Tata Manza : A Class Apart

Brand : Manza
Company : Tata Motors
Advertising Agency : Draft FCB Ulka

Brand Analysis Count : 473

Philip Kotler once famously said " Marketing is easy to understand and difficult to practice ". The concepts of marketing are no rocket science and hence we can see those concepts being casually treated.Marketing practitioners know the difficulties in cracking the marketing code and making the product successful in the market. It may be the simplicity of marketing concepts that make marketers to defy common sense and make marketing mistaks.

The same casual treatment of branding is visible in the case of branding of Manza and the brand is now investing heavily in undoing the mistake done in the past. Manza was launched as a sub-brand of Indigo in 2009. The Indigo Manza was the premium variant of the popular entry-level sedan brand Indigo. 

Indigo Manza was an effort of  Tata Motors for breaking Indigo from the perception of a Cab Car. Since Indigo was one of the most value for money diesel car in India, it was popular as a cab. Indigo Manza was styled differently and sported the state-of -the art engine from Fiat. 

Indigo Manza was positioned along the same lines of Tata Indigo. Indigo was positioned as a luxury + VFM brand and had sported the tagline " Spoil Yourself ". Indigo Manza had the tagline " Indulge in Style " . 

The brand was positioned as a stylish luxurious car and as usual Tata Motors added lot of goodies to the product to make it worth the price paid for. Another big leap for Manza was the engine. Tata Motors used the tested Fiat engines into the Manza and concentrated more on the style and product packaging . The variant was heavily promoted across the media.

Watch the TVC here : Indigo Manza

Interestingly the confusion regarding the brand started in early 2011. Tata Motors made that significant strategic decision to disassociate  Manza from Indigo. The company decided to make Manza an independent brand and dropped the Indigo endorsement from all communication. Indigo Manza became Tata Manza. Along with the decision came  the launch of Manza Elan which is the premium hatchback variant of Manza.In its independent avatar, Manza did not change the core brand DNA of luxury. Manza reinforced its " Luxury " positioning with the new tagline " A Class Apart ". 

Manza is now investing heavily in creating an independent image for Manza and also moving away from Indigo. Interestingly Indigo is now more associated with its Compact Sedan variant Indigo CS and has left the luxury + VFM positioning to Manza.

The important question here is why didn't Tata Motors think about Manza as an independent brand at the time of its launch itself. Why did the brand spend hell lot of money to promote itself as Indigo Manza for more than two years and then decide to go independent. 

Was it not a bad decision to launch Manza as a sub-brand of Indigo ? What may have prevented Tata Motors to hesitate from creating a new premium brand rather than trying to extend a VFM brand to premium segment.

It is this dilemma that makes marketing decisions difficult.One argument can be that the company wanted to establish Manza in the market first and then gradually make it independent.  My personal opinion is that Tata Motors did a branding mistake in launching Manza as a sub-brand of Indigo. Its common sense that it is always better to launch a new premium brand rather than extend a VFM brand to premium segment using a variant. The decision to sub-brand Manza also shows a lack of long-term strategic thinking on the Tata Motors part regarding the brand porfolio decisions. The company is little confused about how Indica, Indica Vista, Indigo, Manza are to be managed. There was a recent report which suggest that Vista will be disassociated from Indica and launched as a standalone brand. 

One of the reasons for disassociating Manza from Indigo is the threat from the launch of Toyota Etios. Etios  is being offered at a terrific price point and is a direct threat to Indigo's position in the market especially at the premium end . Tata Motors feel that potential Indigo Manza owners will move to Etios because of brand equity of Toyota. Indigo Manza may not be capable to fight Etios because of the baggage of Indigo association. That can be one of the reasons for such a decision.

It is easy to criticize the branding decisions as an observer because the brand managers are bound by lot of internal pressures which force them to take these kind of decisions. 

Regarding Manza, the road ahead is not going to be easy because the association with Indigo is still strong. It will take a lot of money to erase or at best reduce the level of association between Indigo and Manza. 

Ideally the brand owners should have charted the vision for every brand in their portfolio before launching to the public. This creating of brand vision is of extreme importance and should be undertaken for every variants and sub-brands. It should be this vision that will guide the brand's path to future and protect it from the short-term thinking of individuals. 

Related brand

Tata Indigo

Brand Update : RIP Ford Ikon ( 1999-2011)

One of the best selling  car brands from Ford is being laid to rest this year. Ford has officially confirmed that the brand will be discontinued this year. Ford has cited the following reasons for the decision to pull the plug on Ford Ikon. The company wants to introduce new cars based on its global platform. Ford Ikon although was derived from earlier models of Fiesta is a car built for India. Hence no other models can come out of its platform. Now globally car markers are looking for making common platforms from which multiple car models can be built. 

Another reason perhaps may be that Ford think that Ikon has become old. The brand has been in the market for the last 12 years and consumers have seen lot of Ikon. Hence this familiarity may prevent further freshness/excitement about the brand.It is my assumption that the brand may not be able to fit into the Bharat Stage V emission norms. 

News reports also say that Ford is contemplating on bringing the Fiesta to the Ikon price band and then introduce another Fiesta variant - Fiesta Sedan at the premium end. 

So Ford Ikon is Dead.

The question is whether killing Ikon is a good marketing strategy or not. 

Theoretically every product moves through a lifecycle and eventually die. But there are brands which has been thriving for decades and still is fresh and alive. So in a branding perspective, only products die and brands live forever. Hence killing a popular young dashing brand Ikon may not be a good idea. And bringing Fiesta to take the place of Ikon also seems to be confusing brand strategy.

