BRAND MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT

BRAND: CYCLE AGARBATHISANEESH VARGHESE |

CYCLE AGARBATHIS

History of the brand

Cycle brand is owned by Bangalore based N Rangarao and Sons. NRS were pioneers in branding

agarbathis and Cycle brand is one of the largest agarbathi brand in India with a market share of

15%.

‘Cycle Pure Agarbathies’ is manufactured by the Mysore-based NR Group. The NR Group The

Mysore Based NR Group was founded by Shri N. Ranga Rao in 1948.Sri. Ranga Rao who was a

true visionary launched Cycle Pure Agarbathies which today is the world’s leading incense

brand. From a home-grown enterprise, NR Group has grown to become a successfully-run

business with established presence in India and abroad.

Cycle brand was launched in 1948. In this commodity market,Cycle was positioned as a

premium agarbathi brand. The brand was trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing

campaigns and quality.

The first export orde was received by the company from Sri Lanka in 1954. Later it started

exporting agarbathis to other countries, including the Chile, Japan ,US, and Africa. The

company, which exported agarbathis to just 12 countries in 2001, now has a presence in over 60

countries. Cycle has a worth of worth Rs1,500 crore in Indian Agarbathi industry with a 15%

share in the organised market.

‘Cycle Pure Agarbathies’ has an array of offerings in the premium category: Three in one, lia,

Rhythm, Woods, are the marquee brands. Heritage Agarbathies is the latest offering from the

group.

The Group has diversified into other business categories, such as functional air care products

(Lia brand of room fresheners and Car-fresheners) and wellness home fragrance products (IRIS)

under Ripple Fragrances; floral extracts (NESSO) and Rangsons Electronics. The group is also

very passionate about several Social Initiatives which they run through their arm ‘The NR

Foundation’. The third generation of the Ranga family manages the NR Group today.

CURRENT BRANDING STRATEGIES

LOGO OF CYCLE AGARBATHIS: A Cycle which symbolizes Quality

NAME: CYCLE PURE AGARBATHIS

SLOGAN: “Everyone has a reason to pray”

GRAPHICS: Depiction of Gods in its packaging and print ads.

SOUNDS: The brand also has few signature tunes to make sure that the brand has its presence in the minds of consumers.

SCENTS: The agarbathis produce an exhilarating fragrance that tantalizes the senses and moves the soul.

CAMPAIGNS

‘Pray for India’ campaign

Campaign to invoke country’s collective prayers for Indian cricket team in World Cup

2011

Cycle Pure Agarbathies, India’s leading agarbathi brand is rolling out its ‘Pray for India’

campaign for the World Cup 2011 on February 2011. Pray for India campaign was a platform for

ardent cricket lovers across the country to pray for the Indian cricket team to win the World Cup.

The on ground campaign was rolled out in 100 cities of the country with a Cycle ‘Pray for India’

branded mobile van .The van moved through the city stopping at important places and asked the

passerby’s to come up on the van and write their prayers. A sample pack of Agarbathies was also

distributed to pray for the Indian team. Each Van carried a 6 ft Mega Agarbathi which was lit at

the end of the day by a local celebrity. The on ground activity will started from Feb 17th.

As part of the campaign, Cycle Pure Agarbathies created a new Television commercial. The

commercial denoted people from various walks of life having only one hope – that India should

win the World Cup in 2011. Cycle Pure Agarbathies, carried the hope and prayers of the entire

Indian population. The commercial was played on the days before the India matches.

There was SMS support to the campaign with over 50 lakh SMSs sent out to fans in the country.

On the social networking platform Facebook, the ‘Pray for India’ campaign was run through the

company’s page called Bhagwaan Hai. Brand Cycle stands for hope and unwavering optimism –

the grand essentials of human life. The thought of Bhagwaan Hai takes the idea of ‘God’ out of

the puja rooms to the large canvas of our daily life.

The Bhagwaan Hai page drove the 100-city campaign online with regular updates, weekly

contests and gifts for fans and cricket lovers across the country.

Cycle Heritage Quiz  

Cycle Pure Agarbathies, India’s largest incense stick brand, today organized it’s 2nd edition

of Cycle Heritage Quiz 2013 at Ahmedabad on 7th Dec . CHQ 2013 – India’s only quiz aimed

at educating the students on the Heritage and Culture of our country was held at the Mangaldas

Girdharlal Town Hall. Titash Banerjea,- Quizmaster and Aarif Khan- compere kept the

Ahmedabad audience engrossed throughout the quiz program. Chief Guest of the Quiz Program

Mayur Vakani who is also known as Sundar Mama in Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma Serial

motivated the students to give their best performance.

