Friday, February 10, 2006

Nightingale : Experience The Finest In Paper

Brand : Nightingale
Company : Srinivas Fine Arts

Nightingale is a super brand ( my choice). There has been lot of debates and thinking about how to market a commodity. Want an answer? Study this brand. Nightingale has carefully built one of the best brands in an industry dominated by unorganized sector.Nightingale is the brand owned by Srinivas Fine Arts (SFA). SFA had a humble beginning. Started in 1964 by Chockalingam and Brothers, as a print trading company in Sivakasi, SFA have now become a global player with a presence in 5 continents. SFA later expanded their business from print production of textile labels to maps and graphs. In 1974 SFA started its own paper trading business. In 1992, it expanded to packaging, soaps and matches.In 1990's SFA introduced the Nightingale brand to the world.

The Indian stationery market is estimated to be around 5000 crores with the organized market accounting to around 500 crores. Nightingale now produces a wide range of products from Diaries to notebooks and journals.

Nightingale right from the beginning carefully positioned itself as a premium brand. The market for diaries was not hot and no effort on branding was visible. I remember only one player : Eagle brand for diaries and notebooks.

Nightingale changed all that. It has created and now owns the premium end of the diaries and notebooks with a clear market and product strategy.
Nightingale brand is built on Innovation , Quality and Image. The brand has carefully segmented the premium segment of the Diary market. IT has also ensured that the quality will be the major focus. During the early days, there was not much focus on the quality aspect for these kinds of products. It was basically a functional or utility product. Nightingale changed that perception and positioned the diaries as a lifestyle product.

Besides quality, Innovation was the factor that was crucial in branding a commodity. Nightingale based its product not only on functionality but also on concepts. The diaries and notebooks are concept oriented. For example, there are Nightingale diaries like Religious diaries (Nightingale was the first one to come out with a Christian diary), Environmental Diaries, Notebooks which are based on personalities, Diaries that have cartoons and quotes, Vedic diaries etc. Altogether there are 264 varieties of diaries from Nightingale.
Nightingale was the first brand to have diaries for various professionals like engineers, doctors which had special sections useful for these professionals.
Nightingale also markets its most expensive diary “ Silver Oak “ which is priced at Rs 57000. This undated diary has 140 gm silver ornamentation and designed by David Sarac. Already the corporate have grabbed this product for corporate gifting.

Let us look at how carefully Nightingale crafts each of the products. Take the case of a product called Layflat notebook. The product have long durability , It maximizes the use of space and have a special ruling and comes with a page marker. Each of the products has some qualities that make it worthy of a premium.

Innovations like a five year diary, undated diaries, theme based diaries personal journals like journal to write about your dreams, and Fashion diaries have made this brand a lifestyle brand.

With Nightingale , experience the finest in branding....

No comments:

Post a Comment

Your Views are Important. Please share your views as comments.