Macroman : Excitingly Male

Brand : Macroman

Company : Rupa & Co

Brand Analysis Count : 389

Recently I was virtually stunned by a huge billboard featuring the bollywood hunk Hrithik Roshan endorsing an Innerwear brand. The brand was Macroman. Macroman is from the hosiery major Rupa &Co which is famous for the brands like Frontline and Euro and

also famous for the tagline " Ye Aaram Ki Mamla Hain ".

Although innerwear brands has been using celebrities like Salman,Sanjay Dutt, Sunny Deol etc, this Hrithik ad was different because Hrithik was an unlikely candidate for an Innerwear brand.

Reports say that Hrithik was initially not very keen on endorsing an innerwear brand . The company put an offer that was too good for him to refuse ( some say it was Rs 10 crore for two year contract).

Macroman was not a new brand. The brand was existing as a sub-brand of Rupa . Initially the brand was only one product ie briefs, till 2000.Later the brandline was extended to include vests also. In 2007, the brand was lifted from a sub-brand to a standalone primary brand.

Macroman shot into limelight in 2007 when the company decided to promote this brand as a premium innerwear brand. The brand had a phased relaunch across India and the use of Hrithik got the brand a huge mileage interms of media publicity.Hrithik endorses Macroman M series which was created as a line extension of Macroman brand.

Macroman has chose not to adopt the Rupa's positioning based on comfort. Infact the brand is conscious not to even mention that it is from the product line of Rupa because it wanted to create a premium image.

Macroman has adopted a tagline " Excitingly Male " and " Live like a Macroman " .Although the company had paid through the nose to get Hrithik, unlike Salman and Sanjay Dutt, Hrithik will give a touch of class to the brand because of his young age and the charisma.

The premium segment of the innerwear market is witnessing huge competition with all major readymade brands extending itself to innerwears. Brands like Color plus and VanHeusen have launched their innerwears and there is the presence of a strong market leader VIP. Hence the challenges for Macroman is huge.
Watch the TVC here : Macroman

It is reported that the contract with Hrithik is for two years from 2007 and the brand has not created a huge buzz across the market. In my state of Kerala, I havn't seen any promotional activity of this brand except the hoarding which I saw the last day.

Time will not wait for any brand. Macroman had a prize catch celebrity which could gel well with the brand's positioning as a premium innerwear. The only thing that Macroman has to do is to capitalize on the hype before it is too late.
Related brand

Rupa

Brand Update : Perk

Perk has got a new brand ambassador in the upcoming bollywood actress Genelia. When ever the brand has a celebrity, the agency is in a state of utter confusion as to where the celebrity and the brand will fit in. The eternal question of whether the celebrity or the brand should get the maximum focus still not yet found by those creative hotshots. 

In a hurry to tap the maximum out of a celebrity's persona, the brand is shoved into the periphery. What ultimately comes out will be something like the new ad for Perk. 

The ad goes like this, Genelia and her friends are in a deep forest ( Lost it seems )

 and they find a odd looking guy selling Tie inside the forest. Later the group finds a Party going on in the middle of the forest. But they are not allowed inside because they don't have a tie ( dress code).  Dejected, the group goes back and takes rest , then Genelia sees the Perk and uski demag ki bathi jala and she and her friends use the Perk wrapper to make the tie...

Whew... I hated writing the above  script because video was not available. 

In the whole 60 sec ad, there is a  single shot of Perk. Rest is all bullshit. At the end of the ad, there is the brand's tagline " Take it lightly " which  does not hold any  connection with the whole plot. 

Remember this is a brand which shot into limelight using Priety Zinta very effectively. The brand itself is showing how to use a celebrity effectively and also how to mess up the brand running after a celebrity. While trying to use Genelia's charm and youthful look, the brand was totally forgotten. The plot is totally  out of sync with the brand's positioning. 

Perk also soft launched its variant Perk Poppers which is a product similar to Munch Popchocs.

