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INTRODUCTION

Incorporated in: 1976
Products: Juicer Mixer Grinder, Mixer Grinder, Wet
Grinder, Oven toaster griller, Food Processor,
Electric Iron, Emergency Light, Electric Kettle,
Toaster, Rice Cooker, Juice Extractor, Halogen
Heater, Heat Convector, Hand Blender, Air
Coolers, Cooktops, Washing Machines, Water
Heater. Etc
History:
The company commenced its venture as a one product company. Maharaja has a product
range of over 60 products in 18 product categories. The company has already sold off billions
of kitchen appliances in the past three decades. Behind this story is vision of Mr. Harish
Kumar, Managing Director, Maharaja Whiteline Group, a dynamic and a self motivated first
generation entrepreneur.
Evolution:
Today the Maharaja employs over 1000 qualified & professional work force, ready to take
up the challenges of the new millennium and build the company into a global appliance
leader. The company has a huge Manufacturing infrastructure base with a plant in Baddi
(HP). Maharaja has also acquired Gem and Beltek,
Maharaja Whiteline has its roots in northern and western India. It is one of the major players
in a still highly fragmented market, with a portfolio covering several families of small
domestic equipment. In particular, Maharaja Whiteline is an established brand name in mixer
grinders, an indispensable appliance in India in kitchen electrics.


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EXISTING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY THE BRAND
BRAND STRATEGIES
Since their inception in 1976 the company has maintain a low profile image in the market.
They are still working on the same brand strategies as they were doing in the beginning. Even
after France based SEB groupe acquiring 55% stakes in the company, there is no change in
the strategies of the company.
Logo:
When the company started its business their logo was like this:

And still there is no change in the logo of the company.
Significance of the logo:
Red colour: As it is an Indian brand the company has used the colour red in their logo
because Red colour is deeply related to India. It is as follows:

Colour of blood is red which signifies colour of life.
The products offered by the company are targeted for the Indian wives, which
uses Sindoor and whose colour is again Red.
Beside this the product can be gifted in marriage occasions and the company
has beautifully related itself with the occasion by choosing red because in
India the brides use to wear red colour dress.
Beside this red also signifies energy and speed which they are providing by
their products.

White colour: White colour is also used very strategically as its related to the Indian
culture. It very well explains the Indian ethics and values. It is as follows:

o Indian is and always has been a peace loving nation and white colour represents it
very well as it is used to communicate peace.
o Beside this in Indian context white colour represent innovation, safety and fairness.
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o Now as the product is targeting Indian kitchens, white also represent cleanliness
and purity.
Product offering:
The company offers many products in different segment. They have a product line of around
60 products which they offer to their customers. They different segments of their offering are
as follows:

Mixer Grinder Wet
Grinder
Over Toaster Griller Food Processor Electric Iron

Emergency Light


Electric Kettle


Toaster


Rice cooker


Juice extractor


Halogen Heater


Heat Convector


Hand Blender


Induction Plate


Cooler


Juicer Mixer Grinder





In these different segments they provide different models which contribute to their vast
product line. This large product line offers the company a large competitive advantage but on
the other hand the company loses their customer base because of their bad post sales service.
Issues involved:
Bad post sales service
Quality of the product is not up to the mark, technologically needs to be updated.
The changed part is also not of good quality
According to the survey done by CERA the brand also failed in the safety test.
Value proposition:
Maharaja Whiteline is known for powerful and silent products which can be used by targeting
housewives as target customers for different purposes. The company revolutionised the
market in the beginning by introducing Mixer grinder with three jars. Beside this they
introduced products with unbreakable parts, convenient to use and easy to clean. The brand
actually leveraged on those things which a housewives find difficult to do.
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COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
Maharaja Whiteline until now has not been very aggressive in communicating its presence to
the customer. With the entry of foreign brand its visibility in the market has reduced
tremendously, the brand has faded in the mind of the target customer. The company did not
involve much into event marketing and personal selling of their as well.
Print Media:
Until now Maharaja Whiteline has advertised through print media only in the festive
seasons, they provided discounts during these times.

With so many products on the cluttered shelves of the market, these products has lost their
visibility.
Television Media:
Maharaja Whiteline has initially advertised through television media in the form of 30
seconds adverts which is very old and is no more on air nowadays. Lately it has started
advertising through Star Cj Alive, which is a good step to improve the visibility of the
product. as the end consumers of the product of Maharaja Whiteline watch channels like Star
Cj Alive.
Overall, Maharaja Whiteline has been less Aggressive in promoting the Brand.

