Reid & Taylor : Bond With The Best

Brand : Reid & Taylor
Company: S Kumars
Agency: In House agency

To build a premium Indian brand, start globally and ride locally. Reid&Taylor did just that. This brand had revitalized the India suiting market. Launched in 1998, this brand ranks no.2 in the 2000 crore worsted suit market.

Indian suit market was lying idle for a long time because of the onslaught of ready to wear garments and the lack of any excitement in the category as such which was dominated by established players like Raymonds, Grasim etc.
Reid and Taylor is a Scottish brand created by Alexander Reid along with financier Joseph Taylor. This brand has a rich heritage dating back to 1830.

Reid&Taylor had a dream opening. The strategy was accurate and the icon was non other than Bond... James Bond. The brand was launched just before World cup 1999. The campaign was executed in a military like fashion.There was lot of firsts in their product launch. The brand was the first one to use TV as the primary medium with Print playing the second fiddle.

The positioning was purely as a " Luxury Suiting". The brand owners knew that the brand launch should live upto the expectation of the Indian consumers roped in none other than Pierce Brosnan as its brand ambassador. With the high profile launch and the charisma of Bond worked wonders with the brand . The brand had second best recall during the world cup series.

Later the consumer survey revealed that even though the brand was aspirational, customers perceived it to be expensive because of its international icon. This prompted the company to look for an Indian icon. They did not have to search harder, the choice was our very own Amitabh Bachchan. Big B fitted perfectly to the brand persona. He was the style icon and commanded immense equity with the customers. Amitabh lifted the brand to a much higher level in connecting with Indian consumer. The positioning was not changed but the message was to create an image of affordability. The baseline was " Bond with the Best" was in line with the positioning.

S kumars plan to take this brand to ready to wear segment also where it will be competing with Louis Philippe , Van Heusen, etc. It is where this brand will prove its mettle. With the current positioning and the careful marketing campaigns, this brand will make an impact in ready to wear segment .

SBI : Not Quite Surprisingly SBI

Brand : SBI
Agency : O&M

SBI is the largest bank in India, It has the largest number of ATMs in the country. The Vehicle loans cover Insurance cost also. The home loans cover furniture also. 80% of India's corporate world depends on SBI. Surprisingly SBI

SBI employees are on strike from 3 April 2006 ( after getting their salary). Even after 4 days, the strike is going on, cheques are not cleared ( my salary is still in cheque form). The largest number of ATMs are already dried up. 80% of corporate are worried about their funds. Not so surprising because it is SBI.

SBI was set up in 1806 at that time called the Imperial Bank of India.Later after our independence SBI was formed. The bank still carries the Pre- liberalisation culture which has now come to the full circle.

I am not commenting whether the strike is legal or ethical. Employees have to stand united for their rights. I am talking about the brand SBI. SBI in recent years are facing hot competition from the new generation banks like ICICI, HDFC etc. SBI was able to hold its fort against these new players because of sheer size and reach. With ICICI close to their heels, SBI took a decision for an image make over.

The customers were surprised to see the new campaigns and billboards teaching customers about SBI. O&M did a nice job in subtly changing the image of SBI from a monolith to an agile banker. But this strike have put all those money used for brand building into waste basket. SBI is facing the nightmare of all the employers of the world: strike.

SBI is going to pay a heavy price for this debacle and ultimately it is the employees who is going to get affected in the end. News reports suggest that SBI customers will look for other alternatives ( am sure most of the corporate are pissed off) , the deposits will take a run and the brand equity will be hit hard. ICICI may have already started their work on SBI clients and I am sure not much persuation is needed.

In a pure marketing perspective, this could have been managed better. There was no contingency plan in place. The notice for strike was given much before, had some alternative arrangements be made, this problem could have been solved. But efforts was to focused on strike and not on customers. If a contingency plan had been made, the strike would not have been there. Since SBI have some responsibility towards its customers, contingency plan should have been there in place. But it was not. Even if the strike ends this week , it will take another 15 days to normalize the operation which is going to cost this bank dearly.

I am sorry for the striking employees because they will get a pension only if the bank is in good health.They are making it sure that it is not.

Eureka Forbes: Friend for Life

Brand : Eureka Forbes
Company: Shahpoorji Pallonji group
Agency: Triton


Eureka Forbes (EFL) have come a long way. From being famous ( or infamous ) for pioneering the direct selling in India to being rated as the best employer and top it all a case study at Harvard.
Eureka Forbes is a joint venture between Forbes ( India ) and Electrolux from Sweden.

