Kingfisher : The King Of Good Times

Brand: Kingfisher
Company: UB Group
Agency:JWT

Brand Count :169

Kingfisher is a classic case of branding success. This brand can even be termed as an iconic brand. A brand that had extended itself from beer to airlines can be equated to the Virgin brand. The brand is synonym with Beer in India. Now ask a young man from India what a Kingfisher is ? The most likely answer will be either Beer or Airline. The power of the brand has virtually made the bird a brand extension.

Kingfisher is a brand from the UB group stable.It is the largest selling beer brand in India commanding a market share of over 28% in the Rs 5000 crore Indian Beer market.The brand epitomises energy, youthfulness ,enthusiasm ,freedom but with a touch of professionalism.

United Breweries (the original name of the group) have a history dating back to 1857. The company came into existence as UB in 1915 with the merger of five small breweries . The Kingfisher brand was launched in the year 1980 ( the exact year of the birth of Kingfisher is not known,80's marked the real life of this brand).

The brand was the brain child of the current Chairman of UB group Mr Vijay Mallya. Reports says that Mr Mallya went to work in Calcutta as a part of mentoring program under Mr HP Bhagat. At that time the brands that were popular from UB stable was Kalyani Black label, Doctor's Brandy etc. Mr Mallya wanted to create an exciting brand and none of the existing brands did not impress him. He went back to Bangalore,searched archives and stumbled upon an old label with a Kingfisher in it. That marked the birth of the Iconic Kingfisher brand.

The major factor behind the success of Kingfisher brand is the Passion that Mallya have on the brand. When marketing theorists says that Marketing is a serious business, Mallya will tell you that Marketing is CEO's business. When the CEO takes interest in the brand and virtually promotes the brand in every occasion, there is so much equity generated on the brand. Like Virgin's legendary Richard Branson , Mallya also showed that the primary task for any CEO is to be passionate about the brand. While in most cases CEO comes into picture to deliver the annual shareholder's meet, Mr Mallya takes the brand with him everywhere.

Kingfisher brand is a unique marketing success story because it thrived in an environment where liquor/ beer advertising was banned in India. The owners have built the brand circumventing the ban on promotion. During 1997 , the brand roped in Ajay Jadeja and Sourav to feature in the campaigns. In 1996 the brand become the worldwide sponsors of the West Indies cricket team. But the brand was conscious to keep Kingfisher the star . The West Indies team personified the brand values of fun loving but successful team. The famous jingle " Oola la le lo" and the fun filled TVC rightly placed the brand as a fun loving one. Unlike brands like Pepsi which is focused on cricket, Kingfisher promotes all sports and the brand sponsors football stars and even Formula 1.

The brand directly talks to people who are Easy going, chilled out person who's always willing to take a break and party with the friends. But they are very professional and successful .

Most of the business reports try to relate the persona of Mr Mallya and the brand which I feel is unjustified. The brand Kingfisher does not derive any thing from the personality of Mr Mallya. The brand has its life of its own. Since the chairman is passionate about the brand, he takes personal interest in the brand . Other than that relating the person and the brand and trying to say that Mr Mallya is more flamboyant than the brand is doing unjust to the brand.

The brand also have a 360 degree approach to promotions tapping all possible ways to communicate with its target audience. The brand sponsors lifestyle events and the Kingfisher Calender has attained a cult status with in 4 years of launch. During 2003-04 the brand logo got a make over and the Kingfisher started flying rather than sitting. The new logo signals the brand's vision to get to new heights. The new logo designed by Claessens was backed with lot of noise in the media.

To circumvent the regulatory ban on surrogate advertising, the brand has launched into different categories like Mineral water and even into readymades taking a lesson from Wills.
2005 saw the UB group getting into the Airline business with its Kingfisher Airlines.The airlines became a brand to reckon with with in a year because the brand lived to its expectation and promise. Positioned as a funliner, the brand equity of the mother brand has been enhanced by this Extension ( can i call it an extension?).

Behind the glamour of swimsuits and parties , one should not forget the strategies that made the brand a super brand. The distribution and the point of promotion strategies of KF is excellent. The brand has maintained international quality but made sure that it is with in the reach of the Indian consumer.

source:kingfisher.com,businessline,magindia.

Amrutanjan : It's Gone !

