VIP remains a leader ‘Kal Bhi, Aaj Bhi, Kal Bhi’ with Strategic Changes

establish in 1971, high muckamuck Industries Limited is the flagship comp all of the 200 million sawhorse DG Piramal Group. Its longstanding familiar Indian brand dignitary is the largest luggage brand in Asia and the second largest producer of moulded luggage in the initiation after Samsonite. The first high-up suitcase was rolled verboten in 1971, and since then over 60 million pieces of high-up luggage sop up been sold around the world. In the organized Indian luggage securities industry, high-up leads with a 60% market shargon, followed by Samsonite at 40%.In the international market Samsonite leads with 20% market share where as dignitary follows at 6% with operations spread crosswise 5 continents and in 27 countries. very important persons product range includes a conversion of hard and soft luggage strolleys, suitcases, duffle bags, overnight travel solutions, end maker cases, backpacks, and even school bags. Apart from the m another(prenominal) panjandrum br and, the company likewise owns other reputed brands such(prenominal) as Alfa, Footloose, Elanza, sidekick, etcetera It in any case markets at a lower post authorize Delsey products in India. Moreover, it has acquitted the UK-based Carlton brand in a bid to cluck the European market. very important persons products reach over 8000 sell push throughlets across the country and over 1300 outlets across 27 countries globally. Ever since its launch, very important person has been an big brand synonymous with luggage in India. Its products priced for masses, revereed a near monopoly gutter the mid90s, and its sentimental, powerful, and long-playing advertising candidature Kal bhi, aaj bhi, kal bhi. remained etched in worldly concern memory for years to come. However, the scenario toss offed changing with the international leader Samsonites instauration into the India market in 1997.After a few initial setbacks, Samsonite started break the Indian market and posing a chal lenge for high muckamuck. Along with tha t, a gabble of unorganized players likewise started confronting panjandrum at the lower end. This propelled VIP to take stock of the situation and realign its strategies with the changing market situation. VIP discovered that tour competition was heating up, the Indian luggage manufacture had as well been growing owing to a number of favorable factors. more or less importantly, steady economic growth had ed to an increase in populates disposable incomes, on that pointby propelling the travel sector, which in hitch had boosted the luggage industry. Frequent travel for business concern was also on the trick up with organizations going global. This was also redefining messs need for luggage. Convenience and cast in luggage based on specific travel make had started assuming prime magnificence. People no longer looked at suitcases as just a means of safeguarding and securing their belongings, plainly also cared for aesthetics, whi ch increase the importance of soft luggage.Design, style, and attractive colors also guided peoples purchase decisions. Hence, luggage had transformed from organism merely a available product to a fashion or lifestyle statement. And people were no longer using the same suitcase for all travel requirements, but purchase had become more need-based with consumers buying luggage according to a particular type of holiday, trek excursion or business travel. Further, luggage in the premium segment had been growing the most.In the wake of these changes, the passe leader in luggage segment, VIP realized that youngsters perceived VIP as a brand belonging to parents and grandparents era. In order to be in sync with the times, VIP decided to change this perception and computer storage itself as a coeval lifestyle brand, which catered to people who traveled astray and followed a particular lifestyle. On the product front, it rehashed its soft luggage portfolio since that was the mob drivin g gross sales. Besides it also allowed the company to play around with styles, which were decorous a major criterion in luggage pick.In addition, VIP also started adding more variety, designs and colors to its traditional category of hard luggage. However, it taciturn the hard luggage segment primarily for exports since VIP and Samsonite were the barely devil hard luggage brands in the world. In order to address alter traveler segments, VIP designed products for all travel needs, durations, and prices, be it a long haul journey, short weekend or cursory travel, leisurely holiday or business travel. Its mother brand VIP was highly-developed as a slick lifestyle brand that focused on comfort nd convenience for long-duration travels. Alfa provided reliable, good quality luggage for price-conscious consumers who otherwise had to make do with low-quality local luggage. Footloose focused on the daily or longer duration travel needs of the youth, while Buddy was a school bag bran d focusing on providing fun, unexampled and quality products in a segment that was dominated by cheap, local products. In order to reinstate its lifestyle proposition, it also launched a order of battle for women called Aura and a business collection called Matrix in Nov05.At the premium designer end, it offered ranges like Elanza and also marketed high-priced products costing Rs. 12,000 under its Delsey range. Thus with its extensive product portfolio with over 250 products matching different prices, VIP covered the entire luggage segment and has been constantly innovating keeping in mind travelers requirements. Following on VIPs footsteps, Samsonite, which initially offered only high-end collections, also launched the American Tourister range for the mid-price segment in the range of Rs. 800 Rs. 2,000 in 2002.VIP also aggressively promoted its prominent ranges to establish its tonic image. For example, the Alfa campaign conveyed both the importance of a better quality luggage as well as the affordable price points of Alfa. However, maximum promotional care was showered on to the power brand VIP to position it as an all-encompassing, contemporary lifestyle travel companion. In 2002, its advertising campaign Looking at me? introduced some reinvigorated lifestyle products as travel companions. The campaign sensible consumers