Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Cycle Agarbatti : Everyone has a reason to Pray

Brand: Cycle Agarbatti
Company: N Rangarao and Sons

The Indian Agarbatti market is worth around 1000 crores and is dominated by the unorganised sector.Hardly 15% of this market is branded. This market is unattractive because of high labour cost and lack of possibilities of differentiation and price sensitivity.

Cycle brand is owned by Bangalore based N Rangarao and sons. NRS were pioneers in branding this difficult market and Cycle brand is one of the largest agarbatti brand in India which have a market share of 8%.

Cycle brand was launched in 1948. In this commodity market,Cycle was positioned as a premium agarbatti brand. The brand was trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing campaigns and quality. Cycle 3-in -one is the most popular which have three different fragrance sets of agarbattis in one pack.
Agarbattis are low involvement products whose purchases are often impulsive. Since there are a few brands in this category, customers makes purchase based on impressive packaging, fragrance or price. Since the price is less, there is little scope for brand loyalty.
Cycle brand has established itself in the market with some good marketing campaigns with emphasis on quality and fragrance. Recently NR sons have launched a new brand Lia with trendy packaging and good advertising.
The market is going to witness some serious marketing action with the entry of ITC. ITC is planning to make this a lifestyle product. ITC is launching a premium brand "Sphriha" which is manufactured by Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. ITC is also launching different brand in various segment viz Nivedan in the mid segment, Ashageet in the lower segment. With lot of cash for marketing, ITC will be a serious threat to Cycle.
The entry of ITC can be a positive factor also since the marketing effort will expand the market and thus Cycle brand will also benefit.
Agarbatti market is a very difficult market to crack because agarbatti is limited to pooja rooms only and there is a religious aspect to the product. The marketers have to take some lessons from "Nightingale" brand ( discussed in my previous blogs) to make an impact. The product have some inherent disadvantage like the residual ash and short burning time. Marketers have to take this brand out of pooja rooms. Theme based marketing can also be tried. Ash-less agarbattis can be an innovation worth thinking provided that attribute is considered important by the consumers. Healthy fumes can be used as a strategy to attack the lower priced incense sticks warning the consumers of health hazard of using unbranded agarbattis.
This market is worth watching for because it is a challenge for marketers to establish a value proposition in a commodity market.

33 comments:

  1. Anonymous12:37 PM

    Hi, I'm Ananth Shenoy (employed with Cycle Brand). Till recently agarbathies were considered 'commodities' and serious branding started in the late 90's after the entry of MNCs. Cylce Brand is following this path of brand building,innovation and creating products ahead of time (lia for example) since its inception in1948. Definitely the entry of large players would benefit the industry in general and key players in particular as long as fair trade practices are persued by biggies like ITC. (refer to the news: Cycle Brand wins Ad battle over ITC)
    regards,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:05 PM

      sir check out for u r competitor in kerala.... i dont find cycle these days in our neigbouring outlets...these days u r quality has been down and more charcoal in it,,,

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:50 AM

      dear sir
      i had been to kerala were i dint find cycle agarbathi nd i just could find koyas maya supreme most of the place i just tried it nd was very sweet fragrance with a good quality

      Delete
    3. May i have ur mo no plz.regards- pradeep

      Delete
    4. Anonymous9:30 PM

      hello sir
      i wanna know logo meaning and colour scheme of cycle agarbatti.

      Delete
    5. if u want distributor ship call me 9919912545

      Delete
  2. Anonymous11:24 AM

    Good Morning,
    I am Arun working in kuwait. I am a regular customer of a cycle agarbatti but two days ago i was buy a packet but in side the packet was too much hair and otherkind bad stuff, i can do nothing in here because the shop owner was told me this item came from your country i will not re imbursement. so please keep you r quality and quantity in your packet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:49 AM

      dear sir
      i had been to kerala were i dint find cycle agarbathi nd i just could find koyas maya supreme most of the place i just tried it nd was very sweet fragrance with a good quality

      Delete
  3. Anonymous12:31 AM

    HI, THIS IS DITU KUMAR DAS(EMPLOYED WITH CYCLE BRAND AGARBATHIS). I HAVE BEEN WITH THIS ORGANISATION FOR LAST 8 YEARS AND IT IS ONE OF THOSE FEW ORGANISATIONS WHICH HAS GOT TRUE PROFESSIONALISM YET VERY INDIANISED WITH ALL THE VALUE SYSTEMS. CYCLE BRAND HAS BEEN ALWAYS AHEAD OF TIME AND HAS ALWAYS SUCCEEDED TO OUTCOMPETE THE COMPETITORS WITH THEIR INNOVATIONS, CREATIVITY AND FORSIGHTEDNESS. AND THUS IT HAS ALWAYS GIVEN THE CONSUMER THE REAL WORTH OF THEIR MONEY.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hai,
    I am Raghavendra Puthraya (X Cycle Brand Employee). As Peter Drucker says in his book Management consists of 2 functions 1. Innovation 2. Marketing. Same is the true in case of CYCLE BRAND. PRODUCT INNOVATION and GOOD MARKETING PRACTICES (especially Distrubutions) made this brand world famous.

