Marketing Practice : Smell as a Brand Element

Crayola has taken a significant step in branding by trademarking the iconic smell of its crayons, a scent deeply associated with childhood memories. This move highlights the growing importance of sensory elements in brand identity, showcasing how companies are now leveraging unique, non-visual brand elements to create emotional connections with consumers. The "Crayola smell" is not just a fragrance; it's a powerful reminder of creativity and nostalgia. As brands continue to innovate, integrating sensory trademarks could be a game-changing strategy for deepening customer loyalty and differentiation in the market.

#Branding #SensoryMarketing #Trademark #CustomerExperience #Innovation

Brand Update : 7Up is riding on celebrity this summer

 7Up this summer has a strategy focused on celebrity influence. A brand which is lagging behind in terms of market share has been on a confused path all along. Launched in 1992, the brand followed the international template of importing its brand mascot- Fido Dido. It was a refreshing campaign during those times and Fido Dido looked uber-cool. However, the brand struggled in the market fighting the likes of Sprite which now has over 20% market share while 7 Up is below 5%. The brand discontinued using Fido Dido for a long period and around 4 years back, it bought back the character. However, the mascot struggled to fit into the Indian context with its Western looks. 

This summer, the brand went into a hyper-promotion mode fueled by celebrity endorsement. First came Rashmika Mandanna, then Anirudh and now Ranbir Kapoor. The brand also tuned its positioning based on freshness. The brand now has the positioning statement of Super Duper Refresher in the campaigns. 

The repositioning started with Rashmika Mandanna featured advertisements. The brand cleverly used the celebrity ambassador's young vibes and communicated the positioning using very- smart mnemonics. To convey the refreshing benefit, the brand used the mnemonic of a blob of water bursting over the celebrity. With Rashmika Mandanna's expressions added more punch to the brand's promise.

The campaign was followed by another featuring the current music sensation Anirudh Ravichander with Rashmika along the same theme.

The brand further pushed the envelope by roping in Ranbir Kapoor for the pan-Indian appeal. 

The brand has done everything right in terms of positioning and execution. The scorching summer of 2024 will add more fuel to most of the soft-drink players in India. By the campaign scale and execution, I think that 7Up has been able to get its promotional strategy right. The positioning on the basic platform of Refreshing benefit coupled with the use of mnemonics and celebrity is a good recipe for success although very expensive to sustain.

Marketing Practice : FMCG Giants to Leverage Elections Through Small Packs

 An interesting article in ET sheds light on how FMCG giants like Parle and Dabur are trying to leverage the election season by launching small pack items like Rs 5 and Rs 10 sachets of snacks, biscuits and beverages. Already, the players are witnessing an uptick in the sales of small packs. The surge is due to the large number of election rallies expected to take place in this election season. 

Dabur is also upscaling the distribution of pocket-sized packages of beverages, hair oils and shampoos to take advantage of the season. Another player Balaji Foods is also gearing up the production expecting a hike in demand for its snacks. According to the report, this trend is backed by the expectation that there will be a 6-8% increase in the sales of these small-pack items mirroring last season's data. The logic is that the election rallies lead to large, captive audiences which create a heightened demand for quick, on-the-spot refreshments. Either these purchases are individually bought or sponsored by the political party. This trend of marketers taking advantage of such large events is not new and we have seen how brands have taken advantage of mass events like Kumbh Mela in the past.

Brand Update : Nestle Munch Extends to Breakfast Cereals

 In an interesting move, Nestle has extended its chocolate wafer brand Munch into breakfast cereals. The Nestle Munch breakfast cereals were launched in June 2023. Theoretically, this move is brand extension into unrelated categories. While the breakfast cereals from Munch retain the chocolate flavour and the crispy nature of wafers, it is a big jump from wafers to cereals. 

Indian breakfast cereal market is huge with a market size of approximately $4.5 billion ( Rs 380 Bn) and growing very fast owing to the consumer preference for quick and convenient food options. Munch launched in 1999 had a good run in the Indian market and along with Kit-kat has a significant market share in the Indian chocolate wafer market.

The brand is running a series of campaigns for the launch.

