Brand Update : Mango Bite

Kaccha Mango Bite is a product line extension of Mango Bite . But over these years, this flavor has caught the fancy of the consumers so much so that almost all the candy makers have introduced the Kaccha Mango ( Raw Mango) flavor in their portfolio.

Parle also may not have thought that this flavor would become a rage. Now the situation is that Kaccha Mango variant is more widely distributed than the original Mango Bite. The the variant has now the status of an independent brand.

The raw mango taste is very unique and different. It is this uniqueness that has created a lot of interest in the consumers especially the kid's mind. Child's mind loves uniqueness and is always looking for new experiments. When all the candies are sweet, a little sour taste gives the much needed break from the usual.

The variant was also promoted extensively by Parle. The brand really owned the taste by a smart positioning . Kaccha Mango Bite is positioned as " Xerox of Raw Mango". It has the tagline " Kaccha Aam ka Xerox " .

I remember two ads which was spot on the positioning.

Watch the ad here : Xerox Ad

: Animation ad

By positioning itself as the Xerox copy of Kaccha Mango, the brand literally created a strong position in the consumer's mind. I think that the brand has changed the tagline to " Kaccha Aam ka Copy " because Xerox is a tradename owned by another company.

The success of Kaccha Mango Bite made the competitor entering the fray with their own versions. ITC launched the Natkhat Mango variant and recently the brands like Alpenliebe launched the raw mango flavor.

Kaccha Mango now have a generic status in the market for this flavor. No other brands have so far been able to crack the equity of this variant.

Related Brand

Mango Bite

Marketing Strategy : The Family Brand Conundrum

Indian industrial scene is dominated by family owned businesses. It is common to see business taking up their family name /surname/patriarch's name as their corporate brand name. This phenomenon is seen globally.

The adoption of the family name as the brand name has the possibility of creating new problems in the branding context. All is well when the family stays together. But the branding problem starts when the family business splits. While the physical assets are split without much issues, often the family brand is also shared by the various groups. For example , family names like Birla, Bajaj etc are used by different business houses owned by different family members. Every group would like to take advantage of the equity of those renowned family name. But in a branding context, this can often means the dilution of the core brand equity.

While large industrial houses dealing with B2B markets are less affected by this dilution, it is the B2C brands that faces the heat most. Most of the family brands in the consumer space are now faced with a identity crisis . When the same brand name is owned by multiple owners, the brand loses its identity. Different owners will use the brand differently and in effect the entire brand will be pulled to different directions thereby diluting the core equity .

While after splitting, the family members use the same brand name to take advantage of the existing equity, they fail to see the long term effect of this multiple ownership and the dilution of the very equity which they tried to use. But when the realization dawns, they would have invested heavily in the current brand that traps them from developing a new brand.

Most of such business try to half heartedly develop a new identity by adding an additional initial or a name to the family brand . But the family name still is retained as the primary brand thus negating any chance of differential identity. Some times the brand owners try to create a new identity by some cosmetic changes like a color change or a logo change which is going to have no impact on the consumers.

In such a scenario, what is the way forward ?

In the branding context , there is no easy way. The parties involved should be courageous enough to embrace a new identity. The longer it takes , the more they invest on the existing brand and thus getting more deep into the branding trap.

The issue of the family brand name should be sorted ideally at the stage where the family business is split into different groups. One group can take the ownership of the brand and other groups can be compensated . But seldom such an agreement can be reached because every party will be wanting to take advantage of the existing equity.

Another option is to give the ownership of the brand to all the groups for a certain period of time within which they should be migrating to a new brand platform .

But it is the onus of every business groups to make sure that they have complete control over the brand upon which their business is built. The brand owners should not hesitate to create their own identity as soon as possible. The best way to do this is to create a migration plan from the existing family brand name to a new identity. One way of doing this is to change the brand name at one go. A revolutionary rebranding exercise can be undertaken.

Another option is to have a very slow migration plan.The first stage of migration will involve campaigns where the new brand name will be created as a sub-brand of the existing family name. In the campaigns, the family brand name will be prominent. The second stage will involve the transformation of the family name into an endorser brand and the new brand identity to take the center stage.

It will be difficult for the brand to retain its core equity or identity when owned by different players . The sooner the owners realize, the better their brand architecture will be in future.

Brand Update : Logan

It is sad to see a good product struggling in the market because of a messed up strategy by the brand owner. Logan is a brand which failed to realize its true potential because of a flawed strategy by Renault. Logan also is an example that shows how marketing is intimately blended with corporate strategy.

I was reading reviews about Logan in many magazines. All reviews unanimously praised the car on all parameters except the looks. At a price range of Rs 5,00,000 to Rs 7,00,000, the brand offered unmatched value for money for the consumers. But despite every thing going good for this brand, Logan is no where in the Indian market. Recently there were rumors about the brand being withdrawn .

What went wrong ?

The strategy ...

Renault bought this brand through a JV with Mahindra & Mahindra. JV is supposed to be the best market - entry strategy when entering into a new international market. The local partner is expected to give insights into the market and also the distribution reach. But history has shown that JVs in the Indian automobile industry has not always been successful ( Hero Honda being an exception). The success of JV is depended on the mutual trust, respect, clarity of roles of the partners etc.

Renault - Mahindra JV began to face issues within a short time mainly due to the policies adopted by Renault. Renault announced a series of JV with Bajaj f0r the small car and initiated talks with other players which upset M&M. Is it common sense to have different JVs with different players for different type of cars in the same industry/market ???

When you have a JV with a player who has similar product , can you be sure that your product will get the same level of attention ? Mahindra's focus will be towards Scorpio and Logan will always be get a step motherly treatment in the dealerships. That is happening with most of the such JVs including Tata Fiat JV. ( I am sorry to generalize but many of my friends talk about the lack of interest shown by the dealers in pushing such step son brands).

Renault did a big mistake in its blind pursuit of growth through multiple JVs in the same industry. If Renault was serious about Logan, it would have built its own network of dealers and service centers even though it would take a couple of years to create such a network. But Renault chose the easy way and it flopped. After three years, Logan is not a brand to reckon with but a brand whose future is a question mark ?

Renault should have learned a lesson from Skoda India. Skoda which is a highly successful brand in India took time to develop its own sales and service network in a slow and steady manner. It is now giving the brand unmatched reach and success in India market.

Logan also had a marketing issue. The brand was never promoted aggressively. There was little or no promotions except some bland discount ads by the local dealers. The brand was not built after the initial launch phase. The lack of customer- pull added by the lack of dealer-push made sure that Logan remained in the dealership rather than at the consumer's garage. The news about rocky JV also ensured that potential consumers steer clear of the brand because of worry about future service.


If Logan fails, it is going to be a sad story of a good product killed by a flawed corporate strategy.


Related Brand
Logan

Infibeam Pi : Indian Kindle ?

Brand : Infibeam Pi
Company : Infibeam.com

Brand Analysis Count # 442

It is very risky to write about a product before it is launched in the market. Many marketing commentators have failed in predicting the success of a product before being practically launched in the market.

Infibeam Pi can be termed as India's answer to Amazon Kindle. Pi is an e-book reader from Infibeam.com . Infibeam is one of the largest Business to Consumer portals in India. The company which was launched in 2007 also has one of the largest inventory of books. Infibeam is promoted by Mr Vishal Mehta who chucked his juicy job in USA to pursue his entrepreneurial passion .

Pi is a product like the world famous Amazon Kindle. This e-book reader comes with the same technology of E-ink that the Kindle uses. The form factor also is strikingly similar. But what comes as the biggest coup of all sorts is the price. While Kindle is shipped to India at a price of about Rs 18,000, Pi is priced at Rs 9999 ( introductory offer).

