TVS 50: RIP (1980- ........)

Brand : TVS 50 Mopeds
Company:TVS
Agency:McCann Erickson

Brand Count:212

TVS 50 is in the death bed. Anytime the plug can be pulled from the life support system which supports this brand. The brand which was once the favorite two wheeler of common man is at the end of its lifecycle.
TVS 50 has a special place in the automobile history of India. This brand was the first twin seater moped in India.Moped is the combination of Motor + pedal ( nobrainer isn't it).The history dates back to the time of first world war and later a resurgence during the great depression.
Mopeds were pioneered in India by Kinetic with its single seater Luna. But TVS 50 made the category popular. This simple machine which was a category between cycle and scooter was a affordable transportation mode for a middle class person who couldn't afford a scooter.

The success of this product can be attributable to two things : price and utility. At a low price one could have something better than a cycle and also which was simple to handle and no hassles. The brand became favorite for small traders and at one point of time an entry level category for teenagers.
The Mopeds are now facing extinction because of the rise of certain categories within the two wheeler segments . The emergence of scooterette took away lot of consumers who was in the TG of mopeds.Along with that the product also had its inherent problems. The most nagging one being underpowered. The pedal starting also distanced ladies from considering this product. Although the product offered good mileage, the emergence of scooterette virtually took the consumers away from mopeds.

TVS has tried to keep the brand afloat in the changing market. It introduced a 72cc moped :TVS XL Super to make the moped powerful. Over its lifecycle the brand changed from TVS 50 to TVS Champ to TVS Superchamp to TVS XL Super and TVS XL Super heavy. The pedalling gave way to kick starting .So looking at the product changes, the company has done all the right things. Even in 2001, the brand had 66% market share. But the question is about the shrinking market for mopeds. In 2003 the company officials announced that the brand is slowly being phased out.

TVS was once a brand that reversed the fortune of TVS motors. It was a cash cow for the company and kept afloat the company during trying times.Now this category itself is becoming irrelevant or is it? One significant factor to look is that the design was never touched upon regarding the mopeds. The look remained the same.Globally mopeds are a preferred product category for short distance commuters. Looking at the electric bikes that are being promoted now in India, the performance is comparable with mopeds. So are curtains being pulled a little too early? Theoretically there is a gap existing in the market between cycles and scooterettes:Where TVS Scooty remains the leader. Price wise also there is a scope for a product. But mopeds in the current design and image may not bring in customers especially urban customers. A redesigned funky and attractive two wheeler in the price range of mopeds still holds some market. In western markets there are 50cc mobikes that teens use. No for an urban teenager, there are less options or settle for a ladies scooterette.

Will it take a Honda to reinvent this category.....
Source:businessline

Brand Update : Sunfeast

In a unique marketing move, FMCG major ITC has launched a new range of Sunfeast Biscuits: Sunfeast Sachin's Fit Kit. The brand's uniqueness lies in the fact that first time in India a product is being co-created by the company and the brand ambassador. In a world cup Googly , Sunfeast has not only roped in Sachin as a brand ambassador but also bought in a variant of a different kind.

Sunfeast Sachin's Fit Kit is the first Indian brand where the celebrity has been actively involved in the product development. Sachin has shared his dietary regimen which has helped him to stay in top fitness for more than 17 years ,with the company and the product was developed taking inputs from the dietary regime. The new variant is branded as Sunfeast Sachin's Fit Kit.

Sachin's Fit Kit comes in two variants : Vitamin and Protein Enriched and Multi-Grain. The Vitamin and Protein biscuit has Vitamin B1 B2 B5,B6 & B12 in it. The Multi-Grain biscuits has 6 grains in it viz Barley,oats, raggi,corn and wheat. The range retails for Rs 5 for 75gms and Rs 10 for 100gms.
The brand is promoted by Sachin and TVC's are on air now .The brand uses the taglines " Ab Har Ghar mein Sachin" translated to "Sachin in everyhouse" and also " Sachin ne Banaya" translated to : " Made By Sachin". The ads are made by Prahlad Kakkar for Ulka. The TG as I infer from the TVC is kids. The rationale of the current high profile heavy investment product is the understanding that Indian consumers are getting more health conscious. According to media reports, a part of the sales revenue will go to Sachin as a Royalty apart from the fee for endorsement.
The ordinary range of Sunfeast is endorsed by ShahRukh Khan (Watch TVC Here).The brand is leaving no stones behind and Sachin and SRK endorsing the same brand gives it an Awesome leverage

