P13106 | PGDM-A

CYCLE AGARBATHIS
History of the brand
Cycle brand is owned by Bangalore based N Rangarao and Sons. NRS were pioneers in branding
agarbathis and Cycle brand is one of the largest agarbathi brand in India with a market share of
15%.
Cycle Pure Agarbathies is manufactured by the Mysore-based NR Group. The NR Group The
Mysore Based NR Group was founded by Shri N. Ranga Rao in 1948.Sri. Ranga Rao who was a
true visionary launched Cycle Pure Agarbathies which today is the worlds leading incense
brand. From a home-grown enterprise, NR Group has grown to become a successfully-run
business with established presence in India and abroad.
Cycle brand was launched in 1948. In this commodity market,Cycle was positioned as a
premium agarbathi brand. The brand was trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing
campaigns and quality.
The first export orde was received by the company from Sri Lanka in 1954. Later it started
exporting agarbathis to other countries, including the Chile, Japan ,US, and Africa. The company,
which exported agarbathis to just 12 countries in 2001, now has a presence in over 60 countries.
Cycle has a worth of worth Rs1,500 crore in Indian Agarbathi industry with a 15% share in the
organised market.
Cycle Pure Agarbathies has an array of offerings in the premium category: Three in one, lia,
Rhythm, Woods, are the marquee brands. Heritage Agarbathies is the latest offering from the
group.
The Group has diversified into other business categories, such as functional air care products
(Lia brand of room fresheners and Car-fresheners) and wellness home fragrance products (IRIS)
under Ripple Fragrances; floral extracts (NESSO) and Rangsons Electronics. The group is also
very passionate about several Social Initiatives which they run through their arm The NR
Foundation. The third generation of the Ranga family manages the NR Group today.

CURRENT BRANDING STRATEGIES

LOGO OF CYCLE AGARBATHIS: A Cycle which symbolizes Quality

NAME: CYCLE PURE AGARBATHIS
SLOGAN: Everyone has a reason to pray
GRAPHICS: Depiction of Gods in its packaging and print ads.
SOUNDS: The brand also has few signature tunes to make sure that the brand has its presence in
the minds of consumers.
SCENTS: The agarbathis produce an exhilarating fragrance that tantalizes the senses and moves
the soul.

CAMPAIGNS
Pray for India campaign
Campaign to invoke countrys collective prayers for Indian cricket team in World Cup
2011
Cycle Pure Agarbathies, Indias leading agarbathi brand is rolling out its Pray for India
campaign for the World Cup 2011 on February 2011. Pray for India campaign was a platform for
ardent cricket lovers across the country to pray for the Indian cricket team to win the World Cup.
The on ground campaign was rolled out in 100 cities of the country with a Cycle Pray for India
branded mobile van .The van moved through the city stopping at important places and asked the
passerbys to come up on the van and write their prayers. A sample pack of Agarbathies was also
distributed to pray for the Indian team. Each Van carried a 6 ft Mega Agarbathi which was lit at
the end of the day by a local celebrity. The on ground activity will started from Feb 17th.
As part of the campaign, Cycle Pure Agarbathies created a new Television commercial. The
commercial denoted people from various walks of life having only one hope that India should
win the World Cup in 2011. Cycle Pure Agarbathies, carried the hope and prayers of the entire
Indian population. The commercial was played on the days before the India matches.

