It's happy news for Tata Safari fans. Tata Motors has decided to relaunch the iconic Tata Safari in a new platform. The brand which created the premium SUV market in India was languishing in the sidelines when the Indian market was gravitating towards SUVs. After 2016, there was no product improvements nor any campaigns. The only saving grace for the brand was that it was chosen by Indian armed forces to replace Maruti Gypsy.
Then Tata Motors did a coup. It began to launch a range of products under a more refined platform. Harrier was launched in the Land Rover platform quickly began to impress the customer with its road presence and refinement. I almost believed that Safari will be silently killed and the new era belonged to new brands. Tata Motors then began its work on a 7 seater SUV which was showcased as a new brand Gravitas.
But then the twist happened. The 7 seater Harrier was decided to bear the name of Safari. The teaser ad is now on air and what is interesting is that the brand is retaining the tagline Reclaim Your Life.
The advantage of launching Safari is the immediate adoption by Safari fans. Although many have migrated to other SUVs, still Safari brand commands a lot of traction among the auto-enthusiasts. Since Harrier has already established itself as a reliable machine, Safari will not have to worry about the mechanical issues which were the Achilles heel of the brand in its earlier avatar.
Evion 400 is a vitamin tablet which is a market leader in its category. It is one of the most popular vitamin E tablets around. The products like vitamin and mineral tablets used to be marketed as drugs and in medical marketing terms- through ethical route. Around 2000, there were moves from the government and regulators to regulate the pricing of these drugs. To circumvent the price capping, many medical marketers began to sell products through OTC ( Over The Counter) route which means that these products can be bought without a doctor prescription.
The challenge in such a move is that these brands will lose doctor's patronage in many cases. Doctor's tend to prescribe products which are classified as a drug rather than an OTC product.
So brands in the OTC route needs to build all brand-related assets because, in OTC, it is the consumers that take the purchase decision. The strategy adopted by Evion is interesting in this regard. Rather than promoting the brand as a vitamin E supplement, Evion has positioned itself based on the benefits platform. One of the key benefits of vitamin E is the effect on the skin. Evion has smartly positioned itself as a provider of glowing skin rather than a vitamin supplement thus broadening the scope of the promotion. The advertisement of Evion looks like that of a skincare soap or a cream. In that way, the brand aims to increase the usage among the target consumers.
The problem or challenge with most of the vitamin or health supplement is to ensure continued usage of the product. While consumers will start consuming such products because of some trigger or advice, often this enthusiasm wears down over a period of time. Evion believes that skincare proposition is something that may prompt consumers to use this product on a regular basis.
It was a launch that had to happen one day. The Covid pandemic accelerated the product entry into the new hot category- sanitizer. Dabur which is one the respected FMCG and health major in the country did not let the opportunity wasted. In March 2020, the company accelerated the product launch of its range of sanitizers and antiseptic liquid product range into the Indian market.
The corporate brand Dabur is associated with herbal/ayurvedic products and true to its heritage, the new product launch also has herbal ingredients like Turmeric and Aloe vera inside. What is interesting about the new product launch is the brand name. Dabur has decided to use the generic name Sanitize for the product range endorsed by Dabur brand. Under the brand name Dabur Sanitize, the company has launched a range of products like hand sanitizers, antiseptic liquid and soap. Another interesting thing is that it has another variant Dabur Sanitizer Plus which is an antiseptic liquid promoted in South India using the actress Simran.
Dabur Santize antiseptic liquid is challenging the market leader Dettol. The USP of Dabur Santize is the properties such as antibacterial, antiseptic and no-burning (which takes on the Dettol ) along with natural ingredients like turmeric and Aloe vera.
The market is currently flooded with products such as santizers, antiseptic liquids, creams, sprays and what not. The market now has the demand owing to the relentless spread of pandemic and fear. So the market is able to contain the supply of these products to a large extent. In that way, Dabur also will ride the wave of this category growth. The buzzword at this point in time is the ability of these products to reach the point of purchase. According to the news reports, Dabur Santize is available initially in online platforms. The brand will benefit from trend once it is available offline at a large scale.
