Brand Update : Pulsar

Pulsar- the blockbuster brand from Bajaj has launched a new variant - Pulsar 135 LS. The new bike is a 135 CC 4 valve DTSI engine that delivers a power of 13.5 ps. The bike is being positioned as a light sport bike and the company aims to create a new category of ' light sport' bike in the Indian market. Pulsar 135LS is priced at around Rs 51,000.

Pulsar, when launched in the Indian market in 2001 changed the fortunes of Bajaj Auto. With its " Definitely Male " positioning and superior performance, the bike crafted a segment of ' performance bike' in the Indian market. Even after all these years, Pulsar has maintained significant leadership in the 150CC + market.

The launch of a less powered " light Pulsar" was a surprise to me. Why would a company stretch a performance bike downward into the executive segment ? Pulsar was having three models in the performance bike segment 150CC, 180cc and 220 cc. All these bikes were premium bikes and had similar chunky masculine look with exceptional performance.

There can be two reasons for the downward stretch for this brand. According to reports, Bajaj wants to create a new sports category in the executive segment. The company feels that there is a segment of consumers who want a commuter sports bike and Pulsar will fit the bill.

Another larger reason is the volume game. Bajaj so far has not been able to break the leadership position of Hero Honda either in the Executive segment or in the commuter segment. The experiments on Discover and XCD so far has not been successful in displacing Hero Honda. Since Pulsar have an excellent brand equity, it is easy to leverage it for the sake of volume.

Whether 135 LS will be successful or not depends heavily on the bike's performance. But I am sure that the premium positioning and equity of Pulsar will take a hit with the launch of this lighter version. The new 135 LS is not a Pulsar but something in between XCD and Pulsar 150.

In news reports, the company officials had commented that customers doesn't look at CCs while making purchase, they look at brands. But launching a lighter version of a performance bike is not going to boost the equity of the parent brand. On the contrary , if the lighter version fails in the performance, it will have an effect on the equity of the parent brand. Secondly if the lighter version works well, why should one go and buy the larger version ?

Pulsar 135 LS also cannibalizes the existing models of Bajaj Discover and XCD in the executive segment and there is a possibility of any of these brands being withdrawn from the market.

Pulsar 135 LS is a high risk brand from Bajaj. In the search for volumes, the company is risking one of its best brands in the line of fire. On one hand the brand is being stretched downwards and on the other hand, the parent brand is neglected. Except for occasional ads, Pulsar was never aggressively promoted these days. Taglines keep on changing and share of voice is very very minimal for Pulsar.
The only solace for Pulsar is that so far no brand has been able to match the standards set by this brand. But having no competition does not mean that one can mess up a brand.

Related Brand
Bajaj Pulsar

Hettich : A Home in All Furniture

Corporate Brand : Hettich
Agency : Crescent Communications

Brand Analysis Count : 433

It is not every time that you see a hardware manufacturer endeavoring into branding and above - the - line promotions. Hettich is one such brand that is now ventured into a national launch of their kitchen and furniture fittings.

Hettich is a German company with a rich heritage. The company was started by Karl Hettich in 1888. This $1.1 Billion company is one of the major players in the fittings market. Hettich was launched in India in 2000. The brand had a very soft phased launch and was available only in Mumbai, Kolkatta, Delhi, Gurgaon and Bangalore. Now they have started advertising in the national media which indicates their intention to grow further.

Fittings and accessories were never in the public media space. These were regarded as a b2b product and the major customers were the architects, contractors,builders , designers , hardware distributors etc. But even for the players in this category, branding became important because of the clutter and competition. No consumer was directly involved in the purchase of such items. But things are changing .The growing affluent Indian consumer class also brought in the need for a more differentiated offerings from the players in this category. Hettich is trying to cater to the need of the modern Indian homemaker who desires to have a very smart kitchen.

What is interesting about the brand is its attempt to create excitement in a category of boring products. What is so exciting about hinges, drawers, runner systems, folding and sliding doors. How can one expects customers to think about such products that he is not going to see in a cupboard or a door ?

