The new campaign intends to create a stronger, sharper and more contemporary image in the minds of the consumers: Nitish Chopra, JK White Cement

JK White Cement is one of the World’s leading White Cement manufacturers, JK Cement has announced a brand refresh for its iconic brand, JK White Cement in its all new avatar – JK Cement WhiteMaxX. One of the most trusted brands in the Country, JK White Cement enjoys an enviable position of market leadership in India and across the Globe.

Keeping pace with the changing market dynamics and customer expectations, the Company has given a new, fresh dimension to JK White Cement, rendering it a contemporary and differentiated identity, while integrating a critical section of its product line under the ‘MaxX’ umbrella, thereby bringing uniformity in the brand architecture. Ushering the Brand into the new ‘WhiteMaxX’ era, the Company has further strengthened its commitment to deliver the maximum for its consumers and stakeholders, i.e. maximum whiteness, maximum strength, and maximum customer delight.

Nitish Chopra, Head- Strategy & Branding, White Cement Division, JK White Cement, speaks to us exclusively on the brand refresh, the consumer connect and marketing strategy.

The journey of the brand in India?

In the year 1984, JK Cement changed the landscape of India’s cement industry by pioneering the introduction of the dry limestone based manufacturing process of White Cement at its plant in Rajasthan. Visionary industrialist, Late Shri Yadupati Singhania, established the Plant in the remote village, Gotan in Rajasthan. Gotan has seen a complete transformation into a thriving and holistic socio-economic hub in the past three and a half decades.

Over the years, the JK White Cement has grown and achieved many milestones, emerging as one of India’s most iconic and trusted Brands while garnering significant recall and salience in the minds of consumers as the ‘Perfect White’. With a focus on product excellence, customer orientation and technology leadership, complimented by relentless Brand building and marketing efforts, the Brand has strengthened the foundations of trust with its customers, channel partners, and stakeholders by delivering unsurpassed value.

In 2014, the Brand made inroads into international markets, with the setting up of a state-of-the-art manufacturing unit in Fujairah (UAE). Today it exports to more than 43 countries and is the 3rd largest manufacturer of white cement in the World.

The preferred choice of customers for decades, JK White Cement has also been bestowed with the prestigious ‘Superbrand’ status.

What has led to the name change?

After having conducted extensive market and consumer research, a need was felt for a brand makeover in order to keep pace with changing dynamics and customer expectations. With the objectives of establishing a stronger consumer connects; giving the Brand a contemporary and differentiated identity and for bringing about uniformity in the overall brand architecture of the Company, the decision was taken to go for the rebranding exercise.

Can you take us through this campaign and the strategy behind it?

Taking the brand journey of JK White Cement forward, the objective of the campaign was to make a seamless transition to its new Brand avatar of ‘JK Cement WhiteMaxX’, while celebrating its glorious legacy. The ’MaxX’ in the logo signifies the Brand’s commitment to delivering nothing but the ‘maximum’ to all its stakeholders and consumers: maximum whiteness, maximum strength and maximum customer delight.

The launch of JK Cement WhiteMaxX has been amplified through a high decibel #AbSabKuchMaxX campaign on social media in addition to the on-ground BTL activation. The digital campaign included fun and relevant social media content around ‘MaxX’ and contests delivering high engagement levels. The campaign across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram garnered a reach of over 10 million.

How has the brand performed during this lockdown?

While an overall slowdown has been seen in our industry, like in most other businesses due to market movement restrictions imposed by the lockdown, our prime consideration has been to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our stakeholders. In order to extend our support to our key influencers i.e. painters, we launched a special program to enable them to receive cash of up to INR 5000* directly in their bank accounts. This along with our extensive outreach program to dealers, retailers, and employees, has facilitated cementing our bonds with them further.

With the ‘unlock’ is taking affect across the country, business operations and demand is gradually normalizing with resumption of brand building efforts with a higher emphasis of using digitization and use of technology.

Is the new campaign aimed at re-establishing the brand in your consumer’s mind?

The relationship that JK White Cement enjoys with consumers and our channel partners transcends generations. Over the decades, the relationship has grown stronger because of our firm commitments, reliable service and consistent product quality. People naturally identify with the Brand; therefore, the new campaign intends to create a stronger, sharper and more contemporary image in the minds of the consumers.

How do you see the market/consumer expectations and mind set post the lockdown?

Being a market leader, we have always kept pace by responding to the changing market dynamics and customer expectations. The rebranding to JK Cement WhiteMaxX is firmly rooted in the need to build an even stronger consumer connect, making it more relevant for the ever-discerning customer.

The pandemic has hastened the dawn of a new digital era and we expect that this will also have an impact on consumer buying behaviour. We have pre-emptively sharpened our digital and communication strategy in line with these expected changes.

Marketing Strategy for this campaign. Will it be the traditional mediums like TV/Print and OOH or more emphasis on the Digital platform?

The Brand is leveraging all viable mediums, relevant for this category and TG including BTL, digital, PR etc. Celebrating the youthful and modern persona of JK Cement WhiteMaxX, the brand story has been amplified through a high decibel launch on social media with the #AbSabKuchMaxX campaign. The digital campaign included quirky social media content around ‘MaxX’ and contests to increase engagement. The campaign across YouTube, Facebook and Instagram garnered a reach of over 10 million people.