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Vinson Kurian

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, April 10

FAMILIARITY breeds contentment and brand recall, if you ask Mr Piruz Khambatta, the youthful Chairman and Managing Director of Rasna Pvt Ltd.

It is this conviction that led him into turning over - and literally turning out - a (new) leaf in introducing a corporate strategy with as familiar a symbol as a leaf in multi-colour, with `Rasna' emblazoned in prominent white across its spread, to trigger brand recall.

Speaking to Business Line here, Mr Khambatta said that a leaf, being the symbol of freshness and nature, appeals to all age groups round the year. The aim is to reach out to the masses and create brand awareness in rural towns falling under the D, E and F categories and further down, in a drive to create what he describes "your every moment thirst" with Rasna for the asking for as low a level of 80 paise per glass to Rs 4 per glass.

Mr Khambatta is relishing the gains that the aptly titled core proposition, `Relish a gain' may already have generated. Mr Khambatta said during this year the company had conducted major brainstorming sessions on how to make Rasna trickle down to the rural areas. "We are implementing a strategy through which we wish to make consumers drink more Rasna as well as get new people accustomed to the brand. We have come out with more product offerings to attract the new consumers. For those who are already used to the Rasna taste, we have brought out value-added products. We are more aware than anybody else about the price-centric behaviour of the Indian market and have accordingly positioned our products."

So far, Rasna has been present in only two price segments - Rs 4 and Re 1. But this year, the major effort has been to raise the number of the segments so that Rasna becomes affordable to more people in newer regions. This in a nutshell explains our strategy for the year'', said Mr Khambatta.

By continuously seeking to build value into the product, Rasna is trying to produce `a gain' for the consumer. "It is not as if people consume soft drinks just for the fun of it. They also expect to gain from it. That's why we have value-adding ingredients like vitamins, minerals endorsed by scientists, doctors and health experts. We want to see that consumers relish our products on all 365 days."

Rasna found that the best way to communicate with the masses was through a symbol and hence, the leaf with a red and green background.

"The idea is to communicate to people a modern, professional, healthy and affordable drink."

A new project, titled `Rasna for one billion Indians' has also been taken up.

"Our range is such that the pricing is not a barrier for one who sleeps on the road or resides in the slum - we have the 0.80 paise range for them. We want them to feel that Rasna is a part of their everyday life.

I don't think any other FMCG company has gone to the extent we have in promoting a brand among the masses,"

Under the campaign, being handled by Mudra, Rasna has created a series of ads for TV, only one of which has come out with Asha Bhonsle providing the voice-over.

The company's advertising budget is going up from Rs 13 crore in the previous year to Rs 16 crore in 2002-03. "Whenever you feel like celebrating, drink Rasna. This is our message.

Even after all the value addition that has gone into it, the cost of a single glass of Rasna with sugar remains only Rs 1.20 (80 paise for the drink plus 40 paise for the sugar)," Mr Khambatta said.

Three years to the top

THE closely-held Ahmedabad-based Rasna Pvt Ltd has charted out a separate three-year strategy for achieving specific milestones in growing the brand, increasing brand salience across various categories and becoming one of the most admired companies in the country.

According to Mr Khambatta, the company has "enough resources" to fund future growth plans which include a foray into the foods sector. With the current range of products, Rasna has its hands full and would not need to tap external sources for financing growth.

Asked specifically, he did not seem to rule out a public listing of the company down the road but hastened to add, "No, not for the time being, by any stretch of imagination."

Some of the specific targets in the three-year vision document for the company include attracting talent relevant to the need, increasing the per capita Rasna consumption from 15 to 100 glasses with the benefit of gain, reaching `every moment of thirst' of consumers of all age groups, becoming one among the country's top 10 products in terms of visibility and brand recall and among the country's top 20 most admired companies.

Mr Khambatta cited results of a series of studies and surveys which accords Rasna the seventh position in brand salience in the food and beverage category. In beverages, it is the fifth. In the preparatory category, Rasna has almost 90 per cent of the market share. No other domestic brand has as much dominance in its category as Rasna has in preparatory drinks. The turnover has grown 240 per cent, profit after tax 275 per cent and net worth 150 per cent over the last five years.

Rasna exports to 40 countries and has offices in Sharjah and the US. It has eight factories in India, five in Gujarat, two in Silvassa and one in Punjab. The strong expertise in flavour development at the R&D office in Ahmedabad makes It is claimed to be the only soft drink available in 11 flavours. Its `bandwidth' covers family at one end and children at the other and thus has cross-category appeal, Mr Khambatta said.

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