Case Study: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee

It was a humid and sticky July evening in Delhi when Priyanka Kaul, who had been working with HT Media Group for the past 6 years, was walking towards the metro station. She had just wrapped up her days work and was hoping to catch the 7:00 pm train out of Connaught place. Priyanka was part of the Brand Solutions team that worked on special projects for brands across Industries. The Brand Solutions team at HT Media were responsible for providing a comprehensive media solution for Brands by leveraging the cumulative strength of all media vehicles as well as editorial creativity. This involved conducting secondary research (and sometimes primary research) with several rounds of discussions with internal stakeholders - sales, editorial, marketing as well as the client to work out a robust media based solution. Priyanka was however a little distracted today. She was thinking about the project that had been assigned to her two days back. This critical and high stakes assignment had been assigned to her due to her contribution in the recently concluded India Awakened Series for a leading tea brand. The campaign had delivered strongly on the desired brand tasks defined by the client, and had won several accolades as well. As she was walking past one of many coffee shops that had mushroomed all over Delhi in the last 34 years, she stopped in her tracks. She decided to take the train leaving later in order to research the subject of her assignment. She walked into the cafe and ordered herself a large cappuccino while she recalled the events over the last two days. Senior Executives from SPOC LTD. had recently met the Business Head of Hindustan Times and had expressed interest in partnering with HT for their Coffee Brand: Aroma. Priyanka opened her laptop and scrolled through the notes she had taken during the meeting. There were two major competitors in the coffee space: DDJ Ltd. & SPOC LTD. SPOC LTD. is the market leader in South India with Aroma Instant as the key player while DDJ Ltd. is the market leaders in Non-south market with Coffenia Classic as the key player. The Business head of SPOC Ltd. Mr Kaushik, had listed down the desired objectives: We want to Increase Unaided Awareness for Aroma Bold/Aroma Instant in Delhi-NCR Generate Trials-you could evaluate wet sampling or other innovative ways of distribution. Increase market share by minimum 5% in Delhi The Brand Head of Aroma Coffee, Mr. Chakraborty was optimistic about achieving the objectives as he had been recently sanctioned a sizeable budget towards the upcoming brand campaign. He had earmarked a budget of Rs 20 Mn towards print, radio, activation and digital channels. An undisclosed amount had been kept aside for the TV Campaign. Mr Chakraborty further added, India is the 6th largest producer of coffee in the world accounting for over four percent of world coffee production. Most coffee produced in India is exported. Until recently, domestic demand for coffee was largely confined to the southern regions. Over the past few years, coffee has changed from being a traditional beverage consumed mainly in South India, to a beverage with a national presence, consumed in several forms and retail format. Priyanka reviewed the next set of information from a survey conducted by the SPOC team that they had mailed to HT the previous night.

Copyright: HT Media Ltd. July 2013

Page 1

Beverage Penetration Tea has a universal penetration* in Urban India (99%). Coffee penetration comes second at 92%. This means that more than 90% of the population surveyed have consumed coffee at least once in the past 12 months. Instant coffee is more popular (68%) than filter coffee (27%)

(* Penetration of a beverage is defined as the proportion of people consuming the beverage in the last 12 months.) Share of throat Tea has the maximum share of throat of 54%; plain milk comes second at 17%. Coffee has the third largest share of throat among all beverages, at 13% behind plain milk (This is inclusive of both instant and filters coffee) At the national level, in home consumption accounts for nearly 82% of yesterdays total volumes, across all beverages. Out of all the beverages consumed at home or out of home, tea is the main beverage that is consumed (67% consumed at home and 60% consumed out of home). It is interesting to note that volume of coffee consumed out of home is same as coffee consumed at home (11%). Frequency of Consumption summer and Winter: Weekly in

While tea consumption remains unchanged irrespective of season, Coffee consumption increases slightly from summer to winter by 7%. Consumption of Instant coffee is the highest in winter (58%) Competition Overview: Both SPOC and DDJ had similar products that competed for market share Starting Price Point: Aroma Instant vs. Coffiena Instant (Coffee-chicory mixture) Aroma Bold vs. Coffenia Classic (100% pure coffee) While Coffenia Classic has been around in the market for more than 60 years, Aroma Bold was launched couple of years back as an eyeball competitor to Coffenia Classic. The Pricing for both Brands were at parity for all SKUs There is no reason for the consumer to not switch from Coffenia Classic to Aroma Bold other than it being an older brand. The packaging of Aroma Bold is a Unique hexagonal packaging that makes it stand out on the shelf. Blind-taste test has proven Aroma Bold to be a better product than Coffenia Classic.

Copyright: HT Media Ltd. July 2013

Page 2

The Aroma team was looking to boost the market share in Delhi and targeting 17% market share from current 12% The following Marketing Activities were planned for Aroma Gold and Aroma instant starting end of 2013 TVC for Aroma Bold Outdoor publicity in Delhi in the vicinity of the wet sampling outlets Print share gain plan in Delhi-NCR: This would include innovative ads + Advertorial support on coffee drinking+ other solutions to make people switch to Aroma/consume coffee more Wet Sampling in selected outlets in Delhi-NCR Digital activation & engagement on social media for Aroma Bold. Brand Proposition: Aroma Bold: 100% Coffee that makes you enjoy moments with your loved ones, over a cup of Aroma Bold This is a lifestyle product and is for the coffee drinker who understands life and tries to be happy every time. Aroma Instant: Can make 8+ cups of coffee in just Rs. 5

As the brief from the client came to an end, Priyanka had several unanswered questions in her mind 1. What is the Target Group for the brand? Is the TG for Aroma Bold and Aroma Instant the same? 2. TV ads of all the coffee brands were targeting youth- why would be they be targeting a segment with low disposable income? What was she missing.... 3. How could a challenger brand increase the market share a. Should they eat into the market share of an established brand like Coffiena that has been in existence for over 75 years? b. Should Aroma target tea drinkers or non-coffee drinkers hoping to increase the market? 4. How can the newspaper call out the brand proposition strongly- would it take an innovative ad or editorial support or both? 5. As a media house, what can HT do to partner Aroma increase market share. Priyanka knew that HT has several platforms(refer to Annexure 1) that reach out to the youth directly a. HT City- Entertainment Supplement with Hindustan Times b. Radio Fever c. Online Presence: Desimartini.com/shine.com etc. d. Events: Fresh on Campus, Star in the city, College Activations etc. Priyanka knew that if HT Media had to partner Aroma in this campaign, she would have to come up with an integrated solution spanning print, radio, digital and events. NOTE Prepare a Pitch for Aroma Coffee that should deliver on the stated objectives. 1. Team of Two with only 1 entry per team is allowed 2. For further information, Visit http://htmedia.in for more details on the available media channels that could be part of the solution.

Annexure: HT MEDIA Verticals and Annual Calendar Copyright: HT Media Ltd. July 2013 Page 3

HT City: Calendar
Quarter Q1 Month April Fitter You Star in the City July Fresh on Campus Star in the City Oct Crystals Star in the City Jan Star in the City Month May Fitter You Star in the City Anniversary party Aug Fresh on Campus Star in the City Nov Star in the city Feb Youth Nexus Star in the City Month June Fitter You Star in the City Sep Crystals Fresh on Campus Star in the city Dec Delhis Most Stylish Star in the city Mar Youth Nexus Delhi Shopping Carnival Star in the City

Q2

Q3

Q4

Copyright: HT Media Ltd. July 2013

Page 4