O'cean Fruit Water : Sail Through Your Day

Brand : O'Cean
Company : Narang Group

Brand Analysis : # 569

O'cean is a relatively new brand launched by Narang Group in the Rs 1600 crore mineral water category . The brand is in an emerging category of Ready To Drink segment largely in the functional beverages category. This category is witnessing some action these days with players like Danone, Tata Beverages etc entering the category.

Narang Group is known for the marketing and distribution of Qua brand of bottled water. The company was in a JV with Danone Group through which they marketed Qua and B'lue. B'lue was the fruit water brand from Danone. In 2015, Narang Group exited from the JV. While Qua brand went to Narang, B'lue went to Danone Group. 

O'cean is a flavored water which contains fruit juice, water, electrolytes, glucose etc. The target market would be health enthusiasts who want something more than just plain water after a workout or hard day's work. 

Although there is a market for flavored beverages, the adoption of these products is a challenge. The brand banks on the nutritional advantages as the main reason for purchase. The positioning of O'cean reflected in the tagline " Sail Through Your Day" aims at highlighting the benefit of the added ingredients. 

However, the pricing of O'cean at Rs 45 for 500 ml is a bit too steep. The immediate category comparison is the mineral water. So I am doubtful whether O'cean has priced itself in line with the value it delivers. In the distribution front, O'cean is widely available in the market. The packaging is nice but the small bottle with a Rs 45 price tag is a deterrent .

It will be interesting to see who would be interested in purchasing such a product. The brand is aiming at health conscious customers who wanted something other than the carbonated drinks. While the intention is good, I am not sure how the price justify the purchase. 

Baby Dove : Johnson's Baby Soap now have a serious competition

Dove, one of the premium soap brands from Unilever has extended into baby care products . The move is expected to give serious competition to the market leader Johnson & Johnson. According to ET, Indian baby care product market is worth Rs 4000 crore. Johnson & Johnson is the undisputed market leader with a share of 74%. The nearest competitor is Dabur with 9.9% share. 

Although many brands tried to break the stronghold of  J&J, none succeeded so far. Now the war has begun with India's premier marketing giant decided to challenge the market leader. Interestingly, Unilever chose to extend Dove to fight J&J.

Dove which was launched in 1993 grows from a soap brand to a Rs 1500 brand which endorses multiple categories of products. 

Dove positioned as mild soap with 1/4 moisturiser is an ideal candidate to challenge Johnson's who has incredible brand equity among the consumers. 

Dove has decided to name its extension as Baby Dove which is a smart choice. The positioning of the extension is the same as the parent Dove brand. Baby Dove was first launched in Brazil in 2015.

Another interesting aspect is the pricing. Unilever has priced Baby Dove almost the same as Johnson's but a little extra. While the 75 gm Johnson's Baby soap costs Rs 45, Baby Dove is priced at Rs 48.

Unilever already started the campaign for Baby Dove. The pitching is similar to J&J - the bonding between the mother and child, purity, skin care etc. The TVC follows the parent brand's comparative advertising strategy of testing the mildness quality of the soap with the competition.

Watch the Tvc here 

The brand also have a different logo for the extension. The logo designed by Dew Gibbons + Partners feature the iconic master brand's  Dove and a golden baby dove besides it. 

Baby Dove has launched a series of products in the category. This include soap, lotion, skin care wipes etc.. 

With the strong distribution muscle and marketing acumen, Baby Dove is expected to give tough competition to J&J. The market with one large player dominating will definitely have space for a competitor. The launch of Baby Dove is not going to dilute the parent brand's positioning since the positioning of Baby Dove is complimentary to the parent brand. 

Milton : Kuch Naya Sochte Hain ( Let's Think of Something New)

Brand : Milton
Company : Hamilton Housewares


Brand Analysis Count : # 568

Milton is one of the leading brands in the Indian home-ware market which includes products like casserole, flasks etc. Milton was launched in 1972 was a humble producer of small plastic items like tumblers. 

Milton's name was earlier synonymous with flasks. Milton and Eagle flasks were the two famous brands during eighties. Later came the casserole craze. Milton was able to capitalize on the popularity of  casseroles. Indian households lapped up the casserole and after functions like marriage and housewarming, homes were flooded with casserole gifts. 

Milton also had the ingredient brand Tuf Puf which was the name the brand gave to polyurethane foam. Tuf Puf became very powerful differentiator for Milton.

Over a period of time , the home-ware market has become a commodity. The products became the same with virtually no credible differentiation. 

In such a market, Milton has devised a two pronged strategy to standout. 

Innovation and Branding. 

The brand Milton already had a very good equity in the market. The company wanted to cement the equity by positioning Milton as a innovation driven brand that is sensitive to the consumer needs. Milton clearly identified the target consumer as an intuitive lady of the house. The brand wants to make life easier for the consumer through innovative products. 