In one of my earlier posts, I had written that the aggressive high pricing of globally successful brands in India can lead to opening up opportunities that other players can grab. Pi is one such striking example.

Amazon had to price its Kindle at Rs 18,000 + because of duties and taxes .Such a globally famous product launching in India created enough buzz and virtually created a market for e-readers in India. Infibeam Pi became the first Indian brand to take advantage of that buzz. To add to the buzz, the launch of iPad also has significantly increased the consumer interest in the market for e-book readers in India.

In that scenario, the launch of Pi is very significant. Although Pi definitely have a first mover advantage, the path is not so smooth. The product is impressive. Pi comes with an expandable memory slot and also can play music. The company claims a battery charge life of 7 days. The brand can read a wide range of formats like Pdf,Mob, Doc etc . ( Read specs here). To complement the reader, Infibeam also has an e-book store which has a good collection of books in the electronic format.

The major marketing issue for Pi is to develop the market for e-book readers. Even though Indian consumers are aware about such a product, Pi needs to change the reading habits of the consumers to a certain extent. It starts with the purchasing of e-books and the first convincing is that e-book which is non-physical offers the same value as the book ( physical). Second convincing is about the reading habit. Consumers need to experience the product first inorder to understand the convenience of using an e-book reader. He needs to feel that he gets the same effect when he reads a physical book.

Infibeam also has a tough task of establishing trust in the potential users. Many consumers are not aware of such a company existing. The launch of Pi gave the Infibeam lot of PR but Infibeam needs to establish its credentials because consumers look for trust while purchasing a durable item like a e-book reader.

Since this is an electronic device , there will be lot of apprehensions about the quality , durability and servicability of Pi. Infibeam, being a portal, will have to convince the customer that it will be able to provide service support in case something goes wrong. If the consumer has to ship the product to avail the service, it is not going to help the product to get accepted fast. Infibeam should convince the consumer about the battery life and whether this product can be serviced/repaired in the event of a complaint. I am sure that the product will work fine for the first year but after that ? The best way for Pi is to give a 5 year warranty that will add lot of value for the brand. This will prompt those doubtful consumers to free up their purse strings without waiting for reviews or peer feedback.

Being a platform like a e-store and selling a device are two different ball game. Google recently understood that when it launched its first device Nexus One. Durables needs a channel which can sell and support the product . Otherwise it will be the consumers who will feel stranded when they face product related issues. In the case of Infibeam Pi also, the brand has to create a proper service network before venturing into selling Pi in a big way.

Infibeam has introduced the right product at the right price. As a consumer , I would be happy if the price comes down by a couple of thousands. Now what Infibeam has to do is to build a business architecture around this device. If the products performs well and the service is accessible and good, Infibeam has a winner in hand and Kindle will have to forget the Indian market.

Mahindra Gio : Potential Category Killer

Brand : Mahindra Gio

Company : Mahindra & Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count # 441

This is the decade of Mahindra Group. Ever since the success of Scorpio, Mahindra is on a roll. Lead by the dynamic Anand Mahindra, Mahindra group was quick to spot market opportunities and to tap them. The Satyam acquisition and Kinetic motors buy were all efforts to plug those gaps they found in the market.

Gio is one such initiative of M&M to cash in on a latent demand in the goods carrier market. Mahindra Gio is a 0.5 tonne four wheeler goods carrier. Infact Gio is India's first 0.5 tonne four wheeler goods carrier. This product is a classic case of a successful product development in the Indian context.

Gio is a potential category killer. This brand is going to burn the three wheeler goods carrier market . The three wheeler category will slowly shift to the new category since Gio is addressing a latent demand in the category for a better looking & comfortable goods carrier.

The 0.5 tonne goods carrier market is basically a three wheeler market dominated by Bajaj and Piaggio . The category is discarded by the players who focused only on volume and not on product development. The three wheelers lacked the comfort and was rustic. The brands competing in the segment was suffering from marketing myopia. They thought that the competition can come only from three wheelers. So we see the same type of noisy shaky rustic three wheeler goods carrier. Its time to change.

Gio is going to be a winner from the word Go ( Just like Maruti Eeco). The product is a four wheeler and that makes a big difference for the existing three wheeler users. One factor that is going to make Gio a winner is the price. Gio is priced at Rs 1,65,000 which means by paying a premium of Rs 20,000 , a potential three wheeler buyer can own a mini truck. Aspirationally, it is a big leap to the buyer.

Tata Ace is priced at around Rs 2,50,000 + and three wheeler goods carriers are priced at Rs 1,45,000. There is a significant price gap between these two product categories. Gio is aiming at filling this price gap. Also more than price gap, the brand is filling the need gap for a better goods carrier. Ace showed the need for a 1 tonne carrier and Gio took a lesson from Ace in this new segment.

According to the brand website, Gio name was derived from the Hindi word " Jeeyo" which means long and happy life. The brand is targeting the last-mile market where the intra-city transport of fmcg,durables, agriculture produce etc are involved.

Gio looks strikingly different from the existing vehicles that ply the Indian road. Gio has a peculiar look which looks little odd for a goods carrier. There is a reason for such a look.M&M wanted to make Gio look trendy and different which is another way of adding value to the product. The brand is breaking the myth that goods carriers should not be glamorous. Another vital marketing lesson from the brand. The brand sports an engine from the American Engine maker Kohler. The brand claims a mileage of 27 Kmpl which is equal to that of a three wheeler.

Another interesting fact is that M&M has developed a good website for Gio . It is unusual for such a goods carrier brand to have a significant presence in the web but Gio feels that there will be business owners who will look for information about the brand in the web. Another interesting move by the brand.

Gio has the looks and a mouth watering price that makes it a potential winner. A lot of marketing thought has gone into the making of this product. It is surprising to see that Tata was not able to identify this gap. Tata Ace is a highly successful product which virtually created the sub 1 tonne goods carrier market. I expected that Tata Motors would think about replicating the success of Ace in the three wheeler category. But instead of Tata, M&M grabbed the opportunity with Gio.So it is an opportunity lost for Tata Ace.

Kudos to Gio and M&M.

Related Brand
Tata Ace

Maruti Eeco : Happiness Family Size

Brand : Maruti Eeco

Company : Maruti Suzuki Ltd

Brand Analysis Count # 440

Maruti has launched a new Multi Purpose Vehicle - Eeco. Eeco is the rebirth of the Late Maruti Versa. Versa was a big flop despite the high profile celebrity endorsements from Amithabh and Abhishek Bachchan. Maruti messed up that

practical car with a ridiculous pricing.

And what a way to come back.

Eeco is built in the same platform of Versa. The brand has the famed KB series of engine that powers the new Maruti offerings like the Ritz. The company also squeaked the exteriors of the old Versa, discarded the high roofing and added little more graphics in its new avatar.

More than anything else, it is the price that makes Eeco a potential winner in the ever value conscious Indian market. Priced from Rs 2,60,000 - Rs 3,10,000, the brand comes in a mouth watering price . At this price,Eeco is a winner from the word " Go".

Maruti Eeco fills an important gap in the automotive market. There exist a need for a entry level vehicle that can carry a large family . The small cars can never satisfy that need. Infact most of the cars are ideal for a family size of 4. Eeco is fulfilling that need and that too at a irresistible price.

Eeco is priced at a premium to Omni. Omni , although found takers in the Indian market suffered because of concern of security and lack of comfort. The future of Omni is bleak since the van cannot be fitted with A/C and A/C is becoming a part of the expected product.

