Havells : Shock Laga Kya

Corporate Brand : Havells
Agency : Lowe

Brand Analysis Count : 399

Havells is one of the leading players in the Indian electrical products industry. The company which was virtually unknown 5 years ago shot into limelight through some clutter breaking campaigns in recent times.

Havells is a part of the Indian business group- QRG group. Established in 1958 as a trading company , Havells came into existence in 1983. The company is now a Rs 1600 crore company with presence in all major electrical categories.

Havells business is primarily focused on four key verticals.
Switch Gear
Lighting and Fixtures
Cables and
Electrical consumer deliverable.

What is interesting about Havells is their penchant for advertising. The company had been making major investments in promotions and has been using the recent IPL for brand building.

Havells shot into limelight with their campaign for Mini Circuit Breakers (MCB) which are used to prevent short circuits . Most of the new homes/offices have it but these products were never advertised.
Havells came out with a clutter breaking humorous ad for their MCB which caught the consumer's attention. The product ad had the famous tagline " Shock Laga Kya ".

Watch the ad here : Shock Laga Kya

The ad was a hit because of the creative execution. I think the positive response from the consumers prompted Havells to invest heavily in brand promotions.

Another classic ad was for Havells CFL bulbs. The Rimpoche ad too was a highly interesting ad for a dull product.
Watch the ad here : Rimpoche

Havells followed its ad campaigns with a touchy mother son campaign for its cable product range
Watch the ad here : Mother- son
I like this ad very much because it conveyed the " heat resistant " feature of the product very smartly and touchingly.

For its fan range, Havells came out with another funny campaign : Bijilee

Recently Havells made use of the Recession to come out with another creative one for its MCB range : recession ad

Havells also has been using the recent IPL for brand promotion. Whenever some batsman gets out or when he scores a six, the two second message ad comes on the screen " Shock Laga Kya"

These clutter breaking ads has significantly increased the brand familiarity and liking of Havells brand. The brand is fighting very well established players like Crompton Greaves, Usha,Anchor , Legrand etc. Havells scored over these brands through its higher share of voice.

Regarding the branding campaign, Havells has been focusing more on product advertising rather than building its corporate brand.
There is an interesting piece written about this in hindu : read here

If you see all these ads of Havells, the ads does not have a common thread . The cable ad and the MCB ad and CFL ads are all very different. Although it all comes from Havells, one cannot find a common thread.
This is a problem for Havells as a corporate brand. The company has so far not tried to bring in a corporate brand theme. Havells does not even have a tagline.

Now everyone associates Havells with the Shock Laga Kya tagline which is a specific tagline for its MCB range. I am not sure whether this is a planned strategy where the company tries to develop its corporate brand through product ads .

There is no doubt that these product ads are well crafted and has served the purpose. But when we analyse the branding , Havells as a corporate brand has built strong familiarity but no brand depth.

If you ask me what Havells stands for, I would say that it stands for " Shock Proof MCB". So Havells stands to be identified for a single product rather than as an umbrella brand.

One disadvantage of developing a common corporate brand theme is that every Havells ad should then have to align with that common thread which may constrain creative thinking. But a brand should own a distinct place in the consumer's mind. Havells corporate brand right now does not have than distinct space for it .
The logic of the current strategy is that through the product ads , Havells will gain familiarity and thus brand equity. There is now flaw in this logic. But the issue is about the brand personality.
A brand should have some core brand values and manthra which makes it unique and distinct. This mathra has to be created by the brand and communicated to the consumers.It is in this context that the current strategy of product ads driving a corporate brand becomes ineffective.

Havells need not stop its product based advertising, what it can do is to develop a brand manthra and a corporate tagline and when show the tagline in the product advertisements. The individual product ads can retain their taglines like " Shock Laga " . Thus Havells will be able to create a distinct corporate brand image which will be highly beneficial in future.

Bosch : Invented for Life

Corporate Brand : Bosch
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi


Brand Analysis Count : 364



Have you ever thought about the brand of wipers you have in your car? Ever thought about the brand of spark-plug of your bike ? How many of us have insisted to the mechanic that we need a specific brand of spark-plug or a wiper ?

