TT Asafoetida : A Heritage Brand Celebrating 125 years.

 Brand: Tasty Tasty Asafoetida
Company: Mahesh Value Group

Brand Analysis Count: # 600

The trigger to this post is a television ad of TT perungayam ( Asafoetida) I saw recently. A quick search found something interesting and new to me so thought of putting this as my 600th brand analysis. The most interesting fact about this brand is history. This brand born in 1895 is celebrating 125 years of existence and it is something to be celebrated. In this ever-changing world, how many brands, big or small can boast of such a history? 

This brand is not from a glamorous industry but from a commodity - common asafoetida which is an integral ingredient of South Indian cuisine. This brand may have survived this long because of this close connection with culture. In marketing, we learn about the interaction of culture with the choice of products. Most likely, these brands have become an integral part of the kitchen. 

It is not that the brands selling these products are not promoted. Brands like TT, LG are promoting heavily in their respective regional markets. In fact, a search for asafoetida ads can throw up a lot of brand advertisements in this category. Another interesting information was regarding the brand name TT stands for Tasty Tasty. 

Although TT as a brand is famous for asafoetida, it had launched brand extensions like appalam ( pappad) and also into the highly competitive spice masala market.

To commemorate the 125 years, the brand has recently upped its promotions across various channels. The brand is focusing on the health benefits of asafoetida as its USP. As we know about the commodities, its very difficult to find and establish a sustainable point-of-difference since the characteristics or benefits are common for all marketers of these commodities. However, TT is trying to own the health benefits platform through its claim that the product is made from the natural first extract of the latex from the plant. 

These brands will remain as long as there is a major shift in consumer preference from traditional food choices. Some brands are blended deeply with the culture which is often enduring. The challenge comes when these ingredients become a part of a package and customers need not buy these ingredients separately. Till that time, these brands will be around.

Related Brand

LG Asafoetida

Milton : Kuch Naya Sochte Hain ( Let's Think of Something New)

Brand : Milton
Company : Hamilton Housewares


Brand Analysis Count : # 568

Milton is one of the leading brands in the Indian home-ware market which includes products like casserole, flasks etc. Milton was launched in 1972 was a humble producer of small plastic items like tumblers. 

Milton's name was earlier synonymous with flasks. Milton and Eagle flasks were the two famous brands during eighties. Later came the casserole craze. Milton was able to capitalize on the popularity of  casseroles. Indian households lapped up the casserole and after functions like marriage and housewarming, homes were flooded with casserole gifts. 

Milton also had the ingredient brand Tuf Puf which was the name the brand gave to polyurethane foam. Tuf Puf became very powerful differentiator for Milton.

Over a period of time , the home-ware market has become a commodity. The products became the same with virtually no credible differentiation. 

In such a market, Milton has devised a two pronged strategy to standout. 

Innovation and Branding. 

The brand Milton already had a very good equity in the market. The company wanted to cement the equity by positioning Milton as a innovation driven brand that is sensitive to the consumer needs. Milton clearly identified the target consumer as an intuitive lady of the house. The brand wants to make life easier for the consumer through innovative products. 

In 2015, the brand initiated its first brand campaign " Kuch Naya Sochte Hain" translated to " Let's think of something new". The brand through the campaign tried to project its innovative products while stressing on the quality. 

One of the innovative product which served as an anchor for the campaign was the World's first microwave safe insulated steel casserole . Watch the ad here  called MicroWow. 

Along with this product, the brand also ran few more campaign TVC highlighting the new products. ( Glasslid casserole). 

Milton is a brand which stood the test of time and has been very proactive in moving to using innovation as a differentiator. 

Khadi : Is the potential realized ?

Brand : Khadi
Company : Khadi and Village Industries ( KVIC)


Brand Analysis Count : # 563

Last day I visited a Khadi Outlet looking for some Khadi cloth to beat the scorching heat wave sweeping across God's Own Country. The interest in Khadi was a result of a miserly search for an alternative to the much expensive linen. The visit had inspired this post because I saw both opportunity and disappointment.

Khadi ( as mentioned in Wikipedia) is an iconic symbol of the independent struggle. The cloth became a movement when Mahatma Gandhi exhorted the nation to boycott British Cotton and embrace the homemade Khadi. 

