Launching Rooh Afza in Germany

International AdvertisingRooh Afza in Germany

1

INTRODUCTION

The Federal Republic of Germany lies in the heart of Europe and is a cosmopolitan, democratic

country with a great tradition and a lively present. Germany has one of the world’s strongest

economies and offers an innovative research and education landscape. At the same time it has a

strong creative economy and a dynamic cultural scene. Germany is the European Union’s most

populous nation with 82 million inhabitants.

Geographic location of Germany:

Germany is surrounded by nine neighboring countries. Its territory encompasses roughly 357,000

square kilometres. It stretches from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea in the north to the Alps in

the south. Some of the largest European rivers – the Rhine, the Danube and the Elbe – flow

through Germany. German landscapes are extraordinarily varied and attractive: low and high

mountain ranges, extensive lakelands, forests and roughly 2,390 kilometres of coastline.

The diversity in German society:

Germany has 82 million inhabitants. They include roughly 15 million with a migrant

background, some 7 million of whom are foreigners, while 8 million hold German citizenship.

German society is marked by a pluralism of lifestyles and a diversity of ethnic and cultural

outlooks. Despite changes in society, the family remains the most important social reference

group.

Seasons in Germany:

German Spring: March, April, May

German Summer: June, July, August

German Autumn: September, October, November

German Winter: December, January, February


2

Summer temperatures are typically between 20°C and 30°C, with more rainfall during the

summer months. Germany has a wide variation in cold beverages ranging from cold drinks, cold

coffees, punches and juices. Despite the fact that summers are not as hot as Pakistan, German

consumers of drinks prefer cold liquids. The advantage that Rooh Afza has, over other drinks

that come under ‘cold’, is that Rooh Afza is not just used in form of drink but also used as an

additive. While in summer, you enjoy a cold Rooh Afza drink with water or milk; in winters, you

can enjoy it as a drink or as an additive in sweet dishes.

Festivals in Germany:

February:

The days in this month are the “crazy days” of carnival (Fasching). Throughout Germany, people

enjoy in big parties gathering together. Sales of food and drink increase during these days of

February. Carnival typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of

a circus, mask and public street party.

April:

In Central Europe the end of winter is highlighted with Easter. Exactly 46 days after Ash

Wednesday, with the end of carnival, Easter Sunday is celebrated. In relation with Rooh Afza

campaign, this month’s importance is not really Easter but the part that says, ‘the end of winter’.

Rooh Afza in the eastern part of the world is drunk cold and is associated with the word

‘refreshing’. In the same way, RoohAfza will be refreshing for Germany from the start of this

month.

July:

In this hot summer month, a festival that takes place is "Annafest" in Forchheim, Germany. This

traditional public fair takes place every year during the last week in July in Forchheim on the

"cellar-hill". Up to 500,000 visitors are attracted to the cellar-hill during the ten days of the

festival. With 30,000 seats there is more space to sit there than at the festival in Erlangen, (the

Bergkirchweih). It is possible to sit and eat in the middle of the forest and drink cold drinks,

beers and other beverages.


3

November:

Hamburg's DOM is known as the largest funfair in Northern Germany, Hamburg's Dom exists as

winter- dom (7. Nov. -7. Dec. 2003) and summer- dom (30. July- 29. Aug. 2004). It's a

"classical" fun fair with show-booths, food-tents and fair-attractions. During the weekend many

families come to the join in on the festivities.

December:

Christmas is another occasion in Germany which brings in happiness and people are all busy in

making different types of foods and cocktails. Rooh Afza can be used as a drink and as a topping

for various sweet dishes.


4

MEDIA LANDSCAPE IN GERMANY

Media consumption in Germany:

Magazines consumption (minutes per day): 10

Television consumption (minutes per day): 185

Radio consumption (minutes per day): 206

Television in Germany:

Total number of TV channels: 53

Private TV channels: 42

Public TV channels: 11

Radio in Germany:

Total number of radio stations: 254

Private Radio Stations: 187

Public radio Stations: 67

Top Radio Stations:

SWR3 (South West Germany – public radio)

WDR 1 Live (Western Germany – public radio)

HR3 (central German – public radio)

At some stations, music only makes up 30 – 40% of programming. The rest includes

commercials, raffles, editorial and promotions.

