Brand Update : Appy Fizz repositions to lose its cool factor

This summer, Parle Agro has made a drastic repositioning of its unique  product - Appy Fizz. Launched in 2005, Appy Fizz had carved a unique place in the Indian market with its fizzy apple drink. The brand was built on a cool quotient exemplified by the strategy of anthropomorphism. The drink became  the cool character and the ads too supported the positioning. Appy Fizz had one of the good taglines  " A Cool Drink to Hang Out With"

Now Parle Agro decided to undo all those with the new campaign. A lot of things have changed in the new repositioning.

• The package was changed. The logo was tweaked and the design is in line with the Frooti logo design.
• The tagline was changed to " Feel the Fizz".
• The Appy Fizz  character has been discarded.
• New celebrity endorser in Priyanka Chopra.

watch the ad here : Appy Fizz Repositioning

The new repositioning came as a big dampener. The brand changed its personality completely. The tagline " Feel the Fizz" is also a poor replacement of " Cool drink to hang out with". This " Feel " thing is an overused tagline. For example, the scooter brand Hero Maestro has the tagline " Feel the Josh". Ford earlier had the tagline " Feel the difference ". So Appy Fizz really fizzled out in the tagline section. 

Secondly about the celebrity endorser part. Appy Fizz was personified as a male. Now suddenly when the brand is endorsed by a female celebrity, I really felt odd. Moreover, the new ad is too much Priyanka and very less Appy Fizz. In all the earlier campaigns, it was the brand which had the prominence.  In all sense, Appy Fizz lost its coolness.

My hypothesis is that Parle Agro wants the brand to come into the mainstream. Appy Fizz by nature is a niche product. Because it is apple drink, the salience will also be low. Trying to change that would be a risky affair. At the same time, the brand can work to strengthen salience and build preference. The current route taken by Appy Fizz is too risky and unnecessary.

Cool Quotient is something that is very difficult to attain. Appy Fizz was fortunate to successfully position itself as a Cool brand. In one stroke,  the company has undone all the investment it has made in the brand. My forecast is that at some point in time, the brand will be forced to be a " Cool drink to hang out with ".

Khadi : Is the potential realized ?

Brand : Khadi
Company : Khadi and Village Industries ( KVIC)


Brand Analysis Count : # 563

Last day I visited a Khadi Outlet looking for some Khadi cloth to beat the scorching heat wave sweeping across God's Own Country. The interest in Khadi was a result of a miserly search for an alternative to the much expensive linen. The visit had inspired this post because I saw both opportunity and disappointment.

Khadi ( as mentioned in Wikipedia) is an iconic symbol of the independent struggle. The cloth became a movement when Mahatma Gandhi exhorted the nation to boycott British Cotton and embrace the homemade Khadi. 

Khadi again came into limelight when our Prime Minister urged the Indians to support Khadi. As per the reports, there was a surge in the sale of Khadi after the appeal by our PM.

As a marketer, I saw a huge opportunity for Khadi because of the very nature of the product. As per the reports, the cloth has a  unique property of being cool in summer and warm in winter. Further, the product is very rugged and durable. 

The disappointment was the lack of branding and product development for this product. I visited the largest Khadi outlet in Cochin and the lack of product choice and variety was appalling. The colors and choice were limited which shows the lack of investment in product development. This product had the alternative to the expensive linen had it come out with better product choice. 

Regarding the branding front, Khadi was not a trademark or no one thought of protecting Khadi as a brand. It was a generic term for handwoven cotton cloth. This changed in 2014 when a German firm Khadi Naturprodukte registered it as trademark in European Union. 

The Government of India had since challenged this and asked Khadi and Village Industries to register Khadi as a trademark. 

In India too, there is no clear ownership for Khadi. You can buy different types of Khadi products from different vendors. This creates many problems in terms of product quality and consistency.

What the Government needs to do is to take ownership of the Khadi brand and try to encourage more product development in terms of color, clothes etc. KVIC. Khadi can be positioned as an ingredient brand. The firms can be encouraged to develop Khadi based products . At the brand level, KVIC should take ownership of the brand and promote Khadi's image. The unique selling proposition of " Cool in Summer and Warm in Winter " should be exploited.

Khadi is a heritage brand with great potential. Only if the ownership is clearly defined and a concerted effort in branding is done, the potential will not be met. 

Brand Update : Cinthol wants to re-invent deo

In an interesting move, Cinthol is trying to change the deodorant game by focusing on the form factor. In the latest campaign, the brand is trying to bring back the focus on the stick form of deodorant. 

During the formative years of the deo market, the deo stick was the popular form of the product. But later the spray form took over the market and the stick faded away.  Although the stick product form was less priced, the spray was perceived to be convenient. The spray did not have that soapy feeling which the stick had. And the deo marketers prompted the consumers to trade up to the spray form.