There was SMS support to the campaign with over 50 lakh SMSs sent out to fans in the country.
On the social networking platform Facebook, the Pray for India campaign was run through the
companys page called Bhagwaan Hai. Brand Cycle stands for hope and unwavering optimism
the grand essentials of human life. The thought of Bhagwaan Hai takes the idea of God out of
the puja rooms to the large canvas of our daily life.
The Bhagwaan Hai page drove the 100-city campaign online with regular updates, weekly
contests and gifts for fans and cricket lovers across the country.
Cycle Heritage Quiz
Cycle Pure Agarbathies, Indias largest incense stick brand, today organized its 2nd edition
of Cycle Heritage Quiz 2013 at Ahmedabad on 7th Dec . CHQ 2013 Indias only quiz aimed
at educating the students on the Heritage and Culture of our country was held at the Mangaldas
Girdharlal Town Hall. Titash Banerjea,- Quizmaster and Aarif Khan- compere kept the
Ahmedabad audience engrossed throughout the quiz program. Chief Guest of the Quiz Program
Mayur Vakani who is also known as Sundar Mama in Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma Serial
motivated the students to give their best performance.
The Quiz Show received an overwhelming response with 375 teams from 80 schools of
Ahmedabad City., attending the event.. In one year Cycle Heritage quiz has become the biggest
quiz, event in the city. There were only 150 teams in 2012 edition of the quiz. The quiz was open
to students of class VII to Class IXth. After the preliminary round 6 teams qualified for the grand
finale. All the questions of the quiz were related to the heritage of India including, epics,
mythology, origins of festivals and traditions and more.The quiz was closely contested and there
was a photo finish at the end.
Rahamanishq
Cycle Pure Agarbathies, Indias largest incense stick brand, through its sub-brand Lia cosponsored the citys biggest musical event of the year Rahamanishq by the iconic musician
A.R. Rahman at Sardar Patel Stadium Navrangpura on 27th October,2013. Lia also organized
consumer contests initiatives like opportunity of winning tickets of the concert with a pack of

Lia agarbathies and other display contests such as the innovative initiative of giving a chance to
win tickets of the concert by clicking self-pictures beside cut-outs of Rahman in various malls
and uploading on facebook.

As a gesture to reiterate its commitment towards Garbha- the traditional art form of Gujarat
Cycle Pure Agarbathies has organised the Cycle Sheri Garbha Contest for the 4th consecutive
year in Ahmedabad and in major cities of Gujarat, As part of this event individuals and groups
performing Garbha in its original form are recognised and awarded, Cycle Pure Agarbathies
also organized a meet and greet session with the iconic musician A.R. Rahman for Selected
Winners of Cycle Sheri Garbha on the eve of this concert.

Cycle Pure Trusted Player award

Cycle Pure Agarbathis were official co-sponsors of the Tri series between India,West Indies and
Srilanka in July 2013.The social media was used to give publicity to this using a contest .The
objective was to spread the word about the sponsorship and the Cycle Pure Trusted Player award
for every match.
The campaign was from 28th June to 11 July during the Tri-series matches.When a new fan
alanded on the application they had to like the page to predict and pray for Cycle Pure Trusted
Player of the match to win amazing prizes.The ability to predict every match closed 2 hrs before
the actual match began.This could be done for any number of players for the matches.They had
to submit their name and email id to take part in the contest.Fans could view prayers by clicking
View prayers and even share ,comment and like prayers.

STP of the brand

Cycle is positioned as the premium agarbathi brand.
The brand is trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing campaign and quality.
Cycle 3 in 1 the most popular has three different fragrances in one pack.
Many schemes such as natures gift brand has been introduced.
Segmentation:
Consumer demographics(House wives,villagers,religious people and pandits etc)
Consumers geographic location(mostly rural areas)
Consumer lifestyle(Middle class,lower middle class)
Behavioral characteristics(Usage occasions)
Targeting:
Targeted towards religious people and religious ceremonies as a token of worship
Positioning

Cycle is positioned as a premium brand and differentiated from others in terms of

packaging, advertisement campaigns and quality.

Cycle agarbathis thrived in the market by continuous innovation in their packaging and
fragrance.

Cycle established their presence in the less attractive market as a brand by some effective
campaigns emphasizing on quality and fragrance.

Point of Similarity:

Pricing- Ranges from Rs.10 Rs 60 packets for agarbathis

3-in-1 and 5-in-1 packets

Promotes the religious cause

Availability in kiranas, pan shops, supermarkets etc

Point of Difference:

Good Quality and better Packaging

Better offers for customers during festivals

Give importance to promotions

Variety in fragrance

Pooja Kits are also their USP

Current market position

The Indian agarbathi market is highly fragmented with over 450 players.Cycle agarbathis is the
current market leader in India with a market share of 15% followed by ITC Mangaldeep with
about 5%.Cycle brand exports to about 60 countries.
The domestic market is about to be of Rs 3500 Crore in size where as the export market is about
500 crore in size.
Every year more than 1000 billion sticks are produced and the market is growing at a rate of 7%
per year.

