SHWAPNO 's Branding Failure Strategies

ACI’s retail arm SHWAPNO is one of the major superstores in Bangladesh and probably among the biggest marketing failures in the marketing history of Bangladesh. ACI spent huge money on infrastructure and branding and created a lot of buzz but awfully failed to attract traffic and generate fat.

Perhaps the reason is less than expected performance which fall into two categories:

1. Operational issues and
2. Theoretical issues.

There are more issues in terms of investment & withdrawal such as launching & withdrawal of Rothmans of BATB.

Reasons for branding failure of SHWAPNO:

1. Brand Name:

I think "SHWAPNO" is not an appropriate name for a superstore. As it's an abstract name and doesn't give a clear message or make clear sense about anything related to superstore. In this case people might get confused what the company does actually .it's because there is no clue in the name. So I would say "SHWAPNO bazar", "SHWAPNO mart", "SHWAPNO buying point", "SHWAPNO buy your daily needs" would have been a much better selection as a brand name.

2. Advertising:

People in Bangladesh basically follow renowned actor or actresses as fashion trend. Whereas SHWAPNO introduced new faces to their advertisement in billboard. It doesn't help much to create a strong Brand image. Rather doing that SHWAPNO should introduce popular character for their billboard advertising modeling. This plays a strong role in branding & It will help them to grab a new customer base as well.

3. Sales promotion:

There are some disadvantages of sales promotion as it makes customers and traders more price sensitive not only for the promoted brands but also for other brands as well in the same product category. Consumers wait for the promotion deals to be announced and then purchase the product. As from the 18th September SHWAPNO discount offer can create negative impression upon customers. Customer may think that either the product is lower category or outdated. Some customer may be use to with discount offer while they may always wait for discount offer. So discount offer should always give once a year not more than that. Otherwise customer may used to with these offers. And it demolishes a Brand image.

4. Internet Marketing:

Online shopping is considered to be a very helpful way of buying products through the internet especially during the holidays. Nowadays, and with the help of the new technology and the support of the internet, people from all around the world started to purchase items online by simply sitting in their homes. SHWAPNO can also open online store so that people can give order to purchase in sitting home. Nowadays internet marketing plays a major & important role to create a good Brand image.

5. Public relation:

Public relations have the power to reach a large audience, giving your business the platform it needs to really shine and allows you to attach credibility to any product or company. Consumers today are more cautious when spending. That’s why having credibility is so essential to a successful business. Because PR and advertising are very different things, consumers are likely to give credibility to your business when they see it mentioned in the media compared to when they see your ads or billboards. Studies show that PR has 7 times more credibility among consumers than advertising. SHWAPNO did public relation marketing for their Malibagh outlet where they spread their space for only lifestyle segment which is not enough for a retail store such as SHWAPNO. Because SHWAPNO has several outlets all over the Bangladesh & have more competitions too so doing PR for only one outlet is too tiny in front of it. Rather SHWAPNO should arrange for PR mostly for outlets which is situated in main & centered points/areas and also where customers are big in quantity. It's mandatory for creating positive Brand image.

6. Other operational issues:

Although SHWAPNO's USP is lower price but there are some operational issues such as inappropriate site selection, absence of parking facilities, product assortment, inefficient supply chain management, and corrupt management are highly pronounced which create inconvenience for customers.
In my view point i would say "Repositioning" is must for SHWAPNO based on given financial commitment already made & substandard market performance. Though I have already mentioned some solutions above regarding SHWAPNO's brand strategies, again i am giving a short list of my suggestions for repositioning SHWAPNO's Brand image.

1. Since a brand name is already created so i would suggest to add a meaningful & precise subtitle with it.So that,people may understand what the company actually does.
2. SHWAPNO should hire renowned & famous celebrities/models for their advertisement & as brand spoke person & make new innovative or creative campaigns to grab more attention & attraction.
3. They should start internet/online marketing for the convenience of customers.
4. They should arrange PR for main main outlets all over the Bangladesh where customers generate the most.Because PR holds a great impact on Brand image.
5. SHWAPNO should ensure parking facilities for big outlets,should improve their supply chain management & also should take necessary action to avoid corruptions.

If SHWAPNO follows these,I hope they would be successful to create a new & better Brand image than before.

References:

• http://www.shwapno.com/about.php
• http://bdmarketinginsights.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/swapno-a-dream-that-didnt-yet-come-true/
• http://articles.bplans.com/product-and-brand-failures-a-marketing-perspective/
• http://www.katleenrichardson.com/branding-6-reasons-brands-fail/
• Art manager of Shwapno lifestyle