Addiction Body Spray : Lasts Long Really Long

Brand : Addiction Body Spray

Company : Mankind Pharma

Brand Analysis Count : 461

It looks like that Indian marketers will make deodorant/body spray - a commodity. The plethora of the new products that is now flooding the market together with horrible brand campaigns took the charm away from this category.

The latest kid on the block is the Addiction brand from Mankind pharma. Mankind was in recent news for the high profile launch of their condom brand Manforce.

Addiction body spray joins the tribe of brands like Fuel, Denver, Wild Stone taking on the market leader Axe directly by copying its positioning. All these brands have the same positioning, same message and some horrible campaigns to spread the message.

Addiction is no better.

For a change, Addiction brand has roped in the actor Neil Nithin Mukesh as the celebrity endorser . The brand is currently running a campaign featuring the celebrity.

Watch the ad here : Addiction Deo

The campaign talks about the same stuff that of the competing brands. The hunk uses the deo, girls fall for the fragrance,chases the hunk, jealous girlfriend desperately tries to prevent other girls from seducing the hunk...

Yuck !

These ads have become disgusting.

Addiction body spray has taken the attribute of " long lasting fragrance " as the main point of differentiation. The differentiation is meaningful and not many deos have concentrated on that attribute. But " long lasting " is too basic an attribute and can be easily copied by the competitor ( if they really care to). But going by the trend , most of the deo/body spray brands rely on occasional bursts of campaigns and seldom focus on longterm brand building campaigns. What the market will witness will be more hunks and more flesh.

Addiction has taken up the tagline " Lasts long, really long " which is a clean copy of the tagline of Amaron batteries. The creatives should have thought of something better for the brand.

Addiction in their campaign has called itself as a body spray rather than a deo. Deodorant and body sprays serve the same purpose of preventing body odor and smelling good. The basic difference is that Deos are used specifically to prevent body odor hence it is applied directly to the odor producing areas like under-arms . Body Sprays are used for its fragrance . (I am not sure whether Addiction brand is a deodorant body spray or just a perfumed body spray).

I wonder whether Indian consumers need another deo brand like Addiction. Having said that , there is a space for a strong competitor for a brand like Axe. None of these challenger brands have lived up to the hype they created. If you go to any supermarket, you will see the difference. Axe lives up to its position of a market leader with strong visibility in the shelves and these competitors are bundled together and kept aside. It is doubtful that any of these deo brands have managed to create a meaningful differentiation strong enough to compete with Axe.

At the same time, Axe is witnessing an erosion of its core positioning and in future will struggle to excite the consumers with its campaigns. It is a fail-fail situation for the brands in this category.

Addiction could have created an impact if it had tried something different from the theme of seduction. Focusing on a higher aspirational attribute like success, confidence, energy, self esteem etc would have helped the brand break the clutter. Rather than taking the path less traveled, Addiction preferred the path taken by other brands - which will eventually lead this brand to grave.

Brand Update : Mentos Becomes a Chewing Gum

Perfetti van Melle ( PVM) has introduced another product line extension for its highly successful brand Mentos. The launch of Mentos into the Rs 600 crore chewing gum market throws in lot of questions regarding the basic logic of this strategy.

Mentos has been a unique brand in the Indian market. The brand carved out a special place of itself through the product characteristics as well as through some very humorous campaigns. Unlike other candies /chocolates, Mentos was a chewy confectionery which blended the properties of candy and chewing gum together. The product had a sweet crest and a gum like inside. The brand was a welcome break for all those consumers who looked for something new. It also appealed to those consumers who disliked the inconvenience of the chewing gum but would like to have something they can devour for a longer period of time.

Mentos was also popular because of its clutter breaking campaigns. The tagline " Dimaag Ki Batti Jala De " was one of best taglines I have seen in the marketing world. The brand also came out with very cool campaigns which made Mentos a very popular brand.

The launch of Mentos Chewing Gum may be in line with the company's global product strategy. In other markets, PVM have a chewing gum extension for this brand. Having said that I am little skeptical about this extension. Primarily because of the issue of cannibalization.

Mentos will compete with PVM's own brands like Center Fresh and Happy Dent. Center Fresh will be the one who will be facing the competition from Mentos. I don't understand the feasibility or the logic of bringing in one more brand into category where another brand is present.

Another aspect which worries me is the possible dilution of the position of Mentos as a chewy confectionery. One of the key differentiator for Mentos was the swallow-able chewy nature and through the launch of a chewing gum invariably dilutes that position. Now a consumer cannot order Mentos and then just eat it. He may have to check whether it is a chewing gum or the original swallow-able Mentos. Otherwise he will be in trouble .

Now what is Mentos ? a swallow-able chewy or a chewing gum or both ??

In the launch of this variant, PVM has done something which was unthinkable - blatantly importing a television commercial and changing the voice-over and putting it in India.

Watch the launch campaign here : Mentos Chinese

PVM was a poster boy of the Indian advertising world because of the creativity it had extracted from the ad agencies. The ads for Mentos, Happy Dent, Chlor Mint were all glorious examples of creativity. But here the company chose the easy way of copying an ad from other market and pasting it in India. I wonder why PVM did such a sub-standard move for a power brand like Mentos.

The ad itself is disgusting . The ad does not create any sort of rapport/connection with the Indian consumers as such. The brand had moved several notch below the established brand image through this campaign.

The launch of Mentos Chewing gum seems a half-hearted effort of PVM to increase the market share of Mentos. The way the product is launched points to the short-termism winning over the long-term brand building strategy which PVM earlier adopted.

I think that the brand owners did not eat Mentos while thinking about this launch. Eat Mentos and " Dimaag Ki Batti Jalao ".

Related Brand

Mentos

Marketing Strategy : How to Profile Your Customers

How to Profile Your Customers

Originally published here in Adclubbombay.com

Knowing one’s customer is a prerequisite for successful marketing practice. Customer profiling is the collection valuable information about customers which will help in better targeting and marketing strategies. Although every marketer knows about the importance of customer profiling, it is surprising to see how little effort has been taken in this regard.

