Preethi Mixie : I Guarantee

Brand : Preethi
Company: Maya Appliances

Brand Count : 206

Preethi is an upcoming brand in the heavily crowded small appliances market in India. The brand has grown from a humble beginning to become the market leader in Mixer-Grinder market. Preethi is a brand from Chennai based Maya Appliances. The brand was born in 1978 and was no where in the main scene till the late nineties.
Preethi after 29 years is all ready to spread its wings . The brand which is famous in South India has started its journey to become national. The Mixer-Grinder market is worth around Rs 1000 crore and the market is dominated by local players. Almost 60% of the market is unorganised. Preethi is the market leader in the organised segment with a market share of over 30%.
Until late 1990's , Preethi was a small player and the market leader was Sumeet which had a huge brand equity among the consumers. Facing the issue of stagnation, Maya Agencies deputed a marketing and consulting firm Suhita Ethinic Marketing Services Ltd on a Channel and Customer research initiative. The research revealed lot of insight to the company regarding the product and also on the customer buying behavior. One major insight that the company got was the quality attribute that was highly associated with the brand. Both the dealers and customers strongly associated quality and ruggedness to the brand. These insights has helped the company to further sharpen their strategy.
The growth of the brand over the last 5 years has been phenomenal. The market leader Sumeet faced lot of internal issues that adversely affected their position in the market and Preethi became the market leader in the mixer-grinder segment.

Mixers and grinders are of three types : Mixer-Grinder, Juicer-Mixer-Grinder and Food Processor. Mixer-Grinder constitutes the largest category. This market faces the issue of price competition from local players. Hence all serious marketing activity takes place in the Rs 1500 + segment . It is estimated that there are 500 different manufacturers of Mixer Grinders in the country. Another issue is the frequency of purchase. Earlier a family would use the product for more than 15 years but over time, the frequency of purchase has been halved to around 7 years. Most of the time , these products are either bought/gifted at the time of marriage /housewarming and after repeated servicing , the family will opt for a new one. Hence the task of the marketer is to catch the new users everytime and often it is expensive.

I noticed this brand a few years back through the TVC. Preethi regularly uses television to promote the brand. The protagonist in the ad is a homemaker who guarantees the quality of the product . The tagline is " Preethi Mixie : I Guarantee". What impressed me was that the brand has used a homemaker ( Models are used) and the message is simple straight forward. The brand had a good share of voice in the local media. More interesting was the support that the brand enjoyed from the channel. When I inquired about this category, most of the dealers had high opinion about this brand.
Another factor that helped this brand was the product changes that the company made in tune with the trends. The brand comes in following variants : Ecoplus, Popular,Chefpro ,Supergrind and the latest one Blueleaf. In my opinion the strength of the brand is its understanding that Indian homemakers need powerful motor and Preethi Mixies delivered the maximum power.Even in my experience, most of the mixers are severely underpowered to meet the need of a typical Kitchen.

Blue Leaf is the latest offering from Preethi aimed at the upper segment .The new range is designed by Neil Foley of Titan Fastrack fame. The brand priced expensively at Rs 3500+ aims at the SEC A segment .BlueLeaf combine both design and power and is marketed heavily by the company. The brand takes a cue from the heavily promoted Philips Mixie who takes the USP of the silent mixer.Through Blueleaf, the brand intends to project the brand towards a lifestyle positioning.
Preethi has established its equity in Southern Markets by emphasizing its quality and with the new variant Blueleaf, it is all set to go national.

source: businessline,domainb

Medimix : Taking Care of Skin Problems

Brand : Medimix
Company: Cholayil
Agency: Grey

Brand Count : 206

Medimix is the second largest Ayurvedic soap brand in the country. This brand is a pure play ayurvedic soap and has been around in the Indian market for more than 37 years. The brand was born in 1969 by a virtually unknown company Cholayil . Over these years , Medimix has grown to become a Rs 140 crore brand.The brand was targeted mainly at SEC BC segment.

Medimix is a pure ayurvedic herbal soap and take pride in its herbal heritage. This brand can be said as one of the pioneer in the herbal soap category. The brand was one of the few brands that had positioned itself as a herbal soap when the market was full of synthetic soaps. The brand had 18 herbs in it and was positioned as a curative/medicinal soap. The brand was even prescribed by doctors for skin diseases.Medimix is the only brand which reveals all the name of its ingredients in the packaging. The name Medimix was derived by combining Medicine + Mix ( my guess). Because of its quality and medicinal properties, the bran has around 30% market share in the d has carved out a place in the Rs 660 crore herbal soap market. Medimixayurvedic soap market and 3.2% share in the total soap market.

Medimix was marketed heavily in South India. But often this brand fell into the trap of Sales Promotion driving the sales. The sales dropped sharply when the sales promotion schemes get over and company had to rely more on the sales promotion activities. The brand also went into totally unrelated Brand Extension into cough syrup category with Medimix cough syrup and also extended into Coconut oil segment : both of these extensions were not successful.

