Abstract

The case discusses the promotional strategies followed by Rooh Afza, a non-alcoholic concentrated squash and the flagship brand of India-based Hamdard Laboratories (Hamdard), to remain relevant to consumers for more than a century. Hamdard was started in 1906 as a small Unani clinic (also known as Hamdard Dawakhana) in undivided India’s capital, Delhi, by Hakeem Abdul Majeed (Hakeem), a pioneering Unani physician. Hamdard launched its flagship product called Rooh Afza, a scarlet-hued refresher or sharbat, in 1907. Due to its nutritional and medicinal properties, Rooh Afza quickly gained popularity. Another reason was its unconventional marketing strategies and the absence of competitors in the beverage industry. In 1948, Hamdard became a non-profitable organization or Waqf. In the 1980s, Rooh Afza faced competition from local powder drinks and ready to drink brands. It then repositioned itself to appeal to the changing tastes of consumers. Once the Indian economy was liberalized in the early 1990s, the advent of multinational beverage brands brought in more competition. These companies soon developed wide distribution systems and spent millions on promoting their drinks. In such circumstances, Rooh Afza’s sales fell from the late 1990s to the early 2000s. The brand faced challenges due to new emerging consumer trends in the liquid concentrate drink segment. Multinationals such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Red Bull took over the beverage market. Rooh Afza realized that it needed to be reinvented and refreshed. The case discusses the different strategies Hamdard followed to maintain the relevance of Rooh Afza. It discusses the various advertising campaigns launched by the company to target different customer segments over the years. It also discusses how the century-old brand adopted social media to appeal to the next generation customers. It takes a detailed look at Rooh Afza’s ‘Go Greedy’ Campaign launched in 2016 and concludes with the challenges the brand is likely to face in the future.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the key issues and challenges sustaining an old successful brand in an emerging market like India
• Study the forces that drive market evolution
• Learn the type of strategies that empower a brand to thrive in a fast-changing business environment
• Learn the concept of branding and product branding

Keywords

Strategy, Marketing, Marketing Management, Marketing Strategy, India, Emerging Markets, Branding, Brand Strategy, Brand Management Growth Strategy, Re-Positioning, Purpose-Driven Brand Position, Rooh Afza, Hamdard