Marketing Funda : Articles on Marketing #4

The Secret Sauce: Leveraging Social Media for Business http://bit.ly/1yDGr6 II common sense tips

Mobile App’onomy – Mobile users aren’t Loyal to Cool Apps http://bit.ly/RqXCk interesting stats

How To Attack The Leading Brand http://bit.ly/zAgmf II Must read for marketers

Sir, May I Clean Your Glasses? http://bit.ly/O276F II WOW Tom Peters love Kingfisher airlines..

Kill the Elevator Speech http://bit.ly/1GVPua II must read article on business communication

10 Traits of High-Performance Leaders http://bit.ly/3GltNa II how many u have?

5 Questions with GTD's David Allen http://bit.ly/CsHrm II getting things done tips

Top 5 Things to Remember When Doing a Social Media Campaign http://bit.ly/ICGgC

How Entrepreneurs Should Handle Succession http://bit.ly/ZarC9 II good one

Create a Special Unit to Drive Growth http://bit.ly/2OaTdr II nice read

Procter & Gamble and the Beauty of Small Wins http://bit.ly/Ebr69 II good one

Mobile Handset Market in India – The Great Indian Growth Story http://bit.ly/1bolTU

The Smart Way to Influence Your Boss http://bit.ly/3amYng II let me try :)

The Upgraded Brand Extension Threat http://bit.ly/4G0EK4 II must read for marketers

5 Retail Marketing Trends for 2010 http://bit.ly/Ptedg II nice one

The Business World's Biggest Wasted Opportunity http://bit.ly/ZLwgz II nice read

The Price of a Poor Experience http://bit.ly/2dDBuq II lessons in customer service

Best Practices For Social Media: The Basics of Program Planning http://bit.ly/NI660 II nice one

10 Ways to End Your Speech with a Bang http://bit.ly/1llZDC II xcellent article

Santander Brasil and the $8 Billion "Noble" Prize http://bit.ly/fFydI II lessons for Nonprofits

Too Big to Fail — Or Too Complicated to Succeed? http://bit.ly/XOZ3Q II nice read

How Smart Leaders Talk About Time http://bit.ly/gBlOJ II lessons for leaders

To Buy Or Launch A Brand? http://bit.ly/Y06Sa II vital lessons for marketers

Really this brand's story gave me goosebumps http://tinyurl.com/cr5nw4

More on Toms Shoes brand http://tinyurl.com/yktqaku

When will the world make fun of you? http://bit.ly/2XKDb5 II Toms shoes- what a brand !!

The three elements of full employment http://bit.ly/1ivoRx wisdom from sethgodin

Want to see worst possible PowerPoint presentation? Check out these videos:- http://bit.ly/XeJ0G

Why companies see prospects in rural india http://tinyurl.com/ns8wg3

Organisational structure can reveal manythings http://tinyurl.com/yfegtv6

The Brand Launch Myth http://bit.ly/QPBYr absolute funda...

innovative marketing by Moov http://tinyurl.com/yjvpmpl

Effect of context on branding http://om.ly/KUHj

Hero Honda business model http://tinyurl.com/yzqwdg6

A story of Reva electric cars http://tinyurl.com/yzfssac

Mobile Social Networking in India – Orkut rules the chart, followed by Yahoo and Facebook http://bit.ly/g3yMk

Social Media Usage Policies: Less Lawyering, More Encouraging http://bit.ly/4nAebL II practical ??

Three Questions to Remove Ego from Decision Making http://bit.ly/3W6juO II but is it possible ?

3 Ways to Pitch Yourself in 30 Seconds http://bit.ly/AngZR II the elevator pitch

When a Colleague's Mistakes Affect You http://bit.ly/Cb1BG II highly insightful

Why Entrepreneurs Sabotage the Succession Process http://bit.ly/1bkvbm II excellent one

If goods and services become more valuable... http://bit.ly/1rW9gs II nice perspective

Live Simply, and Save the Drama for Your Mother http://bit.ly/H2uu2 II That is it

The water purifier war http://tinyurl.com/yebocjv

The dove story in india http://tinyurl.com/yabxucg

Fighter Brand Strategy Considerations http://bit.ly/xnQVj II funda for marketers

Sumi-e, color, and the art of less http://bit.ly/jKm3A II nice tips 4 powerpoint presntions

Relentless renovation: Apple's App Store http://bit.ly/8yieu II nice read for online retailers

Festival advertising – lighting up hearts or lightening the wallet? http://bit.ly/9xlaj II interesting view

