IPL 6: Ad spends trickle in from FMCG players

TAM ratings released through SET Max for the first five days of the IPL 6 stand at an average of 3.9 (almost the same as last year).

FMCG majors such as HUL and P&G may be staying away from IPL 6 but other players in the same category are jumping on board. While beverage players might have a reason to use IPL to create visibility during summer, there are also non-beverage companies such as ITC, Marico, Godrej and recently even new advertisers such as Ruchi Soya who are targeting IPL this season.

Sandipan Ghosh, AVP Marketing, Consumer Brands Division, Ruchi Soya Industries, said, “This is the first time that the soya brand of Nutrela is being advertised on IPL. In these two months, the tournament will rule the roost in terms of TV ratings and we wanted to leverage it to establish the different usages of the Nutrela brand of soya chunks and granules through our latest campaign.” Nutrela is the flagship brand of Ruchi Soya Industries.

“IPL is also proving to be more cost effective this season and we have picked certain matches during the tournament to build visibility for the brand,” added Ghosh.

But media planners are not exactly enthused by IPL ratings this season. Gautam Kiyawat, CEO, Madison Media, says, “IPL ratings are almost the same as last year and maybe even a little down. Every client buys on the property based on the needs and brand objectives. Clients buy on IPL in the context of what else is available to buy during the season.” Madison Media has clients such as Ruchi Soya and Marico and has been buying airtime on IPL’s official broadcaster SET Max on their behalf.

In fact, there are companies who are on wait-and-watch mode before investing in IPL. For instance, powdered drink concentrate maker Rasna has assigned Rs 35 crore ad budget for the summer but is not jumping on the IPL bandwagon immediately. “We are waiting for ad rates to go down even further for the tournament. Last year, we had bought spots for the last few matches towards the end of the tournament. TV ratings are still not adequate compared to last year and we are still exploring the possibility of buying into the property,” said Piruz Khambatta, Chairman and Managing Director, Rasna.

Meanwhile, TAM ratings released through SET Max for the first five days of the IPL 6 stand at an average of 3.9 (almost the same as last year). Neeraj Vyas, Business Head, SET Max, said, “While there may be no novelty factor for IPL compared to its first season when ratings hovered around 4.5, it is still a complete entertainment package and a mature tournament today.” SET Max, the official broadcaster of IPL, has increased its advertising spends by 10 per cent this season (average spends are usually between Rs 18 crore and Rs 20 crore) with a new campaign by JWT featuring Farah Khan.

Brands celebrate Durga Puja

From serving soya nugget dishes for Mahabhog (big feast) to coaxing consumers to help build a structure of the Dhaki (the iconic drummer) with cans and bottles, companies are looking at several ways to soak up the festivities of Durga Puja which kicks off tomorrow.

Beverage major Coca-Cola India is undertaking a consumer engagement initiative by installing drop boxes at key outlets for its consumers to drop in crowns, cans, caps, bottles and labels of Thums Up in cities such as Kolkata.

The company will use this ‘Thums Up currency’ to build 25-foot tall structures depicting Dhaki, the drummer, around select Puja Pandals across West Bengal.

Debabrata Mukherjee, Vice-President, Marketing and Commercial, Coca-Cola India, said, “Coca-Cola has always been actively involved with the various festivities across the country. This Durga Puja, we plan to use brand Thums Up to build up the iconic symbol of Durga Puja, which will depict the essence of the festival through these installations and bring the entire community together.” The installation will be built in collaboration with artist Piyali Sadhukhan. The company will do other branding and consumer engagement activities across other key cities.

Ruchi Soya says it will be co-ordinating with select Puja committees to help them rustle up dishes using Nutrela soya products to be served at the Mahabhog for the Ashtami Puja on October 12.

