Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints: Complete Case Study

About the Company

Asian Paints was founded in the year 1942 and currently is Asia’s fourth-largest and India’s largest paint company. It has reported a turnover of 158.5 billion. The company is operational in 19 countries across the world. It serves customers in more than 65 countries. Asian Paints is involved in the manufacturing and distribution of paints, home-related products, wall coverings, waterproofing solutions, adhesives, painting tools, and implements.

The company’s vision is to become one of the top five decorative coating companies worldwide and build long-term value in the industrial coatings business. Its competitors include Berger Paints India Ltd., Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd., Akzo Nobel India, and Bombay Paints Ltd. Asian Paints also provides color consultancy at home, online, and home painting services.

The Asian Paints website is interactive helps customers learn about various painting techniques and provides an interface that provides a paint budget calculator and paint selector. Asian Paints’ color catalog includes 1800 plus shades, textures, and themes.

What’s New with Asian Paints

Target Audience of Asian Paints

The target audience of Asian Paints includes Homeowners and residential customers, Architects and interior designers, Contractors and painters, Commercial and industrial clients, Real estate developers, Retailers and dealers, etc.

Let us understand with the help of a Buyer Persona:

Now that we understand the company’s business and core products, we will understand the reason behind the successful marketing strategy of Asian Paints!

Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints analyzes the brand with the marketing mix framework which covers the 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion). These business strategies, based on the Asian Paints marketing mix, help the brand succeed in the market. 

Asian Paints: SWOT Analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses	Opportunities	Threats
Powerful worldwide presence	Slow in international business	Changing to suit the psychology of the customer	Highly unorganized sector
Extensive collection of products	Minimal market share for auto and industrial paints.	Introduction of new paints as per the trend	Increasing prices of raw material
Strong brand value	—-	Growth of Indian economy	—-
Strong supply chain management	—-	Keeping focus on emerging nations	—-
Customer-centric marketing campaigns	—-	—-	—-

Marketing Mix of Asian Paints

A marketing mix is the collection of strategies or initiatives that a company uses to promote the demand for its brand or product. A standard marketing mix- Product, Price, Promotion, and Place – comprises the 4Ps. Let us take a look at Asian Paints’ Marketing Mix:

• Product Strategy

Asian Paints’ core product is decorative and industrial paint. Along with that, the company offers solutions and services for home paintings. Instead of having one homogenous target audience, the company uses a differentiating targeting strategy to cater specific products to different segments of customers, as explained below:

– Asian Paints Royale targeted at the premium segment

– Apcolite, tractor emulsion, and tractor distemper targeted at the economy segment

Not only this, the Asian Paints business model aims to have all the products that homeowners need and to become a go-to place for all housing needs by offering:

• Wall coverings and stickers
• Wood finish products
• Metal finish products
• Waterproofing products
• Adhesives and sealants
• Primers and undercoats
• Professional and industrial paints
• Ancillary products

Color and décor consultation services

• Price Strategy

Asian Paints follows different pricing strategies according to the targeted segment. As mentioned above, the Royale product range is marketed towards high-income groups and hence, is priced higher.

Asian Paints follows a value-based pricing approach for the medium and economic segments. As per the exclusive features in the product category, the price also varies. The pricing decisions are often influenced by the raw material used to manufacture paints, petro-products, taxes, excise duty, and competitors’ prices.

To attract more consumers, the pricing strategy of Asian Paints involves promotional and seasonal discounts during the festive season where most people plan to change the look and feel of their house. Doing this helps the company boost sales and persuade users to adopt and try their products.

The company’s success can also be attributed to its high incentives for distributors. Summed up, Asian Paints has adopted a flexible pricing policy.

• Promotion Strategy

Over the years, Asian Paints has carried out various highly successful promotional activities. One of its most notable is the brand mascot Gattu, a cartoon created by R.K Laxman in 1954 that went on to become a popular and recognized figure for more than four decades.

The company’s main focus is being all about families, and emotionally connecting with the customers. To support the idea, Asian Paints came up with its iconic: “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai” slogan.

