Brand Update : Power Soaps

In one of my earlier posts I had severely criticized the positioning and differentiating strategy of Power brand from RKN group. 'Nature Power " is the company's brand in the bathing soap segment. The brand is now running its promotional campaign in the visual media. It is interesting to see the evolution of marketing strategy of such small brands. Like the brand Dyna ( from Anchor) 'Nature Power ' also has identified its core differentiation strategy. The differentiator is same as that of Dyna - the TFM content. ' Nature Power" soap boasts about 76% TFM content and is positioning itself as 'best soap' in the category.
The brand in its campaign has used Miss India Niharika Singh as the model.
Related Brand
Power Soaps

Brand Update : Lays

Lays has relaunched itself in the health platform. This December, Lays has launched the concept of Snack Smart which talks about a healthy snack. Now Lays is with 40% less saturated fat. That means same taste and more healthy.
The latest launch is in line with the announcement made by Pepsico's Global Chief Ms Indra Nooyi that the Company is moving towards a healthy platform. This initiative is intended to silence the critics that Potato Wafers are junk food. Ofcourse it is ... but now 40% less junky.
Watch the TVC here : Lays

Together with the relaunch, Lays has introduced new flavors : Lay's Chaat Street, Mint Mischief and Wafer Style. The new variant which are Indian flavors is a result of the tough competition from Bingo. Its interesting to note that Bingo has forced Lays to relearn its own lessons. Lays had captured the Indian consumer's mind through Indianisation but later somewhere the brand lost its focus. Bingo to a certain extent beat Lays in its own game.
The latest health positioning is definitely going to give Lays some additional leverage in the market. But Bingo is not sleeping either, if you have noticed the pack of Bingo , it says " Baked , Not Fried " to remind the consumer that no oil is used.

The "Healthy " competition has started....
source : Business Standard.

Kandamkulathy Eladi Lehyam : Making Ayurveda Popular

Brand : Eladi Lehyam
Company : Kandamkulathy Vaidyasala


Brand Analysis Count : 296

The brand that is featured today is offbeat and unique. Those readers outside Kerala ( South India) may not have heard about a brand known as Eladi Lehyam. But this small brand from Kerala has lots of lessons for a marketer.
Eladi Lehyam is a brand of Kandamkulathy Vaidyasala. Kandamkulathy is a well known ayurvedic company in Kerala. The Vaidyasala ( traditional name for ayurvedic clinic ) has a rich tradition of over 150 years . The firm which was started by late Shri K P Pathrose Vaidyan has now grown into a company with over 500 product ranges and over 20 patents.

India boasts about its rich tradition of ayurvedic way of treatment. The ayurvedic treatment has been a permanent feature in most of the campaigns that highlight India as a tourist destination ( example : Incredible India campaign). But within India, ayurvedic marketers are facing difficulty in attracting the new generation into this system of medicine. In my opinion Ayurveda is fighting hard to sustain the competition from Allopathic system of medicine. Since Indians have strong roots in their traditions, this system is still in the Consideration Set of the prospective customers. But Ayurveda is considered only after modern medicine by most .
But the real problem lies in attracting the new generation into this system . There is no doubt about the effectiveness of the treatment system, but the issue is with regard to convenience. It is in this area that Allopathy scores over Ayurveda. Usually youngsters are put off by the lengthy healing time and the strict dietary regime which is a part of the treatment system in Ayurveda. Most of the Kashayams ( syrups) taste very bad which adds to the unpopularity of this system among youngsters. What today's customer looks for is a single pill that cures all very fast ( Panacea !)
Modern Ayurvedic practitioners has tried to adapt to the changing times. Now the sour tasting syrups are available in capsules. Practitioners have also liberalized the dietary regime to fit the modern lifestyle. It is estimated that the total size of the ayurvedic products is about $1 billion. It is in this context that brands like Eladi assumes significance.
Eladi Lehyam is a propriety medicine of Kandamkulathy for the treatment of sore throat & coughs. It has expectorant properties and also provides immunity against common cold and cough. Kandamkulathy has the patent for the Eladi Lehyam combination.
Eladi Lehyam was initially launched in the Lehyam product form. Lehyams are thickened and sweetened semisolid extract of a single herb or a combination of herbs. The product form made this brand less popular because consuming lehyam may not be possible during work . It is often messy and you have to wash your hands after taking it or use a spoon . So people preferred the easy to use lozenges like Vicks and Strepsils.
chewable tablet became highly popular. In this segment, the brand faced competition from Understanding this problem, Kandamkulathy launched Eladi Lehyam in chewable tablet form which became highly popular. Since the brand was proved effective in soothing the throat, Eladianother similar ayurvedic tablet branded as "Thalees" from SD Pharmacy.

