Brand Update : Mentos needs Mentos

Mentos recently launched a new variant Mentos Watermelon flavor. The brand is currently running a campaign for the new variant. Mentos has been a very interesting brand because of the unique product features and famously humorous campaigns. The tagline " Demaag Ki Batti Jalao " has been one of the most famous taglines in the Indian context .

The new ad somehow was way off the creative standards that the brand had set for itself.The ad features a young man using a watermelon carved as a helmet to evade a traffic police check really tests the common sense of the audience.

Watch the ad here : Mentos Watermelon ad 

The policeman's expression of  " what the hell " sums up the creative execution of the positioning of the brand in this campaign. The protagonist of the ad looks like an idiot wearing that watermelon helmet and the only saving grace being the " yeh Jawani " song.

I used to look forward to Mentos' ads because there was refreshingly new ideas that were being tested in those campaigns. From the campus to the last animated ad, Mentos ads were bang on the positioning of a " refreshing chewy". The current campaign really lacks the standards of the early campaigns.

For a brand like Mentos, each of these ads are important for two reasons - the brand does not have too many campaigns in an year. Typically it is one or two ads. Those ads usually are very good and is often used again and again throughout the year. Second reason is that consumers expect really high quality creatives from this brand which boasts of being a " brilliant " brand. So in this case of watermelon flavor, the agency failed to deliver a quality creative. 

Related Brand

Mentos

Brand Update : Titan does an Eco-Drive with HTSE

Aiming to consolidate the leadership position in the Indian watch industry and to further thrust the brand's attempt to enter the premium watch segment targeting young consumers ,Titan launched a new series of watches branded as HTSE.

HTSE stands for High Tech Self Energised . 

Titan has been trying out various strategies to enter the lucrative luxury  and  premium segment in the Indian watch market. Titan was always associated with the premium segment targeting the middle and upper middle class of the social strata. The Luxury segment of the market is now occupied by the global iconic brands like Cartier, Rado, Omega etc. Titan tried to enter this market with the brand Xylys recently. HTSE is an attempt from the brand to tap the lucrative segment of upwardly mobile young Indian consumer.

HTSE range of watches is characterized by its ability to energize itself using the light from the surroundings. That means the watch does not run on a battery. The brand is targeting the techie youth who would like to flaunt their gizmos ( source  : afaqs). 

The brand is currently running a campaign featuring the brand ambassador - Aamir Khan

Watch the ad here : Titan HTSE

The ads are undoubtedly well made and gives an ultra-cool image for the new range. Aamir Khan perfectly gels with the brand. Aamir and Titan can be termed as a classic example of a perfect celebrity-brand match.

The technology that drives HTSE is not something new. Citizen was a pioneer in bringing this technology to the watches through its Eco-Drive range of watches. Eco-Drive saved the Citizen brand from near-death and gave the brand a tremendous boost in the Indian market. Eco-Drive was positioned as a sophisticated ultra-cool watch and the brand caught the attention of the young Indian consumers who wanted to flaunt their savvy personality. While Titan was perceived as a great brand, it was never considered techy or ultra-modern .Titan felt that such a serious persona will alienate the young consumers who look for exciting , modern brands.  

According to Business Standard ( Link) Titan was working on technology to compete with Eco-Drive.And that effort has been fulfilled in the launch of HTSE. HTSE thus fills in a big positioning gap in the brand. The brand now can boast of being as technically advanced as any other watch brand in the world. 

One of the interesting factor that was noticed was the branding of this range. Titan chose to brand this range using an acronym HTSE. I am not really convinced about the effectiveness of this naming strategy. The brand could have chosen a proper name for the range rather than a dull acronym. It could have used HTSE as an ingredient brand and extended this ingredient brand to support all its other range of watches. So by using HTSE as a sub-brand, the company has limited the technology to a range of watches. So every watch that runs on this technology would come under HTSE range. If it had used HTSE as ingredient brand, that would have been a powerful differentiator and can be leveraged across the various sub-brands of Titan. Eco-Drive is used by Citizen as an ingredient brand and uses this technology to support all the range of watches. 

However as a sub-brand, HTSE has the potential to further Titan's leadership position among the lifestyle segment. This technology will help Titan to reposition itself as a exciting brand rather than the current image of a serious brand.

Related Brand

Titan

Marketing Practice Ranked As One of Top 10 Indian Blogs

It is with great pleasure to inform my dear readers that this blog has been rated among the Top 10 Indian Blogs ( Individual) by the reputed Global PR Firm Edelman.

This has been possible only because of the support and encouragement of the readers of this blog. Thanks a ton for the support and patronage. 