Think route to consumer, not route to market http://bit.ly/QJ5m2 II nice idea

Can an Online Community Shape a Strategy? http://bit.ly/2BJqCo II nice read

Brand Personality Inspiration http://bit.ly/6fKdG II inspiration from Brand Apple

Anchor Your Brand With Credentials http://bit.ly/MW4SH II must read for marketers

Five Ways to Realize Profits and Missions http://bit.ly/1gsR4d II interesting read

Apple's Next Revolution — And What You Can Learn From It http://bit.ly/4kZDW II insightful article

Marketing Funda : Articles on Marketing 3

Selling Simplicity — Not Just Marketing It http://bit.ly/23tGgd II simple is complex

Five Mind-Blowing Web Stats You Should Know http://bit.ly/MXCna II interesting

Becoming a Collections Expert: Seven Basic Tips http://bit.ly/2uPWp8 II the most difficult part

Celebrate Your Customers http://bit.ly/4SSHn II I wish business listened to this

Becoming P2P: Principal characteristics of the new Social Business http://bit.ly/1XdTc7 II nice read

Can We Break the Tyranny of Quarterly Results? http://bit.ly/9ETLL II nice insights

The Martial Art of Difficult Conversations http://bit.ly/uiD2q II nice on on communication

HOW TO: Become an Expert in Your Industry http://bit.ly/HeaRg II i would like to be one

How to Get Found http://bit.ly/sMo5h II wisdom from guy Kawasaki

Customer Service Sells (No, Really, It Does) http://bit.ly/lVCYq II nice one

Some people are better than others http://bit.ly/gPdjO II common sense from Seth godin

Marketing Is Not Communications http://bit.ly/drrIc II wonderful insights

Top Ten Integrated Marketing Trends for 2010 http://bit.ly/SoMZy II must read for marketers

Product Promise & Product Pillars – What you need to know http://bit.ly/7RSut II nice one

India Inc loses $2.46Bn due to disconnect in customer service http://bit.ly/1lFGB II too bad

Twitter's Business Model: Brilliant or Non-Existent? http://bit.ly/24Nv0h II nice one

When To Launch A Second Brand http://bit.ly/My4yI II must read

Facebook Overtakes Orkut in India! http://bit.ly/2uoS6v

How Cisco Created Their Own Talent Incubator http://bit.ly/Z4M7K II nice read

Post-recession branding: What Next? Part 1 http://bit.ly/Oq24R II nice one

Getting Started with Disruptive Business Design http://bit.ly/15O9Nv II must read

Do HR Managers Have the Skills They Need? http://bit.ly/16Nj0P II very very relevant

Kiva: A Cautionary Tale for Social Entrepreneurs? http://bit.ly/1bEv9c II excellent insights

The Breath of God Inspiration Method http://bit.ly/1pm9vx II inspiring as usual

Do you really need to use eye contact when delivering a business presentation? http://bit.ly/gDyv9

New ad for appyfizz and grappo fizz http://tinyurl.com/yzjc6ez ..cool

The Smartest Choice We Can Make http://bit.ly/tQhF0 II inspirational - perhaps ;)

Steering a Small Company Through a Turnaround http://bit.ly/A4GxK II nice read

Smith & Jones : Tadka Marke

Brand : Smith & Jones
Company : Capital Foods

Brand Analysis Count : 425

When I recently saw the ad of Smith & Jones, I thought that a new foreign player has entered the Indian noodles market. Much to my amusement, Smith & Jones is an Indian brand and has been in the market for a while.

Smith & Jones is a brand from Capital Foods - which are famous for its Ching's secret range of Chinese food products especially instant noodles.Smith & Jones is popular in ready to eat, sauce and jelly etc.

Smith & Jones is making lot of noise in the media for its masala noodles. The brand is taking on the market leader Maggi Noodles head on .

Watch the TVC here : Smith & Jones

According to news reports , the brand is trying to redefine the Masala Variant in the noodles category. Masala is a highly popular variant in the noodles segment and has become a generic variant with the same kind of taste offered by different players in the category.

Smith & Jones wanted to differentiate by offering an innovative taste in this category . According to the reports, the brand is trying to woo customers by offering a " Tadka " taste to the masala.

Tadka is a popular garnish ( seasoning) made out of various spices which are added to the food to make it more tasty. Smith & Jones claims that its Tadka is made of 52 Indian spices. The brand is differentiating itself using the " Tadka " ingredient. The brand has the tagline " Tadka Marke".

