Marketing review

Foodworld opens concept store, Gourmet
Bangalore: Foodworld Supermarkets plans to invest Rs80 crore every year in its expansion plan that involves opening stores under various formats. The company is targeting to open 200 Foodworld stores in India under formats like hypermarkets, supermarkets, express stores and concept stores by 2009.

At present about 60 Foodworld stores operate in Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai. The company is now looking at opening stores in North India and Mumbai. In Foodworld Supermarkets has opened its first concept store in the country called Gourmet, which will give customers an "international food experience" by selling a range of vegetables, fruits, marinated meat and seafood.

The 2,800-sq. ft. store in Bangalore also stocks organic food, dairy and bakery products from around the world. Some of the products sold are — low-fat dairy products from India and around the world, cheese and cold cuts from Italy, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, organic vegetables, rice, dals, spices, pickles, jams and tea, and bakery products from Asia and Europe. Foodworld plans to open more Gourmet stores in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad by the end of the year.

TAM Media launches Radio Audience Measurement
Mumbai: TAM Media Research has launched Radio Audience Measurement or RAM. The service will provide a measurement of radio listeners and tap the growth of the radio industry and will operate as an independent division of TAM Media Research.

Like Television Audience Measurement or TAM, RAM is a joint venture between market research firm IMRB International and Nielsen Media Research, the global information and media-company.

According to a study by AdEx India, the division of TAM tracking advertisement segment in print, radio and television, radio was the fastest growing medium in terms of ad spends of Rs 500 crore in 2006, a growth of 58 per cent over the previous year.

The new radio service would provide measurement of listener reach, ad spends and peak listening times among other services.

RAM ratings will be made available on a weekly basis by September 2007. The data would be of importance to media planning agencies and radio broadcasters. Initially, the RAM panel will measure radio audiences in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

StanChart targets women with special products
Kolkata: Standard Chartered Bank has launched a special savings account called aaSaan - only for women customers of the branch. The account will allow free cash withdrawals from domestic (non-SCB) VISA ATMs and provide an international debit card for a fee. It will also come with a free local cheque book.

Officials said Stanchart Bank will try to cater to women''s financial needs in varied ways, continuing an effort that was seen with the introduction of the Diva card. aaSan however has features that are quite different from the Diva card.

Apple plans product demos
Bangalore: Apple Computers is planning to conduct product demos to reach out to the public and increase sales of its products.

The company will hold `You''re your Mac'' demonstration camps at New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Bangalore, Kochi, Goa and Kolkata, where the company recently set up its 10th retail store.

The demos are designed to suit both beginners and experienced users. Topics will cover managing digital photograph collections through iPhoto, one-click Web site creation, moviemaking, etc.

Cotton County to foray into women''s and kid''s wear
Cotton County, which has been present till now in the menswear segment, is foraying into women''s and kids'' segments.

The women''e wear products will sell under the Cotton County Femme brand and will mainly offer Westernwear like t-shirts, denim, capris and winter wear, as soon as the season begins. This would include sweaters, tops and designerwear. The kids'' segment would be called Cotton County Tazo.

The products would be priced lower as compared to brands like Lilliput and Gini and Jony and would compete more with products in the unbranded market.

Earlier, this year Cotton Country forayed into the high end segment with French Republic that comprises trousers priced above Rs2,299. The company plans to add denims to this range priced above Rs1,699.

Recently, the company added another extension called Cotton Country Alpha in the fixed price segment. The stores currently stock only shirts in this brand, priced at Rs299 though, trousers, costing Rs399 each, will soon be made available under this brand.

The company plans to expand add more stores in the South in the next fiscal. By the end of the current fiscal, the stores would move away from the men''s only category to a family shop, catering to men, women and kids.

Max New York Life launches new unit-linked plan
Max New York Life Insurance Co has launched Life Maker Premium, a unit-linked endowment plan, which the company says is tailored to the needs of the middle-income group.

This is the fifth product launched from Max New York Life''s unit-linked portfolio and the first to offer the option to invest fully in equity funds giving the customers an option to maximise growth prospects.

The company said the features of Life Maker Premium are: flexibility in premium payment, investment flexibility with the customer choosing to invest in five investment funds offered by the company, higher returns and high quality of advice.

United Spirits launches Romanov diet vodka for the health-conscious
New Delhi: UB Group''s United Spirits has launched the first variant of its vodka brand Romanov, called Romanov Diet Mate Vodka which includes a herbal ingredient, Garcinia, that helps in controlling cholesterol and burning body fat. The product is priced at a 10 per cent premium to the original Romanov Vodka.

The company believes that the product will achieve at least 10 per cent of the sales of the original Romanov Vodka flavour.

Romanov Vodka sold nearly 8.5 lakh cases last year, and has a CAGR of 45 per cent. The Indian vodka market is about three million cases, of which brands from the UB stable, Romanov and White Mischief, form 70 per cent. White Mischief clocked sales of 1.1 million cases last year.

PepsiCo developing Kurkure variants
Mumbai: PepsiCo India''s Frito Lay Division is planning to come out with variants of its popular snacks brand Kurkure which successfully bridged the gap between namkeens and potato chips.

The entry of new players in the recent past including ITC''s Bingo brand, into the category is leading Frito Lay to innovate its offerings under its homegrown brand.

According to the variants are at a development stage under a robust product development team.

With intentions of segmenting the offerings under the bridge category, Frito Lay has lined up a range of snacks in different formats suited for different needs of consumers.

In the recent past, a new variant of Kurkure was launched called, Solid Masti, a denser offering in its portfolio compared to its existing lightweight format for its existing variants.

Frito Lays'' creative and media-buying agencies, JWT and Mindshare in Delhi, have create a contest — `Kurkure Chai Time Achievers'' that would make `real people'' famous. The contest involve creating recipes based on the brand and the winners would be featured on at least one million Kurkure packs.

Hero Honda launches ''Splendor NXG''
New Delhi: Hero Honda Motors has launched `Splendor NXG,'' a model in the deluxe segment which is available in two variants with spoke and cast wheels priced at Rs40,990 and Rs41,990 (ex-showroom Delhi) respectively.

The new Splendor is built with a new engine and it can deliver peak power of 7.7 PS.

The company says it seeks to leverage the existing Splendor brand by increasing the product offering to its customers. Both Splendor Plus and NXG would co-exist with the idea that it would address different customer requirements.

Last year, the company sold over 1.09 million units of Splendor and with the launch of the new model, the company expects the brand to gain further momentum. It feels there is further scope for penetration in the 100-125cc segment, as this comprises 51-per cent of the market against the premium bike segment, which accounts for 11 per cent.

LIC launches new policy Jeevan Amrit
Mumbai: LIC has launched a new insurance policy "Jeevan Amrit" designed with a short period for premium payment.

The premium payable decreases after the first one-year of the policy and the payment is limited to a term of three to five years.

The policy term ranges from 10 to 30 years and the minimum sum assured is Rs 1 lakh. The plan has no upper limit.

The bonuses are payable on the total premiums paid rather than the sum assured. When the policy matures, the total amount of premium paid along with vested bonuses will be payable. In the event of death of the insured, the sum assured along with vested bonuses is payable.