BRAND CRITIQUE

BY: B-15
Abhishek Mehrotra (03) Devanshu Gupta (19)
Giteshwari Bisht(23)
Kirloskar Institute of Advanced Management
Studies

History & Philosophy of Cavinkare

CavinKare Group is anIndian

Conglomerateheadquartered in Chennai.

It was founded by second generation entrepreneur

C.K.Ranganathan in 1983, as Chik India, and was
later renamed CavinKare in 1998.

The CEO of CavinKare is somebody who changed

the rules of the FMCG game.

Journey: Chik to Cavinkare

In 1983, with a single product, started out a small

partnership firm, chik india by CK Rangnathan.

Chik India was renamed as Beauty cosmetics in

1990. In1998 the company was renamed as
CavinKare Pvt Ltd.

CavinKare, ended up with a turnover of a little

over Rs 500 crore. The company hopes to reach
Rs 5000 crore in the next 10 years and can
emerge as an Indian multinational.

Brand Architecture

Cavinkare is a house of brands which is into hair

care, body care, skin care, snacks, cleaners and
salons.

Portfolio Roles
Strategic Brand Nyle Shampoo and Hair oil
Fairever
Green Trends and Limelite (Salons)
Linchpin Brand Chik
Silver Bullet Chik influences Chik Satin
Meera Badam Shampoo influences
Meera herbal oil
Cash Cow Brand Chik

Brand Architecture (Contd..)

Product Market Context Roles

Endorser Brand Chik

Sub- brands Meera, Nyle, Ruchi pickles,
Indica hair dye
Benefit Brands Meera Badam Shampoo,
Meera Herbal hair oil
Drivers Chik shampoo sachets

Brand graphics

Brand Portfolio Structure

CavinKar
e
Shampoo
s

Chik

Chik
Satin

Nyle
Herbal

Hair Color

Meera
Badam

Indica

Oil

Coconut
Oil

Fairness
cream

Perfume

Meera
Herbal

Spinz

Hi5

Fairever

Salons

Green
Trends

Limelight

Brand Pyramid
Resonance
Has a loyal
customer
base in rural
market.
Repeat
purchase.
Reliable and Safety of
Feeling
quality
use.
Consumers
products
despite of
feel better
low prices.
about
Herbal
themselves.
Effectiveproducts.
Herbal and nonproducts.
chemical
Performance
Imagery
Natural
products.
ingredients used
Affordable
that are user
products.
friendly and comes
Poor image in the
in wide range of
minds of upper
product types
middle class

High
Recognition
in semi-urban and rural
Value for money.
segment.
markets.
Salience
Chic and Karthik are the popular brands in

Judgment

Branding Strategies

In 1983 Cavinkare entered the market with Chik Shampoo.

Initially they conveyed a message to the consumer that soap usage is bad for
hair.

They adopted market penetration strategy with sachets exchange scheme(1

free for 5 sachets of any shampoo).

Later scheme was only for Chik shampoo.

Sales went up from 35000 to 12 lakhs per month.

Introduced Jasmine and Rose Fragrances, sale increased to 30 lakhs.

New Avtar of Chik with two variants- Long & Strong and Hair Fall Control to
positioned it as a premium brand in the market.

Developed association with people on quality

grounds.
They also adopted the strategy of outsourcing their
manufacturing activity in order to strengthen its
distribution and marketing.
In 1992 Cavinkare identified good potential for herbal
products and launched meera herbal wash powder.
In Nov 2003 Cavinkare acquired Ruchi Agro food a
pickle brand Ruchi for 150 million.
This acquisition was aimed at boosting the branded
food business of Cavinkare.
Fairever was launched in 1999 which promises to
enhance fairness level over four week period.

To built a local and regional presence , they

advertised in local print and television
before taking brand nationally.
They showed their advertisement in
between, followed by live demonstration.
They have created sachets sales force
instead of using the conventional
distribution route.
Continuous concentration upon Research
and Development in order to understand
the needs of the target audience and to
bring more innovative products.

Other competitive Brands

Heads & shoulders

Pantene
Clinic plus
Sunsilk
Dove
Dabur vatika

BRAND POSITIONING

Shampoo for rural and semi urban India.

Consumer are aware of it as a shampoo
for silky and smooth hair such as clinic
plus is associates customers with mother
daughter relationship.
First shampoo in innovated sachet
packaging.

Points of Parity

Promise to provide a solution to rough

and tangled hairs for girls and women of
rural India.
Available in sachet.
Different products for different
segments, such as Chik Black, Chik
Jasmine, Chik Egg and Chik cool.

Point of Differences

Low prices
Deep penetration to rural India
Mobile beauty parlors
Advanced marketing and promotions
strategies.

Recommendations

Only focus on rural and semi-urban

Market, should move towards urban
markets.
Coming up with premium brands.
Using own brands in Green trends and
Limelite will also help to build a better
brand image.
More focus should be laid on branding.