Mayur Suitings : Stars Ki Pasand

Brand : Mayur Suitings
Company: RSWM ( LNJBhilwara group)
Agency: Foresight Mkg & Communication

Brand Count : 201

Mayur Suitings is a brand from the Rs 600 crore Rajasthan Spinning &Weaving Mills( RSWM) and is one of the famous Indian textile brand. This 30 year old brand is famous for its penchant for celebrity endorsements. Mayur is having a market share of about 7 % in the 10,000 crore Indian suitings market.

Mayur shot into limelight during 1995 when the brand roped in Shah Rukh Khan to endorse the brand. Shahrukh has not reached the stardom during those days but everyone knew that he will one day become the King. ShahRukh endorsed Mayur for 4 years from 1995 to 1999. The ads which proclaimed ShahRukh "Mayur" Khan was a hit which propelled Mayur to the big league.
Later the brand was endorsed by Chandrachur Singh, Sharad Kapoor , Lisa Ray and Virendra Sewag.

Mayur is a classic case of Celebrity endorsement which shows both the positive and negative aspects of using a celebrity. Here is a brand that became successful because of celebrity but in the same case, the brand could not make use of the celebrity to its advantage.After ShahRukh, the brand was not able to sustain the momentum. With ShahRukh, the company hit upon a novel idea of catching the stars with potential to make it big. That may be one of the reason why Chandrachur Singh was roped in. But he could not make it to the big league. Later the brand moved from movies to cricket by roping in Virendra Sewag . Sewag was in the peak of the career when he started to endorse Mayur. In 2007, Sewag was dropped and Salman Khan became the endorser.
The brand is so addicted to the celebrity that the tagline is " Stars Ki Pasand". It sounds like the younger brother of Lux soap which is " Sitaron ka saundarya sabun". Like Lux, the brand also faces the issue of customers not believing that the celebrity actually use the brand ( are they ?).
The use of celebrity in the case of Mayur makes some sense because the brand is a mass market fashion brand that is aimed at SEC B,C and D category. Hence for these segment, celebrity endorsement gives instant popularity and credibility for the brand.

On theflip side, "Stars ki Pasand" offers no meaningful differentiation for the brand since the believability of the positioning is minimal. The brand is in the "Value for Money " category which itself makes " Stars Ki Pasand" unbelievable. For Lux, Celebrity is in the brand's DNA. But unlike Lux, Mayur could not build that to its DNA even after 30 years of existence. The reason is that Lux is endorsed by all the leading ladies in the Bollywood while Mayur could not afford that luxury. Mayur tend to use only one celebrity at a time ( till the contract expires) . A five or six stars endorsing the brand at the same time could have done wonders to reinforce the positioning but seldom companies can afford that. The failure of the celebrity to perform and excel also has acted against the brand. Chandrachur , Sharad and oflate Sewag has been at the lowest ebb of their career graph
The lacklustre performance of these stars have a huge negative impact on the brand equity of brands like Mayur who solely depend on the celebrity for the strength. While brands like Lux, Pepsi and the like uses celebrity, they do not derive the strength from the stars. The stars usually amplifies the already strong equity of these brands. But in the case of Mayur, the very existence of the brand is dependant on the celebrity. There is no innate differentiation for the brand. In other words , the brand fails to stand on its own. The question to ask is why do customers buy a brand ( Mayur) .People buy for its quality and value for money proposition which are the brand's innate strength. But all the ads of Mayur shows the celebrity and the brand and the celebrity will say " Mayur Celebrity Khan" .... thats it.

On the positive side, the endorsements by celebrities gave this brand a Masstige image which many marketers consider a competitive advantage in the Indian market.

The company has big plans for this brand. Currently Mayur is a Rs 100 crore brand and company wants it to be Rs 300 crore brand in five years time. The brand has been updating its product with the latest innovations in the category. Mayur already has a Nano tech collection and is slowly extending to ready-to-wear segments. The brand also has plans to move into premium category and has launched a collection branded Glazano.

