Reviving Strategies

Submitted by:

LAKSHMI PRIYA
MBA 7th Module
Roll No.: 1853364

DAYALBAGH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTE

3/20/2020
INTRODUCTION

‘Onida’ is one of the most popular Indian-grown electronics brand. The origin of the Onida is
trademarked to Monica Electronics, a company which was incorporated in 1975 and which was
owned by the Mirchandani family and which was acquired in 1981 by Mirc Electronics (also owned
by the Mirchandanis). In 1982, Gulu Mirchandani and his brother – in – law Vijay Mansukhani along
with Sonu Mirchandani started assembling television sets at their factory in Andheri, Mumbai. Since
then, Onida has evolved into a multi-product company in the consumer durables and appliances
sector. After few years, Onida also achieved a 100% growth in ACs and microwave ovens and a 40%
growth in washing machines.

In the 1990s Monica Electronics had allowed Onida International (through a letter) to use the Onida
trademark since the company was set up by the Mirchandanis themselves to export Onida
electronic products to the Middle East. Sonu Mirchandani owns 80% of the stake in Onida
International while a minority stake is held by his brother Gulu Mirchandani.

Mirc Electronics won an ―Award for Excellence in Electronics‖ in 1999, from the Ministry of
Information Technology, Government of India. The shipments to the Gulf contribute almost 65 per
cent of Onida's export revenue, while shipments to the fast growing East African market (Uganda,
Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia) and the SAARC countries accounted for 16 per cent of export
revenues. In addition to the Gulf countries ONIDA has a presence in Russia, Ukraine and
neighbouring CIS countries. Apart from Television Exports to Russia, Onida also exports DVD Players
and High end LCD Televisions. The wide range of products which ONIDA offers include:

LCD / LED TVs/ Monitors

Plasma TVs

Air Conditioners
Washing machines
Microwave Ovens
Presentation Products
Inverters
Mobile phones
LCD Monitors
Onida is a brand best remembered for its unique mascot—the green devil with horns, long nails and
spiky tail slithering across television screens. Onida was synonymous with the devil that
represented the electronics company‘s public image. The consumers loved the devil and identified
Onida with the devil. The tag line, Neighbour‘s Envy, Owner‘s Pride, was as catchy as the mascot.
The devil turned out to be an angel in disguise—his mischievous message stood the brand in good
stead in times that saw many of its rivals capitulate under market pressure. The Devil was originally
created by Mr Gopi Kukde of Avenues in 1982. It was a welcome break from the boring TV industry.
Onida was the first brand to advertise in Television that is to create a TVC about TV in Television.
STRATEGY BEHIND THE TAGLINE

ONIDA came out with the famous caption 'Neighbour's envy, Owner's Pride' a popular theme of
which has created larger than product impact when released on air during the 1980‘s. This slogan
or tag-line was instrumental in giving the brand an identity or class in the market. It immediately
opened the doors for the brand among the middle-class consumer market. The base line or the
copywriting proved successful because it was derived from the analysis of middle-class mentality
prevailing during those days.

During the 1980‘s and early 1990‘s buying just to show off or to establish self-esteem in the society
was the in thing. People were tuned into buying things just to bloom their pride and flash their life
styles. Those were times when instalments and other feasible finance options had entered the
consumer durable market and hence, people could change and buy at more frequent intervals.
Colour TV was considered a part of elite lifestyle and whosoever owned one was but naturally
envied by the others. This famous tagline of Onida very precisely targeted this insecure mentality
and inferior complexity of the middle class and upper middle class. The hammer rightly hit the nail
and the sale of Onida TV escalated beyond imaginations. For over 2 decades, it continued to deliver
good results for the brand. A unique conceptualization with an equally creative and ingenious tag
line was the highlighting feature. Onida was not only recalled just for its tagline but because of its
catchy advertisements featuring a devil incarnate (as a bald man with two horns and a tail) in the
1980s.
MARKET SHARE

