Brand Update : Gems wants you to Raho Umarless

Gems Surprise launched in 2010 is a poor cousin of Kinder Joy. The variant launched to fight the Kinder Joy  became a poor second cousin because of unimaginative gifts and poor campaigns.Last week my daughter demanded she wants a Gems Surprise but I flatly refused saying that the toy that comes with it may not be attractive  and we settled for Kinder Joy for Girls.

Now Gems Surprise has corrected the mistake by launching a new set of toys featuring the Panda which has been  the main character in Gem's campaign.
The variant is currently running a TVC featuring adults in line with the brand's strategy of targeting adults .

Watch the campaign here : Gems Umarless

The TVC is well made but one wonders whether there is some confusion regarding the targeting part of STP.

As I understand, Gems Surprise is fighting against Kinder Joy which is targeting kids. Now Gems Surprise wants adults to buy the brand and collect the toys. Now that is ridiculous. Expecting that adults would indulge in a product like Gems Surprise is imagination running wild. Now if the brand expects the kids to buy Gems Surprise by seeing the campaign is also a highly optimistic thought since the ad is appeals to adults rather than kids.

So this is another brand which got confused because of its own actions. The brand should have left this variant to kids. Infact my feeling is that Gems is beginning to alienate the kids and is not making right noises to get adults on board. 

Ideally the brand should have found some universal message that has appeal across age groups. Cadburys has done that with Dairy Milk. In the case of Gems, the brand is just saying that it is Umarless ( Ageless) but not saying Why ?. What Gems needs is the universal brand mantra that appeals to everyone regardless of age.

Related post

Cadbury Gems : changes segment

Brand Update : Cadbury Gems changes Target Segment

In a surprising move, Gems decided to re-position itself. The brand so far had appealed to kids suddenly decided to change the target market to  adults. This move is fueled by two campaigns now on air.

Watch the ad here : Gems Sculpture

                               Gems Lady

I am still wondering the logic behind this drastic re-targeting which obviously has to be backed by 

re-positioning. The brand now has the tagline " Raho Umarless" roughly translated to " Be Ageless" .The concept is that the brand encourages the users to enjoy life regardless of the age. Another perspective is that the brand brings the child in you. Although the concept ( although not new) sounds reasonable but the way the agency has executed it is nothing but atrocious. The fact that it is Ogilvy who has done this hopeless work makes it even more surprising. 

From the two ad, the ad featuring the lady is the most atrocious one. Neither the lady looks Child-like nor the hyperbole theme is interesting. The sculpture ad is predictable but still does not convey the brand's intended positioning. 

What is puzzling is the brand's reason for targeting adults. The brand sales may have been plateauing over these years and this may have forced the firm to think about the segments.It is true that Gems is seldom patronized by adults.This is a predominantly kid's chocolate but adults do indulge in it when he buys for the kids.

Some newsreport suggest that Gems has broadened the TG but  the advertisement message suggest that the brand has gone for a complete re-positioning and a change in the targeting strategy rather than broadening. 

While there is a logic behind the new TG, the brand failed to provide any compelling reason for adults to buy Gems. " Raho Umarless" is a weak attempt to attract adult to rethink the way he looks at Gems.Ideally the brand should have attempted a non-hyperbolic, real life enjoyment which would have attracted the TG. The brand is assuming that by looking at a campaign, the adults would indulge. But in my opinion, when repositioning, the brand needs to build salience. So it cannot afford to miss details like Why buy the brand and when to indulge in the brand. Those finer details are missing in the new campaign. 

It is also interesting to see that the brand is not trying to rope in youngsters but adults. Wonder why they chose to target 30 year olds rather than 20 year olds? Remember this is the company that built a brand like Cadbury's Shots in a short period of time. That magic is sadly missing in the ads. It pains when execution fails for a powerful brand like Gems that too when it attempts a repositioning. 

 Having said that the nostalgia of Gems is still there will hopefully drive the brand into adult's mind sans the hopeless repositioning execution. 

Related brand 

Cadbury Gems

Choc On : Khaas Mithaas

Brand : Choc On
Company : SK Industries

Brand Analysis Count : # 511

SK Industries which is a player in the food processing and beverages sector launched a new brand in the highly competitive confectionery industry. The brand Choc On  which competes with the like of Cadbury Dairy Milk will be vying for a pie in the Rs 2000 crore chocolate market ( source : Exchange4media).

The brand has roped in Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador and the launch ad is now running across channels

Watch the ad here : Choc on ad

The endorsement from Katrina has given the brand instant eyeballs and ofcourse curiosity about the new brand's aggressive marketing practice. 

The brand is positioned ( as usual) on the basis of irresistible taste. According to media reports, the brand wants to deliver 'ultimate delight in chocolate' to the customers.

The target segment for the brand is of age group 9-16 years. 

The theme of the ad is " Dreams Meet Reality " but  I found it really difficult to understand what the ad really meant. Katrina plays the part of  Cinderella and Red Riding Hood in the ad.  Choc On has the taglne " Khaas Mithaas " roughly translated to " A very special chocolate ".