    I feel some good "Marketing Campaigns", "World Class SCM practices" will enhances the brand name of CYCLE further.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:32 PM

      hello
      i wanna know logo meaning and colour scheme of cycle agarbatti

      Delete
  5. Rajesh3:35 PM

    Very well written article.

    also,a comment on Mr Nair's statement,sir-the product is exceptional and the problem would have been a very rare exception.

    cycle brand is a nice product and i have been using it for the last 11 years,especially three in one and Lia....

    also,,,the product could be a counterfiet too---so just email the customer service this complaint and check out...

    great day!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:21 PM

    dear sir

    i would like to buy you brand can you please send me the samples by post please
    dhwanit brahamakshatriya
    p.o.box 12144
    dar-es-salaam
    tanzania
    east-africa
    phone 255713331445/255713613445

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:16 AM

    nice marketing by cycle brand

    http://www.cyclebrand.com/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous10:35 PM

    Rajeev Sales,
    Hi,
    My self Rajeev distributor of cycle brand since 1997 in east delhi. I am a regular service provider of this brand. if you have any requirement regarding the product or if you want any information regarding product kindly email me at rajeevsalesdelhi@rediffmail.com.

    thank u.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous3:18 PM

    cycle agarbatti is worst agarbatti I have ever used

    ReplyDelete
  10. SAC incense sticks are loved worldwide, for its exclusive fragrances, an unmatched range to suit every mood, and highest quality manufacturing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Moksh Agarbatti - This Incense Sticks Manufacturers and Exporters are enriched with the sweet fragrance of the tiny white flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Moksh Agarbatti - This Incense Sticks Manufacturers and Exporters are enriched with the sweet fragrance of the tiny white flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Moksh Agarbatti - This Incense Sticks Manufacturers and Exporters are enriched with the sweet fragrance of the tiny white flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Moksh Agarbatti - This Incense Sticks Manufacturers and Exporters are enriched with the sweet fragrance of the tiny white flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous3:37 PM

    Sir
    Kindly stop the advertisement ex : amma kadavul irukkalena??? and ending kadavul ullar which is not correct and in the beginning kadavul irukkalena in the morning it is surely disturbing the viewers. Kindly change or stop the same.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous2:20 PM

    Hi Moksh/GR. this is a blog and a well written article on Cycle Brand. Are you people not ashamed to stoop so low and promote your brands here? do you think people will just buy your brand?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Padma Perfumery Works is a leading manufacturer, supplier and exporter of premium quality incense sticks & agarbatti from India. Our product catalog includes Stress Relief Aroma Sticks, Citronella Incense Sticks, Stimulation Incense Sticks, Eucalyptus Incense Sticks (Sino Relief), Incense Agarbatti (Relaxation), Sandal Agarbatti (Peace), etc

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous7:03 PM

    hi guys.. i am ARJUN from kerala and i was using cycle brand agarbatt since many years... but recently have found out that the cylce brand is loosing its grip from the kerala market,, now kerala market is monoplised by a bangalore based agarbatti called,, KOYA,S MAYA SUPREME,, this agarbatti has verry good pleasant smell,,this is agarbatti is marketed by word of mouth,,, i myself bought this bcouse of my frnds sugestion,,,i love cylce too ,,bcoz i am using since loong time ,,so i sugggest cycle brand to put more effort in marketing south region,,so we get in all the shops here,,,

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous11:06 AM

    Dear!sir
    Our company "RINKAL AGARBATTI WORKS" Rajkot Established in the year 1993

    we are manufacturing
    & marketing in ALL TYPE AGARBATTI/ INCENSE STICKS


    Please send your product detail in my emai address

    rinkalagarbattiworks@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous4:32 PM

    Very good article. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  22. cycle brand is no.1 brand no other brand & company giving customer service & satisfaction like cycle agarbathy. from small kids to older grandpa known about the cycle agarbathy & its slogan that " Bhagwan Hai"

    ReplyDelete
  23. Cycle is a very respectable Indian incense brand but I find most of their incense to be the cheap perfumed type. I can't say I'm a huge fan, but I do respect them as a marketing company.

    ReplyDelete

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