Brand management

Group assignment

Topic: Hawkins cookware

Submitted to,
Prof.R.Kamble Submitted by,
Gunadeep(201821012)
Narendra Gite(201822071)
Tanya choudhary(201821045)
Rwitika Rakshit(201812095)
Vikramjeet singh(201821046)
Introduction
Hawkins is considered as the heritage brand of India because it has managed to enter deep into the
cultural fray of Indian households. It is the brands that have withstood the test of time. Consumers
constantly seek new products that can add value to their livelihood. Changing lifestyles also plays
a major role in determining the relevance of the product; it comes as an opportunity as well as a
threat to the existence brands. But Hawkins has always proved its relevance by changing with the
consumers. Its basket of products contains various different products which have been introduced
from time to time to keep the relevance of the brand.

It has tied its consumers with emotion and that’s what makes a brand leverage the market. Besides
this consistency and continuous management of appearance is critical in creating brand equity. So
all these factors make Hawkins a successful brand.

Competition

The growth in the demand for Hawkins products is mainly the result of the combination of three
factors:

1. The faster growth in consumer income

2. The trend towards better brands which follows from the “revolution of rising expectations

3. Hawkins’ long years of focus on better product design, better product quality and better
consumer.

The major competitor is the TTK Prestige, which holds the equal market share in the pressure
cooker segment as Hawkins does i.e. 25%. The segment is a mature segment and urban markets
are growing at a very slow rate. The opportunities for Hawkins lie in the rural areas where there is
huge scope for penetration and also in other kitchen appliances. The highlighting feature of
Hawkins is that it has raised funds through fixed deposits rather than banks. Hawkins Cookers
Limited also renders marketing services for abroad.
Government policies:

In the long-term, the government’s drive to provide Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) connections
to rural households and electrification of rural areas is expected to boost penetration of pressure
cookers and cookware in the rural areas. A ‘rural friendly’ budget that returns more cash in the
hands of the rural population will also boost demand in the medium term. Government policies
are in the favour of Hawkins ltd.The market for pressure cookers is shared amongst organized
national branded players, regional players and unorganized players. Over the years, the share of
the unorganized players has been gradually reducing. Still, the market for unorganized brands is
estimated at about 40 percent of the total market thereby leaving room for market share gains by
the organised players.

Consumer preferences:

Consumer prefer the product which provide them experience, value in return of purchase.
Hawkins is providing the value, benefits and experience through constant innovation and unique
designing making it special for consumer, Consumers are preferring Hawkins cookware as we
can see that market share of Hawkins is 30%. Strong distribution channels prove the power to
reach out to the target group. Growth prospects of the pressure cooker and cookware segments is
good on account of favourable demographics, increasing urbanisation, rising number of nuclear
families, rising rural incomes and a shift to branded products.

Pricing Strategy:

Demand growth for a pressure cooker and other kitchenware products is on a rise in rural areas.
Hawkins has tried its level best to infiltrate both urban and rural sector and hence has adopted
penetration policy that is spread far and wide. It also faces stiff competition from rival companies
and has decided to keep its base prices at par with competitors. It has adopted a competitive
pricing strategy that will help the brand in undermining the efforts of its rival companies. Hawkins
realises that its products are necessary for every kitchen and hence has adopted a
reasonable pricing policy that will help the consumers to make a purchase at affordable rates.
Marketing strategy :

Hawkins has launched several campaigns to retain its positive brand awareness in the consumer
market. The company has taken help of electric and print media and its ads are shown on several
television channels, radio, newspaper, billboards and magazines. The company has put the special
onus on its packaging as each individual unit is packed in full-colour cartoon making it look
attractive. Manual and cookbook are provided along with the product with detailed instructions
and few recipes to make work easier. Every Hawkins product comes with a guarantee, for
instance, its pressure cooker has a guarantee period of five years.

Hawkins marketing mix

Product:

Hawkins Inc sells its products under 5 broad categories, and each of these serves as separate
product lines. All of its products are sold under the brand name of Hawkins Inc.

Hawkins Inc sells products with a lot of variety available, which allows customers to select the
product variety that best suits them.

Hawkins Inc sells products that are highly differentiated, with various features offered to
customers that competitors don’t offer. Its products are therefore considered to be unique.

Its products are perceived to be of higher quality than that of competitors. Therefore, customers
are willing to pay a higher price for these.

Price:

Hawkins Inc sells its products at a higher price than competitors. This is because it offers more
features, and the high price makes up for these.

It currently uses product bundle pricing as well, where products are bundled together and sold at
prices lower than the total of individual items.