Ikon was a neglected brand in the Ford portfolio ever since the launch of Fiesta. In my earlier update on the brand, I had mentioned that the brand was not promoted or energized. In 2009, Ford made some cosmetic changes on Ikon and sort of relaunched it. But a very random non-systematic investment on brand will not yield results. Ikon should have been consistently promoted and nurtured. Ford did not do that and then complaining about the legacy  is just an excuse. Brands will survive above product lifecycle only through regular investment on promotion and innovation. Then even if products die, the brand will reinvent itself under new products. Here I am making a distinction between Brand and Product. 

Ford is now rejoicing in the new found success of Figo. The company seems to have identified the right product strategy and wants to capitalize on that by bringing in more globally compatible products like Figo. Ikon thus does not fit into the new found product strategy of Ford. 

The death of Ikon is opening up a vacant spot in the car market. The segment of a sporty sedan is now open and up for grabs but only for those who have willingness to invest for the longterm.

So RIP Ford Ikon, we miss you.

Related Brand

Ford Ikon

Brand Update : Dyna gets a new brand ambassador

The Dyna brand of soap from the Anchor Group of Companies has got a new brand ambassador- Ms Sonakshi Sinha . Ms Sonakshi is an upcoming Bollywood actress who made debut in the hit film Dabaang. Ms Sonakshi is the daughter of yesteryear's actor Shatrughan Sinha. 

Dyna had captured consumer's attention with its high profile campaign featuring the brand ambassador Katrina Kaif. Dyna roped in Katrina at her early stages of acting career. Katrina Kaif  went on to become a very popular star in recent years and the brand benefited a lot through the association. Now Katrina has moved along to endorse Lux.

In my post on Dyna, I had commented on the over reliance of Dyna on the brand ambassador. On hindsight, Dyna infact benefited through this heavy dependence of the celebrity over the last few years. Now the brand face the challenge of maintaining the momentum after losing its priced celebrity.

Dyna is now trying to replicate its success with Katrina by roping in Sonakshi Sinha. Sonakshi is in her early stages of acting career and Dyna hopes that she will become successful as her predecessor and the brand thus benefit through the association.

In one way, such a strategy makes sense. Rope in talented upcoming actress and ride on the potential success. If the actress becomes a star, the brand benefit and if not then the brand can move on in search of another potential actress. The cost of acquiring these celebrities will be less since they are in the early stages of their career. There will also be exclusivity since not many brands will be after these new comers. So both the brand and celebrity benefits through this association.
Watch the ad here : Dyna Soap 

Dyna is also retaining its positioning based on the product properties like - No Filling, 76% TFM and Grade 1Soap. The brand is based on the promise that it will be soft on skin since it contains more TFM than the competitors. The positioning is more appealing to a rational mind.

One of the key areas where Dyna may have to focus is the distribution part. In my city, I hardly notice the brand in shops and supermarkets. The POP visibility is also poor. Guess that the brand is currently focusing on Northern Markets as of now. 

Dyna retains its tagline " Be a Lady " . I still feel that the brand need to rethink its tagline and get some meaningful creative tagline that reflects the brand's true promise .

Related Brand

 Dyna

Mediker : Sunday To Sunday

Brand : Mediker
Company : Marico Industries Ltd
Ad Agency : BBH Communications

Brand Analysis Count : 472

Mediker is a specialist brand from Marico. This brand is a classic example of a Niche brand . Mediker is a brand with a 3 decade old history. The brand was originally from Proctor & Gamble and in 1999 Marico bought the brand for a consideration of 10 crore. 

Mediker is an Anti-Lice shampoo. The brand is a leader in this niche with a market share of almost 100%.

Lice is a irritating problem for most of the homes where there is a girl aged 5-12. According to a research conducted by the brand, 23% of urban households are facing the issue of lice. The problem is more grave in the Southern part of India due to heat and humidity. Around 82% of school going girls suffer from lice in metros and large cities. 

Having infected with lice is not only a health issue but a social one also. The girl suffers not only from irritation but in some cases ridicule and isolation. Parents relate lice with unhygienic and instruct their wards to keep away from kids who suffer from lice. 

Mediker in a way is a boon for those who suffer from this irritant.  The brand has a powerful equity and recall among consumers. The brand then was faced with a unique perception problem. The initial ads of Mediker was solely focused on the effectiveness of the product. The ads had the visuals of kids getting irritated with lice attack and mother then uses Mediker shampoo and when she combs the hair, lice just falls off. The ads gave an impression that Mediker kills the lice and hence can cause harm to the hair.The fact is that Mediker makes the lice unconscious and thus combing causes the lice to fall off.

Since Mediker did not have a brand /category competition, the only competition it had was from the lice comb. Lice comb was the preferred first option for the consumers. But lice comb was painful for the kids and often caused damage to hair and scalp. The effectiveness of the comb was also limited. Hence the focus of Mediker was more on showing the effectiveness and painless feature and ads were geared to communicate those benefits to the consumers. 

The brand owners did not gave much attention to this perception issue and ads were reinforcing the effectiveness of the product along with that the perception of a harsh product. Mediker was perceived to be a harsh product and mothers tend to use the product only as a last resort. This perception severely limited the usage of the product and hence the category size was small.

One of first task of Marico after acquiring the brand was to make good the perception of Mediker. The brand was re-launched in 2001 as a gentle solution for lice attack. The brand was trying to become the first choice for consumers faced with the problem of lice . 

Mediker was always sold at a premium. Since this is a specialist product the product was priced more than the ordinary shampoo brands.

In 2003-2004, the brand went for an extension into hair oils. Mediker launched Mediker Plus hair oil which was an attempt aimed at increasing the category size and also bridge the price gap. Hair oil was priced below the shampoo and was more gentle compared to the shampoo ( perception). 