Magazines in Germany:

The German women's magazine market is highly extensive and fragmented. Women’s magazines

in Germany play a huge role in the German magazine market. In aggregate, they reach over

66% / 22 million of the total of 33 million women in the over 14 age group. The market has been

growing steadily over the last ten years, with an ever-increasing number of new titles entering


5

the market. Recent trends have included pocket-sized magazines, line extensions, celebrity titles,

and further specialization with regard to reader age or special content.

The market for fortnightly women’s magazines continues to be dominated by BRIGITTE. Its

market leadership is undisputed with coverage of 3.21 million women. As an advertising

medium with a large proportion of exclusive readers who read no other classic women’s

magazines, it has been an indispensable advertising vehicle for many decades.

• Total number of magazines: 7722

• The extent to which the magazine medium is part of everyday life in Germany is demonstrated

by its reach: 93.5%.

List of magazines:

• Bunte (females) coverage includes celebrity, gossip, news and lifestyle matters. At any

rate, it sells over 700,000 copies per week.

• JOY (women) (nationwide – circ. 512,179 – media value per page: 22,500 €)

• Glamour (women) (nationwide – circ. 481,865 – media value per page: 25,500 €)

• Gala (nationwide – circ. 396,884 – media value per page: 20,400 €)

• Fit for Fun (nationwide – circ. 114,033 – media value per page: 15,300 €)

• Burda Style: popular German fashion magazine. The magazine contains focusing on

latest fashion news, hair, beauty, health, fitness, lifestyles, celebrity, and more.

Trends in German media:

Culinary is currently a popular theme in German TV, as well as print and online. Cooking shows,

wine & food magazines, culinary-based raffles are all very popular, and new magazines and TV

shows are regularly entering the market. New shows appearing in the last 12 months are

“KochenmitKerner”, “Kochduell”, “Schmecktnichtgibtsnicht”, Lafer, Lichter, Lecker” etc.


6

Celebrity and city lifestyle are general travel themes that also currently work in the German

market. Travel features are focusing more on lifestyle and newsworthy protagonists instead of

highlighting only the major attractions of a region. Media is increasingly looking for stories off-

the-beaten-track and especially for characters who present the region to the

readers/viewers/listeners.

Regulations in advertising in Germany:

In Germany, public television stations own a major share of the market. Their programming is

funded by a license fee as well as advertisements on specific hours of the day (5 p.m. to 8 p.m.),

except on Sundays and holidays. Private stations are allowed to show up to 12 minutes of ads per

hour with a minimum of 20 minutes of programming in between interruptions.


7

PRODUCT PERSONALITY

Rooh Afza is one of the most popular and best selling products of HamdardDawakhana (wakf)

Laboratories. It is a cash cow (BCG Matrix) for the company. Rooh Afza positioned itself as

‘Mashroob-e-Mashriq’ (drink of the east). Rooh Afza is not just the “invigorator of the soul” it is

also Rahat e Jaan “happiness for the body”. It is a blend of crystalline sugar, distilled extracts of

citrus flowers, aqua’s of fruits, vegetables and cooling herbal ingredients. Rooh Afza claims to

be a brand with natural ingredients and that is why many people prefer it over other energy

drinks with artificial ingredients.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

1. RoohAfza has been in the market for over 100 years and if we speak of brand awareness

than it takes the cake from other ‘sharbats’, juices and carbonated drinks in the market.

2. It is generating consistent revenues and hence is a cash cow for Hamdard Dawakhana.

3. Popular summer drink that quenches thirst, maintains the water-electrolyte balance, and

acts as an instant source of energy for the body.

