of effort is required from the brand since it has faced a lot of flak in being a poor after sales service provider, internalising the brand and providing a better after sales service can be a differentiator also it being a desi and indigenous brand targeting the tier2 and tier3 cities can better understand and build relation with the consumer because they already might be having a member of the family who has experienced or heard about the brand earlier. While giving the service they can tap into them by asking the user of their favourite ONIDA memory. The primary effort on the part of the brand should be to internalize the brand so that each and every person concerned should have the mission vision and strategy of the brand attuned to themselves. 4) Product Strategies a. Wide range of products: One stop shop for consumer electronics.The Company should go for line extension in value segment so as to target more customers in the lower segment. They should introduce more variants in 14, 20 and 21 segment. These products will target the young and first time buyers. These buyers will have an emotional attachment with the brand and as they graduate to the high end segment, Onida can target them with its high end products. Onida is now in one of the most difficult times. The brand needs to come out with a product that will change the game. Changing the mascot is secondary at this point of time. LCD market is the fastest growing segment and this is where Onida should focus immediately. These products will fetch higher realization than the low-priced TVs. They should launch high-definition, LEDTVs. They should continue the USB supported TV which will be a good differentiator to project its technological superiority and user-friendly features. e.g. Ultra slim TV with USB connectivity. b. Marketing Mix: Onida is facing a marketing problem and more than a branding problem. Everything is fine with the brand. People recognize the brand. The issue is on a larger perspective. It needs to concentrate on its entire marketing mix not just the brand elements. Onida needs to convince the consumers that its products are better designed and technologically superior. It is about managing perception .Features can be copied by competitors easily but changing perception is a difficult task.

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c. Work on R & D: This is another important initiative that ONIDA has to work on if it wants to survive in todays dynamic and rapidly changing technological market. It needs to convey this message to both consumers and dealers and distributers so that the positioning of a brand focussed on continuously innovation is conveyed to all stake holders. The conveyance to the dealers should be done via brochures pamphlets rational means of communication that it is a brand that seeks to reinvent itself always and through its R&D efforts is always looking to give the consumer a better product adapted to the latest technology. 5) Pricing Strategies a. Incentives to dealers: The pricing doesnt need to be altered much. They should keep the Landed Retail Price (LRP) of TVs the same but give more margins to dealers. The price for 14 and 21 should be kept 600 1,500 more than Videocon and BPL, so as to maintain its superior image (Videocon is generally priced lowest of all). In the LCD segment, the price should be 15-20% less than Sony and Samsung. This will help in grabbing the aspirational customers who would not like to spend much in their TV purchase. b. We suggest the brand not to try too much and adopt a basic strategy and do not complicate things do not go by too much textual and strategic principles but attune themselves to the market realities at ground zero. What Onida has been stuck up with is too much of thinking trying to change and getting influenced by what others are doing rather than what they themselves are doing. Trying to put your foot in two boats at the same time can very easily land you in a soup. 6) Relation building with channel members dealers: They play a role in the ultimate purchase of the consumers especially in tier 3 cities and incentives to the channel members in the form of rewards like foreign trips may be thought of amongst others. Retail malls and exclusive stores need to be tapped as well. Incentive schemes to channel partners spread over a longer period is required.

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Pre-Launch Plan: Create interest/buzz we suggest around 25 % of the proposed estimated marketing budget to go into the pre-launch phase Launch Plan: Make people come to the store, 55% of the budget. Post-Launch Plan: Keep them coming Elements and Sustenance phase essentially 20 % of the budget.

After analysing the financials and past records we estimate the budget for marketing to be in between 150 and 200 crores for the overall campaign out of which 60% should be in ads and promotions, also invest in the plants of Onida namely at Roorkee and Wada factories this should be in tune (base revenue of 2000 crore) of about 50 to 100 crore respectively. Timeline proposed by us is to start the pre-launch buzz from September and keep the launch period for the Diwali festivals and extend and sustenance phase till other festivities, and the start of the sporting seasons like the T20 world cup extending up to IPL season. Initial buzz would be via a relaunch of the brand with a customized LED TV with sleek design. Social media can also be tapped by completely working on Facebook page giving it new features they do not have a twitter page as well create the buzz and encourage communication by asking what you would do if you encounter the devil this Diwali. A press conference with the top honchos of the brand, the proposed ambassador and the devil communicating to the press. Strategic news items and print ads in all the news-papers, prints banners and billboards communicating that the brand is coming in a new avatar this Diwali. Also can go for guerrilla marketing by putting innovative product items at streets and setting up real devil models at malls which would be interacting with the shoppers and grabbing eye balls. Teasers in Television that the devil is coming this Diwali beware can be put forth.

Launch Phase (Diwali and Dhanteras): Elements Mall and store dcor (mall to be lit up every night for 15 days with trellis lights) Contests like Guess the Price Trolley Procession and Cavalcade. Backpack hoardings. Mall faade branding, dropdowns with door buster offers. Gate Arch in the form of trolley.

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Hoardings, pole kiosks across prominent areas. Dealer meets.

Post-Launch Plan: Keep them coming

Promoter activity: Residential contact program at key residential areas. Singing and Dancing
contest over the weekend.

Weekend Promoter activity : Trolley procession, Cavalcade, Weekend Events IPL cricket event showing at pubs clubs malls market place live cricket matches.

Creative Presentation Creative approval Activity design Route Plan Legal Permission Signage site availability Outdoor site H2H residential plan 15 days prior the launch News-paper Inserts Ads Float activity Mobile Hoarding Signage's up

Exclusive Onida Stores

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Conclusion:

In our detailed analysis of Brand Onida we think that the brand due to its turbulence internal structure and getting too much influenced by others and trying to do too many thing all this while not having a uniform positioning nor a integrated marketing communication went from an admired Indian brand to virtually a brand in oblivion. It committed basic and glaring marketing blunders on the way and also was a victim of the heightened competition owing to the entry of great many foreign players who had a great set of product line in place which were technologically superior at competitive prices they continuously innovated had an effective sales and distribution the central in channel in place a uniform communication strategy in place overarching to the central value system in the organization. Brands like Samsung LG and even to an extent Videocon went ahead in the race. Essence MADE IN IDIA brand not inferior in any way but fresh revitalized vitality and vigour just like the youth of todays INDIA.

Considering all these details all is still not lost for Onida if it considers to put its best foot forward with reviving its brand the essence of brand revival should be to look at itself work on its products first work on its brand internalize it work on the R&D to present to its customers with contemporary stylish and relevant products. It needs to work on the after sales services and use its experience of being an experienced and indigenous brand to penetrate into the proposed Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with fresh launch and communication strategy in place via conventional as well as non-conventional communication in place. The vision statement of made in India brand better understanding the Indian market and having innovation to provide a greater consumer experience should be incorporated from spirits to actual actions.

What brand Onida is facing is not a branding but a marketing problem it needs to go back to the drawing board and chalk out an aggressive marketing campaign after proper market research and finding truths about the market its own product and about the competition at large, apply proper segmentation and try and have a uniform positioning and not get mixed up by trying out too many things. Indian market still presents itself with a huge opportunity to tap into and the brand recall and emotional connect of the brand is still very high. The only thing missing is the stewardship and strong will. This campaign as such would definitely act as a trigger to penetrate into the Tier2 and Tier 3 cities and result in a Onida competing and grabbing a significant market share and later look to expand further.

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