The pioneer in India’s branded-salt industry, Tata Salt has held the No 1 position in the country since its launch in 1983. It has a 37 per cent share of the branded-salt market and an 18 per cent share of the total salt market.

Tata Chemicals’ salt story began in 1983, when it needed fresh water for the boilers that produced soda ash at its Mithapur plant. Fresh water was scarce, so the company set up a process to generate it by using seawater, a freely available resource. Salt, of high quality and purity, was a by-product.

Says Kapil Mehan, vice president (sales and marketing), Tata Chemicals: "At that time both Unicef and the Indian government were promoting the intake of iodine for health reasons. Salt is the most economical and convenient dietary vehicle for iodine consumption."

The Tata brand advantage
These factors led to Tata Chemicals taking up salt production. "We marketed the product by prefixing the Tata name to it," says Mr Mehan. "Our positioning statement emerged: ‘Namak ho Tata ka, Tata namak’." The line remains an audio mnemonic for the brand. The communication was built around the fact that Tata Salt, India’s first iodised salt, was manufactured by a Tata company.

The first competitive challenge came in the early 1990s with the launch of Captain Cook. Positioned as a free–flowing salt, it helped create awareness about brands in the salt segment. Tata Chemicals responded by releasing ads to counter Captain Cook’s claims. As more consumers moved from non-branded or local products to the national brands, Tata Salt’s inherent superiority and strong distribution network ensured its continuing growth in terms of market share and category expansion.

In 1996, Annapurna, another national salt brand, was launched. It was positioned on the health benefits of iodine. According to Mr Mehan, by that time iodisation had become almost a hygiene factor and consumers did not perceive it as a differentiator.

The rising number of players in the branded-salt segment got Tata Chemicals to think of strategies to combat the possibility of its market share being eroded. In 1998, the company conducted a comprehensive market research study to understand the consumer psyche. The results ranked Tata Salt high on attributes such as iodisation, free flow, purity and whiteness (consumers thought of Tata Salt as a ‘saltier salt’). The next commercial showed Sanjeev Kapoor, the famous chef, endorsing the product for these attributes.

Pressing the purity button
By late 2001 several brands had entered the market. In September, 2001, Tata Salt was relaunched with a new advertisement that talked about its purity, a core property of the brand. The packaging was also changed to a more premium-looking pack, a response to consumer feedback.

Tata Chemicals brought in consultants to track the brand and review its marketing strategy. The results showed that Tata Salt’s brand equity index was 7, which was ahead of the competition. But a study by Quadra Consultancy on the marketing strategy revealed that, though the brand awareness was still strong, the differences between the players was getting cloudy.

"In order to sustain a competitive advantage over a long period of time, what is needed is for the consumer to perceive you to be different from others," adds Mr Mehan. "The best way to differentiate is to connect with the consumer at an emotional level."

The challenge, according to Mr Mehan, was to take purity, a rational product benefit, and create an emotional link with the consumers. A new agency, Bates India, was chosen to work on the communication. Says J. S. Mani, vice president and general manager, Bates India: "A strong fact that emerged from our research was that consumers were troubled about the gradual erosion of our value system. Another factor was that salt is deeply rooted in grassroots values. Putting them together, we linked the product (salt) with integrity of character."

The advertisements, released in August 2002, show ordinary people doing their duties with integrity and commitment. "Integrity should not be seen only in the context of a uniform, or as integral to the occupation," says Mr Mani. Apart from a policeman and an army officer, there is a railway linesman checking the fishplates in spite of heavy rains, and a taxi driver returning a cell phone but refusing the reward.

The emotional link
"Our campaign is a reassurance for Tata Salt users," says Mr Mehan. "By using Tata Salt, a pure salt, he is a pure human being. That’s the emotional link."

The communication route is interesting because Tata Salt’s leadership position is implied, not stated. The commercials end with the consumer stating: "Maine desh ka namak khaya hai." "If everyone is eating the salt, then it suggests that Tata Salt is the leading salt in the market," says Mr Mani.

Additionally, the company decided to contribute 10 paise on every packet of Tata Salt sold between August 15 and September 15, 2002, towards the education of deprived girl children. The ‘Desh Ko Arpan’ programme encouraged ordinary individuals to make a difference. Over Rs 35 lakh was collected and given to Child Relief and You through this initiative.

The new campaign got an enthusiastic response from all Tata Chemicals employees, who signed a specially designed poster reiterating their commitment to the product. "It was a very emotional event, " says Mr Mehan. "They felt very proud to be part of a successful company with a No 1 brand."

Tata Chemicals had taken over the distribution of Tata Salt in December 2001 to make it more efficient. "The selling and logistics functions are now separate entities," says Mr Mehan. "Sales and distribution teams concentrate on developing markets and improving the penetration level of Tata Salt. The team is structured and focused like an FMCG company."

In order to strengthen relations with its channel partners, the company organised a workshop to help them manage business through insights into marketing and strategy skills. The workshop was greatly appreciated by the partners.

Potential to grow
Mr Mehan feels that the brand has tremendous potential to grow, since 70 per cent of the market consists of non-branded salt. "Our focus is on two levels: to retain our core users and bring in new users."

The efforts have been successful. Tata Salt was voted the fourth most trusted brand in a survey conducted recently by The Economic Times. "We were pleasantly surprised by the result, since salt was thus far not considered a product exciting enough to feature in the survey," says Mr Mehan. "We knew that our brand was the best. This is due to a combination of personal experience, the Tata name and product quality, which people have experienced for so many years."

Tata Salt has a strong presence in the northern, western and eastern regions of India. The south is a weak area, but the company is currently evaluating options to tackle this weakness. There are also plans to go global, and discussions for Bangladesh and the Middle East are on the anvil.

"With the current level of activities in the market, we are looking at enhancing Tata Salt’s market share to 38-40 per cent," says Mr Mehan. "But, more than that, we are looking at expanding the base of the category so as to bring in new users."