Maruti Gypsy : RIP

Brand : Gypsy
Company: Maruti Suzuki

Brand Count : 182

Gypsy was one of India's first sports utility vehicles. The vehicle created a breakaway category of SUV offroader from the existing jeep category which was dominated by Mahindra. Born in 1985, the brand was considered as an aspirational one by many young at hearts.The brand was positioned on the basis of its ruggedness. The brand was promoted as a pure offroader. The ads used to say that Gypsy could even climb trees. The positioning was reinforced by the success of the brand in rally and offroad events. Maruti also promoted such events to boost the brand as the ultimate offroader. The brand had the tagline of " There is a Gypsy in Everyone".

But the brand failed to capitalise on the first mover advantage although it is still considered to be one of the sportiest looking SUV in the Indian market. The brand is now confined to certain niche markets like Police and Army vehicle segments.
Gypsy was the rebadged version of Suzuki Jimny. Although Jimny is still surviving, Gypsy is in the last stage of its product life cycle. The brand which pioneered the offroader category sadly is dying when the SUV category has started growing. The brand failed because of the apathy of the company in investing in the brand. The product had inherent problem that created negative word of mouth and the company didn't cared to look at the negatives of the brand.
Gypsy although considered as a tough vehicle lacked many important attributes valued by a customer. The driving quality and the mileage was awful. The product was priced at a ridiculous premium which was not justified interms of the delivery of value.
The brand was priced at around Rs 5 lakh which is comparable with a entry level sedan.The product although looked excellent outside was a mess inside. The vehicle lacked space and comfort especially for the rear seat. It had all the qualities for an offroader but failed to understand that Indian consumers use offroaders on roads ( cities).The mileage was awful and that ensured that only those who fall head over heals over the looks only will buy this brand . Since MUL at that time was in the public sector, the brand was sold to Police and army. For the ordinary consumers, the brand did not made any sense.
Gypsy also did not change itself in tune with the changing industry requirements. The vehicle initially was severely underpowered for an offroader. The company enhanced the power from 975cc to 1300 cc only after 11 years. Gypsy King was launched in 1996 sported the more powerful Esteem engine but was priced steeply.
The last four years has shown that SUV category is growing very fast fuelled by the success of the likes of Mahindra Scorpio. Most of the global bigwigs in the SUV segment is now there in India. Suzuki also has launched its brand Grand Vitara in this segment. But in the current scheme of things, Gypsy was sadly not in the picture.

Compare the picture of the Suzuki Jimny (given in the blog) and Gypsy and see the difference. Had this brand changed its looks and feel in tune with the emerging category requirements, Gypsy could have been a major brand. But Alas.... the brand's fate is to be cited as an example of Marketing Myopia or is it Marketing Laziness.

Source:marutigypsy.com,wikipedia

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Tata sierra

Market Statistics :Volume 2

This is the second volume of market statistics:

Organised shoe market size : Rs 93 billion

Premium shoe market size : Rs 2000 crore

Sports shoe market size :Rs 400 crore

Carbonated Soft Drink Market size : Rs 5000 crore

Powdered Soft Drink Maket size :Rs 90 crore

Milk Food Market size : Rs 1000 crore

Soft Drink Concentrate Market size : Rs 250 crore

Shaving Preperation market size : Rs 150 crore

Steel storewell market size : Rs 800 crore

Fairness Market size : Rs 1000 crore

Mouth wash market size : Rs 35 crore

Breath Freshener market size :Rs 110 crore

Adult confectionery market size : Rs 1100 crore

Diary market size : Rs 5500 crore

Organised diary market size : Rs 500 crore

Greeting card market size : Rs 250 crore

Household cleaner market size : Rs 400 crore

Phenyl market size : Rs200 crore

Organised cleaner market size : Rs 40 crore

OTC market size : Rs 7500 crore

Pain and Rub market size : 300-400 crore

Tetrapak fruit drink market size : Rs 300 crore

CSD market size : Rs 700 crore

Deo market size : Rs 150 crore

Organised Luggage industry : Rs 600 crore

Total Luggage Market size: Rs2000 crore

Soft luggage market size :Rs 600 crore

Moulded Luggage market size : Rs 500 crore

Cycle Market size : Rs 2800 crore

Ceramic Industry : Rs 2800 crore

Processed Milk market size : Rs 10,000 crore

Branded Atta market size: Rs 700 crore

Agarbatti Industry : Rs 1000 crore

Vacuum Cleaner market size: Rs 350 crore

Worsted suit market size : Rs 2000 crore

A/C market size: Rs 3000 croe

Domestic Mint market size:Rs 170 crore

Ready Made market size : Rs 40 Billion

Antacid Market size: Rs 220 crore

Sanitary Market size: Rs 750 crore

Organised Sanitary Market size : Rs 360 crore

Sugar Confectionery Market size : Rs 1200 crore

Denim market size: Rs 9000 crore

Perfume market size: Rs 85 crore

Insurance market size : Rs 400 billion

Pension plan market size : Rs 1000 crore

Condom market size : Rs 110 crore

Baby oil market size : Rs 250 crore

Baby care market size : Rs 3 Billion

Household insecticide market size : Rs 1300 crore

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Market statistics Volume 1

Spinz : Fragrances That Transform

Brand : Spinz
Company: CavinKare
Agency: Rubecon

Brand count : 181

Spinz is India's very own brand of perfume. The brand once the market leader had lost out of the race at one point of time is trying to make a comeback in the fiercly competitive Indian market. Spinz was launched in 1997. The brand was an instant hit in the Indian market was strongly associated with fragrance.
Indian perfume market is small with a value size of Rs 65 crore. The market is tough for account of following reasons.
a. The penetration of perfumes in abysmally low at less than 1% even in the urban market. The low penetration accounts for the fact that Perfumes do not figure in the priority list of most of the Indian consumer. Here in India, body odour is not a taboo. People don't feel embarrassed if they smell bad. They don't even bother to check whether they smell bad or not. Although this psyche is slowly changing : thanks to the effort of Deo marketing companies.

b. The astronomical prices of perfumes often discourages the Indian consumers to indulge in this category. Although there are many perfumes ( local) which are low priced, most of the well known brands are priced out of reach of ordinary Indian consumer. The low quality of the low priced perfumes, often create a negative feeling on the Indian consumer about the value proposition in this category.
c. The grey market and spurious brands act as another deterrent for the consumer.There are fakes of all the well known perfume brands available at every corner of the country. Hence there is no guarantee that the brand which has been bought is a fake one or the original.

CavinKare saw opportunity for a brand that was reasonably priced and ensured good quality to the consumers. That gap gave birth to the Spinz brand. Spinz was positioned on the basis of fragrance. The brand also lived up to the positioning and offered exciting fragrances but priced reasonably. The brand also experimented with packaging. Cavinkare was the first firm to popularise sachet in shampoos ( Velvette was owned by Cavinkare's founder's father). The company tried to make perfumes affordable by introducing sachet perfumes for a price of Rs 10. The company also introduced one time use sachet for Rs 2. All these efforts was to increase the penetration of the category as such. The brand also tried to create a Spinz day to popularise perfumes. Feb 12 was marketed as fragrance day but that initiative did not became that popular.
Buoyed by the positive response of Spinz perfumes, the brand extended itself to talcum powders. The Indian talcum powder market is worth around Rs 650 crore is dominated by Ponds from HLL. Spinz talcum powder was positioned on the same platform as the perfumes. The brand has its stronghold in South India.
Spinz perfumes faced lot of problems during early 2000. The reports suggest that the brand faced lot of packaging issues that prevented it from further growth. In 2005, the brand was rejuvenated. Cavinkare has put new vigour into the brand. The company has roped in South Indian Film actress Ms Asin to endorse the brand. In the new avatar , Spinz is being positioned as a young cheerful modern bubbly brand. The brand retains its positioning based on the fragrance.The brand has enough space to grow because of its excellent value proposition.

Related Brands
Ponds
Yardley
Cuticura
Rexona
Oldspice
source:businessline,cavincare website,magindia

Brand Update : Pepsodent

Pepsodent has come out with a new campaign taking the war into the Colgate's main positioning platform. The new campaign has done away with the famed "Dishum Dishum" campaign and is talking to customers in a more rational platform. The Brand is positioned on its capability to fight 10 gum/teeth problem directl y comparing with its arch rival Colgate. The new campaign is using two smart boys betting on the efficacy of their respective toothpastes. Colgate has been in an aggressive mode recently with a slew of new variants and new campaigns. Pepsodent has carved out a niche in this highly competitive market with their "DishumDishum" campaign.The new direct comparison ad is set to make the marketing war hot.

Related Brands

Pepsodent
Colgate
Close Up

ImageSource: agencyfaqs.com

Maruti Esteem : Welcome To The Big World

Brand : Esteem
Company : Maruti Suzuki
Agency: Lowe

Brand Count: 180

Maruti Esteem is one of the best selling cars from the Maruti's portfolio. The car created the C class segment in India is known for its quality and reliability. Esteem was launched in Indian market in 1995.

Esteem is actually the rebadged version of Suzuki Cultus. The previous avatar of Esteem in India was Maruti 1000. Maruti 1000 was the 1000 cc sedan launched in 1989. Although the car was well received by the consumers, there were certain issues interms of Power and ride comfort. This prompted Maruti to take out the model from the market. This paved the way for a much powerful and refined sedan from Maruti with the new brand name Esteem.

True to its name, Esteem was considered an upmarket luxury car during the early ninetees. The car lived up to the expectations of the consumer and delivered excellent performance. The mid nineties turned the tables against this brand. All the global majors began to eye this lucrative segment and the competition became severe for the brand.

The high profile launch of Ford Ikon and Hyundai Accent took the gas out of Esteem. As usual, Maruti was reluctant to make any drastic changes to the best selling Esteem. The car retained its same look for almost 15 years. The entry of the fully loaded Tata Indigo also made the life of this brand very difficult. The car from its position as a market leader in the C segment became " An entry level sedan". The launch of Baleno in the segment further weakened the position of Esteem in the hierarchy. Baleno was launched at the premium end of the segment but the recent price cut and dealer offers put Baleno at the same league as the Esteem.