Khadi again came into limelight when our Prime Minister urged the Indians to support Khadi. As per the reports, there was a surge in the sale of Khadi after the appeal by our PM.

As a marketer, I saw a huge opportunity for Khadi because of the very nature of the product. As per the reports, the cloth has a  unique property of being cool in summer and warm in winter. Further, the product is very rugged and durable. 

The disappointment was the lack of branding and product development for this product. I visited the largest Khadi outlet in Cochin and the lack of product choice and variety was appalling. The colors and choice were limited which shows the lack of investment in product development. This product had the alternative to the expensive linen had it come out with better product choice. 

Regarding the branding front, Khadi was not a trademark or no one thought of protecting Khadi as a brand. It was a generic term for handwoven cotton cloth. This changed in 2014 when a German firm Khadi Naturprodukte registered it as trademark in European Union. 

The Government of India had since challenged this and asked Khadi and Village Industries to register Khadi as a trademark. 

In India too, there is no clear ownership for Khadi. You can buy different types of Khadi products from different vendors. This creates many problems in terms of product quality and consistency.

What the Government needs to do is to take ownership of the Khadi brand and try to encourage more product development in terms of color, clothes etc. KVIC. Khadi can be positioned as an ingredient brand. The firms can be encouraged to develop Khadi based products . At the brand level, KVIC should take ownership of the brand and promote Khadi's image. The unique selling proposition of " Cool in Summer and Warm in Winter " should be exploited.

Khadi is a heritage brand with great potential. Only if the ownership is clearly defined and a concerted effort in branding is done, the potential will not be met. 

Brand Update : Maggi's 2 Minute Mein Khushiyam With BigB

Maggi , which created the noodles category in India has now none other than Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. The brand is being endorsed by a celebrity for the first time in its history. And Big B is an intriguing choice for a brand which is most patronized by young children.

Maggi holds a commanding position in the Noodles Segment with over 60% market share. Off late, the brand is facing competition from brands like Horlicks, TopRamen Sunfeast Yippie etc. And further the brand is feeling a disconnect with the new generation customers who now have more choices for indulgence other than noodles. Maggi now faces not only brand competition but also industry competition from similar products like Pizzas. Even fast food joints are taking away consumers from the brand. At this point , the brand needs to stay relevant to the consumers since consumers have a wider choice of indulgence.

Maggi's choice of Big B as the brand ambassador is little puzzling. Amitabh Bachchan as a celebrity commands immense respect among the audiences. He is an amazing story teller and has unmatched screen presence and Maggi wants to build more authenticity through his endorsement. The new campaign featuring Big B is an extension of the highly successful Me and Meri Maggi theme where the brand tried to crowdsource stories of customer experience with Maggi. 

The campaign brought back many segments of consumers who moved away from the brand since they have grown up. The brand again brought back focus on itself and its heritage and the USP of 2 minutes. The campaign in a way was the counter strike against the competitor's focus on health and nutrition.

Big B was introduced as a story teller who narrates the various stories supplied by the consumers through the various touchpoints created by the brand. The brand is running a campaign featuring this stories.

Watch the ads Here

The ads focus on the ease of cooking  ( convenience) and the happiness thereby attempting to take the consumer's focus away from the health platform adopted by Horlicks, Sunfeast Yippie etc. Sunfeast has roped in Saina Nehwal as its endorser.

The brand has a new slogan " 2 minute mein Khushiyan " . It is interesting to note that the brand has brought back the 2 minutes proposition after a long time. 

Although Amitabh Bachchan is a master story teller, I find some how a disconnect between the brand and the celebrity. The thought is that  " he is not the right person to endorse the brand". This is despite the fact that he commands respect from across age groups.

Having said that the presence of the powerful celebrity along with the smart collection of real life stories of brand consumption adds a big boost to this brand. The brand exactly needs such a boost at this point of its life cycle. The problem with such heritage brand is that over the period of time, the communication becomes boring. Booster shots like these will again revive the energy levels for the brand to move and face competition head on.

Related brand

Maggi 

Van Heusen : Evolve Yourself

Brand : Van Heusen

Company : Madura Garments ( Aditya Birla Nuvo)

Ad Agency : JWT India

Brand Analysis Count : #467

Van Heusen is one of the largest apparel brand in India. The brand which came to India in 1990 is on the verge of a new growth trajectory. The exciting new path for the brand is built on the rich heritage that this brand carries.

