Brand Update : World Space RIP ( 2001-2009)

Another brand is dead. World Space satellite radio service is set to shut shop in India on the New Year eve. The brand which brought in the country's first satellite radio will officially laid to rest on that day.

The brand which came to India in 2001 was supposed to create ripples in the Indian entertainment market ( atleast I thought so). The brand was launched in India with a preposterous pricing soon realized that India needs a new set of marketing mixes if it wanted to succeed . In 2005, the brand came back with a reasonable price-value proposition. The new pricing helped the brand to earn large number of subscribers to the tune of 4.5 lakh customers who was willing to pay about Rs 1800 per year for music. This is no small feat because in India, it was unheard of a practice to pay for a radio service. The brand also got a boost with the tie-up with Airtel digital TV network. According to reports, World Space India contributed 90% of the subscriber base of its parent.

But luck was not in favor for World Space. In 2009, the parent company World Space USA filed for bankruptcy protection . That was the beginning of the end for World Space India. There was talks about a possible sell off but that too did not materialize.

The failure of World Space India was largely contributed by the bankruptcy of its parent but there are lessons to be learned from the mistakes of the Indian arm also. The first mistake was done during the initial launch when World Space charged exorbitant prices for its receiver as well as the service. The Indian consumers quickly rejected this aggression. The company did not correct this mistake for two years and when they corrected it, already a perception was created in the mind of the consumers about the service being expensive.
The second mistake was regarding the pricing of the receiver. World Space should have concentrated more on selling subscriptions rather than the receiver . It could have come out with receivers with rock bottom prices ( Say below Rs 1000) and aggressively sold subscriptions. Remember mobile services became popular largely because of the low cost handsets . Had the handsets cost more than Rs 5000, the penetration could have been much lower.

The third mistake was the business model. Although the brand did right in the advertising front by roping in the brand ambassador AR Rahman, the field level promotion was hopeless. This product could have done well with a direct marketing approach. But the channel partners of World Space did not bothered to aggressively push the product. They were all waiting for the consumers to make the first contact. The ideal strategy could have to set a subscription target of say 1 million customers and once you have it, then try to upsell premium subscriptions to them.

I don't think that the brand could have still survived if it had followed the above said strategies. Indian market still has not open to the concept of a Pay- Radio. The brand was in the wrong place at the wrong time...

Related Post
World Space

Brand Update : Horlicks

I was shocked to see an ad in todays newspaper announcing the launch of a noodles brand by Horlicks. I was wondering how can a company like GSK mess up a power brand like Horlicksby launching a totally unrelated extension ?

Horlicks has launched a new extension in the noodles category . The extension has the brand name Foodles and is endorsed by Horlicks. Foodles is positioned as a healthy noodles. The brand has launched two variants of noodles. - Regular and Multi-grain The main USP of Foodles is the " Health Maker" sachet which comes along with the noodles pack. The health maker sachet contains the essentials of 5 vitamins.

Frankly , this is one brand extension which I cannot understand.Theoretically Foodles by Horlicks cannot be termed as a brand extension. In this case Foodles is the main brand and Horlicks is the endorser brand. But for all practical purposes, Foodles is going to impact Horlicks just like any other brand extension.

Horlicks off late has been on a extension spree. It recently launched the Nutribar snack bar with an aim of transforming Horlicks in to an umbrella brand for launching health related food products.

My first contact with Foodles happened last week when my wife tried to trick me with Foodles instead of Maggi. I hated the taste of it and wondered whether Maggi changed the taste of its noodles again. It is only then my wife revealed that she tried to make me eat " healthy " noodles.


What can be the possible logic behind Horlicks trying its hand into launching a noodles brand ?

One reason or argument can be that Horlicks is only an endorser brand . Once the brand is accepted in the market, Foodles can remain as a standalone brand.

If that is the logic, then has the marketers thought about the brand equity dilution of parent brand? Horlicks in no way can be associated with noodles category. Noodles is perceived to be unhealthy , junk food and by associating with this category, Horlicks is definitely going to dilute its core positioning of a health drink.

Secondly, why should a multinational giant like GSK launch a brand with an endorsement from its power brand ? What is restricting the company from launching a new standalone brand ? Only reason seems to be the lack of confidence of the marketer or the search of a short cut to market acceptance.

Has the company thought of the impact of Horlicks if Foodles fail ? If Foodles succeed, does it add value to Horlicks brand or will it dilute the core proposition of a health drink ?
What is Horlicks now - a health drink for kids, health drink for adults, health drink for women, a snack brand, a biscuit brand and a noodles brand .... where is the connection.

