Tuesday, November 20, 2007

John Miller : Good Looking Rascal

Brand : John Miller
Company : Pantaloon
Agency : Publicis

Brand Analysis Count : 291


John Miller is a brand which is a decade old. This mid-priced executive apparel brand came into existence in 1995. The brand at that time was the logical extension of the Pantaloon in the executive segment.
The millennium changed the Pantaloon group from a apparel marketer to a retail giant. Hence all the brands of Pantaloon became private labels of Future Group. The early days of the retail initiative of Pantaloon focused more on the groups expansion of retail stores. Now time has come for this group to foray into private labels.
According to Kevin Lane Keller , Private Labels are products marketed by retailers and other members of the distribution chain.Private labels are called store brands when they actually adopt the name of the store itself in some way.
Future Group had identified seven brands to be promoted in the apparel category. One being John Miller. Globally Private labels are priced lower and is sold on the platform on value. While much of the promotions are done inside the store, there are private labels which are promoted aggressively through mass media.
John Miller is one such brand that is now making lot of noise in both print and in television.
Watch the TVC here : John Miller
This is poorly executed ad with an idea that has been used by different brands from time immemorial.
John Miller is being positioned as a value brand in the executive attire segment. The ad uses the statement " Good Looking Rascal Makes it Look Easy " to position the brand personality as a naughty achiever who gets things done . The brand uses the tagline " makes it look easy " . Its the first time I hear a brand calling its user RASCAL .
The brand can try the following descriptions for the brand user in the next campaigns :
Good Looking Bloody Fool
Good Looking Asshole
Good Looking *@#$%

The brand could have devoted some effort to find a better idea to position itself. Priced at a range of Rs 300- 600, John Miller is an attractive option for value buyers. If the brand is able to keep its quality level reasonable, John Miller can be a tough competitor for brands like Peter England. The brand is now available in the Big Bazaar chain and also on its online store .
John Miller can be called as the first Indian private label to embark on mass media campaigns. With its retail formats expanding at a massive pace, John Miller is a brand which will go places.

Source ; brand reporter

21 comments:

  1. If you cant afford higher price branded shirts..
    John Millers is for you with great quality~brand and reasonable price!

    Awesome ad made me think twice..
    Just looking at the Advertisement, i had been to central and had a look at it and of course.. with quality its prices are also very very reasonable...
    But then again.. Consumers here, i dunno why.. i still feel that they go for a bigger brand even tho the prices are high with (may be) lesser or same quality.. (the word trust~Attachment)

    Its no joke but yeah..
    Name does play a huge role..
    It'll take time for John Millers, More of promotional activities needed... But in the end..
    The apparels just are too good!!

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  2. I disagree that the Tag line is not attractive.In fact it appeals to a certain section of the crowd who are in fact Rascals. The meaning of Rascal is just a mischievous. One cannot interpret it in a negative light. The Ad really stands out from all the other Woo the hot Lady ads whose Brand names I cannot remember.

    I definitely remember this and will check it out. ALso using a senior lady as the receptionist adds sophistication to the AD.

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  3. I guess this is one ad which really annoyed you. But rascal is used in a positive sense like in the movie "The little Rascals" and anyways sales guys need be a rascal to get there work done and keep them going. I have asked my colleagues and they were excited.
    I had a similar experience with the idea cellular ad which said copying a ring tone is a good idea. You are copying my ring tone without my knowledge and you call it a good idea? I thought it can be a naughty idea but not a good idea. Thanks to Lowe and Balki they have managed to give the brand idea a lease of fresh air.

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  4. The statement made in the add
    "Good Looking Rascal Makes it Look Easy" is a refreshing change and a cute one too. It's shows a man flirting with an old lady secretary(for even sake not a bikny clad sexy woman)to get his way through to meet the boss.Also it attracts the audience as it's different.It is the mirror to today's professional environment in which "smart" man are successful.

    The only problem with the add is that it's positioning is in jeopardise as it may not attract the target group.Also the add makes mockery of the simple and hard working indian middle class who might not achieve everything in life.

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  5. Regarding the future group owned pantaloon brand JOHN MILLER:
    Before 4 months i had bought john miller shirts they had some promotional offer going on something like buy 2 get 3 free. Those shirts got faded in 5 washes and its looking sick and dull. The cloth quality is not up 2 the mark. So unless and otherwise JOHN MILLER improve their quality of garments they will be never a threat to madura garments brand PETER ENGLAND. People who want some branded shirts may go for this brand. But they certainly lack quality.