The brand also went in for a packaging change with green bottle giving way to sky blue colored bottle with a fairy on the label to denote the " gentle " promise. 

2010 saw another brand relaunch for Mediker. The brand has been made more Natural and the hair oil extension has also been relaunched. The ads featuring the South Indian film star Shobana was also on air to announce the relaunch. 

Mediker's communication was consistent over its life cycle. The brand initially had to educate the consumers on the usage since Mediker was more like a treatment than hair-care. The shampoo had to be used for 4 consecutive sundays inorder to break the life-cycle of lice. To help consumer remember the usage, the brand owners used the famous " Sunday to Sunday " tagline for Mediker. The tagline is still remembered by the consumers.

Now the brand has moved to a more emotional /social platform for positioning. The brand is directly addressing the mother's concern about the child's interaction with others and the worry of getting infected by lice. The brand now tell mothers to let her child socialize without worrying about lice.
Watch an ad here : Mediker

The brand by nature is niche. There is no use in trying to increase the brand size by diluting its specialist status. The only possible way for the brand to increase its size is to make the category bigger. Since lice attack is a perennial problem, the brand should be able to position itself as a preferred solution ( first choice) . Now it is considered to be the last resort even after repeated attempt by the brand to change that perception. 

Mothers are very caring especially with personal care products for their children. My 6 year old daughter uses Johnson & Johnson shampoo on her hair. Now replacing that with Mediker should demand some real problem ! 

For Mediker, focusing more on gentle means diluting the effectiveness ! so this decision is a real dilemma for the brand manager. The change in perception will take time and Mediker is on the right track in handling the issue. It had roped in a celebrity and also put a " Natural " tag to it which will make the brand look more gentle. The brand is also conducting lot of below-the-line (BTL) activities to spread awareness about anti-lice treatment and solutions in schools and townships. The brand should put in more investment on celebrity mothers  and make the packaging more gentle and attractive ( to kids) to change the perception of a tough product. 

Marketing Strategy : Flexible or Focused ?

While discussing the components of an effective marketing strategy, marketers often is in two minds about the overall direction of their strategy. Should the marketing strategy be flexible or focused?- this is the critical question that marketers should address while preparing their strategic plan. 

Flexibility in marketing strategy refers to the ability of the firm to adapt their marketing response to the changing environment. Marketing strategy should address the critical issues of (a) response to competitor’s actions (b) response to changing consumer trends (c) response to changing market environment (d) response to changes in technology (e) decisions regarding the entry and exit. Businesses operate in a dynamic environment which is witnessing changes every day. More than ever before, marketers are witnessing disruptive innovations which are changing the consumer behaviour frequently.

Focus in marketing strategy refers to the firm’s ability to consistently explore the depth of the various elements of the strategy. It involves a continuous and in-depth focus on (a) consumer and their behaviour (b) core strength of the firm (c) market in which the firm operates (d) enhancing the depth of marketing mix elements (e) investment in product development (f) investment in product promotion  etc. Marketers now are faced with global competition. Geographical boundaries are now irrelevant as far as marketing is concerned. Indian products are now faced with competition from across the world. Hence is important for marketers to focus on their products and markets.   

When firms become too focused on their products and markets but not flexible, they risk the chance of getting into a state of immobility. This situation may lead to marketing myopia where the marketer becomes too focused on the product but failed to see the market moving in another direction. Focussed marketing strategy is ideal for mature markets where the chances of disruptions are limited.

When firms become too flexible in their marketing strategy, it may lead to a state of disorder and confusion. The firm sees many opportunities and will enter various markets without realizing their competence. This can lead to unnecessary wastage of vital resources and may lead to a financial crunch. Marketing strategies should be highly flexible in those markets which are emerging. In such a market, it will be difficult for marketers to focus because the directions are not visible yet. In such situations, marketing should be flexible enough to embrace any viable opportunities.

When firm’s marketing strategy lack focus and flexibility, it fails in what ever it does. The company thus will not be able to make an impact in any market it enters (because of lack of focus) and also will not be able to respond to changing market dynamics (due to lack of flexibility).

The ideal situation is where firm is able to have both focus and flexibility in their marketing strategies. This may sound impractical but it is not. While focusing on consumers and markets, it is possible for firms to be flexible in their response to changing market environment and competitive actions.

Professor Thomas Kosnik in the book Marketing Management : Text & Cases (Richard D Irwin,Homewood IL,1990) uses the term “Perennial Renaissance “for a flexible and focused marketing strategy. When a firm adopts a flexible yet focused marketing strategy, it is able to fight the competition and at the same time maintain a steady focus on what it is currently doing.

Take the example of Google. While Google tries to make its search engine better, it is constantly innovating and flexible in grabbing new opportunities and challenges as an when it emerges. Gillette is another example of a company that constantly innovates at the same time is very much focused on its current markets.

It is not easy to make a flexible -focused marketing strategy framework. The first task for the marketers is to build this concept into the culture. Flexibility and focus has to be built into the organisational culture. For example, it is very difficult for a bureaucratic organization to practice flexibility in their marketing practices.  Firms need to empower their managers to decide and act fast if they want to practice flexibility. At the same time, managers should establish discipline and process orientation if they want to embrace focus into their marketing strategies.

Another factor which managers should consider is to shift their attention from Products to Consumers. Companies can practice flexibility by focusing on consumers rather than getting stuck with their products. Consumers constantly look for new ways of satisfying their wants. By keeping a close tab on the consumers will enable firms to respond to changing trends faster.

It is also vital for organisations to plan for the long-term. When brands are managed for quarterly results, focus and flexibility gives way to short – term spike in sales. Managers should keep the long term objectives in mind (Focus) but keep their plans tuned according to consumer needs and wants (Flexibility).

