BNP Paribas : The bank for changing world
Omaxe : Changing Dreams to Reality
Centrum : Your Aim is Our Only Target
Arcelor Mittal : Transforming Tomorrow
AOL.in : Where the world meets online
HCL : Technology that touch lives
Religare : Values that bind
Cannon : Delighting You Always
ECGC : You focus on Exports, We cover the risks
Nifty 50 : Stock of the Nation
State Bank of Hyderabad : You can always bank on Us
Lenovo : New World .New Thinking
IBM : What Makes You Special ?
TCS : Experience Certainty
Microsoft : Your Potential Our Passion
Hyundai : Drive Your Way
Citi : Let's get it done
Birla Sun Life : Your Dreams. Our Commitment
Elecon Engineering : Always a step ahead in technology
CNN : Making Sense of tomorrow
HSBC : The World's Local Bank
BEML : New Frontiers.New Dreams
Bajaj Auto : Distinctly Ahead
Monster.com : Magic Search . Right Jobs
Air France : Making the sky the best place on earth.
Pricol : Better ideas for a better planet
LG : Life's Good
Suzlon : Powering a Greener tomorrow
Karur Vysya Bank : Smart Way to Bank
HP : Invent
NEC : Empowered by Innovation
UTI Mutual Fund : Let's Plan to get Rich
Fedex Express : Experience the Fedex Difference
Tata Indicom : Do More .Live more
Bosch : Invented For Life
Sharp : Be Sharp
Can you share your list ?
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
Maruti SX4 : Men are Back (?)
Brand : SX4
Company : Maruti Suzuki
Agency : Lowe Lintas
Brand Count : 247
Company : Maruti Suzuki
Agency : Lowe Lintas
Brand Count : 247
SX4 is Maruti's second attempt at the premium car market in India. Earlier it had tried its luck with Baleno which was scrapped this year. With much expectations and fanfare, the company launched its premium hatchback car b
randed as SX4.
SX4 once again proves two facts about Maruti:
1.The automaker is able to make quality products that can sell without much marketing efforts.
2. Maruti is a poor marketer.
Even after the government divested its stake in the company, with every product launch , the company shows the sheer marketing laidbackness of a public sector company especially in the marketing front. With the SX4 launch , yet again marketing and more precisely the branding part takes a backseat.
randed as SX4.SX4 once again proves two facts about Maruti:
1.The automaker is able to make quality products that can sell without much marketing efforts.
2. Maruti is a poor marketer.
Even after the government divested its stake in the company, with every product launch , the company shows the sheer marketing laidbackness of a public sector company especially in the marketing front. With the SX4 launch , yet again marketing and more precisely the branding part takes a backseat.
SX4 is taking the market leader in the premium sedan segment Honda City head on. Reports already suggests that this new brand has dethroned the leader and became the best selling in that specific segment last month. The exact picture will comeout only when the annual figures will be out.However, analysts say that SX4 is going to be a real threat for Honda City.
That has always been the strength of Maruti : the product and the price are always perfect. Be it 800, Alto or Esteem and even the failed Baleno, Maruti 's product quality was unmatched.People bought Maruti cars because of its quality and the peace of mind that the brand gives with regard to the Service and Spareparts availability BUT never I have seen one buying a Maruti because of its promotions ( Branding). Maruti and its individual brands are built on Product rather than on promotions ( nothing wrong in that though !). So we see lot of lousy boring ads but still goes and buy the car for its performance and quality.
The same thing is repeated here in the case of SX4. The product had lot of auto analysts harping about the quality and features and ofcourse the price. The marketing as usual is a great put down.
SX4 is positioned as a PULSAR.... oops! Copying a positioning statement ! . Exactly... The creative hotshots at Lowe may not have had time to think about something original so they copied the positioning of Pulsar ( Definitely Male !) and rephrased it to " Men are Back". Well you can argue that Pulsar is not currently using the tagline so why not take it ?
SX4 has so far been using print and outdoor to promote itself. The brand uses the tagline " Men are back" and another tagline " Now that's a Man " to position itself as a Male brand. Well I have some serious doubts: Does this Male campaign apply to Cars? Cars can be Sexy and Sporty but can it be a Male? More over does the agency guys looked at the product before fixing a gender? Does SX4 looks masculine? My concept of Masculinity in automobile apply to Big Ugly Mammoth SUV's rather than SX4 which has smooth curves and a smiling grill. SX4 is Sexy but not Definitely Male !