Marketing communication and analysis

Print Media: Bhagwaan hai which has come in regional languages like Malayalam,
Gujrati, Kannada(Devaru iddarre), Marathi to cater to the varied target customers

Radio: There are radio ads of the brand in different regional languages

TV Commercials: Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani and Bhagwaan hai are few popular ads that
are hit on TV

Signature Tunes: The brand also has few signature tunes to make sure that the brand has
its presence in the minds of consumers

During the ICC Cricket World Cup they have launched the Pray for India campaign
which was part of all their communications during that period.

CUSTOMER BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID

Resonance
Loyal customers: Has been in the industry since 1948 so many customers even from different
generations.
Repeat purchase:Loyal customers always prefer the brand .
Judgements
Value for money:The most common 3 in 1 package cost only Rs 10.
Durability:Its a non perishable item and has a long life.
Feelings
Warmth: The aroma of incense give freshness and warmth and used in aromatherapy as mood
enhancer or stress relieving agent

Performance
Creativity:Different and aromatic fragnances available which are made from natural herbs,
flowers, aromatic oils

3 in 1 pack is a good option as the customer gets 3 fragnances in just one pack.
High quality products.
Cycle name is synonymous in all languages,so wide appeal and acceptance.
Available in almost all stationary shops.
Imagery

Innovative: Ready to experiment and bring out new fragnances supported by their
strong R&D setup which is the biggest in the entire agarbathi industry.(Has already made
over 500 agarbathi fragrances)
Product differentiation:Wide range of fragnances and different packaging for different
fragrances.It has packs with 12 to 50 incence sticks that cost from Rs 10 to 60.It has 3 in
1 and 5 in 1 packs.

Salience:Brand awareness

High Breadth : Wide spread acceptance in all religions.Used for Pooja, Religious
festivals, Gift to loved ones, Room freshener ,Ayurveda and Aromatherapy.

High Depth : Ease of recall and high availability and quality

Brand Awareness :

High due to advertisements like Bhagwaan Hai ; signature tunes and social activities
performed by the brand

Launched campaigns like Pray for India

Campaign during Durga Puja in West Bengal

Free match box with the pack

Always top-of-the-mind recall

Brand Image :

Pleasing fragrance

Readily available

Long lasting

Suggestions to improve the brand

Product

The company should come out with the following products:Agarbathis namely:
a)Super b)Medium c)Regular
In four perfumes, namely: a)Lily b)Rose c)Jasmine d)Mogra e)Without perfume
Price
The company should come out with innovative pricing strategy.
In five types of prices:
a) Mini Pack Rs.2
b) Regular Pack Rs.10
c) Large Rs. 25
d) Extra large Rs.40
e) Jumbo Rs.90
Place
Urban Areas Super Market, Retail Outlets, Kirana Shops, Pan Shops
Rural Areas Haats, Kirana shops, Pan Shops, Door to Door selling

Promotion
Following promotional strategies should be followed:
a)Banners
b) Free mini pack Distribution of with some of the regular household commodity or magazines.
c)Pamphlets and brochures
d)Painting on the walls or shutter of the kirana as well as general stores

Recommendations

1) Advertising can be done in all mediums like TV, Radio, and Magazines etc.
On the whole effective advertising in the media is necessary. The advertisement should
develop a purchase intension in the minds of the viewers.
2)To make the buyers more loyal towards the brand, give more discounts and offers have to be
provided
Example: If u can give a coupon inside the pack of Agarbathi, if ten coupons are
collected one pack can be given free or any small gifts can be given. Such offers may develop
a brand loyalty towards Cycle Pure.
3) Product proliferation: introduce the products with lots of variety, this will give the buyer more
choice
Example: Lia, Bansuri, Rhythm etc.
4) Offer sample packs to all outlets so that the product gains awareness.
5) Sample packs can also be given with some local magazines which are being sold.
6) The sticks must be more thick and the chemicals used in incense stick will not attach to the
consumer hands
7) Many competitors are providing 1Rs and 2Rs packets with 4 or 6 sticks for a day use therefore
company can grab that opportunity.
8) Company should give more important on quality because some of the incense sticks will not
burn fully and in the middle itself it will off so company has improve on quality.
9) Increase the quantity of agarbathi packets of 10Rs and 12Rs.
10) Social marketing Using 50paisa to 1 Rupee from sale of each packet towards social causes

REFERENCES:
http://marketingpractice.blogspot.in/2006/04/cycle-agarbatti-everyone-has-reason-to.html
https://www.scribd.com/doc/148213386/agarbatti.
http://cyclepure.in/about-us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NR_Group