The main reason cited by marketers, especially those dealing with FMCG and consumer durable products, for this lack of customer profiling is the sheer size of the customer base. For a mass marketer, profiling the large segment of consumers is not viable economic proposition. The problem starts when marketers see their customers as a large segment and not seeing them as a collection of individuals. It is true that a mass marketer cannot profile individuals but treating the entire segment as one without understanding individual profiles can make decision making less effective.

Profiling helps the marketer in better targeting, better communication and also provides a thorough understanding about his/her buying behaviour. The more information a marketer has about the customer, more efficient will be his marketing activities. Customer profiling can be done at an individual level or at segment level. In practice, most of the mass marketers and B2C marketers tend to profile customers at the segment level and the B2B marketers focus on individual profiling. B2C marketers find it difficult to profile individual customers because of the large number of customers.

Customer profiling starts with the identification of target customers. Before profiling, marketers should have clarity about their prospective customer. This is a critical step for start-ups and those businesses that are entering new markets. The critical question that a marketer should address at this stage is “Who is our customer? “. Many businesses tend to view this question narrowly. It is important for marketers to understand the different customer- roles in a buying situation. For example, in the case of a Television purchase, every member of the family will have a role to play in the whole purchase process.

According to Professor Philip Kotler, there are five customer roles in a purchase process

Initiator – The person who first suggest the idea of buying a product.

Influencer- One who influences the purchase decision through his suggestion or advice.

Decider- Who decides on the purchase and also any purchase decisions like where, what and how to buy.

Buyer – Who makes the actual purchase?

User- The person who consumers or uses the product.

While profiling the customer, it is important to profile those members of the purchasing unit who takes up these roles.

The next step in the profiling process is to decide on the information that is to be collected. Marketers can collect general date like demographic data which are often available in the public domain. These data help in proper segmentation and also in determining the market potential. Along with these data, it is important for marketers to collect personal data about their target customers. These data are difficult to capture and requires investment of people and financial resources. These data involves the media habits, hobbies, psychographics, purchase patterns, attitudes etc. In the book “Customer Equity “ , Robert C Blattberg, Gary Getz & Jacquelyn S Thomas , identifies six major categories of customer profile data. They are

Customer Sales Potential: Refer to the potential sales volume from the customers.

Customer Characteristics: Refers to the data related to customers like demography, income etc

Summary Customer Equity Measures: The value that the customer brings into the company

Organisational charts and Key persons: Applicable to business customers.

Influencers and specifies: The key roles customers play in the buying process.

Customer Attitudes: The qualitative data about the customers.

Once the information requirements are finalized, marketers should decide on the collection of the data. It is very difficult to collect the personal data of the consumers. Hence marketers should adopt data collection techniques which are more qualitative in nature. It is important for marketers to take a long term view about collecting such data because of the cost involved. The data pertaining to the attitudes and purchase patterns should be collected on a continuous basis in order to make it relevant.

Data once collected should be effectively utilized in the decision making process. Technology has enabled companies to collect all sorts of data. Many managers feel overwhelmed by the quantum of information collected. It is important for firms doing customer profiling to have a mechanism to make relevant data available to the decision makers.

In this era of high competition, customer profiling can prove to be the winning edge for marketers. One factor that determines whether a company is customer oriented or not is how the firm effectively uses customer profiling in their decision making process.

Brand Update : SRK Joins Pepsodent in Dishoom Dishoom

It has been a long time since I wrote an update about Pepsodent. Although the brand has been very active in the media with different campaign , there was no clutter-breaking stuff to write about. Some times consistency can be boring.

Ever since the launch in 1993, Pepsodent has been trying hard to break into the stronghold of Colgate in the Rs 3000 crore Indian Oral Care market. Despite being a powerful brand with the powerful backing of HUL, Pepsodent is still hovering at around 13 % marketshare compared to around 52% share of Colgate.

Pepsodent so far has been very consistent with its positioning and differentiation. Although the brand started its journey positioning on Mouth Wash proposition, it quickly identified the flaw in taking that stance. Soon the brand began to take the position of a germ killing toothpaste. It had stuck to the positioning ever since.

The most memorable campaign of Pepsodent so far was the Dishoom Dishoom campaign which catapulted the brand to the position of a worthy competitor of Colgate. HUL has been tweaking the germicheck advantage using various campaigns all these years.The brand also had its range of variants like Pepsodent Complete and also Pepsodent Whitening.

The recent campaigns of Pepsodent was centered around interesting conversations among kids and also between Mother and Child. The brand had earlier tried to attack Colgate directly through ads which highlighted the claim that Pepsodent fights 10 tooth problems compared to competitors' 5 ( watch the ad ). The other campaign highlighted the common fear of mother about her child's dental health.

In 2010, the brand had made a significant investment in bringing Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador for Pepsodent. The brand is running two TVC featuring SRK

Watch : Pepsodent 1

: Pepsodent 2

The campaign revolves around the theme of interaction between a Father and Son ( Papa and Pappu) . SRK as father convincing his son about the importance of brushing the teeth with Pepsodent. The ads are quite nicely made .

The question is whether a celebrity like SRK will ad any significant value to the brand as such. SRK is a very powerful celebrity and the impact of such a powerful celebrity endorsement cannot be discounted. Especially kids will be very much influenced by this endorsement and a probable pester-power can spike the sales of the brand in the short-term.

But whether SRK will help the brand scale the next level is debatable. The presence of SRK only makes the campaign more interesting other than that there is nothing significant either in the message or in execution. The impact of SRK 'e endorsements will be more at the store level if HUL is able to use SRK at the POP and store-level promotions.

Despite having a differentiating factor like " Germ Killing Property " it is interesting to note that Pepsodent was not able to pose a significant threat to Colgate. My hypothesis is that although Pepsodent has established a Point of Difference, it has not been able to establish Points of Parity with Colgate. Colgate still has a strong acceptance as a toothpaste that prevents tooth decay and Pepsodent so far has not been able to establish itself in that attribute.

Pepsodent will do well if it could use SRK to establish Points of Parity with Colgate rather than trying to reinforce the already strong Germicheck Point of Difference.

Related Brand

Pepsodent

Marketing Strategy : How to Craft Your Brand's Vision

How to Craft Your Brand's Vision

Originally Published here in Adclubbombay.com

Creating a vision for the brand is the most important primary step in the brand management process. Brand Vision can be defined as the long term strategic position that the brand will take in the market as well as in the consumer mind-space. Brand vision offers a strategic intent which will act as a long term goal for the brand.

