Brand Update : Vim Expands from Dishwashing to Floor Cleaning

 This has to happen and it happened, after ruling the dishwashing category with around 50% market share, Vim has extended to floor cleaning segment with the launch of Vim Ultra Pro cleaning liquid. Typical to HUL style, the brand has a " technology " to back the positioning based on effectiveness. Earler, marketing academics and practitioners were very cautious in product-line and category extensions. there were many critical academic articles ( even in HBR) on the risks of product extensions. However things have changed, market has become fragmented and competitive and brand managers doesn't have time and patience to build and sustain new brands.

 So it make sense to squeeze the juice out of popular brands and make the most of it in related and sometime unrelated categories. So it makes sense for HUL to use Vim - a brand with terrific equity to a familiar category - floor cleaning. What is surprising is that Vim has not used the ' lemon' based association in the new extension. Rather it chose to use " ultra pro" something it have borrowed from mobile phone ( iPhone) branding - ultra pro, can we expect ultra pro max later ?? The brand extension has lot of promises like cleaning power, fragrance, germ killing but the basic positioning is the cleaning power because that is what customer wants. The brand is entering to a segment which have brands like Lizol, Harpic, Nimyle and whole lot of small brands. But the strength of Vim is definitely going to help in customer trails and rest is all about brand's performance.

The entry of Vim into floor cleaning is more than just another extension—it signals HUL’s intent to transform Vim into a broader home-cleaning masterbrand. With the right mix of equity transfer, consumer trust, and product performance, Vim Ultra Pro could challenge entrenched players like Lizol and Harpic, and reshape the dynamics of India’s ₹8,000 crore floor cleaning market.

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Brand Update: Domex launches a direct frontal attack against Harpic

 In a very interesting move, HUL's toilet and surface cleaner brand Domex has launched a direct attack on the market leader Reckitt & Benckiser's Harpic brand this season. According to LiveMint, the Indian hygiene market is worth around Rs 38000 crore and the toilet-cleaning market is alone worth Rs 1600 crore. Harpic is the market leader in this segment. 

Domex has been trying to counter the market leader by positioning itself as a germ-killer. With the pandemic scare in place, the hygiene market is expected to grow because of increased customer perception of cleanliness and hygiene. 

This year, Domex has launched a direct frontal attack on Harpic that too with a direct comparative advertisement. The campaign had both print and television commercials. In the campaign, the brand takes the route of additional benefit of the Domex in terms of removing the bad odour caused by germs. This campaign helps the brand to create a powerful point of difference. The current campaign is made for the Domex Freshguard variant. 

The ad will likely be challenged by Harpic but Domex will be riding on the benefit of the punch delivered by this comparative advertisement until that time.

Research on comparative advertisement effectiveness has suggested that such advertising is effective in generating favourable responses in terms of attitude and brand consideration for the sponsoring brand. Comparative ads can be positive and negative. Positive comparative ads try to convince the customers about the superiority of the sponsor brands while negative comparative ads try to tell the consumers what they lose by using the competing brand. Research suggests that in the case of direct comparative ads, the negative comparison works better. 

For Harpic, the logical next move would be to neutralize the Domex claims quickly rather than wait for the ads to be taken down. 

Brand Update : Surf Excel takes forward Dirt is Good campaign during pandemic

While all brands are trying to use germ-killing or protection feature in their product in one way or the other, Surf Excel has a different take on the pandemic. In the latest ad, the brand takes the time tested "Dirt is Good" campaign to a different level linking the lockdown effect on the pandemic. In a clever move, the brand has used a family bonding theme to further the brand's positioning. 

A powerful positioning platform helps the brand to mould it to suit various environmental changes. Be it consumer behaviour changes or changes caused by the external environment. Dirt is Good is such a positioning platform which offers excellent creative flexibility to the agency to respond to these changes. The agency has done exactly that with Surf Excel. Surf is in a position where it need not talk about its functional attributes. That is the reason why the brand has taken an emotional position. The current ad brings the brand's relevance in this tested times aiding awareness and salience factors. 

Ariel Detergent : Firing All Cylinders

Brand: Ariel

Company: P&G

Brand Analysis Count: #603 

The Indian detergent market worth over Rs 29000 crore is a fiercely competitive market with a whole lot of organized and unorganized players, global and local players vying for a pie of the market.HUL commands the detergent market with around 39% share with its power brands like Surf, Rin, Wheel, Sunlight etc. 

P&G has been fighting the market leader with Ariel and Tide pitching these brands against Surf and Rin respectively. Ariel is a global brand which has a history dating back to 1967. The brand came to India in 1991 and ever since, the brand has been fighting Surf head-on. 