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DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
Maharaja Whiteline has its roots in Northern and Western India. Backed by a network of 330
distributors, Maharaja Whiteline is present in over 26,000 sales outlets. The company
operates a plant in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh in North-western India, and employs around 350
people.
Though Maharaja Whiteline has a wide distribution network across the country, yet the
company is not being able to reach out to the customers on time. The company sends its
products, particularly Grinders and Electric Iron, to the distributors in batches containing
around 250-300 pieces every month. If there is huge demand of the product in the market
then many a times the product do not get available in the outlet and the customer switches
over to other brands. The reason behind is the production of the company which is not as fast
as it should be to cater the market demand. In metropolitan market or tier 1 cities, the
company has more than one distributor in zone wise. In the market of tier 2 or tier 3 cites or
rural market the company has single distributor. The availability of the companys
distributors also depends on the market demand of the products. If in some market the
company notices low demand of their products then the company do not hire any distributor
for that market.
On the branding part, Maharaja Whiteline doesnt do any sort of aggressive campaigning
from time to time to match-up its rivals. The distributors do not get any sort of incentives
from the company for extra sale or prompt sale of the products. The company doesnt give
any allowance or bonus to the distributors during festive season. This hampers the boost and
morale of the distributors and do not encourage them to give extra effort in product sale. The
schemes which the company offers during festive seasons are not so appealing to the
customers in comparison to its rivals like Bajaj, Philips etc. At most they make offers like
buy one grinder and get an electric iron free. In fact the company does not take any
initiative to create the visibility of the brand in the market through its distributors like placing
large hoardings of their brands above the outlets or anywhere in market which would enhance
brand visibility. During our research when asked a distributor about the companys take on
this, he said there is no such effort taken by the company over the years.


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PRODUCT STRATEGY
Back when it was established Mr. Harish Kumar noticed that the mixer-grinder available in
the market consisted of a single jar. This jar was used for practically all kinds of mixing and
grinding, albeit not designed to suit such tasks. He recognized the opportunity for a different
product and they rolled out the three jar mixer and grinder in the market
In the initial phase the company addressed many other concerns of an average
consumer, such as ensuring that their products have unbreakable parts, are convenient
to use, and easy to clean, etc., these small but useful innovations clicked with the
market.
In about two to three years, Maharaja Whiteline Appliances became a fairly visible
brand
The brand enjoyed a good customer base and sales were also improving
They did not give much importance to R&D therefore when new players entered the
market offering superior products their market position slipped and gradually its
brand equity got eroded
Maharaja Whiteline has a good brand image in the juicer mixer grinder segment
The quality of its products is not up to the mark
Since customers are looking for value in the products they prefer other brands even
though Maharaja Whiteline is cheaper than its competitors.
Sales are happening in only few products segments: mixer-grinder, juicer, toaster, iron
and OTG.
They have over 75 plus products over 19 categories.
Maharaja Whiteline Offers:



J uicer Mixer Grinder Mixer Grinder Wet Grinder



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Food Processors Emergency Light Electric I ron



Electric Kettle Oven Toaster Griller Toaster




Rice Cooker J uice Extractor Halogen Heater


HeatCovector Hand Blendor Air Cooler




Cooktops I nduction Cooker Water Heater



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PRICING STRATEGY
BRAND
JUICER MIXER
GRINDER
ELECTRIC IRON
FOOD
PROCESSOR
MAHARAJA
WHITELINE
Rs 1899 Rs 590 Rs 3036
BAJAJ Rs 2199 Rs 610 Rs 3355
PHILIPS Rs 2399 Rs 644 Rs 3325
MORPHY
RICHARDS
Rs 3795 Rs 1380 Rs 6495

Bajaj, Philips, Morphy Richards are some of the competitors of Maharaja Whiteline in India.
The above table shows Maharaja Whiteline has the lowest price products compared to its
competitors.
The company normally offers product at a lower price as compared to its competitors.
They even offer better margin (40%-45%) to the dealers as compared to its
competitors margin (20%-25%).
In spite of offering this kind of margin the brand is generally not preferred by the
dealer as they consider the product as a weak machine.
They offer discount upto 50 percent during Diwali, Holi etc. (seasonal offers).

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GROUPS STRATEGIC PLAN
Logo:
Since the inception of the brand the logo has not been changed. For the revival of the brand
the company can change the logo without changing the core value of the brand of low priced
products. The company can communicate to their customers that we are changing but the
value is still the same.
.
The colour scheme remains the same depicting the core values but according to the latest
trend and the fonts depicts change over the period. The vines depicts the new and trendy look
of the brand in the recent times.

