NDTV Good Times : A Unique Co- branding

Brand : NDTV Good Times
Company : NDTV
Agency : Equus Redcell

Brand Count : 279

In September 2007, NDTV launched India's first hardcore lifestyle channel branded NDTV Good Times. This new channel is unique in two ways - its India's first lifestyle channel and secondly its the first time where a product brand has co-branded with a channel.
Co-Branding is where two brands operating in two different domains coming together for a common cause ( objective) . The objective can be anything from tapping a common market or sharing promotions. The oft quoted examples in classrooms were the co-branded credit cards .
NDTV Good Times is promoted by NDTV alone and not with any equity stake by the UB Group.
The new channel is all about lifestyle. In theory , we tend to describe lifestyle with the three descriptors
Activities
Interests &
Opinions ( AIO).
Truly like this concept, Good Times is all about activities, opinions and interests. The channel devotes its time to Health, Fashion, Food, Luxury, Technology , Chats with celebrities, life of rich and the famous etc. The channel also wants to create a class of its own by roping in HOT Properties to anchor respective shows. These include the actor Rajat Kapoor, Chef Manju Malhi, Techie Rajiv Makhni etc. The channel is full of aspirational lifestyle programs and contains about 50-60 original programs per week.
The channel is looking at the target market comprising of socially upbeat 20-40 yr old SEC A viewers.
The questions arises as to the benefit of these two different brands coming together in a channel. For NDTV, the brand association with Kingfisher gives it the revenue cushion. According to Agencyfaqs, UB group has committed around Rs 100 crore worth of ads in the next five years. For NDTV this takes away the risk of launching a lifestyle channel with is atmost a Niche . Kingfisher will provide the much needed ad revenue till the channel began to attract other advertisers.

For UB Group, its a boon. We know that Indian law does not permit Kingfisher Beer to advertise. The rules are getting stricter day by day. Hence there is nothing better than a channel that carries your tagline and the mascot. Besides that every businessman knows the power of having a media under its fold. UB Group may not have the capability to run a media, so why not associate with the best brand in the media domain NDTV. Also Kingfisher as a brand epitomizes lifestyle positioning. Whether its the beer or the airlines, Mallya has built the brand on lifestyle platform . Hence Co-branding with a lifestyle channel makes perfect sense.

But things are not as rosy as it seems. This whole concept will work only if NDTV can bring in quality content to the channel. NDTV has proved its capability in the news front but entertainment is a different ballgame altogether. Right now cost of the new launch maynot be a headache since NDTV has its processes and systems in place. What is going to make or break this channel is the quality of programming and the innovation that this channel will bring in to get the eyeballs sticking. For NDTV , Good Times is testing waters since it plans to roll out an entertainment channel in collaboration with the ace director Karan Johar. For Kingfisher, its a promotional expenditure ( nobody ever has perfectly measured the effectiveness of advertising as yet !!!). I feel that Good Times channel will be an integral part of inflight entertainment in the airlines too in future.
So as of now its a win-win game for both the brands. Time will tell if GOOD TIMES will last.
Related Brand
Kingfisher

Fiama Di Wills : Beautiful You Today , Tomorrow

Brand : Fiama Di Wills
Company : ITC
Agency : Law & Kenneth

Brand Analysis Count : 278

After the success of its super premium brand Essenza Di Wills, ITC has launched a new brand in the fiercely competitive Rs 2500 crore Indian branded shampoo market. The launch is significant since it marks the official entry of this FMCG giant into the mass personal care category.
Fiama Di Wills for sure is a premium brand but not in the super premium league of Essenza Di Wills.
Fiama Di Wills has entered the market with three variants

Every Day Mild : With Thyme and Juniper extracts
Aqua Balance :Moisturizing shampoo with Magnolia Blossoms and Watercress Extracts
Volume Boost : With Rosemary and Sage Extracts.

From the ingredients itself, we can see the positioning of this brand. Fiama Di Wills is positioned as a Shampoo which is a blend of Nature and Science. From the company press release, the brand boasts of the R&D from ITC Research center in collaboration with leading US based personal care research labs. The brand is trying to tap into the growing popularity of Natural Extracts and natural ingredients.
Fiama Di Wills is promoted with the tagline " Beautiful You Today , Tomorrow " . The brand is now promoted heavily through visual media

Watch the TVC Here : Fiama Di Wills

All though the tagline does not fully express the positioning of the brand, the ad throws certain light on the positioning strategy. Fiama is positioned as a Gentle Care shampoo that can be used everyday. Its gentle because it uses the natural extracts. The brand uses the sentence " Gentle Effective Care " to signify the positioning. I think the tagline " Beautiful you today tomorrow " signifies the longterm benefit of using this brand. How ever, the tagline and positioning is not a new idea since brands like Nivea and Garnier uses similar kind of positioning. The brand is also trying to differentiate on the basis of its packaging designed by International experts.