Creating brand vision is a strategic process which requires the involvement of top management. The vision dictates the future course of action for the brand with regard to its growth and future course of action.

Most of the time marketers are faced with critical decisions regarding the future growth path for the brand. There is a dilemma whether the brand should be extended to cater to new opportunities in the market or to be focused on the current category. Some times marketers tend to extend the brand too much that the entire brand equity gets diluted. Without the guidance of a clear vision, brands tend to lose focus and extend into unchartered unrelated categories. Lack of vision also creates the problem of discontinuity for the brand’s strategies. There are chances that the brand compromises its equity for the sake of short-term growth unless guided by a long-term vision.

Having a brand vision will help marketers make decisions regarding the growth of the brand. The vision also helps marketers to tap into opportunities which are in line with the vision and reject others that contradict the vision. Vision helps the brand to create a brand charter which will act as a rule book for the managers. It will also help the managers to shape the brand strategies during the time of crisis.

Brand vision also helps to develop consistency with regard to brand communication. The messages derived from the brand vision will be consistent across all media. Even when the advertising & creative agencies change, the brand message will remain constant. In the absence of brand vision, the communication messages will not be connected by a common thread.

Brand vision also motivates the employees to perform better. Employees feel motivated and inspired when they are aware of the brand vision. More importantly, employees should feel that they are contributing to the realization of that vision.

Typically brand vision statements should be simple and easy to remember. The golden rule is that every employee should be able to remember the brand vision especially in the case of a corporate brand or service brand.

While drafting the brand vision, the marketers has to keep the following facts into mind

Think Big

While drafting a brand vision, marketers need to have big plans for the brand. The vision should not restrict to the category or even the industry. Instead the brand vision should aim at addressing some critical issues faced by the consumer. The vision should inspire both the consumers and employees alike.

Encourage growth

Brand vision should encourage the growth of the brand beyond product categories. The marketers should be looking at a 10 year time horizon while drafting the brand vision. The marketers should be asking the following questions while drafting the vision.

1. In 10 years, what will be the position of the brand in the industry/category?
2. What is the core need that this brand is going to satisfy?
3. Is that need sustainable over a period of time?
4. What needs do this brand satisfy in future?
5. Will the vision of the brand appeal to the consumers?
6. Does the brand vision excite the employees?
7. Does the vision encourage growth and pursuit of opportunities?
8. Is the vision easy to understand and communicate?

Synergy with corporate strategy

It is important for the brand to maintain synergy with the corporate strategy. That is why the top management should play a key role to in drafting the vision. When the brand’s vision is aligned with corporate vision, a sustained investment and support can be ensured for the brand’s growth.

Customer Focus

Brand visions should be created with customer as the focal point. Many a time brands focus too much on the product rather than the customer need. Having a strong focus on customer will help brands to create visions which are practical. Customers will also be able to relate to the brand vision since the vision is created with the customer in mind.

Periodic Revision

Although brand vision is crafted for a long term, it is important for the marketers to revise the vision from time to time. Brands operate in a dynamic environment. There are chances that the brand’s vision may become irrelevant for the consumers in the changed environment. Hence visions need to be revised in line with the changing consumer environment.

Marketing Q&A : Frame of Reference and Points of Parity

A Marketing Practice reader asks this very pertinent question " What is frame of reference and points of parity and their role in branding ?"

Frame of reference is the framework used by the consumers to make sense of the product in question. Humans understand and remember new things by linking it to existing (known) objects. Frame of reference is that evaluative criterion which is used by consumers to make a better understanding of the product/services. Frame of reference also explains the context in which consumers tend to evaluate /place the product. For example , the frame of reference used to evaluate Frooti is that it is a mango drink. Coca Cola = Cola, Ace = Mini Truck, Dettol = Antiseptic etc. If Frooti launches an Apple Drink, the consumers will find it difficult to accept the product since it is out of the frame of reference used to evaluate/understand Frooti

Since consumers use a frame of reference in understanding a product, the concept has a very important place in the positioning of the product. Positioning is defined as the act of designing the company's offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market ( Kotler). The first task of the marketer is to identify the frame of reference used by the target market in evaluating the product/service. Once the frame of reference is identified, the marketer will position the product in line with the frame of reference. In case of products that lack a frame of reference, marketers should create a frame of reference for the consumers.

The concept of Points of Parity helps marketers to place the product in line with the consumer's frame of reference. Points of parity are those associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands. There are two forms of Points of Parity - Category POP and Competitive POP. Category POP are those associations that consumers view as being necessary to be a legitimate and credible offering with a certain product or service category.Competitive POP are those associations designed to negate competitor's Points of Parity ( Kevin Keller).

In simple terms , when a product is launched, the marketer should tell the customer about the category in which the product belongs ( category POP). This task is important for products which belong to a new category. For example , hand sanitizer is a new category and consumers are not aware of such a category. So when a brand is being launched in such a new category, brand managers should first establish a category POP. For that , the consumers should be made aware of such a category. Right now marketers are using infomercials to educate the consumers about hand sanitizer, its advantages and uses. Once the frame of reference is established ,then the brand should be placed in the category. Usually marketers use packaging, product form and labels to establish category points of parity.

Competitor POP is where marketers tell the consumers that their brand have all the properties/qualities of their competing brands. For example Lifebuoy soap will establish competitive POP with Dettol soap by claiming that it has germ killing qualities and vice versa.

These strategies will fail if the marketers did not understand the frame of reference used by consumers in evaluating the product. This lack of understanding can lead to positioning failures that eventually lead to product failure.

Xylys : It Possesses You

Brand : Xylys

Company : Titan Industries Ltd

Agency : Rediffusion

Brand Analysis Count : # 460

Xylys can be termed as India's own premium watch brand. The brand created by Titan Industries is taking on the iconic premium watch brands like Omega, Rado,Patek Philippe, Rolex,Cartier etc. The brand was born in 2006 gain rapid acceptance in the Indian watch market.

Indian luxury watch market is worth Rs 500 crore and is dominated by Swiss and other European brands. There is virtually no presence of any Indian brands in that segment. The rising affluent Indian consumer class and the trend towards more expressive lifestyle accessories prompted Titan to seriously look at this segment. Xylys is currently targeting the lower spectrum of the luxury watch segment.