Cinthol wants to change that game. The new campaign which focuses purely on the form-factor highlights 3 advantages of the stick form -  less priced, skin friendly and 3 times long lasting. 

Watch the ad here : Deo Reborn

The new campaign has used the slogan - Deo Reborn for the new initiative. The brand has taken a risk in pushing for the form-based differentiation since it has the spray form factor in the portfolio. 

The Indian deo market is crowded and confusing with a lot of brands and promises. So the Cinthol's stick form factor push stands out from the crowd at least for a while. Another advantage is that the stick form factor effectively negates the " gas vs perfume " war that is currently going on in the Indian deo market. After Fogg stormed the market with No Gas proposition, every deo brand has joined the bandwagon. In this move, Cinthol has taken the gas out of the spray form-factor. 

It has to be seen how the consumer behaviorally reacts to the new initiative. Marketers had taught the consumers to use the spray and bringing back to the stick form is not easy. 

Marketing Practice :Why fooling customers is a bad idea !

Google's April Fool joke -Mic Drop's epic failure throw some lessons for marketers. The most obvious lesson is " Think hard before fooling customers". If Google which had been doing this April Fool joke for a while can land up in trouble, you can see the risk involved in pranking customers. 

Many brands have hopped in the bandwagon of getting the cool quotient. Humor is the most obvious route to building the cool quotient. But often brands gets edgy and then burn its fingers. In the case of Google, surprisingly the brand failed to understand the risk of such a venture. Yesterday I also saw the mic-drop button on my gmail. As a fan of the brand,I trust anything that comes from Google and will not think much before trying it out. Luckily I was too lazy yesterday to click on the button. Things would have been embarrassing since my official mail is linked to gmail. 

I think brands should resist the temptation to look cool at all cost. When there's a matter of Brand Trust, coolness quotient should take the backseat. 

Having said that, it takes lots of courage for a brand to be humorous and mistakes do happen. The mantra I choose about brand humor would be-When in doubt, be serious. 

Brand Update : Good Bye Innova, Welcome Crysta

In a surprise move, Toyota decided to stop the production of its best seller MUV- Innova to pave the  way for the launch of the new generation Innova Crysta. The plot seems to be the repeat of the stoppage of Toyota Qualis for the introduction of Innova.

Toyota decided to replace Innova not because it is in the mature/decline stage of product-life-cycle. The first generation Innova is still the best selling segment leader. Replacing a best-selling model when the sales are at peak requires a lot of guts and visionary thinking. The new Innova Crysta will be running on the new product platform TNGA which enables multi-product  configurations.

Innova which was launched in 2005 has so far sold more than 5.75 lakh units. As per auto.ndtv, the brand Innova is selling approximately 5000 units per month - a task its low-priced competitors despite their aggressive pricing and marketing strategies could not achieve. 

The brand is practicing planned obsolescence where the brand deliberately makes its product obsolete by launching updated versions. 

According to reports, Innova has struck a chord with Indian consumers through its robust build quality and high quality. And despite being a large vehicle, the handling part of this vehicle is best in the class. 

First generation Innova had set a benchmark for the category it has helped create. Now true to Toyota tradition, the brand is redrawing the benchmark with the launch of Crysta. It is interesting to note that Toyota will not be selling the first generation Innova side-by-side Innova Crysta. It is foregoing that sales opportunity to sustain the brand equity of Innova 

Crisp and Shine : The fabric Enhancer

Brand: Ujala Crisp and Shine
Company: Jyothy Laboratories

Brand Analysis Count: 562

Ujala Crisp and Shine is the re-branded version of Ujala Stiff and Shine. Ujala launched its fabric conditioner Stiff and Shine in 2005. The brand was an addition to the post-wash fabric care product line of Jyothy Lab which was dominated by the liquid whitener Ujala. 

Although launched in 2005, Stiff and Shine was a regional brand. The brand did business around Rs 25 crore in Kerala where it is concentrated ( Source). The post-wash category of fabric care is now witnessing a lot of interest among FMCG companies and HUL is upping the ante with the high profile promotion of its global brand - Comfort.

When launched, Stiff and Shine was primarily viewed by consumers as a product that would offer the convenience of a fabric stiffener ( starch) like Revive. The brand name also reinforced the perception.

HUL launched Comfort not as a fabric stiffener but as a conditioner. Through sustained promotions, the brand has continuously grown in the market.
Probably this growth of the brand Comfort may have led to the re-branding of Stiff and Shine.
The new brand name Crisp and Shine is backed by a product - descriptor  - Fabric Enhancer. Through the product descriptor, the brand is trying to position itself as a complete fabric care product rather than a stiffener.
Jyothy Lab is trying to pitch Crisp and Shine nationally and the re-branding releases the brand from the constraint of " Stiff and Shine " proposition.