The brand extension is positioned on the crunchiness and taste attributes it has derived from the parent product. The brand focuses on youngsters rather than kids in their campaigns. The parent brand Munch Wafers has been focusing on taste and quick energy as its positioning attributes. One of the major pain points for consumers of breakfast cereals is the taste vs healthiness. This brand extension is for those consumers who consider taste as their most important decision-making criterion. One should also not forget the kids as a major influencer in the purchase process. 

GilletteLabs : Shaving Made Sensational

 Brand : Gillettelabs

Company : P&G

Brand Analysis Count: #624

Gillette has launched a new brand - GilletteLabs in India this year (2024). The new brand is from the R&D wing of Gillette from which the brand shares the name. The new launch also reinforces the innovation culture of the company and the effort it takes to bring new ideas to an otherwise dull product like a shaving razor. 

GilletteLabs is touted as the most technologically advanced shaving razor with FlexDisc technology which, the brand claims, will give the best shave ever. I should say that the brand has put in lot of thinking behind the product features. The brand comes with a metallic handle and a magnetic stand for holding the razor handle. The handle also has a FlexDisc which ensures maximum skin contact. The most important marketing bait is the lifetime warranty for the handle. The brand says it is the first to offer such a warranty - with of course lot of conditions such as it defines lifetime as 10 years. 

The razor blade comes with an exfoliating bar which the brand claims removes dirt before the blade passes through the skin- so much for a plain razor blade isn't it. 

All these don't come cheap. The shaving kit ( one razor and handle) costs around Rs 1400. And we know that Gillette makes money not from the shaving handle but from the subsequent razor purchases. The GilletteLabs razor costs around Rs 750 for all the bells and whistles. 

I wonder why Gillette chose the brand name "GilletteLabs" for a product rather than the likes of Mach or Fusion. In my opinion, the company could have used Gillette Labs as an umbrella brand and used a separate brand name for the product. 

One should appreciate the focus of the company in constantly innovating in this category even though many things are marketing elements, the brand has been able to give great products to the customers and cement the leadership position of the brand in this segment.  These launches make it difficult for challenger brands to build brand equity big enough to challenge Gillette and the premium it commands. 

Tata.ev : Move with Meaning

Corporate Brand: Tata. ev

Company : Tata Motors

Brand Analysis Count: # 623

Tata Motors has done an interesting branding strategy for its EV business. Tata's initiatives in the electric vehicle segment are under its subsidiary Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TEPM).

 In 2023, the company announced that the subsidiary will have a branding of  " Tata.ev" with the extension ".ev" in a circle which the company calls "the orbit"- giving it an individual brand identity at the corporate level. All its electric vehicles will now have an extension of ".ev" along with the brand name to signify the electric version. 

The move is an interesting study in the brand architecture strategy domain. Tata Motors launched its EV business in India in 2019 with the Tigor brand and followed it up with the Tata Nexon EV in 2020 which became highly popular. Now the company has an electric variant for its Tiago and latest Punch brands. 

When Tata launched the electric version of its popular brands, the branding was to add the acronym EV to the brands and that's it. The EV was, in branding parlance, essentially a product descriptor which explained what the product is to the consumer. Other than that, the EV doesn't carry any significance.

However, the elevation of EV as ".ev" literally makes the product descriptor a brand element thus adding more value to the company's brand architecture for the electric variants. Tata Motors has followed the strategy of converting the existing products to electric variants retaining the same brand. Now by adding the extension ".ev", the company can create a protected brand element for the electric variants.

At the corporate level, having a corporate brand also helps Tata Motors to give individuality to the EV business and probably in future launch its own brands in the EV segment. 

At the individual branding level, the ".EV" move will kind of own a powerful acronym which is useful in the long-term branding perspective. 

Brand Update : Mamy Poko Pants becomes Indian Diaper Market Leader

 I wrote about Mamy Poko pants in 2009 ( link) highlighting its differentiation and innovation. 14 years from that, the brand has toppled the market leader Pampers to become number one. The brand sold diapers worth around Rs 3000 crore during FY 2023. The news report in ET attributes the success of Mamy Poko to its innovation and distribution expansion. It is the first brand to launch underwear-style (pants-style) diapers in the Indian market. The report also pegs the Indian diaper industry at around Rs 10,000 crore which is a huge market. I also attribute Mamy Poko's success to its consistent communication strategy focusing on its key differentiator - its pants style (product form). Kudos to the brand.