Related Brand
Sunfeast

Source:itcportal,businessline

Asian Paints: Every Color Tells a Story

Brand : Asian Paints
Company: Asian Paints
Agency: O&M

Brand Count : 211

Asian Paints is the market leader in the highly fragmented and highly competitive Rs 7750 crore ($1.73 Bn) Indian paint Industry.The organised sector constitutes around Rs 5400crore ( $1.2 Bn).
Asian Paints started its journey in 1942 with four young men in a garage in Bombay. The name Asian Paints was picked randomly from the telephone directory. The brand has traveled from that garage to become a Rs 1000 crore brand.From 1968 ,this brand occupies a premium position in the Indian Paint industry.

The story of the evolution of Asian Paints as a brand is interesting. The brand now has an iconic status in the industry thanks to some blockbuster big ideas from O&M. The brand once positioned as a mass market brand has evolved itself to a higher plane.

Indian paint industry can be broadly divided into two segments
a.Decorative segment which constitutes the wall paints : exterior and interior, wood paints etc
b.Industrial segment which consists of automotive paints, and paints for industrial sector.
Decorative segment constitutes around 75 % of the total paint industry and Asian Paints is the market leader with around 44% share. In the Industrial segment, Nerolac is the market leader.

In the decorative segment, it is interesting to see how Asian Paints have changed the buying process of the product like paints.Paints are usually considered to be a low involvement product. In earlier times, the decision of the brand was taken by the builder/contractor and the home owners does not involve much in the process may be the decision of color rest with the house owners.
Asian Paints realized the need for brand building even during sixties. But at that point of time, the company had a wide range of brands/subbrands. The focus of the company was on product innovation and service network and managing quality proposition.The brand focused on mass and rural market. Asian Paints had a mascot called Gattu who was created by the celebrated cartoonist R K Laskhman.These efforts made the brand a leader during the late sixties.

Then the company realised that although volume justified the leadership position, share of mind for the brand was very low.That was the result of the mass segmentation adopted by the brand. Rightly so because the industry was driven by channel driven promotions, building a brand at that time was" uncommon sense". During 1983, the company tried to reposition the brand as a premium brand. Asian Paints initiated the corporate campaign aimed to position the company as the number one player in the industry.The objective was to upgrade to a more margin premium product marketer .The corporate campaign " Spectrum of Excellence" was aimed to increase the Salience of the brand in a quiet market.

But this campaign failed to inspire any interest in the consumers and the company felt that the market is moving towards a commodity market where price is the most important differential. Asian Paints undertook a consumer research aimed at understanding the perception of consumers about the product category. The research revealed lot of interesting insights. Consumers felt that paints could change the mood of the space and it was a sign of festival and plenitude.It could make a gloomy place bright and pleasant. From this insight came the campaign of Asian Paints associating itself with festivals. Research also confirmed that customers tend to repaint their houses on the occasion of festivities. Thus born the campaign "Celebrate with Asian Paints". The campaigns were carefully crafted and there were different campaign for different regions. These campaigns effectively enhanced the brand equity of Asian Paints and established itelf as a premium brand. More than that , these campaign ensured an emotional connect with a brand in a low involvement category.The brand also phased out many subbrands and rest of the subbrands was brought under Asian Paint's umbrella brand.

During the late nineties the brand had to be reinvented. Because no longer festivities formed an important part in ones life. Since many brands went after festival seasons,the positioning platform has become cluttered.More over the consumer buying behavior has changed. The category was becoming less seasonal. People started associating more importance to home decor and interiors. The choice of color became a high involvement decision. From a low involvement category, paint was increasingly becoming a high involvement category.

The brand also went in a brand overhaul. The logo was changed to a contemporary upmarket one designed by Entreprise IG based in Singapore.The logo/design was to convey self expression, sophistication and Technology.

Thus came the birth of a wonderful positioning strategy created by O&M. The insight was that the brand is about people and homes and homes reflect the people living in it. Hence " Har Ghar Kuch Kehta Hai" translated to " Every Home has a story to tell". This campaign is a perfect example of a brand laddering up and connecting to a higher level in the mind of the customer. The campaigns reinforced the brand as a premium emotional brand.
Along with the campaign Asian Paints also ran parallel ads for its subbrands. Saif Ali Khan endorsed the premium brand Royale .For Apex Ultima, the campaign was highly localized and was different in different market.