Ariel has always positioned itself as a stain-fighting detergent, thus directly challenging Surf. In the marketing journey, it had used all possible strategies in challenging the market leader. While Surf although a premium-priced detergent tried to appeal to the value, Ariel steadfastly focused on performance in terms of stain-removing. For this, Ariel launched a series of product enhancements and form variants.

In the promotion front, the brand used every trick in the book. While Surf moved from value-based pitching to an emotional " Dirt is Good" theme, Ariel focused on the logic of stain removal. The brand is using the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor in the last two to three years in their campaigns. The theme is revolving around food-stains which are toughest and in a sort of challenge format shows that Ariel cleans the stains better. 

Last year, the brand also used Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor in their campaign again highlighting the brand's core promise. 

Not to be left behind in the emotional positioning, Ariel in 2016 launched a campaign Share The Load with the hashtag #sharetheload. The theme focused on the fact that women in households are often deprived of basic necessities of life such as sleep because they are forced to take an entire load of managing the households. Hence Ariel decided to be their voice and launched a campaign asking everyone in the house especially men to share the load. The campaign was there for one year and then stopped. In 2020, the campaign was again restarted and was well received by the audiences. The campaign is nicely done and is relevant to the brand since it is talking for its customer- the women of the household. 

In 2020, the brand also came out with product innovation - The Pod. Pod is a unique detergent capsule where there are three components of detergent packed using a thin film. One is a stain-remover, another detergent and a whitening element. This capsule has to be put into the washing machine along with the clothes and the capsule breaks to release the detergents. 

The USP of this pack is the convenience and more than that this product also showcases the brand's focus and innovative character. As a consumer, there is a novelty value and added convenience but how it fits the laundry budget is something debatable. 

Despite all these efforts, Surf still rules the premium laundry segment. Ariel should be credited with a single-minded focus and consistent positioning and also its ability to come out with new product innovations. The brand has remained premium over its competitors and resisted a price war with the competitors. It is patient and focused and I think the brand is letting customers patronize the brand based on the merit than anything else.

Brand Update : Tide gets Ayushmann Khurrana as the brand ambassador

 P&G's detergent brand has now a brand ambassador- Ayushmann Khurrana. The brand which is pitching for the leadership position in the detergent category is fighting the whiteness battle with Unilever's Rin. Tide cleverly uses " Surprising Whiteness" as the theme while Rin uses the lightening mnemonic to reinforce the brand's promise. 

The new campaign featuring Ayushmann Khuranna follows the time-tested theme. The interesting part is that the brand ambassador plays all the character in the ad including that of the lady. According to reports, Ayushmann is now the hot pick for brands in Bollywood as he has delivered back to back hits and has a next-door person image and is relatable. Around 7 years ago, Rin had roped in none other than Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador. 

With washing machines getting into many homes, detergent brands have launched their own variants for machine use. The current campaign is for Tide Ultra variant which is for the machine wash segment. 

Related Post

Tide Vs Rin 

Nature Protect : Harness the super power of nature

Brand: Nature Protect
Company: Hindustan Unilever
Brand Analysis Count: #601

After a long time, the market is witnessing a brand launch from HUL. So far, HUL has been playing around with its existing power-brands through brand and line extensions. However, HUL is facing this pandemic rather aggressively with a new brand- Nature Protect. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had a different kind of effect on businesses. While most businesses faced a serious existential crisis, some category showed strength and resilience. One category which had the most advantage during the pandemic was products related to hygiene. Hygiene products raced to take advantage of consumer fear and products were tagged with germ-killing propositions across product-ranges. 

HUL found this time to be ripe for a product launch. Nature Protect, as the brand name suggests, is in the "natural" space of the market. The brand is in the hygiene category with products such as surface disinfectants, sanitizer wipes, vegetable wash etc. 

The basic promise of Nature Protect is its natural ingredients and the USP is the neem content. Nature Protect is heavily banking on the efficacy of the neem ingredient as the selling point. While HUL has similar natural/ayurvedic brand like Ayush, that brand has not taken off as expected. Ayush is now pitched as a fighter brand against Patanjali and the likes. Nature Protect is expected to boost HUL's brand portfolio in the naturals space where there are strong consumer interest and future potential. 

Another advantage of having a natural-based brand is the Unilever's fight with Dettol dominated hygiene category of disinfectants and related products. So far, Unilever has not been able to fight Dettol which is slowly expanding its product range. Lifebuoy is fighting it in multiple categories and Nature Protect is expected to open another flank in the fight for supremacy in this category. 

