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CEMENT INDUSTRY

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O.P. Puranmalka,

Group Executive President, Grasim Industries and Chief Marketing Officer, UlitraTech Cement Umited.

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In step with its global agenda, the cement business of the Aditya Birla Group, is orchestrating a contemporary brand makeover. WHh UltraTech Cement,. the Aditya Birla Group has established itself as not only the most respected domestic player but also among the global leaders in cement. Associate Editor Vldyut Kumar Ta in an exclusive interview with O.P. Puranmalka,. Group Executive President, Graslm Industries and Chief Mar~eting Officer, UltraTech Cement Limited, analyses the stratbgy behind promoting a single brand identity of the company's cement products.

,,' ..

HE INDIAN CEMENT JNOUSOJIRY IS ON A ROLL. DRIVEN BY vertical-trajectefp infrastructure development, a booming housing sector and surging global demand, the cement industry has ramped up production capacity, sparking off a spate of mergers and acquisitions to spur growth.

The demand for cement is linked to the pace of economic development in any country. Broadly, this can be categorised into demand for housing construction (homes, offices, etc . .] and for infrastructure ere. a .. tio~ (ports, rq,_a.(ds, dam ... s, po.wer p. l~nts, etc). The real driver of cenrent demand IS new infrastructure. Although cement is a typical cyclical industry, a huge potential market and rapid growth have led to a surge in cement demand.

Keeping pace with t~ expanding demand for cement, the cement business of the Aditya Birla Group has integrWd its national cements brands into one entity ~ Utlra'Iech Cement. Jaan Wahl, pehchaan nayi - this new brand identity sums up the ultimate promise - a forceful statement that communicates the business benefit of the level of service and quality that the company provides toits customers

and partners. •

Just a few yeats ago, the Aditya Birla Group bought over the cement business of L&T for around Rs, 2,200 crore, L&T allowed its name to be used for about a year. O.P. Puranrnalka, Group Executive President, Grasim Industries, and Chief Marketing Officer, observes that in a very short time the company bad to establish a new brand name in the minds of the people and use the L&T mind space. The task was Herculean. Explaining the strategy behind the new brand name, Mr. Puranrnalka says: "We wanted to capture the gene code of L&T in the new brand name. So we commissioned research on customer perception about the L&T Cement brand. Of course, we were very sure in our minds that L&T Cement epitomised engineering prowess, technology quality and modernity."

The research findings threw up the same qualities, but tbe name itself was not associated with anything tangible because L&T was not by itself a meaningful word. Moreover, the group wanted a new brand image which portrayed the intrinsic premium value of the brand - on cue from the findings of the survey. The outcome was Ultra'Tcch Cement. Mr. Puranmalka insists that "nothing has changed except the name". There is no doubt

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that, with the unveiling of this new brand identity, the Aditya Birla group implemented one of the largest brand transition exercises in India in the category.

Says Mr. Puranmalka: "The name UltraTech with the signature line, 'The Engineer's Choice', admirably captures the premium nature or the brand and its salience." According to Mr. Puranrnalka, excellent product quality and customer care will remain the hallmark of UltraTech cement.

Jaan Wah; Pehchaan Nay;

Keeping pace with the current industry trend and taking the Ultra'Iech brand to a new pedestal, the group decided to have one national brand. Birla Plus with its very strong presence in the North was a very well known brand. Its tag line 'Hal' Nirman Ki Jaan' and the 'is cement mein Jaan Hain' had become household phrases. Observes Mr. Puranmalka: "We opted for UltraTech as the national brand because while on the one hand, it gives us the opportunity to strengthen common attributes of a premium brand, scale of operations and the Aditya Birla Group's reputation, it also provides an opportunity to build on the positioning platform of 'expert' and imagery signifying 'progress', 'cutting edge technology' and 'modernity'.

While highlighting the need to present a single and unified brand identity across the country, Mr. Puranrnalka stressed the fact that with this change, only the name of Birla Plus was being changed to Ultra Tech Cement and the core values and

fundamentals on which Birla PIllS was built will remain the same. "While both the brands have different identities and personalities, the core or the soul of both the brands is the same - i.e., Aditya Birla Group's lineage, superior product quality, premium cachet, trust and reliability. That is not changing and therefore our campaign is centered on the theme of 'J arm Wahi, Pehcaan Nayi'," says Mr. PuranmaLka.