Apart from Katrina Kaif, there is nothing much being said by the brand about itself. Since it is a new launch, I had expected the brand to say something about itself in terms of what it is and how it is different from others. But the ad fails in the primary responsibility of establishing the credentials of the brand. The fact is that Choc On relies heavily on the brand ambassador for credibility. And the endorsement of Katrina definitely will give some credibility to the brand. 

It is interesting to note that in this digital era , the presence of Choc On is almost nil in the web. There is no brand site nor any information about the brand owners.  

Having said that, Choc On has done a right thing by picking a high profile celebrity for the launch campaign. The presence of Katrina gives the brand instant visibility and prompt consumers to try the brand.  

The brand could have done more in the launch phase by talking more about itself in the ad. The ad is filled with visuals and rest is left to the imagination of consumers. Since this is a new brand from a less known brand owner, more communication could have been included in the launch phase with regard to the brand attributes.

Brand Update : Cadbury Eclairs Moves Up the Value Chain

2011 was an eventful year for Cadbury's Eclairs. The year saw the brand trying to move up the value chain by launching a new variant Cadbury Rich Brownie Eclairs. The move is significant because the brand has done an upward line stretch since the new variant is priced at Rs 2/-.

Cadbury's Rich Brownie variant is a significant move in the Rs 950 crore candy market where the most popular price point is Rs 1/- and  50 paise. The marketers were reeling under margin pressure because of a rise in the input costs at one hand and the price sensitive consumers at the other end. The problem was aggravated by the price competition from Nestle and local brands. Cadbury's still hold market leadership in value terms in this market while losing out the volume leadership to Nestle.

2011 also saw some changes in the positioning of Cadbury's Eclairs. The brand which earlier had the positioning of Doob le Zara ( which meant- immerse in taste) changed the tagline to "Get Lost".

Watch the ad here : Get Lost 
Cadbury's launched the Rich variant with the positioning of Chocolate Fountain. The brand adapted this from the earlier campaigns of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Eclairs' Chocolate Bomb ads. Instead of the heads exploding as bombs, in the Rich variant's ads, the heads explodes into fountains.

Watch the ad here : Cadbury's Rich Eclairs

Since the brand is priced high, the target market for this variant is older customers- the teens and youngsters.

While the new variant is banking on the chocolate fountain, the original Cadbury's Eclairs is experimenting with the " Lost in Taste " proposition. The creative brains finally came up with the tagline " Get Lost". For the first time , a brand is telling the customers to " Get Lost ".  May be the creative guys told the client  to " Get Lost " and client mistook it for the tagline and approved it !
The new tagline is far below the average creative standards for the reason that another brand from the same company i.e 5 Star is having the same positioning. It is common sense that it is not advisable for two brands from the same company to have same positioning. Positioning has to be unique and should not be shared unless it is a branded house. The entire campaign has a negative tone coupled with the tagline which itself is negative.
According to newsreports, the Rich Brownie variant wants to create a space for itself in the market which will convince the customer to pay higher price for the new variant.
Although nobody will have any doubts regarding the quality of these products, the campaigns for these two variants does not match the brand's real worth. Cadbury's have always known for its breakthrough campaigns. The recent ads for Silk, Shots , CDM all were of high quality creative executions. However, the ads for the eclairs does not match the standards of its siblings. What difference is there between the Chocolate Bomb and Chocolate Fountain  ? What difference is there between 5 Star and Get Lost campaigns ? Rather these come across as lazy cut-copy works.

Related Brand
Cadbury Eclairs

Brand Update : 5 Star Lost in Amnesia

5 Star has a special place in the Rs 2000 crore Indian chocolate market. The unique caramel filled chocolate has been a favorite among kids who wanted a legitimate break from the usual chocolate bars. Over the last few years, 5 Star has been adopting a consistent message of " Lost in the taste " but losing the bigger picture as far as positioning and targeting is concerned.

It was in 2009  that 5 Star adopted the positioning of " Jo Khaye , Kho Jaye " meaning "lost in taste " where the basic plot is that the 5 Star lover suffers a temporary amnesia after eating this delicious product. The idea was good as the brand was always claiming superiority in taste and its USP was always the taste. One major change the brand was made was regarding the target group. 5 Star began addressing the adult chocolate lovers just like its counterpart Dairy Milk. All the characters in the ads of 5 Star was grown-ups while the message was universal. 

Then came the two protagonists ,Ramesh and Suresh, who were long-lost friends meeting in a small shop. From then on, 5 Star's entire brand was centered around these two characters. Sadly the quality of the creative has gone alarmingly down and in the name of humor, the entire brand personality was projected akin to idiotic. 

Watch the latest campaign here  : 5 Star Tailor ad

Although the ad was meant to tickle your bone, the protagonists here being  projected as sort of idiots is sad for the brand. In pursuit of humor, the brand forgotten what it wants to convey with respect to brand persona. 

The brand needs to be congratulated for its consistency with the message but it should not get carried away with the message .