Companies also should invest in innovations. Firms cannot aspire to be flexible if they did not innovate. Continuous innovations in terms of product and marketing strategies will raise the stature of the organisation in the market.

Originally published in adclubbombay.com

Neslac : Milk For Growing Kids

Brand : Neslac
Company : Nestle India

Brand Analysis Count : 471

Nestle has recently launched a new brand in the 1500 crore infant ( kid's) foods market. The company has launched its global brand - Neslac in the Indian market. Nestle is the market leader in the infant foods market with successful brands like Cerelac, Nestum, Lactogen, Nestogen etc. Reports suggest that Nestle has close to 70 % of the kid's nutrition market.

The Indian infant food market is a difficult market to survive because of regulatory constraints. The market is governed by Indian milkfood substitutes feeding bottles and infant foods ( regulation of production, supply and distribution ) act 1992. There is a restriction in advertising infant food products.

As an established player in the market, Nestle has an advantage since its brands like Lactogen, Cerelac are very famous and has tremendous brand equity in the market. Hence even without ad support, these brands are growing. But for a new player, establishing in this market will be a tough one because of the regulations.

So it is interesting to see Nestle launching Neslac in the Indian market despite these regulatory constraints. Neslac is not an infant food but a milk food for kids above 2 years. The brand is positioned as milk for growing kids. So this brand may not come under the purview of the above act. Neslac is currently running a campaign announcing the launch of Neslac. 

Neslac is a global brand with presence in various markets under different names. In Pakistan, this brand is marketed as Nestlac Honey, in Malaysia it is Neslac Excella Gold etc.

Nestle already has another brand Nido  which is a similar product but targeted at a higher age-group.. I have a feeling that Nestle has replaced Nido with Neslac ( just a hunch.)

It will be interesting to see how the highly regulated market will respond to this high profile launch. 

Brand Update : Philips To Acquire Preethi

The famous Preethi brand of small appliances is going to get a new high profile owner. The Dutch consumer durable giant Philips has agreed to acquire the assets of this homegrown brand.This move came as a huge surprise and  I never thought that Preethi could be a candidate for acquisition. Preethi brand was founded in 1978  and the  owners - M/s Maya Appliances has carefully nurtured this brand. 

The brand developed its mixer range quite beautifully and through careful product development and meaningful advertisement campaigns. The brand had constantly adopted the positioning based on durability and reliability which was communicated through the tagline " I Guarantee ".

Now once the acquisition is over, it will be interesting to see how the brand will fit into Philips' overall branding strategy.There are chances that Philips will use Preethi as a sub-brand with endorsement from Philips. 

It is also interesting to see how the brand image of Preethi will change with the endorsement from Philips. Suddenly the homegrown image of Preethi will vanish.

Through this acquisition, Philips will gain huge market in the mixer grinder segment. Philips will also get instant sales and service network of Preethi ( even though Philips has its own robust distribution network).More than that, Philips will get that vital market knowledge that Preethi had acquired over these years.According to news reports, after the acquisition, the company will be run by existing promoters. It will be interesting to see how this acquisition will turn up for this nice brand.

 Related Brand

Preethi 

Brand Update : Perk Struggles To Find Right Positioning

Perk which went in for a massive brand repositioning exercise last year is now struggling hard to find the right positioning. The brand which created ripples in the market with its perky campaign with Priety Zinta, is now searching for a positioning that makes sense.

Perk and Kit Kat created much sensation during the late 1990's with both brands trying to outsmart each other with smart campaigns. But soon the market turned cold towards this wafer based chocolate brands and the wafer chocolate category never grew as expected.

In 2010 , Perk went for a major repositioning/ rebranding exercise where the entire product properties and brand elements were changed. Perk began advertising focusing on its glucose content. The brand also changed the tagline to " Sapnoan se race kar le". The theme was more emotional and the brand was trying to ladder up to a higher level concept of " reaching out to dreams".

Now within 8 months of the rebranding, Perk was again forced to change its positioning. The brand chucked its attempted laddering and crash-landed to a very rustic and " funny stuff". The brand retains its focus on Glucose content but the execution strategy has been drastically altered. The brand now has the tagline " Perk Ghao , Glucose Chadao" roughly translated to " Eat Perk and Inject Glucose". Just see the drastic shift the brand made from its earlier positioning of " Chasing dreams".

Watch the ad here : Tired Son ad

There is no point in commenting on the individual merit of this ad,

I have a strong feeling that the brand has lost its way. For the past few years, Perk has been struggling to find a strong positioning. Earlier , the brand ran a few commercials featuring a young guy lost in an island and the tagline was " Take it Lightly". Now the positioning is miles apart from the past campaigns.

The basic marketing theory demands that positioning be consistent and significant/meaningful. Most marketers try to make the positioning meaningful but does not think that positioning should be consistent. While a positioning based on glucose content is meaningful for a consumer , the lack of consistency in the positioning of Perk makes the message less sticky or worth remembering. Such frequent drastic changes in positioning will do more harm for the brand in a long-term perspective.
What Perk needs to do is to do some soul search to find the right brand manthra. Once that is found then resist all temptations to deviate from the core manthra.

Related Brand Story

Perk

Brand Update : Flipkart Goes for Rebranding

Is three years too short for a rebranding exercise ?? Flipkart thinks that it is not. The brand which started off as a no-nonsense online bookstore has transformed itself in many ways within a short span of three years. May be in digital marketing world, three years may be equivalent to three decades.

Flipkart made its major change in the business model in 2010 when it included movies and mobiles in its offerings. The brand shed its image of a bookstore and moved into an online store. Now in the beginning of 2011, the brand has made significant change in the logo and other brand elements such

as color scheme and website design. The new logo now carries the brand name and an emblem too.