The creative guys may be confused when someone told them that the USP of this car is the Road Clearance and the space. They mistook it as being masculine. And more over the outdoors ads just show a male leaning over the car and the baseline cries " Now thats a man" . Execution at its worst form. Remember its the same Lowe which created some of the blockbuster ads for Unilevers. The lesson is that " Agency will be as good as the Client " If the Client lacks marketing acumen, agency will take them for a ride.
So will this brand fail .. never. The brand is already struggling to meet the demand. Customers are queuing up because the value is unmatched. The problem comes after a while .. when the Euphoria dies, the same happened with Baleno, the customers took up the brand when it was launched with little promotion. But when the competition intensified, the brand was forgotten. Sx4 may struggle in the face of an intensive and aggressive brand campaign from its competitors because SX4 have not found its USP. For now it need not because reviews and publicity is working to its advantage. Honda also has built its City based only on its product and not on any blockbuster creative campaigns. But that is Honda which has built international reputation in the premium segment while Suzuki is never considered a premium brand .
What do you think?
That has always been the strength of Maruti : the product and the price are always perfect. Be it 800, Alto or Esteem and even the failed Baleno, Maruti 's product quality was unmatched.People bought Maruti cars because of its quality and the peace of mind that the brand gives with regard to the Service and Spareparts availability BUT never I have seen one buying a Maruti because of its promotions ( Branding). Maruti and its individual brands are built on Product rather than on promotions ( nothing wrong in that though !). So we see lot of lousy boring ads but still goes and buy the car for its performance and quality.
The same thing is repeated here in the case of SX4. The product had lot of auto analysts harping about the quality and features and ofcourse the price. The marketing as usual is a great put down.
SX4 is positioned as a PULSAR.... oops! Copying a positioning statement ! . Exactly... The creative hotshots at Lowe may not have had time to think about something original so they copied the positioning of Pulsar ( Definitely Male !) and rephrased it to " Men are Back". Well you can argue that Pulsar is not currently using the tagline so why not take it ?
SX4 has so far been using print and outdoor to promote itself. The brand uses the tagline " Men are back" and another tagline " Now that's a Man " to position itself as a Male brand. Well I have some serious doubts: Does this Male campaign apply to Cars? Cars can be Sexy and Sporty but can it be a Male? More over does the agency guys looked at the product before fixing a gender? Does SX4 looks masculine? My concept of Masculinity in automobile apply to Big Ugly Mammoth SUV's rather than SX4 which has smooth curves and a smiling grill. SX4 is Sexy but not Definitely Male !
The creative guys may be confused when someone told them that the USP of this car is the Road Clearance and the space. They mistook it as being masculine. And more over the outdoors ads just show a male leaning over the car and the baseline cries " Now thats a man" . Execution at its worst form. Remember its the same Lowe which created some of the blockbuster ads for Unilevers. The lesson is that " Agency will be as good as the Client " If the Client lacks marketing acumen, agency will take them for a ride.
So will this brand fail .. never. The brand is already struggling to meet the demand. Customers are queuing up because the value is unmatched. The problem comes after a while .. when the Euphoria dies, the same happened with Baleno, the customers took up the brand when it was launched with little promotion. But when the competition intensified, the brand was forgotten. Sx4 may struggle in the face of an intensive and aggressive brand campaign from its competitors because SX4 have not found its USP. For now it need not because reviews and publicity is working to its advantage. Honda also has built its City based only on its product and not on any blockbuster creative campaigns. But that is Honda which has built international reputation in the premium segment while Suzuki is never considered a premium brand .
What do you think?
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Kelvinator : RIP 1963 - ?
Brand : Kelvinator
Company : Electrolux
Brand Count : 246
Kelvinator will soon fade away from the memories along with it one of the coolest brands.
Source: businessline, businessworld, economictimes
Company : Electrolux
Brand Count : 246
Kelvinator which ruled Indian refrigerator industry is no more. The brand did not die on its own. This heritage brand was killed by sheer negligence and marketing myopia. Any marketer with common sense would not have done this to a brand like Kel
vinator.
Kelvinator came to India in 1963. The brand along with Godrej, Allwyn has ruled the market for decades. A global brand, Kelvinator has its origin dated back to 1914.The brand changed hands so many times and came to the fold of Electrolux in 1985.