Nature Protect will help HUL to further expand the hygiene category especially appealing to consumers who are worried about chemical-based hygiene products. Right now, the HUL has been covering the hygiene market with brand extensions and now it has created a focal brand for all products in this category. That gives a lot of freedom for the brand managers to explore new emerging categories like vegetable-wash, laundry sanitizer, sanitizer wipes etc. 

The launch ad ( in my opinion) is a disappointment for such a high-profile launch. There is a trend of using kids in all things related to germs. Nothing worthwhile in the ad to write about. The brand name in a typical textbook-style conveys the brand promise. The USP of neem ingredient is relevant but can be copied by the competitor and thus negate the point-of-difference. 

Although HUL is known for its marketing finesse, it has a tendency to abandon their brands after the initial hype. Hope that will not happen with Nature Protect. 

Brand Update : Pond's Brings Back" Googly Woogly Wooksh" Jingle

 In the run-up to the winter season, Pond's has brought back its famous jingle ' Googly Woogly Wooksh" in an emotional pitch featuring a grandfather ailing from memory loss and his beloved granddaughter. The ad touches upon an emotional chord in the viewer at the same time cleverly delivers the core message of the brand in a beautiful way. Pond's always communicated its value proposition of " smooth skin". 

The popular jingle " Googly Woogly Woosh" was first launched in 2009 campaign was the brand's way of communicating the brand's value proposition of soft skin. The brand used the campaign in multiple ways using celebrities and the like. Later, Pond's began aggressive extensions and no longer the brand was focusing on just cold-creams and skin related products. At one time Pond's even launched men's personal care products.  This probably made the jingle out place in the brand's campaigns. I would even say that Pond's was a kind of under-promoted by HUL in the last few years compared to other brands from the company's portfolio. 

The new campaign is well executed and again reminds marketers not to discard their proven brand elements just for the sake of change. 

Related Brand Post

Pond's 

Brand Update : Fair & Lovely extends to soap again !

It was to happen and it happened (again). Fair & Lovely extended itself to the soap category. The creator and the market leader of fairness cream category have put a brave new front into the highly competitive and cluttered soap market. Although F&L created the fairness cream category, it was Godrej Fair &Glow who first created a fairness soap product. It is often seen in the marketing world, that pioneers often find themselves missing opportunities in related categories. 

It is not the first time that F&L is launching a soap. The first launch was in 2015 and then somehow nothing happened with the product in the market. 

In late 2019, the brand relaunched the soap extension as if nothing happened in 2015.

In a marketing perspective, the soap variant takes a dig on the competitor Fair & Glow by creating parity on the 'glow" proposition. The soap is promising glowing skin and the fairness promise is there from the parent brand. The launch ad is in line with the overall F&L positioning.

The soap is priced in line with market and this can be considered a masstige brand which is a strategy where the product is aspirational but priced reasonably so that a larger segment of customers can afford to purchase. 

Through extending the F&L, brand HUL is trying two outcomes. Firstly it wants to leverage the existing equity of F&L in the soap category. Secondly, HUL wants to reinforce its supremacy in the soap category by covering the entire category and not leaving any gap for the competition to take advantage. 

Brand Update : Hamam ladders up to women empowerment

Hamam which has a rich legacy dating back to 1931 is charting a new course in its marketing communication strategy. This 300 crore brand from HUL has been positioning itself on the basis of its ingredients - Neem and Tulsi since its inception. 

In 2017, the brand tried to change its course moving from the functional benefit platform derived from its ingredients to a higher order benefit. In marketing parlance, it is called brand laddering. 

According to news reports, this is the first time that Hamam is moving away from the functional benefit positioning. 

The 2017 campaign #GoSafeOutside aims to use the " women empowerment" as the platform for brand promotion. The brand is taking up the cause of safety of girls for its promotion. 

The ad shows how a shy young girl is motivated by the mother to stand up on her own.

The concept of women empowerment is nothing new in the Indian marketing scene. Many brands including some soap brands like Lux have taken up this platform for brand promotion. 

In this campaign, Hamam encourages the young girls to take up self-defense courses that would give them the necessary confidence to go out of their safe zone. 

In 2018, the brand went further ahead with the campaign and tried to create a network of mothers called Hamam Mothers Safety Force. This network is intended to provide a watchful eye on the safety of young girls. 

HUL is known for such ground level activation in its various cause marketing campaign for its brands. The brand should be lauded for identifying a potent issue regarding women safety and doing something about it. The brand runs the hashtag " GoSafeOutside for this initiative. 

The success of a cause marketing campaign revolves around the relevance, brand connect and the impact. This campaign is very relevent in today's times. It needs to be seen how HUL carries this forward to create a lasting impact on the consumer's mind. 

