A mr i t a S c h o o l o f B u s i n e s s , C o i mb a t o r e

2013
HERO ELECTRONIC
House of Hearing Aids
Strategic Brand Management - Project
Group Members
Archana M
Jaishankar K
Kamala
Priyadarsini S
Viswanathan
Ramya
i

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................ 1
ABOUT THE COMPANY ....................................................................... 3
CONSUMER ANALYSIS ....................................................................... 3
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS .................................................................... 4
SELF ANALYSIS ................................................................................. 5
BRAND POSITIONING ........................................................................ 5
Key Insights .................................................................................................. 5
Positioning..................................................................................................... 6
VALUE PROPOSITION ........................................................................ 6
CRITICAL SUPPORT ........................................................................... 7
BRAND PERSONALITY ........................................................................ 7
BRAND ELEMENTS ............................................................................. 8
REFERENCES ..................................................................................... 9
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Medical Electronic Classification ............................................. 1
Figure 2 Medical Equipment Market By Segment
i
................................. 1
Figure 3 Medical Equipment Market by Suppliers .................................. 2
Figure 4 Handheld/Homecare Equipment Market share ........................ 2

LIST OF TABLES
1 Competitive Analysis ....................................................................... 4
2 Self Analysis ................................................................................... 5
3 Brand Elements .............................................................................. 8

INTRODUCTION
Hearing aid comes under Medical Electronic Industry. As of 2010, medical electronics
industry constituted around US $1 Billion out of US $ 2.5 Billion Medical Devices
market of an overall $ 50 Billion health care market and it is expected to grow at
17% CAGR.
1


Figure 1 Medical Electronic Classification
2


Figure 2 Medical Equipment Market By Segment
i


1
FICCI-Deloitte-Though-paper-on-Medical-Electronics
2
ISA Medical Electronics Report, December 2010
M
e
d
i
c
a
l

E
l
e
c
t
r
o
n
i
c
s

I
n
d
u
s
t
r
y
Imaging
Patient Monitoring
Therapeutic
Handheld/Homecare
Products
Imaging,
57%
Therapeuti
c, 26%
Patient
Monitoring
, 9%
Homecare
/
Handheld,
8%
Medical Equipment Market By
Segment(2009)
Market
Size(2009)
2


Figure 3 Medical Equipment Market by Suppliers
i

The majority of Medical equipment suppliers here contribute to Imaging Equipment
and others (45%) mentioned in the above chart contribute to Hearing aid. The most
of them are small-scale companies who import and assemble their product and
normally their Turn-over is less than Rs. 50 Crores.

Figure 4 Handheld/Homecare Equipment Market share
ii

Siemens
18%
Wipro
17%
Philips
10%
L&T
Medical
4%
Draegar
Medical
3%
BPL India
2%
Allenger
1%
Others
45%
Medical Equipment Market By Suppliers
(2009)
Digital
Thermomete
r
6%
Glucometer
64%
Others
4%
Digital
Hearing aid
26%
Handheld/Homecare Equipment
Market Size(2009)
Rs. 310 Crores
USD 65 Million
3

In 2009, Market for hearing aid is approximately Rs. 81 Crores ($ 17 Million). At
market growth rate of 17% per annum, the Market would be around Rs. 152 Crores
($ 32 Million).
ABOUT THE COMPANY
In 1996, Hero Electronic started its business in Hearing Aid. The company has
presence in Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirupur and Tirunelveli.
CONSUMER ANALYSIS
Consumer Analysis Target Audience
People who are not exposed to hearing loss before commonly believe that hearing
loss cannot be restored completely. Thus they require expert opinions and
recommendations to buy the hearing aids. The expert opinion can come from friends
and relatives. But the target audience for any hearing aid centre would be Doctors
who prescribe the hearing aids to patients. In that case, it will be ENT specialists and
also Audiologists will be the target customers for HERO Electronics as they would
prescribe the centre to the patients. People with hearing loss come to the brand for
the follow ups



Target Audience: ENT
specialists, Audiologists and
follow-up people who uses
hearing aids.
4

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS

1 Competitive Analysis
Factor Astra Hearing
Care
Raj Hearing
Centre
Global Hearing
Aid Center
Location Tirunelveli,
Chennai,
Madurai,
Lucknow,
Nagpur, Jaipur
Coimbatore,
Madurai,
Puducherry
Coimbatore,
Tirupur, Cochin,
Bangalore,
Chennai
Positives Upgrading Latest
technology and
innovation
Syed Kirmani
brand
ambassador of
Widex India
opened Chennai
Centre
House Visits Planned to
expand operation
in Tamilnadu &
rest of India
Distributed Free
hearing aids to
underprivileged
children
Major Brand Sold Starkey Siemens Widex
Year of
Establishment
2003 1979
Positioning Perfectly fitting
hearing aids
Anticipating the
needs of the
hearing
impaired;
Hearing is what
makes Life
beautiful
We bring Worlds
Leading
Technology To
Make You Smile
with Confidence

Each competitor has a unique identity for themselves, for example, Raj hearing
centre has some latest technological innovative products with them. Global HAC has
the lot of best brands at their place and they also position as a Health care centre
rather than a store which sells hearing aids.
5

SELF ANALYSIS
2 Self Analysis
Strengths Weakness
Known for their Maintenance Name of the store
All services are covered under Warranty Appearance of the physical store
Follow up of service No presence in social media
Focus only on hearing aids & related issue No promotional activity
Custom Products Word of mouth??

