Brand: Amaron Company: Amara Raja Amaron Punch Line: Lasts Long, Really Long. Ting Tong!

Amara Raja has been a leading player in the industrial battery segment from decades. In year 2000 they forayed in the lucrative Automotive battery market which is predominantly dominated by players like Exide and has created some excitement in the rather dull automotive battery market in India and led to generation of Amaron one of the disruptive brands in the automotive segment. Automotive battery market can be categorized into two categories OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) Replacement market

OEM Market: OEM segment is dominated by established players mainly Exide and Amar raja and AMCO Batteries etc . Rapid increase in demand for automobiles in the recent past has created higher demand for batteries and will continue to present growth opportunities for lead acid battery industry. Replacement Market: The replacement market is dominated by the unorganized players. The un-organized players make up about 55% of the market, while the organized players account for th e remaining 45% of the market. The market share for the organized players was 30% in this segment 4 years before. Exide and Amara Raja account for major part of the organized market. Market size of the battery market in India is worth Rs 100o crore, with the automotive battery segment accounting for over 65 per cent of the overall market value. The Indian Lead Acid battery industry is poised to more than double within four years given the current rate of growth of over 25 per cent per annum. India has seen a surge in the sales of the passenger car segment which increased the overall sales of batteries. The Life of Lead Acid Battery is generally 2 3 years and the

boom in auto sales since last 5 years has pushed the sales of aftermarket battery market, the demand is so huge that there is always short supply in quality aftermarket battery. The LEAD ACID BATTERY market in Indian Subcontinent is highly fragmented industry with very few manufacturers in Quality in BRAND segment and several battery distributors in tier 2 and tier 3 categories which have regional and national presence. Most of these lead acid exporters have vast presence in Semi Urban and rural areas and cater to replacement battery market of Old Automobiles, Tractors, farm equipments, heavy commercial vehicles etc. Currently India, accounts for about 14 major automotive battery providers, and all of them are growing rapidly in India, and also looking at making India their home for exports. Consumers Perception in India What I feel is that Car Battery replacement is viewed as a grudge purchase by the car owners. No one thinks of battery until it breaks down. For Brand Managers this product comes under the category of High Criticality but Low Involvement product. We can consider this as a slow moving consumer good . Amaron Differentiation/Positioning Amaron wanted to differentiate itself from the existing players in the market and they had to do so because this product category is Slow Moving Consumer Goods with low interest. So the question is how to create that fur ore? Organized players constitute 40% of that market. The first thing the company has done was to create the product differentiation with respect to the product feature. Amaron decided to bring out the Zero maintenance and longest running battery into the Indian market. That means that we needn't check for the water level within few months. As India was catching fast in globalized world after 2K and with changing consumer preferences and life style Amaron ensured that the product commands the best quality and hence the product positioned themselves as a premium brand. Then came the different forms of differentiation in the form of their Looks. Conventional batteries were all looking alike with a transparent body and blue/ red top. Amaron decided on a black body with fluorescent green logo splashed over. There was also another reason for the black body. There is a possibility of government regulations stipulating the use of Recycled plastics for battery. Amaron is using such plastics so it need not affect the changes once the regulations are implemented and since the water level needn't be checked, Black body will have no problem for the customers. The reason of using fluorescent green was that since our country is very hot, the color should stay for longer duration whether in Promotional materials, hoarding or in the

product so that consumers have a Brand recall (Consumers going for battery replacement to shop saying wo black and green colour wala battery .) Then they started their focus on differentiating themselves in advertising. Amaron decided that it will go with the breakaway tradition of advertising. They noticed that traditionally conventional battery advertising seldom sell battery. It is the sheer/mainly distribution and the presence of well established brand name that does the selling. So Amaron wanted its advertising to look different and wanted to establish their brand name in this crowded market. So they contacted Advertising giant O&M for their Advertising and then O&M decided to have a un-battery like campaign for Amaron. For the first time in India "Claymation" concept was used i.e. using clay models + animation was used for advertising .Amaron advertisement were classic examples of "Clutter busting". The ads were attention grabbing and outright funny. It won many awards for the agency and Amaron started grabbing the market. Initial Ads of O&M using Claymation totally rejuvenated the TV commercials. Some of these are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bySfWcma114&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5dIZNqdEbc&feature=related The Amaron Campaign Pandu Mangal has been well received by the public and research shows that Amaron has a top of the mind brand recall. The ads coupled with Claymation effectively communicates the positioning of "lasting long". The jingle "TingTong" has also been a smash hit. In this AD the battery is lasting for 48 months now before this Ad all initial Ads battery life is 36 months so they are continuously strengthening their brand with strong TVC that keep on focusing Long lasting and zero maintenance battery Pandu Mangal TVC (Award Winning Ad of Amaron) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBQk90PKH6c&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09hYg38omRk I really feels that this brand is going "Lasts Long, really long because this brand is a classic case of smart marketing and positioning.

About Amara Raja Batteries Ltd About Amara Raja Batteries Limited (ARBL), an Amara Raja- Johnson Controls company with 26% equity from Johnson Controls, is the technology leader and is one of the largest manufacturers of lead acid batteries for both industrial and automotive applications in the Indian storage battery industry. In India, Amara Raja is the also the preferred supplier to major telecom service providers, telecom equipment manufacturers, UPS Segments (OEM &replacement), Indian railways, power, Solar PV, oil & gas among other industry segments. Amara Raja manufactures and sells automotive batteries under the brand name AMARON which is distributed through a large pan-India sale-service retail network. ARBL is the largest supplier of stand-by (Industrial) batteries to core Indian utilities such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, Idea, Indus towers, GTL, Bharti Infratel, BSNL, power generating stations. Major MNCs like ABB, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Nokia Siemens, Huawei, APC and Siemens are among ARBLs Prestigious clientele. Their clientele in the automotive OEM segment includes Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Honda Motors, Hyundai and Mahindra & Mahindra. The company is an exclusive supplier to Daimler Chrysler, Ford and Swaraj Mazda. The companys Industrial and Automotive batteries are exported to Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East. Johnson Controls is a global leader in interior experience, building efficiency and power solutions. The company provides innovative automotive interiors that help make driving more comfortable, safe and enjoyable. For buildings it offers products and services that optimize energy use and improve comfort and security. Johnson Controls also provides batteries for automobiles and hybrid electric vehicles, along with system engineering and service expertise. Some of the Leading battery brands in India (in alphabetical order)

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd AMCO Batteries Ltd Artheon Electronics Ltd Base Corporation Ltd Exide Industries Ltd Evolute Solutions Pvt Ltd Fusion Power Greenvision Technologies HBL Power Systems Ltd Luminous Power Okaya Power Group Panasonic battery Regnant Group and Trontek Electronics Pvt Ltd