The Quiz Show received an overwhelming response with 375 teams from 80 schools of

Ahmedabad City., attending the event.. In one year Cycle Heritage quiz has become the biggest

quiz, event in the city. There were only 150 teams in 2012 edition of the quiz. The quiz was open

to students of class VII to Class IXth. After the preliminary round 6 teams qualified for the grand

finale. All the questions of the quiz were related to the heritage of India including, epics,

mythology, origins of festivals and traditions and more.The quiz was closely contested and there

was a photo finish at the end.

Rahamanishq

Cycle Pure Agarbathies, India’s largest incense stick brand, through its sub-brand Lia co-

sponsored the city’s biggest musical event of the year ‘Rahamanishq’ by the iconic musician

A.R. Rahman at Sardar Patel Stadium Navrangpura on 27th October,2013. Lia also organized

consumer contests initiatives like opportunity of winning tickets of the concert with a pack of

‘Lia’ agarbathies and other display contests such as the innovative initiative of giving a chance to

win tickets of the concert by clicking self-pictures beside cut-outs of Rahman in various malls

and uploading on facebook.

As a gesture to reiterate its commitment towards Garbha- the traditional art form of Gujarat

Cycle Pure Agarbathies has organised the Cycle Sheri Garbha Contest for the 4th consecutive

year in Ahmedabad and in major cities of Gujarat, As part of this event individuals and groups

performing ‘Garbha’ in its original form are recognised and awarded, Cycle Pure Agarbathies

also organized a meet and greet session with the iconic musician A.R. Rahman for Selected

Winners of Cycle Sheri Garbha on the eve of this concert.

Cycle Pure Trusted Player award

Cycle Pure Agarbathis were official co-sponsors of the Tri series between India,West Indies and

Srilanka in July 2013.The social media was used to give publicity to this using a contest .The

objective was to spread the word about the sponsorship and the Cycle Pure Trusted Player award

for every match.

The campaign was from 28th June to 11 July during the Tri-series matches.When a new fan

alanded on the application they had to like the page to predict and pray for Cycle Pure Trusted

Player of the match to win amazing prizes.The ability to predict every match closed 2 hrs before

the actual match began.This could be done for any number of players for the matches.They had

to submit their name and email id to take part in the contest.Fans could view prayers by clicking

View prayers and even share ,comment and like prayers.

STP of the brand

Cycle is positioned as the premium agarbathi brand.

The brand is trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing campaign and quality.

Cycle 3 in 1 the most popular has three different fragrances in one pack.

Many schemes such as natures gift brand has been introduced.

Segmentation:

Consumer demographics(House wives,villagers,religious people and pandits etc)

Consumer’s geographic location(mostly rural areas)

Consumer lifestyle(Middle class,lower middle class)

Behavioral characteristics(Usage occasions)

Targeting:

Targeted towards religious people and religious ceremonies as a token of worship

Positioning

• ‘Cycle’ is positioned as a premium brand and differentiated from others in terms of packaging, advertisement campaigns and quality.

• Cycle agarbathis thrived in the market by continuous innovation in their packaging and fragrance.

• Cycle established their presence in the less attractive market as a brand by some effective campaigns emphasizing on quality and fragrance.

Point of Similarity:

• Pricing- Ranges from Rs.10 – Rs 60 packets for agarbathis

• 3-in-1 and 5-in-1 packets

• Promotes the religious cause

• Availability in kiranas, pan shops, supermarkets etc

Point of Difference:

• Good Quality and better Packaging

• Better offers for customers during festivals

• Give importance to promotions

• Variety in fragrance

• Pooja Kits are also their USP

Current market position

The Indian agarbathi market is highly fragmented with over 450 players.Cycle agarbathis is the current market leader in India with a market share of 15% followed by ITC Mangaldeep with about 5%.Cycle brand exports to about 60 countries.

The domestic market is about to be of Rs 3500 Crore in size where as the export market is about 500 crore in size.

Every year more than 1000 billion sticks are produced and the market is growing at a rate of 7% per year. 