Xylys was initially launched as a flanker brand for Titan. Titan which is the market leader in the mid-price segment felt that the upper end of their target customers were moving towards iconic global premium brands. With that intention of blocking any such migration , Xylys was introduced at the price range of Rs 8000- Rs 33,000.

Xylys however gathered good momentum with the brand clocking a 50% CAGR growth rate. From being a flanker brand, Xylys morphed to be a powerful growth brand in the course of time.

Titan while carefully analyzing the consumer behavior of premium watch customers, it found that the consumers were highly influenced by the "Country of Origin " association. The consumers loved the Swiss Made proposition and there is a huge association between " Swiss Made " and quality, precision , premium etc. The insight was that it would be difficult for an "Indian Made " tag to impress upon the target segment. Titan thus made Xylys - a Swiss Made watch. Xylys is manufactured at a state-of-the-art factory in Switzerland which has a rich heritage of 80 years in precision watch making.

Xylys' strong point was its design . The brand is being crafted in association with Swiss designer Laurent Rufenacht along with Titan's own designer Michael Foley. The sharp unique designs quickly made Xylys a fast growing brand in the segment.

Xylys was launched as a contemporary brand targeting the upwardly mobile successful men & women. The brand has segmentedthe market based on psychographic profiles. Xylys defines its customers as contemporary dynamic successful persons who has attitude and confidence. The brand wants to celebrate success with them. The customers of Xylys are highly individualistic persons who does what they love. These people would love to express themselves and loves to show their success to the world. The brand has a very well defined brand charter and values which I feel is an excellent marketing practice. ( Read Xylys Brand Charter here).

During the launch phase, Xylys was endorsed by the Actor Rahul Bose, tennis player Carlos Moya and super model Saira Mohan. The basic theme of the launch campaign was the story of how these people tread their own path and became successful.

Watch the launch ad : Xylys Launch

Xylys -Saira Mohan

The brand at that time had the tagline " The power of X " . The brand used " X" to symbolize the differentiating factor in the highly successful people. X also denotes Xylys-the brand.

In 2010, the brand changed its positioning from " Symbol of Success " to " Feeling of Love ". The brand now is talking about falling in love with Xylys. Xylys is currently running a campaign reflecting the new positioning.

Watch the new campaign here : Xylys Possession

The brand have also adopted a new tagline " You do not possess Xylys , it possesses you ".

The new campaign is a significant deviation from the core positioning of the brand. The entire brand personality of Xylys was changed in the current campaign. I wonder why a brand which is growing should try to change its positioning at this critical juncture.

The earlier positioning of Xylys were talking about the highly individualistic expressive nature of successful people while the current positioning talks about how Xylys takes control of such a person. If you look closely the brand is totally off the mark regarding the core values that it stands for. I feel that the agency has not read the brand charter before creating the campaign. The purpose of creating a brand charter is to protect continuity in the communication. The product managers should use the charter as the basis for devising their communication strategies. The current campaign is very difficult to fit into the brand charter.

Regarding the execution of the new positioning , there is nothing worthwhile in the advertisement. The idea of a man being possessed by a product and forgets everything is an idea which has been raped a million times. Even the chocolate brand 5 star uses this idea as the central theme.

Having said that, Xylys' core strength is its design and since watch is an experiential product , consumers may fall for it when they see the designs. But the brand needs to create clutter-breaking campaigns if it wants to fight the likes of Omega , Rado etc.

Xylys has took lot of effort in creating a very good brand charter. Why not follow it ??

Brand Update : Tic Tac moves from Hello to Refreshment

Tic Tac , the mint confectionery brand from the Ferrero group has gone for a new positioning. The brand has changed its positioning from " Conversation Starter " to a " Refreshment that needs to be Shared ".

The brand had gone for a similar repositioning in 2008 when it adopted the tagline " The New Hello ". The brand was then positioned as an " ice-breaker" or " Conversation Starter". The brand after two years is embarking on a new communication route.

Tic Tac is a unique brand. The shape, taste and packaging sets this brand apart from the rest of the mint-based confectionery brand. The brand has also gained good penetration interms of distribution.

The uniqueness of the brand has poised certain positioning issues for the marketer. Since the brand is different from the conventional mint-based products, the positioning should also reflect the uniqueness. Polo is a brand that has used its unique form to its advantage by its positioning based on the " Hole " factor. Tic Tac ideally should have discovered some smart way of communicating its uniqueness. But so far it failed to do so.

Tic Tac so far has not able to find a differentiated communication platform that reflected the uniqueness of the brand. That is the reason why this brand failed to came out with any clutter-breaking campaigns.

The current campaign and the positioning is no better. Infact it is worse than the earlier proposition of " The New Hello ".

Watch the new ad here : Refreshment to be shared

The theme of a group of bored youngsters breaking into ecstatic dance after consuming the product is an idea from pre-historic era. The new positioning based on " Sharing " is also not capturing/communicating anything unique about Tic Tac.

The brand globally had the positioning statement " Its not just a mint. its a Tic Tac " which is a very powerful positioning platform. I wonder why the brand discarded such a powerful statement and settled from something sub-standard ? It has to be mentioned that the brand also adopts the concept of " Sharing a Tic Tac " in the values but it is not the primary talking point. The current global theme for the brand is centered around " Refreshment " but in India , the brand failed to reflect any of the original brand values.

The new campaign and the positioning of Tic Tac is a big letdown. The brand lost its USP of shape, taste and freshness in the current campaign. I think the brand should first talk about why use it and then talk about sharing it.

Related Post

Tic Tac

Brand Update : Ranbir Kapoor is the New Cool Face of John Players

John Players has a new brand ambassador. The brand chose the current Bollywood hotshot Ranbir Kapoor as the new brand ambassador. Ranbir replaces Hrithik Roshan as the new face of cool. The brand is currently running a print/digital campaign featuring the new brand ambassador.

Hrithik had a tough run last year with most of the films ending up as flops. While Ranbir Kapoor is on a roll these days with plenty of hits and also critical acclaim for his roles. John Players want to cash in on the current success of Ranbir along with the " Cool " looks of the actor.