Many famous public figures have been Asian Paints brand ambassadors such as Akshay Khanna, Ranbir Kapoor, brother-sister duo Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan, with the most recent being Deepika Padukone.

A major promotional tool used by them is providing incentives to their distribution network. Presently, a lot of their promotion is also executed through their social media, touched upon in detail later, when speaking of their digital media presence.

• Place Strategy

Asian Paints has operations around the world. They are carried out through a network of five regions worldwide, via the Caribbean region, the Middle East region, the South Pacific region, South-East Asia, and South Asia, with large resources spent on R&D centers.

Asian Paints’ major competitive advantage is its well-established, extensive distribution network. The organization targets all semi-urban, rural, and urban areas. It launched an open-door policy for dealers after entering the retail market and began a national marketing and distribution operation. It has different manufacturing locations and is India’s largest. This dynamic network, along with sales managers, executives, and the sales team, manages all development and delivery phases.

To give you a gist, Asian Paints have a robust presence with:

• Strong dealer network
• Exclusive company stores and experience centers
• Online marketplaces
• Partnering with local hardware stores
• Placing products in the industrial market

Asian Paints is a massive organization and faces competition from all sides. Now that we have covered their marketing mix in-depth. Let us now look at the reason the company has been able to achieve its status as the nation’s leading brand, i.e. the successful marketing strategy of Asian Paints.

Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints

The marketing strategy of Asian Paints is offering different products of varying price points, according to the income groups of the consumers they are marketed towards. They segment based on demographic and geographic factors such as location, income levels, etc., and then, target each segment with specific products suited to their needs and position themselves accordingly in terms of price.

They effectively use both, traditional media and digital media in their marketing. They advertise on television and in newspapers to garner attention from conventional media users. Their humorous ads presently feature Ranbir Kapoor, talking about the distinctive features of their paint. And they also market on social media through challenges, trends, competitions, using influencers, etc.

Asian Paints Marketing Campaigns

Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints has historically revolutionized what was traditionally considered a “static” industry. Let us take a look at some of its most effective marketing campaigns:

• • Post Gattu, Asian Paints, associated with Ogilvy and Mather, launched a new marketing strategy by focusing on festive occasions with their now signature tagline “Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hain” focusing on festivals such as Diwali and Pongal, occasions such as weddings, etc. The organization marketed it as an opportunity to paint homes by engaging on an emotional level. They still market heavily during festivals, by showcasing festive decor and celebrations, asking consumers to do the same and share using their hashtags!
  • The comedic “Wah Sunil Babu Wah” ad became extremely successful with audiences and is still remembered and associated with the brand. The concept was humorously poking at the fact that their paint maintains its freshness and longevity even through the various surroundings and life changes.

• The company then rebranded to appeal to consumers through high-profile brand ambassadors such as Deepika Padukone and Ranbir Kapoor. Depicting a switch in now communicating sophistication and innovation. The company still uses this strategy with newer public figures such as Radhika Apte and Rana Dagubatti.

• Asian Paints also launched a new advertisement campaign for their Ultima Protek paint, featuring Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor in dual roles as a magician and a confident contractor. The ad emphasizes that Ultima Protek is the ideal choice for homeowners as it provides the best protection. You can watch the ad here –https://youtu.be/E6a4EksDB_Q

• The company conducts many campaigns on their YouTube, via short video series. They focus on geographical regions and share their painting suggestions. They also then host competitions for these cities/states.

A modern-day marketing strategy of Asian Paints is incomplete without a comprehensive digital marketing component. Let us see how they brought their iconic marketing style into the digital format.

Digital Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints

Apart from being famous for its TV ads, Asian Paints is up with the current times and has a strong social media presence, owing to its brilliant digital marketing strategy. Asian Paint’s digital presence is handled by the ad agency Kinnect.

Let us analyze how they adopted the digital marketing medium and the strategies they use.

First, let us take a look at their particulars:

• 163k followers on Instagram, 119k on Twitter, 19 Lakh likes on Facebook and 945k subscribers on YouTube.

• They are most engaging on Instagram, where they regularly post home decor inspiration and designs, mentioning every product used in detail, for ease of the consumers.

