Mentos : Dimag Ki Batti Jala De

Brand : Mentos
Company: Perfetti Van Melle
Agency : O&M


Perfetti Van Melle ,the $ 1.3 Billion confectionery giant launched its Indian Operation in1994 with one brand Centerfresh. From that one brand it has grown to command a 25% value share in Indian confectionery market with around 13 brand that include Alpenliebe Chlormint, Mentos, Big Babool, Coffitos , Marbles, Centershock Fruitella etc.

Mentos is its brand in the 1200 crore sugar confectionery market in India. The brand comes under the category of Chewy dragee. Dregee is a candy with smooth and relatively hard candy coating.

World wide Mentos is positioned on the freshness platform, the baseline being “The Freshmaker” .Here in India, initially the brand was launched in the freshness platform but later the brand has slightly extended the global positioning from Freshmaker to Smart thinking. The baseline “ Dimag ki Batti Jala De” has been an instant hit with the target audience.

The campaigns are humorous and simple and O&M has been able to move flexibily with this “smart thinking “ platform. Perfetti is known for its clutter breaking ideas and campaigns, the success of the horrible tasting Centershock is a proof of the marketing acumen of Perfetti. The campaigns of Chocotella and Chlormint has created a humour fashion in confectionery ads which resulted in a clutter of confectionery ads which claims to be humorous.

Perfetti has been very successful in launching this brand although market share figures for individual brands are not available. Besides spending enough money on brands, the company has also strengthened its distribution network. The brand has also been able to capture the 50 paise price point making it affordable. The target group is the youth with a cool attitude who considers themselves to be smart.Confectioneries comes under the low value, low involvement impulsive product in the convenient goods category. Here much one has to maintain the brand’s share of mind and share of voice since the purchase is impulsive. Although Mentos is a sugar confectionery, it is perceived to be in the mouth freshener candy category. With the smart advertisement, this brand has created a place for itself in this category.

Daikin : Complete Silence

Brand : Daikin
Company: Daikin Shriram Ltd
Agency : Dentsu

Indian A/c Market is growing at a scorching pace and more and more international players are lining up to take their share of the pie. The Indian domestic A/c Market is estimated to be around Rs 3600 crore is dominated by Window A/c's. The market is dominated by LG with a market share of 30% followed by Voltas (16%) and Samsung (13%).

Daikin was launched in 2000 as a joint venture between the Japanese Major Daikin and Shriram group. Daikin was initially not concentrating on the home market. With the upwardly mobile Indian family started shopping heavily, Daikin was not able to resist the temptation of tapping this market.

In India A/C is always considered a luxury owing to the price and the cost of maintaining the machine. The entry barrier was removed by our home grown Voltas with the launch of India's first sub 10000 A/C. The product was a block buster and took away the price barrier from the mind of the Indian consumer. A/C became more affordable. But the popularity is restricted to upper class because of the electricity cost associated with A/C's.

Although Voltas changed the rules of the game, much of the action is taking place in the premium segment. It is interesting to see the positioning of the major players in the value added category

LG is positioned on the basis of its time tested health platform
Voltas on the basis of pricing.
O'General on Cooling (lousy ad)
Hitachi is positioned on the size ( Hitachi Atom range)
Samsung on Breathing safe
Blue star on Fresh Air
The new entrant Onida is focusing on the cooling power telling the customer that an A/C that does not cool at 45 degree is just a cooler ( smart positioning given the fact that Samsung have models that cool even at 54 degree).

Given that most of the players have taken on one feature or another, Daikin differentiate on the basis of the " Silence " factor. The A/C taking the feature of its "Silent working " as its USP. Launched with this USP, the brand is now extending the Silence to being Calm. The latest ad clearly shows this USP. The ads of Daikin stands out from the other A/C ads since it is devoid of any noise. These ads are critically acclaimed and gives the brand a premium touch. Daikin also boasts of "Variable Refrigerant Volume " technology which allows the A/C to be more flexible in its installation.

The positioning has to be relevant to the consumer so as to influence his purchasing decision. It has to be seen how much is the relevance of "Silence" feature in the purchasing decision of a functional product like A/C. In the hierarchy of importance in the case of features, Silence plays second fiddle to Cooling and Fresh Air. That may be the reason Daikin have changed the Postioning from Silence to a much more flexible "Calm" option.

