Reinventing Bisleri

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From "Pure and Safe" To "Play Safe" Contd...

This pack was targeted at the regular mineral water consumer who is accompanied by a friend and also restaurants and hotels. In the long run, Bisleri planned to replace the standard one litre pack with the 1.2 litre pack. The company felt that although the one litre pack accounted for 35% of sales in terms of volume, it had problems in the form of leakages, loose caps and foreign particles in the water. Bisleri thought that a heavier 1.2 litre bottle would solve most of these problems.

Analysts felt that Bisleri would find it difficult to market an unconventional pack like the 1.2 litre one. This would require increased spending on marketing and advertising. However, according to company officials, the higher margins that a crate of 1.2 litres bottle (12) would generate, would be spent on marketing, advertising and on dealers. The retailer price for a crate of 1.2 litres bottles would be Rs 120, against a total cost (including excise and sales tax) of Rs 60.87 to the company. Thus, the company would have a margin of Rs 59.13 per crate. The comparable margin for a crate of 1 litre bottles was Rs 44.57. This meant that the company would have an extra Rs 14.56 per crate. Bisleri planned to spend this amount on advertising and marketing. In 2000, Bisleri also launched smaller packs like the 300 ml cup. This 300 ml cup was targeted at large gatherings like marriages and conventions. A study conducted by Bisleri showed that its one litre pack was not considered trendy enough.

Analysts' felt that since Bisleri had become generic to the category, the one litre pack was not really considered a brand but merely synonymous with the product. The new look was expected to correct this perceptions. In place of the round ringed bottles, Bisleri would be available in hexagonal flat-sleeved bottles. The new pack was already introduced in 500 ml and 5 litre sizes and would be used for other packs. The new design was patented to prevent it from being copied by others.

Said Chauhan, "The new pack is trendy and has been well accepted by the consumers as we have experienced in the case of 500 ml and 5 litre sizes." The new pack also allowed better brand display. Vertical labeling was easier on flat sleeved packages. It made label information visible from all sides of the bottle. Bisleri also planned to target the soft drinks market. Chauhan was confident that by 2003, the water business would grow at the cost of the soft drink market.

Most analysts agreed that this was possible. In 2000, pure bottled water sold over 500 million litres a year. Soft drinks sold over 1 billion litres a year. With an annual growth rate of 40% for water, water sales was expected to catch up with soft drinks. Bisleri planned to target the soft drinks market by adding a fun element to the product. Chauhan felt that soft drinks were all about quenching thirst and having fun.

While it was widely accepted that branded water quenched thirst, there was very little that branded water could do to provide a fun element. Chauhan said that Bisleri would soon launch an ad campaign to address this problem. By 2000, the smaller players also began to position their products on the purity platform. They also offered better trade margins. New entrants like Aquafina and Kinley concentrated purely on building their brands in a big way. Bisleri had to come out with an ad campaign to make its brand stand apart.

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