4. It is a type of UNANI (herbal) medicine which has zero side effects.

5. It acts as a coolant and enhances resistance towards diseases.

6. It is recommended by some doctors for weak and old people.

Weaknesses:

1. Seasonal variations in sales.

2. Ever changing customer preferences like now customers ask for convenience.

Opportunities:

1. As Rooh Afza is inexpensive compared to other beverages, it can generate huge demand

and the revenue accordingly.

2. Being a market leader in Pakistan beverage industry Rooh Afza has immense growth

potential and can successfully cater needs of an international market like Germany.


8

3. Pakistan and Germany enjoy closely cordial relations. Commercial trade between

Islamabad and Berlin has also been very essential in recent years seeing as Germany is

Pakistan's fourth largest trade partner.

Threats:

1. Competitors which are existing in industry since years.

2. Rooh afza has never been a choice of international consumers so being a new entrant in

international market is a threat.

Product Attributes:

Rooh Afza is red in color and is quite viscous in nature. It has high sugar content and contains

herbs such as lemon, Rose, keora, etc.

It can found in pet bottle of 200 ml and ml. in past Rooh Afza came in glass bottles but to make

it more user-friendly; it is now sold in plastic bottles.

Product benefits:

Late Hakeem Abdul Majeed formulated syrup that could combat heat stroke, exhaustion and

dehydration and Rooh Afza does exactly that.

Consumers in Pakistan think of it as an ‘energy drink’. It has been marketed (mainly through

‘word of mouth’) as ‘thirst quencher’ and Rooh Afza plays this role quite successfully

Rooh Afza can also be used as an additive i.e. we can use it as topping on ice-cream, pudding,

etc and we can mix it with milk and lassi apart from water.

Positioning:

In past Rooh Afza, being rich in herbal compounds, was considered healthy and beneficial by the

working class. Rooh Afza as of now is also positioned under the same context, a drink which

refreshes mind and body.

MARKET ANALYSIS

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabad

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germany

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan


9

Drinks in German culture play a significant role, and usually follow each meal. During a fine

meal, especially dinner, Germans will have a classic bottle of wine. But after lunch, the beer is

the main beverage drank by people, German beer being famous worldwide. Another great

beverage appreciated and served after lunch, is a kind of light beer mixed with lemonade or

apple juice. Coffee in German cuisine is usually lighter in caffeine content in comparison to a

Brazilian strong one. Shakes and cocktails are usually served in restaurants, being available in

flavors covering all fruits, from strawberry and banana shakes, to cherry or orange

cocktails that may or may not have alcohol.

Germany Beverage Forecasts includes consumption trends for 21 individual beverage categories

(packaged water, carbonates, juice, nectars, still drinks, squash/syrups, fruit powders, iced/rtd

tea, iced/rtd coffee, sports drinks, energy drinks, bulk/HOD water, dairy drinks, hot coffee, hot

tea, beer, cider, spirits, flavored alcoholic beverages, fortified wine, wine).

Direct competitors

Afri Cola

Bionade(lemonade)

Bluna(orange soft drink)

Chabeso

Club Cola

Capri Sonne(fruit juices)

Fanta

Hermann kola (cola with high level of caffeine)

Karamalz (Caramel lemon soft drink)

Mezzo Mix(Coca Cola orange flavor)

SchipSchwap (orange lemonade)


10

Spezi (orange lemonade)

Sprite Sinalco

Indirect competitors

• Coffee

• Milk

• Mineral water

• Tea

• Beer

• Wine

People of Germany either prefer Cola or a lemonade. It might be difficult to launch a sweet

flavored drink in market which prefers caffeine or a the ‘zing’ of lemon but then again, it says a

lot about the growth potential that a sweet drink has as compared to a ‘lemonade’.

If we would have been launching lemonade instead of Rooh Afza then it would have been

difficult for us to switch a ‘loyal-lemonade-user’ to a new drink which would again be a

lemonade. Now, how different can one lemonade be from another lemonade? The amount of

lemonades they have in their market; they have probably tried each and every recipe of lemonade

which is present on the face of earth.

In short, no one has yet targeted the audience who is craving for something other than caffeine or

lemonade; for example, something sweet.The lemonade market is saturated and the un-touched

market is ready for an on-slaught by Rooh Afza.

