Ahmedabad : Rajhans Group has roped in adman Prasoon Joshi and Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra to promote its premium luxury chocolate Schmitten, which will soon be dished out in experience-cum-retail lounges designed by a Zurich-based design house across 50 cities in India.
“Apart from the product per se, the brand will stand out with its positioning in modern retail and television commercials,” said Jayesh Desai, chairman of Rajhans Group, a Rs 3,000-crore conglomerate engaged in setting up multiplexes and manufacturing synthetic textiles.
The “ch” is not a typo as one might presume, Desai said. “It is to give a rich feel to the brand,” he said, adding he got Swedish ad maker Fredrick Bond to do the first launch commercials six months ago. Now, the brand will be backed by a Rs 65-70-crore marketing campaign, including a splash on the silver screen with an in-film promotion and an aggressive retail expansion, for which another Rs 50 crore has been earmarked.
Unlike its peers, the brand has not piggybacked on the concept of sharing chocolates. “The Rs 1,500 crore luxury chocolates (in India) is niche but highly competitive. That is why we are leaving nothing to chance when it comes to branding,” Desai said. Brands are housed under group firm Rajhans Nutriments.
Brand consultant Harish Bijoor said Schmitten’s effort is to occupy and dominate the space of premium chocolate market dominated by Nestle Kit-Kat Senses, Cadbury’s Silk and others, just below the luxury chocolate segment in India, which is nano-niche occupied by Ferrero Rocher, and Belgian, Swiss and Italian imports. Schmitten and its sub brand Hoppits are manufactured at a Rs 450-crore facility spread over 2 lakh sq feet on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.
There is one flaw, though, Bijoor said. “The brand suffers from a packaging issue. The packaging does not reflect the premium status it is aspiring to build through its advertising. It is important for brand that aspires to build through its advertising. It is important for brand that aspires to be seen as premium or luxury, to connote the same through their packaging efforts as well. If you don’t, your advertising imagery builds up hope and your packaging dashes that consumer hope at first sight, touch and feel,” he said.
Schmitten is 30% pricier than its peers, Desai said. Six months into its launch, the brand is about to clock a turnover of Rs 150 crore, which, according to Desai, will swell to Rs 500 crore by the end of the current fiscal.
