The Apsara and Nataraj Story

What was your age when you realise that Apsara and Natraj pencils are from same company??

An enduring memory from our childhood is an advertisement in which different pencil brands race each other, with the Natraj pencil emerging the winner and the tagine ‘Natraj phir se champion’ proclaimed. But my personal favourite being Apsara Extra Dark pencils which ensures a good handwriting and an extra 5 marks (Which I needed the most).

Both the brands captured the essence in their own way be it Natraj ad which ensures the pencil gave a better grip, it would not break and it would write for a longer period than all the rest, it wouldn’t smudge, the lead was blacker and clearer, and the flow, smoother Or the Apsara with the dark edge look.

Hindustan Pencils Ltd follows a dual-brand strategy in the market. The dual-brand strategy is using two independent brands (or sub-brand) to cover the market.

I still remember it is always a fun to find out after sharpening our pencils that it has got pointy points or not, which the brand promises. Natraj and Apsara together control 60-65% of the pencil market in India.

The company’s dual brand strategy of having two independent brands offering almost the same range of products was an intelligent move both the brands have the same range of products that include pencils, erasers, sharpeners, pens, etc. Apsara has a good range of professional and drawing pencils. Apsara Pencils are priced higher than Natraj and offer more options. Nataraj is positioned as a brand that offers long-lasting quality at an affordable price. Consumers from different backgrounds, professionals and others, are thus covered and any competition from other brands is pushed to second place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvIwIJ_gmGQ

There were both advantages and disadvantages of having dual-brand strategy. For covering the different segments of consumers and good no. of consumers the strategy is effective. A kid and their parents they remain in a dilemma which pencil will be best and fetch “extra marks” with a “good handwriting”. Also, there were no positioning conflicts as two brands are independent. Moreover, it will create a tough competition for new entrants. It promotes its products among children by conducting inter-school contests and different programs for students.

Although it's users vary from students to architects, carpenters, artists and office-goers, who still use the pencil for various jobs such as writing, drawing, colouring, sketching and shading, thus making the stationery industry one that is still thriving despite the advent of tabs and laptops.

Hindustan Pencils has also diversified into manufacturing crayons, geometry sets, professional pencils, gel and ball pens, chalk, colouring sticks and chalk paints — almost the entire range of writing equipment, to be exact.

The company has gone in for backward integration to produce even the smallest components — such as sharpener blades, screws and pen tips — in-house, to keep to its own standard of delivering only the highest quality and also higher profit margin.