Brand: Amrutanjan
Company: Amrutanjan Ltd
Agency: Dentsu

Brand Count: 168

Gayab,
Poye Poch,
Poyallo,
Its Gone !!!!!
Remember the brand ?

Amrutanjan is one of India's heritage brands. This 113 year old brand is still young and rocking. Amrutanjan is still one of the largest players in the Rs 250 crore balm market.Etched firmly in the mind of the consumer, Amrutanjan sustained competition, generations and maintained its relevance in the Indian market. The brand has a huge equity in the Indian market and all along has been trying to extend its equity to various categories.

Amrutanjan was founded in 1893 by Mr. Nageshwara Rao Panthulu Guru. The company became public in the year 1936 and currently commands 21-23% market share in the category. The yellow colored formulation and the glass bottle has been a part of Indian households. Although a pain balm , the brand was used for cold and head aches. The brand has a huge cache of loyal users especially in South India. Although the balm market including cold rubs and cold reliever market is Rs 250 crore, the balm market is estimated to be around Rs 100 crore.

Although Amrutanjan is famous for its pain balm, the company has successfully diversified into categories like Diabetes cure and bio technology. The company has now a portfolio of brands like Daikyur, Amrutanjan strong, Dragon liquid balm, Cold snap etc.
In the pain balm segment, the company faces tough competition from Zandu Balm which is the market leader. While the overall balm market (including cold) is dominated by Vicks. Vicks commands a market share of over 60% in the cold balm/rub category.
Amrutanjan has positioned its pain balm on its quick relief attribute. The old and famous " It's Gone" campaign is still recalled by most people. Even though many brands have tried to convince the customers about quick relief, Amrutanjan still retains its equity.

In its portfolio of brands, Amrutanjan's Cold snap is an interesting case .The brand was launched in 1997 with much fanfare. The cold snap was pitted against Vicks. The brand was the first gel product in the category. The differentiators for the brand was that it is non greasy . But the brand was not successful. The simple reason is that Cold snap should not be applied to the nose. It should be applied to the chest and the back for Cold relief. This caused lot of confusion in the consumers. Traditionally when we have cold, we rub the balm all over the nose and even apply the balm inside the nose ! Now the brand says not to do it and warns the customers that it is dangerous to apply Cold Snap on nose. I believe that it is the single factor that prevented Cold Snap from being successful. Cold & Nose have strong association and the brand went against that association.

The pain balm has been riding on the equity and the heritage. Although I am not making any judgement about the future of the brand, I feel that the campaign " It's gone" has immense potential. The brand could come out with new series and versions on this platform and keep the brand alive and relevant in the consumer's mind.

source: businessline,amrutanjan.com,superbrands,sify,domain b

Band-Aid :Continuous Care

Brand : Band-Aid
Company: Johnson&Johnson
Agency: McCann Ericson

Brand count: 167

Band-Aid can be considered as an classic case of branding success. The brand which is almost 86 year old has become generic to the category. Band-Aid is an Adhesive Bandage used to cover minor cuts and bruises. The brand has come a long way to become one of the classic marketing case study.

The brand came into existence in 1920. The person behind this innovation was Ms Josphene Dickson, a homemaker and wife of Mr Eric Dickson who was cotton buyer at Johnson & Johnson. Josphene during her daily chores inevitably encounters numerous minor cuts and bruises, wanted an easy solution to cover the cuts to prevent it from worsening while continuing her work. Eric prepared a readymade bandage using cotton and adhesive tape so that Josphene can cut from the readymade bandage and use it when in need. Eric told his boss about the invention and thus the concept took shape of Band-Aid ( source:superbrand.com).In 1924 the world's first machine cut band-aid was marketed and it was a huge success.

In India, Band-Aid was launched in the year 1978. Band-Aid was successful because it identified the need in the households for wound care. But to reach the dominant position in India was not easy. Band-Aid had to fight the tradition rather than the competitors to succeed. Traditionally, Indians prefer not to cover the cuts and bruises because there is a feeling that wounds should be kept open inorder to heal faster. Further, Indian consumers typically used traditional methods to heal wounds. In earlier days most of the households had the bottle of tincture iodine which was considered as the best solution for cuts and bruises. Kids used to hate this because the pain will be excruciating when tincture iodine is applied to cuts. Band-Aid comes with red coloured medicine inside ( I think it is Benzalkonium) which resembled Iodine. This had enabled early adoption of this brand and Band-Aid was called " Lal Dhawa Wali Patti" which became the USP . Had the medicine color was not red, Band-Aid would have tough time convincing mothers. The Kids also loved the brand since they were relieved of the pain of Tincture iodine.