Mayur faces the crucial issue of discovering a meaningful differentiation based on the brand rather than on the celebrity. The brand faces competition from super brands like Raymonds, Grasim and Reid and Taylor. The Ex-icon for Mayur, Shah Rukh is now endorsing another brand Belmonte from Skumars .Although Mayur is targeting a much lower end of the segment,the brand has to rediscover itself to reach its ambition.

Source: fibre2fashion,lnjbhilwara.com,businessline,agencyfaqs.

Brand Update : Maggi

A good marketer is never tired of innovation and is never bored about his brands . That quality is visible in Maggi's relentless pursuit to make its brand's position permanent in the Indian consumer's dining table. 2007 saw another innovation from this super brand in the form of Rice Noodle. The rice noodle comes in three flavours : Lemon Masala, Shahi pulao and Chilly Chow. The brand has given one more reason for Mothers to give Noodles to their children. The new products are in tune with the Nestle's vision of moving into healthy foods. This innovation will go a long way in reinforcing the brand equity of Maggi. Currently ads are running in all major channel for Rice Noodles. Although the ads are Hindi skewed, I am sure no one is complaining.

Related Brands
Maggi

Marketing Management by Philip Kotler : Walking the Talk

Brand : Marketing Management
Owner : Dr Philip Kotler
Publisher: Pearson

Brand Count : 200

Marketing Practice is celebrating its analysis of 200 brands. This post is dedicated to the Father of Marketing :Dr. Philip Kotler and his iconic book on Marketing branded "Marketing Management". Both the Author and the Book are considered to be iconic brands.

Dr. Kotler is SC Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at Kellogg's School of Management at NorthWestern University. Dr Kotler is an Economist by education with Masters in Economics from University of Chicago and a PhD in Economics from MIT. He did his Post Doctoral Research In Mathematics from Harvard and in Behavioral Science from Chicago. Dr Kotler has around 35 books to his credit and has published more than 130 articles in international journals.

The first edition of Marketing Management was released in 1967. Prof.Kotler in an interview published in the book " Conversations with Marketing Masters" illustrates the origin of this iconic book. He recalls that at that time, he found most of the marketing books lacking theory and being shallow. He effectively understood the need for an organised and a scientific study of the marketing function. To quote from the book "They contained lists of the traits of good salespeople,the role of warehouses, a description of consumer demographics, and other definitions and lists. This was market anatomy but not market physiology."
Dr Kotler gave a new perspective to marketing in his first book by giving a behavioral,mathematical and consumer oriented view. He introduced new concepts and in a way made the theory more related to practice. Kotler gave a structure to the study of marketing. Kotler also was considered to be the first to define marketing.
In his book, Kotler used the framework of 4 P's of Jerry McCarthy. McCarthy had authored the book Basic Marketing which was the popular textbook at that period of time,but 4Ps became famous through Kotler. The first edition became very popular and the rest as they say is history.
Prof. Kotler was teaching Economics during his early stages in his career. He was introduced to marketing during his post doctoral research in Harvard. He was in a group that studied the application of mathematical models in business decision making especially in marketing. That kindled the desire in him to explore the science of marketing. Dr. Don who was the Dean at Kellogg's ignited the love for marketing in Kotler who then took up teaching in marketing at the Northwestern university.

