L'Oréal : World Of Beautiful Brands

Brand :L'Oréal
Company:L'Oréal Paris

Brand Count: 112

L'Oreal is one of the most successful International premium brands in India. This French brand came to India in 1991 with its Ultra Doux range of Shampoo through its Agent Laboratories Garnier. In 1994 Laboratories Garnier became the 100 % subsidiary of L'Oréal. In 2000 Loreal launched its range of cosmetics in to Indian market.

L'Oréal is a global giant in the cosmetic industry with a presence in over 120 countries. Its brand is based on the values of Innovation and developing formulations unparalleled in quality and performance.

The Indian Cosmetic and skin care market is estimated to be around $300 Million. In this market the Color Cosmetic segment is around Rs 250 crore while the Skin care segment is estimated to be around Rs 400 crore.

In India the brand is having its presence with three international signatures: L'Oréal Paris, Maybelline Newyork and Garnier.

While L'Oréal was focusing on hair color market in the initial stages of its launch, Maybelline was in the premium color cosmetic segment ( Lipstick and nail enamel) while Garnier in the "naturals" segment.

L'Oréal came to India with its International range of hair colors. At that time hair colors were in the nascent stage with hair dyes dominating the market. The major player being Godrej. The consumers were thagingng lot who had startegrayingng.

L'Oréal changed the way Indian consumers viewed the hair color. The target consumers were not the older lot who want to blacken their grey hairs but the younger ones who want to make a fashion statement.

It was a tough call and to change the Indian consumer's mindset required a good marketer with hell lot of money. L'Oréal had all that. Globally this brand is endorsed by who is who in the fashion world like Claudia Schiffer. In India, the brand is endorsed by none other than Aishwarya Rai. The campaigns of L'Oréal had international models and the Indian models like Isha Koppikar and the ads were positioning this brand as a premium brand. Indian premium class who used to be a globetrotter knew this brand and there was no problem in accepting the Indian version. L'Oréal has garnered a market share of 38% in this segment.

Garnier concentrated on the Natural Hair care market with the main USP of strong hair. The brand positioned as a Unisex brand mainly used its international campaigns in India to appeal to the Indian consumer.

Maybelline is in thcolor cosmeticic segment and is targeting the premium class of customers. This global brand is famous for its tagline "May be she is born with it. May be its Maybeline". This segment is a tough call for Loreal since the global brands and our HLL is fighting for its share.

L'Oréal has now introduced their skin care products in to the Indian market. They have two divisions , one catering to consumer and other to the institution ( beauty saloons). I think the strategy to concentrate on the beauty saloons with specific products is one of the smartest marketing moves. Beauticians acts as influencer in the purchasing decisions regarding skin care as well as hair care. Last week when I asked my hair care specialist ( barber) about a good hair cream, he suggested L'Oréal hair cream. Another advantage is that the beauty saloons acts as a medium for showcasing the L'Oréal brands which can generate interest in the consumer. The saloons also benefit by using L'Oréal brands . Hence it is a win-win situation for the brand and the influencer.

With its smart campaigns and careful brand building L'Oréal has emerged as a winner in the Indian market which has seen lot of International brands biting the dust.

Source: ibef.org,Businessline, Loreal.co.in,agencyfaqs,

Live-in Jeans: Can't Live Without

Brand : Live-in
Company: Microtex
Agency: Contract

Brand Count: 111

The Live-in Brand of jeans come from Microtex Ltd which is the part of Maxwell group which is famous for their VIP brand of Innerwear. Live-in is a leading brand in the Rs.1500 crore denim market in India. According to a report on imagesfashion.com, the jeans wear market is growing very fast across various categories.

Live-in jeans is competing in the mid segment of the jeans market. The product was a bold move by the innerwear marketer into a market dominated by unorganised sector. The main target segment for Jeans are of the age group 16-35 ( although we find many 60 yrs old "young at heart" freaking out in jeans).

