The One Percent Project- Entrepreneurship, Leadership & Resilience Episode 80- Cycle Pure Agarbathis: Whenever the nation prays together, Building the world’s largest incense business- History, Culture, Customer w/Arjun Ranga
About Arjun Ranga:
Globally, incense is the silent bridge that connects humans to the divine. And naturally, no Indian wants to compromise when it comes to their hopes and prayers. This episode of The One Percent Project is an intriguing exploration of the incense business and its essence in Indian culture with a remarkable guest, Arjun Ranga, the CEO of Cycle Pure Agarbathis, a part of the NR Group.
In this insightful conversation, Arjun delves into the fascinating journey of Cycle Agarbathis, the world's largest incense manufacturer, and its transformation into the world's first certified zero-carbon manufacturer of incense, prayer, and air care products. Arjun also shares his journey as the CEO, drawing inspiration from his grandfather and NR Group's founder, Shri N. Ranga Rao. He sheds light on the deep-rooted significance of prayer in Indian culture and the sentiments attached to it, his marketing strategies through the years, his vision for the company and much more.
Joining him in this conversation is Sarthak Ahuja, a seasoned Chartered Accountant with expertise in startup advisory and investment banking and a LinkedIn top voice who brings a wealth of intriguing insights to the discussion. Join us in this fascinating episode to explore the dynamic intersection of business, culture, and sustainability.
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In this conversation, he talks about:
- 00:00 Intro
- 02:28 History of the incense industry
- 03:44 Journey of building Cycle Pure Agarbathi
- 09:54 How can you innovate and stay relevant in a highly commoditised industry?
- 12:20 Product Positioning
- 14:42 Key customer retention metrics in the incense industry
- 17:02 Customer segmentation for a diverse Indian market
- 20:32 Premium positioning of incense: Who is the target audience for premium incense products?
- 23:50 Why is vanilla the most used fragrance in premium stores and bakeries worldwide?
- 24:36 Why are the Gulf, Europe and Africa the largest markets for incense?
- 25:42 Value chain & Unit economics of making an Agarbathi.
- 27:09 Actual product differentiation Vs product marketing and branding
- 27:55 His journey of becoming the CEO.
- 31:43 The growth and impact of D2C.
- 34:50 Cyle's association with cricket
- 37:45 Cycle's next decade
- 39:42 The disruption AI would bring to the industry