Van Heusen is a truly global brand. The brand has a rich heritage with a history dating back to 1881. The brand journey started in USA in 1881 when Moses Philip and his wife began selling hand-sewed shirts to local miners of Pennsylvania in a push cart. Later Philips and his son moved to Newyork and began selling shirts.

In 1910 John M Van Heusen from Holland found a unique process of fusing cloth on a curve thus created a comfortable self-folding collar. John Van Heusen and Philips' son Seymour Philips met in US and Philips-Van Heusen Company was created. The company also got a patent for the collar in 1919. ( source : Super Brands)

From there, the brand went on to become the largest selling shirt brand in USA. Now Philips-Van Heusen (PVH) which owns the brand worldwide is an apparel giant which owns iconic brands like Arrow, Van Heusen, Tommy Hilfinger and Calvin Klein.

This iconic brand was brought to India by Madura Garments. Madura Garments hold the right to market this brand in India. When Aditya Birla group acquired Madura Garments, the right moved to AB Group.

Van Heusen was a pioneer in the development of executive -wear segment in India. The brand positioned itself as one for the upwardly mobile executives. The brand positioned itself on the platform of Powerful + Fashionable executive formal wear. The brand introduced the concept of " Power Dressing " implying that the brand users are those who occupy the powerful places in the corporate world.

Along with the aspirational positioning , the brand appealed to the consumers by focusing on fashion.Fashion and Formal wear are seemingly opposite attributes and it is difficult to convince consumers that a brand can have these opposite attributes co-exist. Van Heusen was successful in doing that. The best way to impress the fashion conscious consumer is to innovate. Globally Van Heusen is known for its innovation in their clothing. The brand came out with concepts of Ice Touch, Dura Press etc which reinforced the positioning of Van Heusen as a fashionable executive wear.

The brand endorses the core values of modern, fashionable updated, minimalism and timelessness. The brand targets 25-45 year olds who are in the middle-upper class executives who have a penchant for understated fashion.

The brand captured the attention of Indian corporate through is heavy brand promotion and rich heritage. Van Heusen is now a Rs 400 crore brand with strong presence across the country. The brand which initially promoted itself using the tagline " Power Dressing " evolved over a period of time. The tagline was changed to " Power . Evolved " which communicated that the brand user has arrived to a position of power. Now the brand is sporting the tagline " Evolve Everyday". The brand also successfully ventured into women-wear.

The highly competitive Indian executive wear industry has prompted the brand to devise new ways of growth. The brand launched its range of casual wear under the brand VDot and has now roped in Actor John Abraham as the brand ambassador. ( VDot will be dealt in detail in a future post).

The strong point of Van Heusen is its ability to lead the market with its fashionable range. The high quality , never compromising premiumness ( exclusivity) and understated image has contributed a lot to the growth of this brand. The campaigns of Van Heusen (except for the early ones on Power Dressing) were never clutter-breaking but was enough for the discerning customers to patronize the brand.

Brand Update : Can Katrina Boost Yardley's Fortunes ?

In November 2009, Wipro acquired the rights for marketing Yardley in Asia , Middle East, Australasia and parts of Africa. That was an important turning point for this 240 year old heritage brand.

The acquisition of a brand like Yardley makes sense for Wipro whose personal care portfolio is having only one major brand - Santoor. Yardley range of personal care products gives Wipro an instant access to the premium segment of the personal care market.

Yardley , though a brand with high recall and recognition, was languishing in the Indian market because of the lack of marketing support. There was seldom any campaign for the brand neither it was promoted at the store level. The new owner in Wipro has a very successful marketing history demonstrated by the success of the brand Santoor.

Wipro has made its first major initiative for Yardley by roping in the current Bollywood Diva Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador for Yardley. The brand expects to ride in the current sensation's popularity to make a comeback in the Indian personal care market.

The brand is currently running a campaign featuring Katrina

Watch the ad here : Yardley

Before going into the quality of the campaign, its important to understand the tactical significance of such a move. Yardley wants to move fast in terms of reinforcing its brand credentials. It want to announce its resurgence fast and make an impact. For that celebrity endorsement offers a reasonable strategic sense.

