Friday, June 14, 2013

Brand Update : Axe disappoints with Ranbir doing a Ben Affleck

Axe deo is facing the fiercest competition  in its life in India with local and MNC deo brands breathing down its neck. According to certain reports that came in ET Now's Brand Equity show, the brand had lost its leadership position in the Indian market to the new entrant Fogg.

One of the reason for the trouble is that Axe's positioning has been under threat. almost all deo brands has been aping the positioning theme of Axe thereby diluting the brand's uniqueness in the Indian market. Axe was not able to do much about it and continued with its strategy of frequent launches of new variants and importing ads from its global markets.


For a change, Axe decided to go local in its promotional strategy and roped in the current Bollywood heartthrob Ranbir Kapoor to endorse the brand. The news came as a surprise since Axe never ( in my knowledge) ran a campaign using a celebrity in India.
Axe launched its new variant Axe Blast with the new celebrity endorsement . The ad is currently on air.


Watch the ad here : Axe Ranbir Ad

What was shocking is that the ad is the exact copy of an older ad ( more than 7 years) of Axe Clicker which is a variant available in markets outside India. The Axe Clicker brand featured Ben Affleck .
Watch the ad here : Axe Ben Affleck
Now if the brand Axe can afford to bring Ranbir to the fold, why did the brand chose to just copy an old theme and present it in the Indian market ? 

Its so cheap a strategy to adopt in an era where information is available to everyone. And its a totally a wrong move when the competition is eating away the share. Ranbir will get eyeballs and may in the short-run help the brand to reinforce the existing awareness.The  current approach is sending warning signals regarding the laziness of the marketing department in attempting to find an easy way out rather than brainstorming on developing a differentiation strategy to take on the competition.

Thursday, June 06, 2013

Engage Deo : Couple Deodorant !

Brand : Engage
Company : ITC

Brand Analysis # 526

When a company like ITC launches a product, there is anticipation that the product will be remarkable and will make significant impact on the category in which it is launched. Because of the size of ITC and the marketing power it has, most of the time, the brands do make an impact on the category . Brands like Sunfeast, Fiama etc has proved the marketing acumen on ITC.

So naturally when news spread that ITC is foraying into the deo space , such an anticipation is natural. ITC entered the Rs 1400 ( approx) crore Indian deo market with its Engage brand recently. The launch ads are right now on air. The launch campaign however was disappointing because I expected something unique and different from the rest of the deo brands. But surprisingly, ITC chose to play the same theme which the rest of the deo players are following - the so called " Chemistry " between men and women which is apt for an ad for condom rather than a deo.

Engage is being positioned as India's first ' couple deodorant'. I really don't understand the concept initially but the brand's microsite offers some explanation. These deos come in  three pairs ( hence couple)-Rush ( Male & Blush ( Female), Mate ( male ) and Spell ( Female) and Urge ( male) and Tease ( Female). What I don't understand is whether consumer can only buy these in pairs ( pun intended) ?  And what is that the company is intending to convey ? Is it targeting the married couple who would be buying the pair and thus showing love to each other. What happens if husband like Urge and Wife loves Blush ?? 

The launch campaign was a big dampener . The brand is positioned on the bases of " chemistry between the couples " . The ad mentions that " Love Has An All New Language " which probably is the positioning platform of the brand. However, the romance or attraction or chemistry is the most used theme of all the deo brands and Engage sadly failed to differentiate .The focus on " couple deodorant" also will add trouble to the brand since it may restrict the brand's target segment . Another differentiator is the design. ITC has brought in some freshness in the bottle design that will encourage some trial for the brand. 
Watch the ad here : ITC Engage Deo
I think, ITC has rushed into the launch without creating a powerful differentiator. The brand is now launched as an ordinary deo brands that promises  attraction of opposite sex. The Indian deo market is witnessing commoditisation because there is hardly any difference between the brands either in product or in communication. Fogg brand has moved up in the market giving a run-for-money for market leader Axe because it chose to speak in a different language. Engage sadly failed to offer anything new. 