of the contemporized brands styles and colors, features, prices, VIP lounges where the brand was available etc. whence in 2003, VIP felt it needed to recreate the magic of its yesteryears with a more encompassing campaign that would warehousing itself as a fresh, young, smart, and arouse brand. Thus, VIP launched a television system ad campaign entitled cheerio emphasizing a major shift in its marketing discourse system. The campaign, designed by Lowe, began by airing a montage conduct that showed people summons bye-bye to their kith and kin at the start of their journeys an of age(p) lady waving to a car making its way ou t of the gate a doorman at a hotel waving to departing customer a mother idding cheerio to her children etc. A peppy bye-bye, goodbye track played in the background and the film ended with the tagline, expert journeys began with VIP. Other ads in the campaign presented more bye-bye situations people control bye-bye to Monday mornings, women bidding bye-bye to men and coolies since new VIP bags were light, etc. Given VIPs heritage and iconic status, the underlying objective lens of the new campaign was to get VIP to own the travel space, sort of than just the luggage space that it occupied earlier.The company hoped that this would increase consumers inte occupyingness with VIP during their travel planning process, quite a than the brand featuring only at the far end of the process. The time of departure was chosen for portrayal in the ads since the commission felt that this was the time that caught a range of emotions people bidding farewell to their dear ones, looking fo rward to the journey and to returning home, and being most closely involved with luggage.By depicting the happiness associated with the start of the journey and through more vibrant, smart and youthful imagery such as a contemporary metro train in place of a workmanlike diesel train used in the Kal bhiE campaign, or the bubbly bye-bye tune and situations VIP tried to make itself pertinent to a new generation of consumers, without alienating its traditional base of loyalists. VIP also has plans for a series of communications to the bye-bye campaign that get out portray its contemporary product range and strengthen its new side as a travel companion.The bye-bye television campaign was support by an outdoor campaign as well, but the company refrained from any sales promotion activities in order to reinforce the new single(a) positioning. Below-the-line activities were only used to complement above-the-line communication in supporting new launches, addressing niche audiences or aud iences difficult to reach by mass media, actuate trade force etc. For example, VIP ran an exclusive Mystery Shopper program, which boost the shop salesmen to better demonstrate its product features. It also designed interactive games to convey the superior features of its Alfa brand.Media relation activities were also conducted, albeit in a circumscribed manner, to break the news of product launches or new stores. On the other hand, competitor Samsonites campaigns are carried out by its global agency and it doesnt bring on any India-specific campaigns, since it mostly caters to business travelers whose needs are the same the world over. For instance, in one marker ad, Richard Bronson of Virgin Airlines testifies, To me, business isnt about wearing suits or pleasing stockholders. It is about being true to yourself, your idea and focusing on the essentials. Further, in order to stay its premium image, Samsonite too does not indulge in any sales promotion activities. Its distribu tion strategy is also selective with the company retail only out of high-profile stores such as Shoppers Stop, LifeStyle and Witco. VIPs distribution strategy also complements with its varied product range and new positioning strategy with the right products available at relevant outlets passim the country. VIP suitcases are made available at convenient retail locations with a self-select approach and appropriate display showcasing the large range of VIP products in an in-store ambience set to attract.The company also has forayed into retailing by opening exclusive stores that showcase all its product ranges. It has opened stores called VIP Lounges, which compete with the franchised Samsonite Travel World. Its ranges with products below Rs. 1,500 are also distributed through hypermarkets and malls. It also has an on-line store although online sales havent really picked up in India. Also, VIPs distribution in the European market is primarily done for its premium Delsey and Carlton brands. The brands repositioning efforts have paid off by helping it retain its leadership position. flush today, the VIP brand enjoys 97% unaided brand awareness, one of the highest in the world and has over 65 million customers. Questions 1. Can you notice VIPs prime source of competitive benefit from this case? If yes, what do you imply it is? 2. What strategy of segmenting and targeting the market has VIP followed? What segment(s) is the mother brand targeting? In what alternative ways can luggage market be segmented? 3. Identify the points of differentiation of the VIP brand from its prime competitor Samsonite. How sustainable do you work out the differentiation is? . How was VIP positioned earlier in the minds of consumers? why did it decide to reposition its image? Briefly state what steps it took to reposition itself and whether the attempt was successful. 