Brand Update : Maruti Attempts Channel Differentiation using Nexa and Arena

In 2015, Maruti launched a new channel to cater to the company's foray into the premium four-wheeler segment. The new channel was branded as Nexa. Nexa catered to the premium range of cars from Maruti like Baleno, Brezza, Ciaz etc. The Nexa showrooms were designed to project a premium feel for the segment of customers that prefer premium cars.

It was a challenging move for the company because the multi-channel strategy has its share of problems like organizational challenges, differentiation challenges, channel conflict, redundancy etc. The need for a premium channel arose because Maruti started off as a maker of affordable cars. Its range of cars was never targeting the premium segment. Some of the earlier forays of Maruti into the premium segment also failed to achieve traction. 

Recently the company tasted its success with the mid-range and premium segment with some smart brand launches. Having a premium channel like Nexa enabled to company to give a different kind of experience to this segment.

In 2017, the company rebranded its traditional channel to Maruti Arena which sells the mass market brands like Alto, Wagon-R etc. The company also have a commercial channel and True Value channel for used cars. 

In theory, the company has followed a Marketing Channel Segment Differentiation strategy where the channels differ in terms of the customer segment which they cater. Another type of channel differentiation is Task Differentiation where the channel members differ in terms of the tasks they perform. 

Although the company has tried to create channel differentiation, there is still overlaps in terms of products. While some brands are exclusive to Nexa, some are available in both the outlets which can create potential channel conflict. Marketing Channel differentiation based on segments works well when there is a minimum overlap of characteristics across segments. Here in the case of automobiles, there is bound to be segment overlaps because of pricing overlaps as well as aspirational factors. We can see that the price of high-end variants of hatchbacks is equal to the price of certain mid-size entry-level variants. So the firms who have a channel differentiation strategy should ensure that these overlaps be kept a minimum.

 But with the huge market share and product sales, the channel members at this point of time may not be complaining too much about the cannibalization of sales. 

WLS : Live Natural

Brand: WLS ( Formerly Wills Lifestyle)
Company: ITC

Brand Analysis Count: 588

Wills Lifestyle was ITCs foray into Indian textile market. Launched in 2000, Wills Lifestyle initially was pioneering the premium fashion clothing market in India. The brand when it was launched was seen as an attempt by ITC to keep the equity of the cigarette brand Wills. Since cigarette brands cannot advertise, a clothing extension would be helpful in sustaining brand awareness. I viewed it as a case of surrogate advertising. 

Contrary to my assumption, ITC had other plans for the brand. Will Lifestyle quickly became successful as a premium clothing brand. The company expanded the brand franchise through retail stores across the country. In 2006, Wills Lifestyle became the principal sponsor of  India Fashion Week. Through this fashion event,  Wills Lifestyle became associated with fashion thus differentiating itself with the other clothing brands. However, the product was priced at a premium this restricting its scope into a niche brand.

Over a period of time, the clothing vertical became a laggard in the ITC portfolio and I presume that the company's foray into the FMCG segment had all the management attention. 

This year, the brand has a major restructuring. ITC has rebranded Wills Lifestyle into an acronym WLS. The brand also has a new positioning - sinless clothing which means 100% natural. 

With the rebranding, Wills Lifestyle has severed its ties with the cigarette brand. 

It is a very bold and risky move since at one stroke the brand has lost the source of its awareness. Now ITC will have to move the awareness of the older brand to the new brand name and that involves a whole lot of money. The new positioning of ' Naturalness ' is the buzz word in the FMCG space and ITC is hoping that the clothing market would also follow the trend. Also being natural is a good excuse to charge a premium!

WLS has adopted the tagline 'Live Natural ' to support the new positioning. The relaunch saw teaser ads across the print media. 

Wills is a powerful brand which has huge resonance among the male segment. Trading that powerful brand for an acronym does not make much sense in the marketing point of view. However, ITC may want to disassociate other businesses from the cigarette brand so that in future ethical questions can be avoided. 

A rebranding of this scale requires that the brand has to start afresh, right from identifying the source of brand equity to reworking all associated brand elements. With huge cash reserves, ITC does not have a financial issue in building awareness for WLS. What I am little skeptical is the " Natural " positioning platform of WLS. I don't see this as a compelling attribute, especially for a premium clothing brand. Time will tell. 

Brand Update : Horlicks pitches for Emotional Nutrition in the latest campaign

Departing from the usual pitch based on functional benefits, Horlicks now have moved into emotional territory with the new campaign Bottle of Love. Horlicks has been very consistent in the brand campaign throughout its brilliant life in the Indian market focusing on the benefits. The " Taller, Stronger, Sharper " proposition has been very well received in the Indian market and Horlicks continued to be the market leader in the segment in India. 

The new campaign is an interactive campaign which is emotionally laced targetting mothers. The campaign features Kota which is a place famous for competitive exam coaching. Aspiring medical and engineering candidates flocks to this place for coaching and the setup there is grueling and very competitive. Kota provides a relatable example of exam stress and Horlicks wants to provide solace to the kids. 

The campaign is very well made and has already become very popular in social media. 

The campaign is followed with ground activation where the brand wants the mothers to log into the site bottleoflove.in where they would get an empty bottle. They need to fill it up with anything that their kids love and Horlicks will ensure that the bottle will reach the kids. 

