Camlin & its strategy (Stationary market)

The 76-year-old brand founded by entrepreneur D P Dandekar.

Stationary Market

notebook segment                                                                       Rs 4,000 crore

writing instruments                                                                      Rs 3,000 crore

segments such as art & hobby, scholastic products etc.     Rs 3,000 crore

Stationary market                                                                         Rs 10,000-crore

In the last few years, the Rs 10,000-crore stationary market has seen a steady influx of players from writing majors such as Cello, Reynolds, Linc and Luxor at one end to ITC with its Classmate brand of notebooks and allied products at the other. Traditional Camlin rivals, in the interim, have consolidated their position in the stationary marketplace. An example being Hindustan Pencils, which controls two-third of the pencil market with its Apsara and Natraj brands.

Camlin continues to dominate the art and hobby segment of the market, and have no intention of vacating that position. But they realise that there is need to scale up and occupy new areas such as the market for mechanical pens, high polymer lead, markers etc.

Camlin is making investments in segments of the future even as it retains its stronghold in the school space. In the last three years, they have made a capital investment of Rs 40 crore in a bid to increase production and focus on categories where they see potential for growth.

At the same time, the company is looking to double retail penetration to 300,000 outlets in the next two years. The target, is to achieve a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore in the next five years from Rs 330 crore at the moment.

The stationary market interestingly is a fragmented one with no single player dominating every end of it. Each segment has its own set of requirements and complexities.

But players nonetheless are taking steps in that direction extending their range of products to cover at least complementary categories for now. Cello and Reynolds, for instance, have recently forayed into pencils and notebooks in addition to their mainstay of pens. Classmate from ITC has moved from its core notebook segment into areas such as geometry boxes, pens, pencils etc. According to Das, there will be more extensions in the future. So Camlin then will have to move fast if it has to play catch-up at all.

Emami and cool hair oil segment (Navratna brand)

Branded hair oil business – over Rs 5,500 crores

Cool hair oil – 10% of branded hair oil & growing at over 15 % annually

Navratna, (Rs 300-cr brand) which is known nationally for its ‘Thanda-Thanda, Cool-Cool’ campaign, has 70% market share in the cool hair oil category, has had a free run so far. And it has been doubling its sales for the last three years even though it is among the costliest hair oils (Rs 25 for 50 ml and Rs 47 for 100 ml) in the therapeutic segment in India. (Emami – an Rs 700 crores company)

FMCG major Marico has a dominant 50 %-plus market share in the branded hair oil segment with two best-sellers: Parachute and Nihar.

Competition

But Emami’s Rs 300 crore brand may be facing tough competition soon (at present, its biggest competitor is a small regional player – Himgange) with FMCG majors now gearing up to try their luck once again in the category. Marico, for example, is currently prototyping two differentiated cool oil variants – Nihar Naturals Coconut Cooling Oil in Bihar and Parachute Advansed Coconut Cooling Oil in Andhra Pradesh. The last one is significant as Emami will for the first time face tough competition from a seasoned player in its stronghold – the southern markets where Navratna enjoys a virtual monopoly with a market share of 98 %.

Dabur also joined the fray recently with its Super Thanda hair oil priced at Rs 47 for 100 ml, in addition to Re 1 sachets. This again is significant as almost a third of Navratna’s sales come from the semi-urban and rural markets through Re 1sachets.

Emami’s Strategy

Emami, which launched the Navratna brand in the early 90s, will continue to cash in on its first-mover advantage and is focusing on the health aspect – the oil has just graduated from just a ‘Thanda-Thanda, Cool-Cool’ relief positioning to a stress buster that gives relief from headaches, insomnia, tension and fatigue. Emami is in fact looking at a 15-20 % growth this year. The company has gone in for brand extensions as well. Apart from Navratna light oil and Navratna extra thanda oil which help keep the buzz going, the company has also gone in for Navratna cool talcum powder and deodorant talcum powder.

“Creating sub-brands and brand extensions building on ‘cooling’ is one of our strategies to create a larger brand recall. So, in future too, we will introduce products and build on this successful ‘thanda-thanda, cool-cool’ concept,” Agarwal of Emami says.

Brand Ambassadors: The brand ambassadors are also being chosen carefully. The hair oil was first launched in the interior markets of north India with actor Govinda as the brand ambassador. As the market spread to more urban and youth markets, mega stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan were roped in to make the product more aspirational.