In 2015, the brand initiated its first brand campaign " Kuch Naya Sochte Hain" translated to " Let's think of something new". The brand through the campaign tried to project its innovative products while stressing on the quality. 

One of the innovative product which served as an anchor for the campaign was the World's first microwave safe insulated steel casserole . Watch the ad here  called MicroWow. 

Along with this product, the brand also ran few more campaign TVC highlighting the new products. ( Glasslid casserole). 

Milton is a brand which stood the test of time and has been very proactive in moving to using innovation as a differentiator. 

Raymond Whites : 100 Styles, One Color

Raymond, the premier textile brand, has launched a very interesting marketing move- launching of Raymond Whites. Raymond Whites is a collection of  white shirts and the brand has smartly made it a very interesting proposition. ( Hat tip - blog from my colleague Prof. Padmanabhan).

Now every formal menswear brand has a collection of white shirts. White is a preferred formal wear color and is in every executive's wardrobe. What Raymond has done is to make it a talking point for the brand. The brand has done it by launching the collection with an astounding proposition - 100 styles. Can you believe it ? 100 styles of one color !!  It is not difficult but Raymond has smartly marketed ( and owned) it. 

Now I am not saying that this is going to be a game changer move. But for Raymond, this campaign would help in many ways. 

Primarily this collection and campaign will reinforce the position of Raymond as a very Stylish Corporate wear brand.The emphasis of 100 styles will also project Raymond as a brand which is innovative and stylish - both these traits are very critical in this business. 

The Raymond brand is facing stiff competition from Madura Fashions The competing brands like Van Heusen and Louis Philippe are moving ahead with a focus on innovation. Van Heusen is focussing on innovation and Louis Philippe is positioned as Perfect Shirt. So Raymond has to up the ante. 

The Raymond Whites has definitely succeeded in capturing the attention of consumers. The launch campaign is well made and creates a premium feel for the collection.

 Watch the TVC here : Raymond Whites ad

With a price range of Rs 2500, Raymond Whites is well set to own a very important color in the corporate work wear category. 

Brand Update : Thums Up in a Celebrity Trap

Thums Up which is one of the most resilient brands in the Indian market was in the news recently when the parent Coca-Cola decided to drop Salman Khan as the brand ambassador. ( source). The reports also suggest that the brand is in talks with actor Ranveer Singh

to replace the Khan. That points  to a celebrity trap which this brand has fallen into.

It is true that Thums Up has always been promoted using a celebrity, be it Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan, but the fact is that Thums Up has moved into a position where it cannot think of a promotional strategy sans a celebrity. That is why the news report announcing  Salman's exit also suggest the search for new celebrity.

Soft drink brands are always after celebrity as if there is no existence without a famous personality endorsing it. While there are a lot of advantages of using a celebrity, the fact remains that slowly but surely, the brand and the brand manager loses confidence to go without the support of celebrity. 

It is sad to see the same thing happening for Thums Up. The brand doesn't need a celebrity. In the brand's early years, the equity of the brand was built  from within. Now the brand is trying to find a celebrity so that it can depend on the celebrity for equity which, at least theoretically, is bad for the brand. Thums Up has the innate strength which made it overcome the existential crisis when the owners decided to kill it. That strength was not from any celebrity endorsement but the image of a rough resilient brand. Coca-Cola should at least try making the brand stand on its own rather than going the easy way out. 

Colgate Pain Out : Crafting a New Segment

Indian oral hygiene market is huge with a market size of Rs 7000 crore. Colgate dominates the market with a share of over 55%. The market is witnessing a new wave of competition with the entry of Patanjali brand.

Although the market is live with competition, not much action is happening with respect to product innovation. Except for  some incremental innovations like new flavors/variants, nothing much has happened in terms of new product development.

In this context, the launch of Pain Out stands out. Colgate Pain Out is a new product that aims at express pain relief from sudden tooth pain. The product is a gel form which has ingredients like camphor, Eugenol, and menthol. The product gives a symptomatic relief from tooth pain. 

The brand is interesting because it aims to satisfy an unfulfilled need in the market. Tooth pain comes unexpected and often the fear of going to a dentist forces people to suffer the pain till it becomes unbearable. Then they try using home remedies, then paracetamol and if everything fails , then they go to a dentist. 

So it makes sense to have a product that gives instant relief to pain. The challenge for the brand is to create brand salience where consumers remember the brand when there is a need. It would be optimistic to believe that consumers would stock this product in anticipation of a toothache. So the natural communication choice would be to have top of mind recall which is a costly proposition. 

The brand is currently running the launch ad which focuses on its USP of express relief . Watch the ad here : Colgate Pain Out , The silver line is that the incidence of a toothache is very high and a powerful relief would be welcomed by the consumers.