In recent interviews with the media, the campaign managers tell that the idea behind the campaign is the fact that every house will have one bottle of Horlicks and the bottle will serve as the carrier of emotional nutrition for the kids.

The transition from functional nutrition to emotional nutrition is a clever positioning move for the brand. The functional nutrition value proposition has been commoditized with a lot of brands taking up that positioning. Further, the Indian market has also seen new product launches specialized in functional nutrition. It thus makes sense for Horlicks to ladder to a higher order benefit and Emotional Nutrition fits perfectly. The concept is powerful and scalable across the brand portfolio and also resonates with the target market. 

Kudos to the brand marketers. 

Brand Update : Palmolive Relaunched

Palmolive, one of the oldest brand of soaps in the Indian market has not been able to do justice to its existence. Despite its rich heritage, international pedigree and a strong parent, Palmolive has always remained a fringe player in the highly competitive Indian market. At one point in time, Palmolive had a range of products ranging from soaps to shaving cream. The shaving cream featuring Kapil Deva was a huge hit in those days.

Later, however, the company focus shifted from soaps and Palmolive was sidelined in the marketing front. There were sporadic interests in the brand but all those were
half-hearted ones.

This year, the brand is again making a comeback of sorts. The brand has launched a new range of facial bars with the positioning of being Natural.
The brand is currently running the relaunch campaign.
The company is trying to bring in some freshness to the brand in this relaunch. The brand is relaunched in three variants including charcoal variant.
The brand now has the tagline " Glow Naturally" indicating that Palmolive is trying to bank on the current trend towards natural products.

It is good to see some interest in developing this brand. Palmolive have strong awareness in the market but I feel that there is no strong association with the brand which it can develop. One of the task for Palmolive is to rediscover the source of equity and build on that.

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Palmolive Da Jawab Nahin

Brand Update : There is a little bit of Nerolac in your Life

Nerolac, which has a legacy of more than 100 years has always been playing second fiddle to Asian Paints in the Indian paint industry. Both in the field and advertising space, Nerolac was not able to beat the market leader Asian Paints. Probably after a long time, Nerolac had hit a bullseye in finding a credible message for its consumers.

The latest campaign of Nerolac- There is a little bit of Nerolac in your life, is a creative breakthrough for this brand. Everyone who has seen the ad was surprised at the message - the fridge, the car, the appliances are painted with Nerolac. That indeed is a powerful message which will change the way the brand is perceived. 

The basic idea is to leverage the brand's credibility in the industrial segment to the consumer segment. Indian paint industry which is worth around Rs 47000 crore is classified into Decorative Segment and Industrial Segment. Decorative Segment constitutes 75 % of the total market. Asian Paints is the market leader in the whole paint industry with a whopping 41% share while Nerolac has a share of 14 %. But in the Industrial segment, Nerolac leads with 35 percent share. 

To counter the market leader Asian Paints iconic campaigns capitalizing the emotions associated with color and home, Nerolac so far tried all strategies including roping in Big B for their campaigns but with limited success. 

This time, the brand roped in the energetic Ranveer Singh as the brand ambassador. But the star of the campaign is the Big Idea. The campaign is very effective in driving the home that the home appliances which usually have the durable painting are being painted by Nerolac. That message instantly conveys credibility to the brand. Nerolac was able to give a piece of very powerful evidence to its core strengths - performance credibility. Ranveer Singh brings a touch of humor to the whole proposition. 

This idea although very powerful does not have longevity in the sense that this cannot be continued for long. The brand needs to milk this idea within a short span of time and then move on with some sustainable proposition in the next phase of the campaign. For now, hats off to those brains who came up with this idea. 

Brand Update : Hamam ladders up to women empowerment

Hamam which has a rich legacy dating back to 1931 is charting a new course in its marketing communication strategy. This 300 crore brand from HUL has been positioning itself on the basis of its ingredients - Neem and Tulsi since its inception. 

In 2017, the brand tried to change its course moving from the functional benefit platform derived from its ingredients to a higher order benefit. In marketing parlance, it is called brand laddering. 

According to news reports, this is the first time that Hamam is moving away from the functional benefit positioning. 

The 2017 campaign #GoSafeOutside aims to use the " women empowerment" as the platform for brand promotion. The brand is taking up the cause of safety of girls for its promotion. 

The ad shows how a shy young girl is motivated by the mother to stand up on her own.

The concept of women empowerment is nothing new in the Indian marketing scene. Many brands including some soap brands like Lux have taken up this platform for brand promotion. 

In this campaign, Hamam encourages the young girls to take up self-defense courses that would give them the necessary confidence to go out of their safe zone. 

In 2018, the brand went further ahead with the campaign and tried to create a network of mothers called Hamam Mothers Safety Force. This network is intended to provide a watchful eye on the safety of young girls. 

HUL is known for such ground level activation in its various cause marketing campaign for its brands. The brand should be lauded for identifying a potent issue regarding women safety and doing something about it. The brand runs the hashtag " GoSafeOutside for this initiative. 

The success of a cause marketing campaign revolves around the relevance, brand connect and the impact. This campaign is very relevent in today's times. It needs to be seen how HUL carries this forward to create a lasting impact on the consumer's mind.