Live-in was launched with smart clutter-breaking ad campaign. It used the super model Dino Morea which added a touch of class to the brand. The brand was positioned as the ultimate comfortable brand which you will " Keep Them On and On and On". The baseline and the positioning was an instant hit and the brand had a good run ( I don't have the market share numbers).

The name "Live-in" is the most appropriate for a brand for jeans. The name came it being with a consumer insight that the youth these days virtually are living in their jeans for 18 hours a day.(magindia.com)

Later the brand extended into trousers and shirts. The Live-in shirts were using the baseline " Above All Else". The trouser range was using the baseline " Meet Your Lighter Side" . The campaigns of the trouser range was a flop because the company tried to add humour to the brand which failed. The flops eroded lot of equity of Live-in and the brand is back after a restructuring.

The primary reason for the extensions to fail because it deviated from the successful positioning of the Jeans brand. I can vouch that Live-in trousers are one of the best in terms of fit and quality in that price range. It could have given the Peter England Brand a run for its money, but it did not happen.

The latest relaunch of Live-in has done away with the famous " Keep them on" may be because it has been taken by batteries like Amaron. So Live-in is now with the tag " Can't Live Without", which is a smart baseline. The brand is now making lot of noises across the media with some good campaigns.

Pricing is a major factor in this market where the growth is happening most in the sub 500 category where Newport and Ruf N Tuf are the major players. It is said that even Pepe have a brand in this segment.The entry of all major global brands in to India have provided a bonanza for consumers. But for a marketer it is a nightmare to find the right place with the right product with the right price.

Live-in is a brand with good recall and a good product. Most of the Live-in users will agree with me that Live-in have huge potential to be a readymade brand especially in the trouser segment.

Live-in let me hope it will go on and on and on.....

Source: magindia.com, agencyfaqs,indiatodayplus.com, imagefashion.com,magindia .com

Dyna Beauty Soap : Be A Lady

Brand : Dyna
Company: Anchor Beauty and Cosmetics
Agency: Art Advertising

Brand Count : 110

For the last couple of months I was intrigued with a tvc featuring a new brand of toilet soap DYNA. The ad featured the super model Katrina Kaif and the frequency of the tvc was quite heavy that it was sure the brand had some large corporate backing it . It took some time to find out that this new brand is owned by Anchor groups who rules the electrical accessories market in India.

Anchor has been very aggressive in its diversification strategies. From Electricals, the company moved into a totally unrelated and cluttered FMCG space by launching Anchor toothpaste. Branding experts were shell shocked at seeing the Electrical accessory brand extending itself to toothpastes. I thought the brand will fail, but it didn't . Anchor brand of toothpaste is now having a market share of 7% in the toothpaste market with a differentiating feature of being 100% vegetarian.

Anchor has enteredthe soap market, which is estimated to be around 4800 crore . The market is cluttered with lot of brands, dominated by none other than HLL with a market share of over 55%. So it is a brave move by Anchor.

Dyna is available in two variants. The brand is said to have higher total fatty matter and is positioned as a popular grade one soap. Although the company is spending money in building the brand and is using a well known model to endorse the brand, the execution of the campaign failed miserably in communicating the Brand. There is no positioning , no segmentation. I think that the brand is aimed at the mass market. The baseline " Be a Lady" conveys no meaning at all. The tvc just shows the beautiful Katrina using Dyna Beauty Soap . Thats it...

Dyna has entered a market which is fragmented and segmented in all possible way.The brands in this market are positioned on all possible ways . You name a positioning strategy based on feature/benefit/size/shape/attribute/celebrity/price/value/

psychographics any thing, a brand has taken that positioning.

So can Dyna survive as being "Just A Soap" + Katrina ?

Source: Magindia.com, Businessline. sify.com

Jealous Jeans : Jeans And More

Brand : Jealous Jeans
Company: Indus League

Brand Count : 109

Jealous Jeans is the one and only Indian brand in the women's jeans segment. The brand earlier owned by Jealous Fashionwear was acquired by Indus League in 2005. The brand was not a new brand rather the brand is 15 years old. But it was a niche player. I don't think that the brand had any presence in South India . The brand was not aggressive owing to the factors like Jeans being not popular among ladies in the early 1990's.

