Group 4 Securicor : Private Security

Corporate Brand : G4S ( Group 4 Securicor)

Brand Analysis Count : 362

26 November 2008 was a day that has changed the life of an Indian forever. When 10 terrorists terrorized our financial capital , killing hundreds of innocent citizens , millions were watching those horror moments on television. An average Indian, suddenly was stripped of the false sense of security that he had.

The very fact that Indian security establishments was clueless about the entire event came as a rude shock. The fact that these terrorist held Mumbai siege for three days also throw light on the efficiency of our counter -terrorist mechanisms.

After seeing all these , I feel unsecure as a citizen. I am not sure how our policemen is going to protect us with his cane Lathi against the ultramodern Kalashnikovs.

As per the news reports, Mumbai terror attacks has left corporates scrambling for security cover. This is boom time for the private security agencies in India.

Indian security services business is huge . According to various business papers, the size of the market for Private security services is around Rs 22,000 crores growing at 25 %. Most of this market is unorganized and the organized security services market is estimated to be in the range of Rs 10,000 crores.

Group 4 Securicor ( G4S) is the market leader in India. Most of you may have seen the security guards from G4S manning the numerous ATM machines across the length and breadth of the country.
G4S is a global firm. and is the World's largest provider of private security services.

According to Wikipedia,the origin of this company is dated back to 1901 in Copenhagen. The company was called as Falck and was founded by Marius Hogrefe .
Group 4 was a security company founded in Belgium. In 2000 both these firms merged together to form Group4Falck.
Securicor was another firm founded in London by the Philip -Sorenson family. At that time the company was known as Securitas International. Later there was a split in the family business which gave rise to two companies Securicor and Securitas. The Securitas went on to form another company which is called Group4Securitas.

In 2004 , Securicor merged with Group4Falck to form Group4Securicor.

The Indian arm of G4S was formed in 1989. The company is the largest private security services company with operation in almost all states. Although the visible part of the businesses are the private security guards we see in companies and ATMs, the services offered by private security firms are vast.

Listing below are some of the services provided by these firms :

Cash Services : Includes cash processing, transportation, retail cash management, ATM guarding valuable escort services and treasury management.

Manned Security : Mobile petrol, VIP security ,Reception, Quick response ,detective services ,route vehicle controls, company security etc.

Security Systems : Alarm services, electronic security, fire alarms, perimeter protection etc
Other security consultation : Risk assessment, training etc

( source : G4S website)

Yesterday there was a news in CNBC talking about the increased demand for private security in the wake of the Mumbai terror strike. The increase in enquiries for private security was in the range of 5 times the average rate. According the Tops Security Services, the enquiries have increased from 50 enquiries per day to 400 enquiries per day after the Mumbai terror attacks.

Although the market is attractive, it is not without problems. The private security services is a human resource intensive business. The security agencies rely on Ex-military personnel for their staffing requirements. Now there is a trend of recruiting ordinary people and provide them training and then employing them as guards.

The major criticism against these firms are their treatment towards these employees. There are reports that the employees are given a raw deal with negligible pay and no employee benefits. The staffs of these firms are largely non-unionized and hence had to suffer the poor wage and lack of benefits.

The silver lining is the emergence of professional firms like G4S, Tops Security and Lancers which takes the employee welfare seriously . Even big firms like GMR group has ventured into the security business. These players are expected to professionalize this emerging industry.

The private security business is regulated by the Indian Private Agencies Act (2005) which has laid down certain conditions and parameters for regulation of this business. This act ensures that only players with sufficient infrastructure will be able to start this business. The act also restricts the entry of foreign firms to this industry.

Another issue that is facing these private security firms is the ability of the guards to face terror strikes like the Mumbai attack. Indian laws prevent the private security staff to be armed with sophisticated weapons. So most of these guards are armed with sticks while the new generation thieves and terrorists are armed to teeth with AK 56 rifles and grenades.

Seldom we see the ads of these security firms. These firms operate in a B2B environment and rely on references and direct marketing. In any high-contact service businesses, the employees form an important part in the marketing. For these service firms, the employees form the brand. Hence much care is taken on the grooming of these employees. Even the uniform of these guards create an impression about the security service firms. Most of the security service firms make sure that these guards are well trained and groomed.


These private security firms can play a big role in the internal security infrastructure in India. We have to take some lessons from the West where these security firms are closely associated with the Government security agencies in providing security cover to major commercial centers. There are instances where USA Government rely on firms like the Blackwater Group to provide security to vital installations in Iraq.

Carona : RIP 1953-2003

Brand : Carona
Company : Carona Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : 361


Carona was a heritage brand of India which was once the second largest footwear company in India. The brand is now no more. Carona is one of those brands which could not withstand the competition which came after 1991.