Simplicity and minimalism which was the trademark of Flipkart logo has been compromised for this rebranding exercise.

But why do a brand which is just three years old do a drastic rebranding exercise ? Has the old brand elements became stale ? or is it a change for the heck of it ?According to a report in plugged.in , Flipkart is going to launch more products in the consumer electronics space and the current rebranding is aimed at that.

I am totally confused with their business model right now. Flipkart may have tasted success in their mobile + movies vertical and this may have given confidence for a full fledged transformation from a bookstore to an online store. The next logical step would be to change the landing page for the site. The landing page is still the bookstore and it will be matter of time that flipkart will change the landing page by including other product categories.

So another brand has moved from a simple solution provider to a metamediary solving many problems. I will miss the minimalism and the focus and the simplicity. It may be that an e-commerce site cannot survive on books alone. However, this change of Flipkart opens up an opportunity for a simple online bookstore.

Related Post

Flipkart

Marketing Strategy : Branding Basics for Small Business

In most of the marketing literature, branding strategies are usually skewed towards large businesses. The nature of these strategies also demands heavy and sustained investment in brand promotion and brand equity development. Often such high decibel brand promotion strategies create an impression that branding is a game for large players.

One of the fundamental question before any marketer is whether to brand or not brand. Although marketing literature suggests that there is an option for no-branding, for all practical purposes a firm cannot escape branding. No-Branding decision is where the firm chose to sell its offerings as generic products or commodities. But even in such a scenario, the firms which are marketing such generic products are distinguished by their company name which should be considered as a brand.

For example if you are a salt manufacturer supplying to retail outlets, although you are not selling branded salt, your company name will act as a brand for your customer ( retailer). Even though such firms are not into selling branded products, they have a corporate brand. Through their sales personnel and transactions, these firms are already building their corporate brand.

One of the most important advantages of branding is that brands help to identify and distinguish the seller. Even when selling commodities, the buyer needs to identify the seller and developing a corporate brand helps in getting repeat business from the customer.

Commit to Branding

The first step in creating an effective brand is a conscious decision to invest in branding the business. Whether it is a corporate name or an individual brand name, the decision to invest in branding will bring in a big difference. Branding is much more than putting a label in the cover of the product. Branding is a long term strategy which involves development of a brand vision and creation of brand personality.

Branding need not be expensive

Investing in branding is not about the money set aside for brand promotion but the level of involvement of marketers in developing the brand consciously. Small and medium enterprises have the constraint of limited marketing budget which forces them to overlook the importance of branding their products/business. But when we look at the long term perspective, taking baby steps now will go a long way in establishing a powerful brand in the future.

Big brands are built over a period of time. It is possible for small enterprises to build powerful brand through a consistent investment in smart branding practices. It is advisable to set aside a small percentage of revenue for the purpose of brand development alone. Consider this budget as a Systematic Brand Investment Plan rather than an expense.

Develop and protect the brand elements

Once a decision is made to build a brand, the next step is to develop powerful brand elements.

Brand elements include name, logo, symbols, mascots, color schemes, taglines etc. These brand elements should be prominently displayed in every communication that goes out from the firm be it visiting cards, gifts, brochures etc.

The next logical step is to protect the vital brand elements like Brand Name, Logo, etc. This is very important to prevent plagiarism and to challenge the rip-offs and copy cats.

Explore promotional opportunities

The fragmentation of media is in fact a big blessing for small brands. The proliferation of media has given lot of low cost promotional opportunities for small brands. The competition among the media has kept the advertising rates low especially for second –rung media. Small brands can make use of regional media options in a much more effective way than large brands operating in a national scale. Local newspapers, radio stations, cable TV channels offer excellent cost-effective vehicles for small brand promotions.

Brand promotions through these low cost media may not give a substantial ROI or a significant impact in sales in the short-term. In the long term, such small media exposure will increase the visibility of the brand and benefits will start accruing.

Corporate brands which operate in a business to business environment should explore their brand promotions in a different manner. For business brands, sales professionals are the biggest promoters of the brand. It is important for small businesses to ensure that the sales force is communicating the right kind of message to the customer. Business brands should try to communicate their brand message through every possible contact opportunities.

Every business has some communication materials like brochures, pamphlets etc and these materials offer some amount of information about the company and products. When endeavoring to brand development, these materials are of immense value. These materials should communicate the core Brand Manthra to the consumers. It is commonly observed that these communication materials are only used as a product catalogue rather than a branding tool.

It is a myth that brand building is expensive. Brands are built over time and through consistent systematic investment. The new highly connected environment has opened up many cost effective promotional platforms which can be used by small business to build their brands.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Nicorette : For Every Cigarette, There is Nicorette

Brand : Nicorette

Company : Johnson & Johnson

Brand Analysis Count : 470

Nicorette is a unique brand. The brand is world's best selling smoking cessation brand. Nicorette was recently launched in India by Johnson & Johnson . Nicorette is now launched its chewing gum product-line in India.

Nicorette has an interesting history. The brand is born in Sweden in 1967.

During that time, Swedish Royal Navy was facing an issue where their crew in submarines where increasingly becoming short-tempered because of the smoking ban inside submarines. Scientists discovered Nicorette while searching for an option to reduced the nicotine dependency of these marines.

Nicorette launched in the chewing gum form in India is a therapeutic nicotine-based gum which reduced the craving for nicotine among smokers. The gum when chewed releases nicotine in small quantities thus discouraging smokers from having cigarettes. The product has created a new system of Nicotine Replacement Therapy and has been claiming impressive record in helping people quit smoking.