Eeco offers all these comforts. It has an A/C variant and comes in 7 seater & 5 seater offerings. For a large family , Eeco makes immense practical sense. Backed by Maruti reliability, Eeco is expected to boost up this new segment of entry level MPVs. Eeco will be popular both at rural and urban markets.

I expect this brand to create a new segment of entry level MPV . Eeco will definitely cannibalize Alto, Omni and to a certain extent Wagon- R by luring large families into it. But more than the limited cannibalization, this is a product that Indian families were waiting for. The predicted success of Eeco will also open up a new market segment for comfortable mini vans. Now we have only have such large carriers at the premium segments like Innova. Eeco has the potential to disrupt the market structure . Most car makers assume that the typical family structure in India is of the size 4 and thus turning a blind eye towards many large families. Eeco can change the way automakers look at this segment .

The brand has the tagline " Happiness , Family Size " . Eeco is running a tvc across various channels. The ad is very basic and nothing much to talk about. It does't need a highly creative ad for such a wonderful offering.

The only factor that Eeco will have to deliver is the promise. If Eeco as a product performs on parameters like comfort, A/C cooling, safety, stability and mileage, it is a winner.

Related Brand

Maruti Versa

Listerine : Pioneering a Category

Brand : Listerine
Company : Johnson & Johnson
Agency : Contract Health

Brand Analysis Count # 439

Listerine is a brand that pioneered the mouthwash category globally. The brand which is 100 years old was named after its inventor Joseph Lister. The brand over these years changed hands many times. The original brand owners were Warner- Lambert which was later acquired by Pfizer. In 2008, the brand again changed hands to Johnson & Johnson.

Listerine is one of the first mouthwash brands to enter India. The brand pioneered the Indian mouthwash segment which is now estimated to be worth around Rs 45 crore. Listerine is having more than 90% share in the Indian market.

Mouthwash category is still very small in the Indian market. Mostly these products are considered to be medicinal and that perception inhibits lot of consumers from buying mouthwash product.

The category penetration is still restricted to a small segment of consumers. The mouthwash is bought by
(a) those who are aware of the efficacy of the product like germ killing etc
( b) those who are conscious about their bad breath
(c) those prescribed by dentists.
A normal consumer may not look at this category as a normal regular purchase.

Another major issue that inhibited the growth of Listerine brand was its bad taste. Why should one tolerate bad tasting mouthwash every morning ? Unless the need is grave , consumers may not tolerate such an attribute. Understanding this issue, Listerine changed the flavor so that bad taste will not be a stumbling block for using this product. But still Listerine is associated with bad taste among lot of consumers.

Listerine globally is positioned on the germ killing plank. According to reports, when the brand was first introduced in USA, it got a lukewarm response. To pep up the sales, the brand owners devised an innovative strategy whereby they introduced the medical term for bad breath. The advertisers introduced a faux term Chronic Halitosis to describe bad breath ( Source) . Consumers fearing that bad breath is a medical condition ran for the mouthwash cure.

In India too, the brand started off as a cure for bad breath. Watch one of the earlier campaigns here.
Although the brand had excellent recall , the promotions for the brand was erratic. The brand went on and off in the media and there was no significant effort from the brand to penetrate the market. The brand usage was severely restricted to certain consumer segments and the usage was also not regular.

Listerine is currently running a campaign positioning itself as a " Freshness Bomb". The new campaign is featuring MTV VJ Cyrus . The ad is strikingly similar to the " Chocolate Bomb" ad of Cadbury Eclairs. I am not sure why the agency went on to copy a famous ad rather than spend some grey cells on some new creative idea. ( I don't have the listerine ad, will link it once I get it)

Listerine is right now facing a crisis also. According to Business World report, the use of mouthwash which have alcohol content can increase the chances of oral cancer . The report is quoting some Australian research report to prove its point. It is surprising to see the brand not responding to such serious allegations. The Johnson & Johnson website does not even mention this brand in their product list.

Listerine at this point needs to desperately develop the mouthwash category. It needs to expand the market by
(a) educating consumers about product attributes and importance
(b) encourage consumers to use the product on a regular basis.
(c) focus on attributes like convenience, confidence etc.
Take the example of handwash category.Marketers has successfully developed this category in India through high profile advertising campaigns.

Globally Listerine has variants like Teeth Whitening mouth wash which I think is the best product to increase the brand penetration. More than bad breath, consumers are likely to be attracted by the whitening attribute which has the potential to increase the overall category usage.

Listerine has a potential in Indian market. Indian consumers have become more networked and socially active. In such a highly interactive environment, mouthwash has lot of relevance because it is convenient. 30 seconds is only what is needed to get your breath refreshed and that is a useful and appealing proposition especially to youngsters.

Brand Update : Idea

Idea cellular is running another series of campaigns under " An idea can change your life " theme.
This time, the brand is evangelizing " save the trees " idea.

Watch the tvc here : Idea

Idea cellular should be commented for its consistency in their positioning. It is very easy for the brand managers to become bored at harping on same theme again and again. This can prompt some managers to change for the sake of changing thus undoing the entire work done so far. In that way, it is good to see Idea cellular milking the maximum out of its big idea.

Coming to the campaign, as usual the campaigns are catchy, humorous and has a message which is miles away from where the brand stands.

According to reports, the brand is planning a 360 degree campaign to take the concept to the masses.
I have been closely watching the unfolding of Idea's branding strategies for a while . The brand had wisely taken a strategy which acted as an effective clutter breaker. No one misses the campaign but after a while no one remembers it too . Although the campaigns talks about various issues, I felt a sort of disconnect somewhere. If we look at similar consistent campaigns like Fevicol or Gillette, there is a strong string which connects their campaigns together. That connecting string is missing in the Idea cellular campaigns.

This is my hypothesis about the brand's campaign :

Even though the brand uses the same set of brand elements like the taglines in all their campaigns, normal audience often discounts the idea as utopian or imaginative. Unlike Fevicol, Idea mixes hyperbole with real issue which makes the viewer "dismiss " the idea of the campaign. I have never seen anyone discussing the concept proposed by Idea campaigns.
In Fevicol, there is only hyperbole without any mixing of real issues and audience "discuss" the exaggeration and does not dismiss .

Having said that, in telcom market, the purpose of advertisement is largely creating brand salience. Idea cellular has become a master in creating brand salience and the campaigns serve this purpose very well.

Vanish : Trust Pink, Forget Stains

Brand : Vanish
Company : Reckitt & Benckiser

Brand Analysis Count : 438

Vanish is a category creator in the Indian market. This is a brand that pioneered the stain removal fabric care product category in India. Infact this category was carved out from the broader detergent/fabric care market in India.

Vanish is a global leader in the fabric stain removal fabric care product category. This Rs 2700 crore global brand came to India in 2005 after an extensive test marketing phase which started as early as 2001. Vanish was launched in India as Vanish Shakthi . The brand is in the "specialist fabric care "product category which is a subcategory of fabric care market.

Vanish is a stain removing product. This product has to be added with the ordinary detergent inorder to remove the toughest of stains. The brand has been actively promoted across various media .
One of the interesting feature about this brand is the usage of the brand element -color of the packaging- as a differentiator and as an anchor. Although Vanish powder is white in color, the brand uses pink packaging as a powerful brand element. The brand even uses the color as the element that anchors the brand to the customer's mind. Vanish uses the tagline " Trust Pink, Forget Stains ". Infact this is one brand that uses color to increase the brand salience . Globally too Vanish uses the same strategy to create distinctiveness .