Why I am concerned about the portrayal of the main characters is that in the first ad featuring Ramesh and Suresh, both were normal guys meeting each other and unknowingly lost in the taste of 5 Star. But now both these characters are portrayed as idiots ( by their look and behavior) and I feel that without eating 5 Star, they would behave in the same way. 

If these guys reflect the 5 Star users, then the brand has landed itself in a bad position. Although the ordinary consumer may not think as cynically as the author of this blog does, the brand needs to careful in the portrayal of the main characters of the story.

And why forget kids ? 

Related Post

5 Star

Brand Update : Bournvita Drifts in its Positioning

Bournvita is one of the major players in the Rs 4000 crore Indian Health Drink market. The brand has a market share of around 15% according to Business Standard. The brand has been a darling for kids who liked the chocolate flavored drinks.

Cadbury has been nurturing the brand well focusing on kids and their affinity towards good taste. The brand got initial traction in the market by focusing on the chocolate taste. It further reinforced the taste factor by associating with its fellow brand  5 Star.
Later the brand went for a laddering exercise and brought in the concept of confidence. The positioning worked really well for the brand since confidence was a very important attribute as far as kids ( and parents) are concerned. The brand backed the laddering up with the creation of Bournvita Confidence Academy and followed it up with a media blitzkrieg.

2011 saw a marked difference in the positioning of Bournvita. The brand began drifting away from confidence based positioning. Early 2011 saw the brand professing the concept of " Prepare to Win " proposition. The brand adopted the tagline " Tayari Jeet Ki " meaning - Preparing to Win.

The ads were beautifully made and explained the concept beautifully. 

Watch the ad here : Bournvita Judo Ad.

Besides the change in positioning, the brand's primary audience ( protagonist) also changed. Rather than focusing on Kids, the brand directly began addressing the Mother. Kids began to play the supporting role in the advertisement. The brand began to move into the way of Horlicks and Complan where the principal character in the campaigns are mothers and not kids.

Now in late 2011, the brand made another significant change in the positioning . The brand discarded every thing it did in the past and began talking like Horlicks. In the recent campaign, the brand began talking about calcium and the script of the ad is almost the copy of Horlicks' ad. More over the brand has now the tagline " Badhaye Doodh Ki Shakthi " which is strikingly the same as the latest Horlicks campaign.

Watch the ad here : Bournvita Calcium

And compare it with Horlicks ad here

I have never seen anybody asking questions like " Calcium ke liye kya karthe ho ? " , Vitamin C ke liye kya karthe ho ??? It looks totally out of synch with the characters in the TVC.

Am not sure whether it is sheer coincidence or a competitive move. What ever it is both the brands will suffer because of the same talk. More importantly Bournvita will suffer the most because it ditched its earlier positioning in favor of the Milk based positioning.

Another interesting factor is that in the ad , there is no character representing the user ie kids. It is one of those rare occasions where Bournvita ads are without kids. 

The absence of kids in the ads and focus on ingredients mark a major shift in the marketing strategy of Bournvita. By talking in the same language of the market leader Horlicks, the brand is trying to directly attack Horlicks which commands more than 50% of the market hoping to expand its base. But this move is at the expense of the positioning of Bournvita. 

Related Brand

Bournvita : Confidence

Nestle Bar One : Kaafi Hai ? Not Enough !

Brand : Bar One
Company : Nestle India

Brand Analysis Count : # 484

Bar One is a brand which was languishing in the product portfolio of Nestle for around two decades. The brand recently got some attention from the owners and its future is being rewritten. Bar One was launched in India in 1991 ( in some sources its given as 1994). The brand when launched was positioned as an energy /snack bar- some thing that you can eat in between times.

Bar One initially was well promoted by Nestle so much so that at one point in time, Bar One had a market share of around 5 %.But Nestle's attention soon shifted to non-confectionery items and Bar One was pushed aside interms of strategy and investment. I still remember the old Bar One jingle
Nestle Bar One Ba Ba Bar One
For those in between times ......

Later the brand had the tagline " Get More Out of Life " ( see the storyboard)

Bar One is a caramel based chocolate which has naugat and chocolate similar to Cadbury's 5 Star. The brand was positioned as a high energy funky chocolate which is essentially a small snack. The brand was well ahead of its time especially in the Indian market with respect to positioning. Indian consumers were not familiar with the concept of chocolates as a snack when Bar One was launched.

Second factor is the weak positioning of Bar One. Infact Bar One did not had a powerful positioning compared to the competitor . The focus on "energy bar" was too early for the Indian market. Later the company itself ditched the brand by stopping brand promotion.

Bar One in terms of brand competition competed with Cadbury 5 Star. 5 Star had tremendous brand power during the nineties and Bar One could not hold out with the competition. How ever Nestle did not kill the brand but put it on the sidelines. The interesting part is that the brand was available in the retail outlets even when the brand was silent in the media.
The major reasons ( in my opinion) for the brand's lackluster performance are Packaging and Positioning. The earlier packaging was dull compared to the 5 Star's golden packaging. The package for confectionery is significant because this is a product that is bought impulsively and the packaging conveys a strong cue for the purchase. 