I still wonder why Capital Foods chose to extend Smith & Jones to noodles segment when it already have Ching's Secret brand of instant noodles. Smith & Jones was having products in the Sauce, Ready to eat segment etc and Ching's Secret was a popular noodles brand. Rather than extending Smith & Jones, Capital Foods could have introduced the new flavor under Ching's. By having two brands in the same category, the company is going to lose both share and money. There is a chance of cannibalizing one brand over the other. And to fight a market leader like Maggi, one needs to be very focused both on brands and also resources.

Another aspect of the brand is its insensitivity towards the linguistic diversity across the vast Indian market. Although I know Hindi, I was totally clueless about what a Tadka is. I did not knew the meaning of it till I made a conscious search of the word. If the customer does not understand the meaning of Tadka, the entire brand promise will be lost. The brand will have tough time in communicating its core differentiation across non-Hindi speaking markets unless it takes pain to find apt word in all those languages.

The brand has initiated sampling across 3200 schools across India and is sponsoring lot of events and contact program with the consumers. The brand is also trying product placement in movies and sponsor programs in kid's channels ( Source).

It will be interesting to see whether Smith & Jones will be able to make a dent in Maggi's stronghold in the Rs 1100 crore noodles market. Differentiation based on flavor is not sustainable proposition. It will be easy for any marketer to launch such a variant. That was one of the reason why I doubted the effectiveness of Smith & Jones' foray into noodles .

Related Brand
Maggi
Top Ramen

Brand Update : Lux

Lux got bigger. The brand has come back in style. Lux released its first commercial featuring the most famous "Star Couple " of bollywood - Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. The brand is currently running this high profile campaign across the media space.

Watch the ad here : Lux new ad

HUL has been facing lot of heat from the competition. Most of its best sellers were losing market share and competition getting aggressive day by day. Despite having very popular brands, HUL began losing shares especially in the personal care category.
The HUL brands are facing tough competition from players like ITC , Wipro ,Godrej and the like.

Recently I checked on the HUL products purchased at my home , I was surprised to find that we have dropped many HUL products from our shopping list. In the soap category itself, we never purchased an HUL soap for the past 3 months or so. These spaces are now occupied by brands like Vivel,Dettol, Santoor etc.

In my earlier update on Lux, I mentioned that HUL is not promoting the "original " Lux and not using the equity of Aishwarya Rai. The new campaign involving the two biggest stars of bollywood gives a huge thrust to the brand.

Ordinary consumers seems to be very much impressed by the new campaign. My mother liked the ad so much that she plans to buy Lux soon.

Personally I feel that the ad could have been different. The theme is nothing new and is used by many brands before. But the Star Couple makes the theme irrelevant. The charm and the chemistry of the couple make good the flaws in the "big idea".The ad has a sticky factor and in that sense Lux benefits.

The current campaign although expensive gives the required thrust for Lux. Lux badly needed some thing new to bring back the consumers who switched to other brands and never returned. The brand had made a strong comeback and that too in style.

Related Brand
Lux

Sparx Shoes : Add Sparx to Your Life

Brand : Sparx
Company : Relaxo Footwears
Agency : Arms Communications


Brand Analysis Count : 424

Sparx is a brand from Relaxo Footwears which is India's second largest footwear company. The company which started its operations in 1976 is famous for its hawai slippers. Relaxo footwears has a turnover of around Rs 400 crores.

Sparx is the foray of the company into the high end sports shoe market . The sports shoe market is worth around Rs 400 crore and is expected to grow very fast owing to the changing lifestyle and demography.

The Indian sports shoe market is now dominated by global icons. The fight is intense between Nike , Adidas and Reebok and the new generation is lapping up these brands . It is in this market that a domestic brand is trying to make its mark.

It is true that in the Rs 10,000 crore Indian footwear market, there is plenty of space of various brands and Sparx is aiming for the same segment that the global icons are fighting for.

Sparx is relying on the celebrity power to position itself as a premium sports shoe brand. Premium interms of image and not interms of price. The brand is using the Bollywood hero Neil Nitin Mukesh as the brand ambassador . Sparx has adopted the ad slogan " Add Sparx to your life" and the brand has the tagline " Go for It" . The brand could have added some more imagination while selecting the taglines.

Watch the TVC here : Sparx

The ad which looks nice,definitely gives the brand a premium look . But there is no Big idea. The theme is old and often used by lot of brands in the past. There is no positioning nor a differentiation . What the ad generates is a fair amount of brand familiarity.

The question is whether brand familiarity is enough to generate sales. To a certain extent it helps. Shoes is an experiential product . The customer has to first try it out and feel the comfort/design etc before the purchase. So if the brand is familiar, consumers may try it out and if the product is good, they will buy. But a brand cannot just rely on familiarity to promote its purchase. It should offer a compelling reason for the consumer to reject Nike or Adidas and go for this brand ( assuming that Sparx is aiming at that segment).