I am not sure about the previous positioning of Esteem . For customers it was a good car from Maruti. I would say that it was a sedan which anyone can buy with their eyes closed. The brand had tremendous equity and was a natural choice for an Upgrade for a Maruti Loyalist. So this brand was the choice of a Zen owner as an upgrade.The excellent quality ensured high customer satisfaction for this brand. Esteem was always rated high by JD Power satisfaction surveys. The quality of the product was the single reason for the successful extension of the brand's lifecycle.

Esteem was a good package, hence the company was not sure as to the USP or the Point of Differentiation. Whether it was power or comfort or looks or quality , this confusion was evident in the ads of Esteem during the nineties. While the competing brands had their own USP's
Ford Ikon focused on Power
Indigo on Value
Fiesta on Looks etc

The confused positioning diluted the brand equity of Esteem and made it look like a second cousin to Ford Ikon. The value proposition of Esteem was challenged by Indigo and the overall comfort and drive quality was challenged by Hyundai Accent.

2004 saw the reincarnation of Esteem .The entire car got a new look. Taking cues from Baleno, the car was changed completely. The company embarked on a new positioning " Fall in Love Again" on an emotional platform. The car looked better and was a welcome change from the old much seen look of Esteem. But again the ads were little too boring .

2005-2006 saw the brand striking the " Big Idea" .The new positioning was formulated. The brand is a Big Car.... Big on mileage, Big on Power etc. The campaign has the common theme of a father and daughter with the daughter discovering the " Bigness " of the new esteem. Although I have reservations about the execution of the campaign , the " Big" Idea is really a "Big Idea".

The brand is now revealing its true self. The tagline says " Welcome to the Big World" . The TG is those looking for an upgrade. The audience will be the die hard Maruti fans and those who don't want to take risks. The positioning cements the realisation that the position of Esteem will be in the Entry level C segment.The brand faces stiff competition from Indigo interms of value proposition.

Related Brand
Ford Fiesta

Source ; Businessline, maruti.com,wikipedia
image courtesy: maruti website

Louis Philippe : The Upper Crest

Brand : Louis Philippe
Company: Aditya Birla Nuvo
Agency:Contract

Brand Count : 179

If you want to know how to create a brand, Study this brand. Louis Philippe can be termed as a brand which has an iconic status in India. The brand was launched in 1989 and it created the super premium segment in the Rs 5000 crore men's readymade category.The brand originally belonged to Madura garments and was later acquired by Indian Rayons ( now Aditya Birla Nuvo)

The brand has satisfied all requisite parameters for a successful brand. The brand element, the segmentation, positioning and the promotions were perfect. The brand when launched had a clear vision. The launch coincided with the liberalisation although the later played minimum role in the brand's success. Louis Philippe was obsessed with quality from its birth itself.The brand used the finest cloth and the craftsmanship was exquisite. The brand is the first to launch international fashion trends in the Indian market.

The brand is known for its craftsmanship and attention to detail. The brand has a life that beats the other brands by miles. Those ardent fans of Louis Philippe will vouch for the life of the shirt. After repeated washes, seldom this shirt lets you down.It is this value that had captured the minds of the Indian consumer.

Louis Philippe was positioned as an aspirational brand. The brand element, Crest has now become a symbol of success. You wear the shirt with the upper crest, you make a statement of being well dressed. Seldom brands achieve that status.
The brand initially positioned as "Signed Designer wear" later extended the positioning to create a sense of exclusivity. The brand became the symbol of being " Arrived". The premium pricing and the exclusive Brand element reinforced the premium image of this brand.
Louis Philippe also made sure that it offer maximum value for the premium it charges. The brand uses only Suvin, Egyptian or Pima Cotton. The brand is also the first to launch iconic collections. The Black and White Collections (1996) and the super premium Gods and Kings (2003 ) ensured that the fans are excited about the brand. Gods and Kings range is priced 100% premium over the other premium brands.Another blockbuster product from the brand's stable was the PermaPress range of 100% wrinkle free shirts which became a huge hit with the executives.

The brand primarily relies on print ads in magazines for promotions .The first ever TVC was created in 2000 carried the message that the brand is unreachable for " lesser ones". The print ads were carefully drafted and in all the ads, the brand was the star and not the models. Initially the brand was primarily known as the shirt brand but later it easily extended itself to become a complete menswear brand. The brand faces tough competition from the likes of Van Heusen, Colorplus, Park Avenue, Zodiac ,Reid and Taylor and the list goes on. The future for this brand will depend on how it will stay afloat in the increasingly crowded market. Readymade markets have little entry barriers. Any marketer can enter this market with a brand. This can create issues such as sustaining the differentiation and staying in the minds of the customer.

Related Brands

Zodiac
Indian Terrain
Colorplus
Monte Carlo
John Players
Peter England
Reid and Taylor

Source: Superbrands,adityabirlanuvo.com,agencyfaqs
image courtsey: Superbrands,agencyfaqs