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Celebrity Endorsements of Indian Brands- 2013


  1. Frooti : Shah Rukh Khan
  2. Thums Up : Salman Khan
  3. Pepsi Atom : Sushant Singh Rajput
  4. Luminous : Sachin Tendulkar
  5. Godrej Group : Aamir Khan
  6. Olay : Kajol
  7. Britannia Tiger : Salman Khan
  8. Wheel : Salman Khan
  9. Maggi : Amitabh Bachchan
  10. Yathra : Salman Khan
  11. Shaadi. com : Chetan Bhagat
  12. Lux : SRK, Katrina Kaif
  13. Revital : Salman Khan
  14. Nerolac : SRK
  15. Berger : Katrina 
  16. Slice : Katrina
  17. Kalyan Jewellers : Amitabh Bachchan
  18. Parle Goldstar Cookies : Amitabh Bachchan
  19. Toshiba : Sachin
  20. Panasonic : Katrina Kaif
  21. Kent RO : Hema Malini
  22. JK Cement : OM Puri
  23. Binani cement : Big B
  24. Sony Xperia : Katrina Kaif
  25. Nokia : Priyanka Chopra
  26. Nikon Coolpix : Priyanka Chopra
  27. Garnier men :  John Abraham
  28. Maaza : Parineeti Chouhan and Imran Khan
  29. Tata Tea : SRK
  30. Sparx Shoes : Akshay Kumar
  31. Hyundai i10 : SRK
  32. Dabur Glucoplus C: Ajay Devgn
  33. Coca Cola : Sachin
  34. Amul Macho : Saif Ali Khan
  35. Onn Innerwears : SRK
  36. Dollar Innerwear : Akshay Kumar , Prabhudeva
  37. Dixcy Scott innerwear : Salman Khan
  38. Orient Fans : MS Dhoni
  39. Limca : Kareena Kapoor
  40. Macroman Innerwears : Hrithik Roshan
  41. Mountain Dew : Hrithik Roshan
  42. Rado : Hrithik Roshan
  43. Titan Raaga : Katrina Kaif
  44. Honda Dream Yuga : Akshay Kumar
  45. Appy Fizz : Saif Ali Khan
  46. Berger Paints : Katrina Kaif
  47. Nerolac Paints : SRK
  48. Rasna : Virendra Sewag
  49. Revital : Salman Khan
  50. Cinthol : Virat Kohli
  51. Xylys Watch : Farhan Akthar
  52. Nescafe : Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar, Purab
  53. Gujarat Tourism : Big B
  54. Luxor Nano Clean : Big B
  55. Colgate : Sonam Kapoor
  56. BrookeBond Taj Mahal : Madhuri Dixit
  57. Lakme : Kareena Kapoor
  58. Bru Coffee : Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma
  59. Lo'real : Aishwaria Rai Bachchan
  60. Mirinda : Asin
  61. Tanishq : Sridevi
  62. Danone Milk : Karishma Kapoor
  63. General A/C : Sania Mirza
  64. 7 UP : Puneeth Rajkumar
  65. Parachute Advansed : Deepika Padukone
  66. Dabur Babool : Irfan Khan
  67. Nutrogena : Prachi Desai
  68. Toyota Etios Liva : Virat Kohli
  69. Kellogg's : Juhi Chawla
  70. Nestle Munch : Virat Kohli, Vijender 
  71. Appolo Munich Health Insurance : Sourav Ganguly
  72. Wild Stone : Dia Mirza
  73. Fair & Lovely : Virat Kohli
  74. Snickers : Rekha, Urmila
  75. Sugar Free : Akshay Kumar


..... To be continued


Missed out many , please contribute to this list

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Brand Update : TVS Wego wants you to Find Your We Time

TVS Wego , launched in 2011, was an earnest effort by TVS to garner a fair share of the Indian scooter market which was dominated by Honda's Activa. The brand had a high profile launch with a campaign pitching on one feature - Body Balance. 
Two years down the line, Wego although had a good start failed to make a significant impact on the scooter market ( source). The customers were not that impressed by the way the company had tried to convey its message through the launch campaign.
In 2013, TVS is running another campaign with a new theme - We Time. The new thinking is probably the result of a new agency ( Dentsu India) handling the account. In India we see the phenomenon of changes in brand positioning as and when the advertising agency is changed.

