Camlin

Firs time I saw a picture of a Camel was when my uncle brought a box which had the following picture. I come from a coastal district of Orissa and seeing a camel was rare. I guess I saw a camel when I was in class seven, by that time I had so many ideas of camel… that doesn’t drink water, that eats bushes and thorns and can survive for years.. may be I learnt survival instincts from a camel. I love this brand… it brings my childhood day memories of using the brand..ink splashed all around my palm, my notebooks, my late Rama sir beating me for this mess and my childhood day sweet heart consoling me saying-doesn’t matter if your bottle of ink is lost, I am there for you, you can use ink from my bottle… after all these years both of them are history for me…. I still remember the camel and may be I must have imagined myself in a desert with my childhood day sweet heart on a camel singing the song Aye Dilen Nadan (Follow the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwuzcB-aXTw) 

Camlin Logo

 Generations of Indians associate the Camlin brand and the Camel logo right away with art and stationery material. Camlin is a brand that is preferred by everyone in India, right from nursery class children to adults, and enjoys strong brand loyalty. Camlin Ltd. is a leading manufacturer and exporter of premium grade stationery items and art colours and material. Camlin Limited started its operation in 1931 with Horse Brand Ink Powders and Tablets, and then followed by Camlin Ink. It was founded by the Dandekar family and was named as M/s. Dandekar & Co.  The Company was incorporated as a Private Company in 1946.

The Company was then converted into a Public Limited Company on 24^th March, 1988 and the name was changed to Camlin Ltd. All its products are marketed under the brand names of Camel and Camlin. The “Camel” symbol was chosen because of its capacity to endure long periods of difficulty in trips across deserts. “Camlin” evolved from the amalgamation of “Camel” and “Ink”. In 1994, Camlin Ltd. entered into a marketing alliance with Colart Fine Art & Graphics Ltd. U.K. In 1997, the Joint Venture Agreement with M/s. A. W. Faber-Castell Gmbh & Co Germany was terminated by both companies.Up till the year 2006, Camlin operated through three divisions: consumer products, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals; which was restructured into the consumer products and finechemicals divisions. In order to improve focus and growth in both the divisions, the management decided to make the fine chemicals division into a separate company. Camlin Fine Chemicals Ltd (CFCL) was formed in December 2006.

Rising disposable income, the growth of the private sector and increasing government spending on primary education is increasing the consumption of quality stationery products. Camlin’s quality products, strong distribution network, strong brand equity and capacity increases make it good to cater to the increased demand for quality stationery products. With increased volumes ,many of its products turned profitable amd ;ed to a strong growth in the company's profitability. However the company saw its profits dwindling between 1993 and 1997 with the entry of cheap alternatives and also entry of international players, after four decades of domiance in the art material and stationary segement. Due to the domiance of single brand for such a,ong period, consumers also started moving out to the other alternatives. So there was a need to rejuvinate the brand and evolve as a fresh brand. It had a restructruing in 1999. It took three years to get its together and in 2001-2002, its consumer roduct division again became proftiable. 

The company's core values include entrepreneurial leadership, a belief in innovation, trust, integrity and continuous learning; these comprise all aspects of their business. In the global market context, Camlin is already exporting to the Asia Pacific Region, Middle East, Europe and USA. It has also registered a Rs 5-crore export turnover and set up a packaging unit in Thailand to give an impetus to its markets abroad. The company pioneered the hobby range of colours and introduced the fine art, hobby and fashion colour categories in India. It was also the first company in the country to adhere to the Art & Creative Materials Institute’s world standards in toxicity certifications.

The Camel Art Foundation (CAF) was instituted in 1998 to bring talented artists to the limelight. The objective of Camel Art Foundations is to provide a platform for art students, amateur artists and professional artists to display their talent. Besides getting an opportunity to display their work, the artists with the best paintings are also rewarded with grand prizes from Camlin.

All India Camel Colour Contest (AICCC):  A platform was required to lay down some basics and explain the importance of art as a learning tool.  AICCC encourages school-going children to acquire a liking for playing with colours and to educate parents about the importance of art in a child’s life for a richer personality. Today AICCC has featured in the Limca Book of World Records (1999) for the maximum number of entries in a drawing contest.

Hobby Art Training: On 9^th February 2009, Camlin Ltd. and Joshi’s Kohinoor Technical Institute (JKTI) entered into a joint venture to impart professional training. The objective was to provide state-of-the-art training to more people to learn hobby activities that could enable them to learn and teach the art of colouring various surfaces using Camel colours. They were taught by successful trained professionals like commercial artists, textile designers, architects who have pledged themselves to forward the cause of Camlin. They have carved a future for deserving candidates who are now renowned in their professions.