Pink and stain removing detergent are seemingly unrelated attributes. Some may say these attributes are negatively associated. But Vanish established that Pink can remove Stains. By creating such an association, the brand has created a powerful differentiator. The brand uses its " Active Oxygen" property to rationally convince the customers of its effectiveness in removing tough stains.

Vanish has achieved this through powerful advertising. The ads are full of pink color bombarding the consumers about the message " Trust Pink, Forget Stains ".

Watch the ads here : Vanish 1, Vanish 2.

The brand follows the global advertising strategy in India too. The ads have the same theme of product demo/ stain challenge coupled with pink dressed models doing the demo.

It has to be said that these ads increase the brand recall among the viewers because it has lot of powerful brand elements.
But more than these high profile promotions, Vanish became globally successful because of product efficacy. Many friends who used this product has vouched for its effectiveness. A good product with strong brand elements backed by a heavy load of ads should be a sure winner .

Having said that, Vanish has a tough task ahead. First difficulty is to establish the usefulness of the brand in everyday life of the consumer. Since this brand is a specialist, consumers may use this product only on occasions where they have to deal with tough dirt. So there is a chance of this brand remaining niche because of that perception. The new campaign is aimed at convincing the consumers that using Vanish everytime can remove stains which were left unnoticed by the consumers. So less risk when used regularly. It is a smart move indeed.

Another issue is the price. Vanish is an expensive product and since this is not replacing the ordinary detergent, Indian homemakers may think twice before including Vanish in the regular purchase list. Although Vanish has introduced economical packages, it may have to go through the sachet route if it wants to drive volume. In the ever value conscious Indian consumer mindset, Vanish still remains as a ' luxury'.

Third issue is the competition. Although Vanish is a specialist, it is facing competition from ordinary detergents which also claims to be stain removers. It is logical for a consumer to choose a detergent that claims to have stain removal property rather than buy two products .

Vanish is India for long term. It has the backing of a global fmcg giant, a rich global success background and a potential consumer market to tap. It will be a brand worth watching.

Related Brand
Comfort Fabric Conditioner

Marketing Strategy : Don't Enter a Market Without Strategy

Marketers of iconic brands often find themselves in a difficult spot when entering Indian market. It is no doubt that India offers a huge marketing opportunity for such iconic brands.Indian consumers are well connected to the global branding trends and are ready to splurge themselves into those aspirational iconic global brands.

iphone was a brand which was one of the most awaited brand launch in Indian mobile phone market and look at how that brand priced itself out of the market. At a price of over Rs 35000, the brand was virtually out of reach of many aspiring consumers. For those who could afford such a price, iPhone did not match their value proposition. The result was a lukewarm response to one of the world's largest selling smartphone brand by Indian consumers.

After the liberalization in 1991, many global brands came to India lured by the huge potential but blinded by aggression. These brands priced themselves aggressively thinking that Indian consumers will open up their purse strings just to own those 'phoren' brands. But they went for a rude shock and realized that aspirational or not, value drives the Indian consumers to buy.

After 20 years, some brands never learned the lesson. Recently Volkswagen announced the price of their iconic brand Beetle at Rs 22 lakhs. I bet that you are going to see very very few Beetles in the Indian market. It is not going to have the iconic status it commanded elsewhere because in India, this product will be viewed as a 'pompous' product rather than an icon.

Although not iconic, Kindle brand is considered to be a game changer in the global electronics/publishing market. The brand is considered to be a serious threat to the physical book publishing industry . Kindle which announced its India foray disappointed many consumers by pricing it at Rs 18000-Rs 250000 virtually killing any chance of mass adoption. It is a skimming strategy that will potentially go wrong in the Indian market.

Harley Davidson which is going to be launched in the Indian market if priced steeply will open up a market for a reasonably priced cruiser bikes in the Indian market.

Compare it with the strategy of BMW. BMW entered Indian market with a robust strategy. The product were priced extremely sensibly and the result is that it became the leader in that segment dethroning Mercedes.

For most of these global iconic brands, they enter a market like India without much strategy. The only reason for entering India is to have a presence. One of the reason for iPhone's pricing is that the brand is not interested in capturing Indian market since it is too busy with its other markets. It is in India for " Nam ke Vaste" ( Name Sake). Same is the case with Kindle.

There is a larger issue for such name sake launches. These launches often creates opportunities for other players. In the case of iPhone, its much hyped entry virtually exploded the smartphone and touch screen mobile phone market in India. Brands like Nokia , LG, Samsung etc capitalized the frenzy of touch screen smartphones thanks to the launch of iPhone. In value terms, iPhone will have a tough time beating these players in the Indian market when it want to get serious about India.

Kindle and Beetle also will have the same fate in the Indian market. The hype and aspiration created by these brand will be satisfied by other brands which are serious about the Indian market.

The only way out is to enter a market only with a strategy. If there is no strategy, it is better not to enter it. Sometimes, doing nothing is a better strategy than doing something for namesake...

Garnier : Take Care

Brand : Garnier
Company : Loreal India
Agency : Lowe Lintas

Brand Analysis Count : 437

Garnier is a brand that epitomizes smart marketing practice. This is a brand that came to India in 1991 and crafted a special place for itself in the Indian market.This is one global brand which has understood the dynamics of Indian market.

Garnier came to India with its Ultra Duox range of shampoos. The brand is amass market brand from Loreal which has a range of global premium personal care brands like Maybelline, Ralph Lauren., Diesel ,Vichy etc. Loreal started its operations as a joint venture with MJ Group . Later in 1994, the company started its own operations.

All through these years, Garnier had a very consistent marketing approach. What I liked about this brand was the kind of investment that it had put in for marketing activities. Ofcourse all these happened because it had the support of its parent company.

Garnier can be considered as a masstige brand. Although positioned as a premium offering, the brand was wise enough to price it reasonable. Currently Garnier is targeting the middle and upper socio-economic class.

Globally Loreal is a company that is famous for its product innovation. Garnier too has built its brand by launching new products on a regular basis. A strategy based on product innovation works best for a brand like Garnier. When the consumer sees regular new product flow from the brand, it creates a sense of excitement with in the consumer which will prompt her to stick to this brand.Garnier was the first brand to introduce a cream based hair coloring solution.

Garnier is now present in a diverse range of personal care product categories. It is present in the hair-care and skin-care segments.
The brand have two sub-brands : Garnier Fructis and Garnier Ultra Doux. Fructis is an interesting sub-brand which has clicked in the Indian market because of its positioning as a fruit based product. Consumers readily embraced this variant because it made sense to depend on a natural shampoo rather than chemical based one.

Garnier is positioned as a nature- based ( green) innovative personal care brand which takes care of your skin. The brand has a very catchy tagline " Take Care ". Garnier's positioning strategy is more product based in the sense that it has tried to emphasis individual product properties rather than a common brand image. Most of its commercials are emphasizing on product strengths and innovation. The brand is an example of the success of rational product based advertising success. The brand is also sending a message that Indian consumers are also influenced by rational messages and product innovations rather than mindless emotional blah-blahs.

Another interesting marketing strategy adopted by Garnier is its advertising execution. True to its global parentage, Garnier was careful in its advertising theme. It uses a blend of foreign and Indian models and themes for its campaign.Garnier ads can be termed as localized international advertising which has a global touch but does not appear alien to Indian realities. The brand uses a careful blend of celebrities and models in their campaigns without relying much on their individual persona. Their products are always the stars in their campaigns.

Recently Garnier launched another new innovative product in the Indian market - Garnier Shampoo + Oil 2 in 1 shampoo. This is something that Indian consumer has never seen before. And a product which Indian consumer find little difficult to believe. Shampoo and oil are something that is not supposed to work together. Infact shampoo is used against oil. ndian consumers are habituated to using oil regularly and time usually works against using them both. And since these two products are supposed to work against each other and time factor prevents them from using both, Garnier has thought of a plan to integrate north-pole and south-pole together.