Strategy

Although cement is said to be a lowinvolvement category, the brand awareness in this category is very high. Major brands like ACC, Ambuja and some strong regional brands have been fighting for mind space. Says Mr. Puranmalka: "Brand awareness is the category driver. We wanted to be different. and were constantly on the look out for high visibility media. We found that cricket has a great following in our country and we wanted to explore t.he possibility of associating with this sport.

"Starting with in-stadia branding, we moved on to be co-sponsor to the Indo-Pak series held in Pakistan. This turned out to be a great success for both the Indian learn as well as us. To further strengthen the bonding with the channel partners, over 400 of them were taken to witness the match. It was a glorious and un forgetful experience of visiting Pakistan. This was an event by itself."

Chak De India

India, the world's largest producer of

movies in as many as 10-12 different languages, provides a great opportunity for advertisers to reach the masses. Films are a great entertainment platform for most indians. Many FMCGs have encashed this opportunity, The in-film brandin~ opportunity was used by Ultra Tech for the first time ever in the cement industry. The film Chak De India, promoting women's hockey in India, became an all-time hit. In the movie UltraTech was the sponsor of the Indian women's hockey team. UltraTech branding was all over, throughout the movie. 'II was a big gamble we took," says Mr. Pu ran mal ka. "Initially we were sceptical, with many big banners with big stars failing in the recent past. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to go ahead with this gamble and finally Chak De India almost became like a national anthem, with India winning the women's hockey title in reality and our cricket team winning the inaugural 20-20 World Cup."

Branded Channels

Surging ahead of competition, the cement business brought in a new concept in cement marketing - Ultra'Tecb Building Solutions, a one-stop shop for all construction needs. "This is a unique concept and was tested in Rajkot which is one of the fastest-growing cities in construction in the country today," says Mr. Puranmalka. "Advocating our Plan, Build and Support" philosophy, it seeks to enhance the shopping experience of customers and strengthen existing trade

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partnerships, by upgrading the service . proposition. It offers a wide spectrum of end-to-end home building solutions high

quality construction materials and allied

. 'value-added services. As a business model, Ultra'Iech Building Solutions offers home building solutions from planning to completion.

Basically, every customer who walks in to UltraTech Building Solutions outlet receives guidance on construction-related issues as well as value-added services like Vastu, usage of budget software to estimate costs involved for construction, paper clearance procedures, etc. The customer gets a ready reckoner of information on how to choose and buy quality construction materials. With the Rajkot success and with

key learning points the company intends to _U.::l.J"RA::..:cc__T_EC_H_· ':.:.5 .:.S_T"_:m..::.-_:O.:._F-....:TIlEc:.;.:_-_AR_T_T_RA:.:.N'-'S:.:_IT:_M:..=IXE.::· ·:;_R_. _

open many more outlets across the country.

Measuring Effectiveness

"Once the goals are well defined we need to measure the effectiveness of all such initiatives that are undertaken from time to time," says Mr. Puranmalka. "We are research-savvy in OUI approach. We go into minute details to find out the cause and effect, keeping the larger picture in mind." This is true right from the selection of the brand name UltraTech to ad campaign testing, media effectiveness and so on. Regular Brand Health Monitoring studies are undertaken to understand various critical issues like awareness, usage pattern, equity indices, psycho-economic mix of the target group (TO), etc. Mr. Puranmalka adds;

UllnmH:h

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The Engineer's cnoice __.-

ULTRATECH'S CHAK De INDIA IN FILM SrONSORSIUP: A FIRST.

"Recently we initiated and completed a customer satisfaction survey to understand the expectations of customers and benchmark with the best in the industry. Of course there are some insights which we need to address internally, but overall we are happy with the outcome. The results are very encouraging and you would be glad to know we are steering ahead of competition."

increase costs. Ready-made concrete is the answer. The company forayed into the Ready Mix concrete about eight years back. With its first plant commissioned in Hyderabad, Ready Mix concrete was sold as a brand, 'Hula Ready Mix'. True to its tagline 'concrete on cali', the company was able to capture the imagination of customers and service them round the clock. "The concept was new then," says Mr. Puranmalka. "It was more of concept selling than a product. We bad to railormake our communication around issues in comparision with tbe site mixed concrete, quality consistency, concrete testing facility, ease of handling, technology, etc.