Carona was a brand which thrived during the license raj. The brand thrived along with Bata. Infact Carona was fighting head on with the market leader Bata. In my home town , Carona store was just opposite to the Bata store. There were only two choices for quality footwear Bata and Carona.

Carona in a way imitated Bata in every possible manner . The shops and the products were extremely similar. When Bata launches one style, Carona quickly followed suit. Both Bata and Carona was instrumental in popularising canvas shoes in India. These shoes was a rage among kids at that time .

In 1992, Carona tried to tap the premium segment by launching the German sports shoe brand Puma in the Indian market. This was to counter the popular Power , Northstar and Hush Puppies brand from Bata.

Carona made a big mistake while launching Puma. The company felt that the Indian consumers will fall for the global brand . The Puma brand was priced above Rs 600. At that time the Bata brands like Power and Northstar was retailing in the range of Rs 200 -300. Puma was a big flop in the Indian market because of wrong pricing. The joint agreement was revoked by Puma in 1998.

The environment changed drastically during late 90's with the market opening up. All the footwear companies faced the issue of tough competition and increased costs. The cost was primarily attributed to the heavy workforce that these companies had.

New brands like Liberty, Action, Lakhani etc began to corner the market with new designs and fashion. Foreign brands like Nike ,Reebok and Adidas began to market aggressively which further worsened the position of Carona.

Both Bata and Carona went in for big trouble those days. Bata had the backing of their foreign parent which helped them sail through the restructuring exercise. Carona did not had that luxury.Bata was able to sustain itself by launching new models at affordable price ranges. But Carona was not able to excite the market with new launches. Both Bata and Carona had its own showrooms which became expensive to maintain. .Carona went in to BIFR fold in 1998.

In 2003, BIFR recommended closing down of Carona. BIFR noted that Carona Management did not have the will or the capacity to sustain the company. Carona went into eternal sleep in 2003. Carona was a brand that failed because of mismanagement. Somewhere the company lost its control over the costs. It failed to understand the competition and respond to it.

The Gateway Hotel : Smart and Sophisticated

Brand : The Gateway
Company : Indian Hotels Company Ltd ( Taj Hotels)

Brand Analysis Count : 360

Following the success of the budget hotel brand Ginger, Tata owned IHCL has launched a new hotel brand The Gateway.

The Gateway is a new contemporary modern hotel aimed at the new generation travelers. The hotel is positioned one level above Ginger and two level below the Taj Residency brand. Gateway is aiming at the business travelers who look for comfort and convenience.

IHCL now has four aiming at different segments
Taj : The high end luxury hotel aimed at the super rich.
Residency : The upscale premium hotel.
Gateway : Medium range hotel
Ginger : Budget

Gateway is positioned as a smart ,upscale, midmarket full service hotel providing hassle free contemporary superior service. The brand aims at perfect service without much fuss .
In the case of hotel industry, the predominant segmentation criterion is based on the room tariffs. IHCL feels that there is a gap between the budget hotel and the Residency brand.
This mid market segment offers maximum potential and consists of business travelers and tourists. The tariffs vary according to the locations but reports say that the range is between Rs 3000-Rs 6000.

During the first phase of the launch, the company plans to rebrand some of its Residency Hotels into Gateway. The company has identified sixteen hotels for the rebranding .

Gateway is trying to have an independent identity which is removed from the Taj brand. IHCL is now planning to retain the Taj brand as its Luxury brand. Hence it had the task of creating the distinct identity for the new brand -Gateway.

The Gateway brand is built on contemporaryness while Taj is rooted in heritage. So in the branding parlance, both these brands are poles apart.
The logo of Gateway is designed by the global design firm Landor Associates which had designed the logo for Ginger. The logo reflects the brand values of modernity and simplicity.

The Gateway hotel has already run a series of print campaigns as a part of its launch. The series of ads feature some offbeat successful personalities like Rahul Bose and Shobha De.
The choice of these celebrities was aimed at positioning the brand as a hotel for the new age successful personalities.
The brand has tried to differentiate itself through careful drafting of its service offering. Inorder to create a better service output, Gateway has divided its offering into seven zones which are
Stay
Hangout
Meet
Work
Workout
Unwind
Explore.

The brand thinks that its customers may have needs in any of these 7 zones.The brand aims to satisfy the customers in all these zones. The brand also offers flexibility like breakfast till 2 pm , option for night workout etc. The chain of Gateway hotels also provides a convenient choice for the frequent travelers. In the segment which Gateway targets, there is a need for such a hotel chain.

Although Gateway is trying to create an independent identity, the endorsement of Taj brand will go a long way in establishing the brand during the initial years.

Brand Update : Dabur Chyawanprash

Dabur Chyawanprash has gone in for a major revamp. The look and feel of the brand has changed and so is the brand ambassador. This November, Dabur has decided to change the look and feel of its leading brand Dabur Chyawanprash.

