Indian Float Glass makers in aggressive branding exercise

The Rs 5,000 crore architectural glass industry is acquiring a new look as the three organised players in the segment — Modiguard, Saint Gobain and Asahi — resort to an aggressive branding exercise.
So far, the glass segment had been a low involvement commodity as far as the end consumers are concerned.
The sudden advertising spree has given this industry a new customer face. “When commodities like steel and cement can benefit from the branding exercise, there is no reason why glass should not,” Asahi India Glass managing director & CEO Sanjay Labroo said.
Asahi entered the floatglass market only few months back and realising the low awareness for its brand decided to advertise for the first time. It has earmarked a budget of Rs 6 crore towards advertising and marketing this year.
Specially when compared to the brand equity that Modiguard enjoys thanks to its salience building exercise that it initiated at a time when glass purchase was mostly done by intermediaries like carpenters and interior decorators.
But Saint Gobain’s entry two years back with its campaign focused on the clarity offered by glass, had the industry wake up to a bitter war in the architectural market.
Created by advertising outfit Lowe, the Saint Gobain campaign made a lasting impact on the audience both in terms of the brand as well as the quality. It’s now Asahi’s turn to make a mark.
“Although there is price parity in architectural glass, things might change once competition stiffens. In that scenario, when the product produced is really similar with no real differentiation, the only way to stand out is perception/image. Which can be achieved through advertising,” said Labroo.
According to Labroo innovative products can also help create differentiation like bullet proof, coloured, sound proof and heat resistant glass.
Asahi controls 95 per cent share of the automotive glass segment and hopes to be a leader in the architectural segment also.
So is Modiguard feeling threatened? Modiguard currently enjoys the leadership position with 28 per cent share followed by Saint Gobain at 26 per cent and Asahi, despite its late entry in to floatglass has already garnered 24 per cent.
According to Alok Modi, joint managing director of Gujarat Guardian Ltd, the manufacturer of Modiguard floatglass: “We have been looking forward to this aggression. The more money spent to create awareness in the category, the higher will be the growth.”
“Majority of the consumers are not even aware of the benefits of using a glass. The campaign is aimed at communicating the fact that glass can be as safe as concrete if processed properly,” Labroo said. RMG David has positioned glass as the new concrete in the campaign.
In addition growing quality consciousness has led to a rapid growth in the floatglass segment, in a market which was pre-dominantly a sheet glass market till six years back.
Floatglass currently has 70 per cent market share and is driving the growth in the sector.
As per industry estimates, the sector has been growing at 8 per cent for the last couple of years and is expected to grow at 10-15 per cent in the coming year.

Source: Business Standard Ltd – www.business-standard.com,
Ogis GmbH – www.glassglobal.com