In 1980‘s and 1990‘s the brand had a wonderful time and was in the top three brands in market
share behind BPL and Videocon. Then the Koreans came and Onida too became a victim of
liberalization. Korean heavyweights such as LG Electronics and Samsung came to India with
aggressive pricing and distribution strategies and conquered the consumer electronics market. The
older players, such as Mirc, Videocon and BPL, couldn‘t match their ability to scale up operations
and cut prices while playing the volumes game. Most companies went into the red and rest became
history. Onida stopped using the devil as its icon but after seeing the sales and brand identity
suffer, the company thought of re-introducing the devil in 2004. The devil was a memorable mascot
for Onida reintroducing the devil in 2004 was a wise decision. They observed that a lot of
misbranding was the result of not using the devil as Onida‘s face for eight years.

As soon as they reintroduced the devil in 2004, their sales shot up. People again started recognising
the uniqueness of Onida‘s brand positioning in the market. As stated by Mr Sriram Krishnamurthy,
Vice- President, Sales, Marketing and Service the company has re-launched its brands in September
2009, and invested nearly Rs 100 crore next year to set up its third manufacturing plant in
Maharashtra. It already established its second factory at Roorkee, Uttaranchal, with an investment
of Rs 60 crore. It rolled out 30 exclusive galleries to showcase its new products across India in 2011-
12 as part of its Mission $1 billion to achieve turnover of Rs 4,500 crore by 2012-13. But now
Onida's well-known devil of the Eighties and Nineties has been replaced by a regular Onida Couple
as neighbour's envy has lost meaning in a durable market and owners take pride in changing their
brands. Also the company has no plans to appoint a celebrity as ambassador to endorse its brands.

Having identified its new growth drivers in the markets of air-conditioning, flat-panel devices
(FPDs), microwave ovens and mobile phones, MIRC has also tripled its ad-spend to Rs 150 crore in
2011, primarily targeting the mass media for brand rebuilding. Nearly one-third of the revenues of
around Rs 2,000 crore in 2010-11 came from sale of air-conditioners. Onida has got a 14 per cent
share in the split air- conditioning market and overall 9 per cent in this segment in 2011 and is also
targeting to double its TV flat panel and mobile phone market shares to 6 per cent.
REASONS FOR BRAND AILMENT

1. Internal Management Problem

A Brother’s Envy Owner’s Pride

Clearly the Onida trademark has
turned out to be A Brother‘s Envy
Owner‘s Pride. Given the popularity
of the brand in the 1990‘s it was but
obvious that the Onida trademark
and the goodwill Market Share
Reasons for Brand Ailment associated
with it is an extremely valuable asset
to Mirc Electronics and it was unlikely
that Gulu Mirchandani is going to sit
by and let his brother exploit the
trademark especially after paying him
handsomely for his stake in Mirc
Electronics.

The Onida trademark soon became the subject of an interesting legal battle between the
Mirchandani brothers. The fight between the brothers: Gulu and Sonu Mirchandani and their
brother -in-law Vijay Mansukhani over the control of the Onida group, destroyed the brand image
of ONIDA. Gulu bought out Sonu‘s holding in their company Mirc Electronic and Sonu started
launching a range of electronic products under the Onida brand and through a company – Onida
International in which Sonu has an 80% stake. But Sonu did not intend to manufacture the
electronic products himself instead he entered into a joint venture with a Japanese company to
market their products under the Onida trademarks. Onida tried to stage a recovery after the
successful re-launch of the brand and the return of the Devil. But the family feud made things
difficult for the brand all the time.

2. Changing Advertising and Taglines

Problem worsened with changing Ad agencies. The fight had severely eroded the share of the brand
and even the marketing of Onida. In the face of India's changing consumer tastes and their financial
capabilities, Onida has decided to say goodbye to their good old "Devil" mascot or their so called
brand ambassador. With the stiff competition from international brands like LG and Samsung,
Onida decided to rebuild its brand and to build a complete new brand mascot to grab the attention
of India's new consumers. And therefore, the creative duties of the brand have partly moved from
Re-diffusion to McCann Erickson. But as usual, when the agency changed, the entire brand
elements got changed. Things are consistent till the same agency handles the account. But when
the agency moves on, the new agency resist continuing the existing strategy since it was crafted by
the competitor. So whatever be the quality of the existing branding strategy, the new agency will
try to change it. Same happened with Onida, as soon as they changed their ad agency; it resulted in
a drift from a time-tested successful theme to uncharted territory and sink in further confusion with
an unnecessary change in the positioning strategy. Even the

