Mahindra Voyager : RIP ( 1997-2000)

Brand : Mahindra Voyager

Company : Mahindra & Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count : #459

Voyager was an ambitious brand, aiming to create a new segment in the Indian automobile industry. But rather than creating a new category, the brand went down the history as a failed one.

Voyager was Mahindra's foray into the consumer vehicles segment. The brand was created in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors .Voyager was launched in India in 1997 and lived a very short life of a little over two years.

Voyager was India's first and perhaps the last luxury Multi-Purpose family van. The brand was positioned as a luxury family carrier and Mahindra hoped that the association with Mitsubishi will give enough reason to charge a premium .

Voyager was based on Mitsubishi's 1968 L300 van. Although the L300 is still in the market, Voyager failed to survive.

The van (MPV) segment in India was and is still dominated by Maruti Omni. The segment was a stagnant one . Indian consumers were never thrilled by the concept of a family van. One of the reason was the poor marketing and product development in that segment. Although some families own Omni, the main users of the van was in the commercial segment. Compared to cars, the van seldom offered a comfortable ride and there were issues regarding A/C and safety. Many consumers buy van for the functional benefit .

Mahindra felt that there is an opportunity for a premium family van. And thus born Voyager.

To begin with, Voyager had the support of one of the leading global automobile brands of that time in Mitsubishi. Voyager had a powerful engine and large space . But Voyager put off the consumer in two aspects - Design and Price.

More than the design, it was the price that killed Voyager. The base version of the brand was priced at Rs 5.25 lakh which was more than the price of a decent sedan. The arrogant pricing virtually scared away the Indian consumers. The consumer was not willing to pay that much money for a non-A/c vehicle.

Second factor that put-off the consumer was the design. Voyager was too boxy and Indian consumers did not like that design. Having said that, we have seen vehicles like Qualis thriving in the market despite poor looks. But in the case of Voyager, it could not boast about the quality , value or brand name.

Another aspect was the service factor. Mahindra and Mitsubishi were brands that are new to consumer market and there was suspicion about the level of service and after-sales support for the product.

The brand campaign was also not able to impress the consumer.The campaigns of Voyager essentially talked about the space and luxury but couldn't find any meaningful differentiator that justified the premium pricing of the brand. Consumers viewed Voyager as a functional product and not as a luxury one and that prevented consumers from paying a premium .

Distressed by the response from the individuals, Voyager aggressively pursued the commercial segment and became popular ( to certain extent) as ambulance vehicle. That was a final nail in the coffin. Voyager suddenly was branded as an ambulance vehicle which further distanced the individuals from the brand.

Indian consumers only have one reference point for vans i.e Maruti Omni. Omni is a highly functional product and its pricing also reflects that aspect. Voyager failed because it could not break away from that functional association . Neither the product design nor the benefits forced the consumers to think differently about the product. Since Voyager looked and felt like a van, it should also be priced like the van ( Omni) could have been the justification of the consumer while rejecting the brand.

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk For Shubh Aarambh

Cadbury's Dairy Milk has recently launched a new campaign " Shubh Aarambh" ( meaning Auspicious Beginning ). The campaign is the refined version of the earlier Payday campaign which evoked mixed response from the Ad analysts and consumers.

The Shubh Aarambh campaign reinforces the occasion based positioning of Dairy Milk. The brand has been trying to position itself as a symbol of enjoyment and celebrations. Indians have the tradition of sharing sweets on auspicious occasions and also when one initiates a venture/activity. Whether the activity is small like writing an exam or huge like starting a company, sharing of sweets is an integral part of the event. The belief is that good things happen when one starts a venture on a positive note ( like sharing sweets).

Dairy Milk very cleverly captured this tradition and incorporated into its brand story. The new campaign takes the brand to the center of this tradition linking Dairy Milk to Sweet and Auspicious Beginning.

While the previous PayDay campaign was a narrow interpretation of the occasion based positioning , Shubh Aarambh has given the brand a broad playing ground. In my opinion, the brand has hit upon a really great Big Idea. The concept is very much Indian and offers huge opportunity for creatives to weave great stories for the brand.

