Brand Update : Kingfisher

It is very rare to see Indian brands being mentioned for its service excellence. Today I was fortunate enough to to read one such story about Kingfisher Airlines. The story becomes more interesting because it is from one of the renowned management gurus of our times -Tom Peters.

Read the story here : Tom Peters Blog

Kingfisher Airlines has very cleverly used " Moments of Truths " to differentiate itself from the rest of airlines. Infact, the brand took extra care to treat the customers like real guests. The above said story also reveals another lesson - little things matter most in customer service. The biggest job for the service provider is to find out those little things which can create a " WoW" factor. Kingfisher created lot of goodwill when they appointed Ushers who would help carry the luggages of the customers. It could be done by any airline but it was Kingfisher who first thought about it.

A sincere smile, genuine care and happy employees can create a powerful differentiator.

Kudos to Kingfisher Airlines Team.

Brand Update : La Opala

It has been a long time since I wrote an update on La Opala. There was nothing special that was happening about this brand till recently. The brand has been very consistent in its brand promotion focusing mainly on the print media.

Recently La Opala has roped in the Bollywood Diva Bipasha Basu to endorse its premium range of Opalware " Diva " . The brand is currently running a TVC featuring the brand ambassador. Diva is a brand for those consumers who are aware of the need to add style to their kitchenware. The brand has the tagline " Fine Art of Dining".

Watch the TVC here : La Opala

This is the first time that a crockery brand has roped in a brand ambassador. The new range " Diva " is a light weight crockery targeting the SEC A & B segment.( Source)

La Opala as a brand is trying to position itself as a lifestyle product rather than plain crockery ware. All its brand communications has been focusing on the " Style " factor. This has made La Opala ,a leader in the Rs 500 crore luxury crockery market. According to news reports, La Opala has around 25% share in the crockery market. Crockery accounts for about 25% of the Rs 2000 crore luxury utensils market.

The presence of a celebrity will definitely increase the brand recall for La Opala. The brand is operating in a market which is dominated by unorganized players and also cheap imports. In such a scenario, any investment in increasing brand recall and share of mind will not go waste.

Related Brand

La Opala

Pediasure : Complete Nutrition , Complete Peace of Mind

Brand : Pediasure
Company : Abbott Pharmaceuticals

Brand Analysis Count : 422

Pediasure is a leading global brand in the pediatric nutrition segment.The brand is owned by the pharmaceutical giant Abbott. Pediasure was launched in India way back in 2000. But it is only recently that I noticed an ad for this global brand.

Pediasure is a food supplement for children aged 2-10. The brand is fighting for its share in the Rs 0.56 billion pediatric nutrition market in India. But compared to other competitors, the brand was virtually silent in the Indian market.

There is a reason behind this very soft marketing by the brand. Pediasure is basically a therapeutic supplement.According to the brand site, Pediasure is a food supplement for those kids who are picky eaters and those kids who are suffering from some diseases. This is a highly recommended supplement for those kids who are malnourished because they refuse to eat. So most of the sales would have happened through suggestions/prescriptions from doctors and also through word of mouth. A google search indicates that the brand has lot of equity among the consumers.

But by limiting its promotion, the brand had severely undermined its potential to become a popular choice among mothers. The brand has been perceived as a solution for those kids who have chronic problems thus alienating other consumers who are in need of a nutritional supplement.

The brand may have realized the potential now and have started advertising. The ad is projecting Pediasure as a supplement for all those kids who does not like taking food.The current strategy for the brand is to appeal to a larger section of mothers who feel that their child is not getting enough nutrition.

What will be a problem for Pediasure is its price. The brand is priced at around Rs 399 for 400 gm which is almost double the price of brands like Horlicks and Boost. Infact I did not buy this product for my kid ( not malnourished !!!) because of the price. The price is going to make this brand unaffordable for many middle-class customers. The brand could do well if it launches smaller SKUs of 100gms at a reasonable price point .
But for a parent whose child is severely malnutritioned , this price will not be a major issue because of necessity. I recently talked to my newspaper agent whose child was prescribed Pediasure by the doctor . The poor guy was lamenting about the high price of this product. For such consumers, smaller SKUs will make life little more easier.

The price problem becomes a sumbling block when the brand tries to get into the larger market of ordinary consumers. The brand's strategy as of now may be to explore the premium segment of the market.

Brand Update : Parachute

Parachute Advansed Starz has got a new tagline. The brand is currently running a campaign with the new tagline " Choose your avatar " . There is something interesting about the new campaign. When the brand was launched, it was speaking to the mother trying to educate her about the need for a specialized shampoo for kids.

Watch the commercial here : Kya Hoga Mera Avatar

Now the brand is directly talking to the user i.e the kids. And the brand has narrowed its TG to the Tweens and Teens rather than the very young ones.

Starz also has been aggressively promoted across the media. The brand is a pioneer in the Kid's shampoo market and is trying to capitalize on the lack of competition. Starz also is coming out with new products - the latest being the chocolate- shampoo. That signifies the fact that Starz is moving away from its earlier focus on the " Strawberry " ingredient.

The tagline seems to be catchy and focus on fun with hairstyles. The brand has realized that young girls of the new generation likes to experiment with their hairstyles and is trying to provide a healthy solution.