It is exactly that brands like Hettich is trying to do. Take the case of modular kitchens. Usually consumers give less attention to the hinges and doors . Their attention is more on the look, durability , design and aesthetics. Hettich is trying to change the perspective by educating the consumers about the importance of having a smarter kitchen.

Hettich is running a very rational campaign aiming at introducing the Indian consumers about having a planned kitchen & wardrobes which utilizes maximum space and also maximum convenience. In the brand website, there is a download-able recipe which gives the homemaker fresh ideas about planning their kitchen ( download link here) .

Hettich is not without competition. Brands like Vineta Cucine and Hefele are also looking for this space. And convincing the customer to pay a premium for products like these is a tough task.Hettich's approach to slowly build the market is the right decision. The strategy is to educate, provide experience and convince. The brand has opened lot of such experience shops where customers can see the value for going for a little expensive brands like Hettich.

Mont Blanc : A Story to Tell

Corporate Brand : Mont Blanc
Agency : Meridian

Brand Analysis Count : 432

Mont Blanc is an iconic brand. This luxury iconic brand is now making waves in India. Mont Blanc has a very rich heritage. Created in 1906, the brand was born in Germany. Mont Blanc was founded by stationer Claus Johannes Voss , banker Alfred Nehemias and engineer August Eberstein in Hamburg. The company was earlier christened as Simplo Filler pens but was later changed in to Mont Blanc in 1910.

Mont Blanc which started off as a writing instrument brand soon became an iconic accessory brand selling wallets , watches, jewelery, eye wear and fragrance. This brand thrives on luxury and exclusivity. More than a writing instrument, Mont Blanc is more of an art item, something to show off your success than a functional instrument.
The brand is also carefully crafted. Mont Blanc takes special care in ensuring that the brand communication is reflecting its exclusivity and premium positioning.

Mont Blanc entered India in 1995. The brand has adopted the strategy of slow skimming was initially available in premium boutiques at places like Taj Hotels.
Globally, Mont Blanc built its brand through print media. The brand crafted exquisite ads in the premium lifestyle magazines. This year, the brand deviated from its time tested media strategy and launched its first Indian TVC featuring Bollywood Actor Anil Kapoor and his daughter Actress Sonam Kapoor.

Watch the TVC here : Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc has the tagline " A story to Tell" . This is a positioning that takes the brand from a functional perspective to a higher level positioning. The brand talks about pen as a power to write one's own destiny. This is one of the best positioning statement I have seen in recent times.
In India, Mont Blanc is trying to tell stories of successful personalities who had achieved success not because of heritage but hard work.

The television commercial surprised me because of the choice of Anil Kapoor as the brand ambassador. Even though Anil Kapoor fits well in the brand's positioning based on " story to tell" and rags to riches kind of stuff, Anil Kapoor does not really gel with the over all brand personality of Mont Blanc.
He is an actor who has now virtually retired . Even during his hay days, Anil Kapoor was never considered as an iconic star. So by choosing a star who has faded from limelight seems to be a wrong choice for the brand.
Another question that came to my mind is whether Mont Blanc really needed a brand ambassador ? In the Indian advertising world, stars have become a commodity. These stars only give some 'stickyness' to the ad and other than that there is virtually no value addition to the brand equity.
In my personal opinion, Mont Blanc lost some its premiumness by choosing to get help from a celebrity.

Mont Blanc also was in limelight in India as a part of a controversy. The brand launched a limited edition Pen inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. The pen which was priced at around Rs 12 lakh generated enough controversy for the brand ( worth millions of dollars of free publicity).
The limited edition pen had Gandhiji's image engraved in the nib and also the top of the cap and cone was inspired by the spindle which Gandhiji used to spin cotton.
The limited edition pen with its huge price tag quickly captured the imagination of media and politicians who began a high profile debate on " commercialization of Gandhiji".