Garnier Oil + Shampoo is a blend of 3 oils and shampoo. According to press release, the oil will work within to strengthen the hair and shampoo will clean the hair. This shampoo variant contains three oils - Olive,Avocado and Shea oil.

Recently , one of my earlier students talked to me about this brand launch. She and her group had suggest such a product combination during a project presentation to me as a part of the marketing course three years back. I remember taking the group to a series of tough questioning ( in other words -blasting) about the acceptance of such a product in the Indian market. She was delighted that such an idea being implemented in the real marketing world.

My primary doubt is whether the brand be able to convince the customer that shampoo and oil can go together ? Here the brand is trying to redefine a negative relationship between two attributes and trying to convince the customers that there is a scope for these two working together positively. According to Prof Kevin lane Keller, this strategy is difficult but once established , it can be a powerful differentiator. What the brand has to do is to develop a credible story that consumers can agree ( source : Strategic Brand Management by Keller)
Watch the commercial here : Garnier oil Shampoo

Whether these innovations fail or succeed, Garnier gains much equity through these steady stream of product launches. The premium positioning , smart pricing, heavy investment in brand promotion, innovative products and strong distribution reach has enabled this brand to create a special place in the Indian personal care industry. A lesson for aspiring brands.

Brand Update : Sunlight

It has been a long time since I wrote an update on Sunlight. This brand which is the oldest detergent brand from HUL was witnessing a revival of sorts. In my last post on Sunlight, I had commented that the brand was languishing because of the lack of support from the company.

2008 saw some brand activity aimed at reviving the fortune of this brand. Sunlight is not a national brand. According to news reports, the brand is a leading detergent brand in some markets like Kerala. Hence the brand was not getting enough support from the company in the past years.

HUL was facing the critical issue of focus in the past few years. It had a plethora of brands which had regional presence but no national foothold. Various leaders at HUL had different ideas about such a brand portfolio. Some CEOs ruthlessly cut the brand portfolio trying to focus on certain number of brands while some others believed in market share and volume game. This divergent views about the brand portfolio created a sense of directionless in the marketing activities of this marketing giant. HUL never seemed so vulnerable in the Indian market. The last decade saw the company venturing into confused brand strategies which ultimately helped other FMCG companies to cash in on market shares.

Sunlight was one such brand which lost its relevance in the strategy of HUL. I had commented that HUL is not spending enough for this brand. However, that complaint is now resolved. 2008 saw a campaign for Sunlight's new variant Sunlight Orange.
The brand is running a campaign in most of the channels : Watch the tvc here

I was rather surprised at the campaign because it was an unusual campaign for Sunlight. An animated ad for a detergent brand was something very unique. The ad typically look like that of brands aiming kids. I still wonder the logic of having an animated ad for a product like Sunlight. The characters, the song , everything was ideal for a confectionery or a toy . The ad is for anew variant of Sunlight which is having orange extract which will make the clothes shine better.

How ever, the ad seems to have some sticky factor although the Sync with the brand was less. I guess that this promotion will work in rural markets because of the novelty of the idea. Some campaign is better that nothing. In that sense, Sunlight brand can breathe a sigh of relief.

Related Brand
Sunlight

Binani Cement : Sadiyon Ke Liye

Corporate Brand : Binani Cement
Agency : By Design India Pvt Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : 436

Binani Cement is one of the mid-sized cement brands in the highly competitive Indian cement industry . Binani cements belongs to to Braj Binani group. The group ventured into cement manufacturing in 1997 . Binani Cements is now a 1900 crore company with significant presence in states like Rajasthan ,Delhi, Punjab , Haryana and Gujarat. The company also has presence in foreign countries like Middle East and China.

Indian cement marketers has long been trying to brand this commodity. Binani is one such player who has taken up branding in a serious manner. The brand is relying on the celebrity power to build its equity. Binani Cement used the cricketing master Sunil Gavaskar to promote its brand during the launch phase in 1997. After a long period of silence, the brand began to invest heavily in brand promotion from 2007.

The brand chose the ever green Amitabh Bachchan as the brand ambassador in 2007. There was lot of buzz during the time big B was chosen to endorse a cement brand.

Binani Cement started using Big B in the television commercials in a dignified manner. This is one of those brands that tried to make use of Bachchan's charisma to the brand's advantage. The ads were laden with subtle humor and according to the reports, Binani cement's sales surged during these campaigns.

Watch the campaigns here : Binani Cement 1, Binani Cement 2

The brand did a smart move by taking advantage of the fact that both the brand and the brand ambassador name starts with B. The cement brand began to call itself Big B. While the brand gains by the association, there were many critics who argued that now Big B will be associated with cement rather than celebrity.

Binani cement has the tagline " Sadiyon Ke liye" which means " for centuries ".

Although the ads featuring Bachchan was well made, I felt that it lacked a punch. The brand lacked a powerful message . I would even say that the brand is not able to convey its brand manthra to the consumers. That may be the reason why those ads did not stick with the consumers.

When trying to brand a commodity, the brand should stand for something significant. It should be either strength , quality , trust , heritage, etc. Although Binani Cement has a good tagline, the emphasis was not there on any significant USP. The brand could have done much better if it had focused on a key strength of the brand and used the celebrity to emphasis that strength. For example Gujarat Ambuja has owned the USP of Strength and Ultratech is taking the positioning as Engineers Choice. So when comparing with these competitors, Binani Cement does not have a clarity in its positioning. It seems that it is trying to derive some strength through association with a celebrity. Such a celebrity dependent positioning strategy is not advisable for the brand . Ideally Binani could have identified its strength and used celebrity to highlight that strength.

To be fair to the brand, it has to be highly appreciated to venture into investing money in building a brand in the commodity space.
Related Brands
Ultratech
Gujarat Ambuja

Marketing Strategy : Philosophical Branding

Let me try to dabble with a little philosophy and branding. Branding is all about building beliefs in the mind of the consumers. Brand is a belief . When a consumer buys a brand, what he is essentially buying is a belief.

Belief is a thought repeated often with emotion. When you repeat a thought with lot of emotions, it becomes a belief. In medical terms, these repeated thoughts create neural pathways which later drives the person to a particular action based on that pathway.

So when a marketer wants to build a brand, there are three essential requirements that will ensure success.
1. Create a powerful thought
2. Back the thought with emotion
3.Make the consumer repeat that thought with emotion

First requirement is to create a thought in the mind of the consumer. The starting point of successful branding is to create a valid powerful thought . In branding terms , we call it brand mantra or brand essence. Not every thought will create beliefs. The thought needs to be powerful, relevant and different. Either the thought needs to be powerful or the way the brand thought is expressed should be in a powerful manner.

The second requirement to create beliefs is to add emotion to the brand thought. When the marketers are able to connect their brand thoughts with powerful emotions, then the neural pathways becomes powerful enough to create actions.
The difficult part though is the third requirement - to make consumers repeat the brand thought with emotions. The more the thought is repeated, the more the brand gains its place in the mind of the consumers.

Iconic brands evoke powerful emotions and thoughts in the consumers. Once that belief is created, it will be difficult for the consumer and the competitors to change those beliefs.

Breathe Right : Breathe Better , Sleep Better

Brand : Breathe Right
Company : Glaxo Smithkline Beecham

Brand Analysis Count : 435

Glaxo Smithkline Beecham has launched a new product in the Indian market from its global product portfolio. The new brand launch is Breathe Right nasal strips. Breathe Right nasal strips is one of the first nasal strip brand to be launched in the Indian market. It is a product that Indian consumers have not seen before.