If the brand is looking at a segment that cannot afford global brands like Nike, then the current strategy works. Sparx brand is priced around Rs 1300-1500 range but the problem is that with a little more money consumers can trade up to a Reebok or a Nike. That calls for a serious look at the marketing basics of Positioning and Differentiation.


Sparx is a brand from a very established footwear maker. It has the resources and the reach which are essential pre-requisites for success in the Indian market. The brand has evoked lot of curiosity with its association with the celebrity. Its success will depend a lot on how it takes the communication from curiosity to engagement.

Ambuja Cements : Branding a Commodity

Corporate Brand : Ambuja Cements

Company : Ambuja Cements Ltd ( Holcim Group Company)
Agency : Grey

Brand Analysis Count : 423

Ambuja Cements formerly Gujarat Ambuja is one of India's largest cement brands. The company came into existence in 1984. Ambuja Cements is a classic example of a successful commodity branding.
Indian cement market is different from the rest of the world because the largest segment of buyers of cement in India is the individual home owners rather than the institutions. Although this scenario is witnessing a change due to the boom in the organized realty sector, individual home owners form a significant segment that no cement marketers can ignore.
Although these individuals shell out the money to purchase cement, they are not the decision makers in the buying process.

The intermediaries like the contractors , masons etc take up the role of the influencer/decision makers in the purchase of this product. Since the consumers view this product as a commodity, the involvement of ordinary home owners in the purchase .

Ambuja Cements is one of the companies that realized the potential of brand as a differentiator. Even in the eighties, Ambuja cements started its activities for building the brand. Infact according to Superbrands report, Ambuja cements is the first cement brand to start advertising in television. Ambuja Cements also used the outdoors extensively to reinforce the brand image and enhance brand recall.
Ambuja Cements also focused on influencing the other players in the business like the contractors/masons and engineers through camps and meets.

These initiatives helped Ambuja to charge a premium over other brands. With the competition hotting up from Grasim + Ultratech, Ambuja Cements could hold on to its share because of the brand equity it had created over these years.

While branding the cement commodity,Ambuja Cements concentrated on its core brand promise of " Strength ". All through its campaigns, the brand was very consistent on reinforcing its positioning as the " Strongest " cement . The brand was also very clever in selecting a unique logo.

Commodities are boring products . But for smart marketers, this is also an opportunity to make a difference. Ambuja cements bought in lot of humor to this ( otherwise) boring product. Most of its campaigns are humorous which makes the consumers stick to the advertisements . The ad which I like most is the ad where the brothers ( Boman Irani) try to break the wall which they put up to separate their houses when they were fighting with each other.

Some other ads here : Ambuja 1,
Ambuja 2

These ads reinforce the core positioning of Ambuja as a strong cement. Strength is a very highly relevant attribute as far as customer is concerned.

While branding a commodity, the critical question is whether these ads can influence the consumers to change their commodity mindset towards this category. The answer is definitely affirmative. I have noticed many home owners directly procuring these products for their home construction because they don't trust the contractors. In these scenarios, high brand recall will give the edge for the brands.

Branding can change the perception of consumers towards commodity. The point is to create a compelling reason to do so.

Related Post
Ultratech

Brand Update : Wagon R

Wagon R is one of the largest selling brands in the Indian car market. The brand is currently in its maturity stage and Maruti is all set to put Wagon R again into the growth path. The brand has roped in Madhavan as the brand ambassador . The brand hopes that the endorsement from the star will create a new growth path for it.

Watch the TVC here : Wagon R

Wagon R is a highly relevant product for Indian consumers. I have spoken to many Wagon R users and all of them have high regards for this vehicle. Even though the product is a globally " Outdated" vehicle, for Indian consumers the brand has remained very useful. One of the major factors that drive this brand's sales is its usability. The car is easy to drive and extremely comfortable and is virtually trouble-free thanks to the Maruti Reliability.

When the product reaches the maturity stage, marketers change its marketing mix elements to rev up the sales. In the case of Wagon R, Maruti chose to change its promotions. The choice of Madhavan as the brand ambassador will give an added thrust to the brand equity of Wagon R. The brand is feeling that it is not realizing its potential fully in the southern market. Madhavan is expected to boost the brand sales in the southern markets. ( related report)

It is also interesting to see how the brand has used Madhavan in its communication. Madhavan is being used as a model in the TVC rather than as an endorser. Here Madhavan is being used as a character in the TVC plot. He is being cast as an entrepreneur in the ad.One of the reasons cane be that if Madhavan acts as an endorser, no one will believe that he uses a Wagon R. So it makes sense to cast him as a character rather than as an endorser.