In 2010, the brand was relaunched with a new packaging and price. The new packaging is bold and lot of golden color splashed across it. After a long while, the brand had a reasonably attractive packaging. The relaunch also saw a new positioning for the brand. The brand sadly messed up on the positioning in the relaunch also. The brand came out with very poorly executed campaign positioning Bar One as a chocolate that will attract girls !!!

Watch the ad here : Bar One 

The brand now has the tagline " Kaafi Hai " meaning " Its enough ". I really don't understand the connection between the brand and the tagline. One notion can be that Bar One is enough to satisfy your hunger ? Anyways the ad series with the new tagline may not be enough to lift the brand's fortunes. But the strong presence at the retail outlets coupled with the tendency of consumers to try out different brands will once again add more sales for this brand.
Bar One desperately needs investment in serious brand building. The brand is capable of building a position in the market dominated by Cadbury's brands. Bar One also has strong recall among the consumers backed by better taste and reasonable pricing. It needs more focus on developing a meaningful positioning . 5 Star has already owned up the " Taste" platform . The current campaign of Bar One is below average and will only make matter worse for the brand. 

Brand Update : Perk Struggles To Find Right Positioning

Perk which went in for a massive brand repositioning exercise last year is now struggling hard to find the right positioning. The brand which created ripples in the market with its perky campaign with Priety Zinta, is now searching for a positioning that makes sense.

Perk and Kit Kat created much sensation during the late 1990's with both brands trying to outsmart each other with smart campaigns. But soon the market turned cold towards this wafer based chocolate brands and the wafer chocolate category never grew as expected.

In 2010 , Perk went for a major repositioning/ rebranding exercise where the entire product properties and brand elements were changed. Perk began advertising focusing on its glucose content. The brand also changed the tagline to " Sapnoan se race kar le". The theme was more emotional and the brand was trying to ladder up to a higher level concept of " reaching out to dreams".

Now within 8 months of the rebranding, Perk was again forced to change its positioning. The brand chucked its attempted laddering and crash-landed to a very rustic and " funny stuff". The brand retains its focus on Glucose content but the execution strategy has been drastically altered. The brand now has the tagline " Perk Ghao , Glucose Chadao" roughly translated to " Eat Perk and Inject Glucose". Just see the drastic shift the brand made from its earlier positioning of " Chasing dreams".

Watch the ad here : Tired Son ad

There is no point in commenting on the individual merit of this ad,

I have a strong feeling that the brand has lost its way. For the past few years, Perk has been struggling to find a strong positioning. Earlier , the brand ran a few commercials featuring a young guy lost in an island and the tagline was " Take it Lightly". Now the positioning is miles apart from the past campaigns.

The basic marketing theory demands that positioning be consistent and significant/meaningful. Most marketers try to make the positioning meaningful but does not think that positioning should be consistent. While a positioning based on glucose content is meaningful for a consumer , the lack of consistency in the positioning of Perk makes the message less sticky or worth remembering. Such frequent drastic changes in positioning will do more harm for the brand in a long-term perspective.
What Perk needs to do is to do some soul search to find the right brand manthra. Once that is found then resist all temptations to deviate from the core manthra.

Related Brand Story

Perk

Candyman : Kuch Bhi Karega for Candyman

Brand : Candyman

Company : ITC

Ad Agency : Draft FCB Ulka

Brand Analysis Count : 462

Candyman is ITC's ambitious foray into the Rs 2300( approx) crore highly competitive Indian confectionery market. The brand which was launched in 2003 is fighting for its share in a unique way .

Candyman, as the name itself describe ,was born as a hard-boiled sugar candy product. The brand was launched first in fruit flavors - Fruitee Fun variant which came in banana, pinapple, orange and mango flavors.

Candyman was launched with a campaign featuring a naughty boy and a cartoon boy as the central characters. The campaigns revolved around the fight between the real and cartoon boys for Candyman.

Watch one campaign here : Pool Fight

There was a problem with the ads because there was a chance that the fight between the two boys would scare the primary audience (kids). Although the ads meant to portray friendly competition for Candyman, the scenes of the ad showed very bitter, deadly fights between the characters. For example , the ad where the boy trying to drown the cartoon character cannot be taken in a light spirit. Since the cartoon boy was perceived to be a representative of Candyman, the ads portrayed the brand in a negative light .

Soon the ads were changed to portray friendship between the cartoon character and the real boy. The brand realized the negativity of the first theme and corrected it in the following campaigns.

The brand was positioned as a candy/confectionery which is irresistible and adopted the tagline " Kuch Bhi Karega for Candyman " translated roughly to " Will Do Anything for Candyman ". The brand was targeting the kids (naughty types) who seek delightful candy experience.

Usually while choosing the brand name, one has to be careful not to choose names which restrict the brand's movement across categories/product lines. In the case of Candyman, the brand name obviously suggested that the product is a candy. Candy is a product form which belongs to hard-boiled confectionery. So theoretically, it would be difficult for Candyman to launch anything other than candy because of the association of brand name to the candy category.