It also uses an optional product pricing strategy for certain products, where it offers a price for the
base product and separate prices for the accessories that come along with it.

It charges a greater price for the products it sells online. This is because delivery costs have been
included in the price of the product.
Hawkins Inc has fixed the prices of the final product. Channel members; retailers and wholesalers,
buy the product at a lower price and earn through their own margins.

Place:

Hawkins Inc sells its products through two marketing channels. The first is where it sells directly
to its customer through its online website. The second is where it sells to wholesalers who then
sell to different retailers located all over the country. These then sell to its customers.

Hawkins Inc has its products present on over 500 retailers throughout the country. It follows an
intensive marketing strategy where it tries to include its products on as many retailers as possible.
This ensures that its products are available to customers easily in different parts of the country.

Hawkins Inc has a substantial amount of online sales with frequent traffic on its websites. In order
to run its online operations, Hawkins Inc has partnered with numerous delivery service providers
in order to provide timely deliveries.

It follows an omni-channel distribution system where it has integrated its online and offline stores
to allow customers easy access to its products.

Hawkins Inc has a network of over 500 suppliers that provide it with the raw materials needed for
production. It has developed a close working relationship with its suppliers allowing the company
to work with them to innovate and introduce new and attractive features on its products .

People:

Hawkins Inc has people working under its sales team that play a vital role in its marketing efforts.
These people have been trained in persuasive techniques, but also to show respect to the business
customers taking into consideration their preferences.

Hawkins Inc has people working in its customer service department. These are contacted by
customers in case of any issues within the product, and these people guide customers through the
process of getting the issues resolved. These people are trained to respect the customers and try
their best to get their issues resolved.

Hawkins Inc has people working with suppliers to obtain raw materials. These people play a vital
role in maintaining or improving the quality of the final product produced.

Hawkins Inc has people working at retail stores who help the customer on site, by answering any
questions or helping them decide the product that best suits their needs.
HAS THE BRAND EFFECTIVELY CAPTURED ADVANTAGE IN STRATEGY?

Yes the Brand has effectively captured advantage as it directly connects with the emotions of the
customer. Hawkins tag line of “a best way to cook” in its ads has shown that it’s the best brand in
the segment. Also the profits are continuously increasing since the last two years for the brand.

ARE THE BRAND’S STRATEGY AND EXECUTION IN SYNC WITH EACH OTHER?

Yes, they are in sync. The Brand focuses on making cookers that are long lasting. The Hawkins
Company is well known for not compromising on quality and for continual product innovation.
The most thorough research and development, the most careful selection of materials, the best
manufacturing practices and the strictest quality control - all go into making pressure cookers
which are trusted by the millions of families using them.

It has made its special place in the hearts and minds of its customers. With increasing income,
customers are even ready to buy Hawkins cooker at fair price.

There was a fall in sales in between due to some labour issues but it got resolved. After that the
brand has focused mainly on its distribution channel. The company follows direct to retailer
model where in goods are shipped from C&F agents to retailers directly. Hawkins has also
stepped up its reach through large format stores and is also available on amazon and flipkart.

IS THE BRAND ABLE TO CONNECT EFFECTIVELY WITH ITS TARGET GROUP

AND COMMUNICATE VALUE?

Yes. Also, the trends like below are arguing well for branded player like Hawkins:

1. Increasing nuclearization away from joint families.

2. More than 1 crore marriages per year.
3. Change of culture towards faster replacement.
4. Rising rural incomes
5. Government ambition of Housing for all and providing ages connection.
6. Increasing brand conscious generation.
The sales increased 5.4 times from Rs 106 crores in FY04 to Rs. 544 crores in FY16. Based on the
factors indicated above and considering the current market size of approximately 2 crores cookers
being sold annually, Hawkins is well poised to achieve a good growth in future.

WILL THE BRAND BE WELL MANAGED OVER TIME?

We can safely assume that for the next 10 years people will cook and they will need pressure
cookers and cookware. Also the manufacturing process of cookers will stay the same and you will
require aluminium, factories, and people. Around 50% of the pressure cooker market is still
owned by regional and unorganized players. Hence branded players like Hawkins have
tremendous opportunity to grow by grabbing the market share from unorganized players. Also
with growth in urbanization and increase in disposable income, the demand for cookers and
cookware will increase and there by the overall pie will grow. This is good for Hawkins. In order
to justify the current price, Hawkins should grow its earnings at 17% for the next 10 years. Will it
be able to do? Maybe. But for that to happen it should maintain its margins, stop Prestige from
taking away its market share, and also maintain its labour relations.

Critical gap analysis:

Hawkins offers 73 different pressure cooker models in twelve different types.