Sandipan Ghosh, VP-Ruchi Soya, said the company thought the experiential marketing activity, would help break the clutter during Puja. “Bhogs (feasts) are organised on three days during the Puja, but the Ashtami Mahabhog is considered the most important, and we have chosen this day for the activation. We will be partnering with nearly 29 Puja Committees in Kolkata to provide them with Nutrela soya packets to be prepared for the bhog,” he said. Besides banners of the brands, the people serving food during Mahabhog will also be wearing branded aprons. The brand is looking at other branding opportunities in Mumbai and Delhi.

Besides scaling up visibility during Durga Puja, brands such as Ruchi Soya and Emami will also be organising visits of celebrities to Puja Pandals as judges for tasting contests.

Ruchi Soya recognized as largest processor in India

Ruchi Soya Industries Limited has been recognized by the Solvent Extractors Association (SEA) of India for being the largest processor in the country. Ruchi Soya was acknowledge for its leadership in the Indian edible oil industry at the SEA Awards 2013". Ruchi Soya Industries managing diectorDinesh Shahra received the awards on behalf of the company at a ceremony held in Mumbai on Sunday.

Ruchi Soya Industries diversifies into tomato processing

Ruchi Soya Industries, a fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company focused on edible oil, soya products and margarine, plans to foray into tomato processing. The company has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Japanese tomato processing company Kagome Co Ltd and with Mitsui & Co Ltd, which has presence in trading, investment and services. The JV will be called Ruchi Kagome.

In the new JV, Ruchi Soya will have 40 per cent stake and 60 per cent will be held by a special purpose vehicle (SPV) created by Kagome and Mitsui, which own 66.7 per cent and 33.3 per cent share each in the SPC.

The first processing unit will be set up in Maharashtra with an initial investment of Rs 44 crore and commercial production will begin by June 2014. Land for the unit has been identified.

The JV plans to launch premium tomato purees, sauces, ketchups and other world-class products in India. Ruchi Kagome will work closely with Indian farmers. It will distribute higher yielding seeds and share global knowledge to educate local tomato producers, and set up local support centres.

Dinesh Shahra, founder and managing director of Ruchi Soya, said, "We are planning to launch a range of tomato products. These products will be marketed in both the business-to-business (food services) segment and the business-to-consumer (retail) segment."

The company will also educate farmers on choosing better crop suitable for processing and may also enter into buyback arrangements, subject to commercial viability.

Ruchi Soya to set up oil palm processing plant in orissa

FMCG player, Ruchi Soya Industries Limited is planning to set up a palm oil processing plant in the slate by next year with an Investment of Rs 25-30 crore.

Founder and managing director of the company Dinesh Shahra said Friday that the company has joined hands with the farmers to cultivate oil palm in 28,000 hectare of land in Mayurbhanj, Balasore, Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts.

The construction work will start sometime next year and will he completed within 18 months when it will be operational, he informed.

Under a tripartite agreement with Odisha government and farmers, Ruchi Soya has exclusive rights to procure Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB) of oil palm from farmers. Upon receipt of the raw material from the farmers, the company will pay to the farmers on every 20th day directly through their bank accounts. There are no middlemen in the transaction, he said.

"The entire process is transparent. Rates of FFB are linked to international prices of palm, thus availing benefits of global markets to local farming community," he said.

Since Odisha occupies an important position in the company's operations, Ruchi Soya has decided to establish a plant in the state to manufacture crude palm oil at an investment of Rs 30 crore, Shahra said, adding, the plant will be operational in one of the four districts under oil palm cultivation in two years.

Ruchi Soya may initially set up 10 tonnes per hour FFB processing mill. Presently, we are associated directly with over 4,000 farmers. At present, over 6,000 persons are directly or indirectly linked with this project which has a larger employment generation potential, he said.

Voicing concern over huge imports of edible oil, he said over 50% of edible oil consumed in India comes through import. Total imports of vegetable oil, including crude and refined, is set to hit a new record of 10.8 to 11 million tonnes this year, Shahra said.

With a potential of 56,000 hectares land suitable for oil palm cultivation, Odisha can play a pivotal role in enhancing palm oil production in the country, he added.