Nasal Strips are a unique drug free mechanical device which helps open the blocked nostrils. These strips are flexible spring-like bands which has an adhesive on the underside . These strips should be placed on the nose and the adhesive will stick the strip to the nose. As the strip tries to come back to its original position, it slowly lifts the side of the nose thus clearing the nasal passages ( Source : Brand website)

The Breathe Right nasal strip was invented by Mr Bruce Johnson. As the story goes, Bruce himself was suffering from blocked nostrils which bothered him very much. One day while driving past the archway at University of Minnesota, he had the idea that these blocked nostrils can be cleared by pulling from the outside ( Source ) .He went to many institutions with his idea but with no success. Finally Dr Cohen of CNS Inc ,which is a US based company ,sealed the deal with Bruce. In 1993, the brand got the FDA nod and by 1998, the brand was worth $70 million.CNS was later acquired by GSK and the brand went to the GSK fold.

The brand is currently launched in the Indian market and is believed to be in testing phase. The brand is currently running a television commercial highlighting the uses of this nasal strips.
Another big advantage of this product is that besides alleviating the nasal blocks, these are snore -relief products also. Since nasal strips are drug-free, there is no side effects .

When I first saw the commercial, I had lot of doubts about their claims. One thought was about the efficacy of the product. How can an external strip open nasal blocks ? Does it have any side effects ? Will it alter the shape of my nose ??? Is it safe for regular use ??

And many of these questions are unanswered and the GSK India website does not have any link to the product or any product details . It is surprising to see many global marketing giants follow a laid-back attitude in updating their websites or providing information about their new product launches. They still does not understand the power of internet as a source to provide brand information. Surprisingly, Hindustan Unilever is one such marketing machine that does to take care of their site seriously. Some of their power brands are even missing from the site's list of HUL brands.

As I understand,Breathe Right is being launched as an OTC product. And since the primary source of information is through ads , the major task for the brand is to answer these critical doubts of the consumers. Many of the potential customers of this brand will consult their doctors before buying this new product and since it is a Glaxo brand, they will get a positive recommendation.

But the brand still have to do a lot of work to educate the customers about this product. The brand will have to use a mix of educative print ads and TVC to get the message across the consumers. Testimonials and celebrity endorsements can help the brand to get consumer trials. I think that even if the Indian consumers will accept the idea of such a product, there will be lot of resistance in trying out nasal strips. In US, the brand used word of mouth, celebrities and sampling to build awareness and usage. In India too such a strategy will yield good results.

Breathe Right is a new product which is not seen by Indian consumer.The brand has the backing of one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. It will be interesting to see the marketing strategies of this brand to crack the Indian market.

Brand Update : World Space RIP ( 2001-2009)

Another brand is dead. World Space satellite radio service is set to shut shop in India on the New Year eve. The brand which brought in the country's first satellite radio will officially laid to rest on that day.

The brand which came to India in 2001 was supposed to create ripples in the Indian entertainment market ( atleast I thought so). The brand was launched in India with a preposterous pricing soon realized that India needs a new set of marketing mixes if it wanted to succeed . In 2005, the brand came back with a reasonable price-value proposition. The new pricing helped the brand to earn large number of subscribers to the tune of 4.5 lakh customers who was willing to pay about Rs 1800 per year for music. This is no small feat because in India, it was unheard of a practice to pay for a radio service. The brand also got a boost with the tie-up with Airtel digital TV network. According to reports, World Space India contributed 90% of the subscriber base of its parent.

But luck was not in favor for World Space. In 2009, the parent company World Space USA filed for bankruptcy protection . That was the beginning of the end for World Space India. There was talks about a possible sell off but that too did not materialize.

The failure of World Space India was largely contributed by the bankruptcy of its parent but there are lessons to be learned from the mistakes of the Indian arm also. The first mistake was done during the initial launch when World Space charged exorbitant prices for its receiver as well as the service. The Indian consumers quickly rejected this aggression. The company did not correct this mistake for two years and when they corrected it, already a perception was created in the mind of the consumers about the service being expensive.
The second mistake was regarding the pricing of the receiver. World Space should have concentrated more on selling subscriptions rather than the receiver . It could have come out with receivers with rock bottom prices ( Say below Rs 1000) and aggressively sold subscriptions. Remember mobile services became popular largely because of the low cost handsets . Had the handsets cost more than Rs 5000, the penetration could have been much lower.

The third mistake was the business model. Although the brand did right in the advertising front by roping in the brand ambassador AR Rahman, the field level promotion was hopeless. This product could have done well with a direct marketing approach. But the channel partners of World Space did not bothered to aggressively push the product. They were all waiting for the consumers to make the first contact. The ideal strategy could have to set a subscription target of say 1 million customers and once you have it, then try to upsell premium subscriptions to them.

I don't think that the brand could have still survived if it had followed the above said strategies. Indian market still has not open to the concept of a Pay- Radio. The brand was in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Related Post
World Space

Brand Update : Horlicks

I was shocked to see an ad in todays newspaper announcing the launch of a noodles brand by Horlicks. I was wondering how can a company like GSK mess up a power brand like Horlicksby launching a totally unrelated extension ?

Horlicks has launched a new extension in the noodles category . The extension has the brand name Foodles and is endorsed by Horlicks. Foodles is positioned as a healthy noodles. The brand has launched two variants of noodles. - Regular and Multi-grain The main USP of Foodles is the " Health Maker" sachet which comes along with the noodles pack. The health maker sachet contains the essentials of 5 vitamins.

Frankly , this is one brand extension which I cannot understand.Theoretically Foodles by Horlicks cannot be termed as a brand extension. In this case Foodles is the main brand and Horlicks is the endorser brand. But for all practical purposes, Foodles is going to impact Horlicks just like any other brand extension.

Horlicks off late has been on a extension spree. It recently launched the Nutribar snack bar with an aim of transforming Horlicks in to an umbrella brand for launching health related food products.

My first contact with Foodles happened last week when my wife tried to trick me with Foodles instead of Maggi. I hated the taste of it and wondered whether Maggi changed the taste of its noodles again. It is only then my wife revealed that she tried to make me eat " healthy " noodles.


What can be the possible logic behind Horlicks trying its hand into launching a noodles brand ?

One reason or argument can be that Horlicks is only an endorser brand . Once the brand is accepted in the market, Foodles can remain as a standalone brand.

If that is the logic, then has the marketers thought about the brand equity dilution of parent brand? Horlicks in no way can be associated with noodles category. Noodles is perceived to be unhealthy , junk food and by associating with this category, Horlicks is definitely going to dilute its core positioning of a health drink.

Secondly, why should a multinational giant like GSK launch a brand with an endorsement from its power brand ? What is restricting the company from launching a new standalone brand ? Only reason seems to be the lack of confidence of the marketer or the search of a short cut to market acceptance.

Has the company thought of the impact of Horlicks if Foodles fail ? If Foodles succeed, does it add value to Horlicks brand or will it dilute the core proposition of a health drink ?
What is Horlicks now - a health drink for kids, health drink for adults, health drink for women, a snack brand, a biscuit brand and a noodles brand .... where is the connection.

Foodles is not going to revolutionize noodles market in India. All the noodles brands are now on the health plank and having a vitamin sachet is not going to do big things for Foodles.

Earlier, my students used to ask me about my favorite brand and I would tell them it is Horlicks because of the focus and smart marketing moves. Now I would say that Horlicks 'used' to be my favorite brand.