But as usual , the execution failed the brand strategy. The ad was poorly made in the sense that there was no creative spark in it. The theme, execution, message everything was so cliche that the ad never made any impact (in me !). At best it reminded about the brand nothing more nothing less. The ad give Yardley a new tagline " My Yardley, My Fragrance ".

The ad wanted to give the message of heritage , London Connection, Signature fragrance , attributes of Yardley.But although these messages were conveyed, the ad failed to create a premium image for the brand.

As an immediate tactical move, the current campaign does achieve its purpose but like Santoor, Wipro needs to find a sustainable positioning platform for Yardley. It should push the creatives working for the brand to do another Santoor.

Lets hope that Yardley achieves its true potential under Wipro.

Related Brand

Yardley

Brand Update : Sunlight

It has been a long time since I wrote an update on Sunlight. This brand which is the oldest detergent brand from HUL was witnessing a revival of sorts. In my last post on Sunlight, I had commented that the brand was languishing because of the lack of support from the company.

2008 saw some brand activity aimed at reviving the fortune of this brand. Sunlight is not a national brand. According to news reports, the brand is a leading detergent brand in some markets like Kerala. Hence the brand was not getting enough support from the company in the past years.

HUL was facing the critical issue of focus in the past few years. It had a plethora of brands which had regional presence but no national foothold. Various leaders at HUL had different ideas about such a brand portfolio. Some CEOs ruthlessly cut the brand portfolio trying to focus on certain number of brands while some others believed in market share and volume game. This divergent views about the brand portfolio created a sense of directionless in the marketing activities of this marketing giant. HUL never seemed so vulnerable in the Indian market. The last decade saw the company venturing into confused brand strategies which ultimately helped other FMCG companies to cash in on market shares.

Sunlight was one such brand which lost its relevance in the strategy of HUL. I had commented that HUL is not spending enough for this brand. However, that complaint is now resolved. 2008 saw a campaign for Sunlight's new variant Sunlight Orange.
The brand is running a campaign in most of the channels : Watch the tvc here

I was rather surprised at the campaign because it was an unusual campaign for Sunlight. An animated ad for a detergent brand was something very unique. The ad typically look like that of brands aiming kids. I still wonder the logic of having an animated ad for a product like Sunlight. The characters, the song , everything was ideal for a confectionery or a toy . The ad is for anew variant of Sunlight which is having orange extract which will make the clothes shine better.

How ever, the ad seems to have some sticky factor although the Sync with the brand was less. I guess that this promotion will work in rural markets because of the novelty of the idea. Some campaign is better that nothing. In that sense, Sunlight brand can breathe a sigh of relief.

Related Brand
Sunlight

Brasso : Branding without Advertising

Brand : Brasso
Company : Reckitt & Benckiser

Brand Analysis Count : 420

This post is inspired by an article which came in the Economic Time ( Source). The article mentions the brand Brasso as an example of a brand which has become a 100 crore brand without spending much on advertising.

Brasso is a 105 year old brand from Reckitt & Benckiser . The brand was born in 1904 when a Reckitt official traveled to Australia and discovered the potential of a such a product. In 1905, the company brought the brand Brasso into the market. ( source).

The brand has become almost synonymous with metal polish across the world. The brand became generic after the two world wars. Brasso is heavily used by armed forces across the world . In India too, Brasso is heavily used by the armed forces. According to ET, around 12800 litres of Brasso is used by the armed forces every month.

The brand gained its generic status purely by word of mouth. The very simple fact that this product is used by armed forces gave it tremendous authenticity. In the consumer space, the product has limited usage.The rich heritage and the word of mouth gave the brand enough recall when ever there is a need for a metal polish. Since the brand is selling without any advertising, the company is also happy to let the party run.

But the problem with such a brand is that there is a possibility that the brand misses out in opportunities. Many consumers does not know that Brasso can be used to clean scratched CDs and even repair scratches in plastic products. Unless the brand communicates regularly , there is a chance that the brand will miss out in capitalizing its strengths and in finding new uses for the product.

Brand Update : Pears

It has been a long time since I wrote anything about Pears. The fact was that there was no big development about the brand for the past two years. The brand is regularly and consistently promoted across various media.