Watch the launch ad here : Shubh Aarambh

The concept also gels with the brand's tagline " Kuchch Meetha Ho Jaye ". The launch campaign is targeted at younger generation and hence the brand added a little humor and twist into the campaign.

Shubh Aarambh is a great idea for this great brand. It will be interesting to see how Dairy Milk milks this idea to the fullest.

Allen Solly : My World , My Way

Brand : Allen Solly

Company : Madura Garments

Ad Agency : Ogilvy

Brand Analysis Count : # 458

Allen Solly is a brand that changed the dressing habits of Indian executives. Launched in 1993, Allen Solly attained a near cult status in a highly competitive readymade market within a short period of time.

Allen Solly's heritage dates back to 1744 when this brand was created by William Hollins & Co . In 1990, the brand was taken over by Madura Garments which launched it in India in 1993. Madura Garments which was looking for an unconventional brand targeting young professionals found a fitting brand in Allen Solly.

Madura Garments rightly spotted a need for a casual work-wear among the young professionals. The growing young working class and the rise of the IT clan of employees further reinforced the potential of a relaxed formal wear.

Allen Solly entered the market with the blockbuster concept of Friday Dressing. The idea was not new. Globally the there was a marked trend towards relaxed workwear and Allen Solly pioneered that concept in the Indian market.

Allen Solly launched office wears in colored shirts and Khaki trousers which became an instant hit. For the first time, Indian consumers were exposed to the idea of relaxed formals. Indian consumers took the bait and rushed to color coordinate their wardrobe with enthusiasm.

Not stopping by these, Allen Solly further experimented with

unconventional shades like beige and tan. Soon the logo attained cult status among the Indian consumers . Allen Solly was in a way announced the coming of age of the mature global Indian workforce.

In 1995, the brand launched ultra bright colors in the formal segment. Colors like yellow, brown , red etc was introduced as formal wears. The yellow shirt featured in the TV commercial became a big hit among the consumers.

The brand further reinforced its cult status with the launch of wrinkle free cottons and checked formal shirts. The young restless generation lapped up the unconventional formals and used it as an expression of their personal freedom.

From the sales data,the company noticed that there was a huge demand for trousers of size 26-28 from women. Taking a cue, Allen Solly launched its range of women wear which was well accepted by the target group.

The competitors soon caught up with the concept of Friday Dressing. Every brand launched similar ranges and colors and soon relaxed formal wear became part of normal work wear. Allen Solly was valued at Rs 250 crore brand by now.

In 2009, the brand went for a repositioning exercise. Allen Solly found that there is a shift in the demographics of the target segment. While the workforce of 1990s were predominantly of the age group of 26 +, now youngsters of age 22-23 yrs have started entering the workforce. The brand wanted to be more relevant to the new young working class. Also the brand somehow wanted to attract consumers beyond the workplace.The worldview of the young consumers have also changed. Earlier success in life was measured based on work. But now the success is more holistic . Allen Solly wanted to reflect this change of perspective of the young consumers.

This thinking prompted the brand to change its positioning from a work-wear to a fashion brand. The brand positioned itself as a casual brand for all occasions.

To reflect the change in positioning, the brand changed its brand campaigns.In 2009, the brand launched its famous " I Hate Ugly " campaign targeting the youth.

The basic proposition was to reflect the irreverent , non-compromising attitude of youngsters towards life. This in-your- face communication struck a chord with the consumers and critics and the brand was able to break the earlier association of the brand as a formal wear.

The brand created a big noise in the market with I Hate Ugly campaign and it will be interesting to see how the brand carries forward the momentum.

Allen Solly also changed the tagline to " My World , My Way " to reflect the new brand proposition. My World , My Way reflects the strong individualistic view of the youngsters who own their world and create their own rules.

In a way, the brand has completely shed its earlier DNA. No longer the brand is associated with formal wears. The brand literally exited the category of relaxed formal wears which it has created. One reason can be that category itself became irrelevant since all brands have their own line of relaxed formal wear. Brands like Color Plus has successfully established itself in that category .