Daikin have upped its share of voice in the Indian market, with smart campaigns backed with good product, this brand is worth watching.

Nataraj Pencils : Aur Yeh Lega Sixer

Brand: Nataraj pencils
Company: Hindustan Pencils
Agency: O&M

Not much has been written about pencils these days. Pencils have always been an integral part of ones academic life. From the lower kindergarten to the class where students are allowed to use pens, Pencils were our "comrade in arms". Now those who read this blog may be using pencils now at the office (some times more than a pen) after a long gap. I have seen many of senior executives use pencils rather than pen in scribbling their notes ( not for official circulation). Still this pencil is ubiquitous. May be if we plot the usage of pencil in ones life, it will be some thing like this
0-4 : no pencil
4-10 : only pencil
10-19 : pencil only for drawing/graphs etc
19-35: Pencil what is that? May be for bank exams.
35-55: Pencil for scribbling ( if u are in a senior position in corporate)

Nataraj is a brand from Hindustan Pencils Ltd which is one of the largest pencil manufacturers in the country. Nataraj is their oldest brand. Nataraj is famous for its quality and its feature of not breaking easily . The brand was positioned as the " pencil with special bonded lead". The old cartoon ad and the jingle " Nataraj still champion " is still having some recall with the public. Nataraj took a break from ads for the past five years. Now they are planning to relaunch the brand in the Indian market where Camlin is the market leader.

Pencil market is sustaining in the Indian market because there is a restriction in using pen in the lower primary schools. Even in China , pens are taking over the market. The time is not far enough for restrictions in using pens in lower classes to be lifted. Then where will the pencil go.

Pencils are used in schools mainly to improve handwriting. We know that despite using pencils ours are not better so is there any point in this restrictions? Secondly wooden pencils are harming our nature (Iam no Medha Patkar, but isn't it so).

Hence just like what Hercules did to cycle market ( discussed in my previous blog) there has to be a redefinition of this product. Already there are pencils which have plastic body and lead refills. Camlin have segmented the market and have launched Exam Subbrand for pencils to be used during exams ( a smart move). But when pencils are not going to be used at all , what is the solution? Is it going to be a tool only to be used for drawing? If there are no pencils , what about erasers and sharpener?

Frankly I dont have an answer. It is going to be like scooters, it took Honda to redefine the scooter market.

Pencils : How long will they be in Crease?

Lays : No One Can Eat Just One

Brand : Lays
Company: Frito Lay ( Pepsico Group )
Agency: JWT

If you believe that it is not possible to brand a commodity that too a food product and sell it at a premium, think again. You are mistaken. Ask any youngster what would he like as a snack food.Chances are that he will say Lays..

Lays from Fritolay : a group company of Pepsico India is the only money making machine for this global giant in India. Indian snack food business is a huge market to the tune of 17000tonnes out of which the branded foods contribute around 6500 tonne. In revenue terms, Indian snack food business is worth around Rs 2500 crore and growing. Lays commands a monopoly sort of position in the Potato chips category which is around 85% of the snack food market.

Lays is competing head on with the unbranded players in the market and if you look at the broader levels of competition , this brand is competing even with the snacks from our own kitchen. It is interesting to see how this brand has succeeded in the commodity business. It followed all the rules to perfection.
1. Quality: the brand offered superior quality compared to the other unbranded snacks there by reducing the risk to the customer . The crisp and beautifully packed chips were a new experience for the Indian consumer.
2. Value addition: the brand offers unimaginable range of potato chips with many flavors made especially for India. Together with many new international flavors, it easily caught the imagination of Indian consumer
3. Aggressive brand building: No one needs to teach Pepsico How to build a brand! Lays spent lot of money on brands building and once established were able to charge a premium for the brand.
Although initially Indian consumer were pissed off by the high price, slowly the brand established its credentials. The so called "Liberation child' and the software yuppies caught hold of this brand. These trend setters made this brand a must for looking cool in campuses. " Lays with Cola" began to take its toll on "Samosa and Tea".

Lays lavishly spent money on brand building. The ads were catchy and was positioning the product on the platform of "Taste" .The baseline ' No one can eat just one " is one of the most successful baseline in Indian advertising. The baseline is true also since the taste is compelling that no one can eat just one. The brand ambassadors Saif and Priety gave a cool attitude to this brand making it more interesting for the new generation. Lays have always tried to excite its fans by launching new flavors frequently. This ensured that the brand is never boring. The latest flavor is the Latino style. The company is going to focus on Music as a base for building this brand.