But the brand defied that rule and launched a slew of flavors and variants that transcended the boundaries of candy and chocolate .

The strength of Candyman was its relentless innovation interms of flavors and variants. Some of the variants of Candyman is given below :

Candyman Natkhat Mango

Candyman Maha Mango

Candyman Echlairs

Candyman Mangolicks in 2007

Candyman Toffichoo Strawberry in 2009

Candyman Lacto Creme center in 2008

Candyman Butter Scotch licks

Candyman Choco Double.

These large number of choice together with the strong ITC distribution network gave Candyman enough room for growth.

Some of the campaigns for the variants was quite successful. One of them was the Natkhat Mango TVC which was well received by the viewers.

This is one candy brand that does not believe that it should only be a candy in its entire life. Thus came Candyman Echlairs and followed by Candyman Choco Double. These chocolate products directly competed with Cadbury Echlairs not only in the market but also through the campaigns.

Cadbury Echlair when released the campaign " Chocolate ka Sweet Bomb" , Candyman countered it with the Choco Double spoof . ChocoDouble came with the tagline - " No Waiting for Chocolating " taking on the Cadbury Dairy Milk Echlairs ' ads.

Candyman's variants have a different personality and slogans but also shares the common tagline. The large number of variants has its advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that consumers ( kids) will be delighted with choices and there is always some excitement with the brand. The negative side is the proliferation of the product line extension can create challenges interms of brand promotion. At a given point of time, how will the brand manager allocate the promotional budget among these variants ? Which should be promoted more ?

To manage such large number of variants/flavors, Candyman is adopting a very smart brand-portfolio strategy. Currently the brand is using a strategy where Candyman will eventually become the endorser brand while there will be individual primary brands for various variants. For example in the packaging of Choco-Double Echlairs, Candyman is the endorser brand and Choco Double acts as the primary brand. Candyman brand name is displayed in small fonts while Choco-Double in larger fonts.

Candyman has the powerful backing of ITC's cash power and distribution strength. It has not yet being able to move into the top position of the confectionery market yet. But with the aggressive new product strategy together with high profile promotions make Candyman a brand to watch for.

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.

Brand Update : Gems Does a Kinder Joy

Gems recently launched a new variant Gems Surprise. The product is a new pack of Gems that comes with a surprise toy inside. The new variant is in the shape of a ball attractively packaged. Right now Gems Surprise will contain Ben 10 toys. The new variant is priced at Rs 30.

Gems Surprise is inspired ( copy ?) by the Kinder Surprise . Kinder Surprise has met with success in the Indian market. I do not have the figures but as a consumer, I have been a regular buyer of this product so are my friends.
The consumer acceptance of the Kinder Joy may have been the reason for the launch of Gems Surprise.

Kinder Surprise was never a competition for Gems. Kinder Surprise has created different niche where Cadbury does not have a presence. Cadbury does not want any product to rule any part of the chocolate market that easily. Through Gems Surprise, Cadbury is addressing the industry competition.

There is no product in Cadbury's brand portfolio that is similar to Kinder Surprise. Gems was chosen because it is a unique brand with lot of equity among the consumers. The form factor of Gems also made the brand worthy of being a competitor for Kinder Surprise.

Gems Surprise is going to create holes in the Parent's pockets. Gems was always affordable and right product to buy for the Kids. Gems Surprise priced at Rs 30 is an upward stretch for the brand.
The question is whether the consumer will buy Gems for Rs 30 because there is a gift free with it ? For all those customers who has been buying SKUs of Gems for Rs 5 and Rs 10 may find it difficult to justify the purchase of Gem's Surprise at Rs 30.

What I understand is that the product ( chocolate ) will be the same in Gems Surprise. What you pay more is for the toy.In the case of Kinder Surprise, consumers did not have a benchmark about the price so Rs 30 for Kinder Joy was accepted by the consumer.

Gems will definitely get lot of consumer trials and purchases .Whether the purchases will be sustainable will depend a lot on the variety of the gifts that is inside the pack. Kinder Surprise is the master in this game. Will Gems beat the master will be a fun ( expensive though) to watch.

Related Brand
Kinder Surprise

Brand Update : Perk

Perk has gone in for a makeover. Cadbury has launched the new Perk with Glucose Energy. According to the company website, this is the first time that a chocolate brand from the company has come out with glucose energy. The brand is running a campaign announcing its new avatar.

Watch the TVC here : Perk with Glucose Energy

When I first saw the ad, I took it just as another line extension by the brand. But was really surprised at the news report suggesting the new product as a relaunch of the original Perk. Infact DNA reports that the original Perk will be phased out soon ( Source).

The reports are little vague as to whether the Perk with Glucose Energy is the New Avatar of Perk or a line extension.

If the report of relaunch is true then it is a big change for the brand. The entire brand personality is changed and frankly I am upset.

Perk always had a charm and its persona of a bubbly youthful brand was always there since its launch in 1996. Priety Zinta is still remembered along with the brand. But the new face of the Perk is entirely opposite to the brand's current image.