The success of the book Marketing Management is the testimony of the author walking the talk. Even after 38 years of the launch, Marketing Management is considered as the bible of marketing. The book itself is a case study on " How to build a successful brand".
The brand practiced all that is being preached by Prof. Kotler. All the 4 P's are managed with perfection and the product is being consistently adapted with the changing world. It is not that Kotler's book is not having any competition. There are innumerable books written by Professors of high stature and calibre than Kotler. Even there are books written by Professors who taught Kotler. But none of those books have the brand equity of Kotler. The reason is simple : None of the books changed with times .
Have a look at the editions of Marketing Management :
1967- First
1971,1976,1980,1984,1988,1991,1994,1997,2000 ( Millennium ),2003, and
2006 ( 12th edition)
No other marketing text books can boat about this much editions. The other differentiating factor is that these editions are not reprints, the content and the examples are updated and made contemporary. Kotler also does not hesitate to make a drastic change in his approach for the new editions. That makes each editions new and often compels a student of marketing to buy every editions because every editions are new.Every new editions capture the changes that happens in the marketing world.
Another reason that propelled this success of this brand is the ability of the author to explain concepts in a simple style. By reading marketing, one gets the impression that it is simple and not a rocket science. There is no alpha beta theta or formulas or equations. Even a non management student can understand the concepts without the help of a teacher. That may be the reason why there are no Management Development Programmes titled " Marketing for Non Marketing executives" while there are finance for non finance executives and so forth. Prof. Kotler once remarked " Marketing is simple to understand and difficult to practice". But this brand is an example of practicing the talk.
The book also was adapted to different markets not only by having translations but also changing the examples and cases to make the concepts more clear to the target audience. So when Kotler teaches the strategy of GLOCAL , he practices it. The book priced reasonably is available across the market thus ensuring that all Marketing Mixes are perfectly balanced.

Of these 12 editions, 10 th edition of Millennium edition is the most theoretically strong edition ( my opinion). The edition clearly takes the book to a new paradigm ( if i can use that jargon). 11th edition reinforce the new thinking.
Sometimes I used to wonder , what will happen to Marketing Management after Kotler? Will it just fade into history?
Marketing Management 12th edition was the answer.12th edition was a surprise for every one. The brand now has been completely renovated .The book for the first time had a co-author in Professor Kevin Lane Keller. Dr. Keller is E.B Osborn Professor at Tuft School of Business.Keller is considered to be a Pioneer in Brand management. A young genius, Keller's book is widely used text in the Brand Management course.
The new edition of the book is a marked deviation from the rest of the collections. The book puts more emphasis on brand and delves deep into the concepts of customer value but without losing the Kotler touch. The new edition assures the continuity of this brand for the new generation.
The usual complaint that marketing teachers face in India was that students feel that the text books are westernised and has seldom any relevance to Indian market. I used to have tough time convincing the students to understand the universal relevance of marketing concepts.
2007 saw the adaptation of Kolter's text to Indian market.The new book Marketing Management : South Asian perspective has two Indian professors Abraham Kosy and Mithi Jha ( IIM A and IIM B) co-authoring Kotler and Keller.

A perfect gentleman he is ,Prof. Kotler deny that he ever marketed his book. He describe the book as an outcome of his Romance for Marketing.

Source: Wiley.com,pearson,nbs,kellogswebsite

Brand Update : Vimal

Reliance has rejuvenated the once iconic Vimal Brand. Ads have started appearing in the media. The brand retains the famous " Only Vimal " tag. Reports say that the brand is being positioned as a High Fashion brand and is supported by fashion and stitching experts from Italy. This is reflected in the new range of Suitings "Alta Moda" collection that is being promoted in the print ad.It is a glad news for all of those who grew up with the Vimal and saw it sidelined by the company for other strategic reasons. Vimal now faces the task of getting into the consideration set of the new generation who have forgotten this brand.The brand now faces the competition from Raymond's who filled the void left by Vimal.The relaunch of Vimal will the Test of marketing skill of Reliance.

Related Brand
Vimal

Optra : For A Special Journey Called Life

Brand : Optra
Company: Chevrolet (General Motors)
Agency:McCann Erickson

Brand Count: 199

Chevrolet Optra was the brand that lifted the fortunes of General Motors in India. The brand Chevrolet was not a new brand forthe Indian market. The brand was present in the pre and post independent days in India. Chevrolet Impala was the preferred brand of car of the rich and famous during the late 40's. Chevy left India during the 60's in the wake of the nationalist movement.