As an individual , I was happy that Mont Blanc chose to celebrate one India's finest son with a special edition product. I was more happy because they chose to price this special product with an exorbitant rate. I believe that Gandhiji is not cheap. He lived a humble life does not mean that everything about him should be cheap or priced low. If politicians can choose to use Gandhiji for furthering their goals, why can't brands ? And marketers are not fools to mess with a highly revered icon like Mahatma.

Mont Blanc is a brand that changed the way pens were looked at. The classic white flower-shaped symbol that adored the cap of this pen is considered an ultimate symbol of success. Mont Blanc does not need someone to make it a success it is the other way around.

Turtle : A Little Deeper

Brand : Turtle
Company : Turtle Ltd
Agency : RK Swamy BBDO

Brand Analysis Count : 431

Turtle is an interesting brand story. This is the story of a small brand metamorphosing to a national brand. The brand is from Ladsaria family. The brand was born in 1995 in Kolkatta. The brand is the brain child of Amit Ladsaria who teamed up with his uncle to start a small shirt manufacturing unit with an initial capacity of 20 shirts.

Amit Ladsaria saw a big opportunity in readymade dresses at that time and wanted to cash in on that opportunity. The brand name Turtle was inspired by the movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (source)

The brand which started with a capacity of 20 shirts is now a 60 crore brand poised for the big league. In May 2009, Future group took a strategic stake in the company. The backing of this retail giant is set to take Turtle brand to a much higher level.

There are many interesting facets of this brand. Although a small brand, Turtle was very careful in building its brand. The brand has been consistently investing in print and TVCs and the quality of communication was also very good.

Although the brand name was derived from a movie, the brand owners was wise enough to attach a meaning to the brand. Turtle brand is a Turtle lover. The brand has tied up with World Wildlife Fund and The Wildlife Society of Orissa for conservation of rare turtles. The brand contributes an amount for every product they sell. According to reports, the brand has already given more than 18 lakhs to these organizations.

Another interesting feature of this brand is the website . Turtle brand site is one of the best brand sites I have seen in recent times. The brand has been very careful in cultivating a sense of style around itself.

Turtle is targeting the young urban professional. The brand is on the premium side of the price band with the price ranging from Rs 695 - 995.

The brand is being positioned on an emotional platform . The brand persona is a successful goal oriented individual with a softer core. The brand has adopted the tagline " A Little Deeper " to emphasis the different side of the personality. Most of the campaigns are highlighting the soft touch persona of the brand.

Watch the tvc here : Elevator


Although the positioning theme has similarity with Raymond's, the theme offers opportunities to present the brand differently from Raymonds. Although the brand has been consistent in their communication highlighting the emotional positioning, it is necessary for the brand to communicate rational benefits also. This is important when addressing the first-time customers. I would love to see some more information about the quality of fabric and craftmanship in their ads.

Turtle is a strong brand from the East. The brand has slowly but steadily capturing various markets. The strong support from a partner like Future group will increase the brand's reach.
Turtle is a brand with a vision. The brand owners have followed it up with consistent investment and let us hope that the brand will reach its desired destination.

Brand Update : SBI

SBI has been on an overdrive in the advertising world with a series of campaigns following the much acclaimed " Surprisingly SBI" campaign. The entire world was surprised because of the aggression of India's largest bank. The bank was successful in changing the perception of many new generation customers about the key advantages of SBI like " largest number of ATMs", branch connectivity etc.

Then came the second series of campaign " Every Indian's Banker".The ad was a big fall from the quality hype created by " Surprisingly SBI" campaign. The second series campaign was aimed at projecting the bank as a common man's bank which served no strategic purpose as such. Every one knew that SBI used to serve all class of Indians. The second series of ads served no business or brand purpose. Neither the ad gave any new information to the consumers nor it invoked any brand equity for SBI.

Then came the third series of the campaign. The series is currently running across media. The ad shows India's eminent personalities like Tagore, Bose to Tata with the caption - The Banker to this Indian. The brand is trying to show off that it was the banker to the most eminent sons of the soil.
Frankly speaking, I am not the least impressed by the new campaign. Nothing but just a waste of money.