You can s
ee that Kelvinator brand lost its place because it fell into a cobweb of ownership issues. Whirlpool did not invest in Kelvinator since it had the rights to the brand only till 1997. So why invest in some other's baby. So during these years, Whirlpool harvested Kelvinator while developing its own brand. When the brand came back to its original owner, Electrolux did not had the money to build this baby.In 2005, Kelvinator was killed. When the brand was taken off, it had a market share of over 14 %.
A look at the brand assets of Kelvinator will make every marketer drool. An International pedigree and a whopping market share together with two great brand elements :
Mascot : Penguin
Tagline : Its the coolest one.
During its peak years, the brand was heavily built. During 2000 , the Australian circket team endorsed Kelvinator and Adam Gilchrist was the main character in the TVC ran during that time.Kelvinator's main positioning was based on its cooling power. The tagline aptly captures the USP of the brand. Kelvinator's compressors was one of the best available globally. Besides that , the brand was considered to be a tough and reliable one.
One of the best and most apt tagline for any refrigerator brand " Coolest one" , this tagline is still in the mind of many Indian consumers. The brand equity was so powerful that even without much promotion , the brand had two digit market share during early 2000.
I would blame the death of this brand on its owners Electrolux. In 2005, when Electrolux decided to go for the parent brand, Kelvinator still had a life left. It could have been a wonderful entry level brand for Electrolux. A brand with so much heritage could have easily created volumes for this company. But alas.... According to reports,Electrolux is set to come back to Indian market in a new avatar.
vinator.Kelvinator came to India in 1963. The brand along with Godrej, Allwyn has ruled the market for decades. A global brand, Kelvinator has its origin dated back to 1914.The brand changed hands so many times and came to the fold of Electrolux in 1985.
In India, the brand's disaster started in 1996 when Whirlpool acquired this brand globally. Whirlpool wanted to sacrifice Kelvinator for its own brand The entire episode of the change of ownership of this brand will make any Hindi serial sops look like a kid's story. According to Business World, When Electrolux bought the company White Consolidated which owned the brand globally, In India during 1996 Kelvinator's Indian licensee sold the license to market Kelvinator to Whirlpool. So Electrolux became a contract manufacturer of its own brand which was being marketed by its competitor. Whirlpool had the license to market Kelvinator brand in India till 1997. Because of this Electrolux entered Indian market with its own parent brand. The fate of Electrolux in India was also not good since it ran into huge loses.
You can s
ee that Kelvinator brand lost its place because it fell into a cobweb of ownership issues. Whirlpool did not invest in Kelvinator since it had the rights to the brand only till 1997. So why invest in some other's baby. So during these years, Whirlpool harvested Kelvinator while developing its own brand. When the brand came back to its original owner, Electrolux did not had the money to build this baby.In 2005, Kelvinator was killed. When the brand was taken off, it had a market share of over 14 %.A look at the brand assets of Kelvinator will make every marketer drool. An International pedigree and a whopping market share together with two great brand elements :
Mascot : Penguin
Tagline : Its the coolest one.
During its peak years, the brand was heavily built. During 2000 , the Australian circket team endorsed Kelvinator and Adam Gilchrist was the main character in the TVC ran during that time.Kelvinator's main positioning was based on its cooling power. The tagline aptly captures the USP of the brand. Kelvinator's compressors was one of the best available globally. Besides that , the brand was considered to be a tough and reliable one.
One of the best and most apt tagline for any refrigerator brand " Coolest one" , this tagline is still in the mind of many Indian consumers. The brand equity was so powerful that even without much promotion , the brand had two digit market share during early 2000.
I would blame the death of this brand on its owners Electrolux. In 2005, when Electrolux decided to go for the parent brand, Kelvinator still had a life left. It could have been a wonderful entry level brand for Electrolux. A brand with so much heritage could have easily created volumes for this company. But alas.... According to reports,Electrolux is set to come back to Indian market in a new avatar.
Kelvinator will soon fade away from the memories along with it one of the coolest brands.
Source: businessline, businessworld, economictimes
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Brand Update : Parryware
Parryware has now embarked upon a new campaign focusing on its range of bathroom fittings and accessories. Feeling the heat from the competitors and also unbranded products, the brand has renewed its marketing thrust.
But the new campaign is a sad story all together. In my earlier post on Parryware, I had mentioned that Parryware has redefined the Bathroom fittings by innovating the concept of Glamourooms. The brand achieved super brand status through this smart positioning. But during 2003, the brand made a big mistake in changing its core positioning to " Add glamour to your life" and then changed the tagline again to " Surrender to the temptation " and crap like that.