Things have changed now. There is a marked change in the demographics and psychographics of Indian women consumer. The younger crowd is not wearing conventional dress opting for modern dresses and also very individualistic in their choice of attires. Thus the Jealous brand once restricting itself to a niche is bracing itself to a larger market. With marketing strength of Indus League, Jealous can cash in on the highly potential market.

Jealous is positioned as an Urban Women brand ( young at heart) , age 16-24. The brand is based on the values like " self esteem", individualistic and fashionable. The brand is edgy, hot and it is new. ( as per their website).

In order to keep the excitement going, the brand comes out with a new design every 3 months. The brand was relaunched last year as a really hot brand with John Abraham endorsing the brand ( unusual for a feminine brand ).The company have priced the brand reasonably and is not restricting it to jeans, the baseline " Jeans and More " is a good one giving lot of room for the
brand to grow. In the promotion front, the brand is not yet aggressive. I think the company is fine tuning its distribution network before spending on promotion.

It is challenging for a marketer to keep up with a feminine brand. It needs to be constantly updated and exciting and fun and many have failed on their way to rule the Indian lady's mind. Jeans for that matter is more challenging. 70% of the market is ruled by the unorganised segment. Hence the organised sector had to compete on the basis of price to survive in this market.

Jealous have a tough task ahead of it but with the advantage of " first mover" and with investments in brand building , it can make other jeans Jealous.

Source: Business line, retailyathra, jealous website, indusleague website, agencyfaqs.com

Alpenliebe : From the Alps

Brand : Alpenliebe
Company: Perfetti Vanmelle
Agency: McCann Erickson
Brand Count : 108

In the 1200 crore sugar confectionery market, Alpenliebe is the single largest brand in India estimated to be worth around 160 crore. The brand is positioned as a family candy and has been one of the most successful brand in a highly competitive market.

The brand came to India with the entry of the global giant Perfetti in India in 1994. Van Melle came to India in 2001. In 2001 the Italian and Dutch companies merged together to become Perfetti Vanmelle ( PVM).Now the Indian venture is the second largest of their global portfolio next to China.

In the products of PVM, Alpenliebe is the star. With effective and aggressive brand building , this brand has grown to become the single largest brand in the segment. The brand is a unique case study because of its peculiarities ie the name and the size.

Alpenliebe is a very complicated name. I searched for half a day to understand what it means. Their website does not have the answer nor do other marketing sites.
Then a friend of mine suggested that it is related to mountain Alps. Taking half hour on the translate.google.com , I found Liebe means Love. So by all probability Alpenliebe means From Alps with Love ( its my guess, inputs are welcome).

So it is a Herculean task to teach Indians ( with 24 languages and a million dialects) pronounce a brand name that does not have a meaning. Theory says that the brand name should be simple, reflect the brand values and easily pronounced. Alpenliebe broke all rules.
It is said that the initial 30 second ad of Alpenliebe pronounced the name 5 times to ensure that the TG pronounce it correctly. Why such a complicated brand name is another question all together. But this risk paid of in that the name became the biggest differentiator and reflected an International image. It is known fact that Indians are crazy about foreign brands and Alpenliebe capitalised on that.

The shape was also unique because most of the candies at that time was rectangular or cylindrical but Alpenliebe came out with a round shape.
More than the shape and the name , the product was really good .The company changed the taste of this brand to suit the Indian Palette making it more Caramelliar ( my usage) than the international one.
The brand is available in three flavours: milky caramel, Cream strawberry, Chocolate. A lollipop extention was launched last year.
Perfetti knows the method to build the brand. It is not hesitant in spending lot of money on Alpenliebe through high decibel interesting ads. The brand is positioned as a Family Candy with kids and elders sharing the limelite. The ad where the boy imitates the "father at Home and Office" is a hilarious one.
The market for Candies is expected to degrow in coming years. We have to see how Alpenliebe copes with this.