For a company like ITC which has plenty of cash flowing in to the kitty every year, changing brand ambassadors may not hurt very much. Hrithik and Ranbir are expensive assets and only a firm like ITC can afford to dump stars like Hrithik and opt for the current hotshot within a short span of time.

There is no doubt that Ranbir Kapoor makes an excellent choice for John Players. The actor has the cool looks and attitude and gels with the overall persona of the brand.

I feel that the brand is less aggressive on the promotion front. The brand's noise in the media is very less or rather goes unnoticed. Although some of the campaigns were good, the brand undertook sporadic bursts of campaigns. In that sense, the brand failed to capitalize on the power of the celebrity which endorsed the brand.

The brand is currently relying heavily on celebrity to stay ahead. In a sense, the brand has the tendency to fall into a celebrity trap. For ITC, the cost may not be an issue . But for the brand, it is suicidal to derive equity from an external source. The brand has a wonderful positioning of " Cool " quotient and it should try to like the Coolness to itself rather than rely on a secondary association. Parallel campaigns using other models or dress designs are necessary to derisk the over reliance on a celebrity.

Related Post

John Players

Mahindra Voyager : RIP ( 1997-2000)

Brand : Mahindra Voyager

Company : Mahindra & Mahindra

Brand Analysis Count : #459

Voyager was an ambitious brand, aiming to create a new segment in the Indian automobile industry. But rather than creating a new category, the brand went down the history as a failed one.

Voyager was Mahindra's foray into the consumer vehicles segment. The brand was created in collaboration with Mitsubishi Motors .Voyager was launched in India in 1997 and lived a very short life of a little over two years.

Voyager was India's first and perhaps the last luxury Multi-Purpose family van. The brand was positioned as a luxury family carrier and Mahindra hoped that the association with Mitsubishi will give enough reason to charge a premium .

Voyager was based on Mitsubishi's 1968 L300 van. Although the L300 is still in the market, Voyager failed to survive.

The van (MPV) segment in India was and is still dominated by Maruti Omni. The segment was a stagnant one . Indian consumers were never thrilled by the concept of a family van. One of the reason was the poor marketing and product development in that segment. Although some families own Omni, the main users of the van was in the commercial segment. Compared to cars, the van seldom offered a comfortable ride and there were issues regarding A/C and safety. Many consumers buy van for the functional benefit .

Mahindra felt that there is an opportunity for a premium family van. And thus born Voyager.

To begin with, Voyager had the support of one of the leading global automobile brands of that time in Mitsubishi. Voyager had a powerful engine and large space . But Voyager put off the consumer in two aspects - Design and Price.

More than the design, it was the price that killed Voyager. The base version of the brand was priced at Rs 5.25 lakh which was more than the price of a decent sedan. The arrogant pricing virtually scared away the Indian consumers. The consumer was not willing to pay that much money for a non-A/c vehicle.

Second factor that put-off the consumer was the design. Voyager was too boxy and Indian consumers did not like that design. Having said that, we have seen vehicles like Qualis thriving in the market despite poor looks. But in the case of Voyager, it could not boast about the quality , value or brand name.

Another aspect was the service factor. Mahindra and Mitsubishi were brands that are new to consumer market and there was suspicion about the level of service and after-sales support for the product.

The brand campaign was also not able to impress the consumer.The campaigns of Voyager essentially talked about the space and luxury but couldn't find any meaningful differentiator that justified the premium pricing of the brand. Consumers viewed Voyager as a functional product and not as a luxury one and that prevented consumers from paying a premium .

Distressed by the response from the individuals, Voyager aggressively pursued the commercial segment and became popular ( to certain extent) as ambulance vehicle. That was a final nail in the coffin. Voyager suddenly was branded as an ambulance vehicle which further distanced the individuals from the brand.

Indian consumers only have one reference point for vans i.e Maruti Omni. Omni is a highly functional product and its pricing also reflects that aspect. Voyager failed because it could not break away from that functional association . Neither the product design nor the benefits forced the consumers to think differently about the product. Since Voyager looked and felt like a van, it should also be priced like the van ( Omni) could have been the justification of the consumer while rejecting the brand.

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk For Shubh Aarambh

Cadbury's Dairy Milk has recently launched a new campaign " Shubh Aarambh" ( meaning Auspicious Beginning ). The campaign is the refined version of the earlier Payday campaign which evoked mixed response from the Ad analysts and consumers.

The Shubh Aarambh campaign reinforces the occasion based positioning of Dairy Milk. The brand has been trying to position itself as a symbol of enjoyment and celebrations. Indians have the tradition of sharing sweets on auspicious occasions and also when one initiates a venture/activity. Whether the activity is small like writing an exam or huge like starting a company, sharing of sweets is an integral part of the event. The belief is that good things happen when one starts a venture on a positive note ( like sharing sweets).

Dairy Milk very cleverly captured this tradition and incorporated into its brand story. The new campaign takes the brand to the center of this tradition linking Dairy Milk to Sweet and Auspicious Beginning.

While the previous PayDay campaign was a narrow interpretation of the occasion based positioning , Shubh Aarambh has given the brand a broad playing ground. In my opinion, the brand has hit upon a really great Big Idea. The concept is very much Indian and offers huge opportunity for creatives to weave great stories for the brand.

Watch the launch ad here : Shubh Aarambh

The concept also gels with the brand's tagline " Kuchch Meetha Ho Jaye ". The launch campaign is targeted at younger generation and hence the brand added a little humor and twist into the campaign.

Shubh Aarambh is a great idea for this great brand. It will be interesting to see how Dairy Milk milks this idea to the fullest.

Allen Solly : My World , My Way

Brand : Allen Solly

Company : Madura Garments

Ad Agency : Ogilvy

Brand Analysis Count : # 458

Allen Solly is a brand that changed the dressing habits of Indian executives. Launched in 1993, Allen Solly attained a near cult status in a highly competitive readymade market within a short period of time.

Allen Solly's heritage dates back to 1744 when this brand was created by William Hollins & Co . In 1990, the brand was taken over by Madura Garments which launched it in India in 1993. Madura Garments which was looking for an unconventional brand targeting young professionals found a fitting brand in Allen Solly.

Madura Garments rightly spotted a need for a casual work-wear among the young professionals. The growing young working class and the rise of the IT clan of employees further reinforced the potential of a relaxed formal wear.

