BISLERI1 Is It Still a Brand

In India, Bisleri is a brand that is so popular that it has become synonymous with bottled water. It is not very infrequent to hear people use sentences such as: I am thirsty, get me a Bisleri.

Bisleri was the pioneer in the bottled water market in India. The brand was named after the founder Mr Felice Bisleri. Bisleri, an Italian company, setup its Indian operations in 1967 and marketed actual mineral water. Bisleri mineral water did not take off very well and in 1969 Parle Exports (subsequently, Parle Exports was renamed Parle Bisleri) bought the brand from Bisleri Limited with the intention of turning it into a soda brand. At first Bisleri water was available in glass bottles and faced problems such as breakage, heavy weight (and therefore cumbersome to carry) and it also was a returnable package like most soft drinks and beer are even today.

It was only in 1972-73 that Bisleri was made available in PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride) bottles. This change led to a rapid increase in sales. Parle was also one of the pioneers in the soft drinks market with big brands like Thums Up, Limca and Gold Spot in their brand portfolio. They controlled the largest stake in these markets till liberalization in the early 1990s.

The Post-liberalization Market Boom In 1993, Ramesh Chauhan (Chairman of ParleBisleri) sold all his soft drink brands to Coca Cola for a hefty Rs 173 crores. The marketing rights of Bisleri soda were also handed over to Coca Cola for a period of 5 years. Recognizing the huge potential of the bottled water market, it was then that the Chauhans concentrated on this business. By 1995, Bisleri had established itself as a force to reckon with in the bottled water market, armed with their factories across India and backed by a strong distribution network. Till this time, the market largely consisted of five star hotels, tourists and foreigners. The company took a conscious decision to penetrate into newer market segments like
Confidential: This case has been developed by Professor Ajit Parulekar, Goa Institute of Management for the purpose of in-class discussion.

domestic middle class consumers (Indias largest consuming class of FMCG products) and to extend and focus its marketing and distribution on the general market, i.e paanwallas, street shops, kirana stores and domestic (household) consumption and budgeted for 60% of revenues from this segment. Whilst earlier bottled water was associated with status, Bisleri tried to make a change in this perception of consumers and try to position it as an essential product thereby targeting a much larger market.

In 1998, the total bottled water market was a Rs 300 crore market, growing by a phenomenal 70% over the previous year. This growth was primarily due to three factors: 1) increased affordability as a result of increased disposable incomes, 2) lack of an efficient and safe public distribution system for water (and hence peoples perception that tap water was not safe for drinking purposes), and 3) increased consumer health and hygiene consciousness. Bisleri launched an ad campaign to build a distinct image for the brand. The communication campaign was based on the purity, cleanliness and safety aspect of Bisleri water. The campaign used TV spots, print ads and hoardings to drive home the pure and safe message. The result was that Bisleri grew by an astounding 80 percent (higher growth than the industry) in that year, the growth being fuelled by the increasing awareness levels about health and hygiene, especially perceptions about the bad quality of municipal tap water. Bisleri continued its leadership status with a share of 60% followed by a distant number two from Parle Agros Bailley with 20%. Whilst Bisleri was being promoted on the purity and safety platform, competing brands like Bailley and Yes were trying to ride the mineral water wave, focusing more on the taste and mineral content than on the purity of the product.

The Multinationals Arrive The explosive growth in the bottled water market attracted the attention of multinationals like Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and Danone and resulted in the launch of a large number bottled water brands. In the year 2000, there were more than 250 brands in the fray for a share of the market. The notable new entrants included Aquafina of Pepsi, Nestles Pure Life, Danones Evian, and Kinley of Coke (in August 2000). Bisleri launched small packs (500 ml bottles and 250 ml cups) in response to entry of

MNCs and carved a niche for Bisleri. The MNCs had no option but to launch small packs. Bisleri also launched a 1.2 liter bottle priced at Rs 12 a l bottle compared to Rs 10 for the 1 liter bottle. The longterm objective was to convert consumers of 1 liter bottles to the 1.2 liter pack, thereby increasing the revenue.

Bisleri also became the first company to launch bulk packs of 5 litres and 20 litres, targeted at large shops, commercial establishments, parties and the home segment, due to increased competition in the retail segment from the marketing and distribution muscle power of the Cola majors.

The market was getting distinctly split into 2 segments: the retail segment and the bulk segment. Bisleri competed with the MNCs in the retail segment with its 300 ml cups, 500 ml, 1 liter, 1.2 liter and 2 liter bottles, and in the bulk segment it faced Hello and local players like Prime in Delhi and Apollo in Chennai, with offerings of 5 liters, 12 liters and 20 liters.

Bisleri Plays Safe Whilst Bisleri was all along promoting the brand as pure and safe, Kinley and Aquafina were also positioning themselves on the purity and hygiene plank, this being the very reason why consumers were opting for bottled water over the bad quality tap water in the country. In such a scenario, Ramesh Chauhan was finding it difficult to differentiate Bisleri from competitors, especially Kinley and Aquafina.