Dabur hold a commanding 60 % share in the Chyawanprash market. The brand has been using Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. Infact Big B has been endorsing the brand for more than five years now.

Chyawanprash faces a unique perception issue. The brand is perceived to be a health supplement for elders and kids . The younger generation feels that the brand is not relevant for them. Dabur had earlier addressed this issue in their earlier campaign ' Zaroorat Hai ' using the concept of ' role reversal ' .

Although Big B provided huge equity to the brand, the elderly ambassador further reinforced the perception that the product is for older people.

To break this perception, Dabur has come out with a new campaign featuring the new ambassador MS Dhoni. Dhoni is expected to make the brand attractive to the younger generation. The current success of Dhoni as a cricketer and as a captain gives added advantage to the brand.

Dabur has done more than just a new communication. The brand has also changed the packaging. The new packaging with lot of red color symbolises the activity and alertness. The bottle shape also has been made more modern. Chyawanprash also has a new logo which also reinforce the new targeting.

Dabur also has a new tagline for Chywanprash . The brand has done away with the earlier tagline " Zaroorat Hai ". The new tagline is ' Fit Body , Active Mind '. The brand gives the message that to win in life, one needs to have an active mind and a fit body.

The brand is currently running a new campaign in television featuring Dhoni.
Watch the tvc here : Dhoni

As in the case of any successful celebrity, Dhoni also faces the issue of over exposure . He is now sponsoring many brands from textiles to beverages. In the health drinks category he endorses Boost which is a competitor for Chyawanprash in a broader sense.

When I first saw the commercial, I mistook the ad for Boost. Boost also features Dhoni and Sachin as the brand ambassadors. The settings of both the Boost ad and the Chyawanprash ad are quite similar. Both ads even use the same color red as the main anchor. Only at the end of the ad, I realized that it was for Dabur Chyawanprash.

In message formating , it is better to introduce ( identify) the brand early in the campaign while using celebrities. Because the current trend is that most of the celebrities are over leveraged. Customers will associate the celebrity to some other brand if there is late identification of brand in the advertisments.

Professors Brian Sternthal and Angela Lee in the book " Kellogg on Branding " suggests that late identification strategies are used by brands to create a suspense and hence hold the attention of consumers. However, this is a risky strategy since consumers are free to make their own associations throughout the advertisement duration. Presenting the brand name at the end of the ad may not correct the erroneous association. People do not find it worthwhile to put an effort to correct such an association.

The authors say that late ID is useful for those brands where customers have an unfavorable disposition . Here in this case , there is an unfavorable perception that the brand is for elders and kids . But at the same time , the brand ambassador is endorsing a category competitor. Hence in this case, late identification may have little effect than desired.If Dhoni was not endorsing any other health drinks, this campaign could have produced greater results.


How ever, the brand will gain with the association with Dhoni. According the reports, Dabur also retains Amitabh Bachchan . That makes a formidable combination of endorsers for the brand.

Related Brand
Dabur Chyawanprash

Bru : Happiness Begins with Bru

Brand : Bru
Company : Hindustan Unilever
Agency : O & M

Brand Analysis Count : 359

Bru is a power brand from the HUL's stable. A brand which pioneered the instant coffee category in Indian market in 1969 is also an example of many successful marketing practices. According to HUL, Bru is the market leader in coffee segment with a value share of 46.9 %.

Prior to 2004, HUL had many brands in the coffee category. It had Deluxe Green Label and Bru instant as the main brands and small brands like Dilkush, Cafe and Cafe Gold. In 2004, as a part of the power brand strategy, HLL decided to phase out Dilkush and Cafe brands . It then consolidated the coffee brands under the masterbrand Bru.

Bru before becoming the family brand was positioned as a coffee that tasted just like filter coffee. But after the elevation to master brand, Bru took the positioning around happiness.

Bru was synonymous for instant coffee and had an astounding 21% market share in the first year of launch itself. All these years, the brand has been fighting for the numero uno position with Nestle whose iconic Nescafe brand was the market leader. But in 2008, the brand pushed Nescafe to the second position.

Much of the success of Bru can be attributed to following factors

Innovation in new products
Innovation in packaging &
Aggressive campaigns

Nestle lost out because of lethargy. The company failed to consistently invest in its Nescafe brand. I do not seeing any memorable campaigns from Nescafe in recent past. This has cost the brand dearly.

HUL's marketing acumen is vivid in the rise of Bru as the market leader. It has never stopped innovating for this new brand.

Bru was able to give new offerings to customers on a regular basis. One of the recent successful new product was the cappuccino packs. The new flavor gave the brand a new thrust in the market. The new flavors even prompted hardcore tea lovers like me to try out these flavors . The best part was that these cappuccino was available in single serve sachets which prompted consumers to test the flavors.

