"A major effort could be free sampling and other trial methods. Ideally, company employees should be present at the interaction points" Ajay Jain, Vice President, Goodricke Group

The importance of reviving the marketshare and volumes of the Longenuff tea brands cannot be over-emphasised. However, Rekha's push for disproportionate expenditure is not justified.

Longenuff has various tea brands to support, and there is only a small, but by no means unimportant, percentage of consumers who need to be won over. Thus, the figure to be targeted is not 450 million people, as Rekha implies, since most of them are already loyal to the brand (the very basis on which Longenuff sells over 100 million kg of tea in the first place).

Sethi has rightly mentioned that the consumer engagement budget is already substantial at Rs 90 crore, more than 11 per cent of sales. Given the inherent risk to their careers, asking for an increase in expenditure would be foolhardy.

There are plenty of options that can be exercised within the current budget. A major effort, for example, can be made to engage consumers by way of free sampling and other methods of trial. Given the confidence the marketing team has in the tea brands' new blends, this exercise ought to have the desired impact. Ideally, company personnel should be present at the points of consumer interaction, to get first-hand feedback. The case game does not mention the company's distribution system, but one can assume from the size of the business that it is big enough to keep the costs of sampling low. In short, the existing budget is just fine.

Nor is there any evidence that Longenuff needs to change its business processes. The case game's conversation does not reveal signs of an autocratic atmosphere in the organisation. Yet, Rekha talks about 'thinking independently', and seems to have an issue with this herself. Perhaps she feels that ideas generated by her may not be implemented, or maybe she feels pressured to implement ideas or orders from higher-ups. The Case Game makes very little mention of what the competitors are doing, and whether the packet tea market is losing volumes on the whole. Rekha seems quite confident that the margin the company is charging over its cost is justified, and that consumers find value at the prices offered by the company. She, however, concedes the possibility that Longenuff is failing to fight commoditisation.

That line of thinking needs to be explored further. It may even be necessary to reassess profit margins and costs, in the context of commoditisation, before a comprehensive strategy is laid down. This is another reason that it would be unwise to commit more than Rs 90 crore to the process of end consumer engagement.

"For value creation, connect with the consumer. Understanding how he or she thinks is the only sustainable source of competitive advantage'' Sushant Dash, Group Product Manager, Tata Tea

For a brand to be successful, there are three routes possible: Innovation, price leadership, or emotional leadership. These three routes are by no means mutually exclusive.

The innovation approach hinges on making a proposition to the consumer that the competition either cannot or does not offer. In the tea market, its relevance is miniscule, given that technological differentials are negligible. Not only are entry barriers low, but in most cases, the consumer, habituated to tea, is unwilling to experiment. Price competition in the FMCG business is a mug's game. Cutting price is not only disastrous to profitability, but also self-defeating. The fact that any such price cut can be easily matched by competitors makes matters worse. There's little to be gained in terms of long-term consumer loyalty from such behaviour either. In Longenuff's case, it cannot match the loose tea players on price.

So what does Longenuff do? I think Rekha and her consultants have got it right. The only way to get the value equation right in the tea market is to connect with the consumer. Turn advertising into an investment.

Understanding how the consumer thinks is the only sustainable source of competitive advantage. If you do this better than your competition and then use it to build your relationship, you win. That is what one means by "emotional leader". For Longenuff, however, it would require a paradigm shift. Not only must it invest in consumer insights, but also in bonding with them on the new platform shortlisted.

This is easier said than done; for a well established brand, the task of repositioning would require heavy media investment. Assuming that Rs 90 crore is the basic requirement for sustaining current volumes and marketshare, the only option for growth would be to invest the extra sum required.

The returns in the long term would more than make up for current investments if Longenuff gets the equation right.

Some other issues that would need to be managed:

• Research vs Judgement: Judgement or creativity is important, but cannot replace processes. The route chosen has to have consumer validity.
• Sustainability of approach: The approach chosen might not give results overnight. It is important to have a long-term perspective.
• Strategy vs Execution: There is many a slip between strategy and execution. In Longenuff's case, the chances are higher as it is a paradigm shift.
• Stakeholder management: Rekha and her team would need to convince the board and shareholders the viability of their strategy and need to spend disproportionately. Remember, boards typically expect quick results.

''There are two battles to be fought, one in the marketplace and another in the internal arena. The marketplace is changing'' Anil Mukerji, President (Sales & Marketing), George Williamson (Assam)

There are two questions to be answered. one, should Longenuff devote disproportionate resources to Rekha's plan? Two, what strategy should the company deploy to revive sales of its stagnating tea brands?

First, let's examine the scenario. Longenuff is losing marketshare (38 to 33 per cent) in a stagnant market, with lower-priced players eating into the sales of higher-priced ones. What is Longenuff asking the consumer? It is asking the consumer to sacrifice at least 20-30 per cent more by way of tea expenses, over the alternatives. The question is: is Longenuff delivering value enough to offset the differential and more?

What, anyway, is Longenuff delivering? Under Beaver Bridge, the consumer has a choice of three brands of packaged tea. Each of these deliver some sort of benefit-the strong flavour and subtle aroma combination in Andaaz, multiple sense-invigorating leaves in Satrang, and freshly picked leaves in Aha. All these are priced at a premium to rival alternatives, and the company is clear that it would not sacrifice this premium. Yet, in a market yielding to commoditisation, it is equally clear that the company is failing to hold on to its market presence.

The need of the hour is to go deep and discover what the consumer really wants, and this is not going to be answered by a series of surveys. What also emerges is that there is a serious lack of product knowledge. Given that this knowledge, in its finest depth, forms the core of all marketing processes, all efforts and, therefore, resources would be wasted unless the company admits this major drawback.

That done, yes, Longenuff should devote disproportionate resources to Rekha's plan. There are two battles to be fought-one in the marketplace and another in the internal arena. The marketplace would require a significantly larger outlay, stated at Rs 35 crore more than the Rs 90 crore budget, a figure that's already rather high for a Rs 800-crore business. This is only an estimate, and Rekha's team would still have to present the proposal to the company's system of checks and tests.

Now, Longenuff should be prepared that the market battle would require it to change the way it seeks insights. The marketplace is changing. Every other tea packaging company has already offered the customer 'freshness', that too, of various sorts (waking up freshness, coming home freshness, garden freshness and so on), but every major packaging company is also losing marketshare. Therefore, while most tea marketers are offering freshness, it is not what the consumer is getting-or perhaps even what he or she is looking for.

Rekha is aware that any proposal requires "lines to be followed". Rekha has decided that she will call the "lines" in this case, and maybe she should be given a chance. She seems to have a belief, and sometimes the "belief" might be enough to move mountains and, therefore, positively impact the marketshare.

Is she over-estimating herself? The market may be stagnant, but there has to be a way to combat the slide in share. Producer price recovery may have stagnated, but retail prices of packaged tea have not fallen. Proportionate resources deliver proportionate results, and in this case, it has been a gradual decline in marketshare. Disproportionate allocation of resources will break the lacuna, hopefully, and deliver results.