brand was not been able to consolidate the earlier theme based on 'truth', the brand got
repositioned again. For Onida, the quote ―Change is always good‖ proved to be the worse. When
O&M took the brand from Re-diffusion, the famous tagline "Neighbour's Envy, Owner's Pride" and
the Devil was taken off. The brand suffered for almost 10 years and has never recovered since .The
change of agency again changed things and Devil returned in a new avatar and a new tagline
"Nothing but the truth" came into existence. But the new arrangement did not made things better.
And therefore in 2007, Onida launched a new campaign for its A/C and with a new tagline again
"Enjoy in your life". And then a new campaign for the air conditioner features a new Devil and the
tagline has again changed to "Experience the desire". They thought of changing their Tagline to a
newer one to attract more customers but whenever it tried to replace its original tagline with new
one, the results were disastrous. And this how Onida proved best for the case study about "How to
Mess up a wonderful brand". Later the devil was even replaced by a married couple- Siddharth and
Ritu, but even then the brand could not survive. Onida now has a new tagline- "Tum Ko Dekha to ye
design aya" meaning "Designed with you in mind". With this new brand campaign, the company
would address the youth and establish it as more than a TV brand. The brand replaced the iconic
devil with a new-age couple as the protagonists. Onida has now done repositioning on the basis of
"Customer Oriented Design". But in comparison with the classic old tagline, the new campaign falls
short of expectations.
3. Aging Customers Base

Brand Amnesia The customers of Onida have grown older with times and the brand has failed to
connect itself to the current generation. The ―devil‖ in the advertisements is not helping them
either. ONIDA has reached a stage of Brand amnesia in which when a venerable, long-standing
brand tries to create a radical new identity, such as when Onida tried to replace its original tagline
with new one, the brand forgets what it is supposed to stand for and it runs into trouble.

4. No After Sales Service Provided

Onida TV‘s got regular problems of complaints from different customers, but there was no one to
listen to customer‘s complaints and which had created a great dissatisfaction amongst customers.
The regular feedback of poor after sales service posted by customers on social media, have
ultimately resulted in reducing the brand sales from the market.
SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
WEAKNESS
1. High brand recall (The Devil)
2. Premium pricing (Price Value Strategy) 1. Less promotion
3. Good distribution facility 2. Volability in positioning
4. High quality LCD TV's (Less service 3. Weak after sales service points
requirements) 4. Hitherto known for superior technology
5. Strong in shop Training & Demonstration 5. Not much focus on R&D
(ISD)

OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

1. Growing middle class 1. Increased competition from MNCs

2. Replacement market (CRT to Flat screen, 2. High bargaining power of speciality stores
LCD) 3. Increase in salary of technicians in the
3. Growing semi-urban and rural market industry
4. Easier financial assistance from banks 4. Obsolescence of technology, esp. in LCD.
5. Increase in consumerism leading to increase 5. Large manufacturers might benefit from
in entertainment needs. their scale, resulting in owering of prices.
BRANDING STRATEGIES

THE OLDER & REVIVAL STRATEGIES TO BE FOLLOWED

1. Brand Personality
a. Logo

Though the primary concern at this point for brand Onida is to revive the brand via superior newer
relevant product to relevant market, effective distribution channel integrated marketing
communication, in all these reworking on the logo may not appear to be of primary importance but
we suggest a logo that captures both the original devil horns and todays times, so we tinkered just
a little bit and suggest the following:

2. Strategies

 Should stick to a uniform positioning segment

 Country Wide extensive consumer research: to give a fresh lease of life to the brand Onida
should start at the very basic and grass root level and have a soul search about the perceptions
of the brand the market of tier 2 and tier 3 cities in general the current mood amongst the
consumers the trends their aspirations behaviour and purchasing patterns. It can probably
outsource an outside research agency to maintain the objectivity and have a wider perspective
one that will give brand truth market truth and competition truth.
a. Targeting and Positioning: What we as a group thought that brand ONIDA should take stock
of the current situation and target the Tier 2 – Tier 3 cities at the outset the brand recall is
still present which will further help the product. The market potential is huge with growing
consumerism and also digitisation of television and set top boxes television and other
electronic products have become more of a basic need even to the lowest strata of the
society. It can later after successfully tapping into this segment think of further penetration
into higher SEC‘s. We recommend it to concentrate on air conditioners and washing
machines apart from LED televisions, Onida has been coming with Android television but it
should concentrate more on providing a basic LED television set with flat screen higher
quality picture and sharper image superior sound because tier2 and tier3 cities still
appreciate the basic television with contemporary looks sleek design at an affordable price
 hence enhancing their value for money. It can even look at providing a greater choice in
terms of screen size by coming out with 14” 21” and other such varieties. Onida TV should
be positioned as a medium for entertainment providing advanced technology at affordable
prices. The focus of the company would be to allow those people to upgrade who want to
upgrade but do not have the means. Target consumers should see it as an aspirational home
appliance. Onida TV should continue to be neighbour‘s envy – owner‘s pride! Onida owners
are regarded in high esteem –they are special, and this can act as a strong differentiator.
b. Bundling of products: This concept successfully utilized by brands like LG could be the
capsule making the difference since the market that it will try and tap would definitely
appreciate bundling and since ONIDA is already into making of other consumer electronics it
is in a position to try this specially this offer can be made available during festivals of various
regions. Air conditioners washing machines micro waves and television are already being
manufactured and should be bundled together.

3. Communications Strategies
a. Road-shows in mobile Cars: Since Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities throws up a great many
avenues for organizing road shows in public places haats and even the malls which are
on the rise in tier2 cities. They can have games interactive events contests and involve
the customers as well as inform them. Merchandising and giving them crisp and relevant
information distributing free pamphlets brochures. Organizing certain contests to have
the customer engagement in place and put in place brand recall.
b. Promotional Strategies: They should bargain for more shelf space in speciality stores
like Croma, eZone etc. They may negotiate with discount stores like Big Bazaar for
promoting Onida TV. They should also invest more in dealer promotions (Videocon has
had reasonable success due to aggressive dealer promotions).
i. Consumer Promotion: Promotions like contests, lucky draw, exchange offers etc. will
help in brand awareness and better brand recall. This way they can capture a good part
of replacement demand. Another aspect we thought was connecting with the mid aged
people who in some way or the other are the influencers in the decision making process
of the final purchase those who saw the golden age of Onida and their emotional
connect can be leveraged to re connect with the brand.
ii. Celebrity Endorsement: The Company can rope in a celebrity to endorse its brand in a
fresh advert. This way the brand can be benefited from celebrities brand equity. We
suggest rope in a sports icon or a Bollywood star rather than the inconspicuous couple
(as per the current ads) where the recall value is poor. This will also help in better brand
awareness. If we have a look at the other consumer electronics brand be it Samsung
Videocon and others all have roped in a celebrity and successfully and creatively used all
the celebrities to create brand identity and recall value, Onida on the other hand started
with a devil it was innovative at the outset in the early 90‘s but during today‘s times it
needs a celebrity to leverage the brand and create a new refreshed identity along with
the devil a series of creative can be formed where the devil and the celebrity are seen in
 a notorious confrontation. Since the other two big khans namely Shahrukh and Aamir
are already endorsing other brands the brand can think of roping in Salman Khan and his
notorious image goes well with a confrontation creative with the devil that we seek to
propose.
iii. Association with events: To regain old customers and to regain visibility, Association
with events can help. Onida‘s problem of low visibility will be solved with its sponsorship
of events like cricket matches (ICC World Cup & IPL), rock shows, other games,
marathons etc. LG co-sponsored ICC World Cup and got tremendous mileage in terms of
increased sales and brand building. A part from Cricket they can be associated with
sports that are trending like badminton, golf etc.
iv. Innovative Advertisement: They should come up with catchy advertisement ahead of
Cricket and IPL seasons. Their decades old Devil can be portrayed to find a connection
with today‘s mid-age generation, who are their potential customers and confront with
the celebrity roped to create a series of recurring ads with a theme in them during a
sports season.