Lever Ayush : Sahi Ayurveda

Brand: Lever Ayush
Company: Hindustan Unilever

Brand Analysis Count: #579

It took Patanjali to wake the giant from slumber. The Rs 36,000 crore HUL has been disturbed pretty hard by the Rs 5000 crore Patanjali resulting in the relaunch of Ayush brand. It seems like a replay of the epic battle between Nirma and Surf, however, the outcome of the current fight remains unpredictable. 

Ayush was launched by Hindustan Unilever in 2001. The brand at that time was launched to tap into the premium space in the Ayurveda personal care market. However, the plan failed and Ayush was sidelined in the huge brand-lines of the company.

Patanjali which was established in 2006, began aggressively marketing from 2015 and virtually ignited the growth of Ayurveda based personal care market in India. But what is surprising is that the multi-national giants like HUL, Colgate etc were probably in a state of Marketing Myopia. They failed to see the rise of Patanjali and could not counter the challenger. The result is that within a short span, Patanjali rose to a higher level of brand awareness and reasonable equity in a certain category of products. 

The reaction of HUL was also on predictable lines, take an old brand, dust it off and relaunch. Thus launched the revised version of Lever Ayush. The next challenge is to counter the source of Brand Equity of Patanjali. Patanjali heavily draws its equity from Baba Ramdev. Lever Ayush chose the celebrity route. Along with the celebrity, the brand has chosen to partner with Arya Vaidya Pharmacy for the development of this product. However, the campaigns don't really promote this association which is a big mistake. Arya Vaidya Pharmacy has excellent equity and could have given more firepower to the brand in countering Patanjali. 

In the relaunch, Lever Ayush has roped in Akshay Kumar as the lead brand ambassador. The brand is currently running the relaunch campaign across various media. 

For personal care products targeted at the female segment, the brand has chosen Tamanna as the brand ambassador. 

Lever Ayush is positioned as an authentic ayurvedic brand. The tagline of the brand is - Sahi Ayurveda - translated to ' True Ayurveda'. 

It has to be seen whether the customer would buy that positioning endorsed by the celebrity. 

In the pricing front, Ayush has shed the premium tag and is taking Patanjali head-on by launching the products in the price range of Rs 30 - 130. According to newspaper reports, HUL is promoting the Ayush brand in the Southern States. 

The fight between HUL and Patanjali in the personal care space would be a good fight to watch for. 

Brand Update : Axe finally respond to competition through Axe Signature

So finally a response from HUL to competition. After being relegated to No.3 in the deo market by Fogg and Wildstone, Axe finally launched its answer to the competition- Axe Signature Collection Deo.

It was surprising that HUL which is supposedly the best marketing machine in India took so long to respond to competition. Its almost a replay of the Nirma- Surf episode where the market leader was slow in responding to local competition eventually to find itself dethroned as  the market leader. HUL (in my opinion ) was very slow in reacting to Fogg's entry into the market with the No-Gas proposition. The result is that Axe has been beaten down to number 3 in the market.

Now HUL has responded with a variant branded as Signature Collection. The basic USP is the variant is 3X times more perfume. The brand has the tagline " Don't Fade Away" 

Axe Signature is running its campaign across the channels. The television commercial retains the seduction proposition but is now subtle with that message. The message the new variant is pushing is the long-lasting fragrance. 

Watch the ad here : Axe Signature

The " Don't Fade Away " proposition is smart because that idea is different from the current market leader Fogg's no-gas USP. So Axe is now telling the consumers that it is better than others because other fragrances fade away. The packing resembles Fogg Black Collection cannot be wished away as a coincidence.

Although the message is nothing new, Axe has executed the campaign nicely.

Priced at Rs 225, Axe has priced this variant lower than the competition. 

The entry of Axe into the no-gas segment has market as shift in the market dynamics. The no-gas segment is now growing at 30% and is already worth around Rs 250-300 crore in the Rs 2500 crore deo market. This segment which is now named as body-perfume segment is where all the action is. 

The launch of Signature is expected to arrest the growth of Fogg and Wildstone. Since this is a launch from Axe, old loyalists are bound to try it. Rest is all dependent on the delivery of the promise. 

Positioning Sharing : Axe Signature's long lasting fragrance proposition is not new, the brand Set Wet deo already has the same positioning ( Watch the ad). 

Long-lasting is a widely used positioning. Across various categories brands has been using this positioning and the novelty and believe-ability of this positioning has come down drastically. Pepsodent ( dishum-dishum) , Amaron ( lasts long really long) Colgate Total are some of the brands that share the same positioning. 

