Rasna has repositioned again, this time it is wooing kids by being bold and naughty
Cute is out and naughty is in. Just ask Rasna. The company, which for years relied on innocence to sell, has now repositioned itself as a bolder and naughtier option. In line with that, the company has changed its ‘I love you Rasna’ positioning to ‘Shararat ki ek ghoont’ (one sip of mischief).
The genesis for the campaign was that even though the company has a 97 per cent market share in the concentrated juice category, it was keen to rope in non-users, especially those who consume aerated beverages to quench their thirst. Other players in this industry include Coca-Cola’s Sunfill which has a market share of 2 per cent, followed by Sugar Free (0.2 per cent), C Sip Vitamin C, Kissan Mr Fruit and Tang.
Rasna Chairman & Managing Director Piruz Khambatta says: “The change comes after research we conducted showed there was a marked shift in motherhood.” The consumer study conducted across four towns covered 600 families. Findings revealed that there are three types of mothers: The new-age mother whose relationship with the child is empowering, nurturing and friendly; the vigilant gatekeeper mother is more balanced, goal-driven and bureaucratic, who urges her child to become an achiever; and the traditional oppressive mother who is authoritative and strict, which in turn either creates a rebellious child or a loner.
Having discovered these three traits in mothers, Khambatta decided that his brand had to be one which partners in exploration, discovery, victory and fantasy. With that in mind, Khambatta and advertising agency Mudra sat down to deliberate. “I also wanted to appeal to the up-market sections, so I had to show them today’s world,” adds he. The company decided to come out with three TV commercials, all showing children pulling a fast one. For instance, one of the ads showcases a young girl competing with a battery-operated bear and an Egyptian mummy for Rasna. The moment the buzzer goes off the girl puts her hand behind the bear’s back and pulls out the battery, thus killing the battery-operated bear. Similarly, the child then throws the second competitor out of the way by removing the pin stuck on the length of cloth taped around the Egyptian mummy. Having overpowered both her competitors, the girl then happily sips away all of the Rasna drink. The ads end with the tag line: Shararat ki ek ghoont.
Change with the times
Rasna was launched in 1982 by Pioma Industries. In 2008-09, company posted revenues of Rs 400 crore, which was 30 per cent higher than the previous year. The demand for Rasna peaks during the summer months. Most of the company’s business is transacted from January to July. As Rasna is the category leader by a far margin, the company does not set aside a large part of its revenue for advertising and brand building. This year, for instance, it plans to spend Rs 17 crore. This would not be more than 4 or 5 per cent of the turnover for the year. Most beverage companies spend up to 15 per cent of their turnover on brand building.
Though it is the market leader, Rasna has frequently felt the need to rediscover itself. This is not the first time Rasna’s trying its hand at repositioning. Five years ago, the company decided that it no longer wanted to be a kid’s drink. That was when many companies had decided to take the health route and Rasna was swift to join the bandwagon. Thus it changed its tagline to “Relish a gain”. To reiterate its point it launched Juc Fit, a fruit-based health drink. Khambatta even roped in brand consultant Shombit Sengupta of Shining Emotional Surplus to design a new logo for the company. Thus was born the leaf logo which signifies value for money and health.
Marketers opine that the move did little for Rasna. On the contrary, many people started moving away from it and drinking aerated beverages which were very competitively priced. Rasna made an effort to enter newer markets like the milk foods category with a brand called Shake Up. It also tried to make its mark in the Cola market with ‘Rasna Cola Cola’, but neither of the two really took off.
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New positioning
As for the latest positioning of Rasna that builds around the smart kid, brand consultant Harish Bijoor of Harish Bijoor Consults feels that in a society like India it’s important for a brand like Rasna to evolve. “A child 20 years ago was far different from children today. Everything is getting edgy and marketers need to keep pace,” he says. However, he’s not very excited by the tagline, “I’d rather prefer visual naughtiness like the new Limca ad, than have such a tagline.”
Typically, summer at Rasna implies launching new variants. In the past the company came out with products like premium Powder, Alphonso Mango, Home made Nimbupani, Ghar ka Range, Aquafun and so on. This time though, Khambatta believes he’s got it right with the new ads. He’s also not in a hurry to launch variants just yet. “While we will be coming out with variants in the second half of the year, right now we’re just concentrating on this,” he admits.
The product proposition of value-for-money stays the same. “We continue to have SKUs from 50 paise onwards that go up to Rs 10,” says Khambatta. He harps on the Rasna per glass value, citing that a glass of Rasna along with sugar will cost Rs 3 as opposed to a glass of Tropicana, which will cost Rs 15. But how does he manage to keep prices so low? “We are a fully Indian company and we manufacture every required ingredient here itself. There are no imports of concentrates as the case may be with multinational corporations,” Khambatta explains.
On the distribution front, Rasna has the market nicely covered with 1.8 million retail outlets, a 460-strong sales force, 4,500 stockiest, 35 depots and five branch offices. It is available in all villages and towns with a population of 5,000 or more.