After Sales Service:
As discussed earlier the major fall of the brand is because of the bad after sales service. The
company can work on this parameter which will eventually increase their sale. It can be done
by the following ways:
Hiring new recruits belonging to the same region for the after sales service and
training them. It will solve two problems. Firstly, it will target the main problem of
bad after sales service and secondly the recruits can communicate with the natives in a
well mannered and can bring awareness about the brand.
The company should adopt new techniques for the performance appraisal of the newly
hired work force. It can be done by taking feedback from the customers about the
service experience and ask them to rate the service.
The company can make personal calls by building a separate section Customer
Support to the customers to get feedback about the product performance level. By
doing this the company can reach out to the customer needs on an individual basis.

In House Training:
The company can appoint trained personnels at their retail shops which can help the new
customers, understanding different functions of various products and of other services.
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It will give the company an emotional connection with the customer. It can be followed in
steps:
Whenever a new purchase happens the trained personnel can make an appointment
with the customers so that he/she will give them a product demonstration for easier
understanding of the product and take feedback on the ease of use.

Brand Ambassador:

Till date the company doesnt have a permanent brand
ambassador. As the company mainly targets the middle class
housewives, keeping an inspirational figure as the face of the
company will help in gaining customer loyalty. Now the
brand ambassador should not be someone who the people cant even relate. Like taking a
Bollywood superstar for the brand ambassador wont work as people will fail to relate to the
product, the brand ambassador and themselves. Besides this the company should take a figure
that is famous among middle class segment people like the actress in the famous TV serial
Na bole tum na meine kuch kaha. The people can easily relate with her as the character of
her in the TV serial belongs to a middle class segment.

Direct Marketing:
The company can also use the technique of direct marketing for the promotion of the product.
Employees can be appointed for the promotion of the products at personal level. They can
visit homes and can demonstrate about the product. Beside this new retail outlets can be
opened in untapped areas.










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COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
As Brand Consultants we would like to suggest changes in the communication strategy on
various fronts:
First Six months
Online Marketing:
To revive the brand, the first thing that Maharaja Whiteline should do is update its website. In
the changing market customers prefer to survey the cyber market before physically
purchasing the product. The website has to be updated with all the new products and the
latest offers
Print media:
Since we are targeting house wives, we will:
Print ads on Womens magazine.
Supply pamphlets in the regional newspapers during the weekends.
Make attractive brochures which will provide details of the product to the customers
when they visit the outlets.
Television Media:
A TVC of 30 sec, the advert should focus more on the product than the situation. The brand
ambassador of the product being a lady whose image is of a housewife in a middle class
family, the end consumers could very well connect with the brand image. The adverts will be
shown on the prime time at about evening 7 to 10 when the best rated TRP daily soaps get
featured on TV channels like Sony, Colors and Star Plus which are watched by most Indian
housewives.
Visibility:
Make a deal with the sellers to display our products on the shelves which are best visible to
the customers. Provide the multi brand outlets with Maharaja Whiteline Posters so as to
increase its visibility.
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After 6 Months
Event Marketing:
A Reality Show which will be aired on weekends, the show will be a cooking competition, as
most of the brands products are kitchen appliances. These shows will be conducted in the
major cities of the country in the localities of middle class and the lower middle class people,
as they are our target consumer. Conducting these shows will create awareness about the
brand and will also make the end consumers familiar to the products.
Personal Selling:
As means of increasing visibility, we as brand consultant would suggest the company to
organise a weekly display of products outside the major home appliance outlets. A salesman
standing outside the outlet with a few products for display will invite the customers to see the
product. The salesman would also explain the benefits and the usage of the products to the
customer. In this way, we will capture the potential customers of the product.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
First 6 months
Since the company will go through a drastic change in terms of branding therefore we as
brand consultants will have to form an aggressive distribution system in order to make our
product reach out to the potential customers in the market. Therefore in the initial stage we
have to arrange an All Distributors Meeting by which we will communicate to the
distributors about the proposed changes in the distribution system and various incentive
schemes we will propose for the distributors in the subsequent periods. The company will set
target for the distributors catering to different markets to sell the products. The products will
be sent in batch size which will be in lot consisting of 400-500 pieces of Mixer Grinder,
Juicers Mixer Grinder, Wet Grinder, Food Processor and Electric irons. In the initial stage the
company will focus only on these items as the company has a comparative advantage in the
market.
After 6 months
After 6 months when the brand will form its base in the market, the company will propose a
scheme to the distributors:
A Membership Card will be issued to each distributor by which they will be
categorize in terms of Gold, Silver and Platinum members by the company on
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the basis of the targets they achieved set by the company. Suppose if a distributor will
sell 1000 pieces a month then he will hold the Platinum membership card, if a
distributors sells between 750-1000 pieces then he will get a Gold membership cards
and if a distributors sold more than 500 then he will get Silver memberships card.
Further at the end of every quarter the top 3 distributors in terms of sale will be
rewarded with a visit to a foreign country.
Another scheme which will be launched by the company for the distributors is for
increasing the brand visibility in their respective markets. The company will give
bonus to the distributors for increasing the brand visibility by placing Hoarding above
the home appliance outlets and in some of the prime location in the market. This will
make the customer aware of the presence of the brand in the market. Not only to the
distributors, but also company will reward the owners of respective outlets that will
place the hoarding of Maharaja Whiteline above their shop.
The company again will enhance its distribution by targeting the Supermarket malls
and Hypermarket malls of the cities where it will strike a deal with these malls to sell
the Maharaja Whiteline brand in their Home Appliance section. The idea behind this
is most people in the cities prefer to visit malls to buy the products and these malls
also provide extensive offers which are unavoidable for an ordinary customer.
After 1 Year
Since by now the company will have established itself as a brand in the markets of tier 1, 2
and 3 cities, so its now for the brand to reach out to the remaining gaps in the markets.
The company will enhance its distribution network to the tier 4 cities and rural market
by increasing its distribution network from 330 distributors to 600 distributors. By
doing this more markets will be captured by the company and increase its customer
base.
The lot size which will be sent to the distributors by the production department will be
increased by sending more pieces of products. The lot for tier 1 and 2 market will be
around 500-750 pieces and for tier 3 markets will be around 500 according to the
market demand of the products.
The company will also by now will go for product line extension in its distribution
channel by introducing new products under the brand like Electric Kettle, Oven
Toaster Griller, Toaster, Juice Extractor etc.

