VP Sharma, Managing Director and CEO, ABG Cement Ltd
ABG group is large business group, head-quartered in Mumbai and having business operations in different parts of the country. It has diversified its business to cement and power segments. ABG Cement is a separate entity. ABG Energy is subsidiary of cement. ICR is in conversation with VP Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of ABG Cement Ltd. He has been associated with cement industry for more than 38 years.
Please brief us about your company.
We are a separate entity by the name ABG Cement Ltd. The management of the group thought to come in to cement business in early 2000, considering it, as core industry and govt continued emphasis on infrastructure and housing. Our finished product is still to enter the market but we have been making clinker since 2013 and are also exporting it. ABG Cement started as Green field project with the capacity of 6 MTPA at Gujarat location. We have our own captive limestone mines at nearby area. Power is the basic requirement, therefore, ABG Energy Ltd-a sister concern of the ABG Cement Ltd. is planning to install 2 x 50 MW coal based Power Plant for providing power to the cement plant and for its domestic electricity requirement. We propose to manufacture PPC and PSC Cements. We shall have our own source of fly ash and the slag will be sourced from Essar Steel.
What has been the perceptible shift in the concept of creating a ?brand? and how this shift is reflected in your ad campaigns?
The current market players are all ?company? brands and have very much relied on intrinsic product/category attributes to create a consumer proposition. Their perceived differentiation lies in the benefits of creative execution. Off late, there is a shift towards creation of product brands under the company brand portfolio. The concept of ?brand building? has a fairly long gestation, post its creation in a commoditized category like cement.
In light of above, new entrants like us have the opportunity to create tangible benefit differentiation while launching our brand.
Which feature/characteristic/USP of the product are you trying to highlight through your advertisement and why?
Our flagship product is Slag Cement and we will highlight the benefits of usage of slag cement in a variety of application areas. Advertisements are a manifestation of the Marketing Process imbibed within the organization and our attempt will be to create customer centric rather than product centric communication.
What do you think is the best and the most effective medium for building a brand? To what extent, the buying patterns of the end-user segment influence the ?creative? aspect of the brand campaign?
Brand building starts from within a company, inside-out. It grows as a ?ripple effect? of its interface with all touch-points, intentional or otherwise. Therefore, brands that capitalize on every engagement to generate positive incremental towards itself are on the optimum trajectory of brand building. In our evolving category, brand building is mostly associated with sporadic bursts of top-of-the line media advertising, hygiene in-shop presence and periodic dealer engagement programs. A recent need for building digital presence has been felt with changing consumer habits and most brands are investing in it now. Creatively, the trend is to have a lead campaign and adapt the same across media for building reach and saliency. However, with tech-adoption rate amongst consumers changing, creative message will be developed medium specific.
How do you rate your brand positioning/tag lines in terms of differentiating a product and creating value?
Our attempt will be to keep to the basics of business and bring it alive in communication.
To what extent do you think advertising on TV/sponsoring cricket team in IPL or supporting films helps in building brands? Please elaborate
The above are high reach; high awareness media and brands ride them to get quick noticeability amongst the target group. However, they are hugely expensive and used as ?force multipliers? on brand need. Many brands use these opportunities for product/market launch or reinforcement. In cement category, TV advertising is very cyclical and periodic and one should have a definitive market plan to use the mass media advantage.
Large format event sponsorship and activation surrounding it is usually undertaken by brands with distinctive ability to absorb and accrue benefit to its stakeholders, given the large costs. As for in-film placement/assorted branding in films, it may be approached on a case-to-case basis to ascertain brand fit.
How do you rate the celebrity endorsements? To what extent it enhances the brand value?
Celebrity endorsements figuratively ?add an icing to the brand cake?. They do create a positive rub off on the brand but can do little when brands have a PR challenge, casing point Maggie-endorsed by Madhuri Dixit and its current MSG fiasco. Few years earlier Amitabh Bachhan endorsed Cadbury?s Dairy Milk but when the PR fiasco of bad product came out it was the erstwhile MD, Mr. Rajeev Bakshi who first came on TV using an infomercial to assuage customers. In cement category, celebrity usage is limited.
There is a greater shift towards the concept of green and sustainability in the cement industry. But the same does not seem to be reflected in the brand positioning. What is your take on this?
Concept of green and sustainability has become very dear to the cement industry. Great efforts are being made in this direction at all levels. Slowly it will be reflected in brand building in cement industry.
It is a question of ?biting the bullet? once there is a product story. The company that does it; will have the first mover advantage.
How do you differentiate the campaigning from rural and urban markets? What are the specific differentiating factors?
The communication segmentation is done by target group as geographies of urban and rural are increasingly getting blurred. The markets are moving from Urban to Rural with lifting of rural economy. As for the choice of media option in each geography, the most cost effective reach is preferred. For brand fit with local setting, local media opportunities are utilized.
To what extent does CSR impact branding?
In a related category like steel/aluminium, CSR has been the creative route for oimpact branding?. The trend could percolate to cement specially with category leaders showing the way or brands with credible history of CSR. CSR activities certainly help the brand.
Sir, Brief us some thing about your export business.
As I told you earlier we have been exporting clinker since we started. the export of clinker was remunerative last year and before. However currently because of political and economical disturbances in Middle East, particularly Egypt, Syria, there is pressure on prices of clinker.
How do you assess the future of branding in the cement industry? Specifically consider the mature markets of the world.
The cement market is steadily moving towards bulk as compared to bags, casing point being the matured markets. In light of it, the brand building efforts will gravitate towards the B2B domain from B2C. The key differentiators will be the ?solutions approach? to different segments of projects. More so, brand building efforts will be more in the digital sphere as consumers (both business and trade partners) will be ?online? with company?s efforts to reach out to them. Social media will be very useful for branding, going forward.