Brand Update : Bajaj Kristal RIP ( 2007-2010)

Bajaj recently announced its exit from the scooter market. This announcement also marked the death of the last scooter brand from Bajaj -- Bajaj Kristal. Kristal was launched in 2007 was aimed at capturing the scooterette market dominated by TVS Scooty.

The failure of Kristal was a marketing failure. The firm failed to launch a product that was well differentiated and offered value to the customer. I had written about the stiff pricing of Kristal which may have caused the pathetic response from the customers. Kristal was a half-hearted attempt which was visible in the way this brand was promoted. After the initial promotions, there was no voice for the brand. It was a brand crafted for failure.

Interestingly ,the announcement of Bajaj's exit from scooter market evoked lot of media attention. Channels devoted lot of prime-time discussing the Hamara Bajaj campaign and the death of icons. There was a lot of emotional brouhaha which was totally unnecessary because the exit from the market is a pure business decision. Although the top management of Bajaj was finding it difficult to explain the reasons for the exit, one should understand that Bajaj feels that scooters does not fit into their business model and decided to exit. Nothing more , Nothing less.

The fact remains that Bajaj was not able to either understand the consumer expectations in the scooter segment and develop appropriate product which is a setback to the company's image. The fact that new players like Mahindra scooters are entering the scooter segment adds to the insult and injury to the Bajaj brand.

Even in the case of motorcycles, Bajaj is not having a wonderful time. It had shown a spark of brilliance when Pulsar was introduced, but even after 9 years, Bajaj could not come out with another brand like Pulsar. What it is doing is to milk Pulsar to death.

Related Brand
Kristal

Marketing Strategy : Celebrate Your Big Ideas

So you have got a big idea... then what ?

Getting a big idea in this tough competitive market place is a lottery and when consumers love that big idea, it is nothing but a jackpot. We are living in a world where there is intense competition even for taglines and positioning. Even in this scenario, it is surprising to see how marketers fall short of taking advantage of that Rare Big Idea.

Take the case of the ZooZoo. The ZooZoo had an unprecedented success in India. This was one of those rare occasions where consumers get emotionally attached to a campaign. Viewers loved the character and celebrated it through blogs and social media.

But what did Vodafone do ?

Nothing...

Off late there has been reports that Vodafone is planning ZooZoo merchandise. But nothing has happened in this regard ( atleast in the place where I live).

It is time that marketers wake up to the idea of celebrating their big ideas. Most of the marketers are still hooked on to spreadsheets and media plans. Brand Promotion ismuch much more than putting 30 seconds ads and then looking at the results.

Ideally Vodafone should have milked ZooZoo to the maximum. It could have developed merchandise like dolls, t-shirts, keychains, collectibles etc on these lovely characters which could have given the brand ways to get into the heart of millions of youngsters. There were countless opportunity for the brand to build a community around ZooZoo.

But so far nothing happened. What a waste of opportunity for the brand. The one and only one reason for this wastage is that one may not be able to project the ROI for such a celebration atleast for the short-term.

Take the example of Disney. When they have hit upon a wonderful cartoon character, they will explore all the marketing opportunities around it. But Indian marketers are not yet open to such celebrations. When Nike hit upon " Just do it " slogan , it created a huge celebration of it. Accenture celebrated its association with Tiger Woods to the maximum ( yes yes.. I know what happened later..), MRF celebrated Sachin and his MRF bat to the maximum and even launched MRF cricket bats.

Take the case of Idea cellular brand. The brand hit upon a wonderful tagline " An Idea can Change Your Life " and the brand celebrated the big idea wonderfully well. It innovated upon this big idea, used the entire promotional mix around this idea and no wonder, the brand has excellent top of the mind recall. But still the opportunities for Idea lies beyond mere advertising and hoardings. It could have done many things to take the ownership of this big Idea. Compared to Vodafone, Idea is much ahead in capitalizing on its big ideas.

When your company hits upon something big whether be it a tagline, a character, a logo , don't hesitate to celebrate it. Create games , create dolls, give away keychains, market collectibles, use social media to build community around your big idea . Put your resource behind that big idea. Own it , celebrate it and enjoy the rewards.

MamyPoko Pants : Pant Style Diapers

Brand : MamyPoko
Company : Unicharm


Brand Analysis Count : 434

Mamypoko is another global brand to hit Indian market. Mamypoko is a Japanese brand of baby diapers. The brand belongs to Unicharm which has its interests in Baby care products, Health Care and Female hygiene categories. The company has launched its premium brand of baby diapers into the Indian market.

Indian diaper market is small with a rough market size of Rs 110 crore but growing very fast due to the economic growth and rapid urbanization. The market still faces the issue of 'penetration ' and the tough task of changing consumer behavior. The market is dominated by brands like Pampers, Snuggy and Huggies.

Baby diapers are still not heavily used in Indian households. Diapers are used only on occasions and is considered not good for regular daily use since it causes skin rashes. The price of this product also acts as a deterrent for regular daily use and a Rs 1 difference on a pack can make consumers shift to another brand.


Mamypoko, as a new brand, faces the task of differentiating itself from the established players. Brands like Huggies and Pampers are already established and has tried every feature/benefits like softness , comfort, dry, light etc as their USPs.

Mamypoko but entered the market with a powerful differentiator. It launched Mamypoko Pant diapers as the brand builder. Mamypoko pants is a pant-type baby diaper - in the sense that instead of the stickers(tape- style) that conventional diapers have, Mamypoko Pants is a " pull up" type of diapers. There is no need to stick the two ends of the diapers together.

Actually Mamypoko is not the brand which has innovated pant-style diapers. Another brand from Unicharm - Moonyman was world's first brand to launch such a innovative product.

Pant-type diapers is indeed a powerful differentiator because it offers a convenient solution to the consumers. Parents especially fathers often find the task of putting diapers to their child a difficult task . If the child is very active, the task becomes even more difficult. Having a pant-style diaper is something that makes parent's life a little more easier.

The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting its main USP.

Watch the ad here : Mamypoko

The brand is also making use of its brand mascot/ character which is named Pokochan.

Mamypoko has done the right thing by launching itself with a powerful message. There is a greater chance that consumers will remember this brand for its USP. But the vital question is whether Mamypoko can sustain its differentiation . It will not be difficult for other brands to launch similar products. Mamypoko can breath easy because it has a pipeline of such innovative features within their global portfolio.

The launch of Mamypoko will open up another set of marketing war in the Indian diaper market.The Indian market is highly price conscious and it has to be seen whether consumers will be willing to pay more for Mamypoko.

Brand Update : Maggi

Maggi has launched its product in the growing Pasta market recently. The variant called Maggi Nutri-licious Paazta is Maggi's major new brand extension in recent times. The Indian pasta market is still in nascent stage with a market size or around Rs 50 crore ( source) but growing very fast.

Maggi pioneered the noodles market in India 25 years back but was not the brand which created the pasta category. The credit goes to Sunfeast which first launched a National brand in this category.

Maggi decided to jump into this Pasta bandwagon for obvious reasons. There is a lot of customer interest in this category. Indian consumers are now more adventurous in their food habits. The Gen Y is mesmerized with the exposure to various cuisines thanks to the media. So there is no dearth of innovators in this segment. Once you get into the good books of these foodies, the flock follow.

Maggi's move was further endorsed when Domino's forayed into the Pasta market with their offerings . So this market is going to see lot of action.