The brand extended itself to kid's category with the launch of Pears Junior and also into personal care segment with products like face wash. Pears also launched variants like Mint, Aloe Vera,Oil control etc during this period. Although the brand launched these variants, the core positioning of the brand remained the same for the original soap.

Recently I saw the new commercial of Pears

Watch it here : Pears

The brand is very consistent about the positioning strategy. Pears is built on the wonderful relationship between the Mother and

Child. All Pears ads captured this emotion quite perfectly. The brand focused on its " Transparency " and is positioned as a " Pure and Gentle " Soap.

This time too, the brand follows the same theme. The significant addition is that now Pears has a tagline - Masoom.

Masoom translates to Innocence . So Pears now celebrates a new brand value - Innocence.

The new campaign is nice but as a Southie I did not quite understood the dialogue. But the cute child and the theme always work the magic.

I am assuming that Pears brand is serious about the Masoom Tagline. Masoom concept works very well for Pears. The concept of innocence fits with the " transparency " and Pure & Gentle positioning.

Pears was one of those brands which did not have a tagline. With out the help of the tagline , the brand was able to communicate its core positioning. The core brand values of Pears was communicated through visual cues .

The tagline of Masoom seems to gel with the brand. Whether and how the brand is going to use this tagline in future is something to watch for.

Related Post

Pears

Brand Update : Kelvinator

Marketing Practice reader Ms Simran asks an interesting question about Kelvinator. She wanted to know about the prospects of rejuvenation of Kelvinator brand.

In my earlier post on Kelvinator, I had predicted (assumed) that the brand will be killed after being acquired by Electrolux. To a certain exte

nt, it was true also because Kelvinator was sidelined for Electrolux brand. There was no brand promotion and the product was also not visible in stores.

Electrolux too had difficulty in surviving the highly competitive Indian consumer durable market. In 2005-06, Electrolux Kelvinator Ltd was acquired by the Videocon group ( source). The acquisition gave Videocon , the rights to use Electrolux brand for five years and Kelvinator brand for unlimited period. ( Source).

My prediction of Kelvinator's death was proved wrong. Videocon had other plans for this brand. The brand was rejuvenated in 2008-2009. Recently I saw the commercial of Kelvinator in one of the local Kerala channel. ( Watch the TVC here : Kelvinator)

The brand retains the famous classic positioning of " The Coolest One".

I think that Videocon is using Kelvinator as a flanker brand . Kelvinator will be the price warrior for the Videocon. Even after all these years, Kelvinator still have lot of brand recall. Vidoecon will just have to create some noise in the media to rejuvenate the brand . I am sure Kelvinator still have lot of potential to succeed in the Indian market.

It is good to see the good old Kelvinator back into the branding world. It is also wonderful to see the brand owners retaining the famous positioning and tagline which made Kelvinator famous.

Related Brand

Kelvinator

Brand Update :Margo

It has been a long time since I wrote about Margo. Margo was virtually silent all these years and I even thought that the brand was dead. Recently I was pleasantly surprised to see a television commercial for Margo. In the article I had recommended that the brand should take the help of a celebrity.

One of my readers had earlier pointed out that the brand had roped in Rani Mukherjee as the brand ambassador . It was the first time that I saw the ad of Margo featuring Rani.

Watch the commercial here : Margo TVC

I am not sure whether this is an old TVC . Reports suggest that Rani Mukharjee was roped in as brand ambassador in 2008.

I am glad that Margo is trying again for a comeback. I also appreciate the fact that the brand is relying on its heritage and the core advantage of " Neem " ingredient.
Margo faces two issues in this relaunch attempt. First is the product qualities. Margo is well known for its " Pungent Smell " and non-lathering properties. That perception is still there in the market. Hence the task for the brand is to change the product by changing fragrance and making it lather more. I have not used the new Margo , hence could not comment on the product features.

The second issue is with regard to the celebrity. Rani is not at her career best and that can have some negative influence on the current brand efforts. How ever, the fortunes of these bollywood celebrities are highly unpredictable. I had earlier commented that Aishwarya Roy is a better choice of a brand endorser than Kathrina Kaif. Further events have proved me wrong and now Kathrina Kaif is a hot property.