Fiama is priced at Rs 99 for 200 ml and Rs 54 for 100 ml which makes it a masstige brand. With the marketing muscle and distribution strength ITC aims to take on the market leader HUL at the premium segment first. With the heavy noise in the media, Fiama will get the attention of the Innovators and Early Adopters. Will it create a scare for HUL's Sunsilk is something to watchout for.

Related Brand
Essenza Di Wills

Olay : Love the Skin You are In

Brand : Olay
Company : P&G
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi

Brand Analysis Count : 277

This July P&G launched its premium skin care brand Olay in India. Olay is a $2 Bn global brand has met with phenomenal success in all the markets it entered. Olay was born in the lab of a chemist Mr Graham Wulff in the early 1950's. At that time the brand was named Oil of Olay. Later when P&G acquired it, the brand was renamed Olay.
Olay was available in India as an imported product. Now P&G directly markets this brand with all the relevant marketing mixes in place.
Olay is tapping the premium slice of the Rs 2100 crore Indian skin care market. Olay has launched its first product in the anti-ageing segment with its Total Effects subbrand. Anti-ageing segment is still a niche with a market size of Rs 60 crore. The segment is but growing very fast.

Olay has launched its Total Effects anti ageing solution after much consumer research. It had conducted research on over 6000 ladies of age between 30-69 years from three continents and identified 7 signs of ageing.
1.Fine lines and Wrinkles
2.Sagging skin
3.Uneven skin tones.
4.Age spots
5. Appearance of pores
6. Dull skin
7.Dryness

Total Effects is differentiating itself through the presence of the ingredient VitaNiacin. VitaNiacin is a patented formulation that contains Niacinamide Vitamin B3 ,Vitamin E and Provitamin B5 Pathenol + sunscreen protection.
Olay true to the concept of Global Brand and Local strategy has launched itself with a series of promotional campaigns. The brand has the bollywood diva Sushmita Sen as the brand ambassador. Currently Olay is running two campaigns in the visual media. One campaign is th Olay brand building campaign featuring Sushmita Sen and another is for the Total Effects moisturizing lotion.
Watch the Tvc : Total Effects
For the Total Effects range, the company uses a testimonial type of campaign featuring a Model/TV Anchor. The focus is more on the functional benefits of the product rather than harping on any emotional benefits. The brand is positioned as a brand that celebrates beauty within and outside. The brand worldwide uses the tagline " Love the skin you are in ". The brand believes that Looking Good and Feeling Good are inseparable. Loving the skin we are in is the most beautiful feeling of all.
Olay Total Effects is priced at Rs 599 for a 50 gm bottle. By Indian standards, this accounts for a premium category. Olay Total Effects is targeting ladies between the age 30 - 60. Besides this anti-ageing product, Olay has introduced cleansers, facepack and moisturizing lotions. The brand is expected to introduce its blockbuster range of products in India in a phased manner.

The premium skincare segment was in a vacuum ever since HUL decided to cater to the masstige segment by repositioning Lakme and Ponds. Now with P&G and ITC seriously looking at premium segment, the market is going to witness a marketing war in days to come.

BSA Ladybird : Your Best Friend For Life

Brand : Ladybird
Company : TI Cycles
Agenc : Lowe

Brand Analysis Count : 276

Ladybird is the Sub-brand of BSA targeting the girls . Ladybird was the first brand to come out with a cycle for girls and it was a big hit. The brand targets girls aged 13-18 . BSA Champ has a girl's variant for those below 13 years of age. Ladybird is a classic example for segmentation based on Demographics ( more specific : gender).
Ladybird has been promoting itself heavily through media. It is interesting to see the evolution of this sub-brand. The brand had started with the campaign explaining the benefits of the cycle made exclusively for the girls. The step through feature and the shopping basket in front of the cycle and the ergonomics were promoted heavily.
The next step was to create the brand image. The brand used the message of gender equality to keep the brand appealing to the girls
Watch the TVC here : BSA Ladybird
The brand was not having much issues in the sales front because it had a high top of the mind recall. The new generation was lapping up this product since cycle is a natural step before acquiring the scooterette .
The brand also made sure that it keeps the brand exciting through relevant changes in the product. Ladybird introduced funky colors and even a sporty premium version to keep the brand rocking. The brand kept low at the promotion front and relied more on below the line promotion and positive word of mouth.
This year the brand has stepped up the promotion at the branding front. Currently the brand is running the campaign positioning the brand as one that gives FREEDOM to the girls. It is another case of Laddering Up. I think that the concept is one of the best I have seen in recent times. I strongly believe that Mobility is something that gives a terrific sense of empowerment to girls. Mobility gives freedom and that is what now Ladybird tries to own. No more waiting for the brother/father/boyfriend to drop you to school or beach or to theater. The agency has wonderfully executed this concept. The campaign targeting the urban young generation has rightly put the brand in proper perspective. An interesting fact is that Ladybird is using the same tagline (" Your Best Friend for Life " ) as its parent brand BSA. I feel that Ladybird should have something of its own.
The current campaign may not ring in sales : that is also not what it is meant to be. I feel that this has given some direction to the brand. Also this laddering has given the brand a great amount of energy to create more campaigns which ultimately will drive more sales. Another reason for such a campaign is the brand's idea to bring in more premium versions of cycles.