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  6. Anonymous1:06 AM

    using the word "Rascal" has certainly attracted attention. if nothing else, marketer can build from this base and tone down later on, i dont belive it will do any longterm damage to the brand.

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  7. Anonymous2:13 PM

    i think the reason y you listen to this ad was only bcoz of its "tag line". the company also wanted the same thing. they wanna people to listen to what they wanna say. its an econamy brand and is targeted at young executives, and i think
    these young executives dont mind being called 'rascal'.we can look at that word in a postive sense also like 'an aggresive man who do any thing to achive his mission'. i dont think a person who go to purshase a shirt never look at the tagline. bit personel ......."i dont kno the tagline of the many major brands in shirt like van heusen, peter england etc. i think until they are targeting at the segmant which you refered this tag line is not going to effect them in any way.

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  8. Anonymous2:19 PM

    Any company tries to position itself differently..one thing that we should notice, in this product and ad is that, they position it for the young executives and the word rascal is not too bad for them.
    Since the product is only available at the future group retail chains, it does not make much sense in spending so much and advertising the product.
    Peter England is no comparision with this brand as the quality is different for both.
    If the brand wants to create an image then i feel that should make themselves available at other garment stores also.

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  9. Sanjeev Kumar

    As we know that Pantaloon is a very much famous organized retail sector in India. The concept of retail in India is to target the segment of middle class and lower class family. As this brand has been positioned as a value brand in the executive attire segmentand competing with the brand like peter england and priced lower and is sold on the platform value. I m agree that brand is good and valuable for customer but how can john miller brand create a good orinetation by saying good looking rascal makes it look easy. The statement used in the ad its seems to be a very cacophony and target group may percieve wrong thing about brand like the brand has been frustrated in the market.

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  10. Anonymous8:24 PM

    The tagline "Good looking rascal makes it look easy" is the only thing that is good in the ad. Infact the company could have had a better ad in place of this since this does not communicate anything to the consumers apart from making fun of hardworking and simple Indian professionals.

    Having said that, the usage of the word "RASCAL" in the ad just means "playfully mischevious" and that's what the ad communicates too. Infact I believe that the usage of this tagline could attract more audience.

    Perter England is a name that's synonymous with quality as well as elegance. Undoubtedly a manifestation of the impeccable reputation, that has stood the test of time and I think it would be tough for Future group to mould John Miller shirts to fit into Peter's shoes unless there's a strong marketing and advertising effort behind it.

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  11. Private labels have been successful in India to a large extend. For eg: Rs 50 cr or 20% of the turnover of shoppers' stop is contributed by their 4 private labels. John miller is such a venture by the Future group and a pretty tactful move as well since private labels are now able to compete with the branded ones (both in terms of quality and price).
    But John Miller needs to really work on their product positioning inorder to be sucessful.Their pricing is perfect but much needs to be worked on the quality.
    "Good Looking Rascal Makes it Look Easy "
    "WoW" now that's an intresting tagline Ive heard for years...Theres nothing wrong in using the word 'rascal' as it just means to convey -' a mischeivious achiever' targeting the young executives in todays world. The tagline would work out.. but the ad needs improvement as the concept is as old as it can get..

    But on the whole John Millers could be one of the big hit private label brands as the prospect for private labels in India is still bullish...

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  12. Anonymous1:56 AM

    " Good Looking Rascal Makes it Look Easy " - it refers to the handsome young executives who values for money and also want to be in fashion.

    The word "rascal" individually is having some negitive impact.However,if we see it in a business prospective, we can say, this tagline is creating a big hype in media.This peculiar tagline is also increasing John Millar's popularity among the youth.

    From this tagline-
    Future group has positioned John Miller as an executive wear and also tactfully caters the attention of customers as well as media.

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  13. Anonymous2:07 AM

    Private labeling was not a know during 1995's within Indians customers... but three aspect hold the brand john miller looked easy, those are the quality, price and the ad campaign. The promotion made by the future group on private labeling is commendable. Usage of “rascal” need not be criticized because day by day interactions are getting very casual. Therefore customers may even find the taglines stated in the article in the days to come.

