Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Have you ‘written’ on a brand lately?

The paper industry in India has been late to the party when it comes to creating strong brands, but they can’t afford to stay laggards in this domain anymore

Think about it the next time you take a few printouts. Have you ever spared a moment to contemplate the quality of the paper being used? Or do you have a vague idea of the brand? Do you see any unique differentiation in the quality over the years? For instance, does it jam less or do the prints appear brighter? Or is the paper environment friendly? We aren’t really anticipating any ayes here. In fact, if we look at common perception, we would generally conclude that there is hardly much to differentiate between different paper manufacturers. Also, with digital going mainstream at a fairly brisk pace, does branding of paper really matter?

It certainly does. Firstly, India makes for a unique case study, since even analog print has a long way to go in the country yet. Going by the 2011 projections of Indian Paper Manufacturers Association, demand for paper in India is going to almost double by 2020 to reach to 20 million tonnes annually from the present levels of around 11.7 million tonnes per year despite growing influence of digital and this provides humongous amount of opportunities in front of marketers. Also, the competition in this space means that individual players as well as the Indian paper industry as a whole need to do serious introspection on this front.

Branding in this industry, however, gained traction only in the late 1990s. Entry barriers were high before that, with import duties at around 110%. But as the environment eased, a flurry of domestic and global manufacturers entered, including ITC in 2002. With the existing clutter in the space, branding has become more of a necessity rather than a luxury. According to Shrinivas Ayyar, Brand Strategist, RBC Worldwide, “Initially, Indian paper manufacturers were trying to educate the customer as well as the end consumer about the need for a trustworthy name. Now when they have managed to establish their ground, the second wave of marketing will be about positioning themselves as superior and different from others.” Also, early attempts in branding were focused on increasing penetration in B2B markets and the end consumer was nowhere on the radar. But today, the scenario is different and some genuine attempts at branding are being made at the individual level.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
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