Masterstroke Wisky : Create Your Own Masterstroke

Brand : Masterstroke
Company : Diageo Radico
Agency : Beyond Design

Brand Count : 249

Masterstroke is the first Whisky Launch from the joint venture Diageo Radico in the premium IMFL whisky segment. The brand is expected to tap the growing whisky segment in India. Masterstroke is a premium whisky crafted by Master Distiller Mr Peter J Warren of Scotland. The brand is exclusively created to cater to the Indian connoisseur's taste.
According to reports, the whisky is mellowed to perfection taking into consideration the unique preferences of Indian market. The brand is priced Rs 364 a bottle and is positioned as a premium brand. Masterstroke's brand values lies in High Quality and Commitment to Perfection. The brand adopts the positioning based on the following attributes : Pure Mellow and Exceptionally Smooth.
The most interesting part of this brand launch is the brand ambassador. Masterstroke is endorsed by ShahRukh Khan and that by way makes this brand special . King Khan is already dancing about this brand in the TVC splashed across channels

Watch the ad here : Masterstroke Ad

The ad throws in lot of questions about the STP for this brand. The reports from the media suggests that the brand targets the premium market. But sadly the characters in the commercial looks like a Young College,hip hop kind of segment which ( I hope) takes Coke or Pepsi rather than a Whisky. I was surprised when I saw the ad the first time because the plot totally is out of sync with the intended TG. The only shining point in the commercial is the presence of SRK. Not only that, it was too filmy for a Liquor brand. Can I say that the creatives spoiled a chance to utilize SRK properly and missing the entire brand essence and the target audience. That prompts another doubt : Who is the TG for this brand? Youth or Young Achievers?

It is difficult to promote a liquor brand through surrogate advertising . Brands like Kingfisher, Bacardi,Johnie Walker had shown the way of using restrictions to create an Iconic brand. Here the ads showed the brand essence to the audience and that too in a high impact fashion. But comparing with these giants, Masterstroke have missed the iconic bus for now. Masterstroke adopts the positioning tagline " Create Your Own Masterstroke " to promote itself. The idea loosely revolves round the concept of " Be Your Self" which as a concept is good.
The brand could have just showed ShahRukh and the tagline.. that was enough. By bringing in dancing and drama really took the premium image from this brand ( My Opinion).

Whether Masterstroke will create its own masterstroke is something to watchout for....

Source : magnamags,agencyfaqs,businessline

Marketing Funda : Corporate Taglines Vol.2

State Bank Of India : With You - All the way

India Infoline : It's all about money , honey

Housing Development and Infrastructure Ltd (HDIL) : Creating value

SQL Star : Knowledge meets business

Kotak Securities : Think Investments. Think Kotak

Allied Digital : Beyond Boundaries

Airtel : Express Yourself

Bharat Petroleum : Energising Lives

Unitech : Dream. Believe . Create

ITC Ltd : Enduring Value

Lufthansa : There's no better way to fly

MCX : Trade With Trust

Toshiba : Leading Innovation

ICICI : Hum hai na

Sona Koyo : Driving Tomorrow

GMR : Creating Tomorrow today

Cairn : Energy for India

Dell : Purely For You

Binani Cement : for generations to come

House of Johnson : Redefining lifestyles. Leadership worldwide

Metlife : Have You Metlife today?

OxyWash : Add Life To Your Clothes !

Brand : OxyWash
Company: Enzyme Technologies Pvt Ltd (ETPL)
Agency : ib&W


Brand Count : 248

OxyWash is a new brand that is making lot of noises in Southern India.The brand comes from a lesser known Company Enzyme Technologies Pvt Ltd. The company is basically a firm engaged in the manufacturing of laboratory equipment, reagents and chemicals. The company website gives the information that ETPL is a 100 crore company.

OxyWash is interesting because of three factors :
a. It takes lot of guts to enter into the fiercely competitive detergent market.
b.The brand tries to adopt a differentiation.
c. The brand is being promoted heavily and that means that the company is serious about this brand.

OxyWash is one of its kind in the detergent market especially in India. The concept of using Oxygen is washing purpose is popular in the European countries . The brand according to the advertisements, the product has two components ( two pouches) one containing the detergent and another that releases oxygen when dissolved in the water. The oxygen gives the clothes freshness and Life.

OxyWash is positioned as an ecofriendly economical detergent that makes your clothes full of life.The brand adopts the tagline " Add Life to Your Clothes" . I think the brand was successful in trying to differentiate with the gaints Surf and Ariel and is taking a new route. The brand has roped in the Tamil Film Actress Meena to endorse the product. Right now the brand is being promoted heavily in print as well as in Television. The brand is focusing on its product features like Auto Sterilizing, Non Toxic,Bio- Degradable and Anti Microbial properties to impress the TG. The use of the celebrity has given this brand an instant impact. I am not sure whether the brand is priced a premium. The major negative I see is in the packaging. The packaging looks stale and looks totally unattractive.
OxyWash is moving in right path but the future is very tough.The Oxygen property can be hijacked by its big competitors and negated using a variant.Second threat is the sustainability of the promotional efforts. Will be brand be able to spend heavily throughout? The success will very much depends on whether the brand is able to attract repeat users. The brand has not started sampling yet. Since this is a new product, extensive sampling will help create more publicity and word of mouth.

Marketing Funda : Corporate Taglines Vol.1

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 ?

Maruti SX4 : Men are Back (?)

Brand : SX4
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 branded 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?

Kelvinator : RIP 1963 - ?

Brand : Kelvinator
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 Kelvinator.
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 see 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