Thank You Dear Readers

Today Marketing Practice is celebrating its 250 th brand. What started of as a curiosity now has reached a milestone. This has become possible because of the encouragement and support of its readers and my students. Marketing Practice is now aiming its next milestone of 500. Keep Supporting and drop in your valuable comments.

Thank You Very Much


Harish

CBZ Xtreme : Live Extreme

Brand : CBZ Xtreme
Company : Hero Honda
Agency : JWT

Brand Count : 250

CBZ is India's first sports bike . The brand came into existence in 1999 when Hero Honda decided to trade up its customers to premium segment. The brand created the premium segment of motorcycle in India.
But the first mover advantage was short lived. In 2001, Bajaj stealed the thunder right under the nose of the market leader. Pulsar just took the entire market away from CBZ. CBZz struggled hard to gain an advantage over Pulsar, but in vain. In 2005, the company decided to take the brand out of the market.
In 2007 saw Hero Honda relaunching the brand with a hope of getting a slice in the fastest growing segment in Indian automobile market which is estimated to be of 600,000 units. Premium segment is expected to be around 10% of the total market.
What really happened to CBZ is a sad story.
The company failed both in the product front as well as in the marketing front. CBZ when launched got rave reviews because it was some thing that the market has not seen. The styling was also good so was the power. But when the product got to the actual road test, problems began to surface. There was issues regarding fuel consumption and the high price also dampened the initial enthusiasm .The product also had some glaring issues, for example a simple fact like one has to push up the Foot Rest inorder to kick start showed that the company took the customer for granted.
The price - performance mismatch and the lethargic marketing/branding activities took its toll in the sales performance of CBZ. With the blockbuster Pulsar coming in, CBZ soon was in death bed. The company also had focused more on retaining its leadership position in the executive segment rather than looking at the premium segment. These factors aided Pulsar to dominate the segment .
This year showed Hero Honda's renewed interest in the premium segment which translated to the relaunch of CBZ as CBZ Xtreme. The new CBZ comes with a spruced up design and a more powerful engine. But still the product lacked the refinement of Pulsar. One of the CBZ owner told me that the Foot rest vs the Kicker issue is still there in the new CBZ ( thankfully there is a selfstart option).
The marketing campaign of new CBZ Xtreme is also horrible . The brand failed to communicate anything to the consumer about the product. There is a severe lack of BIG IDEA which is evident in the new commercial.
Watch the Commercial here : CBZ XTREME
The main aim of this commercial is to put a JAMES BOND kind of image about CBZ but failed to the extreme. I would give it a 1/10 . The brand uses the tagline " Live Extreme" to promote the product. The idea is to project the brand as an Extreme machine for those who like challenges. But the execution of this concept was horrible.
Marketing of CBZ is going to be very crucial in the success of this relaunch. The reason is that CBZ Xtreme sports the same engine as Honda Unicorn and its own Achiever. So technically there is not much scope of differentiation. The only available differentiation is interms of branding. And Branding is the weakest link in Hero Honda's scheme of affairs. Yet again the brand has failed to deliver a meaningful communication. The brand could have faired if there was no competition. In this case the competition is having an iconic status and CBZ 's only weapon is to match the brand strength of Pulsar. But Alas, the agency has let down the brand. The company has failed to highlight a USP for CBZ or does CBZ has any ?

Market Statistics : Indian White Goods Market

Refrigerator Market

Market Size : 3.75 mn (Units) . Rs 3781.92 Crore (Value )
Growth : 7.1% ( Units) 10.70% ( Value )

Direct Cool
Market Size : 2.73 mn (Units) . Rs 2239.83 Crore (Value )
Growth : 6.19% ( Volume) . 7.7% (Value)

Frost Free
Market Size : 1.02 mn (Units) . Rs 1542.09 Crore (Value )
Growth : 9.0% ( Volume) . 15.2% (Value)

Washing Machine
Market Size : 1.67 mn (Units) . Rs 1,46,803 Crore (Value )
Growth : 6.7% ( Volume) . 10.6% (Value)

Fully Automatic
Market Size :0.53 mn (Units) . Rs 727.27 Crore (Value )
Growth : 18.2% ( Volume) . 19.7% (Value)

Semi Automatic
Market Size : 1.14 mn (Units) . Rs 739.68 Crore (Value )
Growth : 3.3% ( Volume) . 3.4% (Value)

Microwave Oven
Market Size :0.63 (Units) . Rs 472.24 Crore (Value )
Growth : 49.6% ( Volume) . 39.0% (Value)

Air Conditioner
Market Size : 1.05 mn (Units) . Rs 1998.39 Crore (Value )
Growth : 51.6% ( Volume) . 49.8% (Value)

Market size according to AC Neilsen as in Jan Dec 2006 .
Source : Business World 28 May 2007

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.