Market research done by Bisleri revealed that buyers were concerned about reuse of bottles for marketing spurious imitations. It was frequently noticed that used bottles were being refilled at Railway stations. Hence, the consumer wanted to be sure that he or she was buying the original product that had not been tampered with. To address this issue, Bisleri moved away from its theme of pure and safe and launched its new play safe campaign through TV slots, print ads, hoardings and every interface with the customer including painting their delivery vans (see annexures for ads). The theme focused on the new tamper-proof seal that was unique to Bisleri bottles. At the same time

Bisleri also changed its product packing from the conventional industry norm of a ringed bottle to hexagonal flat-sleeved bottles (as shown in the figure below). Figure: The New Bisleri bottle

The Heat is On By early 2001, the competition intensified backed by big investments in production facilties and distribution network Coca Cola and Pepsi had made significant headway in the water business. Kinley reached out to a much higher 500,000 outlets compared to 350,000 of Bisleri and 200,000 of Aquafina. The market was witnessing high-decibel levels of advertising and promotion. This fuelled the growth of the market to Rs 700 crores and still growing at 50%. From early 2001 till mid 2001, Bisleri and Bailley lost a lot of ground to Kinley and Aquafina. Whilst Bisleri managed to retain its leadership position, Kinley displaced Bailley from its no. 2 position. Bisleri market share in the retail segment dropped to 51% by March 2001 (see Table 1). Owing to its sales in the bulk segment, overall Bisleri was still the clear leader. However, Kinley launched their bulk packs in August 2001.

Table 1: Market Shares (March 2001) Brand Bisleri Bailley March 2001 51 17

Kinley Aquafina

10 4

(Source : Business Today, Sept 16, 2001)

By April 2002, Kinley had inched its way closer to Bisleri in this retail segment with a market share of 28% against 38% of Bisleri, 11 % of Aquafina and 6 % of Bailley. The market was now valued at Rs 1000 crores and continued to show a high growth of around 40-45%. Coke was aiming for leader status in the retail segment. As Sanjiv Gupta, Senior Vice President Coca Cola India said, We are aiming to be wither number one or a close number two within a year. By July 2002, Kinley managed to topple Bisleri from the top spot by garnering 35.1% share compared to Bisleris 34.4 % as per the ORG Marg survey. Commenting on Kinleys success, Sanjiv Gupta says, This proves the success of operations, marketing and distribution synergies. It was not easy to displace the countrys No. 1 water brand in just two years.

Whilst Bisleri enjoys highest mindshare, yet the brand does not enjoy leadership status. Industry analysts believe that distribution is the key to brand success, at least for national level brands. With Bisleri becoming a generic name for bottled water, if they can manage distribution and production, they may succeed in this market.

However, overall Bisleri was the market leader due to the sales of its bulk packs, which contributed 40% to the Bisleri turnover. In fact, Chauhan fells that in the future, over 70% of sales would come from these bulk packs. With most urban areas facing water shortages, the bulk segment looks all set to explode, signs of this are evident in Chennai and Bangalore.

What Next ? Water is slated to be the preferred drink globally when its demand overtakes soft drinks as per UKbased Canadean International, e beverage research firm. In fact, this may happen as early as 2005. Little wonder then that the water wars are becoming as tough as the cola wars. The intense

competition has driven out local players from the market. Even Nestle decided to hang in their boots in August 2003 by pulling Pure Life out of the market.

Whilst Bisleri has the advantage of consumer mindshare, Kinley has higher distribution reach and production units (27 bottling plants against 22 of Bisleri by the end of 2003). To add to the competition Bisleri faces, HLL has expressed their intention to get into the retail segment in January 2004 and Pepsi has launched into the bulk segment in late 2003. Its a tough road ahead for Ramesh Chauhan.

Bisleri Ads Print Advertisement 1

Print Advertisement 2

Print Advertisement 3

TV Commercial 1 Storyboard : Agencyfaqs.com

A couple on a beach sit by a small bonfire. The girl looks at her...

... boyfriend seductively, who also looks at her with desire.

The girl suddenly gets up and starts to run playfully, but trips and falls.

The man runs after her and falls down beside her panting with desire.

As he moves forward to kiss her, she whispers something in his ears, which has him frantically searching...

...their bags and in the car. Not finding what he is looking for, the boyfriend dashes...

...to the nearest chemist where he asks for what he wants.

As the chemist goes to get what he wants, his wife looks at him coyly.

The chemist hands over a big carton to the man.

The chemist's wife waves at him as he walks away.

The boyfriend opens the carton the moment he is back with his girl.

He opens it to reveal several 500 ml Bisleri water bottle.

The girl glugs down the cool, pure water playfully as her boyfriend watches her...

...with mounting desire. The two then share a night of passion. VO: "Play safe. Bisleri."

TV Commercial 2 Storyboard : Agencyfaqs.com

A woodpecker pecks vehemently at a sealed bottle. It attacks from every angle but in vain.

The seal stands strongly in place. MVO: "The new tamperproof Bisleri 20 litres...

...with a unique breakaway seal. Duplicate-proof."

Cut to the bird as it now has its beak bandaged. Super: 'Play safe.'

TV Commercial 2 Storyboard : Agencyfaqs.com

A woman approaches the counter at a departmental store with her dog in tow and asks for a bottle of Bisleri.

The man absently plunks a bottle of mineral water on the slab and gets back to work.

Just then, her dog barks gruffly, "Where's the seal?"

MVO: "Only Bisleri has a break away seal. Bisleri. Play safe."

Case Questions

1. How is the India water market segmented? What is the future of each of these segments?

2. How competitive is Bisleri in each market segment?

3. Even though Bisleri has the highest awareness amongst consumers, why is it still not the market leader?

4. What do you think of Bisleris move to shift advertising from pure and safe to play safe? Do you think this campaign will help them achieve their objectives?

5. Suggest a plan of action for Bisleri.