However, the new agency had thankfully changed the positioning away from the body-balance theme upon which the product was pitched. The new campaign takes a holistic view of the product features and takes the pitch above the features into what they call- We Time. I think the brand wants to convey that the scooter is so agile that the obstacles are easily evaded.
Watch the ad here : TVS Wego We Time
Body Balance is still the USP for the brand however, the brand has sidelined it in the commercials. There is still no WoW factor in the product that will hook customers to it. The new ad is watchable but doubt still persists whether the brand has made a strong case for itself against the leader - Honda Activa ?

Related Brand
TVS Wego : Body Balance

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Tata Motors : What ails the brand ?

India's largest automobile company is struggling with its passenger car business. The company which owns best selling ( once upon a time) brands like Indica, Indigo, Safari and the " Iconic" Nano is finding it difficult to sell their cars in a market which is diesel crazy. Isn't it ironic that Tata Motors is not at the top of a market where diesel models are selling like hot cakes ?

I was reading a very critical piece of analysis in Forbes India ( read here) which throws in many pertinent issues. My two cents is that there is a larger issues of marketing in play here. Tata Motors has a big marketing problem and the company is not doing anything on that. It is sad.

Tata Motors virtually changed the Indian passenger car market in 1998 with the launch of Tata Indica. Although Indica faced lot if teething issues , the brand became a trail-blazer creating the diesel car segment which is affordable and durable. But along with the success came the baggage of perception. Indica despite being highly successful was perceived to be a car riddled with nagging problems. The lack of refinement and the not-so-perfect build quality became the hallmark of Tata passenger cars. Consumers accepted those nagging issues because the value offering was so good.

But market began to change with competitors catching up with better quality diesel engines and superior built quality. Tata motors , in my opinion,  was  stuck in the past. Although the company came out with product refinement, it failed to make the quantum leap in changing the perception problem.
Now a time has come where Tata cars are not in the ' choice list ' of the customers. It is a grave problem that needs to be addressed quickly other wise the firm will enter into a league of Ambassadors and Premier Padminis.
 Tata Motors need a new face. The company is desperately trying to improve upon the Indica platform which has a huge perception issue. If the firm wants to get back into the game, it needs a new brand which is distinct from Indica and Vista as a brand has not been effective since it was launched as a sub-brand of Indica. So a new product with a new brand would be the ( expensive) option available for Tata Motors to make a comeback. At the product level, nothing less that a sort of quality revolution is needed to bring consumers back to Tata showrooms. Aria was a leap in terms of built-quality but priced beyond common sense.
The product related drive should be followed by a strong branding campaign for Tata Motors to change the quality perception. This should be  backed by a strong change in attitude of dealers towards Tata Motors ' customers. The dealers still live in the era where there is a beeline of customers for Indica. That attitude needs to be changed and a strong responsive action at the moments of truth touchpoint is needed in this crisis.
Tata Motors need a strong product pipe-line backed by a strategy to change the perception of the market towards its products. This needs to be addressed at the highest level and Tata Motors has the wonderful JLR resource to do this within no time.

Friday, May 17, 2013

Market Statistics : Indian Fitness-Wear Market

Business Standard dtd 17/05/2013 puts the Indian fitness-wear market at a whopping Rs 4000 crore growing at the rate of 25% per annum. The market is dominated by shoe category. The report says that the traditional audience for this market is youth aged 15-35. Marketers opine that the segment now includes older adults because of the increased awareness towards fitness. Global brands like Nike, Reebok, Puma, Fila etc are vying for their share in this market.