Haier: All set to fly higher

Haier has its target set for 2010, which it plans to achieve through an aggressive marketing strategy. The recently launched TVC is just the tip of the iceberg

Haier, the home appliances and consumer electronics brand, is all set to beef up its India operations. Armed with aggressive marketing plans and an extended product portfolio, the brand has set out to attract eyeballs and generate revenue.

Explaining the reason behind the entire exercise, Eric Braganza, president, Haier Appliances India, says, "We have not been in mass advertising for a long time as all this while we were busy putting things together in terms of product placement, penetration, dealer network and manufacturing."

Haier India is taking an all round media approach, using multiple platforms such as TV, out of home and print to reach out to its consumers. Its planned marketing spend is about Rs 50 crore, of which about Rs 30 crore will be put in ATL (above the line) activities. Here, TV is at the top of the priority list, consuming 60 per cent of the amount spent, while print will get the remaining 40 per cent. Also, the brand has elaborate plans for BTL (below-the-line) activities.

Accordingly, Haier has launched its second brand campaign after a gap of many years. The 45 second ad brings to life the brand's promise of being inspired by its consumers. It also shows how the brand offers a wide range of products in every category to meet the needs of everyone.

The ad, which will be on air today onwards, has been created by Arms Crestra. Kunal Shivdasani is the director and producer of the film. The music has been created by singer duo Justin-Uday (of Hijack and Sikandar fame).

Haier is increasingly making itself visible on magazines and newspapers as well.

In the BTL segment, it has set up about 10 exclusive experience centres in seven cities to reach out to its consumers and make them touch and feel their products. "Although we are present in most of the retail stores, we realise that in multi-brand stores, the exposure becomes less and this is the reason why we have planned to come out with exclusive experience centres."

Haier plans to raise the number of such experience centres to 20-25 by April and to 75 by June, encompassing all the major cities, mini metros and capital cities. It is spending Rs 10-12 crore for in-store activation programmes.

In addition to this, it has also come up with after sale service stations, InstaCare, in both Delhi and Mumbai and plans to raise the number to 10 by the end of June.

Further, as a part of its growth plan, the brand recently launched 25 new models to its already wide product portfolio.

Haier India seems to be quite optimistic about growth, too. "In Q1 of FY 2010, we grew by 216 per cent over the corresponding period in 2009. We look forward to grow by 200 per cent for the rest of 2010," states Braganza.

Braganza clarifies that in the refrigerator segment, it has seen 198 per cent growth in Q1, 2010 and expects 160 per cent growth for rest of the year. In the AC segment, it claims a growth of 211 per cent in Q1, 2010 over last year and expects to grow by 150 per cent in the rest of 2010.

In the washing machine segment, the brand claims to have registered a growth of 80 per cent in Q1 over the same period last year and is therefore putting a major thrust to take the figure up to 220 per cent in the remaining part of the year. In the LCD and LED segment, the brand is looking forward to be one of the top five brands by the year end and in the deep freezer category, it targets to be among the top two players by the end of 2011.

So, how is Haier facing competition in the segment and registering so much growth? Braganza says, "The segment is big enough and has space for all. I believe people buy our products because they find a huge variety of quality products with us at a price which is 3-4 per cent lower than the other available brands."

Out of the many Chinese companies that have set up base in India, Haier is one of the few that have been able to create visibility, largely due to its innovative advertising and marketing strategies. Only time can tell if the brand will be this time lucky as well!

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