Monday, August 3, 2009

Name of the game - Differentiation

A few days back, I came across the new packaging of Kinley mineral water, a Coca-Cola company product. Mineral water is more like a commodity now with minimum level of differentiation among various brands of the same. Click here for information on brand commoditization.

Mineral or bottled water category is one of the foremost to get commoditized. In the Indian scenario, Bisleri was the market leader to the extent that the category of mineral water had become synonymous with the brand, Bisleri. Now the competition is intense as the number of players in the category have increased significantly.

If you consider the category of mineral water, the scope of differentiation is really low. As such, the core product cannot be differentiated but the components of augmented product like packaging can be modified so as to survive in the market.

Evian, a French bottled water manufacturer and distributor followed a differentiation strategy long back when it modified its packaging to cater to the premium segment. The modified packaging marked the entry of brand in all premium restaurants thereby creating a niche for the brand. Well, this has been a brilliant differentiation strategy.

Well, differentiation is always different and if it isn't different, it is not differentiation. So is the case with Kinley mineral water. It almost tried to copy the packaging of Evian without alteration in its pricing. Well, it is difficult to say, but the strategy behind this could be to cater to aspirational need of people by providing them a look alike of a premium product in affordable prices.

Let us see how this new packaging and the underlying strategy works for Coca Cola Inc.

44 comments:

Marketing Essence said...

Well, Lavika it has to be said that this post is quite interesting. But I would also like to add on to it, by throwing light on the kinds of differentiation that there exist at the disposal of a marketer and these differentiations are based on different USP s:

1. Manufacturing Proposition: USP focused on ingredients used to produce the product.

2. Feature based Proposition: USP based on the feature of the product like 'Golden Eye' from LG.

3. Benefit based proposition: based on the benefit a product provides. 'The eye protection benefit' that Golden Eye provides.

4. Organization based Proposition: Wipro - Applying thought.

In my view I don't think Kinley has adapted any of these to be their , USP. However, from their latest communication it seems so that they are using a more SYMBOLIC USP (differentiator) wherein they have highlighted 'Vishwas' that is to trust the brand of Kinley of delivering good and pure mineral water.

Loganathan Arumugam said...

Haeh Lavika.. i just come across your blog and the blog name is almost the same as mine... anyways.. with regard to this recent post... its an interesting topic too.. but my query is, almost all the brands in mineral water have got different designs as far as the bottle shape is concerned and moreover a consumer will least differentiate an brand with its SKU shape and it is not going to be consistent too..to my knowledge it will give a new feel but will not churn in better equity...when compared in making differentiation in other brand equity components...Hope i'm clear...

Logu..http://mktngmantra.blogspot.com/

Ankit Chaudhary said...

Well you have mentioned it correctly regarding the differentiation based on packaging styles, but i feel to increase the sales, there has to be more marketing as well, the product should be associated with some celebrity/star to develop more followers. Also, most of the time, if shopkeepers have a better margin, they'll themselves offer the same to the customer, thus automtatically enhancing the sales.

So, a combination of these should always be in practise. Plus presentation wise(bottle design in this case), the change should always be there, like: Introducing Naya Bisleri in a fresh new refreshing pack :P

PS: You can change the "about me" of ur blog as well.

Lavika said...

Well Ankit,

I would just want to mention that mineral water category is highly commoditized, that is, people do not percieve the difference between various brands in the category. As such, celebrity endorsement is not gonna be of help.

Here, POP stuffs are gonna play a major role. Mineral water purchase is generally an example of impulse purchase, where more than anything, Point of Purchase merchandise triggers sales.

I am quite convinced with the idea of providing more incentives/margins to the retailers.

Ankit Chaudhary said...

Quite agreed..:-)

I would also like to add here.. if the top brands in the market say aquafina, bisleri etc. get together and launch a common program on the importance/benefits of Mineral water in general, portray it as a necessity! Then by default the sale of mineral water will increase, leading to an increased sales of all brands :-)

If i were in-charge of marketing of some Mineral Water brand, i would first of all take steps to target cold-drinks: the real thirst quencher, because it is what the majority go for when thirsty!

So, basically carve out more niche for my product :-)

Lavika said...

Well...Whatever the mineral water companies do..the product cannot be differentiaited in terms of product features as well as utility...only players can work on pricing, place and promotion and not on the product.

Also, consumers know that mineral water is not a necessity..its a necessity only when you are travelling or need water immediately which may be referred to as impulse purchase.

Thats my take on it.

Ankit Chaudhary said...

I differ on your stand that we cannot work on the product.

We can definitely target cold-drinks, may be launch a campaign highlighting the disadvantages of taking cold-drinks, and at least some people will definitely start going for Mineral Water instead of Cold-drinks.

Anyways, none of us deals with any of this stuff right now. Would 've been fun had we been Marketing In-charge of two competitors.. :-)

Lavika said...

If you say that these companies can highlight the disadvantages of cold drinks, still people can resort to other drinks like juices and various energy drink. The utility of mineral water is still the same and that is, thirst quenching.