   On May 30, 2011, Japan’s Kokuyo Co. executed a Joint Venture Agreement and a Share Subscription Agreement with Camlin and its Promoters to acquire majority stake in Camlin. Kokuyo S&T and Camlin are co-operating in the sale of notebooks and to expand business in the rapidly growing stationery market in India. From a company manufacturing ink powders in 1931 to a company manufacturing over 2000 products, operating in diverse fields, Camlin has come a long way.

Camlin Brand Portfolio:

Initially, the product range of M/s. Dandekar & Co., founders of Camlin Ltd. comprised of ink tablets, fountain pen ink, office adhesives, sealing wax, school chalks, brilliantine, pain balm, etc. In 1964, the Company embarked on the first diversification of products by producing for the first time in India, the complete range of artist colours and materials such as water colours, poster colours, oil colours, fabric colours, geometry boxes, drawing inks, painting brushes and canvases.  Many products were also added subsequently.In 1984, the Company took a major step forward by diversifying its manufacturing and marketing activity into the field of pharmaceuticals, i.e. Bulk drugs and formulations.

The Company, named as Camlin Ltd. in 1988, has now a product & brand portfolio of the following:

Stationery & Writing Instruments, Art Materials, Office Products, Educational and Hobby Products, Fine Arts Materials and Adhesives such as: Camlin White Board Marker Pens, Camlin Permanent Marker Pens, Camel Wax Crayons, Camel Artica Plastic Crayons, Camel Oil Pastels, Camel Poster Colours (For Students), Camel Water Colour Tubes (For Students), Camel Water Colour Cakes (For Students), Camel Hobby Colours, Camel Artists Oil Colours, Camel Students Oil Colours, Camel Painting Media, Camel Artists Acrylic Colours, Camel Artists Water Colour Tubes, Exam Mathematical Drawing Instruments Sets, Flora pencils & sketch pens, Florika 3-D Fine Liner, Krafty Glue Stick, Artists water colour cakes & sets, Camel painting knives, easels, oil painting material, pottery tools, canvas boards, charcoal sticks, and many more.

Camlin Portfolio

Camlin is primarily present into 3 stationery segments:

School and education - Camlin is a market leader in art colours products like water colours cakes/tubes, poster colours, wax crayons, oil pastels, plastic crayons, sketch pens, colour pencils etc. The plant at Jammu has been set up to manufacture art colours products. Other products in the school & education stationery segment include wooden pencils, scales, erasers, sharpeners, math sets, dissection boxes, notebooks, mechanical pens, hi polymer leads, fountain pen, ink etc.

Office - In the office stationery segment, Camlin’s major focus is on markers. Its Vasai plant manufactures a wide range of markers. Its product range in the office stationery segment include white board markers, permanent markers, highlighters, ball pen, gel pen, stamp pads, refills, paint markers, CD markers, carbon papers, glue sticks, etc.

Fine art & hobby - Camlin’s fine art & hobby segment comprises of products like artist oil colours, artist acrylic colours, canvas rolls, canvas boards, easels, artist water colours, oil sketching papers, drawing inks, brushes, painting mediums, glass colours, fabric colours, powder colours, fabric glue, artist poster colours, etc. The Tarapur plant manufactures fine art and hobby products.

In the year 2010, Camlin derived 62% of its revenues from the school & education stationery segment, 25% from the office stationery segment & 13% from the fine art & hobby segment. Camlin has deep roots in Indian psyche in terms of brand equity. It rings a bell for Indians in their twenties and thirties. But with the younger generation spoilt for choice, the brand has to continuously upgrade its product portfolio as there is lots of competition from foreign brands.

Camlin Brand Strategy

Camlin enjoys market leadership with its brands ‘Camlin’, ‘Camel’, ‘Exam’ in the profitable art colours products and stationery material. The increase in affordability of Indian masses through higher disposable income has resulted in increased demand for quality school and educational stationery. Camlin’s quality products, wide product range (~200) and strong distribution network have resulted in very good brand equity.

Powered with technical expertise and state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, Camlin offers its products at highly economical & competitive prices. They offer good value for money to the customer. Various factors can be attributed to Camlin's growth story viz: increase in capacities, increase in in-house production, import of Chiense products to counter cost disadvantages; technological and marketing tie ups with Japanese and other niche international players; entry into premium segments with niche products. It also leveraged its strong distrbution channel in building a favorable brand image. It also entered into the manufacturing and distrbution of markers in a significant way in the office stationary segment. It entered into pre-school segement to leverage its brand strength in the field of education and developed strong assciation with its consumers- the school children at a very early age. It has well established distrbution network comprising of self owned depots, 1500 distributors and more than 300,000 retailers across India. For viewing Camlin marker advertisement, click here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKthceSGlyM)  

Camlin’s innovative marketing strategies ‐ such as directly marketing products to schools through an exclusive school activation team and organizing All India Camel Colour contests ‐ have kept it ahead of other players in the same space, distinguishing itself from competitors like Faber Castell. Evolving a new hobby segment was a decision arising due to the need of making Camlin a brand that would attract the youth. The company launched a slew of products like fabric paint, glass paint, ceramic colours, body and face colours for tattooing etc, to sport a youthful look. Today, the hobby segment is one of the fastest growing amongst consumer products, which contributes as much as 74.5 per cent or Rs 140 crore to the total turnover of Rs 188 crore.