SBI was right when it launched the 'surprisingly SBI ' campaign because it needs to remind the customers about the advantages of banking with the largest Indian bank. SBI obviously had lot of advantages like " government backing" , largest number of branches and lower rates. With the high profile ad campaign by both public sector and private banks, SBI needed such a campaign to keep its brand on top of its customer's minds.

But the second and third series aiming to create an emotional connection was a total disaster.
I was a poor customer who believed SBI claims that it had restructured itself and has shed all the previous "PSU" style functioning. Reports suggested that it had trained all the staff and has become more customer friendly than ever before.Even being a cynical fellow , I believed all the claims ..

Then one day, I visited the SBI branch to take a demand draft. It was during the Lok sabha election time. The person manning the DD counter flatly refused to issue me the DD saying that he had closed the counter early because he had to attend an election training program. I stood there wondering how can a bank refuse to issue a demand draft to a customer ? . I went to the manager and was really surprised when he admitted his inability to help me out because of staff shortage. I had to shout and threaten to file a complaint with the banking ombudsman inorder to 'motivate' the manager to take necessary steps to issue me the demand draft.

What ever that SBI do to prop up its image, nothing will work unless the bank take care of its service DNA. The bank is still to change its customer service culture. They are in the service business and people form an important part of the service marketing mix. Having said that,SBI can breathe easier because the service quality is not remarkable in other banks as well ( private banks included).

SBI just need to instill a DNA of customer service in their branches. In most of the branches, the bankers feel that they are doing some favor to the customers. In a service business, the brand is built at the moment when the customer avails the services not when he sees a campaign.

Hope that SBI will atleast once surprise me positively.

Some different perspectives : Adformula, Bhatnaturally

Related Brands
SBI

Flipkart : The book store at your door

Corporate Brand : Flipkart.com

Brand Analysis Count : 430

Flipkart is an Indian online bookstore modeled around Amazon . The site was started by two IIT graduates Mr Binny Bansal and Mr Sachin Bansal. The site became operational in 2007. Within a short span of time, Flipkart has created a lot of buzz among the book lovers.

I am a book lover and my job as an academician demands that I read a lot of books. I came to know about flipkart quite accidentally. I used to buy books from another famous e-commerce site where I was a loyal customer with a gold level book club membership.

Marketers know that it is very difficult to poach loyal customers from a competitor. Lot of factors cause customers to stick to a familiar brand. Inertia, trust , averse to risk are some of the factors that prompt customers to stick with their old way of doing things. I was also of that type.

One friend suggested me to check out flipkart and and when I did, it split my loyalty instantly. One of the main USP of flipkart is the ease of use. Unlike other e-commerce site, flipkart is very very easy to use. Searching books was very easy and the site was also minimalistic. During that time, my earlier bookstore revamped its interface and it became very difficult to search books in that site which prompted me to look for alternatives. The simple interface of flipkart and their fast delivery also inspired my colleague ( who is a voracious reader) to switch to this site.

In services marketing theory , often we teach that " high level of performance " is an attribute that can cause delight in customers. Flipkart is an example of a site that differentiate itself on its performance rather than low price.


According to reports, Flipkart 's USP is its simple interface, fast searching and free shipping. The owners have rightly identified the critical differentiating factors and their service delivery is also quite fast. According to the brand owners, the market for online bookstore is around Rs 25 crore out of the total market size of Rs 4000 crore ( source). Competition is slowly hotting up in this space also.

What is interesting about flipkart is that the brand does not rely on above the line promotions. Rather, the brand depends on SEO and word of mouth publicity to drive customer traffic to the site.

Not all things are perfect for this brand. I still buy from my old store after comparing prices. The lack of a loyalty program is a big minus for an e-commerce site like flipkart. I feel that bookstores' cashcow will be the loyal customers rather than unique visitors.

For a startup, flipkart has really succeeded in getting basics correct. The brand has the potential to lure or poach customers from other similar competitors because it can deliver its promise faster. But when the customer base grows, it is a challenge for the brand owners to keep the high level of performance intact.

Kudos for the flipkart team.