Company is having market leadership in Cookware products like pressure cooker. We analyse the
competitor’s strategy they are extending their product lines to expand their market share. As a
brand consultant we would like to suggest them for Brand Extension in other kitchen appliances
using existing brand equity without harming the existing product line. Hawkins do not have any
electric cooker, mixer, micro-oven in their offerings so we have identified the gap between the
product offerings by the brand and what the competitor brands have.
Hawkins have to capture the whole space of its brand equity to extension in its product portfolio
which can provide sustainable competitive advantage.

Solutions-Strategy Brand plan:

Products

Upward stretch: Electric Cookware

Brand Extension:
Microwave oven Electric Kettle

Brand Strategy chain:

Feature → Benefits →Value →Insights→Positioning→Brand Personality →Brand and Product
relationship→communication→Managing Brands

Features:
Electric kettle Electric oven Electric cooker

Capacity: 12 cups, 2.75 quart Variable power control Keep-warm feature

Faster boiling
Heavy-duty stainless-steel Child lockout Temperature-monitoring
construction feature
5× heavier than a regular Automatic sensors
kettle Digital timing feature
Attractive mirror finish Turn table
Tea infuser free Quick-cook feature
BPA/Teflon free versatile Interlocks system
design
Attractive design Proper size and power
Benefits:

Energy efficiency: This product directs around 95% of heating energy directly to the cooking vessel.
Compare this to approximately 45%-55% when using gas flame or electric coils.

A cooler kitchen: heat targets the pot or other vessel, less radiant heat is dispersed into the air,
allowing your kitchen to remain cooler and a great place for entertaining friends even while cooking.

Time saving: This product will heat a pot of water in half the time it takes to boil using a traditional
cooktop. This equation translates to all forms of cooking on an induction cooktop, giving you the
edge for preparing home cooked meals on time, every time.

Safe to touch: With cooking, the pot heats up while the cooktop remains cool to touch – a definite
bonus for busy parents of children with prying hands. Safety-first ASKO cooktops deliver on all
fronts.

Precise temperature control: Induction cooktops are perfect for slow melting of chocolate and sauces
at very low temperatures, with no fickle gas flame or an ineffective electric coil to ruin the prep.

Easy cleaning: The flat surface, hard wearing ceramic glass and full integration into the kitchen
benchtop makes cleaning a breeze. In addition, it’s easy to wipe away spills as the cooktop remains
cool, with less chance of foodstuffs sticking and tarnishing the surface.

Value for customer:

Overarching goal: to win over customers, to truly please them by delivering products and service
beyond their expectations.

• design is inherently safer than conventional products

• not compromising on quality
• continual product innovation
• thorough research and development
• most careful selection of materials

Company offer products that are

• needed,
• well-designed,
• well-made
• Reasonably priced.
We continually strive to improve our products and customer service .

Design of brand strategy for this product, we have to analyse the STP for this product:
Segmentation:

The company can use one or more of these segmentation strategies to choose the right market
segments and develop an effective Marketing Strategy.

Geographic: the target group for this product are in Tie1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Demographic: Middle middle-class and Upper middle-class Families. Bachelors (Employee or

under graduation) living in the city.

Psychographic segmentation: Value proposition- Hawkins can target the youth for electrical
product (because time saving and easy handling) attributes, Women employees because the
automatic technology in the electric cooker.

Targeting:

The products are electrical, so we are targeting urban area in the initial stage. Middle class and
Upper middle-class Families, as this are our existing customer for the core products. Bachelors
(Employee or under graduation) living in the city. - Hawkins can target the youth for electrical
product (because time saving) attributes. Women employees for the same value proposition.

Positioning:

Positioning of the product is vital part to convince the consumer or capture the space of his mind
set, we elaborate the positioning of the product through some q&a.

Brand equity:

Brand equity reflects the overall value of the brand. The customers' experiences and perceptions
determine the brand value. Positive perceptions reflect the high brand value and positive brand
equity, while negative perceptions reflect the low brand value and negative brand equity. Hawkins
should continuously evaluate its brand equity to ensure the long-term survival in an increasingly
complex and competitive customer market. It can be done by evaluating the following brand
equity components:

Brand awareness:

Brand awareness provides the basis for brand equity development process. High brand awareness
shows that the customers know that the Hawkins Inc brand exists and can recall the important
brand-related information. The company can measure brand awareness by conducting brand recall
surveys. The high brand awareness acts as an anchor to other associations. It increases brand
visibility that can help Hawkins Inc gain consideration in the competitive market.
Brand association:

Brand association reflects the customers’ associations with Hawkins Inc based on their memories,
previous experiences, interaction with Hawkins Inc’s employees, price points, advertisements,
WOM, celebrity associations and publicity in different media channels. It is important for
Hawkins Inc to carefully plan each interaction with internal and external environmental actors
(such as government, employees, shareholders and media), as customers develop brand
association not only due to direct interaction with the brand, but also the indirect interaction with
different environmental factors.