Foodles is not going to revolutionize noodles market in India. All the noodles brands are now on the health plank and having a vitamin sachet is not going to do big things for Foodles.

Earlier, my students used to ask me about my favorite brand and I would tell them it is Horlicks because of the focus and smart marketing moves. Now I would say that Horlicks 'used' to be my favorite brand.

Brand Update : Bajaj Kristal RIP ( 2007-2010)

Bajaj recently announced its exit from the scooter market. This announcement also marked the death of the last scooter brand from Bajaj -- Bajaj Kristal. Kristal was launched in 2007 was aimed at capturing the scooterette market dominated by TVS Scooty.

The failure of Kristal was a marketing failure. The firm failed to launch a product that was well differentiated and offered value to the customer. I had written about the stiff pricing of Kristal which may have caused the pathetic response from the customers. Kristal was a half-hearted attempt which was visible in the way this brand was promoted. After the initial promotions, there was no voice for the brand. It was a brand crafted for failure.

Interestingly ,the announcement of Bajaj's exit from scooter market evoked lot of media attention. Channels devoted lot of prime-time discussing the Hamara Bajaj campaign and the death of icons. There was a lot of emotional brouhaha which was totally unnecessary because the exit from the market is a pure business decision. Although the top management of Bajaj was finding it difficult to explain the reasons for the exit, one should understand that Bajaj feels that scooters does not fit into their business model and decided to exit. Nothing more , Nothing less.

The fact remains that Bajaj was not able to either understand the consumer expectations in the scooter segment and develop appropriate product which is a setback to the company's image. The fact that new players like Mahindra scooters are entering the scooter segment adds to the insult and injury to the Bajaj brand.

Even in the case of motorcycles, Bajaj is not having a wonderful time. It had shown a spark of brilliance when Pulsar was introduced, but even after 9 years, Bajaj could not come out with another brand like Pulsar. What it is doing is to milk Pulsar to death.

Related Brand
Kristal

Marketing Strategy : Celebrate Your Big Ideas

So you have got a big idea... then what ?

Getting a big idea in this tough competitive market place is a lottery and when consumers love that big idea, it is nothing but a jackpot. We are living in a world where there is intense competition even for taglines and positioning. Even in this scenario, it is surprising to see how marketers fall short of taking advantage of that Rare Big Idea.

Take the case of the ZooZoo. The ZooZoo had an unprecedented success in India. This was one of those rare occasions where consumers get emotionally attached to a campaign. Viewers loved the character and celebrated it through blogs and social media.

But what did Vodafone do ?

Nothing...

Off late there has been reports that Vodafone is planning ZooZoo merchandise. But nothing has happened in this regard ( atleast in the place where I live).

It is time that marketers wake up to the idea of celebrating their big ideas. Most of the marketers are still hooked on to spreadsheets and media plans. Brand Promotion ismuch much more than putting 30 seconds ads and then looking at the results.

Ideally Vodafone should have milked ZooZoo to the maximum. It could have developed merchandise like dolls, t-shirts, keychains, collectibles etc on these lovely characters which could have given the brand ways to get into the heart of millions of youngsters. There were countless opportunity for the brand to build a community around ZooZoo.

But so far nothing happened. What a waste of opportunity for the brand. The one and only one reason for this wastage is that one may not be able to project the ROI for such a celebration atleast for the short-term.

Take the example of Disney. When they have hit upon a wonderful cartoon character, they will explore all the marketing opportunities around it. But Indian marketers are not yet open to such celebrations. When Nike hit upon " Just do it " slogan , it created a huge celebration of it. Accenture celebrated its association with Tiger Woods to the maximum ( yes yes.. I know what happened later..), MRF celebrated Sachin and his MRF bat to the maximum and even launched MRF cricket bats.

Take the case of Idea cellular brand. The brand hit upon a wonderful tagline " An Idea can Change Your Life " and the brand celebrated the big idea wonderfully well. It innovated upon this big idea, used the entire promotional mix around this idea and no wonder, the brand has excellent top of the mind recall. But still the opportunities for Idea lies beyond mere advertising and hoardings. It could have done many things to take the ownership of this big Idea. Compared to Vodafone, Idea is much ahead in capitalizing on its big ideas.

