Marketing strategy behind reliance JIO

Marketing strategy behind reliance JIO

What is STP ????? 

STP stands for Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning. This is a three step marketing strategy such that effective implementation of each step leads to a step close to a company’s goal. It implies finding the right set of customers, focusing on them and creating a perception of your brand in their views which has an positive impact on their loyalty towards your brand.

Segmentation

Different groups of people are present in the market who share similar views regarding particular brands . Doyle (1994, in Proctor 2000) states that company must decide on the segment it will focus its activities which is based on five factors namely segment size, segment profitability, segment growth , current and potential competitors and the capabilities present in the market. Jio seems to have made most of this strategy since the 4G network in India has great potential for growth and profit. It is in its budding phase and therefore there are chances of making most of it. Besides, the use of Smartphones in the Indian market has shown a tremendous increase and still continuous so, which promises great benefits in this sector. India’s 4G market is set for exponential growth. Smartphone market volumes are projected to be at 326 million by the end of 2016, according to a Gartner and KPMG report (cited in Panday 2016 ) Besides, few competitors makes this move of Jio even more strategic .

Targeting

Once, the segment of customers on which focus is to be laid is found, the next step is how to make that segment buy your products or invest in your brand. This is called targeting. Once a target market has been determined, ‘your marketing efforts will remain focused on a particular group of people, ultimately improving your campaign’s success’ (Garberson, 2015). Jio used a great tactic to target its selected segment .

From June to July it offers unlimited high speed internet on 4G network and 4500 minutes for free for three months to those customers who buy LYF Smart phones with come with a sim card. As in India, there has been problem with online downloads or other internet related functions due to low speed internet, therefore this tactic has vast opportunities in this market. However, Jio has set a limit to the number of customers who will be able to be able to benefit from this offer in the trial period and plans to provide 4G internet access and services, after the trial period ends, to those customers who will buy these Smartphones during trial months. This way it aims at gaining prospective customers.

Positioning

Once market segment to focus on is selected and the tools or techniques to target this segment have been devised and implemented, the next part is positioning in the market. Positioning simply means how your brand is perceived by the customers. Iacobucci (2014, p. 53)states that positioning can be evaluated via perceptual maps which are graphical depictions of where brands are and where competitors are in the minds of the customer.  Jio positioned its Smartphones based on price and sales. And the offering of free voice calls minutes and high speed internet, made its identity different from its competitors and thus it gained more popularity. According to the Hindu newspaper, it has already served 500,000 customers already has become third most selling Smartphone in India.

STRATEGY ???

The Sim slots of nearly 25 million cellphones have been acquired by Reliance Jio even before its commercial launch! Reliance Jio is making headlines with its easy on pocket data packs and lifetime free calling. Never in the history of telecom has anybody witnessed a player seize the market in a weeks’ time by distributing Sim cards laden with unlimited free internet. While the jaws of many telecom companies are dropped; analysts wonder if the strategy adopted by Reliance Jio is sustainable. Here’s my take on Reliance Jio’s strategy:

1) Quality Subscribers: Analysts doubt the strategy of Reliance by citing that that with its schemes Jio will attract low quality, treacherous customers who will jump to other networks once the freebies end. But Reliance doesn’t believe so. It is offering free 4G data which means it’ll occupy the primary sim slot in the smart phones 4G phones. Also customers will switch to Jio from their broadband or the Wi-Fi services and possibly will stick to it even after the promotion period ends. In addition to that it is offering free calling, so it is aware people will be using the number for calling purposes for the next three months. Three months is a sufficient time span for people to experience the super fast speed and the quality services and permanently transfer to the network. Now assume that Jio reaches 75% of its planned subscriber base of 100 million. So by the end of the year, Reliance ends up with 75 million subscriber base. India’s total 4G user number is believed to touch the mark of 143 million by this year end. So within 3 months of its official launch, Jio would have acquired more than 50% of the market share. Even if many subscribers leave the association with Reliance, still Reliance would be left with significant market share. What an Idea, Reliance!

2) 100 million mark: Mr. Ambani has expressed his ambitious plans of to reach 90% of India’s population. The company plans to acquire 100 million subscribers in the first year of its launch. By luring the population with free data and calls for the initial few months, many doubt if this could result in financial gains for the company. But by doing this it is stretching its operational and strategic bandwidth. Reliance Jiyo has pumped total 1.5 lakh crore for 4G.  Reliance Jio’s 4G network will cover 18000 cities and town and over 2 lakh villagers. Now assume 50% of the users opting for 149 Rs plan and the remaining for higher price plans, Reliance can easily make 400 Rs per customer. If Jio manages to acquire a subscriber base of 100 million customers, it’ll recover the cost within 5 years and start reaping huge profits after that (only if the existing technology doesn’t obsolete!) Mukesh Ambani is betting on one single thing: User base.

3) Oligopolistic market: The market for service providers is oligopolistic where the participants fight for market share and profits on the basis of prices and differentiated products. Reliance jio has both. It has differentiated its product by setting up a huge bandwidth to handle the traffic of enormous data. And the plans they are offering is at amazingly cheap rate. Masses are overwhelmed by the announcement of unlimited free calling. Jio has an IP network hence all the calls will be routed through internet just like whatsapp calls and skype calls. And once the huge optical fibre network infrastructure is built, there isn’t any marginal cost for the company for providing call service. In an oligopolistic market if some player creates such kind of ripple it forces other players to slash the prices. The strategy of other player’s in the market is solely dependent on Relaince Jiyo. Well played Jio!