Wagon R retains its core positioning as a smart choice car and has a new slogan " Smart Ideas lead the world " . The brand retains its tagline " For a Smarter Race ".
The new campaign is pushing the idea that Wagon R is a smart choice for the consumers. Indian consumers seems to like that idea.
Related brand
Wagon R

Brand Update : Rin

It has been quite a while since I wrote about Rin. The brand was moving through various experiments in extensions and positioning. The brand merged one of its extensions with Surf Excel and withdrew some others. Frankly it was a real mess.

The brand was also experimenting with its promotional messages. Rin is positioned on its " Whitening " ability. The brand has remained focused on its core brand promise. But Rin was experimenting a lot with the communication of this promise. The brand could not find a tagline that was powerful enough to convey the brand promise.

In 2008, the brand came up with the promise of Double Whiteness. Rin adopted the tagline " Duguni Safedi, Duguni Chamak " .
Watch the tvc here : Rin

The ad was catchy but somehow for me, a connection with the tagline, the theme and the brand was not strong. Rin was trying to ladder up to a higher level need but the connection couldn't be established.

This year , Rin came with another advertisement with a new tagline " Chamakte Rahna " ( meaning Keep Shining).
Watch the tvc here : Rin Chamakte Rahna

The brand has finally found its right positioning statement. Chamakte Rahna is a wonderful tagline with immense potential and possibilities for new campaigns. The tagline has a strong connection with the brand promise and at the same time helped the brand to ladder up . The ad is also very nicely made .
Chamkte Rahna is a tagline that gives the brand new opportunities to communicate with the consumers. The core idea that the tagline conveys is " to realize one's potential " . Rin has already started promoting its new found positioning theme during the Dance Premier League where the contestants are made to say the tagline. The brand is celebrating the tagline quite well.

Kudos for the brand team.

Related Post
Rin

Guru Speak by Gaurav Mishra : The Experience Ecosystem

Marketing Practice is extremely happy to present a guest post from one of India's foremost social media experts -Mr Gaurav Mishra. Gaurav needs no introduction to the blogging community. He authors a very popular blog at Gauravonomics.com. An IIM B alumnus, Gaurav is currently the CEO of a Social Business Strategy firm 20:20 Social. Gaurav was also a Yahoo! Fellow and taught Social Media at Georgetown University. On a personal note, Gaurav's thoughts on social media has always given me new insights as a marketer.

Gaurav Mishra in this post is talking about the new ecosystem created by the social media and its implication for marketers.

The Experience Ecosystem

It’s an accepted notion now that the brand is realized on the Social Web, in conversations between strangers, who then amplify, quash, or otherwise reshape each other’s opinion on the product or service, often based on first-hand experiences. These messages play off against marketing messages pushed by advertising agencies in the mind of the customer, and increasingly, customers are listening to their peers, instead of marketing messages.

The Social Web exposes any misalignment between implicit or explicit expectations set by the CMO in marketing messages and the actual experience delivered by the organization run by the COO. It is therefore critical that the CMO and COO be in absolute alignment, so that the organization (over-)delivers on what the brand has promised, leading to customer delight, loyalty and advocacy.

At the core of this approach is the idea that conversations are driven by experiences. If you want to drive positive conversations about your brands, you should start by creating an experience that is worth talking about.

The Experience Ecosystem provides the framework for creating talk-worthy experiences. It consists of all the touchpoints between the organization and the customer, including products, services and partners, sales and support channels and interactions, and the values for which the organization and its individual brands stand for.

Working within the Experience Ecosystem, the best way to create an experience worth talking about is to design it collaboratively, with customers, employees and partners. Social Applications for ideation, support and expertise-sharing enable such collaboration.

A collaboratively designed, talk-worthy Experience Ecosystem often results in the formation of communities of customers, partners, employees and even citizens. Community Platforms catalyze such communities and enable them to connect even more closely, ensuring deeper connections and even more widespread circulation of positive conversations.

Deconstructing the Experience Ecosystem

So, the obvious question arises: How do you collaboratively design an Experience Ecosystem that drives conversations and results in close-knit communities?

You start by listening. Your customers, partners, and employees are talking to each other about you, often in public, and their conversations include a treasure trove of feedback about your Experience Ecosystem, along with ideas to improve it. In short, they offer clear signals as to how they will take ownership for the experiences and conversations that will drive your brand.