Compare that to a consumer insisting on Pentium Core Duo for his computers.

Welcome to the world of ingredient branding.

Bosch want to be the Intel in the auto world or I would rephrase it to Bosch has the potential to be the Intel of Automotive industry.

Bosch is world's largest auto-component manufacturer with more than 275 subsidiary companies spread across the globe.Bosch has a history dating back to 1886 when Robert Bosch founded the company which was known as Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering.

The company came to India in 1951 as Motor Industries Company Ltd ( MICO) . The company established itself as a leader in spark-plugs . Infact MICO was almost generic to spark-plugs. At the not-so visible engineering industy, Bosch is famous of its motors, power tools, braking systems, etc.

Bosch India has operations in for verticals
Automobile components
Industrial technicals
Consumer goods and
Engineering and IT services.

In 2008 the company decided to rebrand its entire operations in India under the name Bosch .
Under this rebranding exercise , the company is currently running a heavy campaign across various media.

Watch the TVC here : Bosch

Before rebranding , MICO also invested heavily in building its brand presence across the country. Most of us are familiar with these names although we are not quite directly in touch with the products.

There are two markets for most of Bosch's products ( automotive) - Institutional and After market .

The institutional segment consists of the OEM segment where the consumers use Bosch products as a part of the standard equipment. The after market segment consists of the replacement of the worn-out products .

Bosch have a strong foundation in the OEM segment and has relationship with most of the major automotive companies in India. The brand was in news recently for collaboration with Tata Motors for the Nano project.
In the replacement market, the consumers leave the decision of spare parts to the workshops and the marketing is done through the distributors and dealers.

Bosch is a brand known for its engineering excellence and innovation. According to Superbrands.org, Bosch registers 2750 patents every year. The company is famous for its inventions like
Diesel fuel injection
Power tools
ABS
Bosch Traction control
Electronic stability program etc.

Infact the Bosch founder Robert Bosch was the first to introduce the eight hour work schedule long before it became a norm.

Another interesting fact about the company is that 92 % of Bosch is owned by a charity foundation and most of the profits are ploughed back to the company for growth and expansion. It is one of those rare private companies which are owned by a charitable foundation.

Bosch is a brand founded on innovation . The core brand value is innovation and engineering excellence. In 2004 , the brand acquired the tagline " Invented for Life " . The brand has lived up to its promise of innovation.

Another interesting fact which I discovered during my study on this brand was about Blaupunkt. Blaupunkt is a brand owned by Bosch ( I never knew that ! ). In 1929 Bosch launched the first car stereo radio system which created the way for the world famous Blaupunkt brand.

Bosch's branding initiative come under the ingredient branding. This is a special case of co-branding where we brand ingredients, components or parts which are contained within other branded products ( Kevin Lane Keller ) .

Although the current brand campaign by Bosch is driven by the rebranding exercise, I see an opportunity for Bosch to create an identity in the consumer's mind also. From my personal experience, my wiper for my car was not working properly and I changed it twice but still it shows problems. After seeing the ad, I am going to ask my mechanic to put Bosch wipers.

Although this may be a one-off case, it shows an opportunity for the brand in the after market. Battery marketers like Exide , Ameron etc had built the brand slowly using consumer targeted campaigns. Now consumers have started insisting on these battery brands.

Tempo Traveller : Quality is the Key

Brand : Traveller
Company : Force Motors


Brand Analysis Count : 363

In 1983 the Firodia group entered into a collaboration with Diamler Chrysler for the production and use of OM616 engine for their vehicles in India. This was the beginning of the successful LCV manufacturer Bajaj Tempo.

In 1987 the Bajaj Tempo launched Tempo Traveller in the Indian market. The product powered by the famed Mercedes engine created a new experience in the commercial passenger vehicle segment.

Bajaj Tempo is a serious player in the LCV market in India with a series of products like the Tempo Trax, Matador etc. But among these products, Tempo Traveller has a special place.

In 2005, Bajaj Tempo went in for a Corporate rebranding .The company adopted the name Force Motors .