Related Brand

Perk

Marketing To Indian Youth : Celebrities and Millenials

Indian marketers has been an addict of celebrities. From salt to automobiles, celebrity endorsements has been one of the most used marketing strategies in the Indian market . In a recent article in Economic Times, a survey was quoted which would give marketers a second thought about their obsession with celebrities. 

The survey was conducted by The Futures Company of the WPP - Kantar Group. The survey was conducted across 18 countries that represent 80% of the world GDP. The Indian sample contained 700 individuals from 14 urban centers, metros and Tier1 cities ( ET March 16, 2009).

The survey results indicated a segment of 16-25 affluent youngsters which are referred as Millenials. The Millenials are upper class youngsters who form an important part of the high spending consumer segment across the globe. This highly connected youngsters represents the hip-hop generation who are not averse to spending on themselves.

The report reveals some important characteristics of this Millenials. These segment are not apologetic about spending on themselves. They think that they have a primary responsibility towards themselves and allots some time and money on themselves. Indian millenials also would prefer to be with the crowd but would like to stand out.  They would like to try out new things and experiences.

Indian millenials also exhibited attachments to family and community. They feel very much connected to parents and peers. The  young consumers are also attached to local community, culture and traditions.

The interesting part is the attitude of these segment towards celebrities. These consumers doesn't see celebrities as real or authentic. But these youngsters are influenced by real life heroes as their role model. For marketers, this is  bad news. It is true that most of the celebrity endorsements are aimed at the sticky factor - making the consumers watch the ad rather than promoting authenticity. But the over use of celebrities has made them a commodity. One of the reasons for this distrust is that these consumers are highly informed and they know that using celebrities is a strategy and has nothing to do with the authenticity. For the less fortunate Indian youth , celebrities hold some amount of influence either in purchase or in brand recall. 

Read the full article here : Celebrites not so hot with Gen- Y

Brand Update : Dettol

Dettol celebrated its 75 years of existence in 2008. This highly popular antiseptic brand has come a long way since 1933. After a plethora of extensions and experiments, this brand is still ruling the Indian market as the most preferred antiseptic lotion and also as a premium soap.

The brand celebrated its 75 years by reinforcing the germ killing positioning and the tagline " Be 100% sure ". The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting the efficiency and the multi-uses of the product.

In marketing theory , it is taught that one of the strategy for a brand which has reached the maturity stage of PLC is to find new uses for the product. The Dettol brand is currently in the process of discovering those new uses for the product. When the consumer uses the product for different purposes, the sales naturally increases.

A classic case that is used in most marketing textbook is that of the Baking Soda brand Arms & Hammer. The brand found that consumers use baking soda as a refrigerator deodorant. Arms & Hammer ran a series of promotions to encourage consumers to place an open box of Arms & Hammer in their fridge. The brand later extended itself into various products like toothpaste and antiperspirant . ( Marketing Management, Kotler, Keller 13ed)


The best way to find the new uses for the product is to ask the consumers. Dettol did just that. It ran a series of promotions asking consumers to tell the company , how they used Dettol.

Watch the commercial here : Dettol new uses
The brand asked the consumers to contact them and tell the company on the multiple uses of the product and thus gained lot of insights into the various uses of the brand.

The brand later came out with a series of campaign highlighting the various uses of this antiseptic. Dettol now taken the platform of a multi-use antiseptic which can be used during bath, to clean wounds, to sterilize clothes, floor etc.

Although homemakers has been using Dettol for all these, the company has now taken these uses as a part of the core product. The brand is trying to break the image of Dettol as an antiseptic which is used for cleaning wounds.

Along with this initiative, the brand also reinforced its commitment towards hygiene. The brand has selected hygiene as the core brand value and theme which it will fight for.

In 2008, the brand conducted a study which showed that 78% of frequently touched surfaces in a household is highly contaminated. The brand then conducted a series of awareness campaign to promote better hygiene using Dettol.