In a very short time Birla Ready Mix

Ultra'Iech Concrete:

While the economy is growing, timely completion of infrastructure projects has become more challenging. With emerging technologies, one no longer one has to maintain huge stocks of cement and allied products, create chaotic environment and

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UltraTech

O. P. PUAANMALKA: BUILDING A BAAND.

concrete became a generic name. The success of the brand led to the opening of a

• few more plants in Hyderabad itself and expansion to other states pan-India. With the transition of Birla Plus to UltraTech Cement, even Birla Ready Mix concrete was rechristened UltraTech Concrete' .

"Our UltraTech concrete plants are present in Mumbai, Pune, Nasik, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Surat, Gurgaon, Noida, Jaipur,

Chandigarh, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Cochin, Vizag, Ludhiana, Raipur and Kolkata and many more are coming up," says Mr. Puranmalka.

Keeping in tune with the latest technology, Ultra Tech Concrete offers speciality concrete like UltIaTech Fibrecon, a fibre reinforced concrete, Ultra'Iech Free flow, UltraTech colorcon, UltraTech stainless, a corrosion resistant concrete, and

UlttaTech Therrnocon. This wide array of choices will help customers choose tbe right type of concrete that suits their construction needs.

UltraTech Cement has 11 integrated plants, seven split grinding units and five bulk terminals, including one in Sri Lanka. Ultra'Tech is India's largest exporter of cement and clinker. The total cement capacity of the Aditya Birla droup is 31mnTpa.

o.P. Puranmalka: Brand U'ltraTech

Excerpts trom an Interview wHh O.P. Puranmalka, Group Executive PreSident, Graslm Industries and Chief Marketing OffIcer, UItraTech Cement Ltd .

• Why are you opting for a single national brand?

Cement is an integral part of the Aditya Birla Group's business and a clear focus area. The integration into one national brand is proof of tbat and a signal of the Group's commitment to take it furtber. The new beginning with Ultra'Tech Cement as a national brand for the Group will not be a departure from the fundamentals that created Birla Plus. In fact, it will be an

acceleration of that.

We would like to present a common and unified brand identity across the country, We have therefore chosen Ultra'Iech Cement as the national brand for the Aditya Birla Group's cement business. Presently, we have two power brands in the country, but they operate in different markets and neither of them is a pan-India brand, in the rea) sense. While both the brands have different identities and personalities, the core or the

soul of both brands is the same, i.e. the Aditya Birla Group's lineage, superior product quality, premium cachet, trust and reliability.

Since the DNAofthe brands is the same and the core promise of the brands is also similar, we felt that we would be better off with one national brand. With over 25 million tonnes per annum volumes, we now have U1traTech as the single largest cement brand in the country. With a single brand, it

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commitment to serve the nation was what made Birla Plus so successful, Added to this was a team of dedicated, committed and resourceful trade partners , and other service providers. This combination was responsible for placing Birla Plus cement so high in consumers' estimation and that

combination is still intact.

• Will you have a common team to look after the brand and what will the advantages of that?

With a common team looking after one national brand, we would be in a better position to provide a synergistic, consistent and superior service across the country. A common team has already been put in place internally. These teams are now building on each others' strengths, providing knowledge integration and exploiting synergistic opportunities, We now intend to take this forward to our team of dedicated,

committed and resourceful trade partners and other service providers.

• What are your major markets and. where do you plan to expand?

With this brand transition of Birla Plus to U1traTecb, the brand U1traTech Cement enjoys a leadership position in practically all the markets it sells in, It also becomes the single largest cement brand in the country

and that touch point affects how we are perceived. A poor experience with one touch point can negate all the brand equity we build in. other touch points. The premium is built on the basic characteristics of the brand. This basic character has its origin in the people who own the brand, the internal processes that support the brand and the

trade partners who distribute the brand.

As I have said at various points the only thing that will change in this entire process of transformation is the name of the brand and everything else remains the same, The premium quality, the enormous technological backing, a dedicated team of technicians and managers and a

UI'traTech Unveils A New Campaign

What Do Consumers Expect From A ~eader?

EVERYONE LOOKS UP TO A VISIONARY LEADER TO UNDEllSTANn the possibilities tomorrow holds. And you have a greater responsibility to bear when you are India '8 largest. cement company.

in the present. day context, UltraTech is playing an important role in. theinfrastructural development of the country. No wonder, UltraTech's every creation is a window to tomorrow. And an effective communication was needed to reflect the same.

