Sisyphean challenge

BRANDING: Tata and TAFE want popular recognition for their brands of automotive batteries - an uphill task, but not pointless.

Do you know the name of battery that powers your car? Unlikely. It's what marketing professionals call a classic "low involvement" product. But efforts have been afoot to raise customer involvement "" through branding tools.

The latest to join the bandwagon is TAFE-Power Source Division. Jayshree Venkatraman, director, Tractors and Farm Equipment, TAFE Ltd, says that branding budgets are on the increase, and it would be money well spent.

TAFE-Power Source Division makes two and four wheeler batteries under the brands Speed and Amco.

Another high-endurance player soon would be the Tata group, which recently announced a two-million-units plant in Pune (initial investment: Rs 90 crore) to be built by Tata AutoComp GY Batteries, a 50:50 joint venture between Tata AutoComp Systems (Taco) and Japan's GS Yuasa International (Gyin).

If the group's ambitions in other sectors are an indication, while the project will serve Tata Motors, it is also likely to make a brand play of the business.

As competition gets tough, being known to ordinary people becomes even more important. In the original equipment (OE) business, this hardly matters since vehicle-makers are well aware of all their choices, but to make replacement sales, it is brand recall at the retail decision level that makes the difference.

An old player of the game has been market leader Exide, but in recent years, much attention has been stolen by Amara Raja's Amaron brand of automotive batteries that kicked off a campaign six years that is still running ("long, really long" "" strike a bell?).

Strong brand recall was the objective, and strong brand recall is what Amaron has achieved, says Gopal Mahadevan, CEO, Amara Raja Ltd, pleased that the brand has made people conscious of what's under their vehicle's hood.

"Branding has helped the company not only increase its brand image, but profitability and revenues as well," says Mahadevan.

In a move late last year, Amara Raja signed on Narain Karthikeyan as its brand ambassador "" for which it has brought out a limited edition of Amaron Pro NK racing edition.

As part of the deal, Narain had sported the Amaron logo in his suit in Formula One races last year. Amara Raja is also an associate sponsor of Team Jordan.

The car battery replacement segment is the most attractive, and with a vast base of old cars now plying on Indian roads (on which keeping dust out is an equally uphill task), this segment is actually growing faster than the OE segment.

On the whole, the Indian automotive battery market is estimated at about 10.5 million units every year, and valued at Rs 1,500 crore, growing at 12 per cent per annum.

Replacement purchases account for close to 8.5 million of those batteries, with bulk OE purchases making up the rest. Exide still commands the largest numbers, and is easily the best recalled brand.

But once TAFE and Tata get into the thick of the action, the market's dynamics could start changing in interesting new ways. Expect the market's ad spend levels to rise.

Branding batteries may be an awfully difficult task, but like the effort to keep dust at bay, it is worth every bit of mind and money.