The innovation did not stop at that . This year , Kandamkulathy launched a granule product form of Eladi Lehyam. What attracted me was the new packaging which was modern and user friendly . The pack looks similar to Tic Tac breath mints pack. What is interesting is that the new variant looks totally Un-Ayurvedic.The granules are more powerful than the tablets and it seems that this version is aiming at those who liked the lehyam form.

Right now the granule variant is heavily promoted in the media across the state. The positioning is based on the ease of use and the packing acts as the key anchor.
I am not commenting on the future of this brand . The brand faces competition from the likes of Vicks which have a strong equity in the market. But I am thoroughly impressed by the efforts of a small company to make its flagship brand sustain in this market. Eladi is an example of how brands change in tune with times. It also shows that even small firms can make meaningful customer centric innovations. The new variant may fail or succeed but this brand should be an inspiration for all smaller brands who wants to make it big.

5 Star : Jo Khaye Kho Jaye

Brand : 5 Star
Company : Cadbury
Agency : O & M

Brand Analysis Count : 295

5 Star is the second biggest chocolate brand in the Cadbury portfolio. 5 Star is a heritage brand which came to India in 1969. Currently this brand have a marketshare of over 14 % .
5 Star is a chocolate bar with caramel naugat inside. The bar is known for its unique taste and has been a favorite brand of all chocolate lovers.Over these years, this brand has established its brand element - golden color firmly in the mind of the consumers.
Although this brand lags behind the market leader Dairy Milk, the company had made substantial investment in this brand over these years. The brand has been relaunched more than 9 times in the last 15 years. Its interesting to note the repositioning exercises that has been done on this brand over these years
1970's : 5 Star was positioned on the basis of its taste. The brand had the tagline " Deliciously Rich, You'd hate to share ".
1980's : Saw the brand highlighting its soft and chewy nature. During this period the brand also had the positioning based on " Togetherness' . 5 Star had the campaign " Lingering taste of togetherness ".
1990's : Saw a major repositioning for the brand focusing on the energy factor. 5 Star was positioned as Energy bar . The product had glucose hence gave instant dose of energy.
1994 : The brand used the tagline " Reach out for stars " ,taking a cue from the name.
1997-1998 : 5 star took the youth wagon and positioned on the two attributes : energy and youthfulness. The brand had the tagline " Mera own energy zone "
1999 : The brand came out with the tagline " Dil hai to josh hai " again positioning itself on the energy platform
In the millennium, the brand came out with a variant 5 Star Crunchy which had added rice crispies to make it more crunchy. The brand had the campaign with the voiceover "Arrey "( surprise).
The brand had faced lot of competition throughout its lifecycle. The competition was not from similar caramel chocolates but from brands like Kitkat and Cadbury's own brands CDM and Perk. Another issue that the brand faced was the price-value proposition . Cadbury had reduced the grammage of the brand ( quantity) drastically during 2000-2005 which hurt the brand very much. Not only the bar was less filling, customers felt that its too pricey.
This year saw a rejuvenation effort for 5 star. The brand is being repositioned on the taste platform. The new campaign give the brand a new tagline " Jo Khaaye, Kho Jayee" meaning " Lost in the taste of 5 star ".
Watch the TVC here : 5 Star
This time 5 star is on a 360 degree marketing campaign with added focus on digital media. The brand has a new website lostin5star.com where the brand has tried to build a viral campaign.
Along with the new campaign , a new variant has been launched 5 Star Fruit and Nut. Like CDM, 5 Star is also targeting the youth market. Although the taste is a good platform, I didn't like the execution of this idea in the new campaign ( There is no creative spark in the ads) . It does not require an O&M to come out with such a campaign.

5 Star is an example of consistent investment in longterm brand building. The brand has never shied from experimenting and repositioning. I feel that like other confectionery brands, 5 Star also needs a celebrity to keep its share of mind. Its not that celebrity endorsement is necessary for a heritage brand like 5 Star but I feel that 5 Star never had a consistent USP or positioning. What comes to my mind about 5 Star is its caremel taste. If the brand has decided to take taste as its USP , a celebrity can reinforce that better and give the campaigns an edge.

Brand Update : Chandrika

After repositioning itself on the SPA imagery, Chandrika is going for another repositioning exercise. This time the brand is relying on the " usual " caring mother platform. It seems Chandrika has discarded the earlier SPA equation .