According to Mr. O.P. Puranmalka, Group Executive President, Cement Business, Aditya Birla Group, the challenge was to create an emotional connect while retaining the technological superiority. The communication had to furthermore reinforce Ultra'Iech's position, one leadership and take the brand to the next level.

It was quite a daunting task for Interface Communications, the advertising ag€ncy for Ulna'Iech, to get the right mix of emotions and technological superiority that appeals to everyone right across IHBs to architects and large commercial establishments,

The agency developed an idea that turned out to be one of the most distinct and clutter-breaking films the Indian viewer has seen. It is .a18.0 a logical extension to the ·expert platform that seamlessly cuts across segments and takes the communication-to the next level through a simple theme - 'Bar badalte aaj mein; maine kal ko dekha hai» .. '

According to Mr. Puranmalka, "The film provides a great mix of emotions blended with eye-catching technology through superior graphic work The communication reinforces Ultra'Iech as an expert in continuous pursuit to achieve perfection,'

The film has received rave reviews from everyone in the industry and consumers. Accoaflng to Rajesh Saathi, Director, Keroscene Films, "It's the simplicity of the idea that actually made this a piece of marvel." Evidently, the campaign is able to cut across the masses and connect with people in cities as well as Villages, That's- the power of an idea. And today along with the leader, every Indian says: 'Har badalte aaj mein, maine kal ko dekha hain:'

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is easier to enter the hearts and minds of the consumer. We feel that combining the strengths of the two brands and two teams will have a multiplier effect on the quality of OUI service and therefore the brand equity.

• Wby have you opted for Ultratech Cement when you have strnngexisting brands such as Birla Plus? Why not viceversa?

Once we internally analysed that there were great synergistic benefits that accrue to consumers as well as the companies by transiting to a single national Brand, it was a question of choosing either of our two national brands, i.e .. Birla Plus or Ultra'Iech cement,

This was not easy as both brands enjoy substantially high brand equity in their respective markets of operation and have a very high emotional connect with customers. Both are the most recognised brands in the category.

BirlaPlus came through as a good quality brand with a very powerful and popular brand name. What remained peripheral were technology and dynamism. UltraTech on the other hand came across with a more contemporary and modern imagery.

We opted for Ultra'Iech as the national brand because while on the one hand it gives us the opportunity to strengthen common attributes of a well-known brand, scale of operations and the Aditya Birla Group's reputation, it also provides an opportunity to build on the positioning platform of "expert" and imagery signifying Progress, Cutting Edge Technology and Modernity. The brand Ultra'Iech bas extremely positive associations and awareness even in nonUltra'Iech markets such as the North zone . • Why are you not using the "Bida" Brand name?

As mentioned earlier, the Aditya Birla Group's lineage is our core strength and the U1traTech brand also has benefitted from this association.

While for the product brand name we are not using the "Birla" brand name, but in all OU[ communication, whether to mass media like press, television, outdoor or retail branding, the Aditya Birla Group lineage comes across very strongly.

In fact, that is why we used the J aan Wahi, Pehchhan Nayi as our campaign theme. It is a change we are making with great care as we do Dot wish to jettison the strengths we have currently and move to unchartered territory. The core of Birla Plus' Positioning ~ Trust, Reliability and the Aditya Birlu Group's lineage - will continue in its new avatar, i.e, Ultra'Icch,

The change wil1 add and not subtract from the equation .

• 1 Will there be financial / econom.ical gains due to the single national. brand?

As pointed out earlier, the single national brand exercise is aimed primarily at developing a common and unified brand identity across the country. This exercise is not driven by financial gains.

• How diO'erent were the two brands and how do you see UUraTecb evolving post this transition?

Birla Plus had evolved into a significant brand and it stood for ill set of values of simplicity, smartness and reliability. With, our campaigns of establishing it as Hal' Nirmaan Ki Jaan we brought in a bit of gorgeousness and lot of charm into the brand whereas UltraTech Cement was a brand on its own without any history. Our brand track researches sugges:t that it is probably the fastest growing cement brand in terms of equity and brand awareness.

By combining the soul of Birla Plus with the imagery of Ultra'Iech, the brand will be distinctive and powerful, have distinctive lineage, with dear "technology" perceptions. In other words, we see Ultra'Iech as being truly competitive, differentiated and having a strong and dear equity .. The UltraTecb brand aims to generate its strength by creating and consistently delivering distinctive performance benefits with compelling emotional benefits found in tbe brand personality.