Opportunity Threats
Not much of competitor has done any
promotions
C-DAC (Govt.) is planning to release
hearing aids at a price less than Rs. 3000
First mover advantage in promoting and
positioning holds good
Sector is highly unorganised and there is
always a chance that 'Big' player might
enter any time and sweep the industry
Online space (E-commerce)
Could use technological advancement
Since number of players is less in a City
they could tie up with many ENT clinics
like optical shops tie up with Eye Hospitals


BRAND POSITIONING
Brand positioning refers to target consumers reason to buy your brand in
preference to others. Common aim of brand activity is to guide, direct and deliver
the reasons to buy a brand. It focuses at all points of contact with the consumer.
Brand Positioning for Hero Electronic: Exceptional Expert Care
Key Insights
People want advanced care and personalized customer service.
Some have inferiority complex over their hearing inability so they need
exclusively small hearing aids so that they are not identified as the one who
use hearing aids.
Audiologists want their patients to be personally tailored to their level of
hearing loss.
6

Positioning
Hero Electronics is first of its kind exclusive hearing care centre started in South
India. Hence it has the advantage of positioning it first in the consumers mind.
In addition to the first mover advantage, based on the key insights hero electronics
have positioned themselves as
Giving expert care the patients deserve with their vast experience.
Having State-of-the-art hearing aids that optimize the ability to hear available
in incredibly small sizes.
Exact hearing aid fitting and programming to customers satisfaction.
Exceptional follow-up care giving ongoing, personalized customer service
To position a brand in the consumers mind the two famous questions have to be
answered convincingly. The customer asks
1. What does your brand give me? - The answer to this is the Value Proposition
of the brand
2. Why should I believe you? The answer to this are the Critical supports you
provide.
VALUE PROPOSITION
Value proposition: What value I get?
Functional Benefits
Complete hearing assessments are performed by Audiologists to
determine the nature and degree of the patients hearing loss and thus
ensuring perfect fit. Follow up is one were Hero electronics is famous
for - once a hearing aid is bought all services are covered under the
warranty period. They service follow up, cleanings and answer any
questions the patients and the family have.
Self expressive benefits
The sense of secured feeling patients get with the comfortable and
waterproof hearing aids with the extraordinary services hero
7

electronics provide them make people express themselves with the
brand.
CRITICAL SUPPORT
Critical support: A reason to believe!
Product features:
Hero electronics has exact hearing aid fits as it is Siemens authorized
hearing care centre. It has all the ten hearing aid products designed
for different people. The products are incredibly small and make people
feel more comfortable because they use elegant design and most
advanced and sophisticated hearing technology.
Expert endorsements:
Hero electronics uses Siemens Best Sound Technology hearing aids
that are clinically proven to give patients the best hearing experience.
Heritage:
Hero electronics is in the hearing aids field for more than 25 years and
these talks about their trustworthiness and vast experience in
personalized patient care.
BRAND PERSONALITY
Why we need Brand Personality?
It evokes emotions in consumers and builds trust and loyalty which lead to brand
preference and consumption. The brand does not connect or bond well with the
consumer, if the marketer fails to create a Brand Personality
Brand Personality is all about Personification of Brand. It immediately brings in the
image of one or the other human being with the list of attributes to our mind.
But there is always a question arises that...
Do we have a Personality for Pharma Brands?
8

The answer is yes; the description can be based on action, shape, appearance,
safety, convenience or also based on human characteristics such as trustworthy,
Strong, Feminine, Optimistic etc.
Brand Personality of Hero Electronics:
Optimistic
Safety
Caring
Feminine
Trustworthy
BRAND ELEMENTS
3 Brand Elements


Name


Hero Electronics

Slogan


House of Hearing Aids

Logos &
Symbols



Color


Red & Blue

URLs


http://www.heroelectronic.com/index.html
9

REFERENCES

i
ISA Medical Electronics Report December 3, 2010
ii
ISA Medical Electronics Report December 3, 2010
iii
Electronic reference
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-01-
08/news/30604525_1_hearing-aid-medical-devices-field-trials
iv
Electronic reference
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-india-emerges-as-big-market-
for-multinational-hearing-aid-companies-1528676
v
Electronic reference
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-
08/chennai/44941363_1_hearing-aid-hearing-device-hearing-impairment
vi
Electronic reference
http://projectdeafindia.org/