There is something happening for Parachute Aftershower brand too. The sub-brand has launched another extension in the form of a dandruff hair oil. The brand is running a campaign featuring its brand ambassador Yuvraj Singh.

Marico has been extending the Parachute brand too much. Hope that this extension strategy is backed by some clear longterm brand strategy.

Related Brand

Parachute

Brand Update

Halls : Thandi Saans Ka Blast

Brand : Halls

Company : Cadbury India Ltd

Agency : Contract Advertising

Brand Analysis Count : 421

Halls is one of the largest selling cough drops brand in the world. The brand claims to have 50% share in the International cough drops market.Halls brand was born in 1930 when Halls Brothers invented a Metho- Lyptus formula that alleviates throat irritations. Later in 1964,

Warner- Lambert acquired the brand and began to aggressively sell the product in the US market.

Halls came to India in 1968. The brand was initially sold as a therapeutic candy in the cough lozenges market. In 2003, Halls came into Cadbury's fold when it acquired the confectionery business of Warner-Lambert/Pfizer network ( Source : Halls Brand Site).

Halls had a series of ups and downs in the Indian market. At one point of time during the ninetees, the brand was the market leader with a share of over 30%. But at point in time , Warner- Lambert increased the price of Halls from 50 paise to 75 paise. The effect was devastating. The brand began to lose its share because consumers found it difficult to find the change in order to buy the product. It was easy to find a 50 paise but finding 25 paise was not easy. And the shop keeper will never return the 25 paise if given Rs 1. (source ).

Halls was promoted heavily by both Warner- Lambert and Cadburys. Halls is one of the heavy spenders in the category. But despite the heavy share of voice, Halls had a huge positioning problem.

The Rs 200 crore throat lozenges category is an interesting category. With in these category, there are certain subsegments which may not be visible to the consumer. For example, there is a therapeutic lozenges category which are medicinal in nature and sold through chemists. Strepsils belong to this category. While Vicks is perceived to be medicinal in nature, the product can be sold in all kind of shops. Halls belongs to the candy sub-segment within the category.

While most of the throat lozenges products are sold on medicinal platform, Halls wanted to differentiate itself. Hence the brand chose to position itself on the " Cool and Refreshing " Platform. But instead of focusing and establishing this platform, the brand kept oscillating between " medicinal throat relief " and " Refreshing" platforms. If you look at the series of ads of Halls across its lifetime, the brand was confused about its core brand value. In one ad, the brand will be concentrating on " Sore Throat " while in another it is taking about refreshing breath,

The brand was not confident about ditching the " sore throat " and embrace the " cool + refreshing " platform. This confusion eroded the brand's chances to become the market leader in this category. The brand failed to understand that it cannot be everything to everybody. It is commonsense that brands should try to occupy a unique position rather than trying to please everyone.

It was in 2008 that Halls finally decided to focus on the " Cool throat " platform . The brand used hyperbole to communicate this message to the consumer.

Watch the ad here : Halls Airplane Ad

Personally I did not like the ad because the action of the person who took Halls was contradicting the " Coolness " factor promoted by the brand. But the hyperbole or the exaggeration worked to brand's advantage. The brand was able to clearly communicate its core brand promise to the consumer.

It shows when a brand understands its core brand mantra. The decision of the brand to focus on the " coolness " had its impact on the quality of brand communication. Halls came out with its latest ad reinforcing its core positioning.

Watch the ad here : Halls Polar Bear ad

It is again Hyperbole at its height. The message is spot-on and the exaggeration works well to reinforce the core positioning of the brand. The brand has the tagline " Thandi Saans Ka Blast " which communicates its coolness promise.

Halls is facing competition for its positioning also. Recently Parle Xhale also has started its campaign highlighting its 'coolness'. Watch the ad here.

I hope that Halls will stay focused on the current positioning platform. Ofcourse by doing so, it may lose some consumers but in the long run the brand will benefit with the focus.

Brasso : Branding without Advertising

Brand : Brasso
Company : Reckitt & Benckiser

Brand Analysis Count : 420

This post is inspired by an article which came in the Economic Time ( Source). The article mentions the brand Brasso as an example of a brand which has become a 100 crore brand without spending much on advertising.

Brasso is a 105 year old brand from Reckitt & Benckiser . The brand was born in 1904 when a Reckitt official traveled to Australia and discovered the potential of a such a product. In 1905, the company brought the brand Brasso into the market. ( source).

The brand has become almost synonymous with metal polish across the world. The brand became generic after the two world wars. Brasso is heavily used by armed forces across the world . In India too, Brasso is heavily used by the armed forces. According to ET, around 12800 litres of Brasso is used by the armed forces every month.

The brand gained its generic status purely by word of mouth. The very simple fact that this product is used by armed forces gave it tremendous authenticity. In the consumer space, the product has limited usage.The rich heritage and the word of mouth gave the brand enough recall when ever there is a need for a metal polish. Since the brand is selling without any advertising, the company is also happy to let the party run.

But the problem with such a brand is that there is a possibility that the brand misses out in opportunities. Many consumers does not know that Brasso can be used to clean scratched CDs and even repair scratches in plastic products. Unless the brand communicates regularly , there is a chance that the brand will miss out in capitalizing its strengths and in finding new uses for the product.