• They host decor competitions periodically, especially during festivals such as Navratri, Diwali, X-Mas, etc. This encourages consumers to decorate their spaces and engage with the company in order to win exciting services and prizes.

• They are doing pretty well at influencer marketing as well, collaborating with popular Instagram figures who have used Asian Paints’ services. These influencers then conduct ‘house tours’ on their pages, promoting Asian Paints.

• They post tutorials on using new products on their YouTube, along with short videos of their ads.

• Twitter and Facebook are used to notify consumers of new offerings and advertisements.
• Asian Paints digital marketing strategy includes giveaway posts to increase customer engagement.
• In terms of SEO, the company is getting around 22, 00,000 organic visitors, and 45,000 paid visitors, and built 2,37,000 backlinks.
• Talking about Google Ads, the company is ranking for the keywords that match the business like “indoor paint”, “outdoor paint”, etc. Not only this, but the company is also running multiple display, video, and search ads for its diverse segments.

In terms of BTL activities, the company also paints murals in various Indian cities, focusing on pressing social issues, thus generating awareness as well as goodwill for the company. Recently during the ongoing global pandemic, the company started a campaign- painting murals of essential workers and appreciating their service- titled ‘Thank you heroes.’ So it’s pretty clear that they utilize relevant current affairs happenings and create campaigns accordingly.

Competitive Advantage in the Marketing Strategy Of Asian Paints

• Wide product portfolio: Starting from mere wall paint, and wallpapers to luxury wall finishes, Asian Paints has it all. It aims to offer everything to its customers when it comes to home improvement. With a wide portfolio, Asian Paints holds a strong market share by making it less possible for any consumer to move out and buy something from its competitors.
• Robust brand visibility: Even after being a paint brand, the company leaves no stone unturned when it comes to marketing and distribution of its products. Asian Paints are present in every corner of the country through its strong distribution channel that increases TOMA (Top Of Mind Awareness) and is using various marketing channels to spread the brand message and acquire customers.

Competitor Analysis

Asian Paints is the market leader, with currently over almost 30% market share. Asian Paints’ competitive advantage is its distribution strength. Here are its competitors listed below:

• Berger Paints –  The First and Foremost Asian Paints Competitors in India are Berger Paints. With a Market Share of Around 12%, Berger Paints is the Second Largest Brand in the paints industry. The Company Was Founded in the year 1923 By Lewis Berger.
• Kansai Nerolac Paints – Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited Formerly Known as Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd is the Third Largest Paint Company in India After Asian and Berger Paints. The Company Was Founded in 1920 in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
• Indigo Paints – In Recent years Indigo Paints Has Been Emerging as One of the Most Popular Paint Brands in India. Founded in the year 2000 By Hemant Jalan, Indigo Paints Has its headquarters in Pune, Maharashtra.
• Nippon Paint – Nippon Paint Holding is a Japanese Paint Manufacturing Company Founded in the year 1881 by Jujiro Motegi. Nippon Paint Has Been in India For More Than Two Decades Now and They have Established itself as one of the Biggest Asian Paints Competitors.
• Shalimar Paints – Established in the year 1902, Shalimar Paints is one of the renowned Indian Paint Manufacturing Company in India. The Company was founded by two British Business Persons IN Turner and AC Wright.

Hence, to keep up with the competitive market the marketing strategy of Asian Paints needs to be updated with current trends.

Conclusion

Asian Paints is certainly doing well for itself in the market with apt product segmentation and positioning, occupying a major chunk of consumer share. The marketing strategy of Asian Paints is effective, satisfying the consumers’ needs and maintaining its brand image as undoubtedly one of the best in the industry.

The company’s marketing campaigns strike the right note with viewers and keep them interested in what they have to offer. Their Instagram presence is quite strong and up to speed with digital media advances. All in all, Asian Paints has evolved and maintained its brand quality and image very well. Although they could certainly benefit from increasing demand by differentiating and branching out their services arm.

Thank you for reading! We hope you found this blog useful and learned about the Marketing Strategy of Asian Paints and Digital Presence. If you did, be sure to share, comment, and check out more of our blogs!

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