In the new avatar, Allen Solly is targeting the ever- fickle young generation whose concept of fashion changes by the day. The brand has identified a gap for a premium fashion brand specifically targeting this segment. Although brands like Levi's have a strong equity in the market, there is a gap for a player like Allen Solly.

Allen Solly's repositioning is a loss to the generation who saw the Friday Dressing avatar of this brand. Lets us hope that Allen Solly will repeat what it has done to the Work-wear market in 1993.

Brand Update : Flipkart - From Bookstore to Store

Regular readers of Marketing Practice know that I am not a big fan of Brand Extensions. I always feel uneasy when a brand moves from its defined space to a broader field of play . Flipkart has done just that. From a simple , clutter free online bookstore, the brand has now become an online store selling not only books but mobiles, music videos and gift vouchers.

Reflecting the change in the business strategy, the tagline of Flipkart has also changed from " The bookstore at your door " to " The store at your door ".

Flipkart within a short span of time was able to quickly gain consumer interest because of the simple interface , better pricing and quick service. Customers like me who found other sites like Indiaplaza too cluttered began to look at Flipkart as a serious alternative. In my opinion, Flipkart was a classic example of a brand which offered a simple highly focussed solution for the customer.

Not any more !

Flipkart now is not a bookstore. It is now an online store just like any other online stores. The only differentiating factor is that it retains the simple interface.

The change in the business model of Flipkart will have a serious impact on the brand itself. The brand was built as an online bookstore and now has diluted its core positioning . Now what is the difference between Flipkart, Indiaplaza, Infibeam, tradus and numerous online stores that retails everything from books to innerwears.

While in the books' retailing Flipkart has demonstrated its strength in getting the best price and ensuring fast delivery, will it be able to do that in other categories like mobilephones ? The business logic behind Flipkart to get into other categories is to get more revenue, the question is whether it could demonstrate its success in other categories aswell.

There can be many reasons behind this move :

• Book margins may be underpressure and does not make business sense to concentrate on books alone because of price/margin/competitive pressure.
• Wanted to emulate the business model of Amazon which successfully moved from books to other categories
• Investor pressure to deliver more returns.
• Other categories offered lucrative opportunities.
• Want to cash in the brand equity.
• Founders want to build scale and exit ?

Does it not make sense for Flipkart to concentrate on books alone and become the best/largest/most profitable online bookstore in the country ? I assume that the founders may be under pressure to grow very fast and give more returns to the " angels " who have invested in the venture ( its my assumption !).

I am not going to predict the future of Flipkart as an ordinary store. But in a branding point of view, Flipkart will be diluting its current stature as a highly efficient online bookstore. Thus leaving its exclusive space to potential competitors.

I wish that the brand replicate its success in the current ' diluted ' avatar.

Related brand

Flipkart

Brand Update : Ujala Techno Bright

In an aggressive move to take on the giants of Indian detergent market, Ujala has launched its premium range of detergent brand Ujala Techno Bright. Touted as an advanced stain removing detergent, the brand is currently promoted in the southern Indian market.

Jyothi Laboratories which are the owners of Ujala brand, which is the market leader in the cloth whitener category, have big plans for the brand. Ujala Washing Powder which was launched in 2003 so far was catering to the lower price segment. The brand is very popular in the Southern states. Jyothi Laboratories wants to take this brand to the next level and fight against the mighty Surf , Rin , Tide and Ariel.

For this Ujala has roped in none other than Sachin Tendulkar to endorse Ujala Techno Bright. The launch ad is currently running across Southern States. According to news reports, Sachin will endorse the Parent brand : Ujala and Techno Bright may be the first sub-brand to get the endorsement from Sachin.

It seems little odd that a cricket maestro is endorsing a detergent brand but such a move is going to give a big boost to Ujala's brand equity. Across the diverse Indian geographical markets, Sachin's endorsement of Ujala brand will improve visibility and to a certain extent positively impact the image of Ujala. Further, the presence of Sachin Tendulkar will add momentum to the acceptance of Ujala's brand extensions across India.