Alpenliebe is a classic case of marketers defying the theory and also highlights a simple truth " If You have money to spend, you can make a consumer sing in your language without understanding a bit of it . " anything is possible"

Source: Businessline, Agencyfaqs, Strategic Marketing

Parryware Glamourooms: Not Just Bathrooms

Brand : Glamourooms
Company: Parryware Glamourooms
Agency: JWT
Brand Count : 107

Parryware Glamourooms is India's superbrand in the sanitary ware market. This is a brand that redefined the way Indians viewed Bathrooms. A pioneer in branding and an expert in understanding changing trends, Parryware is a brand worth studying.

The Indian Sanitaryware market is estimated to be around 750 crore and in that market the branded wares is estimated to be worth around 360 crores. Parryware have a market share of around 42% (value share).

Parryware is a part of the EID Parrys of Murugappa group . In 2005-06 the company was hived off as a separate entity " Parryware Glamourooms". In 2006 ROCA of Spain took a 50% stake in the company and is set to roll out its international brands in the Indian market.

Parryware endeavored into serious branding this sanitary wares as early as 1983. In 1985 it introduced the Peacock shaped closets branded as Cascade which focused on saving water. Te product was highly successful and became almost generic to the category. In 1990 Parryware added a new word to Indian branding history " Glamourooms".

The launch created a huge wave of excitement in the otherwise a dull product. The purchase of sanitary wares was never a high involvement purchase. Seldom customers used to bother about the brands nor was willing to spent money on the bathrooms.
But Parryware changed all that. It said to the Indian consumers " No more bathrooms only glamourooms". This caused a spurt in the demand for aesthetic bathrooms.

The launch was perfectly timed. Earlier I remember that old houses seldom had Attached bathrooms. Then slowly came the concept of Bedrooms with attached bathrooms. Then came the focus on looking at bathroom more aesthetically as you look at any other rooms.

Parryware was a pioneer not only in branding this market but also an innovator par excellence.

Parryware is credited with innovating the concept of " Stainzfree" bathrooms, Introduce easy to clean surfaces, antimicrobial seat covers, touchfree electronic urinals and bathroom for Physically challenged people. These innovations coupled with some smart campaigns made this brand a market leader.

Parryware is also credited with being the first customer centric Sanitaryware company. It has the first B2C website for customers, customer care centres for helping the customers and for servicing. Parryware also changed the retail format for selling sanitarywares by creating shopping experience for customers through " Experience centres " which are retail outlets which are carefully designed to give customer an experience of the look of their bathrooms with Parryware.

The brand also keep track of the changing minds of the Indian consumer. There is a marked shift in the preference of Indian consumers from Wet bathrooms to a Dry one and Parryware is

ready for that also. With a strategic partner in ROCA, Glamourooms will be concentrating on the luxury and medium segment while ROCA will be concentrating on the Super luxury segment bringing in the International range to Indian market.

In 2005 the brand also ventured into the Rs 1200 Tap market aiming to become a Total Bathroom Solutions provider. The brand is made on the core values of Water conservation, hygiene and Technology.According to a report in Businessline , the customers have given a high rating for this brand on the values such as Relevance, Uniqueness and Reliability

Although the brand pioneered the concept of " Glamourooms" it found that the concept was copied by other players. Hence the brand changed its tagline to " Add Glamour To Your Life".

Then again the brand began to give importance to hygiene and changed its line to " Sparkling Clean Glamourooms ". Now the base line is somewhere between " Everything else can wait" and " Surrender To Temptation".

The shift in the positioning was not warranted ( in my opinion). From 2000 the brand is known for its Glamourooms but sadly their website no longer talks about this very own concept that made the brand. It is confusing whether it is the consumer who was bored by the positioning or is it the agency or is it the client? If its not the consumer , then why change it....

The brand is well poised to tap the future sanitary market in India, but the frequent changes in the positioning will dilute the foundation on which the brand has built its equity

Source : Businessline, superbrands.org, magindia, agencyfaqs , parryware website