WHY LAUNCH ROOH AFZA IN GERMANY?


11

The following insights or segments of Germany demonstrate how this country has the potential

to be a market for Rooh Afza.

Insight into Germans (segmentation):

Psychographics:

1. They are organized, punctual and they prioritize everything i.e. they have a family time,

work-time and if we fit-in a Rooh Afza-time in their lifestyle then that means we’ll get

loyal consumers.

2. Germans are loyal with products, services or people they like. Theirloyalty can be

measured by their loyalty towards lemonades.

3. They associate rose with love, passion and romanticism. And we all know Rooh Afza’s

major ingredient is Rose so we can make them build an association with the brand on this

point.

4. Germans are conservative as far as their clothes and life style are concerned. Rooh Afza is

drink of the East and hence conservative itself. It won’t have any problem in fitting in the

German life style.

5. They like to socialize and are multi-cultural. The old and the new customs live side by

side.

6. They have a rich culture: art, music, media, theatre, literature and cinema.

7. Growing health awareness among the German population.

8. Germans love lemonade.

Demographics:

1. 95% of population speaks German only.


12

2. 60% ofGermany’s population consists of audience from age 15 to 59.

3. Majority of population of Germany is middle class.

Geographics:

1. Urban population of Germany is 74%.

2. Climate

Capitalizing on the insights:

1. Consumers are probably sick by the monotony of the drink market. According to our

research: Germany either sells Cola or lemonade. We can provide them with an

alternative to both these things. They might be loyal but everyone likes change once in a

while.

2. Germans is the largest exporter of homeopathic medicines and they have increased health

consciousness as well.

Therefore, we can safely assume that Germans understand the importance of herbs and

will accept the herbal benefits that Rooh Afza has to offer. We may not be able to

advertise the herbs in Rooh Afza but once they read the label; consumers will get to know

itsherbal qualities.

3. Their conservative life style and punctuality suggests that they definitely have the time

and energy to make a drink for themselves or for their family. And they like to socialize

as well so a refreshing drink like Rooh Afza will enable them to do so.

4. Germans have a rich culture and we can use that to our advantage.


13

Apart from the above reasons; we are also aware that in Germany there is a market for products

by Hamdard. Hence, we won’t face any difficulty in exporting Rooh Afza to Germany and the

company name (Hamdard) will add to the brand equity of Rooh Afza in Germany.

TARGET AUDIENCE


14

Gender:

We will target females only because as mentioned above; Germans are conservative in their life

style.For centuries, a woman's role in German society was summed up by the three words:

Kinder, Küche, Kirche(children, kitchenand church). Throughout the twentieth century,

however, women have gradually won victories in their quest for equal rights. Despite significant

gains, discrimination remains in united Germany. Women are noticeably absent in the top tiers of

German businesses. They only hold 9.2% of jobs in Germany's upper and middle management

positions.

Grocery shopping is mainly done by females only and they are the decision-makers as far as

house hold items are concerned. Therefore, we’ll target the segment that will play an active role

in purchasing and using Rooh Afza.

Age:

We will target the age group from age 15 – 59. Firstly, they form 60% of the total population of

Germany and secondly they’re the people who can make a Rooh Afza (open the bottle and mix it

in water) and who would be more attracted towards Rooh Afza because of its herbal qualities.

We can’t expect a 10 year old to get on a stool take Rooh Afza from a cabinet, open the tight cap

and mix the right amount of ‘sharbat’ with water. So, we’ll target people who can actually make

Rooh Afza themselves because they will be more tempted to pick up Rooh Afza bottle from a

shelf than a person who had trouble making the drink.

The most important reason for choosing this age group is that audience between the age group

15-59 is fully aware of what is going on around them and they would acknowledge the benefits

that Rooh Afza, being aherbal syrup, can provide them.

Socio Economic group:

Majority of population of Germany is middle class;so we will be targeting SEC B, C and D.also,

Rooh Afza’s low price will facilitate its growth in the ‘middle-class market’.