The next stage was to add more regional flavour to the portfolio and that prompted Emami to have actor Chiranjeevi in Andhra Pradesh, Surya in Tamil Nadu and Upendra in Karnataka to promote the hair oil. 

The Indian food services market

• The Indian food services market was estimated to be $6 billion (Rs 26,000 crore) in 2008.
• Organised players take up 13 % of this segment.
• By 2014, the share of organised players is projected to increase to 27%.
• This market can be categorised into 

                cafés (such as Café Coffee Day and Barista),
                full-service restaurants,
                fast-food outlets/quick-service restaurants (such as McDonald’s and KFC) and
                street stalls/kiosks.

• Of the overall share of these 4 categories in the organised segment, fast-food outlets/quick- service restaurants take up almost half the market at 47 %.
• While the overall market is expected to grow at 10-11 % a year, the organised market is expected to grow at a much higher 25-30 %.

Source: Technopak Advisors

The cafe business in India

• The café market in India is estimated at $150 million (Rs 678 crore).
• It has been growing at 40 % over the last five years.
• Café Coffee Day is the clear market leader in this segment both by retail footprint and revenue.
• Café Coffee Day plans to extend its footprint further by doubling the number of its cafés to 2,000 by 2014.
• International chains like Gloria Jeans, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and Illy Café have entered the Indian market recently and have a limited footprint.

Source: Technopak Advisors

The market for diagnostic centres

• Diagnostic tests impact more than 70 % of healthcare decisions. 
• The market for diagnostic centres is 4 % of the country’s overall healthcare delivery market. 
• It is expected to grow at 20 % a year till 2020.
• Diagnostic services include pathology, radiology, imaging and speciality diagnostics (cardiology, neurology and so on). Some new opportunities include infectious disease testing, oncology and pharmagenomics.
• Traditionally, diagnostic centres were a part of hospitals and physician offices, but with the increase in the scale of healthcare services, these are emerging as stand-alone entities, with various small players and a few organised branded players. It is expected that in the future, diagnostic services will be offered at retail outlets as well as in the form of personalised services at home.
• Growing and ageing population, growing research in the area of genomics, and increasing awareness towards early detection and prevention of diseases are some of the reasons which are catalysing the growth of diagnostic centres in India.

Source: Technopak Advisors

The luxury products market in India

• The market opportunity for luxury products in India is estimated at $3 billion. 
• This market is expected to grow at 25-30 % a year till 2015.
• Changing consumer attitude, relaxation in import duties and emergence of high-end shopping destinations are some of the key reasons catalysing the growth of this market. Indian consumers have started gravitating towards luxury goods and services that connect with their aspirations.
• A number of high-end international brands (such as Armani, Noraletto, Raymond Wiel and Burberry) have entered the Indian market through joint ventures with Indian retail players.
• In spite of some luxury brands closing shop, there are many that have managed to expand their presence after a certain number of years. It is widely believed that the segment has potential for players with a long-term focus.

Source: Technopak Advisors

The prescription eyewear market in India

• The prescription eyewear market in the country was estimated to be Rs 1,350 crore in 2009.
• In volume terms, the market is estimated to be around 25 to 30 million units a year.
• The prescription eyewear market is growing at 15 to 20 % a year.
• The market is highly fragmented, 
• The unorganised sector accounting for nearly 95 % share.
• Although there are strong regional players like GKB, Saberi’s and so on, barring Lawrence & Mayo and Titan Eye+, there are no major pan-India brands in this category.
• Despite the presence of global lens brands like Essilor in India, customers typically leave the choice of lens to the optician.

Source: Technopak Advisors

The sugar-boiled confectionery (candy) market

• The Indian sugar-boiled confectionery market is estimated at around $700 million (Rs 3,100 crore) .
• The biggest players in this industry are Perfetti Van Melle India, Cadbury, Lotte, Parle, ITC and Nestlé.
• Perfetti Van Melle is the market leader in India with a 25 % share.
• This market is categorised by high activity with frequent product launches and a high level of media engagement.
• While organised trade captures the bulk of the sales in India, unorganised trade (paan shops, kirana stores) generates the bulk of the sales.

Source: Technopak Advisors

India's Energy drink market

Energy drinks
                               India                      World
Market size       Rs 500 crore           Rs 40,500 crores (1 $ = Rs 45)
                         $ 111 million            $ 9 billion
Growth/yr            20%

The effect of energy drinks on consumers comes from the presence of caffeine, vitamins and, in some cases, herbal supplements.

The top brands operating in this segment include Red Bull, Cloud 9, Burn .

Source: Technopak Advisors