Brand Update : Honda Jazz RIP ( 2009-2013)

According to news-reports  Honda has decided to put curtains to their premium hatchback Honda Jazz. Honda Jazz launched in 2009 was the most expensive petrol hatchback available in the Indian market. The brand was priced in the range of Rs 8- 9 Lakh which was at par with lot of mid-segment sedans.

Although the brand had impeccable Honda Quality, the aggressive pricing made consumers give a luke-warm response to this brand. Only the hard-core Honda fans who wanted exclusivity opted for Jazz.

In 2011, Honda decided to rationalize the pricing of Jazz and reduced the price by almost Rs 1.5 lakh. Despite the price -drop, Jazz was quite expensive and the move was little too late. 

The shifting of Indian consumers to diesel cars coupled with new launches and offers from quality brands made Jazz less relevant to Indian consumer. The diesel-focused Indian car market has been giving lot of problems for  Honda . 2013  will see Honda entering the diesel car market with its Amaze brand. Honda is also rejigging its product offering and Jazz did not fit into the new plans. Although reports suggest a relaunch of Jazz in 2014, the brand is now dead for all practical purpose.

Things would have been different if diesel and petrol prices were the same in India. Had it been like that  Jazz would have found some takers . But the huge price differential between diesel and petrol is giving nightmares to companies like Honda who was late in developing diesel engines for India.  I thought that Jazz would come with the diesel version once Amaze is launched but surprisingly Honda decided to kill this brand and concentrate on the new launch.

Jazz is a lesson for marketers who in their aggression turn a blind eye towards value. Brands should first convince the customers about the value  it offers and then take pride in that. But being aggressive just because there is a well respected brand name is a big mistake. 

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Honda Jazz

Brand Update : Dettol is also a Dishwash ??

Economic Times reports that Reckitt Benckiser has decided to extend the popular Dettol brand to Dishwash category. This will be one of the bizarre brand extensions I have seen in the last few years. Now we can see supermarkets having Dettol bathing Soap and also Dettol Dishwash  placed near to each other.  ( ET Report)

The reason behind the extension is simple. According to ET, the dishwash category is worth Rs 2000 crore and the category is dominated by HUL with its Vim brand. Reckitt is now pitching Dettol against the Vim brand. 

While Dettol is a brand which was able to leverage the brand's germ killing proposition to various categories like soap, handwash etc, it has not moved into toilets or kitchen. Now we are going to see this brand extending its reach to kitchen. According to the report, Dettol's entry into the dishwash will be using the sub-branding strategy - Dettol Kitchen . Dettol Kitchen will share the same positioning of germ killing and will be competing with Vim and Exo. The first product will be a Dishwashing Gel ( multi-purpose cleaner).

Can a soap brand share its name with a dishwash ?? Dettol seems to think that since the positioning is the same, it may not be a concern to the consumers. My take is that Dettol's entry into Kitchen will affect the premium image of Dettol.  I don't think that a brand which has dishwash gel or a toilet cleaner can retain its premiumness for its bathing soap brand-extension. Since Dettol has a very strong equity, erosion will be felt slowly. Secondly the message for a dishwash product would also talk about strong cleaning ability . So if Dettol is going to claim that it will remove the toughest of the dirt/stains, how would a consumer of Dettol soap perceive that message ? 

If Dettol can extend to Dishwash, can Vim extend to bathing soap ?? 

How about Pril Bodywash ??? 

Harpic Beauty Soap ??

I hope HUL will not react by launching Lifebuoy Dishwash gel. 

Brand Update : Sprite continues its Bakwaas

If ads are any indication of brand's strength, Sprite is in deep trouble. Ever since the brand discarded its 

 "N o Nonsense " positioning , the brand has been struggling with its message. In that process, Sprite has just become another softdrink brand which promises instant attraction of females.

This summer of 2013, Sprite again went one notch down in the creative execution of the core brand mantra . The tvc is a huge disappointment and virtually kills all the equity that the brand gained through is previous campaign which talked about Sprite quenching thirst and nothing else.

Watch the new ad : Sprite 2013

 And just look at the totally boring tagline " Chalo apni chaal " which virtually puts the protagonist as a schemer or a trickster which is just opposite to the earlier positioning of the brand as a no-nonsense drink.

The brand owners should have put some kind of quality standards for India's biggest non-cola softdrink's campaign. These kind of campaigns and taglines are ultimately going to make the brand go down interms of  its uniqueness. Now these brands are advertising like deodorants and aphrodisiacs and the primary aim of the protagonist is to get the girl. 

Grow up guys, Sprite bujhai only pyaas, baaki sab bakwaas.

Brand Update : Santoor Extends to Baby Soaps ?

I stumbled upon a commercial for Santoor Baby soap in Facebook, thanks to the tip from Bhatnaturally. I was surprised to see this move from one of India's biggest soap brands - Santoor.
Watch the ad here : Santoor Baby 
A search in Google yielded no results. I assume that the ad is real and Santoor is now test marketing this brand extension in select markets. Since the ad features the South Indian actress Jyothika, Santoor is serious about the new launch.