Location:


15

We will target the urban class of Germany because they form 74% of the total population.


16

THE NEW POSITIONING

Drink of East coming to West:

We can position Rooh Afza as drink-of-the-east-coming-to-west. Rooh Afza’s tagline is

‘mashroob-e-mashriq’ i.e. ‘drink of east’ and we do not want Rooh Afza to lose its brand

identity. Therefore, it will remain drink of east throughout our promotional campaign but we

need to show its arrival and evolutioninto the western culture i.e. Germany.

IRRESISTIBLE RED:

One of the most frequent response regarding Rooh Afza’s attributes, that we get from consumers,

is its unique red color, hence the term ‘irresistible red’. Consumers could relate it to every other

red object that they could think of even blood! Irony of the situation was that consumers related

it to blood and then drank it with zeal. Red is the color of energy, of celebration and most

importantly it is an attention grabber. Red played an important role in creating consumer base for

Rooh Afza; it promised special attention and further emphasized on the theory of ‘drink of east’.

The Big Idea

“DRINK OF EAST…NOW IN WEST”

We don’t want to lose the brand identity of Rooh Afza; hence the tagline ‘Drink of East’ remains

constant in every region (Pakistan, India, Germany). We just made an addition so that consumers

can relate with the brand in the Western world.

The big idea gives a sense of unity amongst Eastern countries and Western countries. We can not

say that this is a transition, but it shows that Rooh Afza is spreading its wings.


17

PROMOTION MIX

We will use print and electronic media both for the promotion of Rooh Afza. It will be a 360

degree promotional campaign because brand awareness of Rooh Afza in Germany is equal to

zero. Apart from the Asian community, nobody has a clue of what Rooh Afza stands for.Since,

Rooh Afza is a drink and reaching the consumer’s taste bud is very important; we’ll investalot on

out-of-home advertising.

We will design a TVC (Television Commercial) that uses German culture (since it’s so rich) and

there will be a connection between this culture, red color and the eastern culture.

We need to carry out the AIDA model through our communication; which is as follows:

I. Grab Attention

Our campaign will start from Berlin because many Asian stores there sell Rooh Afza and

Indians and Pakistanis residing in these areas will act as ambassadors. A reinforcing smile

from any person plays a large role in building an image of any brand.

a. Graffiti on Berlin Wall: We will start our campaign from the Berlin wall because what

else can be better than to spread awarenessvia a wall which has great importance in

German history.

Also, many artists have painted the Berlin wall; many known and unknown artists painted

on the Wall in the following years and the paintings were often painted over within hours

or days. The Wall art was not protected, everybody could paint on the Wall. On the

Western side of the Berlin Wall the Wall was colorful whereas the Eastern side was white

or grey and it is still protected. So we will do graffiti on part of the wall which is in ‘Wall

Park’.

Description of Graffiti:

Our graffiti will include a bottle of Rooh Afza ina gift wrapped box because Germans lay

a lot of importance on gifts and presents.Red splash of the drink would come out of the

bottle and within that ‘red splash’ we’ll write a message: “Message of Love from East.”


18

b. Spreading the same message through magazines and bill boards:we will have pop-up

advertisements in magazines and bill boards.

The ad will be a pop-up because Germans spend approximately 10minutes of their day on

magazines n we don’t want our message to get lost in the clutter.

This pop-up will be printed in the middle of magazine on two pages and will include

monuments from east and monuments from Germany and the link between the two will

be a Rooh Afza bottle. The base of bottle will be in east and its droplets will splash

towards German monuments. The tagline will be printed on the bottom of the page.

The same ad will be made on bill boards across Germany.

c. Radio advertisement: consumption of radio by our target audience is largest. Hence, we

need to design an ad for radio. We will run an ad which will run eastern music then it will

gradually fuse into german music and in the end tag line (Drink of East…Now in

West!!) will be announced in German language. Music is used because Germans take

keen interest in music and culture and would definitely be attracted towards it.