However, listening is only the first step. You also need to respond to these people and participate in these conversations, not with the intent to direct them in one direction or another, but with the intent to engage them and learn more. Over time, as you track these conversation threads, you should seek ways to build profiles for the people who are participating in these conversations, and identify which conversations, and which people specifically, are the most valuable to you.

Some of these conversation threads will involve responding to and converting prospects who are considering your products or services. Other conversation threads will relate to supporting existing customers seeking an explanation or a solution. Still other conversation threads will be about customers, prospects, partners or employees giving you feedback on your Experience Ecosystem.

In each of these cases, you should use Social Applications -- small, distinct code objects that connect people, facilitate sharing, and enable coordinated experiences -- to tie these conversation threads with other similar conversation threads and leverage the power of collaboration. A prospect considering your offering may benefit from the reviews and experiences of other customers. An existing customer might find that other customers have already shared useful tips on how to solve common problems. Finally, customers can collaborate to find the best ideas to improve your products, services, and sales and support processes, or design entirely new ones.

Once you have collaboratively designed a talkworthy Experience Ecosystem, you should build Community Platforms to catalyze the formation of communities, and transform customers, partners and employees into evangelists.

The Toolkit is Still Evolving

The toolkit to create an integrated talkworthy Experience Ecosystem is still evolving, but it’s already possible to connect the various activities described above, as my colleague Dave Evans recently pointed out in his ClickZ column (http://clickz.com/3635116).

Social media monitoring tools like Radian6 (http://radian6.com) and Techrigy (http:// techrigy.com) already incorporate workstream elements. Not only that, Radian6 connects with Salesforce CRM and WebTrends Analytics, apart from Twitter.

CRM tool vendors are also expanding in both directions and introducing social media analytics and community features. Salesforce (http://salesforce.com) now has a full suite of community features including ideation, support and knowledge sharing in its Service Cloud suite (http:// salesforce.com/crm/customer-service-support) and even connects with Twitter and Facebook. Apart from the integration with Radian6, Salesforce also supports integration with the Lithium community platform and the Parature customer support suite (http://parature.com), amongst others.

At the other end, community platform vendors like Jive (http:// jivesoftware.com) and Lithium (http://lithium.com) are also aggressively introducing social media analytics and social CRM features.

In Summary

It’s more important than ever to create a talkworthy Experience Ecosystem and the tools to enable it are quickly coming together. Organizations that develop the end-to-end view described above will use these tools in an integrated manner and win on the Social Web, while those who implement disconnected solutions on an ad-hoc basis will struggle. Integration, then, is the key to winning on the Social Web.

(Gaurav Mishra (http://gauravonomics.com) is the CEO of Social Business Strategy firm 20:20 Social (http://2020social.com). Previously, Gaurav has held senior marketing roles at the Tata Group, taught social media at Georgetown as the 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow, and co-founded Vote Report India (http://votereport.in). You can follow Gaurav on Twitter at @gauravonomics (http://twitter.com/gauravonomics) and download the 20:20 Social position paper on Social Business Strategy (http://2020social.com/social_business_strategy.pdf) for a structured methodology for building a talkworthy Experience Ecosystem.)

Brand Update : Kingfisher

It is very rare to see Indian brands being mentioned for its service excellence. Today I was fortunate enough to to read one such story about Kingfisher Airlines. The story becomes more interesting because it is from one of the renowned management gurus of our times -Tom Peters.

Read the story here : Tom Peters Blog

Kingfisher Airlines has very cleverly used " Moments of Truths " to differentiate itself from the rest of airlines. Infact, the brand took extra care to treat the customers like real guests. The above said story also reveals another lesson - little things matter most in customer service. The biggest job for the service provider is to find out those little things which can create a " WoW" factor. Kingfisher created lot of goodwill when they appointed Ushers who would help carry the luggages of the customers. It could be done by any airline but it was Kingfisher who first thought about it.

A sincere smile, genuine care and happy employees can create a powerful differentiator.

Kudos to Kingfisher Airlines Team.

Brand Update : La Opala

It has been a long time since I wrote an update on La Opala. There was nothing special that was happening about this brand till recently. The brand has been very consistent in its brand promotion focusing mainly on the print media.

Recently La Opala has roped in the Bollywood Diva Bipasha Basu to endorse its premium range of Opalware " Diva " . The brand is currently running a TVC featuring the brand ambassador. Diva is a brand for those consumers who are aware of the need to add style to their kitchenware. The brand has the tagline " Fine Art of Dining".

