Beyond RED

Eveready is now looking at value-addition attributes to highlight its new brand personality.

Give me red! Does this ring a bell? Well, now get ready for Eveready batteries' new tag line. The brand has even moved away from its club zone arena to a neighbourhood pop-and-mom store.

However, one thing that is common from its last advertisement is the brand ambassador "" Mr Eveready, Amitabh Bachchan. So, as Mr Eveready "" the shopkeeper "" is arranging his merchandise behind the counter, a young boy walks up to him and asks him for batteries for his red toy car.

The next thing we know is that the toy has transformed into a larger-than-life sized car, which fills up the entire shop taking the kid completely by surprise. But, Bachchan placidly points out the performing power of Eveready's dry cell batteries as he says, "Kucch hai extra" "" the new tag line for Eveready.

"The new campaign focuses on attributes such as performance, quality and brand assurance," says Shivaji Dasgupta, general manager, Rediffusion DY&R, Kolkata, which has been the agency for Eveready for the last 20 years.

Ravi Grover, executive vice-president, sales and marketing, Eveready Industries, adds, "The earlier campaigns were created to develop a strong brand association and gain top-of-the-mind recall." He adds, "Now, as the brand has almost become synonymous with the colour red, it is time to focus on the capabilities of the brand."

Eveready, therefore, will now position itself as the EMD (electrolytic magnesium dioxide) battery that has a 10-25 per cent extra performance edge over its competitors across various equipment usage.

Dasgutpa says, "The brief for the new campaign was simple "" communicate the values and performance capability of Eveready batteries. This explains the EMD position, which will help the brand grow beyond its red cell battery image."

Though, Grover insists that the brand is not shedding its 15-year-old "Give me red" platform altogether, industry players are not surprised. After all, the "Give me red" line created the brand association and recall among consumers as it was popularly known as the Lalwallah battery.

Further, Eveready is now ready to go a step beyond and connect with both rural and urban consumers. Dasgupta says, "The 'Give Me Red' campaign, which was launched in the early 1990s had an urban feel."

He adds, "Thus, in an attempt to have a pan-India connect, it was time to create an ad with a more universal appeal." Analysts say that Amitabh Bachchan's role of a shopkeeper, might help the brand to become a household name across sections.

According to AC Nielsen's research report, the customer response from rural markets is on a higher side as compared to the urban markets. Grover says, "The consumption of dry cell batteries is higher in the rural markets because of the equipment they use. These include radio sets, flashlights, alarm clocks and so on."

He, however, insists that the consumption in urban areas is equally significant, as the equipment base is changing with advancement in technology and entertainment.

Grover adds, "These consumers use products such as digital cameras, remote controls for almost any electronic gadget, MP3 players and so on, which increases the consumption of batteries."

At present, Eveready holds a 47 per cent market share of the Rs 1,500-crore dry cell battery market. It has been on the rise: the market share rose from 41.6 per cent in 2002-03 to 47.2 per cent in 2005-06, according to AC Nielsen.

Company executives attribute this rise in market share to its brand ambassador, Amitabh Bachchan. Other players like Novino and Nippo are far behind in terms of market share. For instance, Nippo, which comes second to Eveready has a market share of 28 percent.

Further, analysts point out that Eveready enjoys a good position in both rural and urban markets due its strong distribution. AC Nielsen supports this claim. According to a recent study, out of the 5 million battery selling retail outlets in India, Eveready has a presence in over 3.3 million outlets.

Traders attribute it to Eveready being in India much before other brands set their foot in the dry cell market. Eveready is looking at gaining an overall 50 per cent share of the market in the next 2-3 years and aims to grow at 8.5 per cent per year.

Analysts predict, the industry will grow at about 5 per cent per annum. And, Eveready wants to cash in on this growth and move faster than the market. The industry, which had faced a set-back in 2001-2002 due to the entry of Chinese battery players especially in the AA category, is now readying itself to leverage on new attributes.

Players in the industry, including Eveready saw a flat growth in sales in financial year 2001-2002, in value, as the Chinese products were available for nearly half the price of Indian products. But, traders say the situation is different now as consumers over time have realised the difference in quality and performance of Chinese batteries over better Indian products.

Thus, realising the change in the market, Eveready decided it was time to highlight the key brand feature (long-lasting power) to give consumers tangible benefits in terms of performance.

Company executives said, before finalising the Kuch hai extra campaign, it considered a host of other options.For instance, Bharat ka no1 cell or EMD wallah cell were considered to bring out various brand features. These were later written off for two reasons. The first option was used by almost every brand in India and the second was felt to be a little difficult to comprehend.

Dasgupta says, "The new tag line not only helps to build a strong customer connect, but emphasise the value addition platform stronger than the first and second options."

The campaign comprises three advertisements. These are supported by a series of events from a man walking in a cast to a short-statured man facing a dramatic transformation with the touch of Eveready batteries.

The television campaign is further highlighted by a heavy media mix of radio, print, outdoor and consumer promotion activities. The company may further look at the Internet as a medium to communicate the message both internally and externally.

Till that happens, Grover says, "It's important to emphasise the change and highlight the attributes along with communicating the leadership position ."