In 2006, the brand took a major initiative to take the brand forward. Medimix has realised competition getting intense in the soap market with brand coming out with variants and also taking the Natural/ayurvedic route. Although Medimix had the heritage, there was the issue of brand not being noticed by younger generation. Brands like Jeeva began to challenge the ingredient theory by promoting its 27 herbal ingredients vs Medimix's 18 herbs.
In 2006 Medimix initiated a relaunch exercise for Medimix. Medimix changed its packaging after 36 years into a new contemporary packaging designed by Bangalore based Ray+ Kesavan Designs.New advertisement campaigns were launched intended to appeal the brand to the younger crowd.According to company officials , the brand wants to be appealing to Mass Urban and younger crowd which is a tough task for any brand.The brand also came out with two variants : Sandal and glycerin to attract the Naturals segment. The brand also is tying to appeal as a beauty soap with out diluting its medicinal curative positioning.The brand also wants to appeal to SEC A segment .
The company wants to take the brand national and make it a rs 500 crore brand.The competition is intense but Medimix has a heritage to bank upon. May be in this case the brand may have to seek a celebrity push to reach the next level.

source:businessline,cholayil.com,agencyfaqs

Chandanam: Power of Brand Name

Brand : Chandanam
Company: SD Pharmacy
Agency: MAA Bozell

Brand Count : 205

Chandanam is an interesting brand. The brand is from SD Pharmacy which is a small player in the traditional ayurvedic medicine market. SD pharmacy came into limelight with the huge success of Manjal Soap( discussed elsewhere in this blog) which notched up an impressive turnover of around Rs 12 crore within a years time . Manjal Soap was later sold to Marico for an undisclosed amount.

Buoyed by the success of Manjal soap, SD pharmacy launched Chandanam Soap in 2006. The brand follows the same strategy of Manjal Soap i.e harnessing the power of brand names. Like Manjal ; which is the Malayalam word for turmeric, Chandanam is the Malayalam term for Sandal. The brand talks about the ingredient Sandalon which has the essence of sandal which will make the skin younger and also acts as a deodorant.
The brand unlike Manjal faces stiff competition from giants like Santoor and the heritage brand Mysore Sandal Soap. Also brands like Hamam has variants with Sandal ingredient.

Chandanam is marketed just like Manjal Soap, the packaging and the TVC's are strikingly similar and the company expects the market to accept this brand also. Another interesting fact is that SD pharmacy has not stopped with Chandanam. In 2007 the company launched its third brand of soap branded Mullappoo which is the Malayalam name for Jasmine. More amusing is the fact that the entire communication and packaging follows the same formula except that in case of Mullappoo the USP is the jasmine fragrance.It raises the question Whether a marketing formula works for all brands ? everytime?

One of the reason cited by the company for selling the brand Manjal was that the company lacked the resources to compete in FMCG segment . But in a report the company MD says he has no plans to sell Chandanam brand and will be marketed by the company itself. According to the website VCcircle.com, P&G has evinced interest in acquiring Chandanam.

The brands Chandanam and Mullappoo are classic case of the pulling power of brand names and these brands draw its strength from the ingredients. The brand names are derived from original generic local names.The brand is an example of a Descriptive brand. This strategy works because the consumers can easily identify the brand and its USP ( a very simple use of commonsense) . The company does not need to tell too much about either Chandanam or Mullappoo to a Malayali . The brand is also following the higly successful sampling strategy followed during the Manjal launch. Chandanam Samples are carried by popular magazines like Vanitha and Grihalakshmi followed by print ads and TVC's.Although the brand calls itself as Herbal soap, the soap is actually a Natural Soap.

The initial reports from the market suggests that Chandanam and Mullappoo has been well received. But the task to create volumes for this brands remains huge. The company may need heavy investment because two new brands were launched in quick succession and that too in a highly competitive market.These brands has to sustain the share of voice because otherwise the scope of these brands will be limited to a niche. Whether the company has plans to take this brand further or will it be sold of at a premium is something that has to be seen.

source: businessline,economictimes

Related Brand
Manjal

Brand Update : Colgate

Colgate is now rocking. The brand which commands the toothpaste market with over 53% share is leaving no room for competitors. This once complacent giant has now becoming very aggressive with new product launches and innovative marketing campaigns. This year the brand has come out with a new variant Colgate Max Fresh Citrus Blast.

According to news report, the variant is a result of customer analysis by the company on the tastes and trends. The company has found that customers are moving from monotony to variety, artificial/cosmetic to natural ,single to multi/combo etc. Citrus blast is a result of such a consumer insight. Since the launch of Max Fresh variant, the brand has doubled the sales. Citrus variant is expected to increase the brand's position in the market. The brand has embarked on a 360 degree campaign promoting this variant and Saif Ali Khan will be endorsing this range. The brand is targeting youth age group 18-35. ( source: Indiainfoline.com)

Related Brand
Colgate

Market Statistics : Volume 1 Revised

This is the updated market statistics with details of the source. As usual the data is confusing and different source give different figures.

