Introduction

Brand Introduction 

Water is the basic necessity of human beings and the increasing health awareness and scarcity has led to the development of mineral water industry in India. In 1999, the total annual bottled water consumption in the country was 1.5 billion litres and the market was growing at compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25%. Coca-Cola entered this market with its purified mineral water ‘Kinley’ in August 2000. Kinley was introduced at a time when the generic name for bottled water was ‘Bisleri’ which was the market leader with more than 60% share. By 2002, Kinley was having 20 water plants across the country and was in the process of setting up 15 plants in the next one year.

The situation of Kinley for the time when it entered the market can be analyzed using the 5C framework.

Company: Coca-Cola was having a strong product line and image in the market. The company enjoyed the bouquet with brands like Coca Cola, Thums up, Limca etc. The company had a strong distribution channel and facilities in various parts of the country.

Competition: The major competitor of Kinley was Parle. Parle was expanding its Bisleri operations since 1995 and the average growth rate was 40% for over 10 years.  Bisleri enjoyed the Brand Loyalty of the consumers by its safe and pure bottles. About 20% of the market share was enjoyed by the regional and local market niches.

Category: At the time of its launch, three categories of mineral water were prominent in the market. These were pouches, retail PET and bulk (20 litres capacity). Pouches were popular in both urban and rural because of their availability and pricing. PET bottles of 500ml to 1 litre capacity were being retailed from chemist to stationery. Bulk was a segment with huge margin and potential as they were much popular in households and corporate offices.

Context: As the consumers were becoming hygiene conscious and their purchasing power was also increasing, they were moving towards mineral water. Both domestic and international tourists were the potential customers of bottled water because of the scarcity of drinking water in most parts of the country.

Collaboration: Coca-Cola India was having a wide and well managed network of distributors along with supply of its existing products to restaurants, departmental stores, supermarkets.

Under these circumstances, Coca-Cola India launched Kinley on the trust and safety plank in August 2000. In the initial phase, it launched one litre pack in southern metros of the country and over the next few months it rolled out nationally. In early 2001, Kinley 500 ml was launched followed by Kinley 2 litres and Kinley 5 litres.