Marketing In Recession : Hope is the Key

Everyone is feeling the pinch of the economic slowdown. Recession and Cost Cutting is the most used terms across offices. Consumer confidence is at the lowest. It is not that consumers (both business and consumers) does not have the need or the money to purchase, the real fact is that they are afraid to splurge.

As a consumer,I have needs and aspirations. I also have some disposable income to purchase but I am not buying because I am afraid of what is in store for me in future.
Many business customers are postponing purchase because they are facing an uncertain future. We are in a vicious cycle which ought to be broken.

Today is Akshaya Thritiya. This is an auspicious day to purchase gold. The story is that if you purchase gold today, it will bring you wealth and happiness in future. Gold Merchants were making a huge marketing push for this day. For the past two weeks, Jewelers across South India were advertising like hell trying to promote gold purchases on this day. And as expected, most jewelers in my state is witnessing brisk sales.

That is the power of Hope.
The success of Barack Obama was an important lesson for all marketers. Hope sells in Recession.

We humans have a innate love of life. We cling to life. Other animals don't cling to life as we do. They don't worry about death as much as we do. We have a built-in -system of Hoping . This trait has been helping us to counter serious dangers to our existence.

Hope is something that help us to slog.

So if you want to your consumers to buy your products, give them hope. Give them a hope that your product will make their life/business easier. Give them hope that you will be with them riding the storm. Give them hope for a better future or else atleast make them feel good.

Hope and greed are different. Hope is realistic while greed is a fantasy. Obama was communicating realistic hope and that was why people believed him.

People are buying gold on Akshaya Thritihiya not because of the flashy advertisements but they have hope .

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Marketing in Recession

Brand Update : Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy has taken a vow to make India healthy. The new campaign " Banaye Healthy Hindustan".
The new ad campaign takes the route of Before- After theme.

The brand selected two apartment complex for this experiment. In one apartment, the children were asked to use Lifebuoy soaps 5 times a day and another apartment were selected where there was no change in the lifestyle . After the experiment, children in the apartment where the brand was used recorded remarkable increase in terms of school attendance and a decrease in the incidence of diseases. Lifebuoy is claiming that the experiment proves that using the brand 5 times a day can dramatically reduce the chance of getting illness and improve school attendance by 40%.

The current campaign is an extension of the famous Swastya Chetana initiative of the brand where the children are encouraged to wash their hands with soaps inorder to reduce the incidence of diseases like diarrhea.

This time Lifebuoy is using the before-after theme . Indian brands are right now using the high-risk before-after theme. Horlicks was the one which came to my mind which had successfully used this experiment format to catch the consumer. The strategy is risky because the claims has to be authentic otherwise the brand will be in trouble. Secondly these claims should be believable.

HUL has tried a similar campaign for Pepsodent ( Dishum Dishum campaign) where it encouraged kids to brush their teeth twice a day. The campaign was a highly successful one.
Through the new campaign , Lifebuoy is expecting similar success.

It is commendable for a brand to strive hard for a noble cause. The brand has chosen a right cause which mutually helps both the brand and the community.

Related Brand
Lifebuoy
Pepsodent

LMN : Emergency Lemon Refresher

Brand : LMN
Company : Parle Agro
Agency : CreativeLand Asia

Brand Analysis Count : 395

This summer is special . Special because this summer , Indian softdrink/beverages marketers suddenly found that Indians love lemon flavored drinks. They realised that despite Shahrukh, Aamir and host of celebrities endorsing cola brands, large section of Indian consumers quench their thirst with nimbu paani.

And surprisingly the revelations came to Indian marketers all at once and this summer everyone is after NimbuPaani-- our very own lime juice or in malayalam (my native language)- Naaranga vellom .

Ofcourse marketers are forced to go after numbers. Even if their friends and relatives chose lemon juice over bottled drinks, marketers are forced to look at numbers, trends and statistics. This summer statistics have told them that the market for lemon based drinks have a potential.

According to a report in Business Standard, out of the Rs 7500 crore sparkling drinks market,colas comprise of only 38% of the total market while flavors comprise of 54%. The realization came only after Sprite dethroned Pepsi to become the number two selling beverage brand in India.

What marketers did not see was the big picture. Business Standard estimates that out of 120 bn litres of beverages consumed in India, packaged drinks account for only 5%. Marketers failed to look at consumers but too focused on categories and micro segments. It is not this summer, every summer, Indian consumers were taking lots of lemon drinks but marketers failed to see the bigger picture while spending their energy on outsmarting competition.

The fire cracker in the lemon based drink segment was started by Pepsi with the launch of Nimbooz . Soon to follow was the brand LMN.

LMN is from the house of Parle Agro. This summer Parle Agro is in an over drive with new launches like Saint Juice, LMN and Grappo Fizz. It is encouraging to see an Indian company aggressively taking on the Cola majors.

When I first saw the ad of LMN, what striked me was the brand name. It is one of the best brand names I have seen in recent times.Pepsi has done a masterstroke by taking in the generic name Nimbu by launching Nimbooz. I thought Nimbooz will score because of the powerful brand name. But LMN proved to be a equal worthy competitor for Nimbooz.

Having a brand name which is generic has many advantages. It is easy for consumers to understand what the brand promise is and what the product will do for them. The downside is that the generic name restricts further brand extensions. There cannot be an Orange flavored Nimbooz or Orange LMN.

LMN is indeed a powerful brand name and the brand benefits out of that. While Nimbooz is desi LMN is modern. So the brand is aiming more at the younger crowd by the way the packaging is designed and also the way the brand is positioned. Having said that even Kids may like the brand because it is very simple and easy for them to understand what it is.

While Nimbooz is directly taking on the ordinary nimbu paani ( generic lemon drink), LMN is positioned as a refreshing drink little away from being pitched right against the ordinary lemon juice.

