Analyzing Business Markets:

 The business market comprises all the organisations that take goods and services used in the production of other products and services that are sold , rented  or supplied to others. the major industries making up the business market are agriculture, forestry and fisheries, mining; manufacturing ,construction, transportation , communication, etc and services.

·         Organizational buying is the decision-making process by which formal organizations establish the need to purchase products and services and identify, evaluate and choose among alternative brands and suppliers.

·         Business Markets as compared with Consumer Markets have fewer, larger buyers, have close supplier-customer relationship and more geographically concentrated buyers.

·         Many business buyers would rather buy a total solution to a problem from one seller. This is refered to as systems buying.

·         Purchasing departments were perceived to occupy a low position in the management hierarchy, in spite of often managing more than half the company’s costs. However, nowadays, most purchasing professionals describe their jobs as more strategic, technical, team oriented and involving more responsibility than ever before.

Branding :

From 'I love you, Rasna' to 'Life mein Rasna milaofy', the three-decade old brand that has practically defined 'summer quencher' for children in the '80s and '90s has come a long way. With increasing competition from global players.The brand's latest campaign, 'Milaofy', shows how Rasna is breaking away from its 'kids only' image and catering to a wider group of consumers by launching new offerings.

The reason given by the Director of the Rasna is :"We want to get out of 'kiddy' drink, 'party' drink space,"  adding "it's a bold move by the market leader to expand base and grow. We are reinventing the strategy. "The campaign is aimed at converting the consumers of Maazas and Slices to Rasna — whether be it our powdered drink or ready-to-drink beverage.

·         Rasna had to evolve not just in a ‘life-cycle’ sense, but also to keep up with its competition," says Madhukar Kamath, group CEO & MD, Mudra Group, the agency that handled Rasna till 2005. From Mudra, the account moved to Dentsu and then to Rediffusion YR in 2009. The brand started its communication highlighting ease of use, which was followed by economy of use, both in 1984. "The ease of making Rasna with children making the drink themselves complemented the positioning of the brand", says Kamath. Next came the idea of appealing to mothers through children. "And when colas came in, there were flavour stories", he adds.

     The brand idea is ‘Reclaiming Childhood’ and our campaign, taking after the idea           called ‘Taste the Madness'. Children aren’t growing up the way we did, and we                 have to clamour for attention in a growing market. It was on this insight that the               Fruit Plus campaign was launched.

     With global brands such as Tang ("Which has been launched for the fourth time in India", according to Khambatta), and Indian brands such as Kissan, Glucovita, Mapro etc., the big question now is whether Rasna will survive this time around. Says Kamath, "I have seen Rasna grow from strength to strength from the time it started, and they have been consistent in reinventing themselves. It is a very strong brand."

Holistic Marketing:

Ever since it was started several years ago,Rasna has really reached the top in the non carbonated drink category . It has, always made efforts to give the best possible value proposition to the consumers of ‘value for money’.The introduction of the new category signifies our acknowledgement that the Pioma industries have developed something good and new.They believe in offering the best products to the customers. The products that are enriched with natural taste, more nutritional value and a variety of flavours will win even at very competitive prices also.

Ju-C was earlier designed to facilitate the rapid extension of Rasna’s presence into events where healthier, quick serve options were required such as K-12 schools, college campuses &university locations, convenience stores, mom and pop stores including entertainment venues. Ju-C will be available across the country in four tempting flavours (Mango, Apple, Orange and Mixed).

Distribution:

The distribution channel of Rasna follows 3to 5 tire architecture.It follows the super sub concept of distribution :

1. the product produced in the factory which is strategically located to minimize the transportation cost.

2.the packaged product has been sent to the variouscomapny depotacross the country to distribute and meet the respective market demand..

3. from the comapny depot the product has been deliveredto the different stockist according to the previous placed orders.

3. then the goods have been to the sub stockist point or in some cases whole sale stores.

4.the secondary sale fom the sub stockist or from the super stockist is ensured by the constant monitoring by the comapny personnel.

Rasna follows different distribution channels model according to the local demand. and for every model the goak of the comapny is to deliver a quality to the end user.

SEGMENTATION, POSITIONING ,TARGETING :

Segmentation:

Geographic: Tier 1 and Tier 2 Cities

Demographic: Drink for the youth

Psychographic: Morning and Evening  Drink.

Targeting:

Undifferentiated Marketing Strategy focusing towards Rasna JU-C targeted towards youth.

Positioning:

Position it as a health drink for youth.

       A functional beverage is a non-alcoholic product that includes in its formulation ingredients such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, amino acids or additional raw fruit or vegetables. The company’s new business division, Rasna Beverages, is unleashing energy drinks, fruit drinks and fruit nectars, which will be pitted against multinational brands in their respective segments.

      “We are looking at value added offerings in segments such as fruit juices, nectars and energy drink and test launching them next month under sub brands. These would be under functional beverages as we are adding something to them to differentiate from the rest of the brands in the same category,” said Chairman and Managing Director Piruz Khambatta.