Watch the TVC here : La Opala

This is the first time that a crockery brand has roped in a brand ambassador. The new range " Diva " is a light weight crockery targeting the SEC A & B segment.( Source)

La Opala as a brand is trying to position itself as a lifestyle product rather than plain crockery ware. All its brand communications has been focusing on the " Style " factor. This has made La Opala ,a leader in the Rs 500 crore luxury crockery market. According to news reports, La Opala has around 25% share in the crockery market. Crockery accounts for about 25% of the Rs 2000 crore luxury utensils market.

The presence of a celebrity will definitely increase the brand recall for La Opala. The brand is operating in a market which is dominated by unorganized players and also cheap imports. In such a scenario, any investment in increasing brand recall and share of mind will not go waste.

Related Brand

La Opala

Pediasure : Complete Nutrition , Complete Peace of Mind

Brand : Pediasure
Company : Abbott Pharmaceuticals

Brand Analysis Count : 422

Pediasure is a leading global brand in the pediatric nutrition segment.The brand is owned by the pharmaceutical giant Abbott. Pediasure was launched in India way back in 2000. But it is only recently that I noticed an ad for this global brand.

Pediasure is a food supplement for children aged 2-10. The brand is fighting for its share in the Rs 0.56 billion pediatric nutrition market in India. But compared to other competitors, the brand was virtually silent in the Indian market.

There is a reason behind this very soft marketing by the brand. Pediasure is basically a therapeutic supplement.According to the brand site, Pediasure is a food supplement for those kids who are picky eaters and those kids who are suffering from some diseases. This is a highly recommended supplement for those kids who are malnourished because they refuse to eat. So most of the sales would have happened through suggestions/prescriptions from doctors and also through word of mouth. A google search indicates that the brand has lot of equity among the consumers.

But by limiting its promotion, the brand had severely undermined its potential to become a popular choice among mothers. The brand has been perceived as a solution for those kids who have chronic problems thus alienating other consumers who are in need of a nutritional supplement.

The brand may have realized the potential now and have started advertising. The ad is projecting Pediasure as a supplement for all those kids who does not like taking food.The current strategy for the brand is to appeal to a larger section of mothers who feel that their child is not getting enough nutrition.

What will be a problem for Pediasure is its price. The brand is priced at around Rs 399 for 400 gm which is almost double the price of brands like Horlicks and Boost. Infact I did not buy this product for my kid ( not malnourished !!!) because of the price. The price is going to make this brand unaffordable for many middle-class customers. The brand could do well if it launches smaller SKUs of 100gms at a reasonable price point .
But for a parent whose child is severely malnutritioned , this price will not be a major issue because of necessity. I recently talked to my newspaper agent whose child was prescribed Pediasure by the doctor . The poor guy was lamenting about the high price of this product. For such consumers, smaller SKUs will make life little more easier.

The price problem becomes a sumbling block when the brand tries to get into the larger market of ordinary consumers. The brand's strategy as of now may be to explore the premium segment of the market.

Brand Update : Parachute

Parachute Advansed Starz has got a new tagline. The brand is currently running a campaign with the new tagline " Choose your avatar " . There is something interesting about the new campaign. When the brand was launched, it was speaking to the mother trying to educate her about the need for a specialized shampoo for kids.

Watch the commercial here : Kya Hoga Mera Avatar

Now the brand is directly talking to the user i.e the kids. And the brand has narrowed its TG to the Tweens and Teens rather than the very young ones.

Starz also has been aggressively promoted across the media. The brand is a pioneer in the Kid's shampoo market and is trying to capitalize on the lack of competition. Starz also is coming out with new products - the latest being the chocolate- shampoo. That signifies the fact that Starz is moving away from its earlier focus on the " Strawberry " ingredient.

The tagline seems to be catchy and focus on fun with hairstyles. The brand has realized that young girls of the new generation likes to experiment with their hairstyles and is trying to provide a healthy solution.

There is something happening for Parachute Aftershower brand too. The sub-brand has launched another extension in the form of a dandruff hair oil. The brand is running a campaign featuring its brand ambassador Yuvraj Singh.

Marico has been extending the Parachute brand too much. Hope that this extension strategy is backed by some clear longterm brand strategy.

Related Brand

Parachute

Brand Update

Halls : Thandi Saans Ka Blast

Brand : Halls

Company : Cadbury India Ltd

Agency : Contract Advertising

Brand Analysis Count : 421

Halls is one of the largest selling cough drops brand in the world. The brand claims to have 50% share in the International cough drops market.Halls brand was born in 1930 when Halls Brothers invented a Metho- Lyptus formula that alleviates throat irritations. Later in 1964,

Warner- Lambert acquired the brand and began to aggressively sell the product in the US market.