Indian baby care market is huge with a size of  Rs 3000 crore expected to grow at a rate of 20% according to ASSOCHAM.The baby skin care market is valued at Rs 400 crore and toiletries valued at Rs 380 crore.
Johnson and Johnson has a huge stronghold in this market with a share of over 70% . Many brands like Sparsh from Marico and Babysoft from Wipro tried unsuccessfully to dethrone J&J . It is in this context that Santoor's move becomes relevant and interesting.
Santoor has been very consistent in its positioning. Santoor's core brand's positioning is " for a younger looking skin". The brand through all its campaign effectively reinforced this positioning and became India's second biggest soap brand.
Santoor Baby soap will be trying to leverage this equity . The problem is that Santoor is perceived to be a soap for adults. So when such a brand launches a baby soap, inevitably doubts arises with regard to the mildness of the soap. Wipro earlier tried the Baby Soft brand but couldn't succeed so it is now trying to extend its best brand's equity. The ad shows not an infant but a 2-4 year old kid. So the brand will be trying to target the segment which is slowly growing out of the Johnson and Johnson's baby soap. More over since the child is growing , mothers will not be much bothered about trying out a baby soap from Santoor's portfolio.

Brand Update : Tata Safari rejuvenates through Storme

Tata Safari  which is in a critical stage of its lifecycle has launched the much awaited Storme recently. The new Storme is a completely updated Safari and is expected to bring back the much desired consumer interest .

Tata Safari which is a true-blood Indian SUV failed to capitalize on its long innings and a hard-core fan following. The brand although came up with some wonderful brand campaigns however failed to address the quality issues that nagged the brand from its earlier days. Safari did not have any big mechanical issues but many customers opined that the brand failed to rise itself to the higher standards of quality that the competitors were delivering. But still there were lovers for the brand because Safari had a character which was unique and appealing to certain customers.

Despite the fact that Safari had a distinct brand character, the marketing minds of Tata Motors failed to address the quality issues which was creating a negative perception among the consumers. The laid-back approach of Tata Motors in addressing the nagging issues of Safari virtually put Safari in  to the sidelines .
Safari also failed to see the changes happening to the SUV market in India. The brand failed to see the rise of more compact SUVs and was less aggressive in addressing competition from Scorpio. The laid-back attitude of the brand owners has virtually made Safari a nominal player in a category which it once pioneered.
Although the brand tried to come out with newer versions, most of the changes were cosmetic rather than a radical one.

The new Safari Storme is reported to be a 100% new vehicle rather than a modified Safari. The entire product has been changed for the better. One can only hope that Storme will change the quality perception that is haunting Tata Motors ever since it ventured in to passenger segment.
What is sad about the new Safari is the promotion. Tata Motors has decided to do away with the " Reclaim Your Life " positioning of Safari. Instead, the brand has the tagline " The Real SUV" which I think has undone what ever brand equity which the earlier campaigns has built.
The new " Real SUV " campaign does not give any power to the brand.The promise should be believed by the consumers. In the new market where all global SUV brands are present, Safari's claim to be the Real SUV is only a joke. I don't understand why and how a brand can just discard a powerful story like " Reclaim your life " .
Watch the new campaign here : Safari Storme
The new tagline is big downer for the brand. The brand suddenly switched to a functional positioning from a highly abstract positioning . This sudden shift may confuse the brand's positioning in future.

Tata Motors should be appreciated for investing in Safari and making it survive for the last 15 years. The brand is now pinning its hope on Storme for delivering results. As a die-hard Safari admirer, I too hope the same.

Brand Update : Vespa slashes prices but is it enough ?

According to newsreports, Vespa has slashed the prices of its newly launched scooter by around Rs 6700. Vespa was launched as a premium scooter which is according to the company is  ageless, iconic and timeless. The arrogance that Vespa globally is considered an icon was reflected in the pricing. Vespa launched its 125 cc scooter with a price of Rs 66,600 which was way above the average category price range of  Rs 40,000-50,000.

One would expect that with high price will come all the high-end features but Vespa decided that the premium is for the brand and nothing else.So what was offered to the Indian market was an ordinary scooter with excellent looks, funky colors and a brand.

Despite the high price and ordinary features, Indian consumers gave a warm response to the offer. Newsreports suggest that Vespa was able to sell around 30,000 odd scooters after the launch.

Then came the price cut. Vespa has cited operational efficiency as a reason for the price decrease. The price cut amounts to around 10% and still the scooter is the most expensive in the market . 

Although I don't disbelieve the clam of operational efficiency for the price-cut, I think there is an inherent confusion in the brand regarding its approach to the Indian market. There are also rumours of a mass-market launch from Vespa  aimed at volume. If that is the case, then how will the brand justify the premium for the current offering which is not feature packed.

India is a market where the utilitarian point of view of consumers are very high. Even if consumers splurge crores of money in luxury , the mental accounting regarding the value proposition is very strong. In this information age, it is surprising that Vespa overlooked the value proposition. 

The current price rationalization is not enough to excite the consumers because the value proposition of competitive offerings are more compelling. Ofcourse there is a niche segment who look for exclusivity but going by the noises made by the brand, it looks at volume rather than niche.

Having said that, the current launch can also be viewed as a test dose ( an expensive one) for gauging consumer response to a Vespa offering . The brand can take solace that consumers have viewed the brand in a positive light and has showed genuine interest in  what is being offered. The positioning based on the brand's iconic global status has also well received. May be the brand will reduce its arrogance and offer a better value proposition in future.

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Vespa