Brand Update : Lays

Lays has launched its new variant Lay's Stax in India. Although this brand was launched way back in 2005, the brand was limited to select outlets in select markets. This year saw the national launch of Stax. Lay's Stax is a fabricated potato chips which is positioned as healthy snack. The product launch is in line with Pepsico's new orientation towards healthy foods. Stax contains zero trans-fat, no added MSG and is cholesterol free. The brand is targeted towards the young health conscious people. The brand comes in a canister pack which has the unique pullout tray. Pringles was the only brand that has this packaging. The rationale behind this variant is to keep the brand ahead interms of being the innovation leader and also tap the increasingly health conscious Indian consumers.The brand comes in 7 flavours which is enough to keep the Indian consumers testing (tasting) the brand for a long time. These innovations keep Lay's exciting and creates a strong entry barrier for competitors. Lay's have a market share of around 50% in the Rs 1800 crore organised salty snacks market in India. Low fat snacks is definitely a high potential market taking into consideration the changing lifestyle of Indians.

Related :
Lays

Brand Update : Taj Mahal Tea

Taj Mahal tea has changed its Brand Face ( brand ambassador). Recent TVCs show Saif Ali Khan endorsing the brand. Taj Mahal has been using the Tabla Maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain as its brand ambassador from 1990's. Since Ustad Zakir was endorsing only this brand, the recall was high. Over the period of time, the brand ambassador became synonymous for the brand. Ustad and Taj Mahal was touted as the classic example of a successful celebrity endorsement. The collaboration with the brand and the ambassador went that far that Ustad once challenged in a TVC in 2001 that he will stop playing tabla if he come across a better tea. That TVC created lot of controversy.

The new brand ambassador is Saif. HLL may have reasons for changing the brand ambassador. The brand manager may have been bored using the same face?. Saif may be an attempt to make the brand more contemporary. Ustad and his fans are getting older. Hence there is a chance that the new generation may miss out on the charm of Ustad ( generation gap?). So the attempt may be to make the brand relevant to the new generation. In theory we site examples where the users of the brand getting older and the brand not able to connect with new generation. HLL does not want this to happen with a power brand like Taj Mahal. But by using Saif, the brand is losing its face. Taj Mahal had an exclusive face which was something that made a difference to the brand. Saif does not have that exclusivity. The transition could have been more effective if the TVC had both endorsers......

Related brand
Taj Mahal Tea

Brand Update : Tata Salt

Tata salt has introduced a new brand of salt in South India named " i-shakti". Although no TVC is aired, the brand is being promoted through ads in regional magazines. The ad in this post is in the regional language- Malayalam. Surprisingly the website of Tata Chemicals do not have any information about this brand. There is a possibility that i-shakti is test marketed in Kerala.The brand is being positioned as Iodised Free Flow salt that will help your child to become smart. Tata Salt do not have that much popularity in South India . That may be the reason for the new brand launch.The packaging and the color usage seems to be eye catching . Although the ads are in place, the product is yet to reach the supermarket -it seems.The brand is also endorsed by ICCIDD which stands for International Council for Control if Iodine Deficiency Disorders. i-shakti will take the competition head on from HLL's Annapurna brand. Annapurna is positioned on the iodine platform

Related Brand
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Pedigree : We're For Dogs

Brand : Pedigree

Company: Effem India
Agency: TBWA India

Brand Count: 188

Pedigree is world's largest pet food brand . The brand is owned by the Mars group which also manufacturers confectionary products. In India Pedigree is marketed through a 100% subsidiary Effem India Pvt Ltd. Pedigree was launched in India in 2001. The brand is all set to cater to the boom in pet food market largely accounted to the changing lifestyle of Indian consumers.

The Indian pet food market is large estimated to be in the tune of Rs 1500 crore. It is estimated that India has around 4 million pet dogs and the consumption of petfoods is at 4 lakh tonnes per annum. That is a big market and is expected to grow at around 35% per year.
Although many players are already there in the market, Indian petfood market is still in its nascent stage. Almost all global players like Nestle,Royal canine,Hill, Lams, Ralston are fighting it out in the market. Pedigree is considered to be the brand that is expected to lead this market.

The petfood market is seeing comeptition not among the brands but these brands are competing with the home food that is given to the dogs. Unlike the West, Pet owners seldom look( aware) at the nutritional needs of their pets.
According to the petfood marketers, the nutritional needs of dogs is 5- 8 times higher than the humans. Hence giving the same food that we eat will create nutritional deficiancy in the dog. But there are vetenarians who argue that commercial petfoods are harmful for the pets. The fight goes on..

Pedigree has embarked upon a comprehensive marketing campaign for developing its brand. Although well known across the globe, this brand has new challenges in the Indian market. The main challenge is to educate the pet owners that Pedigree offers more nutritional value for the dog than the ordinary food. Second is to convince spending a premium on petfoods. The cost of giving Pedigree to a dog works out to be Rs 25 per day.