View Asian Paints ad here : Pongal :Saif Ad

Taking a cue from the success of Ghar campaign , the brand took ownership of the COLOR. The insight is that each color has a story to tell. The latest campaign reflects on the color and uses the campaign " Har Rang Kuch Kehta hai" translated to "Every color has a story to tell".The brand is so serious about the color that it has tied up with IIT to explore new colors and conduct research on colors.
Asian Paints is a classic branding story and the brand is still exploring and growing.

source:businessline,agencyfaqs,Ficci

Marketing Funda : Limited Edition

Marketing Funda #4: Limited Edition

The post is inspired by one of my students Mr.Prateesh who raised this intriguing question: Why do companies come out with Limited Edition products?
Obviously this question can be seen in the light of high promotion advertisements of Marketing giants like Pepsi launching Pepsi Gold and Mirinda Limited Edition.
According to Wikipedia, the term "Special Edition" when used in Marketing, is intended to give the product something new and previously unseen in the regular edition.Limited Edition carries a sense of urgency and the products will be released for a shorter time or in limited numbers.
Limited Edition term is derived from publishing industry where limited number of editions can be printed with top quality impressions. But later this term was taken and used across industries.

Although Limited Editions are sold at a premium, there are many FMCG companies take up this concept minus the premium factor.The industry that has used this concept widely is the automotive sector . In India too there were lot of products that come with Limited Editions. The recent one is the Pepsi World cup Gold. Pepsi has earlier came out with Pepsi Blue in the last world cup.

The reason for launching a Limited Editions can be many :
1. Induce brand rejuvenation
2.Consumer Connect
3.Celebrate an event
4.On occasions/Festivals
5.Sales Promotion
6.Test Marketing
7.Creating a Hype in the market
8.Celebrity Endorsement
9.Encourage multiple purchases.
10. Create Brand Associations
11. Enhance Share of Mind

According to MG Parameswaran of Ullka, marketers use Limited Editions to increase consumer connect, to excite the market or for celebrations ( source:Financial Express). For example Lux came out with two limited edition flavor Chocolate Seduction to celebrate its 75 th anniversary.Pepsi Blue is to celebrate World Cup. Amara Raja Batteries had a Limited Edition to celebrate Narain Karthikeyan's entry into F1.

Sometimes Brands come out with Limited Editions to Excite the market. If the brand sales is plateauing, Limited Editions can bring back excitement into the product.The incremental improvements may encourage many new consumers into the product thus rejuvenating the brand.
Limited Editions also help to encourage customers to make multiple purchases as a Collectors item. Sometimes marketers use these Editions as a test marketing of a feature of attribute. For example Wagon R used a series of Limited Editions to test market some of the features which later became the part of the standard equipment.
Limited Editions are also used by marketers to boost the Share of Mind i.e to ensure Top of Mind Recall. Brands like Pepsi which has limited scope of differentiation in terms of product attributes uses Limited Edition like Pepsi Aha, Caffe Chino to boost the image and also the high profile promotion ensure top of mind recall.

Limited Editions are used for special seasons and occasions. Many marketers launch event/theme based variants of their products that runs for a short period but with a view to enhance the brand image.Some times Limited Editions are used to create a hype in the market.

Another advantage marketers see in Limited Editions are to use it to maximize the use of a celebrity.Palio effectively used Sachin and Special edition cars to boost the image of the brand.Limited Editions also help the brand to create positive brand associations. Coke used limited edition Rang De Basanti bottles to create positive association of truth and optimism.

All though there are many advantages to using Limited Editions as a strategic marketing tool, often these editions are expensive.Most often the return from these limited ranges cannot be measured. Sometimes the Limited Editions become failures which in turn affect the brand equity of the parent brand. Now a days marketers use Limited Editions as a tactical weapon ( sales promotion ) rather than a strategic tool.

Source: Financial Express

Easy Off Bang: And Dirt Is Gone

Brand : Easy Off Bang
Company: Reckitt & Benckiser

Brand Count 210

Easy Off Bang is a global brand launched recently in India. Easy Off Bang is a Multipurpose surface cleaner that cleans the tough stains,rust,hardwater build up and the like from surfaces.The brand was launched in Europe in 2004 and according to reports, the brand was a blockbuster success in the European market.

Easy Off Bang was launched in India in 2005.The test launch was in Tamilnadu and inspired by the positive response, the brand went National in 2006.The total surface cleaning market in India is estimated to be around Rs 350 crores (including toilet cleaners and floor cleaners).The concept of a surface cleaner is something new to Indian households . Mostly even for toughest stains, we use the common cleaning solutions and if it does not work then leave it like that !. Easy Off Bang is trying to explore a new segment in this category. Reckitt is the market leader in the surface cleaning market with products like Harpic, Lizol and Collin. Easy Off Bang is a product that fits neatly into the product line.