According to the company version, the new Perk is targeting the youth 14-18 year olds which are looking for a snack which is refreshing. The new launch is the result of a study conducted by the company which showed that youth prefers a tasty snack which also refreshed them ( source).

In my personal opinion, the relaunch campaign is a big let down. When I saw it the first time, I mistook it for some telecom ad - with all the usual stuff of a young man doing lots of stuff, trying hard , loved by all etc. But was surprised to find that it was an ad for Perk. Disgusted after finding that it is a relaunch ad.

The new campaign just poured cold water on the entire positioning of the brand. The brand lost is bubbly , cool , irreverent character and instead acquired an uncool, rational , conforming kind of a personality. Today's youth prefers those personalities who takes things easy, without effort accomplishing tasks and enjoying life Bindaass.. But the main character seems to be taking lot of efforts which just killed the brand's established persona.

The brand also has changed the packaging color. The new tagline of Perk is " Sapno se race kar le" roughly translated to " Race with your dreams " which I think may miss the mark with the young crowd. I still miss the magic that this brand brought about in its earlier campaigns. The last campaign of " Take it Lightly " was also a smart move of the brand. But the current relaunch is too off mark.

Having said that Perk has already an established equity which will prompt customers to reach for this brand. The new Perk is priced attractively and the " Glucose " factor will entice many consumers to buy this brand. Despite all these campaign, both Perk and Kitkat were not able to create any significant growth for the wafer based confectionery in the Indian market. This category still remains in the periphery of the larger market of confectioneries

Perk has changed for better or worse, the sales figures will say. But on a branding perspective, the brand just started dying..

Another thought ... what about Ulta Perk ???

All my above criticisms are based on the assumption that Perk has been relaunched and the older Perk is being laid to rest. If the new Perk with Glucose Energy is a line extension and the older Perk is going to remain in the market, then it is just a new product line extension with a lousy campaign.

Related Brand

Perk

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk

Cadbury has launched a new variant of Dairy Milk branded as Dairy Milk Silk. The brand is currently running two TVCs for this variant

Watch the tvc here : Dairy Milk Silk Dance

: Dairy Milk Silk Conference

The brand has been moving away from the celebrity endorsed approach it was following in the last few years. The new campaign is refreshing and brings back the memories of its earlier iconic campaign " Asli Swaad zindagi ka" . I liked the conference one than the dance one.

As I understand , Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is a smooth and silky version of the original Dairy Milk. The brand is priced at a premium over the Diary Milk which makes it an Upmarket Stretch in marketing terms.

The ads are spot on the brand's core positioning of " enjoying the moments". The agency has conveyed the message in such a captivating manner that many adults who has forgotten about the original brand promise and experience will be attracted back to the brand.

I hope that the brand will scale new positioning heights and it is a learning experience to watch this brand evolving itself.

A related nice article in Afaqs.

Related Brand

Cadbury's Dairy Milk

Brand Update : Gems

Cadbury Gems is currently running a new series of interesting commercials. The brand has chosen a Giant Panda as the main character in the new set of ads.

Watch one commercial here : Rangeen Panda

Gems has been very consistent in associating with the attributes - color,fun and excitement. Over the last few years, the brand has been concentrating on associating " color" with Gems. The current campaign is trying to further reinforce the association.

Frankly , when I first saw the new Gems ad with the colored Panda, I did not understand any bit of it. Only thing I understood was that Panda became colored when it ate Gems. But my kid seems to enjoy watching the Panda.
Gems now have the new tagline " Rangeen Panda ka Rangeen Pasand". The earlier tagline of Gems was " Meri masti ka Partner ". The new tagline seems to be too tactical in nature focusing more on the Panda rather than the brand.

Gems is targeting the kids of age 8-14 yrs.(source) The way kids look at these messages are way different from how we adults look at the campaigns . Hence I am not venturing into analyzing the new campaign using my adult lens. However I think that the ad could have been more clear so that adults will also understand the essence of the message.

Having said that, the choice of Panda as the main protagonist is a very good idea. The animal evokes a sense of cuteness and stickiness to the ad. When marketing to kids, the presence of such a character will add more punch to the brand. The association of the attribute "color" to Gems also is a class act because it makes Gems unique compared to other brands.

Even though Gems does not have a competitor with similar product properties ( color candies), the consumer does not think in terms of categories while making a confectionery purchase. Most of the purchases are spontaneous and marketers can only wish that their brand is on top of the mind during that moment of truth. Let me hope that the Rangeen Panda helps Gems to capture that moment.

Related Post
Cadbury Gems

Halls : Thandi Saans Ka Blast

Brand : Halls

Company : Cadbury India Ltd

Agency : Contract Advertising

Brand Analysis Count : 421

Halls is one of the largest selling cough drops brand in the world. The brand claims to have 50% share in the International cough drops market.Halls brand was born in 1930 when Halls Brothers invented a Metho- Lyptus formula that alleviates throat irritations. Later in 1964,

Warner- Lambert acquired the brand and began to aggressively sell the product in the US market.

