Brand Update : SRK Joins Pepsodent in Dishoom Dishoom

It has been a long time since I wrote an update about Pepsodent. Although the brand has been very active in the media with different campaign , there was no clutter-breaking stuff to write about. Some times consistency can be boring.

Ever since the launch in 1993, Pepsodent has been trying hard to break into the stronghold of Colgate in the Rs 3000 crore Indian Oral Care market. Despite being a powerful brand with the powerful backing of HUL, Pepsodent is still hovering at around 13 % marketshare compared to around 52% share of Colgate.

Pepsodent so far has been very consistent with its positioning and differentiation. Although the brand started its journey positioning on Mouth Wash proposition, it quickly identified the flaw in taking that stance. Soon the brand began to take the position of a germ killing toothpaste. It had stuck to the positioning ever since.

The most memorable campaign of Pepsodent so far was the Dishoom Dishoom campaign which catapulted the brand to the position of a worthy competitor of Colgate. HUL has been tweaking the germicheck advantage using various campaigns all these years.The brand also had its range of variants like Pepsodent Complete and also Pepsodent Whitening.

The recent campaigns of Pepsodent was centered around interesting conversations among kids and also between Mother and Child. The brand had earlier tried to attack Colgate directly through ads which highlighted the claim that Pepsodent fights 10 tooth problems compared to competitors' 5 ( watch the ad ). The other campaign highlighted the common fear of mother about her child's dental health.

In 2010, the brand had made a significant investment in bringing Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador for Pepsodent. The brand is running two TVC featuring SRK

Watch : Pepsodent 1

: Pepsodent 2

The campaign revolves around the theme of interaction between a Father and Son ( Papa and Pappu) . SRK as father convincing his son about the importance of brushing the teeth with Pepsodent. The ads are quite nicely made .

The question is whether a celebrity like SRK will ad any significant value to the brand as such. SRK is a very powerful celebrity and the impact of such a powerful celebrity endorsement cannot be discounted. Especially kids will be very much influenced by this endorsement and a probable pester-power can spike the sales of the brand in the short-term.

But whether SRK will help the brand scale the next level is debatable. The presence of SRK only makes the campaign more interesting other than that there is nothing significant either in the message or in execution. The impact of SRK 'e endorsements will be more at the store level if HUL is able to use SRK at the POP and store-level promotions.

Despite having a differentiating factor like " Germ Killing Property " it is interesting to note that Pepsodent was not able to pose a significant threat to Colgate. My hypothesis is that although Pepsodent has established a Point of Difference, it has not been able to establish Points of Parity with Colgate. Colgate still has a strong acceptance as a toothpaste that prevents tooth decay and Pepsodent so far has not been able to establish itself in that attribute.

Pepsodent will do well if it could use SRK to establish Points of Parity with Colgate rather than trying to reinforce the already strong Germicheck Point of Difference.

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Pepsodent

Marketing Strategy : How to Craft Your Brand's Vision

How to Craft Your Brand's Vision

Originally Published here in Adclubbombay.com

Creating a vision for the brand is the most important primary step in the brand management process. Brand Vision can be defined as the long term strategic position that the brand will take in the market as well as in the consumer mind-space. Brand vision offers a strategic intent which will act as a long term goal for the brand.

Creating brand vision is a strategic process which requires the involvement of top management. The vision dictates the future course of action for the brand with regard to its growth and future course of action.

Most of the time marketers are faced with critical decisions regarding the future growth path for the brand. There is a dilemma whether the brand should be extended to cater to new opportunities in the market or to be focused on the current category. Some times marketers tend to extend the brand too much that the entire brand equity gets diluted. Without the guidance of a clear vision, brands tend to lose focus and extend into unchartered unrelated categories. Lack of vision also creates the problem of discontinuity for the brand’s strategies. There are chances that the brand compromises its equity for the sake of short-term growth unless guided by a long-term vision.

Having a brand vision will help marketers make decisions regarding the growth of the brand. The vision also helps marketers to tap into opportunities which are in line with the vision and reject others that contradict the vision. Vision helps the brand to create a brand charter which will act as a rule book for the managers. It will also help the managers to shape the brand strategies during the time of crisis.