• How much win change now that Dirla Plus will not be used as a brand? What are the changes being incorpora.ted after tbe launch of UltraTecb as the national brand?

Nothing much will change after this brand name change. Birla Plus will now be known as UltraTech cement and. that is the only change, The same state-of-the-art technology will continue to provide the same unmatched quality. The same team of efficient technicians will manage these production facilities to provide a worldclass product that consumers have been used to all these years. The same committed and dedicated field force will be there in the market to provide the same level of customer care which has made this product so loved by consumers,

Therefore technically speaking it is not a new brand but only a new name for Birla Plus. Nothing else has changed and hence Joan Wa.l!~ Pehchaan Nayi.

I. What is the risk that the premium enjoyed by Birla PIllS brand will not be l.ostin this brand transition?

Since essentially the Jaan of the brand is not changing and we are only giving it a new Pehchaan, we are confident that there will be no dilution in either the volumes or the premium commanded by the brand.

A brand, as perceived by the only legitimate judges - .our customers - is the sum of all their interactions with our company. Every place a customer can interact with QUI company is a touch point,

OLTRATECH: S-UCCJlSSFUL KOAOS~lOW.

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THt SUCCESSFUL NXIlONAl. TVe STORYBOARO.

with a pan-India presence. We plan to consolidate our leadership position in these markets and complete the process of transition to Ultra'Tech in the next few months. Certain capacity expansions have already been announced. We will be adding 15 million tonnes capacity in 2008-09.

Ready Mix Concrete is a key focus area for us and we have lined up expansion plans for this business.

• How are you going to generate awareness about the brand?

Instead of focusing the brand essence on merely product attributes or brand personality, a conscious effort is being made to focus brand essence on a set of touchpoints through which the brand can deliver a consistently distinctive and inspiring customer experience.

We have planned a series of product awareness launches aeross the country over the next couple' of months. These ground events will be accompanied by road shows to create awareness about the product amongst consumers and trade partners. We will also organise technical meets with dealers, stockists, retailers, individual house builders, engineers, architects, masons and contractors to reassure them that UltraTech will have the same quality that they have come to expect in a premium product. In addition, a brand new television commercial, an innovative press campaign and creative usage of outdoor media will also be helping spread awareness about the new product.

• What kind of marketing spends are

envisaged in next few months?

The strength of such brands is matched only by the speed at which they are being built.

Given the scope and scale of the brand leverage effort, an attempt has been made to build a much tighter link between corporate strategy and brand strategies. The brand is being seen as an asset that call drive growth and its positioning reflects not only existing markets, but also emerging opportunities.

The spending on the brand is being truly viewed as an investment in a dynamic asset that can be leveraged into new offerings, markets and audiences. The spending on the brand will be enough to communicate the transition and will not be wasteful.

• What was the brief given to the advertising agency and its creative team'! Are there any new promotional schemes for the next few months'!

Since Birla Plus cement had developed strong personality dimension, it was decided that U I traTech would appropriately maintain a focus on the core personality elements to ensure that there is no dilution in core equities during the re-naming exercise.

The agency was asked to design communication at all touchpoints to effectively communicate that the only thing that has changed in this entire process of transformation is the name of the brand and everything else remains the same. Hence the campaign =Jaan Wahi, Pehchaan Nayi.

The brief also ensured that in this process of transition, none of the values or

attributes should be lost or diluted. The communication had to be designed in such a manner .

• What is the industry scenario for 2008?

The continued emphasis given by the govemmentin the recent past on the development of infrastructure like roads, ports and urban infrastructure like flyovers, etc. means that cement demand will continue to rise. Similarly, developments in the housing (especially rural housing) sector have also added to the growth of the cement market. This is in spite of the fact that the per capita consumption of 110 kgs is below the world average of 356 kgs and far below that of the Asian economies like China and South Korea. This provides a tremendous opportunity and the cement sector is poised for exponential growth. We may witness continued consolidation efforts in the industry.

• What are YOUT rural marketing plans?

The various initiatives taken by the government recently have given a boost to the rural economy. The rate of growth of the housing sector in the rural segment is increasing every year. Ultra'Iech is already well represented in the rural markets and we are planning various initiatives which will help us grow in this sector. For obvious reasons I am unable to share these plans at this stage. These will include providing technical assistance to masons and contractors, teaching them more costefficient construction methods and usage of eco-friendly cement and cement products.

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