Halls came to India in 1968. The brand was initially sold as a therapeutic candy in the cough lozenges market. In 2003, Halls came into Cadbury's fold when it acquired the confectionery business of Warner-Lambert/Pfizer network ( Source : Halls Brand Site).

Halls had a series of ups and downs in the Indian market. At one point of time during the ninetees, the brand was the market leader with a share of over 30%. But at point in time , Warner- Lambert increased the price of Halls from 50 paise to 75 paise. The effect was devastating. The brand began to lose its share because consumers found it difficult to find the change in order to buy the product. It was easy to find a 50 paise but finding 25 paise was not easy. And the shop keeper will never return the 25 paise if given Rs 1. (source ).

Halls was promoted heavily by both Warner- Lambert and Cadburys. Halls is one of the heavy spenders in the category. But despite the heavy share of voice, Halls had a huge positioning problem.

The Rs 200 crore throat lozenges category is an interesting category. With in these category, there are certain subsegments which may not be visible to the consumer. For example, there is a therapeutic lozenges category which are medicinal in nature and sold through chemists. Strepsils belong to this category. While Vicks is perceived to be medicinal in nature, the product can be sold in all kind of shops. Halls belongs to the candy sub-segment within the category.

While most of the throat lozenges products are sold on medicinal platform, Halls wanted to differentiate itself. Hence the brand chose to position itself on the " Cool and Refreshing " Platform. But instead of focusing and establishing this platform, the brand kept oscillating between " medicinal throat relief " and " Refreshing" platforms. If you look at the series of ads of Halls across its lifetime, the brand was confused about its core brand value. In one ad, the brand will be concentrating on " Sore Throat " while in another it is taking about refreshing breath,

The brand was not confident about ditching the " sore throat " and embrace the " cool + refreshing " platform. This confusion eroded the brand's chances to become the market leader in this category. The brand failed to understand that it cannot be everything to everybody. It is commonsense that brands should try to occupy a unique position rather than trying to please everyone.

It was in 2008 that Halls finally decided to focus on the " Cool throat " platform . The brand used hyperbole to communicate this message to the consumer.

Watch the ad here : Halls Airplane Ad

Personally I did not like the ad because the action of the person who took Halls was contradicting the " Coolness " factor promoted by the brand. But the hyperbole or the exaggeration worked to brand's advantage. The brand was able to clearly communicate its core brand promise to the consumer.

It shows when a brand understands its core brand mantra. The decision of the brand to focus on the " coolness " had its impact on the quality of brand communication. Halls came out with its latest ad reinforcing its core positioning.

Watch the ad here : Halls Polar Bear ad

It is again Hyperbole at its height. The message is spot-on and the exaggeration works well to reinforce the core positioning of the brand. The brand has the tagline " Thandi Saans Ka Blast " which communicates its coolness promise.

Halls is facing competition for its positioning also. Recently Parle Xhale also has started its campaign highlighting its 'coolness'. Watch the ad here.

I hope that Halls will stay focused on the current positioning platform. Ofcourse by doing so, it may lose some consumers but in the long run the brand will benefit with the focus.

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk

It is very difficult to imagine a campaign for Dairy Milk without Big B. Amitabh Bachchan had become the face of this brand and was instrumental in making the brand a darling of youngsters as well as not-so-young ones. Cadbury's was one of the brand that used the persona of Big B to the maximum.

For the past few months, the brand has been trying to break free from the dependence on this powerful celebrity. The brand earlier came out with the "Kenya " campaign without Big B 's presence.

Now Dairy Milk is running another campaign without Big B. The campaign known as the Pay Day campaign is something that we never expect out of this brand

Watch the TVC here : Dairy Milk Payday

The ad is a retro taking us back to the 60's era.The new ad takes the theme of enjoying Dairy Milk on the Pay Day ( When you get the salary). The company has given an interesting story about the idea and its execution. ( Read it Here).

Frankly speaking, i really liked the ad because it is very different and clutter breaking. I think rather than strategy, Dairy Milk wanted to break the clutter and reinforce the brand. And it has done it in style.

Marketing a brand like Dairy Milk is not an easy proposition. The brand have huge brand equity and its campaigns has to live upto the expectations of the consumer. Advertisements for iconic brands like Dairy Milk serve a long term objective of retaining the share of mind rather than immediate sales. The brand needs to remain fresh and relevant and its huge popularity should not become a liability that constraints the creativity. So the agency need to experiment with the campaigns while retaining the classic touch of Dairy Milk. It is no easy task.

Even with Amitabh Bachchan, the brand had to make sure that the personality of Big B should not shadow the brand. The brand was successful in effectively using Big B without drowning the brand.

The latest campaign is a welcome deviation from the brand's journey. The ad may not appeal to the younger ones but will catch the eye of those in their mid thirties and forties.