Using hygiene as the major theme, Dettol is trying to increase the usage of the product among the households. Because of the excellent brand equity, Dettol is in a position to ride this wave.

Regarding the distribution, recently I wanted to buy this brand from my nearest grocery store but was surprised to find that the product was not stocked there. He told me that Dettol is available only in medical shops. A major super market is also not stocking this brand. I am not sure whether Dettol has stopped selling through OTC . If it is so, then the brand is in for trouble.

Slice : Aamsutra

Brand : Slice
Company : Pepsico
Agency : JWT

Brand Analysis Count : 388

Slice is the fruit drink brand from the Pepsi stable. Slice was launched in India in 1994. But even after 15 years, the brand has not been able to make a mark in the Indian market. The product was good, had the backing of world's best marketing company but could not become the market leader in the segment.

Slice was a neglected brand in Pepsi's portfolio. These Cola majors are too centered on their flagship cola brands that they fail to cash in on the opportunities for other brands. Indian consumers love mango drinks but Pepsi was too engrossed with Pepsi Cola that they forgot to put their resources behind this brand.

Slice was originally launched as a mango drink. But over time, the brand lost its focus and introduced many flavors. In 2002, Slice was launched in multiple flavors. This extensions cost the brand dearly. While the competitors Maaza and Frooti concentrated on the mango flavor, Slice tried to become an umbrella brand for all fruit based drink in the Pepsi's portfolio.

It could have become an umbrella brand had Pepsi invested in the brand. But the promotional investment behind the brand was never consistent.According to Afaqs, there was no ad support for the brand from 2002 to 2006. The brand went into obscurity during these period.

It was in 2006 that Pepsi began to seriously look at Slice. But by that time Maaza had established itself in the market along with the market leader Frooti.

Slice never had a proper consistent positioning. While Frooti and Maaza positioned itself on the Real Mango Flavor platform, Slice was a confused brand. In 2006, the brand took the positioning of a provider of simple joy platform. The tagline was " Simple Joy ka Raas " . But there also the brand did not catch the imagination of the consumer.

Slice was relaunched in 2008 in a new avataar. Atlast, Slice anchored itself as a mango drink. The brand launched a very smart campaign - Aamsutra .
The campaign was a real clutter breaker. The brand wanted to position itself on the basis of exprience or pleasure of having a mango drink. The brand took the attribute of Pleasure, Sensuality and Indulgence as the core brand attribute that delivers that Experience.

Slice also roped in the Bollywood Diva Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador. The brand launched its first Aamsutra campaign during the summer of 2008

Watch the TVC here : Slice Aamsutra 1

I think that the Aamsutra campaign shook the brand from its inertia. There was lot of noise about the campaign and I think the brand sales also benefitted from the noise.
This summer of 2009 saw Slice launching the next edition of the Aamsutra campaign.

Watch the 2009 campaign here : Slice Aamsutra 2

The Slice story shows the power of the Big Idea. A brand will thrive when it gets that " Aha " or the " Wow" factor. Aamsutra is a definite WOW factor for this brand .

It is also interesting to see that this summer all the mango drinks marketer has chosen to target the younger generation ( 25 + ) rather than kids. Maaza in particular chose to put a much older character in their recent advertisement. Frooti also is now focusing on the youth. This may open the door for a brand to target specifically Kids while other brands fight it out for the younger gen.

Personally speaking , I liked the Aamsutra concept and also the way it was executed. The ad was able to completely use the brand ambassador's charm and looks . The only doubt is whether the brand is looking at a more mature audience rather than a younger segment.

Aamsutra as the name suggests has a very sensual connotation. The brand will be moving in a thin line between sensuality and sexuality. Too much sensuality makes the ads less veiwable while too less becomes a bore. But the current campaign effectively manages to deliver the right kind of message. It is also a significantly different positioning from its competitors hence manages to get and hold eyeballs. It will be interesting to see how Slice will be able to extend its new found formula.....