The Indian market is especially lucrative for this brand by its sheer size. There are more than 275 million tobacco users in India. 24% of Indian males smoke and the use of tobacco in other forms like chewing tobacco is more widespread. This large size of cigarette users also results in large number of health issues and inturn large number of people who want to quit smoking. The demarketing of cigarettes by government and NGOs also increase the number of wannabe quitters.

Nicorette provides an infrastructure and a support system for those who wants to quit smoking. Rather it offers a pain-less way of quitting smoking by reducing the nicotine craving. The chewing of the gum releases just enough nicotine to satisfy the craving and over a period of time the user can reduce the intake of the quantity of gum also.

Nicorette is now availabe in two packs. The 4g pack is aimed at heavy smokers and is available on doctor's prescription and the 2g pack is available over-the -counter. The brand is currently running a TVC and ads in digital media positioning itself as an effective solution for quitting smoking.

Nicorette has adopted the tagline " Doubles Your Chances of Quitting Smoking ". The ads are catchy and the product makes sense for a person who genuinely wants to quit smoking. The ad shows a smoker wanting to quit smoking but the cigarette pack sticking to his hands ( symbolic of the nicotine addiction) despite his efforts to release it.

Nicorette launch also signals the arrival of new product categories into the Indian market. These products were existing in other developed countries for many years but the marketers felt that Indian market is not ready for such products. Now global players are becoming more confident of bring in their innovative offbeat products to India.

Marketing Strategy : Basics of Customer Service

Last day, my colleague got simultaneous service calls from 3 branches of a reputed car service firm. The call was made three days after he had given his car for service in one of the firms. Customer services failures like this is rampant in almost all sectors, which often make us wonder whether firms have forgot to understand the basics of customer service. While selling products or handling complaints, it is surprising to see a lack of basic customer service skills like empathy, responsiveness or responsibility.

Customer service is no rocket science. It does not take loads of customer data or complex CRM algorithms to provide exceptional customer service. What a firm need is the ability to understand customer’s needs and develop a human process to assist the customers in realizing their needs through the firm’s offering.

One of the fundamental requisite of customer service excellence is to treat customer service as an important strategic marketing tool. When a firm considers customer service as a marketing mix element; investment, involvement and control will be more focused. The task of ‘putting customers first’ will be considered a priority at the highest level.

In 1940s, Johnson & Johnson framed its famous credo, under the leadership of Chairman Robert Wood Johnson. The Credo made a very bold statement that “We believe that our first responsibility is towards doctors, nurses and patients, to mothers and fathers and all others who use our products and services”. The credo made the company imbibe a customer oriented culture which is now considered as a core competence. When the importance of customer service is impressed upon by the highest level of management, it becomes a culture rather than a peripheral activity of a division.

Customers always look for a single unified contact point at the company for all their requirements. Often it is the sales/marketing department that acts as the unified contact point. Although the unified contact point is supposed to facilitate two-way communication, in practice the contact is more skewed towards selling products rather than providing customer service. The management has to be careful that the contact point is given sufficient authority to fulfil the customer requirements.

The quality of customer service will come to test when customers have real issues or complaints. How well a firm approaches the complaints is the true determinant of the effectiveness of the customer service initiative. More often, consumers get stuck with their complaints because the contact point may not have the authority to initiate any corrective actions or solutions.

Customers may also have limited access to the higher levels of management. It is in this situation that firms should develop a system of escalation with regard to complaint redress. The process should have definite timelines which automatically triggers escalation of unresolved complaints to the next level of management. For example, if a complaint is unresolved (for whatever reasons) for more than 30 days, it will automatically get moved to the next level of the management hierarchy. The advantage of such a system is that over a period of time, the firm will be able to have virtually no unresolved complaints.

Another basic requirement for exceptional customer service is the human factor. Having highly motivated employees give a special meaning to the word – customer service. An example of extra-ordinary customer service was displayed in the Taj Hotel during the terrorist attack of 26/11. The entire world was thoroughly moved by the dedication of the Taj hotel staff who risked their lives to keep the guests safe from terrorists. These kinds of extra-ordinary actions can result only from a highly motivated and committed team.

While customer service needs to have a human touch, it is important for firms to back the human factor with robust processes. Processes help the firms to have a consistent level of customer service by taking care of the variability factor. Firms must build some amount of flexibility in the processes because one cannot anticipate all kinds of customer requirements and problems.

Companies should also be taking an effort to practice permission marketing while attempting to cross-sell to the customers. Permission marketing is a term coined by the marketing guru Seth Godin to denote the practice of getting prior permission of customers before attempting to sell.

Companies taking customer service seriously should understand that it cannot offer everything to every customer. It takes lot of courage and effort to identify the customer segment that the firm opt to serve. Once that profitable segment is identified, firms should not shy away from providing the best possible customer service to them.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Teflon : Life Runs a Little Smoother With Teflon

Brand : Teflon

Company : DuPont

Brand Analysis Count : 469

Teflon is a pioneer in ingredient branding . Infact this is a brand which popularized the concept of ingredient branding even before Intel's classic Intel Inside branding story. The story of Teflon is a classic and interesting story on Ingredient Branding.

Ingredient branding is a special case of co-branding where the marketer brands components or ingredients contained within other branded products.

Teflon is DuPont's brand of a chemical compound known as Polytetrafluroethylene. Teflon is a high molecular weight compound containing carbon and fluorine. The invention of this compound was made at DuPont's research center by Dr Roy Plunkett in 1938. Dr Roy was working on a experiment on refrigerants when he accidentally discovered a compound which was inert to almost all chemicals. Rather than discarding this compound, Dr Roy and his assistants tested it and Teflon was born. ( Source here)

In 1954, a French engineer named Marc Gregoire created the first non-stick Teflon coated pan (source )

Now Teflon is a powerful brand with a global brand recall of over 98 %. The brand has almost become generic name for properties like non-stickiness , anti-corrosive applications. As a consumer we use this brand in the automobile , clothing and in our kitchens.

