Positioning – Battle of Mind Share! Aquaguard Vs Kent

Aha moment, finally looks like someone in Indian marketing industry cares to read the “Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind” by Ries and Trout. A classic in marketing literature!The water purifiers category in India has some unique characteristics. First of all, India lacks supply of water fit for drinking in almost city. The huge population provides a mass opportunity (approx 1500 crore market size). There are many players in this industry. One one side we have door-to-door marketing specialists such Eureka Forbes (EF) . Then we have Kent and MNC Unilever, whirlpool, home players Livpure and of course unorganized local copycats. The e-commerce has finally forced these players to have presence in retail and other channels. They cannot work in isolation any more.

Kent and eureka forbes (Aquaguard / Dr Aquaguard/ Aquasure etc.) has been the top two players. Kent brought Hema Malini as brand ambassador (later her two daughters also joined her). It has relied on “sabse shudh pani” (the purest water) to communicate the core message of purity, a rarity in India. The “purity” is also associated with other products like “gold” in Indian consumers mind. So, that was a master stroke from Kent making a long lasting recall in consumers mind.
On the other hand, EF struggled with its marketing communication. They did not have any celebrity face as well. But all this got changed recently. First, they got the ‘dhak-dhak’ girl Madhuri Dixit, pitting her against the dream girl. Added her dancing moves with technology along with the kids in background giving it a family effect. The master stroke was “healthy” aspect. It got more attention in ad compared to ‘saaf, safe or shudh’ factor! The focus shifts from ‘shudh’ to ‘healthy’ which immediately connects with consumers (and in process overwriting the Kent superiority). A perfect example of how to fight the market leaders on positioning!

For more on water purifiers battler-
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-01-08/news/45991321_1_water-purifier-market-kent-ro-eureka-forbes-marzin-shroff