Maggi is currently running a TVC for their Pasta variant : Watch it here

The ad is very similar to the Noodles positioning and both pasta and noodles are sharing a common tagline(with a slight variation) . Paazta uses the tagline " Health bhi, taste bhi, happiness bhi"

One marketing practice reader observed the risk of Maggi moving into a different product category ( brand extension) . He opined that the equity of Maggi will be lost because of this extension . Personally , I differ because Nestle had slowly but surely developed Maggi as an umbrella brand for their food products. They have launched the soups and sauces under this brand. And the brand is doing well in these extensions.


Maggi is currently addressing a category competition. The brand feels that pasta can have a negative impact on its noodles business. For consumers, they view these products as snacks. For such customers, Maggi needed to offer pasta choice otherwise they will move to a competing brand. The current brand extension will have all the disadvantages of brand dilution and cannibalization . But on a broader perspective, it is a matter of survival and category leadership.

Related Brand

Maggi
Sunfeast

Marketing Strategy : Celebrity Endorsement

The recent Tiger Woods 'confessions' opened a whole lot of debate on the role of celebrity endorsement as a marketing strategy. The issue of celebrity endorsements and its 'side effects' is one of the most widely discussed topic in the branding world. Every time there is a controversy involving the celebrity, these chatter arise and dies down soon .

In this context, it should be understood that celebrity endorsement is a powerful promotional tool . If used creatively, celebrity endorsement can propel a brand to a high growth trajectory. But like any strategy, this option too has its own share of disadvantages. The latest Tiger Woods episode again highlight the issues brands can face when their endorsers ran into trouble.

Will this episode refrain marketers from using celebrities any more ? Never. We will be seeing more of these endorsements in the future also. But there are lessons to be learned from this current developments.

The problems that brands face when their endorsers land up in trouble is more when brand depend heavily on the celebrity for equity ( common sense !). When brands use Celebrities as a pivot upon which the entire brand equity is generated, the risk is more and any adverse actions on the part of the celebrity will affect the brand's strategy.

In the case of Accenture, Tiger Woods was the axis for all their promotions. The brand was so closely associated with the celebrity that coming out of that association will cost both money , time and energy. But the silver lining for Accenture is that Tiger Woods was only a symbolization for the corporate brand. The current controversy is in no way going to affect Accenture's consulting business. Only issue is that the brand needs to find another powerful symbol to convey its message.

For other famous brands like Nike and Gillette too, there is only less impact of this controversy because Tiger Woods does not play a crucial role in their brand building strategy. Both these brands have other celebrities to bank upon.

Marketers should understand that using celebrities should only be a part of the big picture and not the picture itself. There are no short cuts to fame. If at all one is using celebrities as the main talking point, derisk by using more than one (if you can afford that). Otherwise run parallel theme based campaigns to help the brand stand on its own.

Indian brands tend to rely heavily on celebrities for equity. The brand owners should understand that this tendency is because of the focus on short-termism and lack of creative thinking. Celebrity endorsements should only be a part of the strategy not the strategy itself.

Related Brand
Accenture

Brand Update : Pulsar

Pulsar- the blockbuster brand from Bajaj has launched a new variant - Pulsar 135 LS. The new bike is a 135 CC 4 valve DTSI engine that delivers a power of 13.5 ps. The bike is being positioned as a light sport bike and the company aims to create a new category of ' light sport' bike in the Indian market. Pulsar 135LS is priced at around Rs 51,000.

Pulsar, when launched in the Indian market in 2001 changed the fortunes of Bajaj Auto. With its " Definitely Male " positioning and superior performance, the bike crafted a segment of ' performance bike' in the Indian market. Even after all these years, Pulsar has maintained significant leadership in the 150CC + market.

The launch of a less powered " light Pulsar" was a surprise to me. Why would a company stretch a performance bike downward into the executive segment ? Pulsar was having three models in the performance bike segment 150CC, 180cc and 220 cc. All these bikes were premium bikes and had similar chunky masculine look with exceptional performance.

There can be two reasons for the downward stretch for this brand. According to reports, Bajaj wants to create a new sports category in the executive segment. The company feels that there is a segment of consumers who want a commuter sports bike and Pulsar will fit the bill.

Another larger reason is the volume game. Bajaj so far has not been able to break the leadership position of Hero Honda either in the Executive segment or in the commuter segment. The experiments on Discover and XCD so far has not been successful in displacing Hero Honda. Since Pulsar have an excellent brand equity, it is easy to leverage it for the sake of volume.

Whether 135 LS will be successful or not depends heavily on the bike's performance. But I am sure that the premium positioning and equity of Pulsar will take a hit with the launch of this lighter version. The new 135 LS is not a Pulsar but something in between XCD and Pulsar 150.

In news reports, the company officials had commented that customers doesn't look at CCs while making purchase, they look at brands. But launching a lighter version of a performance bike is not going to boost the equity of the parent brand. On the contrary , if the lighter version fails in the performance, it will have an effect on the equity of the parent brand. Secondly if the lighter version works well, why should one go and buy the larger version ?

Pulsar 135 LS also cannibalizes the existing models of Bajaj Discover and XCD in the executive segment and there is a possibility of any of these brands being withdrawn from the market.

Pulsar 135 LS is a high risk brand from Bajaj. In the search for volumes, the company is risking one of its best brands in the line of fire. On one hand the brand is being stretched downwards and on the other hand, the parent brand is neglected. Except for occasional ads, Pulsar was never aggressively promoted these days. Taglines keep on changing and share of voice is very very minimal for Pulsar.
The only solace for Pulsar is that so far no brand has been able to match the standards set by this brand. But having no competition does not mean that one can mess up a brand.

Related Brand
Bajaj Pulsar

Hettich : A Home in All Furniture

Corporate Brand : Hettich
Agency : Crescent Communications

Brand Analysis Count : 433

It is not every time that you see a hardware manufacturer endeavoring into branding and above - the - line promotions. Hettich is one such brand that is now ventured into a national launch of their kitchen and furniture fittings.

Hettich is a German company with a rich heritage. The company was started by Karl Hettich in 1888. This $1.1 Billion company is one of the major players in the fittings market. Hettich was launched in India in 2000. The brand had a very soft phased launch and was available only in Mumbai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore. Now they have started advertising in the national media which indicates their intention to grow further.

Fittings and accessories were never in the public media space. These were regarded as a b2b product and the major customers were the architects, contractors,builders , designers , hardware distributors etc. But even for the players in this category, branding became important because of the clutter and competition. No consumer was directly involved in the purchase of such items. But things are changing .The growing affluent Indian consumer class also brought in the need for a more differentiated offerings from the players in this category. Hettich is trying to cater to the need of the modern Indian homemaker who desires to have a very smart kitchen.

What is interesting about the brand is its attempt to create excitement in a category of boring products. What is so exciting about hinges, drawers, runner systems, folding and sliding doors. How can one expects customers to think about such products that he is not going to see in a cupboard or a door ?

It is exactly that brands like Hettich is trying to do. Take the case of modular kitchens. Usually consumers give less attention to the hinges and doors . Their attention is more on the look, durability , design and aesthetics. Hettich is trying to change the perspective by educating the consumers about the importance of having a smarter kitchen.

Hettich is running a very rational campaign aiming at introducing the Indian consumers about having a planned kitchen & wardrobes which utilizes maximum space and also maximum convenience. In the brand website, there is a download-able recipe which gives the homemaker fresh ideas about planning their kitchen ( download link here) .

Hettich is not without competition. Brands like Vineta Cucine and Hefele are also looking for this space. And convincing the customer to pay a premium for products like these is a tough task.Hettich's approach to slowly build the market is the right decision. The strategy is to educate, provide experience and convince. The brand has opened lot of such experience shops where customers can see the value for going for a little expensive brands like Hettich.