The approach of Reliance Jiyo is benefiting the customers as they are getting twice the value for money while the Reliance is confident that this will garner hefty profits in the coming future. It is a bold move by Reliance and only time will decide its impact. Till then enjoy the free 4G internet.

Conclusion:

Reliance Jio’s LYF Mobiles presents a fabulous example of effective use of the marketing strategy of segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.

So, did Fogg kill Axe?

So, did Fogg kill Axe?

Fogg has garnered an all-India (Nielsen) value share of about 13% as of October this year. The market share of Axe, which was the leader so far, is just about 8% now. A year ago, Axe commanded a higher share of about 18-19% of this now highly fragmented market.

It's a case study in itself on how in certain fast-growing emerging categories the sweepstakes are so different that a younger brand bears the ability to overtake the market leader in a short span of time. Fogg is owned and marketed by Darshan Patel, the entrepreneur who, prior to setting up Vini Cosmetics, was the former promoter of Paras Pharma which was later acquired by Reckitt Benckiser.

Positioning Sharing : Axe Signature's long lasting fragrance proposition is not new, the brand Set Wet deo already has the same positioning. 

Long-lasting is a widely used positioning. Across various categories brands has been using this positioning and the novelty and believe-ability of this positioning has come down drastically. Pepsodent ( dishum-dishum) , Amaron ( lasts long really long) Colgate Total are some of the brands that share the same positioning. 

Industry experts said Fogg's unique proposition - more sprays in a bottle - has helped the brand break through the clutter, considering that all brands are priced quite   competitively.

Market Potential

The market seems to have tremendous potential for growth. The category will grow among men as penetration goes up. Women's deo will also show good growth. Rural, though small, is growing at around 30% p.a. and will become sizeable after 5 to 10 years. Looking at this potential, Marico, Emami and ITC have entered the category in the last few years apart from a plethora of local players. The market has around 500 brands and 986 variants as per one news report.

While Axe is among the first few brands which created the deodorant category in the country in 1999, Fogg was launched only two years back. Axe could not retain its leadership position in the category despite roping in celebrity Ranbir Kapoor in June this year.

When contacted, an HUL spokesperson said: "As a policy we do not comment on market shares."

differentiation

Fogg did many things differently.

1. Different product. They launched a no-gas product. Fogg only has perfume liquid. Hence it lasts longer.

2. Different communication. They did not talk about attracting women. They went functional. Use Fogg and get more value for your money. You get 800 sprays by using a 125 ml bottle (MRP Rs. 170 at launch). They communicated what made them stand apart.

3. They targeted both men and women and hence went for a bigger pie of the market. When Emami launched HE in June 2014, they only targeted men.

4. They launched their product 15% costlier than competition. Even then they were a value for money product. Fogg was costlier but had much more perfume inside.

Interestingly, ITC's Engage deodorant brand, which launched a range for both men and women in April this year is one of the youngest brands in the category. It too has managed to grab a chunky piece of the market pie. Engage has garnered a share of about 5-6% in the Rs 2,100 crore deodorant market as of October this year.

"ITC personal care's entry into the deodorants market with Engage has received an extremely encouraging response," said Sandeep Kaul, divisional chief executive of ITC's personal care products division.

The " Don't Fade Away " proposition is smart because that idea is different from the current market leader Fogg's no-gas USP. So Axe is now telling the consumers that it is better than others because other fragrances fade away. The packing resembles Fogg Black Collection cannot be wished away as a coincidence.

Although the message is nothing new, Axe has executed the campaign nicely.

Priced at Rs 225, Axe has priced this variant lower than the competition. 

Why did Fogg succeed and what lesson other brands can learn from this?

What can other brands, especially new brands learn from this? Will this success last? We hope so, but we will not get into that today.

The reasons for success are already mentioned above. Let me repeat it with lessons a new brand should take.

1. Launch a differentiated product - if you can. It is never easy. Fogg launched a no gas deo (after market research revealed that people felt the deos did not last long).

2. Communicate something new and something that furthers your cause. When every one was talking about babe magnet, Fogg talked about value for money; wastage when you buy deos with gas. Point one, if a brand shows sex appeal the consumer watching the ad will not notice much. He might even attribute the ad to Axe. He has seen it a hundred times. Fogg stood out.

Point two, Fogg had a differentiated product and when you have that you need to communicate the difference in a manner that catches attention. Fogg went functional and talked about 800 sprays and value for money. It clicked. Finally, the product seems to have delivered on the promise.

As a new brand, if your product is differentiated go ahead and talk about it. If not, at least do not follow the leader. Differentiate your packaging, your communication and your overall strategy. Be different somehow to get noticed.

3. Fogg did not limit the scope to men and targeted the entire market. As a new brand, try to go for the biggest pie. Why leave out a good 30% of women consumers? Fogg must have asked itself. Interestingly, Emami did not ask this when they launched HE while ITC did launch Engage for both men and women.

4. Fogg priced the product above Axe. A bold move. As a new product, if you have a different product and you charge more, you create a positive impression. If you are a me-too product, it will be difficult to justify the premium.

5. Fogg built a good distribution network. There are two battles in marketing. One fought in the minds of the consumer and the second in the market. No brand can grow without good distribution. It has to be your focus always. Fogg was lucky 75% of its market was in top 20 towns. Even then it would have been tough for them to build a good distribution so fast.