In a branding perspective, Dabur had chosen not to launch these products under a new brand or even a sub-brand. Rather it has used the generic product descriptor route for the new products. In one way the company has missed the opportunity for a new brand which could've offered more individuality and flexibility in terms of positioning and promotion.
Great ads need not shout its message, the viewers without any effort will understand it. Such an ad was created by Horlicks this season. The new ad of Horlicks featuring mother and daughters very cleverly and powerfully reinforces the brand's message of making you stronger thus confident and empowered. The new ad of Horlicks under the new brand owner HUL takes the campaign to next level of brand laddering. What is beautiful is that the brand comes only at the end credit. The purpose of these kinds of themes is not promoting purchase intention but to reinforce the brand's message and positioning which will have a powerful influence on brand outcomes. In that sense, the current ad of Horlicks ticks all the right boxes.
While all brands are trying to use germ-killing or protection feature in their product in one way or the other, Surf Excel has a different take on the pandemic. In the latest ad, the brand takes the time tested "Dirt is Good" campaign to a different level linking the lockdown effect on the pandemic. In a clever move, the brand has used a family bonding theme to further the brand's positioning.
A powerful positioning platform helps the brand to mould it to suit various environmental changes. Be it consumer behaviour changes or changes caused by the external environment. Dirt is Good is such a positioning platform which offers excellent creative flexibility to the agency to respond to these changes. The agency has done exactly that with Surf Excel. Surf is in a position where it need not talk about its functional attributes. That is the reason why the brand has taken an emotional position. The current ad brings the brand's relevance in this tested times aiding awareness and salience factors.
The Indian detergent market worth over Rs 29000 crore is a fiercely competitive market with a whole lot of organized and unorganized players, global and local players vying for a pie of the market.HUL commands the detergent market with around 39% share with its power brands like Surf, Rin, Wheel, Sunlight etc.
P&G has been fighting the market leader with Ariel and Tide pitching these brands against Surf and Rin respectively. Ariel is a global brand which has a history dating back to 1967. The brand came to India in 1991 and ever since, the brand has been fighting Surf head-on.
Ariel has always positioned itself as a stain-fighting detergent, thus directly challenging Surf. In the marketing journey, it had used all possible strategies in challenging the market leader. While Surf although a premium-priced detergent tried to appeal to the value, Ariel steadfastly focused on performance in terms of stain-removing. For this, Ariel launched a series of product enhancements and form variants.
In the promotion front, the brand used every trick in the book. While Surf moved from value-based pitching to an emotional " Dirt is Good" theme, Ariel focused on the logic of stain removal. The brand is using the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor in the last two to three years in their campaigns. The theme is revolving around food-stains which are toughest and in a sort of challenge format shows that Ariel cleans the stains better.
Last year, the brand also used Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor in their campaign again highlighting the brand's core promise.
Not to be left behind in the emotional positioning, Ariel in 2016 launched a campaign Share The Load with the hashtag #sharetheload. The theme focused on the fact that women in households are often deprived of basic necessities of life such as sleep because they are forced to take an entire load of managing the households. Hence Ariel decided to be their voice and launched a campaign asking everyone in the house especially men to share the load. The campaign was there for one year and then stopped. In 2020, the campaign was again restarted and was well received by the audiences. The campaign is nicely done and is relevant to the brand since it is talking for its customer- the women of the household.
In 2020, the brand also came out with product innovation - The Pod. Pod is a unique detergent capsule where there are three components of detergent packed using a thin film. One is a stain-remover, another detergent and a whitening element. This capsule has to be put into the washing machine along with the clothes and the capsule breaks to release the detergents.
The USP of this pack is the convenience and more than that this product also showcases the brand's focus and innovative character. As a consumer, there is a novelty value and added convenience but how it fits the laundry budget is something debatable.
Despite all these efforts, Surf still rules the premium laundry segment. Ariel should be credited with a single-minded focus and consistent positioning and also its ability to come out with new product innovations. The brand has remained premium over its competitors and resisted a price war with the competitors. It is patient and focused and I think the brand is letting customers patronize the brand based on the merit than anything else.