Brand vision also helps to develop consistency with regard to brand communication. The messages derived from the brand vision will be consistent across all media. Even when the advertising & creative agencies change, the brand message will remain constant. In the absence of brand vision, the communication messages will not be connected by a common thread.

Brand vision also motivates the employees to perform better. Employees feel motivated and inspired when they are aware of the brand vision. More importantly, employees should feel that they are contributing to the realization of that vision.

Typically brand vision statements should be simple and easy to remember. The golden rule is that every employee should be able to remember the brand vision especially in the case of a corporate brand or service brand.

While drafting the brand vision, the marketers has to keep the following facts into mind

Think Big

While drafting a brand vision, marketers need to have big plans for the brand. The vision should not restrict to the category or even the industry. Instead the brand vision should aim at addressing some critical issues faced by the consumer. The vision should inspire both the consumers and employees alike.

Encourage growth

Brand vision should encourage the growth of the brand beyond product categories. The marketers should be looking at a 10 year time horizon while drafting the brand vision. The marketers should be asking the following questions while drafting the vision.

1. In 10 years, what will be the position of the brand in the industry/category?
2. What is the core need that this brand is going to satisfy?
3. Is that need sustainable over a period of time?
4. What needs do this brand satisfy in future?
5. Will the vision of the brand appeal to the consumers?
6. Does the brand vision excite the employees?
7. Does the vision encourage growth and pursuit of opportunities?
8. Is the vision easy to understand and communicate?

Synergy with corporate strategy

It is important for the brand to maintain synergy with the corporate strategy. That is why the top management should play a key role to in drafting the vision. When the brand’s vision is aligned with corporate vision, a sustained investment and support can be ensured for the brand’s growth.

Customer Focus

Brand visions should be created with customer as the focal point. Many a time brands focus too much on the product rather than the customer need. Having a strong focus on customer will help brands to create visions which are practical. Customers will also be able to relate to the brand vision since the vision is created with the customer in mind.

Periodic Revision

Although brand vision is crafted for a long term, it is important for the marketers to revise the vision from time to time. Brands operate in a dynamic environment. There are chances that the brand’s vision may become irrelevant for the consumers in the changed environment. Hence visions need to be revised in line with the changing consumer environment.

Marketing Q&A : Frame of Reference and Points of Parity

A Marketing Practice reader asks this very pertinent question " What is frame of reference and points of parity and their role in branding ?"

Frame of reference is the framework used by the consumers to make sense of the product in question. Humans understand and remember new things by linking it to existing (known) objects. Frame of reference is that evaluative criterion which is used by consumers to make a better understanding of the product/services. Frame of reference also explains the context in which consumers tend to evaluate /place the product. For example , the frame of reference used to evaluate Frooti is that it is a mango drink. Coca Cola = Cola, Ace = Mini Truck, Dettol = Antiseptic etc. If Frooti launches an Apple Drink, the consumers will find it difficult to accept the product since it is out of the frame of reference used to evaluate/understand Frooti

Since consumers use a frame of reference in understanding a product, the concept has a very important place in the positioning of the product. Positioning is defined as the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market ( Kotler). The first task of the marketer is to identify the frame of reference used by the target market in evaluating the product/service. Once the frame of reference is identified, the marketer will position the product in line with the frame of reference. In case of products that lack a frame of reference, marketers should create a frame of reference for the consumers.

The concept of Points of Parity helps marketers to place the product in line with the consumer's frame of reference. Points of parity are those associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands. There are two forms of Points of Parity - Category POP and Competitive POP. Category POP are those associations that consumers view as being necessary to be a legitimate and credible offering with a certain product or service category.Competitive POP are those associations designed to negate competitor's Points of Parity ( Kevin Keller).

In simple terms , when a product is launched, the marketer should tell the customer about the category in which the product belongs ( category POP). This task is important for products which belong to a new category. For example , hand sanitizer is a new category and consumers are not aware of such a category. So when a brand is being launched in such a new category, brand managers should first establish a category POP. For that , the consumers should be made aware of such a category. Right now marketers are using infomercials to educate the consumers about hand sanitizer, its advantages and uses. Once the frame of reference is established ,then the brand should be placed in the category. Usually marketers use packaging, product form and labels to establish category points of parity.