Brand Update : RIP Sparsh (2006-2008)

Sparsh which was expected to give a tough competition to Johnson & Johnson is history. Infact the brand was dead within a year of its launch. The brand was silently put to rest by Marico and there is no mention of the brand in the company website.

Sparsh was a serious foray by Marico in the baby personal care segment. The segment is hugely attractive with a major disadvantage - which is the presence of Johnson & Johnson. And it is really amazing to see that the brand equity of J&J is such a powerful entry barrier that even the best of FMCG marketers cannot break the stronghold of J&J in the segment.
Marico is not an ordinary player. The company had proven its marketing acumen with its successful brand portfolio. But in the case of Sparsh, the company had to beat a retreat. And beating a retreat in the baby segment market is one of the biggest mistake that  a brand can make.By withdrawing, the brand is breaking the trust factor which is very vital in surviving in this segment.

Sparsh could not survive because mothers preferred to be loyal to J&J because of the trust that J&J brand had with the consumers. It is not easy for a new brand to break that bonding. Wipro tried with its Baby Soft but was not successful. Now Sparsh bite the dust fighting the giant. 

So is it not possible to fight a giant like J&J ?. Theoretically it is possible. But it takes long years and millions of cash to be the profitable No.2 in the market . Not many companies were willing to burn that much cash. Although Sparsh is now dead, there are reports of a possible rejuvenation of the brand. It would have been wise if the brand fought really hard and stayed put in the market rather than surrender meekly within a year of launch.

Related Brand
Sparsh

Brand Update : McVities Gets into Celebrity Endorsement

World's first digestive biscuit is now banking on celebrity power to stay in the fiercely competitive Rs 9000 crore Indian biscuit market. The brand has roped in Bipasha Basu and Shriya Saran to endorse the Mcvities Digestive brand. Both the actresses are known for their " Health Consciousness " and are well accepted by the people who would like to be fit and healthy as these celebrities project themselves to be. 

The endorsement from the celebrities also marks a shift in the positioning of the brand. During the launch phase , McVities was harping on the taste and had adopted the tagline " The new language of Taste". For the Digestive variant, the brand has adopted the tagline " Habit you would love to keep".

Watch the new campaign here : Mcvities Digestive

The ad has tried to make the brand appeal to the younger audience ( 25 + health conscious adults). The brand is also trying to impress upon the audience by showing its international acceptance.

McVities Digestive has playing on a very difficult market. Despite a very visible trend towards health, Indian consumers are yet to put that into actual buying. According to recent research, Indian consumers doesn't compromise on taste. So rather than indulge in a taste-less healthy food, Indian consumers prefer to take less of tasty junk food. This has forced many companies to scale down their ambitious plans to launch healthy snacks and foods.

McVities is trying to create more usage for the biscuit by asking the consumers to indulge in more occasions. Although theoretically  the strategy is sound, it will be very difficult to make Indian consumers to compromise on taste.  I don't think that Bipasha or Shreya is going to make much impact on the sales of McVities Digestive among the intended target segment (25+ adults). The presence can definitely increase the visibility of the brand and thus more trials. But for biscuits, the success is in making the consumers return to the brand again. McVities definitely will thrive in the niche market but may have to wait long till healthy biscuits will become a part of the mainstream.
Related Brand
Mcvities

Brand Update : All Out Kills the Frog

In a sad development, the new owners of the brand All Out - M/s SC Johnson has killed the most powerful brand element of All Out- The Frog. The new campaign of All Out does not feature the famous All Out Frog which was instrumental in popularizing the brand across various segments.

From the birth of the brand, the frog has been the unique identifier and differentiator for All Out. The character was very much instrumental in conveying the effectiveness of the brand. 

People began to instantly understand the frog's symbolic meaning. But the Frog has now moved into history. The current campaign not only excludes the frog but the entire positioning of the brand has been changed. Instead of the frog, the brand is now following the typical laser effect that all other brands shows in their respective ads . The brand now has the tagline " All round protection for the family " and has moved away from being the " Yamraj for Mosquitoes ".

The removal of All Out frog is a definite retrograde step for the brand. The learned minds of the company forgot to appreciate the effort and the money that has been spent on creating such a powerful brand element. The frog was also a powerful differentiator for the brand. All these has been removed in one stroke. I don't understand the rationale or logic behind killing such a powerful differentiator . If that brand element was replaced by another powerful element, it would have been fine. But rather, the new campaign is nothing but a copycat of other similar brand's advertisements. So in a way the company has found an ingenious way to kill a powerful brand.

Related Brand

 All Out

Brand Update