LMN is running the launch television commercial across channels. The brand is being positioned as a refreshing lemon drink and has the tagline " Emergency Lemon Refresher ".

Watch the TVC here : LMN

LMN compete with brands like Limca, Sprite, 7 Up and Nimbooz. But the interesting fact is that all these brands represents different categories.The basic difference between LMN and Sprite is that Sprite is a carbonated beverage while LMN is not.
Limca is a cloudy drink while 7 Up and Sprite are clear drinks. LMN and Nimbooz are non carbonated drinks while others are carbonated.

But am not sure whether Indian consumers are aware of these categories . But the situation in the beverage market is that marketers are too much focused on categories and micro categories. We have juices ( 100%,85% 50% ), fruit drink,fruit juice,nectar, artificial,carbonated,non carbonated and what not.. What consumers want is a very simple solution- quench the thirst. Brand that do it with style wins.

LMN has tried to innovate interms of its brandname and also its packaging. It has comeout with a 110ml package that costs only Rs5. This sounds attractive and many consumers would try out this mini tetra provided the quantity satisfies their thirst.

The primary issue for the Indian beverage players is the distribution reach. Pepsi and Coke had built a robust distribution reach. The power of distribution is evident in the case of Kerala. Here Pepsi rules the market with over 80% because of robust distribution strategies. The key to LMN success is how well Parle Agro is able to leverage its distribution reach for this brand.

LMN has a headstart with a good brand name and a cool packaging. The brand has a potential to be a serious player depending on the investment that the company will put in for the brand. To build a brand in the highly competitive beverages market, one should invest continuously and consistently. Hope that LMN will get refreshers from the company interms of brand building investments.

Related Brands

Sprite

Limca

Coke

Appy Fizz

Brand Update : Western Union

Western Union has launched a new global branding campaign. This is the first global branding campaign by Western Union in its 150 year history. The new branding campaign gives a fresh new perspective to the brand.

Money transfer is not a glamorous business like selling Softdrinks or Soaps. But creativity can make this service a worthy glamorous brand. The new campaign has done just that for Western Union.

Created by Publicis Hongkong, the new campaign has given a new tagline for Western Union - YES!

This simple small three letter word is one of the most powerful taglines a brand can get. Kudos for the brand to catch this small Big Word. The new branding campaign is based on hope ,optimism and can-do attitude.

Watch the ad here : Western Union

What I liked about the ad is its universal appeal. The Yes tagline has a universal appeal across the markets which the brand serves. The brand rightly captures the essence when it says " Say Yes to Brighter Future".

Related Brand
Western Union

Brand Update : Boomer

Boomer has launched a unique variant Boomer Gumlairs. Gumlairs is the chocolate eclair bubblegum. The company claims that it is a new category which is being created by Gumlairs. The brand is trying to combine the taste of chocolate eclairs and chewing gum together. Eclairs for a large part of the confectionery market and Boomer wants to attract those eclair lovers into chewing gum category.

Chewing gum brands has been experimenting a lot with taste . The brands till now was concentrating more on fruit based flavors. It is the first time that a chewing gum brand is experimenting with chocolate flavor.

It is important for brands in markets like confectionery to constantly bring out new flavors to keep the excitement going. Consumers of this category are very fickle in their choices and they keep on experimenting with new brands and flavors.In that perspective, Gumlairs is a smart move by Wrigley.

I have a mixed opinion about the taste of chocolate in a chewing gum. These are perceived to be two extereme categories and the concept of both the categories coming together is truly unique.Kids are obviously going to be excited since there is something new and they truly love to experiment.
The claim of creating a new category will fully depend on whether kids like the taste or not. My personal take is that Gumlairs will remain as yet another flavor. Nothing more , Nothing less.


Related Brand
Boomer

Arrow Shirts : Now You Know

Brand : Arrow
Company : Arvind Brands
Agency : Rediffussion

Brand Analysis Count : 394

Arrow is one of the leading premium readymade brand in India. This international brand has a rich history dating back to 1851. Globally Arrow brand belongs to Cluett Peabody . In India, the brand is manufactured and marketed by Arvind Brands.

Arrow is predominantly a shirt brand. This American brand was made famous by JFK is a preferred shirt brand of Executives.

Arrow came to India in 1993. The brand which was known for its American heritage was an instant success in India too. In 2000, the brand clocked a turnover of Rs 55 crore fighting for the market with Louis Phillipe and Van Heusen . This premium brand thrived on the International image and Arvind Co nurtured this brand by making the brand exclusive and through restricted availability.

The brand was expensive and had the quality and finish. Arrow was famous for its ultra- formal shirts. Consumers liked to show off the brand and the famous Arrow brand mark near the cuff.The brand used to promote itself using print media.

Arrow had tried to build its brand using its American heritage. The brand had the tagline Authentic American and used foreign (American) models to reinforce the association.

Arrow was popular among the older business class. The company felt that the brand is losing its position among the emerging young turks . In 2008 the company designed to reposition itself to target the youth. The brand adopted a new tagline " When You Know ". The target segment was identified as SEC A male aged 25-35 years. Print campaign highlighting the new positioning were released across the market.

Arrow offlate has been a laidback marketer. I havn't seen any ad of this brand for years. Or may be no ads of this brand has caught my eye. This is the problem with brands which have an established position in the market. Since there is a huge equity and awareness, these brands feel that there is no need to promote. Zodiac , Color Plus ,Park Avenue and Louis Phillippe has been consistently investing in brand promotions but not Arrow.

Arrow had established itself in the market not because of its campaigns but because of the quality,premiumness and exclusivity. The question is whether the brand still retains those value elements in the mind of the consumer. With readymade brands entering the market in dozens,no brand can rest on its laurels. Atleast for now....