Allen Solly entered the market with the blockbuster concept of Friday Dressing. The idea was not new. Globally the there was a marked trend towards relaxed workwear and Allen Solly pioneered that concept in the Indian market.

Allen Solly launched office wears in colored shirts and Khaki trousers which became an instant hit. For the first time, Indian consumers were exposed to the idea of relaxed formals. Indian consumers took the bait and rushed to color coordinate their wardrobe with enthusiasm.

Not stopping by these, Allen Solly further experimented with

unconventional shades like beige and tan. Soon the logo attained cult status among the Indian consumers . Allen Solly was in a way announced the coming of age of the mature global Indian workforce.

In 1995, the brand launched ultra bright colors in the formal segment. Colors like yellow, brown , red etc was introduced as formal wears. The yellow shirt featured in the TV commercial became a big hit among the consumers.

The brand further reinforced its cult status with the launch of wrinkle free cottons and checked formal shirts. The young restless generation lapped up the unconventional formals and used it as an expression of their personal freedom.

From the sales data,the company noticed that there was a huge demand for trousers of size 26-28 from women. Taking a cue, Allen Solly launched its range of women wear which was well accepted by the target group.

The competitors soon caught up with the concept of Friday Dressing. Every brand launched similar ranges and colors and soon relaxed formal wear became part of normal work wear. Allen Solly was valued at Rs 250 crore brand by now.

In 2009, the brand went for a repositioning exercise. Allen Solly found that there is a shift in the demographics of the target segment. While the workforce of 1990s were predominantly of the age group of 26 +, now youngsters of age 22-23 yrs have started entering the workforce. The brand wanted to be more relevant to the new young working class. Also the brand somehow wanted to attract consumers beyond the workplace.The worldview of the young consumers have also changed. Earlier success in life was measured based on work. But now the success is more holistic . Allen Solly wanted to reflect this change of perspective of the young consumers.

This thinking prompted the brand to change its positioning from a work-wear to a fashion brand. The brand positioned itself as a casual brand for all occasions.

To reflect the change in positioning, the brand changed its brand campaigns.In 2009, the brand launched its famous " I Hate Ugly " campaign targeting the youth.

The basic proposition was to reflect the irreverent , non-compromising attitude of youngsters towards life. This in-your- face communication struck a chord with the consumers and critics and the brand was able to break the earlier association of the brand as a formal wear.

The brand created a big noise in the market with I Hate Ugly campaign and it will be interesting to see how the brand carries forward the momentum.

Allen Solly also changed the tagline to " My World , My Way " to reflect the new brand proposition. My World , My Way reflects the strong individualistic view of the youngsters who own their world and create their own rules.

In a way, the brand has completely shed its earlier DNA. No longer the brand is associated with formal wears. The brand literally exited the category of relaxed formal wears which it has created. One reason can be that category itself became irrelevant since all brands have their own line of relaxed formal wear. Brands like Color Plus has successfully established itself in that category .

In the new avatar, Allen Solly is targeting the ever- fickle young generation whose concept of fashion changes by the day. The brand has identified a gap for a premium fashion brand specifically targeting this segment. Although brands like Levi's have a strong equity in the market, there is a gap for a player like Allen Solly.

Allen Solly's repositioning is a loss to the generation who saw the Friday Dressing avatar of this brand. Lets us hope that Allen Solly will repeat what it has done to the Work-wear market in 1993.

Brand Update : Flipkart - From Bookstore to Store

Regular readers of Marketing Practice know that I am not a big fan of Brand Extensions. I always feel uneasy when a brand moves from its defined space to a broader field of play . Flipkart has done just that. From a simple , clutter free online bookstore, the brand has now become an online store selling not only books but mobiles, music videos and gift vouchers.

Reflecting the change in the business strategy, the tagline of Flipkart has also changed from " The bookstore at your door " to " The store at your door ".

Flipkart within a short span of time was able to quickly gain consumer interest because of the simple interface , better pricing and quick service. Customers like me who found other sites like Indiaplaza too cluttered began to look at Flipkart as a serious alternative. In my opinion, Flipkart was a classic example of a brand which offered a simple highly focussed solution for the customer.

Not any more !

Flipkart now is not a bookstore. It is now an online store just like any other online stores. The only differentiating factor is that it retains the simple interface.

The change in the business model of Flipkart will have a serious impact on the brand itself. The brand was built as an online bookstore and now has diluted its core positioning . Now what is the difference between Flipkart, Indiaplaza, Infibeam, tradus and numerous online stores that retails everything from books to innerwears.

While in the books' retailing Flipkart has demonstrated its strength in getting the best price and ensuring fast delivery, will it be able to do that in other categories like mobilephones ? The business logic behind Flipkart to get into other categories is to get more revenue, the question is whether it could demonstrate its success in other categories aswell.

There can be many reasons behind this move :

• Book margins may be underpressure and does not make business sense to concentrate on books alone because of price/margin/competitive pressure.
• Wanted to emulate the business model of Amazon which successfully moved from books to other categories
• Investor pressure to deliver more returns.
• Other categories offered lucrative opportunities.
• Want to cash in the brand equity.
• Founders want to build scale and exit ?

Does it not make sense for Flipkart to concentrate on books alone and become the best/largest/most profitable online bookstore in the country ? I assume that the founders may be under pressure to grow very fast and give more returns to the " angels " who have invested in the venture ( its my assumption !).

I am not going to predict the future of Flipkart as an ordinary store. But in a branding point of view, Flipkart will be diluting its current stature as a highly efficient online bookstore. Thus leaving its exclusive space to potential competitors.

I wish that the brand replicate its success in the current ' diluted ' avatar.

Related brand

Flipkart

Brand Update : Ujala Techno Bright

In an aggressive move to take on the giants of Indian detergent market, Ujala has launched its premium range of detergent brand Ujala Techno Bright. Touted as an advanced stain removing detergent, the brand is currently promoted in the southern Indian market.

Jyothi Laboratories which are the owners of Ujala brand, which is the market leader in the cloth whitener category, have big plans for the brand. Ujala Washing Powder which was launched in 2003 so far was catering to the lower price segment. The brand is very popular in the Southern states. Jyothi Laboratories wants to take this brand to the next level and fight against the mighty Surf , Rin , Tide and Ariel.