TRESemme : For Salon Style Hair

Brand : TRESemme
Company : Hindustan Unilever

Brand Analysis Count : # 539

TRESemme launched in 2012 was an attempt from Hindustan Unilever to prevent the competition from attacking from the flanks. There premium shampoo from HUL was Dove which was more of a Masstige brand rather than a luxury brand. Hence HUL feels that there is a gap in the product porfolio in the premium shampoo segment which is open for competitors. Already the shampoo brands from HUL stable is facing increasing competition from Lo'real, P&G  and the likes. 

TRESemme was born in 1950. The brand name was coined in honor of Edna Emme who was a cosmetologist and a community leader.The brand came to Unilever from the acquisition of Alberto Culver in 2010.Originally the brand is sold only to salons.

The positioning of TRESemme is interesting .The brand is positioned as a salon like experience for the hair. The insight is through a research which stated that ladies feel that they get more satisfaction when they get salon treatment. Also they trust the salon stylists advice when choosing the brands.This insight made the brand adopt the USP of a 'Salon Like Experience '. The brand initially target the salon frequenting  consumers who was usually the opinion leaders in the category. 

The brand which is priced at a premium is positioning itself as an expert in hair-care. The ads are styled internationally and the message is very rational. 

Watch the ad here : Tresemme ad

The brand over the last one year also have used Youtube very effectively . The brand's youtube channel is rich with videos on hair styles and hair care thus reinforcing the positioning as a premium expert. 

TRESemme will force the competing brands to think about launching their own version of professional endorsed shampoos. Right now Lo'real and P&G have salon products which are not sold outside . It needs to be seen whether the competitors will bring in those brands to fight  TRESemme. 

Brand Wars : Sensitive Toothpastes

Indian toothpaste market is worth Rs 6000 crores ( Source Business Line) and growing at 20%. Colgate has been the undisputed market leader in this market.. Competitors has been trying to make a dent in the share through almost every strategy listed in marketing textbooks.

It was an unlikely player- Glaxo Smithkline Beecham (GSK ) which really broke into the stronghold of Colgate. GSK in 2010 brought its global dental care brand Sensodyne into the Indian market. The sensitive toothpaste segment was very small and almost unknown to the larger Indian market. Colgate had presence in that niche with its variant Colgate Sensitive. 

Sensodyne surprised the market by capturing 10% of the segment within 4 months on launch. The heavy awareness campaign made customers take notice of the brand.The campaign featured " Chill Test " where the customers who had sensitive teeth were asked to tryout chilled products after using Sensodyne. The ads were very convincing and prompted many customers to try Sensodyne.Besides the Above-The -Line ( ATL) promotion, GSK also contacted around 15000 dentists to promote Sensodyne ( Source- TOI). In one year, Sensodyne became a 100 crore brand and the Sensitive toothpaste market was growing at more than 45 % p.a.

Colgate being an agile marketer was not keeping quiet . The brand launched another variant Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief inorder to arrest the growth of the competitor.Both the brands benefited by the growth of the category which has grown to about Rs 500 crore. Sensodyne inched very close to the market-leader and at one point became the leading brand in the sensitive toothpaste category. According to reports, Sensodyne and Colgate Sensitive are now having almost same market share in the category. 

Pepsodent from HUL also got into the fray with its variant Pepsodent Expert.While every brand focused on providing relief from sensitive teeth, Pepsodent differentiated by offering  ' relief and repair'  to the consumer. This move by Pepsodent forced the players to rethink their offerings. In the latest campaign, Sensodyne has added the 'repair' proposition to the brand's positioning thereby achieving points-of-parity with Pepsodent Expert brand. 

Sensodyne success can be seen as the success of a specialist brand's fight with a product-line extension. Consumer's view Sensodyne as an expert in the field and hence the claims are more effective compared to the product-line extensions. However, Colgate and Pepsodent were quick enough to retaliate to the entry of Sensodyne albeit with little success.

The fight in the toothpaste segment became more interesting with the launch of Paradontax by GSK. Another specialist brand against bleeding gums. The war has just began. 

Brand Update : Axe disappoints with Ranbir doing a Ben Affleck

Axe deo is facing the fiercest competition  in its life in India with local and MNC deo brands breathing down its neck. According to certain reports that came in ET Now's Brand Equity show, the brand had lost its leadership position in the Indian market to the new entrant Fogg.

One of the reason for the trouble is that Axe's positioning has been under threat. almost all deo brands has been aping the positioning theme of Axe thereby diluting the brand's uniqueness in the Indian market. Axe was not able to do much about it and continued with its strategy of frequent launches of new variants and importing ads from its global markets.

For a change, Axe decided to go local in its promotional strategy and roped in the current Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor to endorse the brand. The news came as a surprise since Axe never ( in my knowledge) ran a campaign using a celebrity in India.
Axe launched its new variant Axe Blast with the new celebrity endorsement . The ad is currently on air.