Camlin plans to tap the rural markets for further growth. The thrust laid on education by the government and rising levels of income have created opportunities for the company to reach out to the B-grade and C-grade towns. Camlin also plans to take its hobby range of fabric, glass and ceramic paints to these small towns. Video cassettes demonstrating the usage of these products have been created and promoters have been appointed to market these products directly in smaller towns.

New product launches like T-shirt markers, Mehendi markers, ceramic paints and a new range of mechanical pencils are some of the fresh colours emerging from Camlin. The approach is to minimise the presence in the me-too categories like ball pens etc and lay emphasis on innovative, technology intensive products. Camlin continues to dominate the art and hobby segment of the market, and has no intention of vacating that position. But they realise that there is a need to scale up and occupy new areas such as the market for mechanical pens, high polymer lead, markers etc.

The stationary market interestingly is a fragmented one with no single player dominating every end of it. Each segment has its own set of requirements and complexities. Brands like Fevicol by the Pidilite Industries in the hobby segment, and Faber Castell of Germany and several other players are trying to make their mark in the industry. In the last few years, the Rs 10,000-crore stationary market has seen a steady influx of players from writing majors such as Cello, Reynolds, Linc and Luxor at one end to ITC with its Classmate brand of notebooks and allied products at the other. Traditional Camlin rivals have consolidated their position in the stationary marketplace. An example being Hindustan Pencils, which controls two-third of the pencil market with its Apsara and Natraj brands. Camlin is making investments in segments of the future even as it retains its stronghold in the school space. In the last few years, they have made huge capital investment in a bid to increase production and focus on categories where they see potential for growth. International brands, like Faber Castle and 3M, are also consolidating their presence here. Acquisitions of domestic companies by global brands are also on a rise: Societe BIC of France had acquired 40 per cent stake in Cello in 2009, the same year when Japan's Mitsubishi formed a joint venture with Linc Pens. Of late, Camlin has been planning to move from a mass range to a more premium portfolio of products in the future to improve its margins. It intends on picking a foreign partner to make its presence felt at the premium end of the market.

Currently Camlin has a series of distribution tie-ups and this includes brands such as Zebra (for writing pens) and Kokuyo (for notebooks). Today modern trade outlets want to stock superior products; hence Camlin wants to bring in high-end products. The stationery segment is getting global and more competitive. With Camlin’s huge distribution and direct relationships, they could well take over the premium segment as well.

To grow and sustain its brand loyalty in art colours products in the school and education stationery segment and fine art and hobby products, Camlin has been undertaking various promotional activities like the following:

• All India Camel Colour Contest in which about 5million students participate.
•  Camel Art Foundation’s regional art exhibitions.
• Art teacher workshops.
• Hobby workshops.
• Craft competitions.
• Social media marketing like blog posts, Facebook groups such as ‘I grew up with Camlin’ etc. 
• YouTube videos and Twitter tweets.

In the past, Camlin gave its account to smaller agencies like Mosaic (for colours), Madison (for corporate identity) and Chlorophyll (for brand identity). Camlin Ltd has now appointed Lowe (Lintas India Pvt. Ltd.) to develop its brand comprising school stationery and writing instruments.

Considering the growth rate for writing instruments is at nearly 35-40% as compared to other categories under stationery. Camlin decided to use the new co-brand tagging the Camlin name along to give a boost to this segment. Essentially, it is the strong equity associated with Camlin that has led it to construct a new brand relevant to the youth. The heritage brand of Camlin has given the new brand a lineage and thereby gotten endorsed by it. Earlier the writing instruments were represented as the C Range with products such as C-gel, C-point and C jot, under it.  Lowe developed a new brand strategy for the company's range of pencils, erasers, compact boxes and colour pencils. While Camel and Camlin will continue to exist as standalone brands, Camlin ID is a third co-brand comprising specialised pens, fine pencils, hi-par leads and markers.

Camlin has also carved out a strategy for the modern retail formats which are increasingly emerging as strong consumer touch points. The overall promotion and advertising spends have been ~`110mn over the past two years and increasing. Extensive distribution network of branches, depots, distributors, retail outlets and B2B and good relationship with schools gives Camlin an advantage over its competitor Faber Castell in terms of market penetration in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. With the huge strong retailer network, prestigious foreign collaborations, large consumer base, regular interaction with consumers by the sales force and participation in international trade fairs like Paperworld in Frankfurt, Camlin is now a trusted household brand all over India.

Forever: Camlin: 

The Blogger thanks student  Roseann Alphonso  for her contribution