For this Ujala has roped in none other than Sachin Tendulkar to endorse Ujala Techno Bright. The launch ad is currently running across Southern States. According to news reports, Sachin will endorse the Parent brand : Ujala and Techno Bright may be the first sub-brand to get the endorsement from Sachin.

It seems little odd that a cricket maestro is endorsing a detergent brand but such a move is going to give a big boost to Ujala's brand equity. Across the diverse Indian geographical markets, Sachin's endorsement of Ujala brand will improve visibility and to a certain extent positively impact the image of Ujala. Further, the presence of Sachin Tendulkar will add momentum to the acceptance of Ujala's brand extensions across India.

Ujala Techno Bright 's attempt to challenge Surf is no small fight.Surf has incredible brand equity and premium perception which is not easy to break. Ujala through Techno Bright is aiming for an upward stretch ( low priced to premium) which is a difficult strategy. Consumers perceive Ujala Washing Powder as a medium/low priced product and to make them pay the price of Surf for this product-line- extension is not an easy task. The presence of Sachin Tendulkar may be of some help but will that be enough to break the perception is something to watch for.

The launch ad of Techno Bright is nothing much to talk about. The creative is average and talks about the efficacy of the product in a rational way. The brand right now has not attempted to talk about anything more than functional aspects.

It is interesting to see that despite having a strong personality like Sachin as the brand ambassador, Techno Bright has not used him in the package . I do not know whether the contract restrict such a usage , but the brand would have gained so much if it used Sachin Tendulkar on the brand package because it can impact the purchase decision at the store.

With Ujala Whitener generating cash for the company, Jyothi Lab is attempting bigger role for Ujala brand. Having Sachin as the brand ambassador at this point when his brand equity is at the peak is a very smart marketing move. The company has a strong distribution network and has shown its capability to humble mighty competitors like Reckitt Benckiser. It will be worth the time to watch how Ujala plays this game.

Related Brand

Ujala

Marketing Q&A : Marketing Career Vs Sales Career

Sir , I want to build a career in marketing but I don't like to do sales. How can I get a marketing job without doing sales ?

- I have come across this question a hundred times in my career as a teacher. The eager beaver MBAs wanting to build a career in the glamorous world of marketing without having to sweat it out in sales. By marketing careers, they mean all those jobs that involves creating marketing strategies, brand management etc and not the field sales jobs.

Understandably so !

Sales jobs , although plenty to find, are tougher than ever before. Many firms focusing on growth at any cost has virtually eliminated all possibilities of ethical selling. Many firms believe sales can be /should be done by everyone in the organisation irrespective of whether that person is fit for such a function. It is not how you sell but how much you sell that is now counted.

MBAs , from those tier II business schools ,who inevitably land in such sales jobs find their dreams of a professional marketing career shattered. The high pressure selling, four letter expletives, hire and fire stories, rude clients make their initial corporate years something comparable to hell. It seems to them that they are in a rut from where there is no escape...

Is this the marketing that Kotler speaks about ? When am I going to think about the strategies, 4 P's , branding etc ? How long am I going to wait till I get such a job ?

These are my thoughts about building a career in marketing !

My personal opinion is that it is better to have some hardcore sales experience in sales before thinking about a career in the so called glamorous world of Marketing. Sales will give you lot of inputs about customers, their needs, behaviour, how the channel works etc which will be of tremendous help to you when you enter into the world of marketing strategy. You will be able to device practical marketing strategy since you know how the market works.

Having some sales experience also acts as a career insurance . That experience will help you to be employable even in times of recession. Hence even if you have landed yourself in a sales job you did not like, it is better to stay there for the experience of it ( if all other factors like pay, working environment etc are good ). I have seen many students who initially were skeptical of a sales job later thriving in it. So shed all those inhibitions on being a Salesman. You have nothing to lose except those meaningless calender years.

Having said that, there are marketing jobs that young MBAs can look for which may not have a sales content. Marketing research , Analytics, Creatives, Designers, Retailing , Business Analysts etc are some of those marketing jobs where direct sales component is not present. But these jobs are limited and hard to get.

Also remember that hardcore marketing jobs like Brand Management, product management are often not advertised. Most of these jobs are filled through lateral placements. The point is that these jobs may not come to business school campuses other than the top 10. Hence the task is to network while on the job and find the right contact who can land you that dream job.

My advice to fresh MBAs is not to be heartbroken if you don't land up that marketing job of your dreams. Slog it on sales job , get some experience, network and land your dream job.

Brand Update : Logan Loves India

Automobile enthusiasts were curious about the future of Logan after the brand was taken over by Mahindra. The Renaulth - Mahindra JV was in trouble after Renault began to aggressively pursue multiple JV in the automobile market. The issue resolved after Mahindra buying out the JV. As of now Mahindra will be promoting the Logan brand.

The first move that Mahindra made after the buyout was to rationalize the price of Logan. The price of Logan was reduced by a massive Rs 60,000 and the brand is now retailing at Rs 5.35 lakhs . Logan was struggling to make decent numbers because even at Rs 6.5 lakhs, it was finding it difficult to convince the customers about the value proposition. The market is also witnessing a new consumer attention towards premium hatchbacks which is eating into many sedan's market share.

Once Logan got the attention of consumers with its attractive pricing, the brand moved into the next marketing step - communicating its new value proposition to the consumers. Logan is currently running a new campaign " Logan Loves India " ( which is also the new tagline). The new campaign is highly rational and talks about the brand's strong points like Space and Mileage. Although these attributes are talked about by every brand in the class, Logan is trying to project itself as a brand made for India.

Watch the campaign here : Logan Loves India

In the new campaign , the brand uses testimonials of customers to drive home the value proposition of the brand.

One of the burning issue between the Mahindras and Renault was over the product specifications. Mahindra wanted the size of the Logan to be trimmed to take advantage over the tax rules but Renault was cold on such a move. With Mahindra now in full charge of the brand, such a move can be seen in future.