Although General Motors was in the Indian market with its Opel range of cars, neither Astra or Corsa was considered as blockbuster brands in terms of volume.The company in 2003 introduced the Chevrolet brand in India. Globally Chevrolet was positioned independently with a personality on its own. The brand is considered to be a symbol of American culture.
In India when Chevrolet was introduced, the company considered it as a relaunch rather than as a new brand.The first brand from Chevrolet was the SUV branded Forrester. The brand had a lukewarm response from the market. The purpose of Forrester launch was to showcase the premiumness of the brand rather than to build volume.

In 2003 the company launched its blockbuster brand Optra in the market. The brand was in the D segment which is the premium sedan segment. During the launch , GM had two tasks, first was to establish the credibility of the Chevrolet brand then to establish the Optra brand.
To establish the Chevrolet brand, GM started a series of campaign connecting to the culture of the Indian consumers. The ads were the example of localising of a global brand. Chevy in those campaigns never talked about its American roots. The campaign showed glimpses of Indian culture and ended the ad with the tagline : " I am Chevrolet" .The purpose was to become close to Indian consumer.This was a bold move because the company decided to relinquish its secondary association of the Nation of origin of the brand.
The launch of Optra started with the series of Ads appealing to the rational mind of the customer. Typically the ad talked about the luxury and the features and functionality. This stage is very important in campaigns of high value and complex products to establish the points of parity.
The brand gained instant popularity because of the opulence and the luxury that the car provided. Although the customers new that Optra was the relaunch of Daewoo 's Nubira, the design and the package was so good that the product was a hit in the market.Optra was designed by the well known Italian design house Pininfarina.
At this point Optra launched its campaign aiming at an emotional positioning platform . The brand had a highly acclaimed campaign featuring the event " Karva Chauth". This ad gave the needed differentiation for the brand. The brand had one of the best taglines " For a Special Journey called Life". The TG for Optra was Executives in the age 30-45. The brand tried to communicate Love, Care and Warmth as its core values. These campaigns together with reasonable performance ensured the brand, 24% share in the D-segment.The brand faced heavyweights like Honda City and Sonata in this segment.
But during 2005-06, the company shifted its focus to new product launches like Aveo and U-Va. I don't remember any campaigns for Optra during this period. This lack of marketing support put the brand out of the race in the D segment. The leader in the segment Honda City redesigned the entire product and reinforced its leadership position.The brand also changed its tagline to " Its everything you have wished for".

Although this brand was doing well in the market, the sales slump was the result of the company losing focus on the brand. The emotional platform gave the brand a good start but the brand was not able to find a sustainable differentiation for itself. More over the brand faced competition from different categories rather than the sedans. For example a customer having a budget of 7-10 lakhs have the option of buying a Scorpio or a city or an Optra. Hence creating a meaningful positioning becomes paramount .With Honda city commanding the market, Optra should have to add/ show more value to the customer.
Some effort is now started in rejuvenating the brand. Let us wait and see how it succeeds.

source: indianauto,iitb,agencyfaqs,businessline
imagesource:chevrolet website, agencyfaqs

Brand Update : Alpenliebe

Perfetti has introduced a new candy brand Chocoliebe. Although this is a new brand, the brand has strong secondary association with the blockbuster candy Alpenliebe. Chocoliebe is the chocolate filled caramel candy and will be taking on the Cadbury's Eclairs.Perfetti has a chocolate brand Chocotella.Chocoliebe is being positioned on the emotional platform of Love. Cadbury's has a product line extension of Eclairs Crunch which will take on Chocoliebe. Chocoliebe uses the tagline " Pyar Do Pyar Lo" which translates to " Give Love ,Take Love".

image courtsey: agencyfaqs

Related Brand
Alpenliebe