Pedigree is positioned on the nutritional platform and the ads try to educate the consumer that ordinary food can make the dog lazy and inactive. Globally the brand is positioned using the tagline " We're For Dogs" while in India this has been modified to " We care for the Dog".The company have ensured a strong distribution network and is also trying to get the retailers to influence and educate the pet owners. The brand is also tapping events to popularise the brand.
Although now purchases are yet to pick up, the brand is now in a position to tap the growth curve once the market becomes positive towards petfood.

source: businessline,magindia,pedigree.au
image:pedigree,agencyfaqs.

Marketing Funda : Masstige

Marketing Funda is a new series from Marketing Practice. A lot is happening in the marketing field which has created new JARGONS. " Marketing Funda" series is aimed at keeping you and me updated on the new fundas.

Funda #1 : Masstige

Masstige is a term introduced by Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske to refer to a new category of products aimed at providing "Luxury To the Masses". The term Masstige is derived from the words Mass + Prestige. Silverstein and Neil published a wonderful article in Harvard Business Reveiw (April 2003) titled "Luxury for the Masses" explaining this concept in detail.

Due to a variety of reasons, the luxury market has evolved into different types like
a. Accessible Super Premium products which are priced in such a way that middleclass will be able to afford it.
b. Old Luxury brands extending downwards to catering to mass market
c. Mass prestige brands or Masstige brands which occupies the sweet spot between Mass and Class.

The term has great relevance in the Indian context because Indians are more value conscious and the market for masstige is very large. According to the authors, several factors have caused the evolution of masstige brands. The causes are in the Supplier side, Company side and in the Customer side.
The rise of the income and the change in the retail sector ( discount retailing ) and the emotional awareness has sparked the consumption of such brands. This has forced many firms to look at tapping this market. The accessibility of global resources and efficient supply chain helps the firms to control the cost thereby offer more value. The customer also has evolved in the sense that they began to demand more for less. Indian society is moving towards NUF (Nuclear Urban Family ) where each individual has their own tastes and preferences.

The marketers also find ways to make the brand stand out as a prestige product without the 'expensive ' tag. Brands like Peter England has succeeded because of the prestige image and the value delivery. Pond's has moved to cater to wider mass without compromising the image.The authors point out that inorder to successfully implement the concept has to make sure that they create a ladder of genuine benefit to the customers. The firm should have a passion for innovation on the marketing mixes. More over an outsider ( outside-in)view of the category should be encouraged to ensure that managers are not myopic to the changing marketing environment.

Related Brands
Peter England
Pond's
Tata Indica

Speed : High Performance Petrol

Brand : Speed
Company: BPCL
Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi

Brand Count : 187

Speed is India's first branded petrol.Launched in 2002 by Bharat Petroleum Corporation ( BPCL) , the brand assured in the concept of positioning and differentiation in the Petroleum marketing which was by nature a commodity.

Speed is marketed as a high performance petrol. Speed is the blend of petrol with high speed additives sourced from Chevron Texaco. The additives are expected to increase the performance of the vehicle.
The branding of petrol is more difficult than any other products because of the following reasons:
a. The customers are very price sensitive. With the petrol prices moving upwards always, spending a premium for branded petrol is a tough call for a customer.
b. There is no tangible benefit that branded petrol can offer to the customer. The advantage of using Speed will not be visible to the customer at the outset. The change may have to be noticed on the performance of the vehicle .

In that sense, Speed has been very successful in creating a niche in this market. The brand is said to be contributing 25% of the total petrol sales of BPCL. Speed is said to have 50% share in the branded petrol segment.
BPCL has carefully nurtured this brand. The brand name itself gives a headstart to the acceptability for the brand since Speed is linked to Performance. Speed is positioned as High Performance Petrol. The company has roped in Narain Karthikeyan as its brand ambassador. The TVCs and the print and outdoors reinforced the positioning of the brand as a performance booster. Narain's was a right choice for the brand since he personifies performance driving in India.

Speed has competition from Indian Oil brand: Extra Premium. Besides using Narain as its brand ambassador, BP also has other campaigns promoting the brand on performance . Speed also extended itself to include Diesel fuel under the Hi-Speed diesel brand.

Even before the launch of branded petrol, BP had initiated a corporate campaign " Pure For Sure" to position the company as one that provides the Purest Petrol/Diesel.The campaign was aimed at promoting retail outlets selling fuels. Another corporate campaign was " Energising Lives" aimed at raising the corporate image beyond fuel retailing. These moves were to preempt the competition arising out from private players like Reliance Industries entering the fuel retailing segment.
With fuel prices touching new heights and with customers looking for alternate fuel options, it will be tough for Speed to convince the customer to pay a premium for the brand.

Related topic
Branding a commodity

Source:agencyfaqs,businessline
image source: agencyfaqs