The growth of Teflon from a chemical compound to a powerful ingredient brand was not by chance but because of a very well executed branding strategy.

The first factor behind the huge success of Teflon was the product itself. Teflon ( compound) is patented by DuPont. Hence the brand is protected against any competitive threat. Competitors had to find a way to either circumvent the patent or discover a substitute. Although there are substitutes for Teflon, this patent created a huge entry barrier for potential competitors.

The branding strategy adopted by Teflon was at three different levels.

At the consumer level , the ingredient brand has to convince the customer about the brand's promise and utility. At this level, the ingredient brand has to promote itself to the consumers through various brand campaigns. For example , Teflon is currently running a branding campaign for its Teflon Fabric Protector product.

At the manufacturer level, the ingredient brand has to convince the other manufacturers to co-brand with itself in the promotions. This is the most difficult task. The host marketer should be convinced about the ingredient brand's value and the value that it will bring to the host brand.

For example , Asian Paints had a branding campaign with Teflon Surface Protector featuring Saif Ali Khan ( Watch the ad here)

There is one more task which the brand has to do -It has to reinforce the ingredient brand's image as an expert in its field. At this level, the brand acts as endorser to the host brand where the consumer is assured that the host brand will perform better because of the presence of the ingredient brand.

Teflon became a huge brand because it was successful in establishing itself at these three levels. At the consumer level, the brand was able to create awareness and also establish confidence. At the manufacturer level, the brand was able to associate itself with a large number of established brands. At the endorser level, the brand became so strong that consumers began to prefer Teflon endorsed products over other products.

Teflon is now engaging consumers at different categories. The brand now has presence in surface protection, fabric protection, automobile segment etc. Along with that , the brand has its presence in industrial application market also.

Teflon is an interesting marketing lesson for all of us. DuPont has proven its marketing acumen by establishing strong ingredient brands like Teflon, Lycra etc. These success stories will inspire many marketers to view branding as a serious strategic tool .

Brand Update : Nano is the Key to Happiness

Its almost two years since the launch of Tata Nano. A lot has happened over these years. The much hyped & much criticized small car has hit the road and is running through its worst nightmare- sluggish sales.

When Ratan Tata announced the launch of Nano, the media went gaga over the product and the realization of dream of a common man's car. Globally Nano became a big news because of its unbelievable price tag of Rs 1 lakh. More over Tata was able to give a great looking car at a very cheap price.

In my earlier posts, I predicted that Nano will create record interms of sales. I believed that consumers will lap up such a well designed economical car. Nano will create history... but my predictions failed miserably. In November, Tata Motors was able to sell only 500 of Nano cars.

The problem for the brand started when reports of the car getting fire began spreading. Just after the launch, a few Nano cars got fire and the pictures of Nano on flames splashed across the media. Consumers began to seriously worry about the safety of Nano.

To counter this negative publicity , Tata Motors began serious efforts to restore faith in the brand. The company initiated a recall program where the existing Nano cars were fitted with additional safety features. Along with that, Nano was further tested for safety by engineers from Tata Motors as well as from Jaguar.

These measures ,to a certain extent, contained the damage of Nano's brand image. Further to the safety issue, the brand also faced the issue where consumers at the lower-income strata was declined loan by banks and financial institutions for buying Nano. Although the auto loans were always a risky liability for the financial institutions and loan-denial is not anything new in this industry, this issue was again highlighted across the media as a specific issue pertaining to Nano.

So the brand is now facing an issue which is highly perceptual. And a negative perception for a brand in the introductory stage of PLC can be fatal.

To tide over the issue regarding the trust + safety, Tata Motors introduced a four year/60000km warranty for the Nano. The warranty is an assurance from the brand aimed to build trust in the brand.

Along with these measures, Nano also launched its first television commercial this month.

Watch the ad here : Tata Nano TVC

The new ad projects the positives of the car and positions the brand as " Key to Happiness". The brand has adopted the tagline " Khushiyon ke Chaabi ".

What the brand needs is to restore confidence of consumers in the brand. The picture of Nano in flames is still embedded in the consumer's mind. It should be erased if the brand wants to see the sales figures upward. For that it should get as many Tata Nano on the road as possible. The more cars on the road will instill confidence in the consumers to buy this brand. For that the brand should go to any extent.

It is not that I am not aware of the negatives of Nano. But Nano is a genuine marketing effort to satisfy a gap in the market. As a marketer, this is a brand I don't want to see failing in the market.

Related Brand

Tata Nano

Marketing Strategy : The Basics of Internal Marketing

According to Berry and Parasuraman (Marketing Services: Competing through quality), Internal marketing is attracting , developing, motivating, and retaining qualified employees through job-products that satisfy their needs. It is the philosophy of treating employees as customers.

Although the concept of internal marketing seems like another version of human resource management, there is much more than just attracting and retaining good employees. According to Professor Philip Kotler, marketing activities within the company is equally important as marketing activities outside the company.

According to Kotler, there are two perspectives to internal marketing. One perspective is the coordination within the marketing department. The various marketing functions like sales , advertising, product development etc should act as a single unit focusing on delivering the best to the customer. The second perspective is the interaction between the various functions like Production, Finance , HR etc. Internal marketing’s role is to ensure that the entire organization is able to come together for a common business objective.

While many literature focus on the usefulness of internal marketing on the marketing function, internal marketing have a strong strategic importance which is often overlooked.

Advantages

There are many advantages of internal marketing. These advantages vary with the nature of the business that firms are in. Internal marketing has a strong impact on the customer satisfaction in service industries. In most of the service businesses, the consumption of the service product happens at the service factory. Research has proved that the way in which the employees are treated have a direct impact on the way customers are treated.

