Though several indigenous and foreign F & B brands have entered the Indian market with their franchising model, they could tap only a portion of the desired area. However, there are brands in the market that have revamped their strategy and collaborated w
IT is not only the human beings who love make-ups and grooming sessions to enhance their appearance but businesses of any sort also need a timely revamping and evolution to maintain their brand identity in the market. One always sets goals before starting a business, from writing down the ideas to naming the brand, to thorough study and research of the market and competitors.
Talking about brand identity in the F&B industry, it determines all the elements that make up a company, be it tangible or intangible. Over time, it's more likely that the assessment of the business fraternity, consumers and competitors will change, which the brand has to become accustomed to. It is at this point of time that a brand's evolution or re-strategising of the business core comes in handy. The exercise of re-assessing would ensure keeping up with the times, and most importantly, the consumers.
Re-strategising via change in business format
Moods Hospitality, the owner of Chinese fast food chain, Yo! China, has revamped its business strategy recently by launching Yo! China Cafes after successfully venturing into the fine dine format. Considering re-strategising of the brand as important for the growth of the business, Ashish Kapur, CEO and MD, Yo! China, says: “We already have two business formats: fine dining with Dimsum Bro's and casual dining with Yo! China. Café is the step towards catching up with the aspirations of the youth and leading the same with the concept of chilled out Chinese with Yo! China Café's.”
Yo! China, which is already into franchising, has 50 outlets across the country and plans to expand its cafes aggressively. “We wish to open 10 Yo! China Café's at all trendy locations in Delhi -NCR in order to tap into the aspirations of the youth,” says Kapur.
This trendy Chinese restaurant, which is designed specially as a youth cafe, seeks young and energetic entrepreneurs as partners, who are from the same industry or from a different background but have the zeal to run a Chinese restaurant. The requisites for a franchise outlet of Yo! China cafes are an average built-up area of 2000 sq ft along with an investment of Rs 1.5 -2 crore.
Re-strategising via co-branding
A homegrown premium frozen yogurt chain, Cocoberry, predominantly promotes the idea of a healthy lifestyle that attracts the attention of the young urban segment of society. Cocoberry has clearly positioned itself as a wellness brand that revolves around all key health propositions and has collaborated with Gold's Gym to re-strategise its business.
According to G S Bhalla, Founder, Cocoberry: “Our mission is to promote the culture of sports, health and style among the new generation. The brand's commu-nication strategy is pretty successful that channelises myriad media marketing routes to effectively engage with the youth on a regular basis.”
Being India's first frozen yogurt brand, Cocoberry has always believed in fostering a variety of frozen yogurts to delight its customers. Innovation has always been a key focus of the extensive product line of Cocoberry. “We keep on adding exciting products to give a new taste to our patrons and fro-yo lovers every season. Unlike any other yogurt brand, Cocoberry is the only brand that offers 50 numbers of toppings to make the product more moving. We have also diversified our menu with a selection of hot and cold beverages such as coffees, teas and smoothies,” says Bhalla. Cocoberry has undergone a substantial expansion via franchising. It has ramped up from seven to 35 outlets in just a year. Cocoberry has 85 per cent market share in the frozen yogurt chain segment. After rolling out 30 newly-designed outlets in the first quarter of the Financial Year 2012-13, Cocoberry is all set to roll out 20 additional outlets to take the total store count to 55.
Re-strategising via menu extension
Like any other franchise F&B brand Dunkin' Donuts, a baked goods and coffee chain based in the US, has extended its menu to attract more customers as part of its business strategy. It has branded its restaurants in India as 'Dunkin' Donuts & More'. To attract more customers and grab a large market share, the international donuts brand, besides serving its core donuts, has a menu tailor-made to suit the Indian market. The menu will comprise a wide range of donuts, Dunkin' original blend drip coffee, espresso based beverages, along with menu options developed specially for India. Furthermore, the beverages menu has also been expanded with fruit milkshakes, smoothies and tea.
Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd (JFL), India's largest food service company, signed an agreement with Dunkin' Donuts to bring the brand's restaurants to India and has opened a flagship store at Connaught Place, New Delhi. JFL now plans to open 10 stores in the Financial Year 2013. Further, over the next five years, it is aiming to open 80-100 stores in India. Given its deep understanding of Indian consumers in mind, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd has gone the extra mile to innovate and offer menu that brings the best of what the brand has to offer.
Re-strategising via brand expansion
Another home grown brand, Go! Chaatzz…, known for its chat (Indian street snack), has re-strategised its business format and has expanded its services in bakery goods by the name of Go! Bakezz… Go! Chaatzz & Go! Bakezz..are trademarked brands owned by Yes India Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd (YIHSPL), which is co-owned by the promoters of Radisson Hotels, Park Plaza Hotels and T.G.I. Fridays restaurants in India. Sameer Akhil Kachru, CEO of the brand, says: “We believe in learning from each market. We take that learning and implement it on a global scale by standardising the learning. This can be on any front, from menu to service standards to anything that we may learn. Our learning and development centre at YIHSPL is extremely active on this.”
Go! Chaatzz.. Indian multi -cuisine in a casual dining format offers 100% vegetarian food while Go! Bakezz..,in association with Lavazza Coffee, offers a fantastic customer experience at affordable rates. The brand has different business formats according to the investment and retail vending modules. With its brilliant and recently introduced Go! Chaatzz.. Home Delivery concept, the company is set to make further ripples nationwide and internationally too.
For the franchise of Go! Chaatzz…large casual diner, an area of 1,500-6,000 sq.ft is required, along with an investment of Rs 55 lakh to Rs 1.75 crore; for Xpress delivery units, an area of 600-1,000 sq.ft is required with an investment of Rs 35-55 lakh; for Shop-in-shop format, an area of 200-400 sq.ft is required, along with an investment of Rs 15-30 lakh, while for its kiosk format an area of 20-150 sq.ft with Rs 10-15 lakh as investment are the requirements.
About re-strategising, franchising experts feel that most of the initial business strategies are based on the business environment during the initial period of the business. According to them, if the business senses a change in market conditions or business environment, re-strategising helps. Since market is always dynamic in nature, live monitoring of these changes has to be observed and one should be alert for any signals or symptoms.
Be ready and flexible for change to reach out to a maximum number of target consumers, as compared with your competitors. So keeping up with the times, seeing to it that your business always evolves, is the only way to ensuring you will be relevant to your current consumers at any point in time.
How re-strategising may help
The flip-side of re-strategising
Sometimes disturbing some basic rules of the business may destroy the positioning of the brand and overall business.
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