Logan was always trying to position itself as a value brand and the latest commercial only refreshes the brand's core positioning. When the brand was launched , consumers were convinced about the brand's value but the brand messed it up. Now the onus is on Mahindra to bring back the trust factor in consumers. With Renault exiting from JV, there are serious doubts about the future of Logan. The task of the brand is to convey that trust to the consumers that Logan is here to stay. "Logan Loves India " campaign may be trying to do just that

Related Brand

Logan

Oxemberg : Body Music

Brand : Oxemberg

Company : Siyaram

Brand Analysis Count : 457

Whenever my wife purchases a shirt for me , 80% chances are that the brand will be Oxemberg. Although she knows my brand preferences which does not include this brand, Oxemberg will finally make it into her choice list.

The reason is that she looks for design/patterns and often other brands

fails to impress her.

Oxemberg is one of the pioneers of readymade branding in India. The brand which was launched in 1995 rightly envisioned the trend towards readymade clothing in the Indian market.

The brand has been in existence for more than 15 years and is worth over Rs 80 crore. In this highly cluttered and fragmented market, being existing itself is a big achievement for Oxemberg.

However I wonder whether the brand was able to realize its true potential ? Was it left out in the sidelines by the aggressive competitors ?

Oxemberg is a brand targeting the higher middleclass segment. The brand is priced little higher than the brands like Peter England , John Players etc.

One of the factors that has slowed the brand's growth was the limited distribution and the low brand promotion. The brand is being retailed only through select MBOs and is not highly promoted across the media as compared to the competitors. The lack of brand promotion together with the high price may have caused many customers to opt for value brands like Peter England.

One of the reason for low brand promotion may be because the brand chose to grow very slowly. The brand never went for a high profile national launch but moving slowly from one geographical market to another. Despite being in existence for 15 years, I don't remember any memorable campaign run by this brand through any national media . Despite these constraints, the brand sustained itself all these years.

It seems that Oxemberg is now aiming for a much higher play. The brand is now very visible across the print media with the new campaign featuring the celebrity Niel Nitin Mukesh. The brand has adopted the tagline " Body Music " which contains the brand message : Clothes that Move to my Rhythm.

" Body Music " is a very good tagline and positioning of Oxemberg fits to the body like Music is a remarkable idea. The tagline perfectly conveys the message of " perfect fit " property of the brand . The use of word " Music "also gives a sense of coolness to the brand.

The print ads are well made and catches the attention of the readers very well. It is also nice to see the brand taking the positioning based on "body fit ".

As a brand user, I feel that the real strength of Oxemberg is the design. Its patterns have some quality which is not seen in other brands. Even though the cloth quality may not be the best, Oxemberg scores high in the design which should be highlighted in the marketing communication. The current positioning platform is flexible enough to talk about design also.

It is good to see aggressive marketing activity for Oxemberg at the national level. The brand commands fair share of brand awareness because of its long existence. The new communication thrust will take the brand to the next level of growth.

Marketing Strategy : How to Market The Intangible

Marketing the Intangible

Originally Published in Adclubbombay.com

Services contribute about 5o% of India’s GDP and have become an important growth engine for our economy. The growth in the service sector has opened up immense opportunities for new products and also newer markets. The huge service economy of India has attracted many players into the market. The market is now flooded with new players and new products.

Marketing of services is a challenging task primarily because services are largely intangible in nature. Because of this intangible nature, consumers find it difficult to visualize the service or evaluate the quality of service before purchase. For established services this problem is less because customers already have formed their opinions because of their past interactions. For a new service firm, getting the customers to try out the service is a very difficult task. This calls for a strong branding effort on the part of the service marketer to lure the customers into their offerings.

Creating a service brand is not the task of the marketer alone. The entire organization is responsible for crafting that brand experience. This is because of the fact that service cannot be separated from the service provider. When the brand promises a consumer of a definite experience, the entire organization should be working as a single unit to provide that expected experience. People who are a part of the organization form an important element of the consumer’s perception about the service brand. For example, the behaviour of the cabin crew in an airline service is a critical factor that defines the perception of the consumers regarding that brand. Hence managing a service brand is more of a strategic function rather than a mere functional task.

According to the branding guru Kevin Lane Keller, marketers should employ a full range of brand elements while crafting a brand strategy for service. The brand elements like Logo, Symbols, characters and slogans play an important part in the formation of brand image. These brand elements becomes important because services are intangible unlike physical products.

The first task for marketers is to make services more tangible so that consumers can visualize the service easier. This is done by adding tangible elements into the service. Hotels and resorts create tangibility by creating excellent infrastructural facilities which gives the consumer a fair idea about the service. For pure services the task of creating tangible elements becomes more complex. For insurance and financial services, the marketers have to build a strong brand image which acts as an equivalent of a tangible element.

For a consumer, evaluating a service before purchase is a difficult task. There is a strong element of risk which is perceived by the consumer before availing the service for the first time. Marketers’ task is to reduce the risk perception and encourage trust so that consumers try out the services. Many companies use branding as a tool to build trust and thus create a long lasting relationship with the customers.

Professor Leonard Berry in his article “Cultivating Service Brand Equity “in Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science” talks about four ways to build service brand equity. According to him, the service brand should be (a) Different (b) Determine your own fame (c) Make an emotional connection and (d) Internalize the brand. Strong service brands create powerful differentiators to convince the customers that they are different from the rest of the crowd. Service brands should also be very clear about their core strengths which will inturn makes customers to come back to their service offering. The brand should then build emotional connection with the consumers. Another important requisite is that the employees of the service organization should internalize the brand values and then only they will be able to provide outstanding customer service.

While communicating the service brand’s message, firms should be able to project its credibility, expertise and trustworthiness to the customers. Brands use characters, logo,symbols,colors etc to reinforce its service promise. ICICI Bank successfully used celebrities to build its image as a trustworthy new generation bank. Global consultancy firm Accenture firm uses Tiger Woods to convey its core brand value of “Performance”. These brands have used brand elements like slogans to reinforce the brand promise. Brands like Bajaj Allianz use characters to convey its message. Bajaj Allianz uses the animated “Super Agent “character to convey the message of reliable customer service. These brand elements help the customers to visualize the services even in the pre-purchase stage thus reducing the perceived risk of service failure.

Marketing a service require a holistic approach where the entire organization is focused at fulfilling the brand promise. It becomes the responsibility of every employee in the service organization to take part in creating the experience promised by the brand.