Imperial Leather : Everyday Luxury

Brand : Imperial Leather
Company : Cussons

Brand Analysis Count : 412

Imperial Leather is a brand which failed to make its mark in the Indian market. This heritage brand had all the good product qualities but because of its marketing practices ,Imperial Leather failed to realize its potential in the Indian market.

Imperial Leather is a British brand with a rich heritage. The brand has a history dating back to 1768. Imperial Leather was created in 1938 by Alexander Tom Cussons. (read the Wiki entry here). Now Imperial Leather is owned by the company PZ Cussons.

Imperial Leather came to India in 1996 with a JV with Ahmed Oil Mills ( Postman oil makers). The brand was positioned as a premium luxury bathing soap. In 1999, Cussons entered into a contract with Godrej to distribute the brand across the country. In 2001, the brand severed ties with Godrej and started operating on its own.

Imperial Leather during its launch time was one of the few luxury bathing soaps in the Indian market. The brand, because of its classic packaging and excellent product qualities gained popularity among the higher income households. Even middle class consumers like my household indulged in the brand once in a while.

The brand was characterized by its packaging and its product qualities. The soap especially the white soap was really good interms of its lather and fragrance. The classic characteristic of the brand was the metallised logo embedded on the soap. That logo gave the soap a premium luxury look.

The brand was hopping to cash in on the distribution reach of Godrej but the deal did not work out well. The brand failed miserably in the promotion front also. Except for the initial promotional efforts during the launch, Imperial Leather was virtually silent across the media. Another reason was the high price. Since the brand was virtually silent, it lost the connect with the consumers and couldn't justify the high price.

Imperial Leather was positioned as a Luxury Soap with rich creamy lather. The brand had the tagline " Everyday Luxury" .

I cannot remember a single ad of this brand anywhere in recent times. In the plethora of soap brands, how can a brand survive without any promotion ?

The brand is still available in supermarkets but I am not sure whether Cussons has any solid plans of Imperial Leather in India. Globally, the brand still has a lot of equity and even has extended itself into baby products. It is sad that such a brand could not survive in the Indian soap market.

Imperial Leather did not become highly successful because of laidback promotional strategies. The company never invested heavily in promotions and this cost the brand dearly. Imperial Leather is slowly fading away from the consumer's mind. The newer generation consumers has heard about this brand but never used this brand . If this situation persists, Imperial Leather may not be able to survive in the Indian market.

The way forward for Imperial Leather is to go back to its core brand promise of " Everyday Luxury ". The brand needs heavy loads of promotions to make a place for itself in the highly competitive soap market.

Scotch Purple Glue Stick : Magic

Brand : Scotch Purple Glue Stick
Company : 3M
Agency : Grey

Brand Analysis Count : 411

3M is always known for its customer centric innovations. Scotch Purple Glue Stick is such an innovation. This brand was launched recently in select cities of India.

Scotch Purple Glue is India's first colored glue . The brand is targeting the school going kids.
What makes this glue different from other glue stick brands like FeviStick is its innovative coloring mechanism.

The Purple Glue rubs purple but dries clear. That means when the kids rubs the glue on the paper, it is in purple color that helps the kids to see where the glue is being applied. When the glue dries, it becomes colorless and clear. This is nothing but the magic of innovation.

Watch the TVC here : Scotch Purple Glue

The brand also has a large choke resistant cap which prevents accidental choking which makes it safe for the kids. How many Indian marketers has ever thought of making their products safe for kids ?

As a consumer, I am delighted to see the convenience that this product will offer to kids . Will I buy it for my child, absolutely. Will my kid love the product, I bet she will.

Related Brand
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Suthol : Soothes All

Brand : Suthol
Company : GD Pharmaceuticals


Brand Analysis Count : 410

Suthol is a brand from GD pharmaceuticals - the manufacturers of the famous Boroline brand. Suthol is a liquid antiseptic. Suthol was launched in 2006. The brand was first launched in West Bengal.

I noticed this brand through an advertisement in a leading magazine. Frankly I have never seen this brand in any of the stores. I guess that Suthol is just being launched in Kerala.

The brand is fighting in the Rs 120 crore antiseptic market which is dominated by Dettol.
Suthol brand name is derived from two words : Soothe All. The brand's positioning is also in line with the meaning of the brand.

Like Boroline, Suthol also believes in subtle promotions. Boroline has grown not because of ads but because of product efficacy. Suthol is also following Boroline's path.

Suthol is being positioned as an antiseptic lotion that help fight/prevent rashes and infections. The brand claims to have skin soothing properties as well as germ killing properties.

The brand is fighting in a very difficult market. Dettol is almost generic to this category. As a market leader, Dettol is very aggressive over competition. Cracking such a market is not very easy. There are two options for a challenger brand - to fight with the market leader or to carve out a niche. Suthol has to make a choice between these two options.