PRODUCT STRATEGY
First 6 months
Packaging has to be changed because the packaging is looking aged, the new
packaging would be elite and have a modern look.
Bring in feminine patterns and colors such as pink, red, green, blue, purple and also
make about an entire product range in different colors.ie an entire home appliance
colors in the preferred color of the customer.
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In this phase the company will only offer its strong products mainly juicer mixer
grinder, mixer grinder, wet grinder, food processors and electric irons in which the
company already has a good image.
Parallel the company will work on improving the product technology and quality of
its products
Focus more on R&D and bring in more product innovations to suit the taste of rural
markets and develop products which can run on alternate power sources such as solar
and battery power.
After 6 months
Launch better versions of the existing products with focus on durability and ease of
use
Bring in more variety in the existing product line
Focus on R&D and continue to innovate on products and at the same time tests the
products developed for rural markets
After 1 Year
Launch new products to extend the current product offering such as Electric kettle,
Oven Toaster Griller, Toaster, Hand Blender and Juice Extractor in the current market
While launching in rural market keep the products without the frills and also
developed the products for these markets only.
PRICING STRATEGY
First 6 Months
Initially we would maintain a status quo on the prices because the customers are well aware
of products and the prices of the brand.
After 6 Months
We will come up with different EMI schemes for different products which will
provide more flexibility in buying to our target customers.
After 1 Year
With the launch of new product we will increase the prices of the old product from
5%-10% according to the product demand in the market.
Products focusing rural market will be priced slightly less so as to capture the market
and increase customer base.
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FINANCIAL OUTCOMES
After analysing each and every aspects of expenditure in branding finally we came to the
conclusion that following are the specific expenses:
TV show 40 cr
Adverts 24 cr
Print Ad 06 cr
Distributors 10 cr
Miscellaneous 10 cr
--------------------------
Total 90 cr
--------------------------
So as brand consultants we expect that after incurring the above expenses for the companys
branding we will achieve the break-even of the above expenditure in 2 years. The reason
behind this are
Technology updation by the company.
Deep penetration into the rural market.
Increasing in distribution channel network to almost double in 1 year.
Competitive pricing of the existing as well as new products.
Increase in the products quality as well as post sale service.
Increase in brand visibility and awareness among the customers.
Product demonstration and personal selling.





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REFERENCES
www.maharajawhiteline.com/
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/maharaja-whiteline
Strategic Brand Manangement by Keller, Parmeswaran and Jacob
http://www.groupeseb.com/en-en
http://www.mysmartprice.com/appliance/pricelist/maharaja-whiteline-mixers-price-list-in-
india.html
http://www.snapdeal.com/brand/maharaja-whiteline-/appliances-juicer-mixer-grinders