Study On Brand: Zandu Balm

Submitted by: Abhijeet Pandhare

Roll No: 12M518

Zandu Pharmaceutical Works Ltd. was named after venerable Mahatma Zandu Bhattji to whom it
owes its origin. The King of Jamnagar gave a piece of land on the bank of Rangamati River in Gujarat for
preparing medicines. The oldest factory named Ras-Shala was established about 148 years ago from this
date.
Zandu Pharmaceutical Works was founded in October 1910 as a private concern. The company
started gaining popularity with its various products from the very beginning.

Zandu Balm is a trusted 100 year old Ayurvedic brand. The success story
of the brand lies in its famous punchline -Ek Baam Teen Kaam and its
focused approach of marketing. The brand colour Green is also an integral part of
its publicity.
Zandu Balm has positioned itself as the Peedahari Balm for nearly two
decades now and this famous jingle as been an inseparable part of the brand.
With Zandu Balm being the leader with almost 43% of the market
share faced threat not just from its competitors but also the growing consumer
shift, drop in the usage of balm as well as relevance of the product format. Now
Zandu Balm has lost its market share drastically.
Focus would be to study and understand:

Environment analysis of Industry.

Branding Strategy
Reasons for downfall
SWAT analysis
Porter's 5 force Model
Competition analysis
Marketing Strategy.
Revamp Strategy & conclusion.

Aim of the study is to understand and highlight the pain points /

loop holes to come up with strategy which will help brand to recover its
market share and market position.

Uday:

http://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/fmcg/5425-zandu-balm.html
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/analysis-of-emami-zandu-dealmarketing-essay.php
http://www.medicalhealthtips.com/top/top-10-best-pain-relief-cream-in-india/

ZANDU Balm
Parent Company

Emami

Category

FMCG

Sector

HealthCare

Tagline

Desh Ka Balm Ek Balm Teen

Kaam
Unique Ayurvedic formulation
that gives relief from three
kind of pains-headaches, colds
and body pains

USP

STP
Segment

Pain Relief

Target Group

With already established

presence in the middle aged
and old, company now targets
youth
A unique formulation, arrived
at after thousands of versions

Positioning

Zandu Balm has intense competition from products with similar

formulation
1. Amrutanjan balm
2. Mentho Plus balm
3. Tiger balm

SWOT Analysis
Strengths
1. Present in the market for last 100 years, thus has a kind of
legacy and Indianness associated with it and very well
accepted in the market.
2. One of the power brands of Emami and assumes the
leadership position in the product category, it ranked no. 3
in the OTC personal care category as per brand equity
most trusted brands.
3. Availability in smaller containers of 1.2 ml ensures
customer affordability and wider reach.
4. Celebrity endorsements by people from diverse fields
further strengthen the brand.
Remarkable turnover for the Brand: Although
Zandu Balm was present for more than a century in
the Indian market, it wasnt marketed well and losing
brand recognition. Post-acquisition by Emami and
approximately 2 years after the famous Zandu
Balms reference in the Munni Badnaam song,
Malliaka Arora Khan became its Brand ambassador.
The same quarter net sales of Zandu Balm was up
35% (Source: Economic Times Nov 2, 2010) owing to
the companys surprising new jingle. Adding glamour
to this brand has definitely helped Zandu
Pharmaceuticals expand its reach as it commands
43% market share in its segment and remains the
largest selling balm in India.
5. Good availability and distribution due to strong parent
brand Integrated supply chain and well spread
manufacturing units. Emami has more than 3,500

distributors, 160 super-stockiest, 4,000 sub-stockiest, 5,

00,000 retailers and five mother warehouses (cumulative
storage capacity of 2.78 lacs sq. ft.)
6. Market penetration with deep distribution structure and
very strong geographical presence.

Weaknesses
1. Weak competitive advantage in terms of functional aspect.
It does not have any differentiating ingredients; all of its
competitors claim to have the same methyl salicylate and
herbal ingredients as Zandu.
2. Involvement in controversies over copyright violation of
Zandu balm with Dabangg though gave it publicity and
helped gain profits but negatively affected the brand
image.
3. Emamis own brand Mentho Plus also caters to the same
segment which may lead to cannibalization.
Opportunities
Cross-border expansions.
1. Emami has plant setup in areas like Pantnagar
(Uttaranchal), where there are 10-year excise and income
tax exemption. Commencing production of Zandu Balm,
which is relatively a high consumption-high production
item, would bring down the overall cost of production and
hence, increase profitability.
2. It has such intense emotional bonding with its users that
every consumer research on packaging throws back a
design that is closest to the original pack.
3. By Munni( malaika arora) doing a special ad for zandu, the
brand would benefit from the success of movie Dabangg
too.

4. Sedentary lifestyles will create a fresh demand for pain

relievers

Threats
1. With Zandu Balm being the leader with almost 43% of the
market share, it faces threat not just from its competitors
like Tiger Balm, Iodex, Analgesic Sprays, etc., but also the
growing consumer shift, drop in the usage of balm as well
as relevance of the product format. Zandu Balm faces the
challenge of attracting the younger generation who
perceive the balm to be old-fashioned, slow acting, messy
to use, apart from being a rural product.
2. Cheap Me too counterfeit products pose a serious threat
to Zandu Balms profitability in rural areas and small
towns as there are different pirated competitors in
different areas.
3. With high inflation, not only input prices go up but real
income or the disposable income of the consumers come
down too, thereby decreasing the demand.
4. With the Indian government pushing for reforms it is likely
that import restrictions would be eased in the FMCG sector
thereby causing increased competition from international
players.