Brand Update : Slice ditches Aamsutra under competitive pressure

The summer of 2013 is witnessing a mega war in the mango drink segment. With Frooti launching their campaign with SRK, Maaza roping in Imran Khan, Slice is facing the heat. The brand has responded with a taste-challenge in their new campaign featuring the celebrity Katrina Kaif.

Watch the campaign - Slice 2013

The new campaign has ditched the earlier positioning of Aamsutra and has gone retro with the blind taste test - literary !. The ad shows Katrina along with the competing brand's model taking a hunk in to the middle of the forest ( why ??) , blind-folded him and perform the taste-test. I didn't knew that Katrina was a market-researcher. The ad finishes with a heavy Hindi tagline " Iske Saamne Sab Pheeka Padh Jayega " which a South Indian like me find it hard to decipher. 

From the ad, I understand that Slice is particularly worried about Maaza rather than Frooti. My assumption is based on the visual showing bottle similar to Maaza in the new Slice TVC.

Maaza and Slice are both positioned based on the " real mango taste". Here through the new campaign Slice is desperately trying to convince the customer that it tastes better than the competitor. How ever, while Slice is telling that it tastes better than competitor, Maaza says it is having the real mango taste. So Slice has made a strategic error in the message. "Real taste of mango " is a powerful positioning than " tastes better than the competitor". So by ditching the Aamsutra, Slice has conceded a valuable space to its competitor especially Maaza. 

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Slice

Brand Update : Frooti gets juicy with SRK

In a surprising move Frooti, the mango drink from Parle has roped in none other than Shah Rukh Khan as the celebrity endorser. The brand has also brought back the classic tagline " Fresh N Juicy".

Watch the ad here : SRK Frooti

SRK will bring in the boost that the brand needs this summer. The brand owners over the last few seasons were seriously pushing the brand to make it more relevant amidst the clutter. Over the last few years, the brand has been targeting the new generation through some clutter-breaking campaign.

There is no need to say that SRK will take the brand back to the limelight. The agency should be credited in making the ad fresh and interesting. 

 For a brand like Frooti , the challenge is not to build awareness but keep the consumer interested in the brand. Brands like Frooti which was launched in 1984 enjoys tremendous recall and recognition. But over these years, consumers can lose interest in the brand due to various reasons. For a brand which is more than 22 years old, staying relevant and interesting is a herculean task. Since there is limited scope of innovation in the product-front, the only scope for innovation is in the promotion. 

This time around, Frooti was able to keep the interest level really high . 

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Frooti - Fresh N Juicy

Brand Update : Virat says Alive is Awsome

Move over Hrithik Roshan, welcome Virat Kohli. In its struggle to stay relevant to youth, Cinthol has now a new celebrity endorser in Virat Kohli. The tvc featuring Virat is now on air

Watch the new ad here : Cinthol Virat Kohli

The ad is different and very well executed. I liked the twist in the ad and to the credit of the agency, the ad does justice to the new positioning of Alive is Awesome. But like the previous campaign, the character should avoid saying the tagline because it looks very artificial when someone says Alive is Awesome. Rather, a powerful visual with the voice-over of the tagline would have been perfect.

What Cinthol needs is not a heavy dose of celebrity but some serious execution of its positioning. Celebrities ofcourse add a little attraction to the campaign but its not the celebrity that matters.

Cinthol seems to have stumbled upon a sustainable positioning platform of " Alive with Cinthol". The new campaign although singularly focuses on the celebrity rather than the brand ,will help in keeping Cinthol alive for now

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Cinthol - Alive is Awesome

Brand Update : WildStone gets classy with Dia Mirza

The deo brand Wildstone which has been promising guys that " It Happens" is getting better. This year's campaign features the Bollywood diva Dia Mirza in the latest TVC.

Watch the ad here : Wild Stone Red

The presence of the celebrity gives a class to the ad but the stereotype still is intact. 

The new campaign is for the variant Wild Stone Red. The ad has matured a lot since its raunchy launch campaigns. The current theme of an older , married lady next door getting attracted to the fragrance of Wild Stone is indeed a powerful story . ( interesting analysis at Livemint)

Most of the deo brands are towing the line of seduction and Wild Stone is not different. Now the brand is able to standout because of its execution  in a more sensible manner compared to the rest and more importantly Indianized. 

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Wild Stone

Skore : There's Lot To Be Won !

Brand : Skore
Company : TTK- LIG

Brand Analysis Count : # 520

Skore is the new brand of condoms from TTK group. The brand which aims to be the " Stylish" condom in the Indian market is vying for a share in the Rs 600 crore market . The market is broadly classified into commercial and social segments. Social segment consists of brands which are subsidized/freely distributed by Government or social organizations.  

The condom market was dominated by the social segment till 1990. During the early 90's , private players entered the market and redefined the marketing of this product. From a contraceptive, condoms were repositioned as pleasure-enhancers by the marketers.

I think its the first time that a brand is aiming to segment the market interms of demographics and vocally saying that it is targeting the youth. Whatever the logic is, Skore makes an interesting case for itself.

The brand name is derived from the word Score and here score denotes the number of successes in bed , huh ! ( source)

Just like any marketer who try to woo the young consumer, Skore also talks about being adventurous , exciting and inventive. How the brand is able to communicate this is   debatable.

Its very difficult to differentiate a product like condom.  The innovations are  restricted to the flavors and packaging. Skore also tries to be innovative in these areas. The packaging is trendy and the brand has launched around 7 variants. A look into the product section of this brand's website will confuse you in to thinking that you have entered a fruit-shop rather than a condom's micro-site. The flavors or Skore include Banana, Orange, Strawberry, Chocolate, Blue, Shade and Not-Out.

Skore has tried to be adventurous in its promotion also .The brand's tagline is " There's lot to be won" and openly admits itself to be naughty and bad. The brand exhorts the youngsters that its a naughty world and get ready for that. 

Watch the ad here : Skore 

The ad is nothing great and fall in similar lines. The claim that the brand is targeting youth is not seen in the way the brand has executed the campaign. However the brand has gained traction in the distribution with major retailers stocking it. 

Although the brand claims to be different, there is nothing visibly different about Skore. 

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