Ramesh Chauhan''s biggest gamble with water
A clear differentiation is happening among
01 February 2001
A clear differentiation is happening among the medley of water brands in terms of both pricing and positioning. While Bisleri is touting itself as ''pure and safe,'' brands like Bailey, Yes, and Hello are trying to ride the mineral water wave. And Evian, launched by French transnational Danone sells itself as ''water from the French Alps'' competing with premium soft drinks. The fact however remains that almost all players in this category are positioning themselves on the purity and hygiene platforms since the very raison d'tre of bottled drinking water is the bad quality of tap water in the country. In this scenario how will Mr. Chauhan differentiate Bisleri from the others and, more importantly, for how long?
Mr. Chauhan has been trying to differentiate
Bisleri by its breakaway seal as an assurance of purity. As he says almost 76 per cent of
consumption of bottled drinking water happens in transit. Market research conducted by
Bisleri revealed that the other overriding concern for this set of buyers is the tampering
of the seal and the reuse of bottles. Many have witnessed used bottles being refilled at
railway stations. So when a consumer buys mineral water, he would like to be assured that
the water has not been tampered with.
At the same time Bisleri is promoted by an aggressive print-and-TV backed by hoardings and
point-of-sale material. Every interface with the consumer is being used as an opportunity
to reinforce the message. For instance, all vehicles used for supply have been painted in
bright blue, bear the Bisleri logo and sport catchy baselines like ‘drink and
drive’.
Apart from creating consumer pull with an advertising campaign, Mr. Chauhan is boosting
the retail push as well. Says a local marketer of a brand, strong in the institutional
segment, toying with the idea of going retail, "Distribution is the key. The consumer
will pick up whatever is conveniently available and is pushed by the retailer.
Mr. Chauhan says that from his vast experience of marketing Gold Spot and Thums Up, he learnt that distribution plays a crucial role in the successful marketing of bottled drinks. He says, "Just about anybody can invest money into a bottling plant or other facilities. The really dirty work is distribution. Making fresh water available within a particular period of time is crucial for its success."
His strategy is to build a direct distribution system at an all-India level. According to him, distribution in the Indian context requires experience. Bisleri’s retail distribution muscle is indeed great. With 16 bottling plants to churn out the product, Bisleri has around 80,000 outlets in the country with about 12,000 each in the metros of New Delhi and Mumbai. Mr. Chauhan intends to increase that to 10 lakh outlets and use around 2,000 trucks to criss-cross the nation, up from the current 1000.
With little belief in the distributor system, the company leverages its large fleet of trucks to supply bottled water directly to retailers through a system called ‘route selling’ where the driver of the truck is trained to be a service person. A critical component, this system, according to him, ensures that the water supplied is fresh and bottles are in good shape. Though route selling is more expensive than the more commonly followed method of appointing distributors in different towns, he says, it is more effective.
Increasing reach with plants and packaging