Tempo Traveller belongs to the LCV category which are essentially vehicles used for commercial purposes like passenger carriers , goods carriers etc. Tata Motors rule this market .

In the passenger carrier segment, Tempo Traveller occupies a niche. It belongs to the premium range of people movers . Tempo Traveller holds more than 80% share in its niche. It had virtually no competitors till Tata launched its LCV passenger carrier Winger. The total passenger LCV market is around 15000 units.

Tempo Traveller although popular in the people - mover segment, has its presence in the goods carrier segment also. The brand is also a major player in the ambulance segment.

Since this brand is in the B2B space, there is little promotional activity in the advertising front. For Tempo Traveller, the brand has immense visibility because it was existing in the market for two decades. The brand also has a reputation for its quality, ruggedness and reliability.

In 2005, Tempo Traveller also had to rebrand itself. Tempo is a brand name owned by Daimler Chrysler. Hence Daimler wanted Force to drop the term 'Tempo 'from the brand name. Hence now Tempo Traveller is known as Traveller. But for the customers, still the brand is known as Tempo Traveller.

Although the brand is having huge equity, there were concerns over the outdated engine and the looks for the brand. There was a feeling that the product was dated. Hence Force motors recently did an extensive make over for the product. The entire look of the vehicle was changed and the company introduced the latest CRDI engine from Mercedes for the latest version.

The new look and the updated engine for Traveller is expected to take the brand to new levels of growth. Traveller is a brand that was built solely on performance.

Saint-Gobain : The Future of Glass

Corporate Brand : Saint-Gobain
Agency : Lowe

Brand Analysis Count : 330

Saint-Gobain is one of the global leaders in the Glass manufacturing industry. The company has a long history dating back to 1665. The company came into existence in France as a part of Louis XIV s plan to restore the sagging French economy. The company soon became a monopoly in Europe and extended its operation across the world.

Saint-Gobain came to India in 1996 with the acquisition of Grindwell Norton. Grindwell Norton was a major manufacturer of abrasives at that time. Saint-Gobain is visible in the consumer space as a construction-glass products marketer. Besides glass, the company is also into manufacturing high performance materials , abrasives and project management.

Indian treated glass market is worth around Rs 5000 crore. Saint-Gobain is one of the most visible brand in this market. Indian treated glass market is an example of an Oligopoly. There are three major players - Saint-Gobain,Asahi Glass, Gujarat Guardian ( Modiguard) which control the majority of this market.

Treated glass is basically an industrial product ( B2B product ) and the customers are builders and architects. This market is poised to a huge growth owing to the construction boom witnessed in India.
Despite being in the B2B market, Saint-Gobain has invested heavily in brand building. Till now, the brand had eight television commercials to its credit. These investments has enabled Saint-Gobain enormous advantages in terms of brand visibility which translates to better margins and market share.
Construction Glass products are low involvement products and the purchase process is often complex that involves lot of people like architects, building contractors, investors etc.

By investing heavily in the brand building, Saint-Gobain has tried to influence the key decision makers. The campaigns focus on two broad themes
1. To establish the brand as the leader
2 . Highlight the quality of Saint-Gobain glasses.
The memorable campaign includes the one that involves the Japanese waiter speaking out " Hai " and the one where the lady throws water into the clear-glass at a hotel .

Recently the brand launched a range of Sun- Ban glass which prevents heat and thus gives a cooling comfort to the rooms.
The early investment in the brand has given Saint-Gobain a clear lead in the emerging home segment. The booming economy also has opened up a new market for such products in the home construction segment. Further the emphasis on brand also has prompted the builders to look for factors other than price when deciding on such solutions.

Saint-Gobain has the tagline : "The future of glass" . The brand takes pride in its rich heritage and wants to position itself as an innovation leader. The launch of sun-ban glass is in this direction. Although such products are available in the market, Saint-Gobain is the first brand to advertise such a product.

By building a brand Saint-Gobain has achieved two advantages -
a . de-commodize the market
b. Emphasize on non-price attributes like quality .

Saint-Gobain is a classic case of a successful B2B brand. The brand has proved that investment in brand building can give long-term results even in a highly competitive business market.