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  14. Seeing the tagline of John Miller i am reminded of similar tagline of Crocodile which says "Tough guys dress easy". But what stands out for John Miller tagline is the use of word "Rascal". As the brand is aimed at value minded young executives, the word rascal doesn't have any kind of negative conotation attached to it. Rather it shows the aspect of a good looking executive who is envied by others by wearing a John Miller shirt. That is why the word rascal used in a mischevious meaning.
    Moreover the word "Rascal" is the one which makes it easy for the tagline to be remembered than any of the other words used in the tagline.
    But as a private label in needs to compete with the branded shirts. As mentioned in the review it needs to bring out the quality aspect in John Miller. If quality is improved then value minded customers will surely buy this one at its price range. Moreover the brand has a fairly good national presence and awarenes as it is being advertised outside the store even after being a private label.
    The success story of Marks&Spencer in the late 80's and early 90's of their own branded food products was the quality which they carried in their food products.The maninstream retailers at that time could not emualte Marks&Spencer's quality or its price. If John Miller too comes out with this kind of quality and price it will surely succeed in its category.

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  15. Anonymous3:26 AM

    This is one of the best ads made, the best part is the confident comparison made between the predecessor and the 'Good looking rascal' - Definitely an eye catcher, esp the tag line - 'makes it look easy.' It is the sweet n sour flavour of the ad that makes it so catchy, especially the fact that a good dressing sense is surely needed to match up to your personality, and this ad makes the right kind.

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  16. Anonymous9:48 AM

    If the John Miller guys are looking for some support from me, they are in for a disappointment. I have always been a strong critic of any low quality product that tries to develop an aura of superiority around itself.
    Well to start with..... what’s with the product ........
    I have been to stores like Shopper’s Stop and Westside, and infact have spend two months working at Central....I have seen my share of private labels and am very sorry to say that John Miller is one of the worst in the category. John Miller, a brand that provides sweet haven for value buyers is definitely not a competition to any quality product in the market. Indeed they are able to attract a lot of customers through their easy pricing, but I wonder if any of those customers ever bought the same brand again. I personally know people who curse the moment when they were lured into buying the brand. The bottom line : “ three washes and your John Miller is history”
    and with the brand name...........
    I have often wondered, why do Indian apparel manufacturers launch their brands under English names. Maybe its because they feel that an English name would provide the brand with a certain sum of brand appeal or maybe they are trying to follow the footsteps of other international successful brands with similar names like Louis Philippe and Allen Solly. Whatever the reason I hope the fellows realize that giving the brand a Christian name does not ensure success. And why the fascination for the name John... especially since there are already two other not too successful brands in the market under the same name – John Players and John Noble. Agreed that John Miller is a ten year old brand and has been named much earlier, still, the other two brands share better awareness in the minds of the customer than Miller. I fear that there would be hardly anyone who will recognize the John Miller brand as an apparel when they hear the name. Its time to differentiate guys....
    and with the ad........
    I agree with Harish..... this is definitely an old concept that has been put to use over and over. Maybe the guy who came up with the idea is still in the 60s....and if the brand thinks that they could create a brand recall in the minds of the customer with such a mediocre piece of work, then they are in for a biggggggg disappointment. Seriously guys come up with something new.....
    and with the tagline........
    “Good looking rascal makes it look easy” ...... ha ha ha.....now is that a tagline or what. Agreed very creative and attention grabbing. Makes you look up from whatever you were doing during the boring 40 seconds commercial. very effective if you were promoting a casual wear. But then again what’s Miller trying to prove..... especially for a brand that portrays itself as a formal apparel and with a brand name directly out of pages of medieval history books, the tagline however doesn’t fit. If the Pantaloon guys were so awed by the tagline and had badly wanted to use it ,they could have used the same for Rig or any of their other bunch of casual wears. In short – Right tagline, wrong product........
    Well I may have come down a little too hard on the Miller guys, but that’s the way it works.....you come out with a mediocre piece of work......and we come up with an even bigger piece of criticism.....

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  17. Anonymous10:09 PM

    well, regarding teh quality of john miller shirts the cloth isnt of great quality..its actually made of very thin material..and priced very high

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  18. SANDEEP3:06 PM

    yeh regarding to the quality john running towards top, and awefully none brand can stop the run.

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  19. Anonymous1:47 PM

    john miller is not an indian brand, it came into india in 1995

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  20. SK Misra11:39 AM

    I bought a John Miller T shirt [ for the first time] from a Shopping Mall in bangalore. After just one wash seem at the neck came out. A closer inspection revealed there is no margin of cloth. The costly T shirt is of no use to me. Do they make T shirts for only ONE WASH ?

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  21. I love John miller shirts as well as trousers very well. But recently I am unable to find Auto-adjustable trousers (my favorite) in any of the future group outlets. I would like to know whether that model has been discontinued. If not discontinued then they should try to stock them more in their stores, If discontinued they should restart its product ASAP

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