Watch the ad here : Axe Ranbir Ad

What was shocking is that the ad is the exact copy of an older ad ( more than 7 years) of Axe Clicker which is a variant available in markets outside India. The Axe Clicker brand featured Ben Affleck .

Watch the ad here : Axe Ben Affleck

Now if the brand Axe can afford to bring Ranbir to the fold, why did the brand chose to just copy an old theme and present it in the Indian market ? 

Its so cheap a strategy to adopt in an era where information is available to everyone. And its a totally a wrong move when the competition is eating away the share. Ranbir will get eyeballs and may in the short-run help the brand to reinforce the existing awareness.The  current approach is sending warning signals regarding the laziness of the marketing department in attempting to find an easy way out rather than brainstorming on developing a differentiation strategy to take on the competition.

Brand Update : Can SRK save Lux ?

SRK is once again featuring in the ad of Lux. It was in 2005 that SRK stunned brand watchers in an ad for Lux. At that time Lux was celebrating 75 years of stardom. Circa 2012, Shah Rukh Khan again stars in Lux ad  not for  celebration of any milestone but a desperate attempt to rejuvenate the brand.

Lux which always centered around celebrities has been struggling for the last few years.Reports suggest that Lux is witnessing a de-growth thanks to competition from the likes of Santoor. Lux over the years has been facing a positioning problem which I have highlighted in my previous posts about the brand. Too many variants shifted the HUL's focus from strengthening the core brand to leveraging or rather squeeze the brand equity. This virtually made the core Lux brand vulnerable to competition. The commoditization of celebrity endorsement further diluted the celebrity-focused positioning of Lux. Virtually the differentiation of Lux was no longer existing. 

Lux is now in an un-enviable position. The core positioning of Lux- beauty soap of stars is virtually being killed by competition. Celebrities now are no longer differentiators. Lux also cannot risk going for a heavy repositioning sans celebrities because of its connection with Stars for over 75 years. The brand is in deep trouble.

With SRK, the brand is attempting another come back. Last year, Lux successfully leveraged Abhishek and Aishwarya and smartly took the platform of  ' Beauty'. 

The current campaign features SRK with the current Lux Diva Katrina Kaif. The brand completely changed its beauty based positioning ( benefit)  and decided to focus on fragrance (product feature ).The brand is pitching that  it contains international quality fragrances. From  benefit to  feature based positioning is a step backward for the brand. Usually brands start with feature based positioning and later graduate to higher -order attributes ( Laddering). Here Lux chose itself to downgrade from a higher -order positioning to basic stuff.The brand is absolutely confused about its future direction. 

Lux in the new campaign has the tagline : "Bas Zara Sa Lux " roughly translated to " Just need a little Lux" . The tagline is ideally suited for a detergent rather than a beauty soap. The treatment of the ad is below average with zero creativity and usual theme. No wonder the brand is on a downward spiral.

Watch the ad here : Lux SRK

What Lux right now needs is a thorough clarity about its brand manthra and its positioning.No amount of celebrity endorsement will work if the brand is confused about its positioning. It had earlier focused on beauty oil and now it is saying that fragrance is the key USP. This confusion is only going to kill this brand unless the marketing brains of HUL sit together and decide on the brand manthra for Lux. Other wise we are going to see the slow death of an iconic brand.

Brand Update : Axe Extends to Soaps

Axe deo , the market leader in the Rs 1000 crore Indian deo market has extended itself to soaps. In the typical Unilever style of experimenting with successful brands the current guinea pig brand is Axe. The rationale is very simple  a) The soap market is witnessing a growth while deo market is now full of competition

b) With Cinthol brand becoming unisex, there is a vacuum for a men's soap brand and Axe is the best fit for filling the gap.

c) The lure for incremental profits from an established brand.

Indian soap market is around Rs 6500 crore and the men's grooming market is around Rs 1500 crore ( Economic Times). The brand may be looking to become an umbrella brand endorsing multiple products across the men's grooming category. The big question is whether these extensions will make the original deo brand vulnerable ? 

I think so.

I wonder why Axe is being extended when there is so much competition in the deo market. Axe is now attacked both on positioning front as well as on product attributes front. The Axe positioning is aped by most of the deo brands to the point that everything is so predictable and boring. Now HUL is further diluting the brand by its extension into a different category. 

The new extension carries the same positioning as the Original Axe brand . Axe bathing bar has the tagline " Engineered for Guys ". The ad campaign follows the same theme as the Axe Deo brand.