To fight a brand like Dettol, one needs to have a serious differentiation. This is a market where even J&J and HUL failed to displace Dettol.

Suthol is a liquid antiseptic which is different from Dettol. Unlike Dettol, Suthol is not a concentrated antiseptic. That means you can apply Suthol directly to the skin ( See website for more details) . And unlike Dettol, it does not have that burning sensation and claims to be soothing . Suthol even asks consumers to pour some drops on the palm and rub it on the body which is unthinkable for Dettol. That means , Suthol has an edge over Dettol when it comes to personal care application .

In a sense, Suthol has some powerful differentiators compared to Dettol . But it lacks the brand equity or the financial muscle to fight a power brand like Dettol. That may be the reason why the brand has chosen a phased soft launch.

The best way for Suthol is to carve a segment of users who look for a daily-use antiseptic which is not as strong as Dettol. The brand has the right attributes to appeal to such consumers.

The campaigns of Suthol is nothing but very basic.
Watch the tvc here : Suthol

Even the print ads are not focused on building a positioning platform. Most of the ads are just informative ads focusing on product attributes. I think the Suthol needs to focus on building its brand around its core differentiation of " a Soothing antiseptic " . A dose of celebrity endorsement will also help the brand to get consumer trials.

Suthol is slowly expanding its market from Bengal to down south Kerala. It will be interesting to see how the brand puts up against the mighty Dettol.

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Brand Update : Santoor

Santoor has become the market leader in South India dethroning Lifebuoy , according to a report in Economic Times. Santoor has registered a 18 % growth this year. Now Santoor has 15.7 % value share in the South India market . In the national level, Santoor is the third largest soap brand with a share of 7.5% (value share).

Read the report here


Santoor's success can be attributed to its penchant for consistency. The brand is highly focused in its communication message and consistently invest in building brands.

Kudos for the brand

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Appreciation for Marketing Practice

Bachelorsdegreeonline.com thinks that Marketing Practice is an awesome blog for business education. The blog post also gives links to several amazing blogs which is highly informative.

Read the post here : Bachelorsdegree

Thanks

Revive : Creating a Category

Brand : Revive
Company : Marico
Agency : Publicis


Brand Analysis Count : 409

Revive is an interesting brand. This is a brand which created the instant starch market in India. Revive can be considered as a classic example of branding a commodity.
Revive was launched in 1993. The brand was received very well by the consumer community. Revive targeted the urban middle and upper households which was willing to pay a premium for convenience.

Revive is also an example of a product that was developed to satisfy a unmet need. Indian households traditionally used starch to stiffen their clothes,especially cotton clothes. The process of making starch and using them was a tedious process for the homemaker. The homemade starch was quite messy and used to leave patches in clothes. It used to smell bad and was not suitable for color clothes.

Revive solved these issues at one go. The brand was initially launched in the powder form. The homemaker could make starch easy by just mixing the powder with water. It offered convenience and saved a lot of time. Another significant advantage of Revive was that it could be used in cold water. Traditional starch needed warm water. Revive also can be used in color clothes which was again a big advantage for the consumers.

It is difficult for the consumer to ignore a product that offers solution to their problems . Revive was successful because it made the life of homemaker little more easier. Revive too had its share of disadvantages. The problem was with the product form and the price. Revive was premium priced compared to the virtually "free" homemade starch. Hence convincing consumers to sample the product was tough. Since the product was in the powder form, consumers was confused about the quantity of powder that should be used.

The real challenge for Revive came when Jyothi Lab launched Stiff & Shine. Stiff & Shine was a liquid stiffener which was much convenient than the powder Revive. Jyothi Lab was trying the same strategy which it used to dethrone Robin powder blue.

But Marico reacted very fast to the challenge posed by Stiff & Shine. It launched the liquid version of Revive very fast and backed it with a heavy dose of campaign.
Revive is focusing on three main attributes in its campaigns- instant starch ( convenience),better stiffness for clothes and no patches.
The fight between Stiff & Shine and Revive is still raging with both brands now linking confidence and social acceptability . Both the brands are running similar campaigns ( using kids) claiming that clothes that are well ironed and shining will earn you self-respect and social acceptance.

Recently Marico took the fight to a new level by launching the liquid blue extension of Revive. I was surprised to see the ad of Revive liquid blue. No further details about this extension is available in the public domain .

Revive is a brand which is promoted heavily by Marico. The instant starch market is still very small and the task of the marketer is to increase the market size rather than to fight for the market share. The recent campaigns connecting the brand and social acceptance is targeted at non-users of this category motivating them to use the product.

The instant starch category has a great market potential and the brands should focus on increasing the category size. There is lot of room for growth for these brands when the category grows . Revive should resist the temptation of extension because the brand will reap rich rewards if it focuses on the category it created.

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