Ruchi Soya surges on JV with two Japanese firms

 Mumbai:   Nutrela Soya Food has launched its television commercial. The product is being promoted through a tagline which is in sync with the brands positioning- "Roz Kuch Naya, Roz kuch Soya."  

The objective of the TVC is to highlight the versatility of Nutrela Soya Food and therefore to make it as an integral part of a households day-to-day meal.

The campaign will be spread across eight weeks with a TVC breaking first during the ongoing IPL season and then followed with other channels that include Hindi GEC, regional GEC and lifestyle channels.
The company has also scheduled for a product sampling across women's magazine along with recipe ads/booklet to explain the usefulness of soya.

The new 30 second Nutrela Soya Food TVC has been depicted from the backdrop of a leisure trip where a couple enjoying their meal and is later joined by one of their couple friends. The TVC is thereby trying to acknowledge the creativity and versatility of the home-maker, by acknowledging her as food designer.

The TVC has been conceptualised by Soho Square Mumbai and produced by Apocalypso. Meawhile, Madison Media is the media agency on the account.

Soho Square Mumbai ECD and creative heads Satish deSa, Anuraag Khandelwal said, "We set out to get soya out of the blind spot, and into the limelight. To get the world to acknowledge it for what it really is - versatile and creative. We went about doing this by first acknowledging the house-bound wife for what she really is - versatile and creative. 'Food designer' status, we believe, is one of the acknowledgments she truly deserves."

The concept of the TVC is giving credit and gratification for house wives, as she is the only person who doesn't get either monetary or emotional gratification as against the working men or women. Hence, the company decided to acknowledge the creativity of the home maker by providing her a product (Nutrela Soya Food) that can be integrated well with every dish and thus enables her to make "Roz Kuch Naya".

RSIL AVP - marketing - consumer brands division Sandipan Ghosh added, "Home makers or Super Moms constantly aspire to bring in variety in food which is healthy and tasty and cuts across different consumption occasion for their kids, spouse and family in everyday life. We wanted to bring Nutrela Soya to the party as it is an extremely versatile ingredient. Thus, the effort is on increasing consumption by creating awareness on everything that can be done with soya."

Just 2/250:Ruchi Soya,ITC fastest homegrowns

Only two home-grown Indian companies — Ruchi Soya & ITC — have made it to the top 250 consumer companies in the world, says a survey by Deloitte titled ‘Global Powers of the Consumer Products Industry 2013’.

While Ruchi Soya has been ranked at 121, ITC stands at 150. For Ruchi Soya that manufactures edible oil and soybean products, it’s an improvement of 54 positions, Last year, the company stood at 175. On the other hand, cigarette and consumer goods maker, ITC has slipped by seven position in this year’s ranking.

If we look at the list of 50 fastest growing company in the world, Ruchi Soya has been ranked at 13, followed by ITC at 39.

While Ruchi Soya has recorded a 66% growth in sales in 2011-12, ITC’s net sales jumped 17.5% in the same period.

This is based on a survey by Deloitte on the data available till June 2012. For a company to make it to the list of top 250 consumer product companies, it has to have a minimum sale of Rs16,600 crore and has to register at least a 7% growth in sales on a yearly basis.

The report points out that as sales in the other established markets are taking a beating, companies from the emerging markets have started taking the lead in the fastest growing company in the world and going forward, this trend is likely to continue.

Dinesh Shahra, managing director of Ruchi Soya, said, “Improved branded sales, better sales realisation of oilseed extraction, effective control on the costs and favourable business sentiment helped us to get better performance in the past one year. We are making our efforts to have good performance on a sustained basis in the times to come.”

An ITC spokesperson said: “ITC’s aspiration to be the No. 1 in the FMCG sector in its new consumer goods businesses is supported by its relentless effort to build world-class brands that create, capture and retain value in India. These brands have earned significant consumer franchise and in addition, we are looking at enhancing the competitiveness of the entire value chain.”