c. After Sales Service: This is one aspect where a lot of effort is required from the brand
since it has faced a lot of flak in being a poor after sales service provider, internalising
the brand and providing a better after sales service can be a differentiator also it being a
desi and indigenous brand targeting the tier2 and tier3 cities can better understand and
build relation with the consumer because they already might be having a member of the
family who has experienced or heard about the brand earlier. While giving the service
they can tap into them by asking the user of their favourite ONIDA memory. The primary
effort on the part of the brand should be to internalize the brand so that each and every
person concerned should have the mission vision and strategy of the brand attuned to
themselves.

4. Product Strategies
a. Wide range of products: One stop shop for consumer electronics. The Company should
go for line extension in value segment so as to target more customers in the lower
segment. They should introduce more variants in 14, 20 and 21‖ segment. These
products will target the young and first time buyers. These buyers will have an
emotional attachment with the brand and as they graduate to the high end segment,
Onida can target them with its high end products. Onida is now in one of the most
difficult times. The brand needs to come out with a product that will change the game.
Changing the mascot is secondary at this point of time. LCD market is the fastest
growing segment and this is where Onida should focus immediately. These products will
fetch higher realization than the low-priced TVs. They should launch high-definition,
LEDTVs. They should continue the USB supported TV which will be a good differentiator
to project its technological superiority and user-friendly features. e.g. Ultra slim TV with
USB connectivity.
 b. Marketing Mix: Onida is facing a marketing problem and more than a branding problem.
Everything is fine with the brand. People recognize the brand. The issue is on a larger
perspective. It needs to concentrate on its entire marketing mix not just the brand
elements. Onida needs to convince the consumers that its products are better designed
and technologically superior. It is about managing perception .Features can be copied by
competitors easily but changing perception is a difficult task.
c. Work on R & D: This is another important initiative that ONIDA has to work on if it wants
to survive in today‘s dynamic and rapidly changing technological market. It needs to
convey this message to both consumers and dealers and distributers so that the
positioning of a brand focussed on continuously innovation is conveyed to all stake
holders. The conveyance to the dealers should be done via brochures pamphlets rational
means of communication that it is a brand that seeks to reinvent itself always and
through its R&D efforts is always looking to give the consumer a better product adapted
to the latest technology.

5. Pricing Strategies
a. Incentives to dealers: The pricing doesn‘t need to be altered much. They should keep the
Landed Retail Price (LRP) of TVs the same but give more margins to dealers. The price for
14ʺ and 21ʺ should be kept 600 – 1,500 more than Videocon and BPL, so as to maintain its
superior image (Videocon is generally priced lowest of all). In the LCD segment, the price
should be 15-20% less than Sony and Samsung. This will help in grabbing the aspirational
customers who would not like to spend much in their TV purchase.
b. We suggest the brand not to try too much and adopt a basic strategy and do not complicate
things do not go by too much textual and strategic principles but attune themselves to the
market realities at ground zero. What Onida has been stuck up with is too much of thinking
trying to change and getting influenced by what others are doing rather than what they
themselves are doing. “Trying to put your foot in two boats at the same time can very easily
land you in a soup”.

6. Relation building with channel members dealers

They play a role in the ultimate purchase of the consumers especially in tier 3 cities and
incentives to the channel members in the form of rewards like foreign trips may be thought of
amongst others. Retail malls and exclusive stores need to be tapped as well. Incentive schemes
to channel partners spread over a longer period is required.

Pre-Launch Plan: Create interest/buzz we suggest around 25 % of the proposed estimated

marketing budget to go into the pre-launch phase.
Launch Plan: Make people come to the store, 55% of the budget.
 Post-Launch Plan: Keep them coming Elements and Sustenance phase essentially 20 % of the
budget.