II. Create Interest

Once potential consumers are aware of Rooh Afza; we need to try and make them form a

perception and image regarding Rooh Afza.

a. The Introductory TVC:

The ad will be a “popup” alike. It will include 3d animation of Eastern monuments. These monuments are not necessarily from Pakistan but in all from the world of East. This will include background music from the east. Suddenly there is a pause and 3d animation of monuments from the West appear on screen with a Western music and lights.

Music and art is given a lot of importance in German culture and in media, graphics and animations hold value. In this case, we wanted to include the elements of culture and media both in television advertising. Because this will be an introduction advertisement meaning this will be the first ad of the campaign on television, it will be:

Shorter in length than other following ads. Approximately fifteen seconds or less It will highlight the product and its message


19

Because Rooh Afza is a “drink of east” being introduced in the “west” , hence the ad will show this transition

Tagline: The actual tagline of RoohAfza is “Drink of East”, but in order to blend it with the western culture, the tagline needs to have some sense of West in it. So the tag line will transform this way: Drink of East

Drink of Est( the word East will dissolve in the word West)

Drink of West

III. Instigate Desire

Desire will be created by conducting free sampling and placing a special advertorial in

cooking magazines.

a. Magazine advertorial: in this advertorial we will inform the reader of the different ways

Rooh Afza can be consumed. Mostly, females read cooking magazines and taking into

account Germany’s conservative lifestyle, they will be the ones who can use Rooh Afza

in different desserts, etc.

b. The second TVC: This ad will be in relation to the various usages of RoohAfza. I cannot

only be used as a drink but also as a topping for deserts. Yet again, there will be no use of

models or any opinion leaders, the screen will have 3d photographs of the dishes that can

be made with Rooh Afza with Western music and colorful background.

b. Theatrical Play of Folk Tales: Pakistani folk tales like Heer-Ranjha, Laila-Mujnoo and

Sassi-Punno will be translated in German and we’ll hire a theatre group to do these plays

on Rooh Afza’s behalf. These plays will enable us to do product placement. This means


20

we will use Rooh Afza during the play instead of any other drink. For example, during

Laila-Mujnoo when Laila eats a poisoned laddoo given to her by her uncle; instead of a

‘laddoo’ we will use Rooh Afza. We will also distribute Rooh Afza amongst the audience

and make them customized drinks during breaks. This activity will inform them about the

many different ways they can use Rooh Afza.

IV. Call to Action:

Free Sampling: We will do free sampling of Rooh Afza in areas where we can find large

percentage of our target audience. These areas will include parks and festivals such as:

i. Love Parade (July) – Music, party and dance

ii. Hamburg Harbor Birthday Festival (May) – family, street parade and maritime.

iii. International Tango Festival (September)- Tango dance and music.

iv. Opernpatz Fest (June) - performing art, food and drink and family time.

This will create a desire amongst our potential consumers and it will also act as call to

action because Rooh Afza bottles will be available on carts which will move around with

sampling people; if targeted people feel like buying Rooh Afza they can do that.


21

RECCOMENDATIONS

We, being advertisers cannot modify the product but seeing the psychographics and market of

Germany; we’d like to give a few recommendations to Hamdard Dawakhana. To ensure

successful launch Rooh Afza should undergo following changes:

1. First of all, we need to modify the cap of the bottle. Instead f being metal in nature it

should be plastic and it should flip open (like Hershey’s chocolate syrup).

This modification is necessary because Germans covet cleanliness and the metallic cap of

Rooh Afza often gets sticky and once open, doesn’t seal properly.

2. Secondly, quantity of lemon extract should be increased because Germans love the ‘zing’

of lemon. The point of difference of Rooh Afza (rose and herbal flavor) should remain

but the consumers shouldn’t be totally deprived of the lemon flavor which they love.

3. The label of Rooh Afza should definitely undergo a modification. Instead of Urdu it

should be in German or English because 95% of population prefers German only. If the

label remains in Urdu only; consumers won’t be able to understand and acknowledge the

herbal ingredients (that result in benefits) in Rooh Afza.

Documents

Launching Rooh Afza in Germany