Another innovation was the cold coffee. Bru launched the cold coffee variants which again captured the attention of the consumers.
These thrusts in new product development and roll out is visible when one visits a super market. The coffee section is full of various flavors and packs of Bru which itself creates a positive vibration for the brand.

Another factor which made Bru successful was the campaigns. The brand is famous for two campaigns. One featuring Amritha Rao was a big hit. The theme revolve around the shy girl wanting to introduce her boyfriend Sagar to her father.
Watch the TVC here : Bru Sagar

Another campaign which was highly popular was the 'little cup' ad. The ad shows the wife announcing the " good news " through a symbolic ' little cup'.
Watch the ad here : bru Little cup

Bru is positioned on the theme of happiness. The brand has the tagline " Happiness begins with Bru ". The positioning and communication has been consistent with the brand's promise of kickstarting one's day with a Bru.

These slice of life ads put Bru in a growth orbit. Consumers started loving the brand for its innovation and campaigns. For the Bru Cappuccino, it had roped in the Bollywood Director Karan Johar to endorse the brand.

Another critical factor that aided Bru's success was the innovation in packaging. The brand made the entry barrier low by launching small affordable SKUs. There are single serve and large packs at different price points making the brand affordable .The brand although is positioned as an aspirational brand is priced affordable thus making it a perfect example of a Masstige brand.

Recently the brand has yet again came out with a customer centric innovation in the form of a flavor lock. Most of the customers worry about losing the flavor of coffee powder once the pack is cut open. The flavor lock is a plastic clip which will lock the flavor from escaping. More than actually locking the flavor, the lock gives a psychological belief that the flavor will not the lost.

This little plastic lock also gives more convenience to the home maker. Typically when buying powders in packs, home makers have to transfer the powder to a container to preserve it for long. This lock effectively eliminates the need for such a container.

Bru is a brand which has reached the commanding position following methodologically all the critical elements for marketing success : customer centric innovation, aggression and new product development

Brand Update : Sprite

On September 2008, Sprite launched a new variant Sprite Xpress with much fanfare. The various news reports celebrated this launch as a packaging innovation which Indian market is witnessing for the first time.

Sprite Xpress is the 350 ml Pet bottle from Sprite. The innovation that the company boast is that this is an " On The Go " Pack. That means that you can carry it with you when you are traveling..

What's new in that ?


According to the Press Release,
"
the new pack is a strategic initiative aimed to build strong connect with the youth. It is designed to offer convenience and adapts to the dynamic and on the move lifestyle of the consumers "

Frankly I did not knew that a simple packaging can do lot of strategic " things " to the consumers.

Coca Cola has been heavily promoting the Sprite Xpress. The variant is being promoted using a long peppy television advertisement .

Watch the campaign here : sprite xpress

The ad is catchy with a good background song . The ad revolves around the theme " outwit to outrun " and have a new tagline ' Ghumo Ghumao'.

The issue with this ad is that the entire foundation of the ad is based in Hindi. The song and the taglines are Hindi. When the ad is to be shown in the South Indian market, the agency will have tough time translating these in local language without losing relevance and sounding funny.


After seeing the ads I couldn't understand the innovation. After a little googling, I finally understood.

The innovation is in the pricing. Sprite was available in three packs : 300 ml glass bottle pack, 500 ml Pet bottle and large one litre Pet bottle.

Now the new pack is 350 ml in Pet bottle priced at Rs 15. The new pack is aimed at those customers who want single use packs while on the move. So offering the single use Pet bottle makes marketing sense.

With regard to the pricing, the new Xpress pack is priced Rs15 . Although psychologically seem to be lower than Rs 20 for 500 ml, in actual sense, the consumer is paying more for less.

In that way Coca Cola is gaining more than Rs 1 per bottle as margin. In a business with wafer thin margins, getting Rs 1 more is nothing but innovation.

That also justifies the extravagant promotion for this variant. The ads have been shot in Malaysia and runs for a full 60 seconds which really costs a bomb at the current advertisement rates.
The true innovation is with regard to the use of OOH media by this brand. According to reports, Sprite has launched a series of 3 D outdoor creatives on various outdoor platforms like elevators, buildings, hoardings etc.

Sprite has to create a big hype around Xpress and brand it as a packaging innovation because it is priced high. As customers , we have to pay more for such kind of " innovations ". The paradox is that this is from a brand which says " No Bakwaas " only seedhi bath ( straight talk !)

On a marketing practice perspective, Sprite has done a good job in launching such a variant. There will be lot of customers especially youngsters who want such single serve bottles which can be taken along with them. The problem with the existing 300 ml glass bottle is that one cannot take it on the go.

According to reports, the company is planning to launch Xpress packs for its brands like Coca Cola, Thums Up, Limca etc.

For customers : you have to be clear about what you are paying for... baki all bakwas

Related brand

Sprite