Clearasil : For Clear Skin

Brand : Clearasil
Company: Reckitt & Benckiser
Agency: Euro Rscg

Brand Count : 177

Clearasil was a brand that was synonymous with skin care in India. The brand occupied a distinct space in the Indian market as the ultimate cream for Pimples and acne. But over the years this brand is facing the decline stage in its product life cycle. The brand reached this pathetic state because of reasons not of its own.

Clearasil is a global brand famous world wide as a cure for acne and pimples. The brand is 56 year old. Mr Ivan Combe of USA invented the product in 1950. It was the first dermatological brand for curing pimples and acne made especially for young skin. In 1961, the brand came into the fold of Richardson Vicks. In 1985 P&G became the owner of Richardson Vicks. Later the company sold of these brands to Boots Pharmaceuticals in the year 2000. In 2006, Reckitt &Benckiser bought the brand globally. The brand came to India in 1967.

Now you can easily see the reason why the brand failed. The brand went through too many ownership changes. Some companies did not feel that the brand was a part of its core portfolio. For example during the ownership of Clearasil by P&G there was no investment on the brand since for the company, the personal care business was not a core area. Hence during this period the brand was not at all promoted. Even though the other owners had tried to revive the brand, frequent changes made the brand vulnerable.

Clearasil during its peak years had the reputation as a strong cream for fighting pimples and acnes. At that time there was no direct competition for Clearasil although there were many skin creams. For a family having teenage girls, Clearasil was an essential brand. But over the years, because of the lack of brand building efforts, the brand became irrelevant to the younger generation. Clearasil slowly became the brand that “my mother used”. When Boots owned the brand, lot of variants were launched. The brand changed its packaging and was extended to soaps.Rather than limiting to acne control, the brand tried to position itself as a skin care brand. But the effort did not bear fruit because by that time, the market was flooded with modern contemporary brands.

The brand is now owned by Reckitt and marketers expect that the brand will get a new lease of life. The greatest challenge before the new owners is to make the brand contemporary and relevant to the new generation. Reckitt had to find a new differentiation platform for this heritage brand. It has to tap the existing brand equity and try to create a new space for Clearasil. Globally Clearasil is positioned on the basis of Confidence through better skin . The global positioning statement is “Get Clearasil , Get Confidence”. But in India, Cinthol uses this positioning . The brand faces tough competition from the likes of Ponds, Lakme, Loreal and so on .So to find the right space is going to be tough.I think that the brand could take the “ Clear Skin” positioning where by it is not limited to controlling pimples but overall skin care. With the brand Veet from Reckitt is in the same skin care market; the brand managers will have a tough time integrating Clearasil to the portfolio.

source:agencyfaqs,businessline,reckittbenckiser.com

Related Brands

Ponds
Fair&Lovely
Vicco
Loreal
Bodyshop

Brand Update :Surf Excel

Surf Excel has come out with a new campaign 10/10 ( pronounced 10 on 10). The campaign is aimed at raising fund for the educationally challenged poor kids. Every Surf Excel will have a piece of stained cloth. When washed, this cloth will reveal a number out of 10. SMS this number to 455 and that amount goes to a NGO that works in the field of education for poor. The campaign is set to collect Rs 25 lakh for the underprivileged..

These type of campaigns are aimed at making the brand more humane. The brand gains from the positive attitude created by such campaigns. Some theorist calls this Corporate Social Responsibility. But as Drucker said “ The main purpose of business is to make profit” and as we say to create wealth for stakeholders. The problem is that only a management student understands such concept. An ordinary person will view business as some thing that makes profit for a select few. Hence corporate are forced to display some actions to justify that they mean good to the society.

The latest Surf campaign also intends to do that. The brand is trying to ladder up to a higher level than just the Cleaning ability. Lifebuoy also has successfully taken up the cause of preventing diarrhea thorough its Swasth Chetana campaign. The brands like Surf and Lifebuoy uses children in the advertisements. There are some people who consider themselves as “ Moral Policemen” whose main job is to make the life of marketers difficult. These campaigns act as a Preemptive measure to silence those critics.

It is a laudable effort from HLL to take such initiatives for the brand. The brands benefits immensely by associating with such activities through the positive vibes created by such campaigns. Another brand from HLL , Fair and Lovely also has taken up such initiatives to contribute to the cause of women empowerment.

Image Source : agencyfaqs.com

Related Brands

Surf Excel
Lifebuoy
Rin
Fair & Lovely

Brand Update : Sugar Free Natura

Sugar Free Natura has come out with a new campaign featuring the master chef Sanjeev Kapur. The ad tries to pitch the brand against the ordinary sugar. Targeted at heavy tea drinkers ( and other beverage drinkers too), the ad clearly hints at the risk of taking sugar with tea. The consumer insight is that doctors tell diabetic patients to have " tea without sugar" which is dreaded by the heavy tea drinkers. And more sugar is consumed daily along with tea rather than through other sweets. Hence the ad makes perfect sense. great insight . great work.

Related brands
Sugar Free
Parry's sugar

source: agencyfaqs.com
image courtsy:agencyfaqs.com

Hajmola : Tasty Funfilled Digestive

Brand : Hajmola
Company: Dabur
Agency: Lowe

Brand Count : 176

Hajmola is one of the power brands from Dabur's portfolio. The brand is one of the oldest and most respected brands in the digestive market in India. The brand commands 75% share in the Rs 90 crore digestive tablet market in India.

