Brand Update : SBI

After surprising every one with Surprisingly SBI campaign, the bank has now moved into the second phase of campaign rationally explaing why SBI is better than other banks.

The bank has taken the positioning of Pure Banking emphasizing that SBI does what it does best : Pure banking. Th bank has now took the tagline" Pure Banking , Nothing else" takes a dig at new generation banks that spent lot of time doing non banking financial services.
A new Tvc is also running which shows a young guy getting impressed by the services offered by SBI which is his old parent's bank. The recent print and tvc is aimed at shedding the " old public sector bank" image of SBI and make it more relevant to the young customers. The bank is now running a mix of Rational, Humor and emotional advertisement to promote the bank. Laudable and Surprising.

Watch the hilarious Chiman Lal campaign here: Chiman Lal Charlie

Related Brand
SBI

Market Statistics : HLL Market Share Across Categories

According to A C Nielsen, Hll in 2006 maintained its leadership position in the FMCG market. It ruled the following segments : Personal wash,Fabric Wash, Dish wash, skin care, Jams,Tea, powder etc and is a strong number 2 in Toothpaste , instant coffee and Ketchups.

Brand Update : Rin and Surf Excel

2006 saw a unique marketing move from HLL. Rin Supreme bar is being migrated to Surf Excel. Although the decision is made in 2006 , the ads are being aired more frequently in 2007 ( I have only recently noticed this after one of my students pointed out this ).I was wondering why HLL is messing up their successful detergent brand like Rin?
Indian Detergent market is valued at around 5100 crore ($1.2 bn).Detergent bar market makes up for 43% of this market .HLL commands 38% of the fabric wash market.
The latest move comes in the wake of the high profile launch of Tide detergent bar. Tide and Ariel always created problems for Surf and Rin. The migration of Rin Supreme bar to Surf Excel bar is aimed at countering Tide.
While Rin is heavily positioned on th whiteness platform and Surf Excel on the Stain Removal platform, the new Surf Excel detergent bar is aimed to take both these attributes.The ad is already on air featuring kids conveying " Good News and Bad news" to their mothers.

It is true that the detergent bar market is important for HLL because in India, homemakers use a combination of bar,detergent and whiteners on their clothes. Hence any move from competitors should be seriously dealt with. But this migration initially did not make sense with me. Why spent money migrating brands? Does HLL gain by migrating Rin to Surf excel?

But I feel that the logic behind the migration is to protect Rin and its USP of whiteness .It is true that Rin supreme can counter Tide bar because both have whiteness positioning. Had HLL used Rin to counter any competition other than Tide, it will have to focus on the Whiteness Platform alone and any additional attribute may affect the parent Rin detergent powder brand. While having Surf Excel detergent bar will help HLL to counter competition not only from Tide but other competitors since Surf is known for its stain removal property. There will not be any dilution in the equity adding attribute of whiteness to Surf unlike Rin. My conclusion is Surf Excel has the ability to be a generalist than Rin.( MyView).
Is it good news or bad news?

source:businessline

Related Brands
Surf Excel
Rin

Idhayam oil : Banking on Health

Brand : Idhayam Oil
Company: Idhayam Group
Agency: Lekha

Brand Count : 219

Idhayam is a strong regional brand in the hugely diverse and unorganised edible oil market in India. Indian edible oil market is huge with a consumption of 360,000 metric tonnes per year. The market is wide and varied with regional preferences diverse across India. For example ,the preferences goes something like this:
Ground Nut oil is preferred in the West, Coconut oil and Sesame oil is preferred in the South,Mustard Oil in East and North, Soyabean oil in Central and North/West and sunflower oil in most parts of the country ( source: superbrandsindia.org).

Idhayam is the biggest brand in the sesame oil (Gingelly oil) segment . The brand has a rich heritage of over 60 years. The company came into existence in 1943 and over these years the brand has grown to occupy a major share in the South Indian market. Idhayam sells over 13 lakh liters per month .

Although in my house, traditionally we use coconut oil, Idhayam is a familiar brand because of the intense promotion by the company. The brand is promoted heavily through television and magazines. The brand uses the famous South Indian Diva Jyothika to endorse the brand.Although the ads are dubbed from Tamil in Malayalam , the heavy and constant bombardment of ads never misses the audience.
What is more interesting is the message of the ad. Idhayam means Heart. The brand has its basic values rooted in health platform. I think the brand had this even before the Sunflower brands took over the health positioning.
Idhayam is positioned as an all purpose edible oil. The brand talks about low cholesterol content and great taste.The ad also reminds you that the oil is best to apply on hair too. Health + Taste has been the positioning of Idhayam for years now.
The company later entered the groundnut oil market with a brand :Mantra Groundnut oil.
The success of Idhayam lies in the ability of the company to built the brand. It had been a commodity business but Idhayam added value and now rules this segment. The brand over time has now come out with an innovative marketing strategy " Oil Pulling". This is an initiative of the company to pioneer the concept of Oil therapy in the country. Oil Pulling is the method of rinsing the mouth with oil for Twenty minutes by Swishing the oil between the teeth. According to the company reports, this process effectively cures glaucoma and gum diseases. ( check out the website & doctor before trying it).