        Currently, the Rs. 250-crore energy drink market is occupied by international brands, with some Indian brands such as Zinga and Cloud Nine. “The mass market for energy drinks is vacant. We can grow in this segment,” he said. Today, Rasna is a market leader in the powder fruit drink category with 85 per cent share. However, of late, there has been increasing competition from MNCs, such as Cadbury Kraft (Tang) and PepsiCo-owned Tropicana, also entering the fray with renewed aggression.

Rasna has assigned Rs. 35 crore ad budget for the summer with a slew of campaigns (created by boutique agency Curry Nation). However, it is not jumping on the IPL bandwagon. “We are waiting for ad rates to go down even further for the tournament. Last year, we had bought spots for the last few matches towards the end of the tournament,” said Khambatta.

Promotion:

At times, Piruz Khambatta's tone appeared  a little over the top, on the subject of his rivals. "Tang is a super flop in India, Coke's Sunfill was a disaster and Fanta too bombed," boasts the chairman and managing director of Rasna. "We love rivalry, but there are no rivals," he said. While Khambatta was having a tone of an angry 18-year old, the 44-year-old's self confidence stems from a good run. The Ahmedabad-based brand feels proud over 90 per cent of Rs 600 crore soft drink concentrate market in the country and has so far decimated MNC biggies over three decades.

. The brand has finally said goodbye to its the 'I Love You Rasna' era. The youthful imagery, peppy tone and exuberant visuals of the new TV commercial, not to forget the funky tagline — 'Life Main Rasna Milaofy' — gives it an image that Khambatta hopes will appeal to a youthful consumers.

From 'I love you, Rasna' to 'Life mein Rasna milaofy', the thirty year old brand that has practically defined 'summer quencher' for young and little consumers in the '80s and '90s has come a long way. Rasna as a brand is apparently thinking again its positioning in the market. In the last few years, Rasna has ventured into high margin ready-to-drink product segments like energy drinks, fortified water and topnotch fruit juices in collaboration with global companies.

The brand's latest campaign, 'Milaofy', shows how Rasna is turning away from its 'kids only' image and providing to a wider group of consumers by launching new offerings. Executed by Curry Nation, the slice of life film captures how people across age groups can brighten moments in their lives by savouring Rasna.

IMC for Rasna:

Advertising and communication objective:

Advertising:

• make  awareness for new products.
• Inform consumers
  -of new features and the benefits.
  -Price changes.
  -Important for building primary demand.
• Persuasion
  -Build brand preference or change buyer perceptions.
  Especially important for buiding demand in competitive markets.
  
  
  Communication :
• Create brand awareness for your company 
• Defining a need the product or service cn fulfill.
• Encouraging action from the target.
  
  IMC Tools:
• the concept that makes all the marketing tools to work together as a unified force rather than work in isolation.
• IMC not only creates awareness but evokes the purchase action.
• However it limits clients ability to take advantage of specialists in various IMC areas.
  
  IMC:
   Advertisement:
• Use of various media vehicles sucha s televison newspaper, radio and magazines
  
  Personal Selling:
• Face to face communication with the buyer.
  
  Sales Promotion:

Targeting the children and housewives, sponsoring event in schools ,colleges, events like marathon race.

Product Levels:

When deciding for the customer value hierarchy ,Rasna provides various add ons to its customers.  The five levels have been well fulfilled:

·     Core benefit given is powdered ready to mix drink in various sachets or bigger packs.

·    Rasna has “no sugar required” written on its pack. It turns its core benefit into basic product by  giving out proper quantity in a pack and comes in different flavors.

·     Customers expect Rasna to have no requirement to add extra sugar. The taste should not be lost. The various flavors have their respective tastes-expected product.

·     Augmented product- Rasna gives extra attributes of vitamins in it. Hence making it a healthy drink.

·     Potential Product – Rasna stands out in the market by giving out at most reasonable prices. That’s   why it is way ahead of its competitors in the market. A pack of 500 grams of Rasna orange comes at Rs.135. Tang comes at Rs. 215.

Pricing:

At Rasna we are constantly looking at new innovations and strategies. Today, the per capita consumption of Rasna is 15 glasses and our vision is to increase the per capita consumption to 100 glasses by 2005 and to reach out to one billion Indians every year."

- Piruz Khambatta, Chairman and Managing Director, Rasna Ltd., in March 2002

The limited shell life of the Oranjolt has also contributed to its failure as the company failed to set up a strong distribution network for the product, which could allow it to replace Oranjolt every three to four weeks. Following its failure, the company sent the product for further improvement at its R&D facility.The sorrows of Rasna increased through the late 1990s and 2000. Rasna SDC's volume is continuing to shrink by over 7% every year.And also the slow and steady  increasing prices of Rasna SDC, year on year proved to be another significant hurdle for Pioma.