When your company hits upon something big whether be it a tagline, a character, a logo , don't hesitate to celebrate it. Create games , create dolls, give away keychains, market collectibles, use social media to build community around your big idea . Put your resource behind that big idea. Own it , celebrate it and enjoy the rewards.

MamyPoko Pants : Pant Style Diapers

Brand : MamyPoko
Company : Unicharm


Brand Analysis Count : 434

Mamypoko is another global brand to hit Indian market. Mamypoko is a Japanese brand of baby diapers. The brand belongs to Unicharm which has its interests in Baby care products, Health Care and Female hygiene categories. The company has launched its premium brand of baby diapers into the Indian market.

Indian diaper market is small with a rough market size of Rs 110 crore but growing very fast due to the economic growth and rapid urbanization. The market still faces the issue of 'penetration ' and the tough task of changing consumer behavior. The market is dominated by brands like Pampers, Snuggy and Huggies.

Baby diapers are still not heavily used in Indian households. Diapers are used only on occasions and is considered not good for regular daily use since it causes skin rashes. The price of this product also acts as a deterrent for regular daily use and a Rs 1 difference on a pack can make consumers shift to another brand.


Mamypoko, as a new brand, faces the task of differentiating itself from the established players. Brands like Huggies and Pampers are already established and has tried every feature/benefits like softness , comfort, dry, light etc as their USPs.

Mamypoko but entered the market with a powerful differentiator. It launched Mamypoko Pant diapers as the brand builder. Mamypoko pants is a pant-type baby diaper - in the sense that instead of the stickers(tape- style) that conventional diapers have, Mamypoko Pants is a " pull up" type of diapers. There is no need to stick the two ends of the diapers together.

Actually Mamypoko is not the brand which has innovated pant-style diapers. Another brand from Unicharm - Moonyman was world's first brand to launch such a innovative product.

Pant-type diapers is indeed a powerful differentiator because it offers a convenient solution to the consumers. Parents especially fathers often find the task of putting diapers to their child a difficult task . If the child is very active, the task becomes even more difficult. Having a pant-style diaper is something that makes parent's life a little more easier.

The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting its main USP.

Watch the ad here : Mamypoko

The brand is also making use of its brand mascot/ character which is named Pokochan.

Mamypoko has done the right thing by launching itself with a powerful message. There is a greater chance that consumers will remember this brand for its USP. But the vital question is whether Mamypoko can sustain its differentiation . It will not be difficult for other brands to launch similar products. Mamypoko can breath easy because it has a pipeline of such innovative features within their global portfolio.

The launch of Mamypoko will open up another set of marketing war in the Indian diaper market.The Indian market is highly price conscious and it has to be seen whether consumers will be willing to pay more for Mamypoko.

Brand Update : Maggi

Maggi has launched its product in the growing Pasta market recently. The variant called Maggi Nutri-licious Paazta is Maggi's major new brand extension in recent times. The Indian pasta market is still in nascent stage with a market size or around Rs 50 crore ( source) but growing very fast.

Maggi pioneered the noodles market in India 25 years back but was not the brand which created the pasta category. The credit goes to Sunfeast which first launched a National brand in this category.

Maggi decided to jump into this Pasta bandwagon for obvious reasons. There is a lot of customer interest in this category. Indian consumers are now more adventurous in their food habits. The Gen Y is mesmerized with the exposure to various cuisines thanks to the media. So there is no dearth of innovators in this segment. Once you get into the good books of these foodies, the flock follow.

Maggi's move was further endorsed when Domino's forayed into the Pasta market with their offerings . So this market is going to see lot of action.

Maggi is currently running a TVC for their Pasta variant : Watch it here

The ad is very similar to the Noodles positioning and both pasta and noodles are sharing a common tagline(with a slight variation) . Paazta uses the tagline " Health bhi, taste bhi, happiness bhi"

One marketing practice reader observed the risk of Maggi moving into a different product category ( brand extension) . He opined that the equity of Maggi will be lost because of this extension . Personally , I differ because Nestle had slowly but surely developed Maggi as an umbrella brand for their food products. They have launched the soups and sauces under this brand. And the brand is doing well in these extensions.


Maggi is currently addressing a category competition. The brand feels that pasta can have a negative impact on its noodles business. For consumers, they view these products as snacks. For such customers, Maggi needed to offer pasta choice otherwise they will move to a competing brand. The current brand extension will have all the disadvantages of brand dilution and cannibalization . But on a broader perspective, it is a matter of survival and category leadership.

Related Brand

Maggi
Sunfeast