5. What was the objective of VIPs new communication strategy? Did the product, price and distribution changes compl ement this strategy? How cohesive do you think VIPs new marketing mix is? 6. What was the difference surrounded by the looking at me? and bye-bye campaigns? What objectives did they both serve? How did they complement VIPs product-related decisions? . Comment on VIPs distribution strategy.What means does it convey? Visit both-three outlets or exclusive stores selling VIP brands. Do you think they convey a subject matter similar to the communication message delivered by the brand? Preethi Meets Venkat Through Shaadi. Com I didnt want to clear into the traps of a typical Indian arranged marriage I weigh it doesnt give you the required time and opportunity to know and agnize your would-be partner, especially with families breathing down your necks while calling for a decision, said Preethi. And I always wanted to choose my partner myself, concurred Venkat, adding, Thats why Shaadi. Com worked for both of us. Preethi and Venkat are among the 48% of Internet users who surf marr ied offices for alliances. While traditionally the activity of matchmaking was left to the elderly aunts of the family, marriage bureaus, and newspaper publisher matrimonials, with the advent of Internet and a change in youngsters preferences, online alliance explore has taken off with a frenzy, especially with 60% of the online population in India being below the age of 25.With 12 million urban Indians job online matchmaking, it is the 13th most popular online activity among Indian surfers. Although online dating is in the lead of matrimonial searches as the 10th most popular online activity, it does not enjoy the high user loyalty and brand premium of matrimonial websites. This is because Indian culture has yet not fully accepted the concept of dating before marriage and people do not register on a dating site for hazarding a life partner. at that place is also a huge overlap between the two activities suggesting that people who date are also looking for a mate.Owing to a c lose-knit social structure of India, families and friends still have an important design to play in online matchmaking. Often parents are seen posting their childrens profiles, and while the final choice may be the childrens, parents extensively carry out activities like gathering information, filtering profiles, matching horoscopes, etc. Experiences of friends also guide in the decision-making. Online advertising as well as conventional television and print advertising are popular media choices for most portals.Advertising seems to be harping on factors like wide profile choices, relevant matches, and a joint selection process that satisfies the entire family (Figures 3. 23a-d). Smaller portals such as Simply splice. com have also adopt viral tactics such as creating a website, rather a catchy microsite, for Mom-in-Law Day (Figure 3. 23e) on October 28 to promote its portal. The site has a collection of videos of interviews of people expressing their feelings and opinions about t heir mothers-in-law, text messages, tips, and a unite to Simplymarry. com.One such communication triggered the dormant desire of finding a life partner for Venkat. While watching the film Metro, Venkat was exposed to Shaadi. com. The depiction depicted Konkana Sen Sharma and Irrfan Khan getting older and feeling the need to find a life partner, and then turning to Shaadi. com for help. Sen Sharma was shown logging on to the website, and there were mentions of Shaadi. com in her conversations with Khan and even comical scenes in which the protagonists viewed some unique profiles on the site and enjoyed a good laugh. The movie propelled Venkat into online matchmaking.He believed that the biggest advantage of online matrimonial sites was their massive database, which offered people a wide choice of matches across both objective and subjective evaluation criteria such as teaching method and career, religion, family background, location, personal preferences, personality, etc. He zer oed in on Shaadi. com after a little search, most importantly because the name had created a distinct imagination in his mind through the movie. One of prospects he mailed was Preethi the two of them hit it off and decided to marry.Preethi had chosen Shaadi. com as she was particularly move with its strict profile screening system, and the simplified search technology that increased the relevance of the matches. She also appreciated the portals attention to expand through features like password-protected photographs that allowed members to maintain secrecy. Their choice was much like the rest of the consumers Shaadi. com and Bharatmatrimony. com were the two biggest websites in the online matrimonial space, each with 33% user preference.another(prenominal) guinea pig by JuxtConsult pegged the websites shares at 28% and 29% respectively as on April 2007. A study by AdMomentux measuring audience mindshare for television moneymaking(prenominal)s, based on parameters like top-of-th e-mind recall appeal, likeability, relevance and comprehensibility of the ad brand differentiation and preference created by the ad etc. also showed similar results. Bharatmatrimony. coms television commercial depicting how a modern boy and girl followed traditional rituals when it came to marriage, was the most effective, with 43. 8% mindshare.The television commercial of Shaadi. com showing the photographs of its various members received 36. 1% audience mindshare. Jeevansathis commercial came in third with 18. 4% audience mindshare. Yet another study marked Shaadi. com as the leader with 987,000 unique visitors in July07. Convinced of Shaadi. coms effectiveness after a month-long free registration, Preethi and Venkat had signed up a 6-month premium membership. When they found each other and finally decided to marry in a year, they posted their success story like galore(postnominal) others (Figure 3. 4) who had also found the right partners through Shaadi. com. Questions 1. Based on the case, detect the various cultural and social factors that influence the decision of match-making through online matrimonial portals. 2. What motivated Venkat to go for online matchmaking? Identify the cues that triggered him into action. Could there be any constituted motives behind the apparent one? 3. What beliefs did Venkat and Preethi hold regarding online matrimonial portals? What was their attitude towards Shaadi. com? wherefore? 4. What communication factors seem to be reinforcing purchase decision?Do you think consumers should experience cognitive dissonance after subscribing to Shaadi. com? Visit Shaadi. coms website and identify ways in which it may trying to alleviate any surmise of cognitive dissonance. 5. Why does most communication for online matrimonial portals harp on joint family decision-making? Do you see any attitude change strategies adopted by any of the websites in their communication? Explain. 6. Map the five-stage buying decision process for Preet hi and Venkat identifying the internal and external influences that could have shaped their decision on choosing Shaadi. com.