Watch the ad here : Axe Deo

Priced at a premium of Rs 35, Axe expects the brand loyalists to be the early adopters for this brand. HUL will be leveraging on its huge distribution strength and its reach to make sure that Axe Bathing Bar is available across the markets. To be fair to this experiment, Axe globally also is extended to various categories like Body Wash, Talcum powder etc but none of the extensions has been as successful as the original product. The same will be the case in the case of Axe Soap also. 

Brand Update : Pureit Ups The Ante

HUL's first foray into the consumer durable market- Pureit is on an aggressive mode. The brand which was launched in 2004 has taken the battle into the premium segment of the water purifier market with the launch of Pureit Marvella. 

Pureit is a classic case of a brand exploiting an important need-gap in the market. Indian water-purifier market worth around Rs 1200 crore is evolving, growing at 15%. The marketing of water purifiers were skewed towards urban markets of India. Only 8 % of the Indian consumers use water purifier which indicates the poor penetration of this product category into Indian households. The major hindrance for this being high price, installation difficulties, electricity consumption and lack of awareness. Eureka Forbes pioneered the growth of this category in the Indian market. Now this category has lot of players and  new product-lines like RO water purifiers has been introduced.

The major players in the electricity -powered water purifier market however ignored the mass market focusing more on the margin rather than volume. These products which were priced at Rs 5000 upwards were beyond the reach of the average middleclass customers. Even though many such consumers were aware of the health benefits of a water-purifier, it was never in the priority list of high value purchases.

Sensing the opportunity, HUL launched Pureit range of battery operated storage-type purifiers at a price range of Rs 990- Rs 1250. These purifiers did not necessitated any installations which was a definite advantage for those who lived in rented houses. The brand was widely tested in South India before the national launch . According to reports, Pureit has already sold more than 1.3 million units becoming the largest selling water-purifier in India in volume-terms. The brand also created a new category of  non-electric storage- water purifier market which is now worth around Rs 300 crore and growing very fast than the electric category.

One of the problems that Pureit faced during the launch was the doubt about brand's efficacy in the purifying business. HUL is new to this industry and not an expert so consumers rightly doubted the effectiveness of its product . To counter that, Pureit ran a very highly advertised " 1 crore challenge " to convince the consumer that its product is more effective than the competing brands. 

After establishing its name in the mass market, Pureit is now targeting the market-creator Eureka Forbes in an aggressive frontal attack by launching the premium brand Pureit Marvella. Marvella is also a a non-electric purifier with storage capability priced at Rs 7000. The brand also launched its Reverse Osmosis water purifier Puerit Marvella RO at a price point of Rs 13500. These sub-brands directly competes with Eureka Forbes's major product-lines. 

The entry of HUL into the Eureka Forbe's territory was marked with lot of legal fights between the brands because of advertising claims and counter-claims. Now the fight is in the field with both the brands trying to out market each other.

HUL in its typical FMCG style is launching Marvella range with a celebrity endorsement. The brand has roped in Farhan Akther and Praachi Desai as the brand ambassador. The campaign is now running featuring these celebrities. 

Watch the ad here : Pureit marvella

The USP of the brand is its advanced warning system which alerts the consumer to change the RO membrane before it stops working.

The entry of HUL has virtually changed the dynamics of the water-purifier market in India. The market creator was totally out-maneuvered by HUL. Eureka Forbes decided not to counter HUL's foray into mass market because of lack of margin. In strategic terms , the decision made sense because low priced products tend to affect both margins and brand -equity. But Forbes failed to see the shift in the market and the growth of the non-electric segment to become the fastest growing segment. The popularity of the mass market segment also gave confidence for HUL to enter the market of Eureka Forbes. Eureka Forbes countered the HUL's entry by lowering the price of its base models. But HUL is such a formidable player that Eureka Forbes may need all its marketing strength to fight this giant.

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Pureit : As Safe as boiled water

Eureka Forbes

Kent RO

Brand Update : Sure taps men's deo market

Unilever's global brand Sure which was launched in 2010 has launched a new variant Sure Men's Deo in the Indian market. The brand is a pioneer in developing the anti-perspirant deo category in India.Sure was initially launched as a women's deo. The brand initially imported its global commercials in India and later adopted a local communication strategy roping in celebrity endorsers like Bollywood actress Asin. 

Indian deo market is worth Rs 900 crore and growing at a pace of 25% ( source). 70% of this market is men's deo. Hence it make sense for Sure to launch a variant tapping this large segment.