Size of Advertising Industry in India : Rs 16300 crore ( ET 26/2/07)

Snack Foods Market Size : Rs 4500 crore (ET 26/02/07)

Branded Snack Food Market :Rs 1300 crore( ET 26/02/07)

Apparel Market Size :Rs 80,000 crore ( Business World 05/03/07)

Apparel Popular Segment :Rs 5300 crore (ET 07/02/07)

Popular Segment Shirt Market : Rs 2800 crore ( ET 07/02/07)

Popular Segment Trousers : Rs 750 crore ( ET 07/02/07)

High Middle class Apparel Market : Rs 5360 crore ( ET 07/02/07)

Soft Drinks Market Size : Rs 6000 crore (ET 21/02/07)

Juice Market Size : Rs 1200 crore ( ET 21/02/07)

Mango Juice Market Size : Rs 900 crore ( ET 21/02/07)

Retail Jewelery Market Size : $ 12.2 Billion (ET 21/02/07)

Retail Jewelery Market : Rs 70,000 crore ( Business World 05/02/07)

Branded Jewelery Market : Rs 2100 crore ( Business World 05/02/07)

FMCG Market : Rs 64000 crore ( ET 07/02/07)

Durable and Electronics Market : Rs 25,000 crore ( ET 22/02/07)

Indian Luxury Goods Market Size : Rs 63,000 crore ( Business World Feb 07)

Coffee Retailing Market size : Rs 660 crore ( Business World Feb 07)

Gaming Market Size : Rs 217 Crore ( Business World 05/02/07)

Footwear ( Above Rs 1000) Market Size : Rs 250 Crore ( Business World 05/02/07)

Toy Market Size : Rs 1000 crore ( Business India : 11/02/07)

Agarbatti Industry Size ; Rs 1000 crore ( Business India 25/02/07)

Color cosmetics Market Size : $ 113.4 million ( Business India 25/02/07)

Retail Industry : $300 Billion ( Business India 25/02/07)

BlackBerry : Small,Smart & Stylish

Brand : BlackBerry
Company: Research In Motion


Brand Count:204

BlackBerry is an interesting brand especially in the Indian context. The brand belongs to the Canadian Company : Research in Motion. The brand was globally launched in the year 1999. The brand was an answer to the need for a traveling executive to connect to the office.
Blackberry is a device which supports Push Email,Text messaging,Internet faxing web browsing etc. Rather than a device, Blackberry is a technology that enables one to forward emails from the customer's desktop to the mobile device. BlackBerry was an instant hit across the world and when you go to an airport, its inevitable to see executives using this device. BlackBerry was named By Lexicon Branding Inc which is a firm specialising in Brand Naming services. The name is said to be derived from Strawberry 'cause the buttons of the device looked like strawberry. ( source:wikipedia)
BlackBerry came to India in 2004. Airtel was the first service provider to enter into contract with BlackBerry. In India, Blackberry never advertise but it is the service provider that advertised the connectivity. Since this brand was aimed at the corporate users, it made more sense to entrust the promotional task to the sales persons rather than to the advertising agency.

More over BlackBerry did not need to advertise because it was a product which clearly satisfied a need of its TG. When it was launched,there was no smart phone or web enabled phones.Hence BlackBerry offered a solution to stay connected while travel. This product was lapped up by Corporate India. Although BlackBerry is not a mobile phone, the brand was able to build a point of parity with Mobile phones by associating itself with the cellular service providers. Airtel had an exclusive agreement with BlackBerry which will expire on March 2007. Hutch has already announced its association with BlackBerry and TVC's are already on air. You can watch it HERE

2007 is witnessing a huge change in this product. BlackBerry is repositioning itself. A brand that was targeting the CEO's have now set their sights on the younger crowd.The brand has metamorphosed to a Cellphone directly competing with Nokia and Motorola. Earlier BlackBerry never looked like a phone. The shape was different and the instrument had a QWERTY keypad with its iconic TrackWheel + Click feature. The brand was so famous that the users sometimes get addicted to it and some used to call it CrackBerry. But slowly the brand began to take itself to the cellphone territory.
BlackBerry launched its stylish version of BlackBerry branded BlackBerry Pearl 8100 which is aimed at the younger generation. The brand which is priced at around Rs 25,000 is expected to drive decent volume.
BlackBerry was earlier positioned on its email feature. The brand was positioned as a pure play email device. But now the positioning has been changed .The tagline says " Small Smart and Stylish" which reflects the look and design of the device.
Although BlackBerry is entering the highly competitive cellphone market, the brand has made a clever move by allowing non BlackBerry devices to offer email services using the BlackBerry Connect Software. This is a very smart move from the company which see itself more as a technology company rather than a device company. It has not made the mistake of Apple Computers which during the early days refused to sell the operating systems separately. Now customers can opt for smartphones from Nokia or Sony Ericsson to access email using BlackBerry technology.
BlackBerry has seen exponential growth in the subscriber base globally since its launch. The service already has 6.2 million users worldwide. In India too , this brand has become an essential tool for the busy executive.
Earlier an executive had to use a Cellphone and a BlackBerry to be fully connected,but the latest BlackBerry eliminates the need for multiple devices and converges all features into one. By doing so, BlackBerry is getting out of its comfort zone and entering into a deep sea. The Pearl will directly compete with Nokia and we have to see how Nokia reacts to this move.

Source:blackberry.com,wikipedia