Brand loyalty:

Brand loyalty is among the most important element of Hawkins Inc’s brand equity. It can be
attitudinal (customers’ feelings towards the brand) and/or behavioural brand loyalty (repeat
purchase). Higher brand loyalty can decrease the marketing expenditure, increase Hawkins Inc's
ability to introduce new products successfully, erect the barriers to new players and strengthen the
company's bargaining power against other channel members.

Hawkins Inc can increase brand loyalty by rewarding the customers' repeat purchase behaviour.
Although the loyalty programs are expensive, it will benefit Hawkins Inc be reducing the costs of
acquiring new customers.

What your brand stands for?

Hawkins is always come with innovative designs and technological advancement as compared to
competitors.

What are the needs and wants of your target market?

From the survey of target group, we got the insights about their wants and needs as following,

Wants:

• Fast making of food

• Ease of cooking.
• Gas (LPG) prices are much higher as compared to electrical expenditure.

How your brand serves those needs?

This brand is known for his innovativeness and unique design of products. This brand serves the
experience to consumer by providing Safety, ease of use, Free of cost servicing facility.

How different is your offering from competitors?

• We are providing fastest food maker electric cooker.

 • Unique design (attractive and User friendly)
• Free of cost service for all the product.

Time-lines for implementation

To make all the above changes to the brand, there would be certain timelines such as:

Product changes -
Modify the product according to the new technology in the market which will take
approximately one year, as the Hawkins is mainly famous for design and innovation of the
product needs to be changed from traditional cookware to electrical cookware.

• Changing Positioning of the Brand would Include:

Communication strategies (change brand personality):
▪ Print ads - One Week before the Launch of the New electric cookware, 2
times a week and one month after the launch, 2 times a week.
▪ TVCs- A series of TVCs over a period of 2 Months showing the design of
the electric cookware.
▪ Billboard- Initially for the first 2 months after the launch of the cookware.

Investment plan for implementation of brand strategy

Brand will have to cover all the modes of promotion including,
• Research and Development
This may require more money to come up with an apt design and implementation.
• Internal branding of the brand.
The detailed information of the investment plan is given below

MEDIA
Newspaper Ads
Tier 1 Cities
Size No. of Ads per month Price
Jacket - 33cm x 52cm 1 135k
Half Jacket - 16.5cm x 52cm 2 130k
Skybus - 33cm x 5cm 3 40k

Tier 2 Cities
Size
Jacket - 33cm x 52cm
Half Jacket - 16.5cm x 52cm
Skybus - 33cm x 5cm
No. of Ads per month Price
1 55k
2 50k
3 18k

Billboards
Tier 1 Cities Prime Locations (LED lighting) 15 lakhs
Tier 2 Cities Backlight Hoardings 5-6 lakhs

NON MEDIA
PR Events (Tier 1) 30-40 lakhs
Miscellaneous 2-3 lakhs
Promotional activities:

Hawkins Inc should hire influencers on social media such as bloggers or popular TV/movie stars,
and include them in its advertisements. Bloggers can post content on their social media pages in
order to promote Hawkins Inc. TV/movie stars can be included in advertisement commercials to
increase acceptance of the product by customers.

Hawkins Inc should initiate an advertising campaign where a consistent message is provided to
customers on all media platforms. This will help increase awareness for the brand within the
minds of the customers.

Hawkins Inc should undergo various digital marketing technique in order to improve the online
traffic on its website. These include a banner advertisement, Search Engine Optimization and
creating its blog.

Hawkins Inc should make social media posts that are more relevant to its target audience. The
posts should also be such that they encourage further action by customers such as sharing the
posts with friends or leaving feedback in the form of comments. These should incorporate the
latest social media trends such as hashtags, memes etc.

Hawkins Inc should start collecting data on customers and start sending them messages through email
or SMS, which will eventually result in repeat purchase by customers.

Expected outcome in the form of- top line, bottom line, price premium and/or
market share:

The organisations adopt the Bottom-Line Strategy to improve their profits. The organisation has
already captured a decent market share and hence it needs to focus on increasing more profits than
the revenues. This is for the new line or products cookers.

However, for the existing product line, which are the cookers, the organisation plans to charge a
price premium since it dominates the market. a top line strategy is not adopted as revenues are
automatically incurred.