Band-Aid also tried to educate mothers about the possible problems in keeping the wounds open because of dust infections caused by it. This also boosted the brand acceptability. One of the major factors that aided the success of this brand was the distribution strength of J&J. Band-Aid was a mass market product and hence it has to be there at every shop in the market.

Band-Aid was a brand that changed with time and it keenly watched the consumers and tried to identify their needs. The company had valuable consumer insights that created the first water proof band-aid in India. The main weakness for bandages was that it used to come off easily when wet. This prevented the category usage to certain extent. The waterproof band aid made the brand usable in any condition. This innovation catapulted the brand popularity to newer heights. Band Aid focused on the area of application and was clever enough to come out with various size and shapes. This come from the insight that different wounds in different parts of the body needs different shapes. For example, a small cut in the forehead needs a round band-aid .These insights made the brand a market leader in the category with a market share of over 60%.

Johnson& Johnson also saw an opportunity for the brand in the traditional cure for cuts. In India, turmeric is used as a medicine for cuts and blemishes. Band-Aid launched a turmeric variant of the plaster much to the delight of the Indian consumers. The brand was also promoted heavily. Band-Aid was the first in the category to advertise in electronic media. According to Superbrands.org, Band-Aid was the first product endorsement of Sachin Tendulkar.
Initially positioned as a wound care brand, Band-Aid was repositioned as a product that encourages kids to be active. Kids have the innate desire to be active and Band-Aid makes sure that cuts and bruises will not be hinder that desire. The brand also roped in Virendra Sewag as its ambassador during the cricket season.
Band-Aid has been lying low in the media for a while. The brand has already become generic to the category. Being generic has its share of problems also. When the customer uses the brand as a generic name for the category , the retailer can offer him any brand in the category. There are many local players in the market who gain by a brand major becoming generic. Competition is also from players like Handyplast and Dettol. Although the Indian wound care market is estimated to be around Rs 512 crore, the domestic adhesive bandage category is small at Rs 25 crore. The brand equity of Band-Aid still going strong is a an entry barrier for any one looking to enter this category.
The brand is currently being positioned on " Continuous Care". The positioning is pitting this brand against the ointments and other external applications. The concept is to educate the customers that use of plasters will heal wounds better than the use of ointments.

source: superbrands.com,jandjindia.com,agencyfaqs

Jaquar : Too Good To Resist

Brand : Jaquar
Company:Jaquar & Co
Agency: Crescent Communications

Brand Count :166

Jaquar is the market leader in the Rs 1000 crore Indian tap and bath fittings market. This superbrand has revolutionised the bath fitting industry. A classic case of brand building in a commodity market, Jaquar is the pioneer in creating the premium bath fitting market in India.

Jaquar was born in 1984. The company which owns this brand started its operations in 1960 and was selling taps under the brand name Essco. Soon the owner saw the opportunity for a premium range of bath fittings and thus born the brand Jaquar.
Traditionally bath fittings and taps were low involvement products. Most of the products that were in the market where basic products and had little differentiation and devoid of any dash of aesthetics. The reason behind this was usually the bath fittings are purchased towards the end of the house construction. That leaves little money with the customer to spent. Hence the orientation was towards buying low cost basic products.

But the Indian consumers were changing.. ( cliche). The increasing disposable income together with the changing pychographics opened a window of opportunity for Jaquar. Indian consumers were traveling and was slowly getting tuned to the lifestyle in the developed nations. Bath fittings and taps were slowly recognized as products that can enhance the beauty of the home.

Jaquar pioneered and rode the concept of aesthetic designer taps and fittings. The brand was built on the platform of quality ,design and aesthetics. Positioned initially as a " better tap" the brand metamorphosed to an aspirational brand with the latest tagline " Too Good to Resist".
The brand has many first to its credits. The brand is the first to offer a range of bath fittings that merge with the design of the house itself. The concept of "Range" was first introduced by Jaquar. A series of products were launched as "'Collections" .The collection branded " Stealth " was the first bath fittings range in the Indian market. Jaquar communicated with the customer about the brand in a different way compared to its competitors. For the collection series, the brand talked to the consumer about the inspiration behind the collections. For example the Inspiration behind the Queens Collection was the Royals.
Jaquar was also the first brand to advertise in the electronic media. The earlier TVC of the thieves stealing the tap forgoing other valuables were memorable one and effectively reinforced the brand image as an aspirational brand.