Gerber Baby Cereal : Anything for little ones

 Brand: Gerber Cereals

Company: Gerber India ( Nestle)

Brand Analysis Count: #622

The market for toddler food in India is an astounding INR 2582 Bn ( $3.8Bn). The market is highly fragmented, regulated and dominated by home-made foods. A global brand Gerber entered the Indian market in 2022. Gerber has a very long and successful history. The brand was created in Fremont Michigan by Daniel Frank Gerber. The story is that Daniel's wife Dorothy suggested her recipe and asked her husband to manufacture it in scale so that mothers could save the struggle to make nutritious food for their kids at home. The product became hugely successful and as per wiki, the brand has more than 60% share in the US market. In 2007, the company was acquired by Nestle.

Indian cereal market although huge, is a challenging one. There is opportunity in the organized market owing to the sheer size of India's population. However, there are challenges in terms of retail exposure and brand awareness. However, since  Nestle has a huge and chequered presence in the Indian market and wide expertise in selling baby foods, things may be easy for the new brand.

Gerber is positioned as the segment's premium, high-quality innovative nutrition brand. The brand is targeting mothers and is taking the emotional route to impress the customer. The brand globally is pitching on the history of a product made by a mother. 

It is interesting to note that Gerber is launched as a new brand without any endorsement from Nestle. Despite being one of the most recognized corporate brands, Nestle has boldly decided to let Gerber create its own identity, which is usually a road less travelled in marketing. Building a new brand is a long-term play and I think Nestle is prepared for the long haul. 

Gerber's challenge is establishing credibility because it is dealing with a sensitive product. The legacy of 90 years of existence is highlighted in the advertisement which makes things easier for the brand. The product has come with interesting variants like spinach and carrot, mango and berry which can interest kids compared to other dull products existing in the market. 

Flavors are not a sustainable differentiation and if a flavour clicks, competition will follow suit in a blink of an eye. With Nestle's distribution and marketing muscle, Gerber is in a strong footing as a new entrant. 

Puro Salt : How far the brand can ride the purity proposition ?

 Brand: Puro Salt
Company: Puro Wellness Pvt Ltd
Brand Analysis Count: # 621

Puro is a relatively new entrant into the Indian salt market. Indian salt market is a huge size of around INR 27Bn. India is also the world's third-largest producer of salt. The Indian salt market is dominated by Tata Salt with a market share of around 17%.

In a commodities market with very low entry and exit barriers, it would be tough for a new entrant to survive. But a company named Puro Wellness is trying its luck through its brand Puro. Puro Wellness was established in 2016 and its first product is salt. The company has tried to use the " Pure" proposition to create a space for Puro brand of salt. Pure is a well-used marketing proposition and is used extensively across various product categories. This strategy is especially used when the category is predominantly a commodity. In spices, sugar, pulses etc we have seen this strategy being used extensively.

I also remember the efforts of Parrys Sugar taking the same purity platform to create a space in the sugar market. So from a marketing strategy perspective, there is nothing new about what Puro is doing in the Indian market but the way it is executing the strategy is interesting. The brand uses a comparative advertising format not against a specific competitor but rather against the category of white salt. Pure salt is pink salt and is cleverly trying to break away from the white salt category and create a new category ( not exactly new but owning) of pink salt. The brand is saying that pink salt is better than white salt because it does not use bleach to get that white colour. The company has used celebrities such as Anil Kapoor and Keerthi Suresh to bring authenticity to the claim. If it clicks, there is a chance that many customers will switch to pink salt perceiving it to be pure. 

This has rang alarm bells in the competitors and the market leader has gone to court challenging the claim of Puro but the court did not provide any relief to the complainant. 

The company also started launching another product turmeric under the Puro brand name with the same promise of purity. The brand has the name advantage that links directly with the purity positioning. Puro salt is priced at very premium compared to ordinary salt. 

While Puro has been heavily investing in promotions, the problem with the purity proposition is that it is very difficult to own that brand proposition. If Tata Salt or any other competitor launches pink salt and calls it pure, there is nothing one can do. So here the top of the mind-share becomes the critical determinant of success which is a cash-burning strategy. On the other hand, what else a brand can do to break into a commodity market ?