With ITC foraying into this business will see the market expanding . But Lays have put itself in a formidable position that is difficult to match. For now , No one can eat just one ...

Zodiac : Finest Quality Shirt Makers

Brand : Zodiac
Company: Zodiac clothing
Agency: FCB Ulka

Zodiac is India's premium and one of the oldest brands in the readymade menswear category. The company started off as an exporting firm launched Zodiac in the domestic market in late 80's. In the Indian readymade menswear category which is estimated to be around 6000 crore, Zodiac have a market share of 17 % in the branded premium category.

Zodiac as a brand is promoted very subtly. You seldom see the campaigns in mass media. But if you read magazines, you are not going to miss the ads either in the back cover or inside cover. The ads are crafted in similar format and without any celebrities or fantasies, it is shirt all the way.

Zodiac is positioned as shirts from " Finest Quality Shirt Makers". The core qualities of the product are the unmatched quality and the designing. Zodiac follows the design and retail focus. The shirts which is available across the globe take fashion cues from the west and the designers back in India puts it into the shirts.

From the eighties, the readymade menswear have undergone drastic changes. We saw the emergence of categories like Smart casuals from Color Plus, Friday dressing from Allensolly, Premium range from Loius Philippe which changed the way Indians dress to work.

Zodiac targets at the upwardly mobile executives and is still sticking to the traditional concept of formal wear. Not wanting to lag behind the emergence of new breakaway categories, Zodiac launched its club wear brand ZOD! in 2002. Zodiac have also an impressive range of Ties where it have captured a commanding position in that category.

Zodiac have maintained its positioning through these years as World's finest shirt makers.But with the competition taking the categories and discovering new categories, Zodiac cannot afford to be silent. The brand needs larger doses of promotion to survive in the Indian market.

Limca : Lime N Lemony

Brand : Limca
Company: Coca Cola
Agency:O&M

When Ramesh Chauhan sold his soft drinks brands to Coca Cola for 10 mn $, he may had some clue that the brand babies that he is selling will be left to die.But he may not have a clue that some of them will survive, Thums Up did. Now we see a very unusual ads in TV, ads of Limca, Who?

Limca was one of the brands that was sold along with Thums Up, and Gold Spot. Launched in 1971, Limca was the quintessential Isotonic drink that quenches your thirst, it was the lemon drink from Parle. Limca was virtually dead since it had no place in Coca Cola’s Indian plan.
This summer has proved that some brands have life of their own, Thums Up had that, now Limca reinforces it. Limca was a powerful brand of our times, it was the major Lime flavoured drink and was positioned as “ Lime and Lemony”. As usual the ads were catchy and depicted fun and enjoyment.How did Limca resurrected at this juncture? The answer is that in the first place there was no reason for it to die. Coke did not have a lemon flavored drink but some on in Atlanta thought that it could come out with such a variant later.
Now the Indian SD market is hotting up. With the traditional Coke- Pepsi war is hotting up with lousy ads from both sides : Pepsi with the rubbish Pepsi TV and Coke with an equal bullshit ‘ Thande ka Thadka” While Sprite has messed up with Sania, Mountain dew is stuck with the three Hooligans. While 7 up is trying to be more Clear, its agency had forgotten the fact that every time you talk about being Clear, Sprite comes to the mind. The brand element Fido has not been able to connect with the Indian psyche.The only silver lining is Thums Up surprisingly is back with its “ Taste the Thunder “ campaign ( it could have avoided the hyperbole). While Mirinda is nowhere remembered so is Fanta.

Hence there is enough space for a different flavour , a flavour that is most popular in India, lemon. And Limca makes perfect sense. The ads of Limca is in line with the earlier campaigns that shows lots of water and really urges you to take some liquid . In the earlier avatar, Limca had that COOL attitude while Gold Spot was the Zing thing.In India , lemon flavored drinks had to compete with our very own Nimbu pani, that is a reason why earlier nimbu version of Mirinda failed in Indian market. Hence Limca have to bypass the direct comparison with the cheaper Nimbu paani.

The resurrection of Limca is indeed a nostalgia and good news for all who knew this brand , we welcome you …