Jaquar was clever enough to realise that Indian consumers are not price sensitive but Value sensitive. The brand was priced at a premium. But the company ensured that the product offered the value for the price customers paid. The brand is the first to offer after sales service to the customers which was unheard of for bath fittings category.

Jaquar was also promoted through a multifaceted promotion strategy involving all channel members. The effort has given results for the company . Jaguar now dominates the organised tap/bathfitting market (Rs 500 crore) with a market share of 50%. The creation of the premium bath fittings category has attracted lot of competitors to the market . Jaquar now faces competition from players like Marc and other foreign designer fittings. To stay in the leadership position, Jaquar has tied up with global majors to introduce global range of bath fitting products into the Indian market. It has tie up with the German major Hansgrohe in the shower products, the swiss major Aquis in the sensor bath accessory segment and the Swarovski crystals for the ultra premium range.

Through careful brand building Jaquar has created and virtually owned the segment of premium bath fittings market. The brand is now extending its equity into related category like electrical fittings and accessories.

source: Superbrand.org,jaquar.com,magindia.com

Mastercard : Priceless

Brand : Mastercard
Company: Mastercard Worldwide
Agency: McCann Erickson

Brand Count ; 165

Mastercard is one of the pioneers in the global credit card business. Born in 1967, the brand is the second largest player in the Indian plastic money market trailing behind the global leader Visa.
Diners Club issued the world’s first universal credit card in 1920. Mastercard was born from an alliance created by United California Bank, Wells Fargo,Crocker National Bank and Bank of California. This alliance was pitted against the Bank Americard issued by Bank of America that later became Visa.

The original name of Mastercard was Master Charge Inter Bank Card which later shortened to Mastercard in 1979. In 2002, Mastercard International was absorbed by Europay International SA and in 2006 the company changed its name from Mastercard International to Mastercard Worldwide.

The business of credit card works in different layers. There are four players in the business.

1. Network
2. Issuer
3. Users
4. Establishments

The networks consists of players like Mastercard ,Visa who are the credit card companies .These companies have linkages and association between different banks and facilitate transactions between users , the establishments and the banks .The issuers are the banks that issue the credit cards like the ICICI, HDFC etc.The users are card users and establishments are those who accept credit cards as a mode of payment.

How credit card works?
When the user buy something, the network ratifies the user’s credibility and authorize the establishment to proceed with the transaction.The netwok then instruct the bank to make the payment to the establishments.(This the layman’s description of how credit cards work).

The credit card companies make money through the association fees paid by the banks and the fees paid by the establishments. The issuers make money by the interest charges paid by the users when they avail the revolving credit facility. Issuers also charge the users annual fees for issuing the card.The establishment benefits by the higher purchasing power of the users .

Mastercard is positioned on the emotional platform rather than on the rational platform that Visa uses. The brand has the famous campaign “ There are somethings money can’t buy, For everything else there's Mastercard”. The campaign known as Priceless campaign was launched in 1996.The campaign executed by Mccann Erickson rejuvenated the sagging fortunes of the brand during 1996. The brand at that time was facing disaster, the sales was sliding and the competition from Visa was slowly pushing Mastercard to oblivion.The Priceless campaign was indeed Priceless for the brand.

The main attribute that consumers look for in a credit card was its acceptability in shops ( reach). Visa was a leader in this and the positioning was based on its awesome acceptability.Together with the reach, the Visa also was building its equity through celebrity endorsements.

Mastercard at that time had no clear positioning and was not focused on any one attribute.This diluted all the previous campaigns for Mastercard. What the brand needed badly was some meaningful differentiation.

The Priceless campaign was aimed at differentiating this brand on the basis of intangibles ie emotions. The campaign is based on the big idea that cost of ownership is one thing and the emotional value that one derives out of it is another thing. Mastercard wanted to say to the consumers that the Mastercard is the best way to pay for every thing that matters. It wanted to show how the purchases can enhance the quality of the consumer’s everyday like. So the brand takes Money as a competition rather than other cards. This campaign is cited as an example of breakaway positioning .The campaign is already 10 years and some 170 campaigns old .This is a classic case of a successful global positioning and one of the most successful campaigns ever.

