Onida eyes Rs 1,500 crore revenue from AC business by 2020

Onida, the homegrown electronics brand from Mirc Electronics, has set its eyes on the flourishing air-conditioner (AC) segment to become a dominant force in the electronics business.

The heritage TV brand, which is now present across categories, is expecting a revenue of Rs 1500 crore annually in the next couple of years from the sales of AC units.

To reach out to consumers, the brand has tied up with Indian Premier League (IPL) for advertising and is spending Rs 20 crore on IPL advertising alone.

The AC segment contributes about Rs 360 crore to Onida’s overall revenue. The brand is expecting to double this number to Rs 700 crore this year and then double it again the year after.

With a hotter than ever summer on the cards, the AC market in the country is expected to grow by 15-20% in 2018.

“This summer is expected to be the hottest summer so far so we are expecting a huge spike in the sale of ACs this year. Another factor is that the penetration of the AC market in India is extremely low, it is just 5%. Our market share in the AC segment is 8-9% and we hope to increase it to at least 12%,” said Vijay Mansukhani, MD, Mirc Electronics Ltd.

Onida has also launched a new campaign for its air conditioners and has brought back its iconic ‘Devil’ to be the face of the brand once again. The brand had taken a brief departure from the ‘Devil’ and their ‘Neighbour’s Envy, Owner’s Pride’ positioning last year by bringing in a ‘bionic man’. The company is spending Rs 25 to 30 crore on advertising across all formats such as television, print, outdoor and digital.

Conceptualised by Taproot Dentsu, the new ad film from Onida has given the ‘Devil’ a 2018 update and a wife. The ad film starts with the Devil talking about his home, hell, and how only Onida ACs can combat the heat of hell.

According to Shashank Lanjekar, Head, Strategic Planning, Taproot Dentsu, the decision to go back to the Devil was made to stand out from the competition. With summer already here, a lot of other AC brands will also up their advertising game and Lanjekar expects the Devil to stand out and help the audience make an instant brand connection.

The brand will also increase their touch points in non-metros as they see major growth coming from there.

“We are absolutely focusing on non-metros. We also expect that, with this IPL, the awareness in non-metros will also go up. We are also focusing on increasing our touch points in those areas. Currently, our touch points all over the country stand at around 4000 and we want to increase it to at least 5000 and most of these new touch points will come from non-metros,” said Mansukhani.

While many brands and categories struggled post-GST, Mansukhani claims that Onida has charted growth after growth and he expects the momentum to continue.

“GST has levelled the playing field and Onida has bounced right back. Out profits have zoomed and things are looking up for us,” said Mansukhani.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com