Marketing communication and analysis

• Print Media: “Bhagwaan hai” which has come in regional languages like Malayalam, Gujrati, Kannada(Devaru iddarre), Marathi to cater to the varied target customers

• Radio: There are radio ads of the brand in different regional languages

• TV Commercials: Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani and Bhagwaan hai are few popular ads that are hit on TV

• Signature Tunes: The brand also has few signature tunes to make sure that the brand has its presence in the minds of consumers

• During the ICC Cricket World Cup they have launched the ‘Pray for India’ campaign which was part of all their communications during that period.

CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID

Resonance

Loyal customers: Has been in the industry since 1948 so many customers even from different generations.

Repeat purchase:Loyal customers always prefer the brand .

Judgements

Value for money:The most common 3 in 1 package cost only Rs 10.

Durability:It’s a non perishable item and has a long life.

Feelings

Warmth: The aroma of incense give freshness and warmth and used in aromatherapy as mood enhancer or stress relieving agent

Performance

Creativity:Different and aromatic fragnances available which are made from natural herbs, flowers, aromatic oils

3 in 1 pack is a good option as the customer gets 3 fragnances in just one pack.

High quality products.

Cycle name is synonymous in all languages,so wide appeal and acceptance.

Available in almost all stationary shops.

Imagery

Innovative: Ready to experiment and bring out new fragnances supported by their strong R&D setup which is the biggest in the entire agarbathi industry.(Has already made over 500 agarbathi fragrances)

Product differentiation:Wide range of fragnances and different packaging for different fragrances.It has packs with 12 to 50 incence sticks that cost from Rs 10 to 60.It has 3 in 1 and 5 in 1 packs.

Salience:Brand awareness

• High Breadth : Wide spread acceptance in all religions.Used for Pooja, Religious festivals, Gift to loved ones, Room freshener ,Ayurveda and Aromatherapy.

• High Depth : Ease of recall and high availability and quality

Brand Awareness :

• High due to advertisements like ‘Bhagwaan Hai’ ; signature tunes and social activities performed by the brand

• Launched campaigns like ‘Pray for India’

• Campaign during Durga Puja in West Bengal

• Free match box with the pack

• Always ‘top-of-the-mind’ recall

Brand Image :

• Pleasing fragrance

• Readily available

• Long lasting

Suggestions to improve the brand

Product

The company should come out with the following products:Agarbathi’s namely:

a)Super  b)Medium c)Regular 

In four perfumes, namely: a)Lily  b)Rose c)Jasmine d)Mogra e)Without perfume

Price

The company should come out with innovative pricing strategy.

In five types of prices:

a) Mini Pack – Rs.2

b) Regular Pack– Rs.10

c) Large – Rs. 25

d) Extra large – Rs.40

e) Jumbo – Rs.90

Place

Urban Areas – Super Market, Retail Outlets, Kirana Shops, Pan Shops

Rural Areas – Haats, Kirana shops, Pan Shops, Door to Door selling

Promotion

Following promotional strategies should be followed:

a)Banners 

b) Free mini pack Distribution of with some of the regular household commodity or magazines.

c)Pamphlets and brochures

d)Painting on the walls or shutter of the kirana as well as general stores

Recommendations

1) Advertising can be done in all mediums like TV, Radio, and Magazines etc.

On the whole effective advertising in the media is necessary. The advertisement should develop a purchase intension in the minds of the viewers.

2)To make the buyers more loyal towards the brand, give more discounts and offers have to be provided

Example: If u can give a coupon inside the pack of Agarbathi, if ten coupons are collected one pack can be given free or any small gifts can be given. Such offers may develop a brand loyalty towards Cycle Pure.

3) Product proliferation: introduce the products with lots of variety, this will give the buyer more choice

Example: Lia, Bansuri, Rhythm etc.

4) Offer sample packs to all outlets so that the product gains awareness.

5) Sample packs can also be given with some local magazines which are being sold.

6) The sticks must be more thick and the chemicals used in incense stick will not attach to the consumer hands

7) Many competitors are providing 1Rs and 2Rs packets with 4 or 6 sticks for a day use therefore company can grab that opportunity.

8) Company should give more important on quality because some of the incense sticks will not burn fully and in the middle itself it will off so company has improve on quality.

9) Increase the quantity of agarbathi packets of 10Rs and 12Rs.

10) Social marketing – Using 50paisa to 1 Rupee from sale of each packet towards social causes

REFERENCES:

http://marketingpractice.blogspot.in/2006/04/cycle-agarbatti-everyone-has-reason-to.html

https://www.scribd.com/doc/148213386/agarbatti.

http://cyclepure.in/about-us

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NR_Group