There are businesses which are human resource oriented like software firms which will find internal marketing a very powerful tool for marketing as well as strategy. Such marketing programs targeting the employees will have strong effect on the overall efficiency of the employees.

The internal marketing initiatives will also have a ripple effect on the ability of the organization to attract and retain the employees. In this highly networked world, internal marketing can generate very high positive word of mouth publicity about the working environment in the company which can attract new talents to the organization.

Firms venturing into Internal Marketing have to look at the concept at different levels. There has to be emphasis on key focal points like branding, communication, training, motivation and transparency.

Internal Branding

With regard to branding, Internal Marketing is closely linked to corporate branding. Corporate brand has more relevance in internally than a product brand. Employees should be thrilled by the corporate brand rather than the product brand. Hence marketing communication targeting employees should be aimed at building corporate brand equity rather than product brand equity. Brands like Infosys, TCS, Unilever etc not only attract prospective clients but also new talents to the company. Working for a reputed corporate brand is a powerful non-monetary reward for the employees.

Internal Communication

Firms venturing into internal marketing should create a robust internal communication infrastructure which is a vital pre-requisite to any such program. Free flow of relevant information within the organization is very vital in this context. The success of the internal marketing program lies in the employees being able to internalize the brand promise, company values and develop customer orientation.

For example, the employee in the finance department should understand the implication of fast payment/bill processing on the overall business of the firm. Materials department should understand the importance of efficient procurement on the overall business strategy of the firm. The understanding of cross linkage of various departments and its impact on the customer will be the biggest takeaway of a successful internal marketing program.

Organizational Culture

Another important prerequisite of a successful internal marketing program is the internalizing of organizational culture among the employees. Firms like Marriott, Apple, Microsoft, Infosys, TCS, GE thrive because the employees are torch bearers of the organizational culture. Such internalization will happen only through a robust internal marketing program. For example, in Infosys, founders like Narayana Murthy , Nandan Nilekeni had the wisdom to understand the importance of developing a highly ethical , performance oriented culture. These organizations have a strong internal structure that is responsible for teaching this culture to the employees.

Top Management Responsibility

In most of the organizations, the task of internal marketing is not clearly defined. Most often this function is handled by the Human Resource Department. The thinking is that HR department is best suited for dealing with employees in matters regarding motivation, training and development etc. Like product marketing, internal marketing is also a very important function to be left to any functional department. In my personal opinion, top management is responsible for internal marketing. Firms like GE, Zappos, Google ,3M has CEOs taking the full responsibility of internal marketing.

In this highly competitive environment, internal marketing is a tool that can differentiate an organization from its peers. It is time for organization to understand its importance and start investing in it.

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Crocodile : Will It Realize Its Potential ?

Brand : Crocodile

Company : SP Garments ( Crocodile International Pvt Ltd)

Brand Analysis Count : 468

Crocodile is a brand from Singapore based Crocodile International Pvt Ltd ( CIPL) . The brand came to Indian in 1998 as a JV between Shivram Associates and CIPL. Within a span of three years, the brand gained much attention in the Indian market.

Crocodile as a global brand had its origin in 1949 in Singapore . The brand later became very popular across Asia as an affordable fashionwear for men. The brand is also famous for the controversy and long legal battles for the logo with the iconic French brand Lacoste.

Crocodile's brand logo has much resemblance with the logo of the French casual wear brand Lacoste. Both the brands has crocodile as the logo. Although there is some difference in the logo, for a consumer both the logo looks the same. In Lacoste logo, the crocodile is right facing while in Crocodile brand - it is left facing. Both the crocs are in green color and is strikingly similar for a casual observer.This has caused a very long legal battle in markets like Hongkong and China.

Later in 2003, both the brands went for an out of court settlement where Crocodile agreed to make some changes with regard to the logo.

The new Crocodile logo has the tail more vertical, the color of the croc is grey and the croc has scales and bigger eyes.

Controversies apart, the brand had a good initial run in the Indian market. The brand was priced at a premium but the international image , the resemblance with Lacoste and some heavy media campaigns took the brand to a level of high popularity. It is interesting to note that the brand owners had registered for Crocodile trademark as early as 1950s but the brand actually entered the market only in 1998.

The brand initially launched its range of innerwears and I still remember the TVC where girls at a pool party ogles the hunk wearing Crocodile inners and the TVC ends with girls saying " There is a crocodile in your pants ". The brand later added its entire range of casual wears in its promotions.

Another striking branding strategy of Crocodile was its merchandising . The brand had lot of Single Brand Outlet in upmarket malls which increased brand visibility to a large extent. Although the price was at a premium, it was affordable.

Despite these positives, the brand struggled to make profit. In 2006, the brand changed owners and Coimbatore based SP Garments bought the stake of Shivram Associates . Ever since SP Garmets took over, the brand has been on a restructuring exercise. According to news reports, many unviable stores has been closed and the new owners are looking at Company Owned Outlets to promote the brand.

The brand was initially targeting men of the age 30 +. The current strategy is to target much younger consumers from age 20 +. The brand will be positioned as a young fashionwear which is affordable and has an international legacy.

The brand is yet to launch a media campaign and hence cannot comment much on the positioning strategy.

Crocodile brand has lot of positives on its side. The brand has a good recall in the market. The brand name Crocodile has a charm factor in it.The logo similarity with Lacoste is a definite advantage and there is still a gap for an affordable casual wear brand in the Indian market. But one of the mistakes that the International brands do in the Indian market is to price themselves out of the game. Crocodile has a huge potential if it plays the afford-ability game rather than try to cash in on its faded international image.

Crocodile will be an interesting brand to watch for.