Eureka Forbes first launched the Vacuum cleaners in India in 1984 and in 1984 launched the water purifier Aquaguard. EFL initially faced lot of problem in marketing its vacuum cleaners. Targeted at the upper middle class families, these products were never considered a priority. Since most of the middle class families could afford a maid, it was a fight between Maid and the Machine.
Because of the low interest and since the product benefits needs to be demonstrated to the customers, conventional distribution was not viable. Hence EFL chose the less traveled Direct selling route. The Eureka Forbes sales man was called Eurochamp. It was a tough job for these salesman who had to go through the "cold calls " to get a sale. At one point of time, because of the aggressive nature of these sales persons, people became scared even to listen to these sales persons. Now this aggression has mellowed down to a more professional sales approach. EFL has also tried to position their sales persons as problem solvers rather than sales officers. The campaigns tried to build the image of a Euro champ as a Friend rather than one that is after the money.During the late eighties, Eureka Forbes salesmen was generic to direct selling.
Indian vacuum cleaner market is worth around 120 crores and water purifier market is worth around 350 crores. EFL is a clear market leader in both these categories with a market share of 85%.
Aquaguard water purifier was a clear winner from EFL stable . Targeted at the top of SEC households, this brand has effectively positioned itself as a one stop shop for pure water. This brand connects very well with the concern of mothers about the purity of the water at home.

Innovative products like water purifier with 'e-Boiling' together with communications clearly telling the benefits of this product has made Aquaguard a " Super Brand".

One of the major problems faced by both these markets is the price barrier. Vacuum cleaners were expensive when it was launched, but looking at the website of the company, the prices has come down sharply which will expand the market. Second problem with vacuum cleaner is the lack of product usage at homes. Most of the vacuum cleaners are lying idle which is bound to create a negative word of mouth. EFL may have to do a follow up on helping customers to use the product regularly. Water purifier may not have the usage problem but the price is still considered as high by the middle class. EFL may have to launch some economic brand as a flanker to Aquaguard.

Eureka Forbes is a brand that personifies the hard work of all Euro champs. hats off to them.

Cycle Agarbatti : Everyone has a reason to Pray

Brand: Cycle Agarbatti
Company: N Rangarao and Sons

The Indian Agarbatti market is worth around 1000 crores and is dominated by the unorganised sector.Hardly 15% of this market is branded. This market is unattractive because of high labour cost and lack of possibilities of differentiation and price sensitivity.

Cycle brand is owned by Bangalore based N Rangarao and sons. NRS were pioneers in branding this difficult market and Cycle brand is one of the largest agarbatti brand in India which have a market share of 8%.

Cycle brand was launched in 1948. In this commodity market,Cycle was positioned as a premium agarbatti brand. The brand was trying to differentiate by good packaging, marketing campaigns and quality. Cycle 3-in -one is the most popular which have three different fragrance sets of agarbattis in one pack.

Agarbattis are low involvement products whose purchases are often impulsive. Since there are a few brands in this category, customers makes purchase based on impressive packaging, fragrance or price. Since the price is less, there is little scope for brand loyalty.

Cycle brand has established itself in the market with some good marketing campaigns with emphasis on quality and fragrance. Recently NR sons have launched a new brand Lia with trendy packaging and good advertising.

The market is going to witness some serious marketing action with the entry of ITC. ITC is planning to make this a lifestyle product. ITC is launching a premium brand "Sphriha" which is manufactured by Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. ITC is also launching different brand in various segment viz Nivedan in the mid segment, Ashageet in the lower segment. With lot of cash for marketing, ITC will be a serious threat to Cycle.

The entry of ITC can be a positive factor also since the marketing effort will expand the market and thus Cycle brand will also benefit.

Agarbatti market is a very difficult market to crack because agarbatti is limited to pooja rooms only and there is a religious aspect to the product. The marketers have to take some lessons from "Nightingale" brand ( discussed in my previous blogs) to make an impact. The product have some inherent disadvantage like the residual ash and short burning time. Marketers have to take this brand out of pooja rooms. Theme based marketing can also be tried. Ash-less agarbattis can be an innovation worth thinking provided that attribute is considered important by the consumers. Healthy fumes can be used as a strategy to attack the lower priced incense sticks warning the consumers of health hazard of using unbranded agarbattis.

This market is worth watching for because it is a challenge for marketers to establish a value proposition in a commodity market.

Zen : Surrendered To The New Generation

Brand : Zen
Company: Maruti Suzuki
Agency : Hakudo Percept


A brand that ruled the Indian midsegment car market will be laid to rest very soon. Maruthi Zen which was considered to be one of the best cars on the Indian roads after a long life of 13 years have become redundant. It is a sad news for all Zen owners who still vouch for this hatchback. Marketers will also be sad because it was a marketing failure and not a product failure. The good old zen is still valued as precious by its owners.

Zen was launched in India in 1993. Instantly this premium car became the favorite of the upwardly mobile Indian middle class. The was something special about this jelly bean shaped car and the driving and maneuvering quality was nothing but superb. In cities where there is bumper to bumper traffic, the Zen was the most preferred one.