After analysing the financials and past records we estimate the budget for marketing to be in
between 150 and 200 crores for the overall campaign out of which 60% should be in ads and
promotions, also invest in the plants of Onida namely at Roorkee and Wada factories this should be
in tune (base revenue of 2000 crore) of about 50 to 100 crore respectively.

Timeline proposed by us is to start the pre-launch buzz from September and keep the launch period
for the Diwali festivals and extend and sustenance phase till other festivities, and the start of the
sporting seasons like the T20 world cup extending up to IPL season.

Initial buzz would be via a relaunch of the brand with a customized LED TV with sleek design.

 Social media can also be tapped by completely working on Facebook page giving it new
features they do not have a twitter page as well create the buzz and encourage
communication by asking what you would do if you encounter the devil this Diwali.
 A press conference with the top honchos of the brand, the proposed ambassador and the
devil communicating to the press.
 Strategic news items and print ads in all the news-papers, prints banners and billboards
communicating that the brand is coming in a new avatar this Diwali.
 Also can go for guerrilla marketing by putting innovative product items at streets and setting
up real devil models at malls which would be interacting with the shoppers and grabbing
eye balls.
 Teasers in Television that the devil is coming this Diwali beware can be put forth.

Launch Phase (Diwali and Dhanteras): Elements

 Mall and store décor (mall to be lit up every night for 15 days with trellis lights)
 Contests like Guess the Price
 Trolley Procession and Cavalcade.
 Backpack hoardings.
 Mall façade branding, dropdowns with door buster offers.
 Gate Arch in the form of trolley.
 Hoardings, pole kiosks across prominent areas.
 Dealer meets.
Post-Launch Plan: Keep them coming

 Promoter activity: Residential contact program at key residential areas. Singing and Dancing
contest over the weekend.
 Weekend Promoter activity: Trolley procession, Cavalcade, Weekend Events
 IPL cricket event showing at pubs clubs malls market place live cricket matches.

Creative Presentation Creative News-paper Inserts

approval Ads
Activity design Float activity
Route Plan Mobile Hoarding
Legal Permission Signage's up
ignage site availability Outdoor site
H2H – residential plan
15 days prior the launch
CONCLUSION

In our detailed analysis of Brand Onida we think that the brand due to its turbulence internal
structure and getting too much influenced by others and trying to do too many thing all this
while not having a uniform positioning nor a integrated marketing communication went from
an admired Indian brand to virtually a brand in oblivion. It committed basic and glaring
marketing blunders on the way and also was a victim of the heightened competition owing to
the entry of great many foreign players who had a great set of product line in place which were
technologically superior at competitive prices they continuously innovated had an effective
sales and distribution the central in channel in place a uniform communication strategy in place
overarching to the central value system in the organization. Brands like Samsung LG and even to
an extent Videocon went ahead in the race. Essence ―MADE IN IDIA‖ brand not inferior in any
way but fresh revitalized vitality and vigour just like the youth of today‘s INDIA.

Considering all these details all is still not lost for Onida if it considers to put its best foot
forward with reviving its brand the essence of brand revival should be to look at itself work on
its products first work on its brand internalize it work on the R&D to present to its customers
with contemporary stylish and relevant products. It needs to work on the after sales services
and use its experience of being an experienced and indigenous brand to penetrate into the
proposed Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities with fresh launch and communication strategy in place via
conventional as well as non-conventional communication in place. The vision statement of
―made in India brand better understanding the Indian market and having innovation to provide
a greater consumer experience‖ should be incorporated from spirits to actual actions.

What brand Onida is facing is not a branding but a marketing problem it needs to go back to the
drawing board and chalk out an aggressive marketing campaign after proper market research
and finding truths about the market its own product and about the competition at large, apply
proper segmentation and try and have a uniform positioning and not get mixed up by trying out
too many things. Indian market still presents itself with a huge opportunity to tap into and the
brand recall and emotional connect of the brand is still very high. The only thing missing is the
stewardship and strong will.

This campaign as such would definitely act as a trigger to penetrate into the Tier2 and Tier 3
cities and result in a Onida competing and grabbing a significant market share and later look to
expand further.