Even if you highlight the disadvantages of aerated drinks, you would be maneuvering with the promotion element of marketing mix, not the product. What say!!!

Ankit Chaudhary said...

[Lavika]: The utility of mineral water is still the same and that is, thirst quenching.
[Ankit]: More people rather most people prefer cold-drinks rather than mineral water for thirst quenching. Juices are used rarely for the same and the sale of energy drinks is hardly significant.

So, the sale proportion is Cold-drinks>>mineral water>juices>>energy drinks!!

Hence definitely we have a lot of chance to create more space for mineral water...just launch a campaign against aerated drinks..it'll indeed work!!

Lavika said...

Well, I don't think that the purpose of all drinks is thirst quenching. When you go to a multiplex..do you drink cold drinks or whatever to quench thirst? I really doubt that!!!

As such, people are never gonna substitute mineral water for other drinks.

Ankit Chaudhary said...

Yeah Lavika...I(the common man) goes for a bottle of cold-drink to quench my thirst mainly. Most of my friends also do the same!!

We go for juices mostly for taste...and mineral water rarely!

So, this is what i am talking about..we can definitely target cold-drinks to have more product space for water.. ;-)

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Its really interesting to read this blog and different view points of author and audiences involved in this thread on this interesting topic.

Well i strongly agree with author view that "Mineral or bottled water category is one of the foremost to get commoditized" and "If you consider the category of mineral water, the scope of differentiation is really low. As such, the core product cannot be differentiated but the components of augmented product like packaging can be modified so as to survive in the market".

The view point of readers such as "to increase the sales, there has to be more marketing as well, the product should be associated with some celebrity/star to develop more followers. Also, most of the time, if shopkeepers have a better margin, they'll themselves offer the same to the customer, thus automatically enhancing the sales" regarding marketing aspects is also very much in context and according to some very basic, well tested and approved strategies which are very prevalent nowadays and should be looked into and followed.

But really don't agree with the authors view that regarding these point of view in present context.
"Well...Whatever the mineral water companies do..the product cannot be differentiated in terms of product features as well as utility...only players can work on pricing, place and promotion and not on the product."
Well regarding this point of author I would like to ask one basic question is packaging of mineral water different form the product itself??
If 'No' then players can do a lot on bases of product feature as well as utility(For example in this case of Kinley, by introducing "easy-to-hold shape" bottle).
and if 'Yes' the players can really do consider packaging with pricing,place and promotion because its gives more comfort and in deed leads to more customer satisfaction and value for money.

The other point of view which i don't agree with is "Also, consumers know that mineral water is not a necessity..its a necessity only when you are traveling or need water immediately which may be referred to as impulse purchase."

If thats the case i was just wondering why there is a high growth in "packaged water segment" in the past few years(30% quoted by a survey).Is it like people of India have starting traveling a lot in the last few years or suddenly there is some metabolic change in Indians that they start getting thirsty very often??

If impulse purchase is the reason then i doubt about Kinley's ambitious plans of some 6% increase in market share (19% present market share) with this re-brand of new concept of "purity" to strengthen and re-affirm their bond with the customers and easy-to-hold shape.

Well here i am quoting one of the Kinely marketing person's statement regarding this strategy "The new packaging innovation is design based on consumer needs to offer a more convenient grip and is in keeping with the ‘Spirit of Purity' along with reaffirming the company's commitment to purity".

(So don't take my comments too seriously, they are just pragmatic queries)
This is first time in my life when i had given some thought on marketing and all that because of the interesting way this topic is been introduced in this thread.

Regards
Well Wisher

Unknown said...

Dear Mr. Well wisher,

You are very true in one thing if none other that you are first time talking about marketing and this is pretty clear.

You almost spoiled the fun of all interesting discussion.

I was going through the full thread and guess what suddenly it felt like I was re-reading the whole thread again as soon as I started with your comments. I couldn't actually understood if you were there to conclude a GD by stating quotes from the whole discussion. I remember people use to do it when they didn't get a chance to speak in GD :).

You would have better put your own views in short if you really wanted some one to know your views.

I think author has started a topic which otherwise we might not think of. In fact it is absolutely obvious that in terms of product there is not much scope of differentiation. Which is easy to understand if you try to answer a basic question to yourself :- "Do you bother about brand of mineral water while buying?. Even if you do you would try to avoid the brands you havn't heard of because they might not be offering purity"

On "Easy to hold shape" from Mr. Well wisher I couldn't understood if you wanted to convey something or just make it more unreadable :). But I would never consider this while buying one. anyone else agrees on it?

About 30% growth quoted, i don't know if it is really there. Could you please give a reference to source if it is not arbitrary data?

Well, even if it is, its not because of the jokes mentioned on travel and metabolism by Mr. well wisher.

I guess author is again right here when she said you need it while travel etc. Reason could be while you are traveling you are not sure about purity of normal water you would get on your journey, so you prefer mineral water. Also the increase in consumption might be because of the fact that in cities like bangalore, delhi you will have to really careful about drinking water with pollution increasing so much. You would either go for Aqua guard or mineral water. Consumption of both of them is increasing not only mineral water.