Hajmola is a 31 year old brand launched in 1975. The brand has ayurvedic formulation and is sold through all kind of shops unlike the antacids. Hajmola is very popular in North India and North is the strongest market for the brand.
Hajmola although a digestive is not positioned as a digestive brand. The brand has moved away from the therapeutic aspects and is positioned more as a naughty mischievous brand. The brand is positioned as a mild digestive that can be taken any time anywhere. The brand uses kids as the main ambassadors and the campaign that features a boy in the dormitory( Hajmola Sir) is still most remembered classic.

The brand has been nurtured by Dabur carefully. The brand was endorsed by Kapil Dev during 1995.Not restricting itself to tablets, the brand extended itself to candies and other forms of digestives. Now Hajmola has Candy, Candy Fun2, Mast Masala and Hajmola Yumshell. The brand also has changed its package from the old rustic glass bottle to a new contemporary pack. Dabur has now promoted Hajmola as an umbrella brand in the digestive segment .The brand is now worth Rs 100 crore.

In 2004 Dabur roped in Amitabh Bachchan to endorse all Dabur power brands. Hajmola also got the power of Big B into its fold. The ads now feature the fun filled tussle between Big B and a kid. Hajomola has kept its positioning of being a fun filled product. The reason for not restricting to digestive is to give the brand more room for growth. If positioned entirely as a digestive, the usage of brand will be limited. Hence Hajmola tries to induce the customers to take it anytime anywhere. In all the campaigns the brand is positioned on its Zingy Zangy taste (Khatta Meeta).
The brand has also ventured into the highly competitive candy market . The hard boiled candy market is estimated to be around Rs 350 crore and Hajmola is reported to have a 9% market share.
Hajmola has always tried to focus on the Northern market. The ads are predominately Hindi and not at all targeting the south market . The tagline of Hajmola " Hazm Sab, Chahe Jab" will not be understood by most South Indians. The brand is also not being promoted heavily in this market. One reason can be that the taste of Hajmola may not suit the South Indian Palate.

Like the Chawanprash market , the digestive market also feels the issue of stagnation. The endorsements by celebrities and the heavy spending are the only way out for brands facing such stagnation issues.

Related Brands
Gelusil
Sona Chandi

source: dabur.com, agencyfaqs,businessline,magindia,domainb

Fem : Beauty With Care

Brand : Fem
Company: Femcare
Brand count :175

Fem is a small player in the FMCG market. This 50 crore pharmaceutical company has a significant share in some of the niche segments in the FMCG market in India. The company has followed the principle of concentrating on niche products rather than fighting a bloody war with the heavy weights .
Fem came into existence in 1982. The brand is famous for its range of liquid hand wash soap segment. In this Rs 20 crore market, Fem occupies a major market share of over 60%. Fem is positioned on the platform of beauty with health. The tagline of the Mother brand is “Beauty with Care”. The liquid soap segment of late has been witnessing intense competition from the likes of Dettol and Lifebuoy. Fem comes with fragrances like Lemon,Blossom,Peach,Bouquet etc.

Another niche product from FEM is the new brand Oxybleach. Oxybleach is the facial bleach from Fem boast of having the world’s first pre bleach cream. The brand is positioned on the unique attribute of “ Oxygenation”. The ad speaks about the problem faced by skin when exposed to sun, dust etc. The brand when used gives more oxygen to the skin making it refreshing and healthy.

Fem is a brand that also has significant presence in the female hair removing market. The brand has launched a new hair removing cream in a squeeze pack which acts as a differentiator.
Fem has introduced another brand in the cloth conditioner segment (entirely new category) named Bambi, which is a fabric softener.

Fem has been successful in finding niche areas in Feminine care and with good products and distribution network, the brand has created positive word of mouth for its products. The brands like Oxybleach and hair removers are being promoted aggressively by the company. But the company faces competition from established brands, which try to enter into these niches. Most of the personal care brands are trying to give all solutions to the customer rather than focusing on any one product. That has been the strategy of mega brands like Ponds, Lakme and Loreal. These brands, which have significant brand equity, will always post a threat to the niche brands like Fem. For Example, brands like Lifebuoy venturing seriously into liquid soap business will threaten the position of the cash cow of Fem.

The major issue with niche brands is the lack of resources to sustain the growth and fight competition. The lack of resources often forces the niche brands to either sell off or die in the face of competition from large brands. This problem becomes too dangerous when the company try to have too many brands . Too many brands sometimes creates resource allocation for brand building.

source: femcareindia.com,businessline

Brand Update : Sprite & Thums Up

The Economic Times on 7/12/2006 carried a front page news on Sprite becoming the second bestselling drink from the Coca Cola India operations edging out Coke to the third place. The report says that this phenomenon is seen in the Indian market only where the flagship brand Coca Cola trails the other brands. I had severely criticized the new positioning of Sprite " Clear Hai" and the endorsement from Sania Mirza in my earlier post. But I was proved wrong. Sprite campaign seems to do wonders for the brand. Consumers think that the brand is Clear.....

India's Macho drink Thums Up is now the No1 selling Cola from Coca Cola.In the earlier post, I wrote about the brand being made to play second fiddle to Coke. Coca Cola had rejuvenated the brand and the results seems to be terrific. The latest commercial features the current Bollywood poster boy Kunal Kapoor endorsing the brand in a well made commercial.

The Thunder is Back


source: economictimes
Kunal's image:smashhits.com