The new campaign is shocking. The brand now adopts the tagline " What a bathroom!". Its a pity that the brand has come to a full circle. It has reached the stage where it has started its successful journey. From "Glamourooms " , the brand crashlanded to "Bathroom".Glamourooms differentiated Parryware when everyone was talking about bathroom fittings and now also things are not so different. The fact is that man companies are talking about glamorooms and now Parryware has started talking about Bathrooms. What a paradox.I don't see a logic and cannot understand why those creative hotshots at JWT could ever letgo of a highly successful positioning and land the brand back to square one !
Ofcourse I know that the answer will be " the old positioning has lost its charm". But I feel that its the job of the creatives to find ways to refresh these ideas not kill them for the heck of change. The brand now is in a state where it has lost is DNA. The ads may be good but the strategy is horrible. The brand has undone the entire equity built over its past years ( Glamouroom era).
Do You see any logic?
Related Brands
Parryware
The new campaign is shocking. The brand now adopts the tagline " What a bathroom!". Its a pity that the brand has come to a full circle. It has reached the stage where it has started its successful journey. From "Glamourooms " , the brand crashlanded to "Bathroom".Glamourooms differentiated Parryware when everyone was talking about bathroom fittings and now also things are not so different. The fact is that man companies are talking about glamorooms and now Parryware has started talking about Bathrooms. What a paradox.I don't see a logic and cannot understand why those creative hotshots at JWT could ever letgo of a highly successful positioning and land the brand back to square one !
Ofcourse I know that the answer will be " the old positioning has lost its charm". But I feel that its the job of the creatives to find ways to refresh these ideas not kill them for the heck of change. The brand now is in a state where it has lost is DNA. The ads may be good but the strategy is horrible. The brand has undone the entire equity built over its past years ( Glamouroom era).
Do You see any logic?
Related Brands
Parryware
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Book Review : Services Marketing by Rajendra Nargundkar
Book review originally published in SCMS Journal of Indian Management April-June 2007
Title : Services Marketing:Text and Cases
Author : Mr.Rajendra Nargundkar
Edition : Second Edition
Pages : 481
Publisher : Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Limited,
Services Marketing has evolved to become a major stream of study across b-schools in
In that perspective, Mr Nargundkar’s book on Services Marketing is indeed a valuable addition to the existing literature. Although there are may books dealing with Services Marketing, Mr Nargundkar’s book is refreshing and stimulating.
Services Marketing: Concepts and Cases follow the traditional 7 P as its
foundation. The chapeters 2-8 focuses on explaining the 7 P’s: Product, Place, Promotion, Price, Physical Evidence,Process and People. Nargundkar follows a lucid style in presenting the concepts, which makes reading this book easy for management students. Mr. Nargundkar has followed the same style of his earlier book on Marketing Research, which is a preferred book of management students on that subject.
Services Marketing also touch upon the concepts like Strategy, CRM and its application and also some insights into retailing in the service angle. Besides the chapters on concepts, the book also offers mini cases and Perspectives, which give insights in to the application of these concepts in the practical world. The book is full of such boxed items and illustrations that too Indian examples which makes this book more attractive to the Indian audience. The chapter on Promotion has several print ads of Indian service firms, which speaks volumes about the importance of advertising campaigns in service industry. The book also has 30 cases, which offers a valuable pedagogical tool for faculty and students. The cases are a mix of conceptual and quantitative data and the author has been able to strike a balance between both types.
Although the book is refreshingly Indian, the book is only an adaptation of existing services marketing concept in the Indian context. The book is purely conceived and developed as a textbook for management students and it fulfills that promise. For a scholar on services marketing, this book may pass on as another basic textbook since the author has not tried to develop or propose any original model or concept. The book also does not provide links to any additional reading in terms of references.
Services Marketing: Text and Cases is a good basic academic textbook that is easy to read for students and pedagogically useful for academicians.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
SAS Paper Leaf : Innovation
Brand : SAS Paper Leaf
Company: S A Saifulla & Company
Brand Count : 245
Source : saspaperleaf.com
imagesource : healthynspicy.blogspot.com
Company: S A Saifulla & Company
Brand Count : 245
SAS is an offbeat brand and is a classic example of innovation. The brand claims to be the first in coming out with Paper Banana Leaf. The brand is owned by SAS Company based in Pudukottai in TamilNadu.
Now for non South Indian Readers, Banana Leaves is.. no was an integral part of one's lunch. With the changed lifestyle, the use of Banana Leaf is now restricted to Marriage Feasts and also during festivals like Onam ,Vishu, Ponkal etc. Banana Leaf is also used in restaurants to serve traditional south Indian meals.