The brand variant took the celebrity endorsement route by roping in the action hero Akshay Kumar as the brand ambassador. The brand is running a television campaign featuring the star.
Watch the ad here : Sure men
Thankfully the brand did not take the " seducing women" route and chose a rational positioning instead. The variant follows the same positioning of the parent brand - No Sweat.
The USP of Sure men's deo is that it works even at 58degree Celsius highlighting its efficacy in relatively hot Indian weather conditions. There is nothing much to talk about the creative part of the ad since it follows the same stereotyped typical Akshay Kumar commercial.
As a consumer, I feel that the anti-perspirant brands needs to take consumers in to confidence regarding the health-related worry of such products. A lot of consumers have  a worry whether anti-perspirants are good for health because it stops the formation of sweat which is essential for the regulation of body temperatures. Many consumers are shying away from the use of anti-perspirant because of this worry.
The deo market is getting crowded with lot of players vying for a pie of this growing category. Sure is trying to standout of the crowd by focusing on its " effectiveness". The endorsement from Akshay Kumar gives a definite advantage for this brand for sure.

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Sure deo

Xpert : Fast Action

Brand : Xpert
Company : Rohit Sufactants  Private Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : # 494

Xpert is a dishwash bar brand from Rohit Surfactants Pvt ltd (RSPL) which is now on an promotional overdrive. The brand is from RSPL  which is famous for its Ghari detergent brand. Ghari literally made the large FMCG MNCs a run for their money. The Ghari brand is infact larger than the HUL's Surf and is the second largest selling detergent brand in the country ( source). 

Xpert was launched in 2006 by RSPL as a part of its diversification. The brand is now competing in the Rs 800 crore utensil cleaner market. The market is dominated by HUL's Vim with a share of around 60%. The market is characterized by one big player and several small players. The nearest rival is Exo diswash bar  and Pril with a share of around 8% each. As history has shown, fighting HUL's Vim for market leadership position is not an easy task but that is the risk that a challenger brand needs to take.

Xpert has chosen celebrity endorsement as a route to attract consumers towards the brand. For this Xpert chose Madhuri Dixit as the celebrity endorser. The brand is currently running a campaign in TV featuring the celebrity.

Watch the ad here : Xpert  

The brand is using its Aquashine formula as the USP and like any other brand , it is talking about quick and easy cleaning. 

The ad is very basic and rather than using  Madhuri Dixit for testimony, the brand chose to use her as Gangu Thai ( a housemaid character in the movie Ganesha) for the campaign. If one has missed the Ganesha movie, the ad plot will be half lost.  

Xpert is priced around Rs 10 for 200 g bar while Vim around Rs 12. Exo is priced at par with Xpert. The brand hopes that the price differential together with celebrity will tilt the consumer choice towards Xpert. This aggressive pricing + promotional strategy is going to affect the smaller brands rather than Vim in the short-term.

What is lacking in the current strategy of Xpert is the absence of a clear differentiator. While Aquashine formula is the USP, the brand fails to communicate what it means and how it is going to benefit . May be in future campaign, these will be explained. Without a powerful differentiator, Xpert may not be able to break into the market of Vim. Exo tried with its aggressive promotions and anti-bacterial properties with limited success. It is very difficult to create a differentiator in a market like dishwash bar and almost all options has been used up by the players.

It will be interesting to see how this high profile attack of Xpert will play out in the future. In the short-term we will see some action in this dull category . 

Brand Update : Comfort finds comfort in Madhuri Dixit

The fabric conditioner brand from HUL- Comfort has roped in the former Bollywood Diva Madhuri Dixit as the brand ambassador. The former Bollywood superstar was on a hiatus after her marriage is now on a comeback trail.

Comfort which is the niche brand from HUL was rolled out nationally in 2010 after a long period of test marketing. The brand was soft launched in some southern states as early as 2008 and it took a long time for HUL to decide national roll out. 

It is interesting to see Madhuri Dixit endorsing a product like Comfort. Interesting because she was endorsing the flagship soap brand Lux during her peak stardom days. Now she has come back on a new role of a homemaker endorsing a very small brand from HUL. 

As discussed in my earlier post on this brand, Comfort is a niche brand and the usage base is restricted to certain segments of the Rs 12700 crore Indian fabric care market. The product is priced at a premium and will be attractive to those homemakers who would like to add some extra care  to their clothes. The campaign also addresses customers in the same platform. 

The inclusion of a celebrity endorser will enhance the visibility of the brand and is expected to bring in many first-time users. Unlike the western markets, washing is not considered a chore in India. For Indian homemakers, washing clothes is a serious activity. They take pride when the clothes are meticulously clean and shining. This unique cultural trait is the opportunity that Comfort is trying to tap.

There are many factors that prevent the growth of such specialist product categories. The main reasons being inertia and price. These premium pricing coupled with the extra effort involved in using the product often make consumers postpone the patronage of such products. HUL hopes that the endorsement from Madhuri Dixit will expand the usage base for Comfort and bring in lot of new users into its fold.

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Comfort