Competitor POP is where marketers tell the consumers that their brand have all the properties/qualities of their competing brands. For example Lifebuoy soap will establish competitive POP with Dettol soap by claiming that it has germ killing qualities and vice versa.

These strategies will fail if the marketers did not understand the frame of reference used by consumers in evaluating the product. This lack of understanding can lead to positioning failures that eventually lead to product failure.

Xylys : It Possesses You

Brand : Xylys

Company : Titan Industries Ltd

Agency : Rediffusion

Brand Analysis Count : # 460

Xylys can be termed as India's own premium watch brand. The brand created by Titan Industries is taking on the iconic premium watch brands like Omega, Rado,Patek Philippe, Rolex,Cartier etc. The brand was born in 2006 gain rapid acceptance in the Indian watch market.

Indian luxury watch market is worth Rs 500 crore and is dominated by Swiss and other European brands. There is virtually no presence of any Indian brands in that segment. The rising affluent Indian consumer class and the trend towards more expressive lifestyle accessories prompted Titan to seriously look at this segment. Xylys is currently targeting the lower spectrum of the luxury watch segment.

Xylys was initially launched as a flanker brand for Titan. Titan which is the market leader in the mid-price segment felt that the upper end of their target customers were moving towards iconic global premium brands. With that intention of blocking any such migration , Xylys was introduced at the price range of Rs 8000- Rs 33,000.

Xylys however gathered good momentum with the brand clocking a 50% CAGR growth rate. From being a flanker brand, Xylys morphed to be a powerful growth brand in the course of time.

Titan while carefully analyzing the consumer behavior of premium watch customers, it found that the consumers were highly influenced by the "Country of Origin " association. The consumers loved the Swiss Made proposition and there is a huge association between " Swiss Made " and quality, precision , premium etc. The insight was that it would be difficult for an "Indian Made " tag to impress upon the target segment. Titan thus made Xylys - a Swiss Made watch. Xylys is manufactured at a state-of-the-art factory in Switzerland which has a rich heritage of 80 years in precision watch making.

Xylys' strong point was its design . The brand is being crafted in association with Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht along with Titan's own designer Michael Foley. The sharp unique designs quickly made Xylys a fast growing brand in the segment.

Xylys was launched as a contemporary brand targeting the upwardly mobile successful men & women. The brand has segmentedthe market based on psychographic profiles. Xylys defines its customers as contemporary dynamic successful persons who has attitude and confidence. The brand wants to celebrate success with them. The customers of Xylys are highly individualistic persons who does what they love. These people would love to express themselves and loves to show their success to the world. The brand has a very well defined brand charter and values which I feel is an excellent marketing practice. ( Read Xylys Brand Charter here).

During the launch phase, Xylys was endorsed by the Actor Rahul Bose, tennis player Carlos Moya and super model Saira Mohan. The basic theme of the launch campaign was the story of how these people tread their own path and became successful.

Watch the launch ad : Xylys Launch

Xylys -Saira Mohan

The brand at that time had the tagline " The power of X " . The brand used " X" to symbolize the differentiating factor in the highly successful people. X also denotes Xylys-the brand.

In 2010, the brand changed its positioning from " Symbol of Success " to " Feeling of Love ". The brand now is talking about falling in love with Xylys. Xylys is currently running a campaign reflecting the new positioning.

Watch the new campaign here : Xylys Possession

The brand have also adopted a new tagline " You do not possess Xylys , it possesses you ".

The new campaign is a significant deviation from the core positioning of the brand. The entire brand personality of Xylys was changed in the current campaign. I wonder why a brand which is growing should try to change its positioning at this critical juncture.

The earlier positioning of Xylys were talking about the highly individualistic expressive nature of successful people while the current positioning talks about how Xylys takes control of such a person. If you look closely the brand is totally off the mark regarding the core values that it stands for. I feel that the agency has not read the brand charter before creating the campaign. The purpose of creating a brand charter is to protect continuity in the communication. The product managers should use the charter as the basis for devising their communication strategies. The current campaign is very difficult to fit into the brand charter.