For other quotes as well If we get to see some references, we can actually agree to you but other wise they just seems to be any numbers.

Again, Ankit when you said that we have a chance to create more space for mineral water by giving the order of sales. if sales of mineral water is less a campaign wont
change it.

Because as lavika mentioned, purpose of all drinks is not thirst quenching. Mineral water which is water is necessity you consume it if you are thirsty but it doesn't apply to all drinks for example you drink juices for energy and nutrition. Cold drinks for taste (I remember punch line of coke :- food tastes better with coke :)).

Lavika said...

Well Guys, it was very interesting to get such diverse views on a common topic. Lets take up some other topic to discuss.

Let me write a new post today.

Anonymous said...

This comment is specially dedicated to my peer Piyush, who seems to be attached so much emotionally with the blog that he has raised questions on eminent minds behind Kinley's new packaging campaign.

Fisrt of all clear your doubts by going through the following links:
http://www.prdomain.com/companies/C/Coca-Cola/newsreleases/200872560178.htm

For clarification on 30% increase go through this link:
http://www.utvi.com/industry-news/fmcg-durables-industry-news/6925/an-all-new-kinley-look---.html

For better understanding on why people buy mineral water go through this link :
http://www.fnbnews.com/article/print.asp?articleid=22233

Some more relevant links:
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/bisleri-kinley-to-lead-battle-of-bottles-this-summer/425721/

If you are sensible enough and had a little bit of intellect, then you must understand what ever i wrote strongly affirms with what is mentioned by the fraternity of marketing experts(as mentioned in the above links).

Well with all this, if you still feel whatever i wrote doesn't have a basis then my friend seriously i pity on you and your college from where you have had your education on marketing.

And the words which you think are "unreadable", have been used by some of the media persons.

My friend its nice that you have a point of view but i am really very sorry to say that doesn't fit in this context at all.

I don't want to waste any more of my energy and time in discussing with (so called) people who have pursued and practicing marketing.

Regards
Well wisher

Unknown said...

Well, don't want to say more but that people blog to put your opinion about get to know others instead of putting all numbers and quotes.

I would rather go for a news channel for it. Does any one agree on it?

If you put your own views on any topic, it would really be appreciated/criticized accordingly. Which you hardly did :).

In my opinion, its not a competition where you need to prove that you found out more numbers from google :).

AND if you want to have pity on anything, have it on you, would help you. At first you say you don't know anything about marketing and after putting some numbers from google you pretend to have pity on those who teach marketing or those who has a view point for it. You don't even seem to have a view point about yourself about what you are :).

@Ankit : When you say highlighting disadvantages of cold drinks you can increase the use of mineral water because its a necessity u have it when you need it. More over if people who smoke don't leave smoking even after seeing those terrible warnings on Cigarette Packs, what do you expect the out come of your campaign against cold drinks?

Well, in my opinion the best way to have increase in sales for any mineral water players is to have best reach and distribution rather than marketing with a focus on pricing.

Ankit Chaudhary said...

@Piyush: U must be crazy, how can you compare Cold-drinks with Cigarettes, man u just cant make a smoker quit cigarettes as he is addicted to it! But you can obviously point out to the dis-advantages of cold-drinks which may well lead to a spur in mineral water sales.

Really sorry to say but i just pity those MBA colleges which provide guys like u with an MBA degree!!

Unknown said...

@Ankit : Yes that makes you addictive but the harm it causes is much more severe and if knowing that you can't leave that. Then who drink cold drink they won't like to leave it for those minor disadvantages except a few :).

More over people who drink cold drink they drink mineral water too. Just that the reasons are different one is need and other is something else. Thats what author has stressed upon. And I agree to that.

Lavika said...

Guys, I respect the fact that you have all got your own views on the respective subject, but my blog is not a forum to denigrate anyone. Every individual is different and tends to think differently. Also, when it comes to marketing, there isn't just white or black, there are shades of grey as well.

Marketing isn't an absoute science. It is a combination of art and science and this is what attributes to the failure of a lot many marketing campaigns, later being developed by brilliant marketers.

So, please let Marketing Mantra be a platform to share views and opinions and not a war field.

Regards,
Lavika.

Unknown said...

Sorry for all this :). But keep posting, your posts are really interesting.

Ankit Chaudhary said...

hmm...we got 2 know many ppl via this war...lol!

sum one as intellectually intriguing as Raj and someone as banal & trite as Piyush!

and Lavika, u had a large no of clicks and also the most no of comments for any of ur post.. thnks to this war :P

so all in all...this war was kinda good ;-)

PS: The intensity of this post also has inspired me to start bloggin again...so cheers!! :-)

Unknown said...

lol... @ankit

Looks like you have personal feelings for Raj :p

Sorry if I hurt :) Intention was not that :)

@Lavika : Please don't stop posting. Sorry if it is
because of me only though i don't think so :)

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