What is interesting about this brand is the Brand Name. The company decided to use the global brand name in India also.It is true that the name caught the attention of customers because of its uniqueness ( clutter breaking). But other than that positive aspect, the brand name (I feel) is a misfit in Indian market.Easy Off Bang is now promoted heavily through television. The brand takes the Demonstration Led Advertising where the anchor demonstrates the effectiveness of the product.The brand uses the tagline " Bang... And Dirt is Gone".

Easy Off Bang is a niche brand and is targeting SEC A and B segment. The product is priced at a premium at Rs 65 for 400 Ml.Although the brand is being advertised as a tough stain remover, the website shows certain surfaces where this product is not effective.According to the website, Easy Off Bang is not effective in the surfaces like Marble, Aluminum, vinyl floor tiles etc .Some customers may get disappointed by this disclaimer.

Easy Off Bang became very successful in the global market within two years of launch. This brand is present in around 70 countries and the company expects Indian market to positively accept the brand. The brand faces the issue of developing this category because customers may consider Easy Off as an avoidable expense and this brand faces competition with the ordinary floor cleaners. Although the brand name is little unorthodox for Indian market, the success of Alpenliebe may give confidence to the company. The performance of this brand will be closely watched by the customers and the delivery of promise will determine the success of Easy Off Bang.

Ginger Hotels : Luxury of Simplicity

Brand : Ginger
Company: Roots Corporation ( Taj Group)


Brand Count : 209

Recently I was intrigued by a simple ad of a hotel in Television with the tagline " Please Help Yourself" because seldom we see hotels advertise and decided to read more about the brand Ginger. There was many surprises in store for me about this brand. Ginger is the new version of Indione chain of hotels touted as the budget hotel chain from the Taj Group. Owned by the TATA's Ginger brand is expected to shake up the hospitality industry for the better.

Indione launched in Bangalore in June 2004 was Taj's first foray into Budget hotels. The hotel chain was expected to tap in the growing population of Business and leisure travelers and expected to satisfy the need for a hotel that offers service at affordable price. The Bangalore property was a test market of this concept.The test market results was encouraging and the Bangalore hotel averaged 85% occupancy rate. After testing and fine tuning the process and service, the company nationally launched the chain of hotels.

Tata's however decided not to use Indione for the chain of hotels ( for some reasons). The brand Ginger was chosen to this new chain of hotels. The brand Ginger was developed with the help of Internationally renowned Brand consultancy firm Landor Associates. Ginger brand radiates simple unique,basic, lighthearted,very different, Indian, innovation as its Brand values. The company wanted the brand to radiate Freshness and Ginger communicates that freshness.
Although the concept of budget hotels looks attractive, it is not easy to sustain the cost and the service expectations. Hence Taj conducted an extensive consumer research to fine tune the service delivery and the ambiance.The national rollout of Ginger Hotel was on March 2006. The brand already has its presence in 6 locations.

Ginger differentiates itself from other budget hotels by its SMART BASICS feature. Smart Basics concept was co-created by Ginger with the help of the Renowned Management Guru CK Prahlad. Smart Basics provide a value proposition of a different kind. It represents a Next Generation category that signifies Simplicity, convenience,informality,style ,modernity and Affordability.The hotel offers a mix of high end facilities with an affordable price tag. Ginger offers a customer following facilities: A/C, electronic lock,comfortable beds, work area, 17" Flat TV,Direct Dial with STD, Gym,cyber cafe etc at a rate of Rs 999 for single and 1175 for double room.The hotels operate with skeletal staff but is highly process oriented so that most of the necessities of the customers are taken care. Some of the services are outsourced but available to the customer on call. As the tagline says " Please Help Yourself", most of the services are self service ( to reduce cost) including check in. The trick is to be process driven so that customers will just have to follow the process and things will be taken care by the process.That also gives the company an option to charge for specific services demanded for the customers.

Ginger effectively fills a gap that existed in the hospitality sector, a need for a budget hotel that delivers reasonable/assured service. Ginger helps that decision making easier for the customers.
Ginger is an example of Masstige service and holds huge potential in the Indian market. The budget hotel market in India is estimated to be around Rs 6000 crore and Ginger is all set to conquer this market.

Source: hospitalitynet.org,gingerhotels.com,businessline, economictimes