During the nineties all the cars from Maruti ruled the segment because of lack of competition. Then came Santro and Zen had a competition. Although initially people scoffed at the tall boy design of Santro, slowly through smart marketing, Santro began to eat into Zen's market. Then came the major blow in the form of Indica which changed the rules of the game in the hatchback segment.

Zen came out with Zen LXi in 2001, but the market share was slowly declining. The major reason being, the owners of Zen were getting older and Zen was missing out on the new generation. There was no excitement about Zen. Maruti is a poor marketer with good products. All their products are of exceptional quality and all their marketing campaigns ( including the campaign of new Swift) is exceptionally poor. Customers buy it because it is good.

While the competitors are gaining the share of mind of consumers using smart marketing campaigns, Zen was no where in the picture. The launch of Zen with round headlamps was a major disaster.

During 1999, Maruti launched Wagon R and 2000 saw the launch of Alto, With these products, Zen was left in a no man's land. The segmentation became fussy. Since there was no clear positioning for Zen, the new launches proved to be a major blow to this brand. With the launch of sporty Swift , Zen has now become a liability for Suzuki's portfolio.

To arrest the slide of the market share of zen, Suzuki, launched a redesigned Zen in 2003 with a new look with much fanfare. The campaigns were shot in Paris. The logic was to attract the new generation and the positioning was " strong sleek and sexy". The base line was " Surrender to the new Zen". The campaigns was lousy never excited the new generation. The existing users were pissed off because the resale value of their old beauty crashed. The new look Zen also bombed because of poor marketing.

Infact their was no need for such an upgrade because the problem was with positioning and not the product. Zen was known for its power, easy driving and quality. It never looked sporty and the colors were lousy. Zen could have excited the younger generation just by introducing a sporty variant with some fantastic colours. The colors of Zen were never exciting.I still believe Zen have that premium touch to it. So with some smart colours and with some sensible advertisements, Zen could have zoomed. The positioning can be a sporty and a smart car for the urban professionals. But alas....

Zen is a classic example of how poor marketing can kill a good product.

Pillsbury : Dil se Khao

Brand : Pillsbury
Company: General Mills
Agency: Leo Burnett

Pillsbury is a global food brand that is trying to replicate its success in Indian market. The brand was launched in Indiain 1998 as a result of a joint venture between Godrej and Selviac Nederland BV ( Pillsbury). Pillsbury have a rich heritage dating back to 1869. It started as a flour milling company named A Pillsbury and is now one of the largest brands in the food products market in the world.In 2002, the company was taken over by General Mills.

When Pillsbury was launched, it had the option of coming in with the blockbuster global "ready to eat products" , but it chose a contra approach heeding to the advice given by Mckinsey “ GO Basic”. So Pillsbury launched Pillsbury Chakki fresh atta ( pounded wheat flour) in the Indian market.
It was a bold move because the atta market is a commodity market and the branded atta market is only 3% of the total atta market in India estimated to be around 23000 crore.

Pillsbury chakkifresh atta was launched in India on the platform of softness. Since ordinary Roti’s lost their softness after some time, Pillsbury claimed that its Roti’s retained the softness for over 6 hours. This appealed to the modern homemakers since Roti’s can be kept in tiffin boxes without worrying about softness.

It was a tough task for Pillsbury to enter into Indian kitchens since the households followed traditional way of buying wheat and giving them to flour mills. Pillsbury realized that food products marketing are more of Repertoire marketing where more variety is the key to success. Pillsbury decided to move up the value chain by coming out with a range of products.
The firs one was the launch of Oven cake mixes in 1999. The product failed in the market because of poor penetration of microwave ovens. Taking a lesson from this failure, came the successful launch of Cooker Cake mixes in 2000 ie cakes can me made using pressure cookers. Ub 2002, Pillsbury launched Pan Fresh Pizza.

Despite these launches, Pillsbury was not happy with the way the atta brand was moving. A marketing research showed that health was a leading attribute that customers look for when they buy food products .

In 2004 the product was relaunched in the health platform with emphasis on “ good to heart” since heart problems are on a rise in Urban market. The idea is to promote the idea that whole wheat atta is good for your family’s heart .The latest positioning is “ Dil se Khao “ reinforces the health positioning.The brand is endorsed by Healthcare foundation.

Using the innovative differentiation and positioning, Pillsbury is having a market share of 8% in the branded atta market. While the market leader is Ashirvad from ITC (40%) followed by Annapoorna from HLL (18%).

Pillsbury globally is famous for its mascot “ Poppin Fresh” popularly known as the doughboy. Although the mascot is in Indian market too, it does not have the same fan following as it is in the west.

Pillsbury despite its foreign origin and brand name is trying to fit into the Indian mindset. Despite having a good product, the brand is lagging behind Ashirvad which was launched much later. With the backing of a global foods giant and with some very smart thinking, this brand has the potential to make it big.The only thing Pillbury needs is lots of money for advertising