Ujala Techno Bright 's attempt to challenge Surf is no small fight.Surf has incredible brand equity and premium perception which is not easy to break. Ujala through Techno Bright is aiming for an upward stretch ( low priced to premium) which is a difficult strategy. Consumers perceive Ujala Washing Powder as a medium/low priced product and to make them pay the price of Surf for this product-line- extension is not an easy task. The presence of Sachin Tendulkar may be of some help but will that be enough to break the perception is something to watch for.

The launch ad of Techno Bright is nothing much to talk about. The creative is average and talks about the efficacy of the product in a rational way. The brand right now has not attempted to talk about anything more than functional aspects.

It is interesting to see that despite having a strong personality like Sachin as the brand ambassador, Techno Bright has not used him in the package . I do not know whether the contract restrict such a usage , but the brand would have gained so much if it used Sachin Tendulkar on the brand package because it can impact the purchase decision at the store.

With Ujala Whitener generating cash for the company, Jyothi Lab is attempting bigger role for Ujala brand. Having Sachin as the brand ambassador at this point when his brand equity is at the peak is a very smart marketing move. The company has a strong distribution network and has shown its capability to humble mighty competitors like Reckitt Benckiser. It will be worth the time to watch how Ujala plays this game.

Related Brand

Ujala

Marketing Q&A : Marketing Career Vs Sales Career

Sir , I want to build a career in marketing but I don't like to do sales. How can I get a marketing job without doing sales ?

- I have come across this question a hundred times in my career as a teacher. The eager beaver MBAs wanting to build a career in the glamorous world of marketing without having to sweat it out in sales. By marketing careers, they mean all those jobs that involves creating marketing strategies, brand management etc and not the field sales jobs.

Understandably so !

Sales jobs , although plenty to find, are tougher than ever before. Many firms focusing on growth at any cost has virtually eliminated all possibilities of ethical selling. Many firms believe sales can be /should be done by everyone in the organisation irrespective of whether that person is fit for such a function. It is not how you sell but how much you sell that is now counted.

MBAs , from those tier II business schools ,who inevitably land in such sales jobs find their dreams of a professional marketing career shattered. The high pressure selling, four letter expletives, hire and fire stories, rude clients make their initial corporate years something comparable to hell. It seems to them that they are in a rut from where there is no escape...

Is this the marketing that Kotler speaks about ? When am I going to think about the strategies, 4 P's , branding etc ? How long am I going to wait till I get such a job ?

These are my thoughts about building a career in marketing !

My personal opinion is that it is better to have some hardcore sales experience in sales before thinking about a career in the so called glamorous world of Marketing. Sales will give you lot of inputs about customers, their needs, behaviour, how the channel works etc which will be of tremendous help to you when you enter into the world of marketing strategy. You will be able to device practical marketing strategy since you know how the market works.

Having some sales experience also acts as a career insurance . That experience will help you to be employable even in times of recession. Hence even if you have landed yourself in a sales job you did not like, it is better to stay there for the experience of it ( if all other factors like pay, working environment etc are good ). I have seen many students who initially were skeptical of a sales job later thriving in it. So shed all those inhibitions on being a Salesman. You have nothing to lose except those meaningless calender years.

Having said that, there are marketing jobs that young MBAs can look for which may not have a sales content. Marketing research , Analytics, Creatives, Designers, Retailing , Business Analysts etc are some of those marketing jobs where direct sales component is not present. But these jobs are limited and hard to get.

Also remember that hardcore marketing jobs like Brand Management, product management are often not advertised. Most of these jobs are filled through lateral placements. The point is that these jobs may not come to business school campuses other than the top 10. Hence the task is to network while on the job and find the right contact who can land you that dream job.

My advice to fresh MBAs is not to be heartbroken if you don't land up that marketing job of your dreams. Slog it on sales job , get some experience, network and land your dream job.