Halls came to India in 1968. The brand was initially sold as a therapeutic candy in the cough lozenges market. In 2003, Halls came into Cadbury's fold when it acquired the confectionery business of Warner-Lambert/Pfizer network ( Source : Halls Brand Site).

Halls had a series of ups and downs in the Indian market. At one point of time during the ninetees, the brand was the market leader with a share of over 30%. But at point in time , Warner- Lambert increased the price of Halls from 50 paise to 75 paise. The effect was devastating. The brand began to lose its share because consumers found it difficult to find the change in order to buy the product. It was easy to find a 50 paise but finding 25 paise was not easy. And the shop keeper will never return the 25 paise if given Rs 1. (source ).

Halls was promoted heavily by both Warner- Lambert and Cadburys. Halls is one of the heavy spenders in the category. But despite the heavy share of voice, Halls had a huge positioning problem.

The Rs 200 crore throat lozenges category is an interesting category. With in these category, there are certain subsegments which may not be visible to the consumer. For example, there is a therapeutic lozenges category which are medicinal in nature and sold through chemists. Strepsils belong to this category. While Vicks is perceived to be medicinal in nature, the product can be sold in all kind of shops. Halls belongs to the candy sub-segment within the category.

While most of the throat lozenges products are sold on medicinal platform, Halls wanted to differentiate itself. Hence the brand chose to position itself on the " Cool and Refreshing " Platform. But instead of focusing and establishing this platform, the brand kept oscillating between " medicinal throat relief " and " Refreshing" platforms. If you look at the series of ads of Halls across its lifetime, the brand was confused about its core brand value. In one ad, the brand will be concentrating on " Sore Throat " while in another it is taking about refreshing breath,

The brand was not confident about ditching the " sore throat " and embrace the " cool + refreshing " platform. This confusion eroded the brand's chances to become the market leader in this category. The brand failed to understand that it cannot be everything to everybody. It is commonsense that brands should try to occupy a unique position rather than trying to please everyone.

It was in 2008 that Halls finally decided to focus on the " Cool throat " platform . The brand used hyperbole to communicate this message to the consumer.

Watch the ad here : Halls Airplane Ad

Personally I did not like the ad because the action of the person who took Halls was contradicting the " Coolness " factor promoted by the brand. But the hyperbole or the exaggeration worked to brand's advantage. The brand was able to clearly communicate its core brand promise to the consumer.

It shows when a brand understands its core brand mantra. The decision of the brand to focus on the " coolness " had its impact on the quality of brand communication. Halls came out with its latest ad reinforcing its core positioning.

Watch the ad here : Halls Polar Bear ad

It is again Hyperbole at its height. The message is spot-on and the exaggeration works well to reinforce the core positioning of the brand. The brand has the tagline " Thandi Saans Ka Blast " which communicates its coolness promise.

Halls is facing competition for its positioning also. Recently Parle Xhale also has started its campaign highlighting its 'coolness'. Watch the ad here.

I hope that Halls will stay focused on the current positioning platform. Ofcourse by doing so, it may lose some consumers but in the long run the brand will benefit with the focus.

Brasso : Branding without Advertising

Brand : Brasso
Company : Reckitt & Benckiser

Brand Analysis Count : 420

This post is inspired by an article which came in the Economic Time ( Source). The article mentions the brand Brasso as an example of a brand which has become a 100 crore brand without spending much on advertising.

Brasso is a 105 year old brand from Reckitt & Benckiser . The brand was born in 1904 when a Reckitt official traveled to Australia and discovered the potential of a such a product. In 1905, the company brought the brand Brasso into the market. ( source).

The brand has become almost synonymous with metal polish across the world. The brand became generic after the two world wars. Brasso is heavily used by armed forces across the world . In India too, Brasso is heavily used by the armed forces. According to ET, around 12800 litres of Brasso is used by the armed forces every month.

The brand gained its generic status purely by word of mouth. The very simple fact that this product is used by armed forces gave it tremendous authenticity. In the consumer space, the product has limited usage.The rich heritage and the word of mouth gave the brand enough recall when ever there is a need for a metal polish. Since the brand is selling without any advertising, the company is also happy to let the party run.

But the problem with such a brand is that there is a possibility that the brand misses out in opportunities. Many consumers does not know that Brasso can be used to clean scratched CDs and even repair scratches in plastic products. Unless the brand communicates regularly , there is a chance that the brand will miss out in capitalizing its strengths and in finding new uses for the product.