The new ad talks about the ayurvedic essence of the brand (attribute) and how it takes care of the skin. The new campaign is also trying the laddering up strategy. Chandrika is now trying to own up " Freedom " as its new brand manthra. The concept is that the brand enables the user freedom from all skin problems thus helping her to live life fully. Although the idea is old, the agency has managed to execute it in an effective manner.
Watch the new TVC here : Chandrika

Repositioning a brand too often is not advisable for a brand in a long term perspective. One thing that I noticed about this brand is the absence of a slogan ( tagline). Slogans are considered to be powerful brand element that can reinforce a brand's positioning. May be its time for Chandrika to do a soul searching and develop a consistent positioning platform.

Related Brand
Chandrika

Toyota Qualis : RIP (2000-2004)

Brand : Qualis
Company : Toyota
Agency : Dentsu

Brand Analysis Count : 294

Qualis is a puzzling brand for most of the marketing students. The simple reason is that Toyota stopped the production of this brand when Qualis was having its highest market share in Indian market.
Qualis was launched in India in 2000. At that time itself the brand caught headlines because it was the first product of Toyota in India. Qualis was atleast two generation old when it was launched in India. Qualis is Indian version of Toyota Kijang from Indonesia. There were cases of globally dated models introduced in India biting the bullet like Peaugot 306 . So there were skeptics who forcasted doom for Qualis.
Those predicted failure for Qualis had real logical reasons. First, Qualis was a dated model. Indian consumers are aware of global trends and may not accept an outdated model . Second was the design of Qualis. Qualis was not good looking. Hence the chances of the brand's acceptance was perceived to be minimal .
But Qualis proved everyone wrong. For Toyota, Qualis was a brand launched to test the market. The brand was launched after careful market research and several consumer insights gave the company confidence to launch this product in the market.
Qualis was a utility vehicle. The brand was competing with the Tata Sumo which was the market leader in the nascent MPV segment.Sumo was a work horse and the product had its problem regarding lack of refinement and brand image. But there was a need for a refined, high quality multi-purpose vehicle.
MPV's are used by businessman and self employed and those who would like to take the entire family around. Sumo was more of a commercial vehicle rather than a family one. Sensing this gap, Qualis was launched as a family MPV.
Qualis was launched with much fanfare and the launch also saw some iconic advertising. The brand was launched with " Touch and Try" campaign which encouraged the customers to test drive the car. The brand initially focused on Space and comfort as the main differentiator. The sales soared once positive word of mouth about the comfort of the car began to circulate. Infact Qualis redifined the MPV segment in India. From rugged product to a refined car, consumers were educated to new levels of comfort.
But things were not rosy for Qaulis . Rather than the intended consumers, this brand began to attract taxi and tour operators. Qualis was selling like hotcakes as taxis. From the initial 9% market share , Qualis dethroned Sumo and was the market leader with over 40% share.
The brand tried to bring back the individual consumer through a series of campaigns and variants. The brand had the following taglines " Touch the perfection " and " Live the Qualis Life" . New luxurious variants were launched to attract businessman and individuals to buy this car. The TG for Qualis were businessman/self employed with an annual income between Rs 600,000- Rs 800,000 who travels atleast 40-50 Km per day. Qualis was known for Quality Durability and Reliability.
With MPV segment taking off, competition was getting hotter for Qualis. New launches from Chevrolet and Mahindra began hurting the market position of Qualis. More than Chevrolet, it was Scorpio that worried Toyota most. The company felt that the intended consumers ( individuals) were moving away from Qualis. Market research suggest that consumer needs are changing and Qualis did not fit into the consumer's schemes.
Toyota had the company policy that a model should have attained leadership position before phasing out. Qualis has attained its saturation point. So the company had the challenge of retaining the leadership position in the segment and also to expand the market. It wanted to get out of the " Taxi " tag. Another development was the famous Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle Platform ( IMV) which was decided to be the base for all international products from Toyota.
In 2004, Toyota announced the phasing out of Qualis. Interestingly, the month where the phasing out was announced saw record sales for Qualis. Its difficult for a brand to succeed and even more difficult for a marketer to kill a successful brand. Qualis ' death was timely and paved way for a more successful Innova.
The natural question arises when a company decides to kill a brand is about the existing customers. For products which needs after sales support and spares, usually companies have a policy of supporting its phased out brand for over a decade. The existing customers may feel less worried if they are assured support by the company for a reasonable period.