Regarding the execution of the new positioning , there is nothing worthwhile in the advertisement. The idea of a man being possessed by a product and forgets everything is an idea which has been raped a million times. Even the chocolate brand 5 star uses this idea as the central theme.

Having said that, Xylys' core strength is its design and since watch is an experiential product , consumers may fall for it when they see the designs. But the brand needs to create clutter-breaking campaigns if it wants to fight the likes of Omega , Rado etc.

Xylys has took lot of effort in creating a very good brand charter. Why not follow it ??

Brand Update : Tic Tac moves from Hello to Refreshment

Tic Tac , the mint confectionery brand from the Ferrero group has gone for a new positioning. The brand has changed its positioning from " Conversation Starter " to a " Refreshment that needs to be Shared ".

The brand had gone for a similar repositioning in 2008 when it adopted the tagline " The New Hello ". The brand was then positioned as an " ice-breaker" or " Conversation Starter". The brand after two years is embarking on a new communication route.

Tic Tac is a unique brand. The shape, taste and packaging sets this brand apart from the rest of the mint-based confectionery brand. The brand has also gained good penetration interms of distribution.

The uniqueness of the brand has poised certain positioning issues for the marketer. Since the brand is different from the conventional mint-based products, the positioning should also reflect the uniqueness. Polo is a brand that has used its unique form to its advantage by its positioning based on the " Hole " factor. Tic Tac ideally should have discovered some smart way of communicating its uniqueness. But so far it failed to do so.

Tic Tac so far has not able to find a differentiated communication platform that reflected the uniqueness of the brand. That is the reason why this brand failed to came out with any clutter-breaking campaigns.

The current campaign and the positioning is no better. Infact it is worse than the earlier proposition of " The New Hello ".

Watch the new ad here : Refreshment to be shared

The theme of a group of bored youngsters breaking into ecstatic dance after consuming the product is an idea from pre-historic era. The new positioning based on " Sharing " is also not capturing/communicating anything unique about Tic Tac.

The brand globally had the positioning statement " Its not just a mint. its a Tic Tac " which is a very powerful positioning platform. I wonder why the brand discarded such a powerful statement and settled from something sub-standard ? It has to be mentioned that the brand also adopts the concept of " Sharing a Tic Tac " in the values but it is not the primary talking point. The current global theme for the brand is centered around " Refreshment " but in India , the brand failed to reflect any of the original brand values.

The new campaign and the positioning of Tic Tac is a big letdown. The brand lost its USP of shape, taste and freshness in the current campaign. I think the brand should first talk about why use it and then talk about sharing it.

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Tic Tac

Brand Update : Ranbir Kapoor is the New Cool Face of John Players

John Players has a new brand ambassador. The brand chose the current Bollywood hotshot Ranbir Kapoor as the new brand ambassador. Ranbir replaces Hrithik Roshan as the new face of cool. The brand is currently running a print/digital campaign featuring the new brand ambassador.

Hrithik had a tough run last year with most of the films ending up as flops. While Ranbir Kapoor is on a roll these days with plenty of hits and also critical acclaim for his roles. John Players want to cash in on the current success of Ranbir along with the " Cool " looks of the actor.

For a company like ITC which has plenty of cash flowing in to the kitty every year, changing brand ambassadors may not hurt very much. Hrithik and Ranbir are expensive assets and only a firm like ITC can afford to dump stars like Hrithik and opt for the current hotshot within a short span of time.

There is no doubt that Ranbir Kapoor makes an excellent choice for John Players. The actor has the cool looks and attitude and gels with the overall persona of the brand.

I feel that the brand is less aggressive on the promotion front. The brand's noise in the media is very less or rather goes unnoticed. Although some of the campaigns were good, the brand undertook sporadic bursts of campaigns. In that sense, the brand failed to capitalize on the power of the celebrity which endorsed the brand.

The brand is currently relying heavily on celebrity to stay ahead. In a sense, the brand has the tendency to fall into a celebrity trap. For ITC, the cost may not be an issue . But for the brand, it is suicidal to derive equity from an external source. The brand has a wonderful positioning of " Cool " quotient and it should try to like the Coolness to itself rather than rely on a secondary association. Parallel campaigns using other models or dress designs are necessary to derisk the over reliance on a celebrity.

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John Players