Kudos for the team

Related brand
Cadbury Dairy Milk

Dollops : RIP (1989-1995)

Brand : Dollops
Company : Cadbury/HLL


Brand Analysis : 403

Dollops is another MNC brand that bite the dust in Indian market. This much hyped brand was launched in India in 1989 by Cadbury's in association with Brooke Bond. Dollops was one of the first high profile MNC brands to enter the Indian market.

Dollops gained instant consumer interest because of the endorsement from Cadbury's. The brand was positioned as a premium icecream and was able to make a significant hype during the launch.

Ice cream business at that time was dominated by local players and powerful brands like Kwality. Cadbury later found that the market was not as juicy as it thought to be. During 1993, Cadbury began the process of focusing more on its confectionery business.

This lead to the hiving off the unrelated businesses like ice creams. It was around that time Hindustan Lever Ltd began to aggressively pursue their interest in ice cream market. In an acquisition spree, HLL acquired Kwality and Dollops. Cadbury sold Dollops to HLL in 1993.

Typically, HLL played around with the brands it had acquired. HLL had its international Wall's brand which it was planning to launch along with Kwality and Dollops. HLL found that Kwality had a huge equity in the market and decided to keep that brand .

Dollops could not be fit into the planned portfolio strategy of HLL and had to be killed.By around 1995, Dollops was slowly eased out from the market.

Dollops had only a short life in the Indian market. Dollops shot into limelight only because of the Cadbury's brand endorsement. The brand was in a tough market which had even humbled the mighty HLL. For Cadbury's, Dollops became a liability when it chose to concentrate on its core business. For HLL, it was a costly exercise of killing a competing brand.

Dollops is a brand that failed not because of any product related reasons. Some of the flavors of Dollops were a hit with the consumers. It failed because of company related factors.

Picture courtsey : Business Line

Brand Update : Cadbury Eclairs

This year Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs has comeout with a new campaign and a new positioning. The brand has identified itself with a sweet chocolate time bomb that will explode in your mouth. 

The brand is running an interesting TVC to communicate the postioning. 

Watch the ad here : Cadbury sweet bomb

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Eclairs has always been focused on its chocolate inner and as a consumer  we get a special feeling when the crispy outer covering of the eclairs give way to the soft chocolate liquid inside.  The brand is now trying to capture this feeling through the new campaign. 

The brand is equating this experience akin to the blowing up of a chocolate bomb from inside. The ad captures this concept quite beautifully. 

Although the ad is quite good, there is a striking resemblence with the recent KitKat ad claiming to be more chocolatey. The only difference is that the chocolate explodes outside the head.

Watch the Kitkat ad here : Kitkat exploding

Competition is not only for market share , it is also for the ad copy.

Related brand

Cadbury Dairy Milk Eclairs

Brand Update : KitKat

Kitkat now has become more chocolaty. The brand has changed the product to appeal to Indian Palate .
The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting its chocolaty nature

Watch the new tvc here : Kitkat Chocolaty

What is interesting is that the brand has gone back to its famous tagline " Have a break,Have a Kitkat ". The brand had adopted a new tagline : Kitkat break banta hai...

The question again lingers.. if you have a very famous tagline and consumers like that and if your brand has developed a strong association with that tagline, why change it ???

Indian consumers has been lukewarm to wafer chocolate brands like Perk and Kitkat. After the initial sales boost, both these brands are facing the issue of stagnant growth. Both Perk and Kitkat have tried to boost sales by product innovations. Kitkat launched Kitkat Chunky and Kitkat Lite while Perk launched Ulta Perk. They have even tried coming out with different SKUs inorder to increase consumer usage. But consumers seem to prefer the chocolate bars over wafer ones.

A tricky situation indeed....


Brand update

Kitkat

Brand Update : Bournvita

Cadbury's has launched a brand extension for Bournvita - Bournvita li'l Champs. The new extension is targeting the little kids aged 2-5yrs. The brand is competing with Junior Horlicks in this segment.

It seems Bournvita has taken this new extension seriously. The brand is on a high gear and has roped in the tennis sensation Sania Mirza to endorse this product.

The Television Commercial is right now on air in most of the channels : Watch it here

I think the brand has jumped into this segment for two main reasons. The first being the potential of the market. The current lifestyle and the family profile has increased the need perception for health supplements/ drinks for the little ones. Mothers are always worried about the food intake of the kids and it is a universal phenomenon that during this age, kids hate food.

Hence it is easy to attract mothers towards such products that promises well being for their little one. Another reason is that there is only one major player in this category. Hence there is room for Bournvita to explore this market already created by Junior Horlicks.

Bournvita Li'l Champs is touting on its nutritional content and its 5 Star taste to catch the target segment. The packaging is refreshingly new and attractive. The brand is promising the mothers to make their kids champions like its brand ambassador.

There is a difference in the positioning of Junior Horlicks and Li'l Champs. The Junior Horlicks has positioned on the functional benefit while Li'l Champs is riding on the a higher platform of emotional benefit. How ever since both these parent brands are well established, there is enough room for growth without eating to each other's shares.

Like Junior Horlicks, Li'L Champs will also ride on the equity of the parent brand.

Related Brand
Bournvita
Horlicks