Taking note

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Linc Pens' latest ad campaign reflects the company's newfound consumer focus.

Paperless offices may be one of the benchmarks of progress in the country, but pens still feature prominently in today's high-tech world.

At least, that's what the Kolkata-based Linc Pens and Plastics believes, and what its new television commercial "" also the Rs 135-crore company's first corporate campaign "" showcases.

The 30-second ad is medley of glimpses of a happy nation "" children proudly scribbling "India" on a kite that is soon soaring way overhead; women giggling nervously as they write a welcome sign outside their "Laxmi Hotel"; a girl giving form to her aspirations by drawing a crown on her picture; a scene from an adult education class where a young teacher helps a toothless old man write his first alphabet and so on.

Not surprisingly, central to all these activities is a Linc pen. The tagline: The beginning of change.

"The 'beginning of change' showcases India changing for the better. But more than that, it is a company message: this is the beginning of change for Linc," says Ozair Ahmed, corporate advisor, Linc.

For Linc, the change began in-house early 2006, with a shift in strategy when the company moved from a "manufacturing mindset" to becoming more consumer-focused. From the marketing point of view, that meant a switch from making product-driven campaigns to value-centric ones. You don't have to look far for the reason.

"We want sustainable growth. The way competition is hotting up and the market is growing, consumers can differentiate you from the rest of the market only by the equity you create for your brand," says Deepak Jalan, managing director, Linc Pens and Plastics.

The numbers bear him out. According to the ACNielsen Retail Audit, in 2006 the pens market in India grew 82 per cent in value terms over the previous year.

Ball pens account for 72 per cent of the Rs 1,800-crore writing instruments market, followed by gel pens. With a 10 per cent share of the market, Linc is the No.4 player, behind market leader Cello (20 per cent), GM Pens (which makes the Reynolds brand) and Jineshwar (Montex).

It isn't easy to make a mark in the competitive pen market. "The problem with the industry is that people look at pens as a commodity. Naturally, the differentiating factor for the consumer until now has been the price and the product," says Ahmed. He is right. Until now, all players in the "affordable" (priced Rs 15 and less) category have been writing paeans to how their pens write smoother, have rubber grips, don't leak, are cheaper, are available in so many colours and so on. Almost all advertising has been product-driven.

Until now. Linc has been progressively increasing its ad budget in the past few years "" from Rs 3.42 crore in 2004-05, it climbed to Rs 5.43 crore in 2005-06 and is likely to touch Rs 7 crore this year. But the real change in communication came after Linc switched agencies "" from Mileage to Rediffusion DY&R after calling for a fresh pitch for its account.

The brief to the new agency was to the point. Says Amitava Sinha, executive vice-president, Rediffusion, Kolkata, "The company wanted a flagship film for its entire portfolio. The yardstick was to break the clutter and give pens their pride of place in the changing Indian milieu and make it stand out as well."

With such a "macro" theme, Rediff had enough leeway to play around with several options before client and agency opted for the Happy India theme.

Shot over three days by Blink Pictures in Mahabaleshwar, Panchgani and Wai in Maharashtra, the ad is being broadcast on news channels such as CNBC and Star News, general entertainment channels such as Zee, Zee Cinema and Star Plus, as well as regional channels like Star Ananda and Sun TV. Before it went on air, though, Linc opted for qualitative feedback.

Explains Jalan, "Internal feedback showed that our stakeholders "" customers, employees and dealers "" felt pride in the ad. But we wanted to double check; after all, we have a lot riding on the initiative."

Linc appointed market research agency Genova to speak with students, teachers and parents as well as the trading community in Delhi, Kolkata and Bareilly. The overall response was positive, with some recommendations. "There were inputs that the pens should have been shown more prominently, the logo should have been more obvious and so on," reveals Ahmed, adding that no changes, however, were made to the ad.

Now, Linc will follow up the TVC with outdoor advertising in metro and tier II cities, focusing on billboards and kiosks. The company isn't planning any radio spots right now. Instead, more emphasis will be paid to retail outlets.

"After all, retail outlets are not just the places where products are sold but also the spots where brands are built," feels Ahmed.

Linc opened its first exclusive outlet in Kolkata in December 2004. It now has 17 such stores "" six company owned, while the rest are franchise operations.

The stores are yet to break even, but given the new focus on brand-building, Linc believes their strategic locations, such as the exclusive outlet at the popular City Centre Mall in Kolkata, will help increase brand visibility. "It's just another method of brand building. Sales is a bonus," says Jalan.

Improved sales at retail outlets and a larger market share aren't the only goals Linc hopes to achieve as its brand equity increases. The company is also counting on improved bargaining power with retailers, especially stationery shops in malls.

"They ask for ridiculous discounts," complains Jalan. "If our brand becomes a name to reckon with, we can prevent ourselves from being arm-twisted." The emphasis, though, is not on numbers "" "Our priorities are different now," says Jalan, "We want to create brand value."