This tradition has taken some serious threats due to the change in the lifestyle and also because of the rapid urbanisation that we see now. The banana leaves are becoming scarce in cities and towns. In the earlier days, every house had Plantain cultivation and getting banana leaves was not an issue. But now in cities where flats and congested living has become a norm, who has the time and space to maintain such plants? Now frantic search for Plantain leaves is common during festive seasons and one has to pay even Rs 2 for a leaf ( which was available free in olden days) which is a stark reality of today.
Catching this need , SAS company has comeout with artificial paper banana leaf which solves the problem of the urban masses. This is an innovative blend of tradition with modernity. Although eating a feast or a sadhya in a artificial leaf will not give the thrill of the original, one should appreciate the logic and smartness behind this innovation.
The brand aims at the following target customers and usage situations:
1. Restaurants who serve traditional sadhya .
2. Hotels who supply parcel meals.
3. Caterers
4. Unexpected guests, functions ( households)
5. Export markets where south indians are more eg. middle east
6. Lunch packs during picnics outings etc.
The Brand faces competition from local unbranded players. But the website of SAS claims the following differentiators: Hygienic, sterilized, withstand high temperature hence ideal for packing,. The brand also claims that it cannot be torn and uniform in size. More than that it is available in all departmental stores and supermarkets. The brand is priced Rs 12 for a pack of dozen. Hence the brand takes advantage of the convenience and ease as its main selling point. The brand also advertises heavily on Television .
I feel that the brand will fare well in the institutional sales at hotels and restaurants. At the consumer end, since the usage of Leaves are limited to specific occasions , one cannot expect steady sales at this front. For that the brand may have to spent lot of money tackling the seasonal issue for this traditional product.One way is to prompt the customers to stock atleast one pack of this product for emergency situations. A campaign in this regard can drive some sales for the short term. Once the customers are comfortable with this product, SAS can be assured of some steady sales at the customer end.
Whether the brand will thrive or not, SAS Paper leaf is a classic innovative marketing story.
Now for non South Indian Readers, Banana Leaves is.. no was an integral part of one's lunch. With the changed lifestyle, the use of Banana Leaf is now restricted to Marriage Feasts and also during festivals like Onam ,Vishu, Ponkal etc. Banana Leaf is also used in restaurants to serve traditional south Indian meals.
This tradition has taken some serious threats due to the change in the lifestyle and also because of the rapid urbanisation that we see now. The banana leaves are becoming scarce in cities and towns. In the earlier days, every house had Plantain cultivation and getting banana leaves was not an issue. But now in cities where flats and congested living has become a norm, who has the time and space to maintain such plants? Now frantic search for Plantain leaves is common during festive seasons and one has to pay even Rs 2 for a leaf ( which was available free in olden days) which is a stark reality of today.
Catching this need , SAS company has comeout with artificial paper banana leaf which solves the problem of the urban masses. This is an innovative blend of tradition with modernity. Although eating a feast or a sadhya in a artificial leaf will not give the thrill of the original, one should appreciate the logic and smartness behind this innovation.
The brand aims at the following target customers and usage situations:
1. Restaurants who serve traditional sadhya .
2. Hotels who supply parcel meals.
3. Caterers
4. Unexpected guests, functions ( households)
5. Export markets where south indians are more eg. middle east
6. Lunch packs during picnics outings etc.
The Brand faces competition from local unbranded players. But the website of SAS claims the following differentiators: Hygienic, sterilized, withstand high temperature hence ideal for packing,. The brand also claims that it cannot be torn and uniform in size. More than that it is available in all departmental stores and supermarkets. The brand is priced Rs 12 for a pack of dozen. Hence the brand takes advantage of the convenience and ease as its main selling point. The brand also advertises heavily on Television .
I feel that the brand will fare well in the institutional sales at hotels and restaurants. At the consumer end, since the usage of Leaves are limited to specific occasions , one cannot expect steady sales at this front. For that the brand may have to spent lot of money tackling the seasonal issue for this traditional product.One way is to prompt the customers to stock atleast one pack of this product for emergency situations. A campaign in this regard can drive some sales for the short term. Once the customers are comfortable with this product, SAS can be assured of some steady sales at the customer end.
Whether the brand will thrive or not, SAS Paper leaf is a classic innovative marketing story.
Source : saspaperleaf.com
imagesource : healthynspicy.blogspot.com
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