Idhayam is a classic example of branding a commodity. The brand is now trying out new markets for its Sesame Oil. Whether it will be successful or not, time will tell

Source:idhayam.com,hindubusinessline

Brand Update : Kingfisher

It is a tough task for a beer marketer to keep the brand's share of mind when there are government restrictions on advertisement. How surrogate can you go without getting into trouble... The issue become more critical when you have a super brand like Kingfisher. The brand had so far being able to promote itself through high profile events like the Kingfisher calender. 2007 saw another series of ads of Kingfisher mineral water taking advantage of the Jingle...
You can watch the latest TVC here , : Lift :Fitting Room
The ads take advantage of the brand element : jingle.. a smart way of reinforcing the brand in the customer's mind. The ad is an attempt addressing the new users and non users of the brand at the same time a reminder ad.
The ad also shows the power of brand elements and its importance in brand building and promotions. The jingle was carefully built over time, you can watch some of the brand's earlier promotions here: Kingfisher ads

Great attempt. ole lale lo


Related Brand
Kingfisher

Kamasutra Condoms : What do you want to be Tonight?

Brand: Kamasutra Condoms
Company: JK Ansell
Agency: Ambience


Brand Count: 218

Kamasutra condoms popularly known as KS is a disruptive brand in the Rs 110 crore condoms market in India. Launched in 1991 by JK chemicals,,KS shot into prominence by differentiating through breakaway positioning. In 1996, the brand was transferred to JK Ansell which is a joint venture between Ansell International and Raymond Group.

Kamasutra was the first brand to position this product category away from family planning. The brand broke the lazy lull marketing in this category by becoming bold and controversial. All the campaigns for this brands were different, memorable and clutter breaking.
Traditionally condom were marketed as a family planning product. The market is divided into
a.Free condoms
b.Subsidised
c.Popular
d. Premium

The brand broke into the scene with a controversial campaign featuring Pooja Bedi and Marc Robinson. The ads became an instant hit as well as a controversy because of the sensual visuals. The so called Moral police brigade cried foul. The ads were instant hit and the sales soared. Consumers used the acronym KS for this brand. The ads gave lessons of Kamasutra postures and customers loved it. But the campaign had its fair share of problems. The tvc was not allowed in National channel and the campaign was restricted to print.
Watch the Pooja Bedi campaign here : Pooja
For a bold brand like KS, the opportunity to create waves in the market was immense. The brand was aiming the target segment of youngsters below 25 ( unmarried) ,College students and young professionals. That TG was a risky proposition at that era because Sex was a taboo... But the brand was able to become relevant to the TG with its boldness and iconoclastic stands.
The Pooja Bedi campaign was followed by campaign featuring famouse models like Anu Agarval and Viveka Babajee. The brand used the tagline " For the Pleasure of Making Love" emphasizing the brand as an enhancer of pleasure ( emotional ) rather than a family planning tool ( rational)
Later the brand became lazy with no promotions for more than 2 years. There was no need to, because company were flush with orders from government and other NGOs so why waste money building the brand?
The brand took a different mode during 2003. It is a kind of repositioning where the brand shifted gear from sensuality to suggestive humour. According to reports, KS was running on the magic of Pooja Bedi and slowly the brand was becoming stale.And the competitors were imitating the sensuous imagery thus differentiation of KS based on visual imagery becomes irrelevant. Since the TG was youth, humour was the right way to get into their frame of mind, especially regarding the subject of sex. Thus came a series of ads with the new tagline " What are You Thinking Of?"
You can watch the ad here : Clinic, Waiting Room and Executive Lunch

The ads were funny and gave the brand a fair share of mind. The ad is based on the insight that
men will always have sex playing in their minds... These thoughts are triggered by simple visuals or sights and this insights was bought in a perfect way by these ads.
2006 again saw the brand changing its communication . The brand adopted the tagline " What do you want to be Tonight?". The ads talks about couple playing out their fantasies .. another extension of the initial positioning platform.

Watch the ad here: Detective and Lifeguard,

The campaigns are much bolder than the previous ones and I have a feeling that the TG has changed from youth below 25 to much older audience ( and married) .
What ever be the campaigns, still this category is in the closet bought ,secretively with only a fraction of customers experimenting the variants or for that matter discussing this category even with their friends.
But the potential for this category is huge and that too in the premium segment. KS has shown the way to build a different brand...

Related brand
Moods