In India too the brand is riding on the Priceless campaign. The company very cleverly mixes local version of the campaign and the global versions to keep the excitement live. This campaign has established the brand recall for Mastercard in the Indian market. The Indian credit card market is a large one with a market size of $4 bn and there estimated to be around 17 mn cards and growing very fast. The market is skewed towards Visa but Mastercard has gained its rightful share with the help of the Priceless campaign.

Priceless campaign was extended not only to the credit cards but also to other retail products of Mastercard. The campaign is now extending itself to consumers and asking consumers to share their Priceless moments with the company through its website “ Priceless.com”. The brand is an example of the power of Big Idea and a lesson for all who are bored with a successful positioning and want to change the positioning for the sake of change.

Source: Breakaway branding by Kelly &Silverstein, Wikipedia,mastercard.com

Body Shop : Profit With Principle

Brand : Body Shop
Company: Loreal


Brand Count 164

Body Shop is a brand with a difference. Marketers consider this brand as an Icon. Body Shop has created a brand image without the aid of conventional advertising.2006 saw this iconic brand draw up serious business plans for India.

Body Shop brand was created in 1976 in Brighton United Kingdom. The brand and the brand owner share a common personality that is very much linked to each other. Anita Roddick the legendary founder of the Brand created this brand from a small shop in UK started to support her family.

Body Shop in India is sold through the master franchise Planet Sports . The brand is expecting to ramp up the operations to major metros by the year 2008.

Body Shop is differentiated from other conventional cosmetics by the values that the brand adheres to and the brand image created through the unique association with those values.
The brand is famous for its association with ethical practices and the environment friendly world view. The products reflects these values through the use of only natural ingredients and the products are never tested on animals.The packaging and the merchandising are carefully prepared to highlight the brand values. For example , Body Shop uses refillable packs and recycled /recyclable papers. Although the use of refillable packs were used to keep the price low, it evolved into an element that reinforced the brand positioning. The brand also was careful in the messages displayed in the shop and other POP merchandises. The messages were simple, enthusiastic and informative. These elements made Body Shop a different cosmetic brand.

The brand was essentially an extension of the founder herself. Anita Roddick is an ardent environmentalist and naturalist. Her views about the nature supported with her activities and associations created a positive reinforcement for the brand. Customers were seeing a brand that does things while others just give hope. More over Body Shop was able to communicate with the customers at a higher level rising above beauty and fairness that other cosmetics talked about. There was honesty associated with the brand. The shops also reinforced this attribute. All the shops reflected an environment of honesty, excitement and fun. It is reported that Ms Anita Roddick takes personal interview with the franchises to ensure that they share the same passion with Body Shop principle.

Although Body Shop is starting serious business with Indian consumers only now, the association with India dates back to the initial years itself. India was a sourcing partner for Body Shop during the creation of the brand.

The success of the brand was because of the unique business model of Body Shop. The brand relies on PR and word of mouth to make sales. The Indian launch was also a low profile one . The brand has gone against most of the conventional marketing practices. The products are simple and the new product ideas are derived from the wisdom of the ordinary people. For example, When the founder was traveling in Srilanka she found women rubbing their faces with freshly cut pineapple flakes that gave a special look to the faces. This translated to a product Body Shop Pineapple face wash. Many products were resulted from this experiences of the founder from the numerous trip she made around the world.

In 2006, Body Shop was acquired by Loreal for 650mn Pounds. Body Shop will function as an independent entity retaining the management and the principles that made this brand an icon.
In India too the brand is expected to appeal to a niche market. Niche in the sense that the level of awareness about "environment friendly" and " ethical" product positioning is a novelty in India. We often relate environment friendliness with unprofitablity while the basic principle of Body Shop is " Profit with Principle" . Another factor is that in India, celebrities are not associated with nature activism. We have the prominent naturalists in Medha Padhkar and Baba Amte and not AB or Susmita Sen.

In the market where high decibel advertising and sales promotion rules, it will be interesting to see how Body Shop will gain the iconic status it deserves in the Indian market.

Source:Harvardbusinessreview,strategicbusinessmanagement(keller),
bodyshopinternational.com,businessline.