The rise in Prices:

Earlier priced between Rs 8-10, Rasna SDC was mostly consumed by the middle-class family as an affordable hospitality drink during the 1980s.By the end of 1990, it had gone up to Rs 22-24, which according to the analysts was  above the reach of its target audience. Also company sources argued that the rise in prices had been in line with the inflation through the years and was always in the affordable range. The increasing awareness among the consumers regarding the difference between natural and artificial synthetic flavors, the incrementing purchasing power and availability of more international products in tetra packs all are resulting in the downfall of Rasna's market. According to estimates, the tetra pack category had increased three fold (to Rs 6 billion) between 1993 and 2001. In 2001, only 12% of the drinks which were soft were taken at home. The shift in consumer tastes towards colas and fruit juices continued unabated. Shocked by its failure it extend Rasna's product portfolio, Pioma began planning a three-year revamping program in mid-2001. Rasna's Director, Khambatta says keeping prices low despite the growing prices of sugar and manpower has been tough as has been staying consistent in the face of changing market dynamics, referring to government policies, logistics.

Also Piruz Khambatta, chairman and managing director of Rasna, claims, Kraft Food's Tang's average price increase has been around 22 per cent annually. In 2014 ,Beverage companies like Parle Agro and Rasna have decided not to hike prices despite raw material costs going up. Instead, they are innovating on pack sizes and price points.

"Mothers are already finding it difficult to manage discretionary spending, so we haven't hiked prices for most pack sizes," Piruz Khambatta,the Director said.

Consumer buying decision process

    People today are becoming more conscious about their health .They are shifting from  carbonated drinks to non carbonated drinks. This shift is favorable for fri drinks or ice makers, who are constantly coming  with new innovations in their product. Rasna provides such taste of fruit –ready to drink mix. Rasna has all its products today pitched on the health platform. In this day and age when health consciousness is growing, it’s a good choice as a refreshment. Rasna has been a fruit drink that provides vitamins. The main target is not only children but also the adults.

·       Tang is the main competitor of Rasna in the market.The consumers shall see how Rasna  is better than Tang with respect to taste and also price. The consumer can search from the various flavors available. He can choose what all flavors do other brands provide.

·       Today rasna is not only for kids but for all age groups. The brand has finally bid goodbye to its childhood and the 'I Love You Rasna' era. The youthful imagery, peppy tone and exuberant visuals of the new TV commercial, not to forget the funky tagline — 'Life Main Rasna Milaofy' . Rasna gives a variety of flavors starting from mango ,orange,litchi, pineapple to cola. It has also entered the arena of health fitness drinks –Glucon D. Rasna starts from Rs. 2 and goes up to family pack of Rs. 105. The box pack starts at Rs. 35 for 32 glasses. It is a drink that can be afforded by all kinds of households. A lot of new recipes can be made out of a powdered drink mix.

·       After the consumer has purchased the drink mix ,it is the onus of the Rasna company to deliver the value as promised before the purchase. Various after purchase feed backs are taken from the customers and the needful is done.

Life Cycle 

Introduction:

Pioma launched Rasna international , a sweetened mix-and-drink and Rasna Royal a vitamin enriched version of Rasna SDC in 1996. It was priced high, targeted at the upper end of the market where the consumers ere health conscious. Rasna Royal had failed in the market whereas Rasna International had become quite successful

Growth:

Rasna had launched new flavors  Rasna Yorker and Rasna Aqua fun earlier. These products were launched in order to exploit the Cricket World cup at the time of Kapil Dev. He was brought in to endorse Rasna yorker. In 2000, Pioma broadened its product portfolio with its launch of Oranjolt.  It was a carbonated fruit drink available in 1.5 litres pet bottle.

Maturity:

The failure of Aqua fun was given mainly to its blue color.  This attribute was not readily accepted by the consumers in India.  Launched Oranjolt only in selected outlets.  It had lower Shelf-life. Sales volume was reducing by 7% every year.  Steady increase in the price of Rasna SDC was proving to be another hurdle. Growing awareness among the consumers regarding difference between natural and artificial flavors. Hence there was an Increase in purchasing power. Availability of more international products in tetra packs.

POSITIONING STRATEGY -Rasna is positioned as an International brand .It has reached out to the masses and created brand awareness in towns and remote villages. It laid emphasis on price range of 80ps per glass to Rs.4 per glass. It placed Rasna international along with other brands in preparatory area such as tang in the retail stores. Brought out value added products for the existing consumers and implemented strategies to attract new consumers.

Revamp

Planned to reach an estimated 7 lakhs retailers annually. Strengthened its distribution channels in order to cover villages with a population of up to 5000. Appointed 47 additional sales personnel, 350 cycle salesmen, 150 pilot salesmen, engaged 500 vans for the coverage of rural areas. It categorized its product line into two brands, Rasna Utsav , Rasna Rosana and sub brand Rosana fruit boosters. For distinct visibility of its products Rasna chose the leaf as its brand symbol. New brands were enriched with vitamins and ingredients to render instant energy. Priced Rosana Amrit sachets at Rs.2 competing Sunfill and Tang.

The revamping exercise was fruitful. Helped in retaining leadership, having 82% market share ž In 2002, Rasna was the most widely distributed product. Emerged as a Mass Brand across socio- economic barriers. Ranked 7th in F&B category in India, in 2002.