Nilon's Pickles : Taste that Lingers

Brand : Nilon's Pickles
Company : Nilon's Enterprises Pvt Ltd
Agency : Mudra

Brand Analysis Count : 387

Nilon's Pickles is making waves in the ad world. The brand is a classic example which shows the power of good creative execution.Nilon's pickles is from the company Nilon's Enterprises Pvt Ltd which has been in this business since 1962. The company claims to be the largest manufacturer of pickles and tooty-frooty in India.

Nilon's Pickles caught the attention of advertising world because of its new commercial which is making rounds across channels in India

Watch the TVC here : Nilon's Pickles

The ad created by Mudra takes a leaf out of Kentucky Fried Chicken's Finger Licking Good positioning. ( frankly Mudra has taken the whole Tree rather than a leaf !!!).

The campaign revolves around a young chap's unusually long index finger. The plot reveals that the guy had been an addict of Nilon's pickles from childhood itself and the constant licking of the finger made it unusually long.

The advertising fraternity is on two sides regarding this campaign. One set argues this as a copycat while another set sees no harm in " Adapting " the idea.

Afaqs has an interesting piece on this campaign. Read it here

The ad has a strong resemblance to KFC ads - there is no doubt about that.

But what was interesting to me was the basic strategy behind this campaign. It is highly appreciative for a company like Nilon's to attempt to create a national brand in this category. Not many brands have succeeded in creating a national foothold in this category. Brands like Maggi is trying hard to create one.

According to Afaqs , the pickles market in India is worth around Rs 1500 crore of which organized market is around Rs 400 crore. The market is highly fragmented and is dominated by local players.

The major challenge with creating a national brand for pickles is to manage varied taste preference of consumers across markets. If you take the South Indian market, the taste preference for pickles are entirely different to that of North . Even in South India, the taste preference varies across different states. Even for a mango pickle, taste preferences vary across states.

So it is almost an impossible task for a marketer to have a common product that satisfies all consumers. This is where the local players have an advantage. They can afford to create specific product that cater to the specific consumer group they serve.

Another challenge for marketers is the consumer behavior for this category. Usually consumers are hooked to a particular brand of pickles because of the taste . Once the consumer likes the taste, he continues with a particular brand till he come across a better taste. Hence the challenge for any new marketer for pickles is to make the consumer " try out " the brand first.

Most of the local marketers use samples to hook the consumer. Home makers happily serve the sample packs of pickles that come with magazines and once the family gives a vote, the brand purchase is made.

Retailers also play a significant role in promoting brands. Since this is a low involvement product, consumers will try out new pickles if prompted by retailers and advertisements. Local players pamper the retailers with margins and thus gain more retailer space and push.

Pickles also have the seasonality issue for pickles made of seasonal fruits/vegetables. Hence managing the seasonality and inventory also creates a headache for the marketers. The growing health concerns regarding the oily nature of this category also is a threat to marketers.

It is in this context that Nilon's brand building efforts looks interesting. The brand has rightly took taste as the key positioning platform. And although a copy, Finger Licking sounds a too good proposition to ignore. The brand has taken up the tagline " Juba se dil me uthar jaye " which translates to " taste that will sink from tougue to heart"

Another interesting strategy adopted by Nilon's is the focus on the younger generation for this category. I have seldom seen a traditional product like Pickle using Gen Next as the main character in the ads. I don't think that the new generation will stop using pickles. The habit of using pickles will move through mothers to kids and so on. But trying to make this category " cool " among the new generation is a very good marketing move. The shift also provides a refreshing feeling about the category.

Having a nice catchy advertisement is not a panacea for all marketing problems. Nilon's has been working on distribution strength across various markets. The new campaign will definitely give the brand a fair share of consumer trials. The success will ultimately depend on whether the brand keeps the promise of finger licking taste...