UltraTech Cement – ‘The Engineer’s Choice'

India’s largest cement producer UltraTech has been known for it’s quality in an industry where quality matters the most. Since it’s launch in the mid 1980s it has been very popular not only for the quality it provides but for the efforts it has taken to become a customer centric company. Not surprisingly, Today, UltraTech is the world’s 10th largest producer of cement.
Blaze to Brilliance
UltraTech Cement, the cement arm of the Aditya Birla Group – India’s first multinational corporation is India’s largest and the world’s 10th largest producer of cement. UltraTech’s growth journey can be traced back to the mid 1980s when its first cement plant was instituted at Jawad in Madhya Pradesh under the ‘Grasim’ brand. To increase its reach and market share, in the year 2001 Grasim acquired a stake in L&T Cement Ltd. which it subsequently increased to a majority stake by 2003 thereby becoming a pan India player and a national cement leader. In 2004 the company was rechristened from L&T Cement Ltd. to ‘UltraTech Cement’ with the completion of the implementation process of the demerger of the cement business of L&T with Grasim, with the latter acquiring controlling stake in the company.
Faith Factor
Being India’s No. 1 cement producer makes it imperative on UltraTech Cement to demonstrate the highest levels of quality and customer service. UltraTech has succeeded in its efforts to move from being seen as a mere commodity manufacturer in the mind space of its consumer to a customer centric company, delivering not just technically sophisticated products, but providing technical support and services as well. To establish this reality, the Technical Services Division and the Key Account Management Cell at UltraTech both industry firsts are the two forces that ensure adherence of quality standards and customer service. The Technical Services Team comprising highly qualified civil engineers have tasks that are manifold. From ensuring that the cement produced meets the codal requirements and customer expectations, to bringing about improvements in construction standards through complaint handling and trouble shooting, it also shoulders the responsibility of capacity and skill building by conducting technical events for engineers to disseminate knowledge on the latest developments in the field of construction and building materials and imparts training to masons. Mobile Concrete Testing Laboratories are vehicles that travel from site to site providing advice on good construction practices and also cast and test concrete cubes on site to establish UltraTech Cement’s strength. The Key Account Management Cell at UltraTech focuses on developing successful business relationships with leading Pan India players in the construction industry, partnering with them to create unique product-service offerings aimed at increasing the competitiveness of their customers.
Engagement that Enthralls
UltraTech Cement’s unmatchable combination of its premium quality, the enormous technological backing, a dedicated team of technicians and managers, added to this a team of dedicated, committed and resourceful trade partners and other service providers is responsible for placing UltraTech Cement so high in the consumers’ estimation. Instead of focusing the brand essence on merely product attributes or brand personality, a conscious effort is being made to focus brand essence on a set of touch points, through which the brand can deliver a consistently distinctive and inspiring customer experience. The launch of UltraTech Building Solutions stores across the country is a step in this direction. A series of product awareness ground events have been executed through road shows to create awareness about the product amongst the consumers and the trade partners. Technical meets with dealers, stockists, retailers, individual home builders, engineers, architects, masons and contractors are conducted, to familiarize them with the superior quality of UltraTech. Television campaigns, creative usage of radio and outdoor media is also helping spread awareness about the brand. The UltraTech imagery and baseline “The Engineer’s Choice” has a distinct edge of modernity, which is more relatable with its products and lends the brand more reliability.
InnovEdge
UltraTech has instituted a competition for Engineering/Architecture students called “Innovate for India” The theme for this year was “Mera Gaon Mera Base”. The competition required the students to go back to their roots and spend about seven days in a village, identify a problem and develop an innovative solution. Apart from this Birla white’s home-grown ‘Yuvaratna’ Awards also encourages Architecture students to cross the boundaries of imagination and create innovative structures. These competitions ‘ recognizing Architectural and Engineering excellence have put the brand on a pedestal garnering aspirational value from the fraternity of students, architects, builders and the construction community. UltraTech’s alliance with the Business India exhibition, ‘A Celebration of Architecture’ also contributes to this value.
UltraTech Premium is a new innovative product of UltraTech Cement which was launched in mid 2012. Its superior 28-day compressive strength provides the ideal solution for critical applications like slabs, columns, beams and roofs. UltraTech Premium is packaged in classy, PP laminated box shaped bags, which are tamper proof and can withstand the toughest of handling.
Brand Promise
UltraTech Cement is India’s largest single brand cement manufacturer and a key contributor to India’s cement industry holding a market share of 18% among the country’s Top 5 cement players. UltraTech lives and reflects the inherited core values of its parent organization, the Aditya Birla Group.
It is one of the most unique brands in its category. While other cement brands garner perceptions based on generic attributes like strength and durability in the minds of their consumers, the consumer perception of UltraTech is built around the attributes of ‘modernity’, ‘quality’ and ‘technological superiority’ with strength and durability as basic hygiene factors.