Brand Update : Horlicks

Horlicks which had a wonderful growth phase ( 12.8 %) in 2006 has stepped up its gas on the marketing front. The last few months saw this 138 year old brand is building on its successful positioning " Taller Stronger Sharper " . Horlicks is currently running a campaign encouraging the customers ( Kids) to take Horlicks EVERYDAY.

Watch the commercial here : Horlicks Everyday

The commercial is a logical extension of the Epang Opang Japang campaign which highlighted the benefits of the brand and helped the brand to differentiate strongly from the competition. The brand also takes the medical platform by labeling the product as " Clinically Proven ". Now that the brand is sure that customers are aware and convinced about the efficacy of the claim, the brand is trying to induce the customers to take Horlicks everyday. I feel that the brand managers got some insights about the non-regular usage of Horlicks because the message of the campaign focuses specifically on the brand usage. In marketing theory we talk about a strategy at the maturity stage of PLC is to increase the product usage. This campaign is a small example of pushing the occasional drinker to a more regular user.
This also throws light into the fact that a brand has to be careful about the customer usage patterns. Horlicks has convincingly told the customers that the brand can help the kids become stronger taller and sharper. But there is a catch, these results will happen only through a continuous usage of the brand. Hence the campaign is a subtle reminder that Horlicks is not a wonder drug.
Its interesting to note that globally this brand is positioned not as a good nourisher but as a drink that will give you a goodnight sleep.

Related Brand
Horlicks

Milkmaid : Makes Everything Tempting

Brand : Milkmaid
Company : Nestle
Agency : Publicis

Brand Analysis Count : 275

Nestle Milkmaid is the market leader in the Rs 150 Crore condensed milk market in India. Milkmaid is a heritage brand which was imported to India from the time Nestle started its operations 90 years ago. It was in the year 1969 that Nestle started manufacturing this brand in India.
Milkmaid is partly Skimmed sweetened condensed milk. This is a popular ingredient in sweets and delicacies and desserts prepared at homes. Milkmaid has more than 55 % share in the organized condensed milk market in India.
Milkmaid is positioned as a premium brand and is promoted with the tagline " Bana De Everything Tempting " ( Makes everything tempting). The brand is positioned as the inevitable ingredient in all home-made delicacies.

Milkmaid although was a market leader, the brand faced issue of product usage. There were certain factors that inhibited the product usage : price and convenience . Milkmaid was a premium brand and the shelf life of the product was limited , hence the affordablity of this brand was limited. Another factor was that many households were unaware of the use of Milkmaid other than as an ingredient in sweets and desserts.
The brand tried lot of promotional activities to increase the usage of the brand. The brand was promoted heavily through visual media and through cookery shows, the brand tried to educate the customers on the various recipes with Milkmaid.
The brand also came out with a package innovation. The brand created a variant Milkmaid Squeezy which was the tube form of Milkmaid. The purpose was to use Milkmaid as a topping for biscuits and breads.
Milkmaid faced intense heat of competition when Amul launched Mithaimate brand in the market. Mithaimate was priced much lower to Milkmaid and this forced Milkmaid to reduce the price to match the Amul brand.With the lower price, Amul was giving Milkmaid a tough fight for the marketshare.

This year saw a unique move by this bramd. Milkmaid has comeout with a brand extension. Milkmaid has recently launched Milkmaid Funshake : a fruit flavored milk targeting kids. The marketers predict a huge growth in the ' Alternate Milk Category " in the coming years. I think that Nestle had earlier tried out a Milkshake version of Nescafe but with little success. It was little surprising to find a brand like Milkmaid extending itself to a milk shake category. The ads are already on air. Funshake is available in Mango , banana and Chocolate flavor and comes in a tetrapack. The message is similar to Nido. The ad shows kids crying when their mothers try to give them ordinary milk and then seen enjoying taking Funshake. Old message and nothing new in execution .
In my personal opinion, Nestle needn't have sought the extension of Milkmaid for this product. Funshake could succeed as a standalone brand. By associating with Milkmaid, Funshake is not going to gain any positive association.
Milkmaid is facing two challenges now. One arising from the price war from Amul and host of other competing brands and second is to make the category popular in households. In this era of Sachets and single use packs, I wonder how Milkmaid miss out of small packs ?