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Onida looks to regain lost market share, new CEO plans Rs 50-crore ad campaign

KOLKATA: Onida, a domestic television and home appliances brand, is reviving part of its once-famous tagline, 'neighbour's envy, owner's pride,' as it seeks to regain its lostmarket share under its new CEO YV Verma. 

Mirc ElectronicsBSE 9.96 %, owners of the Onida brand, will use the tagline 'owner's pride' for its new campaign to mark the launch of a line-up of premium products including an LED television with loud sound output and a microwave oven that can measure the quantity of raw material and accordingly programme itself for cooking at the touch of a button. 

"With this new brand positioning, which would complement a new line-up of products and enhanced distribution, we are aiming at 20 per cent sales growth," said Verma, who joined Mirc in July from 
LG Electronics, the country's top home appliances maker. 

As a part of his drive to revive the brand Onida, 
Verma has hired 10 senior professionals who were old LG India hands in the last two months. They include chief financial officer PK Gupta, service head JN Prasad and regional heads Vishal Chopra, Prashant Kumar and KR Singh. 

At LG, Verma was part of the core senior team that helped the Korean firm become the
market leader across product segments with Rs 16,000 crore sales. Onida was one of the brands that lost out as LG and Samsung conquered the Indian television and appliances market. 

Now, Verma wants Onida to fight back as a premium brand with new product line-up, improved service infrastructure and expanded distribution reach into modern retail. 

Vipul Mathur, vice-president (marketing) at Mirc Electronics, said Onida is attempting to build a new culture within the organisation and a corporate credo. He said, the company might invite a fresh agency pitch for a large Rs 50 crore plus campaign. Mirc currently works with O&M and Lowe Lintas. 

Onida looks to regain lost market share, new CEO plans Rs 50-crore ad campaign


Onida was one of the top television brands along with BPL and Videocon in the 80s and 90s. Once it started losing ground, Onida made several attempts to stay relevant and expanded its product portfolio to even include mobile phones, but it did not work out. 

Last fiscal, Mirc's revenues slipped to Rs 1,292 crore from Rs 1,650 crore in 2011-12 and Rs 1,913 crore in 2010-11. It has posted losses in the last two fiscals. At present, Mirc has some 5-6% market share across categories such as television, washing machine and air-conditioner. 

At a time when Japanese brands such as Sony and 
Panasonic are giving strong competition to LG and Samsung, it won't be easy for an Indian band to make much impact in a highly competitive electronics and appliances market. Verma and his new team will sure prove Mirc's pride if they make Onida a top brand once again.