The message in the current Margo relaunch is also laudable. The brand is taking the risk of being branded as Mama's brand . The campaign is making this as the USP and banking on its heritage.

In a smart move, the brand has launched a Rs 5 sample pack which will enable lot of sampling for the brand. If the brand is able to prove its worth, Margo will once again will be on the growth path.

Let us wait and watch the response of consumers to the current relaunch.
Related Brand
Margo

Brand Update : Lacto Calamine (RIP)

After a long long time, there is some development for Lacto Calamine brand. This heritage brand was lying low with little or no support from the company.

This year, Nicholas Piramal decided to invest some energy into this age old personal care brand. The brand has been given a facelift, a new packaging and also a new positioning.
The brand has roped in the design consultant Elephant Strategy to revamp the brand. (read the design change report here)
The brand launched a variant containing Aloe Vera.

What is interesting is that the brand have coined a new term Skinsurance .Skinsurance means that the brand is providing protection ( insurance) for the skin. It is a smart positioning statement.
The report in the Exchange4Media site gives a disturbing news also. The brand name Lacto Calamine is going to be shortened to the initials LC . This is to facilitate further brand extensions.

The company feels that the brand name Lacto Calamine is constrained because the name indicates the contents Lacto ( Milk) and Calamine lotion. Hence the brand cannot be used for extensions. This brand is one of those brands whose name restricts the extension. Other examples are Thirty Plus & Band Aid.

The company plans to slowly rebrand Lacto Calamine to LC in a phased manner. At first, the new brand name LC and Lacto Calamine will appear together and gradually Lacto Calamine will be phased out . LC will then be an umbrella brand that will endorse a range of personal care products.

So for all practical purposes, Lacto Calamine brand is going to be killed. Instead we will have a meaningless Two Letters LC.

I don't understand why Lacto Calamine brand has to be killed for a new umbrella brandname which is just a meaningless initial. Piramal could have easily launched a new brand for personal care products. Shortening Lacto Calamine to LC will not add any value and will not trasfer any equity to the shortened brand name. It is going to be just a waste of valuable promotional money.
Lacto Calamine is a niche brand. I think the company should have made it a profitable niche. Lacto Calamine is a good product with lot of good properties. It had the equity to remain a profitable niche but the firm think that it is better to convert it to a umbrella brand.

What the company should have done was to introduce a new meaningful umbrella brand for personal care products. It could easily integrate the Lacto Calamine brand into the new brand folio by endorsing Lacto Calamine by the new umbrella brand.

So RIP Lacto Calamine ( 1970-2009)


Related Brand
Lacto Calamine

Brand Update : Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy has taken a vow to make India healthy. The new campaign " Banaye Healthy Hindustan".
The new ad campaign takes the route of Before- After theme.

The brand selected two apartment complex for this experiment. In one apartment, the children were asked to use Lifebuoy soaps 5 times a day and another apartment were selected where there was no change in the lifestyle . After the experiment, children in the apartment where the brand was used recorded remarkable increase in terms of school attendance and a decrease in the incidence of diseases. Lifebuoy is claiming that the experiment proves that using the brand 5 times a day can dramatically reduce the chance of getting illness and improve school attendance by 40%.

The current campaign is an extension of the famous Swastya Chetana initiative of the brand where the children are encouraged to wash their hands with soaps inorder to reduce the incidence of diseases like diarrhea.

This time Lifebuoy is using the before-after theme . Indian brands are right now using the high-risk before-after theme. Horlicks was the one which came to my mind which had successfully used this experiment format to catch the consumer. The strategy is risky because the claims has to be authentic otherwise the brand will be in trouble. Secondly these claims should be believable.

HUL has tried a similar campaign for Pepsodent ( Dishum Dishum campaign) where it encouraged kids to brush their teeth twice a day. The campaign was a highly successful one.
Through the new campaign , Lifebuoy is expecting similar success.

It is commendable for a brand to strive hard for a noble cause. The brand has chosen a right cause which mutually helps both the brand and the community.

Related Brand
Lifebuoy
Pepsodent

Duckback : Another Name for Quality

Brand : Duckback
Company : Bengal Waterproof Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : 386

Duckback is a heritage brand. The brand have a rich history dating back to 75 years. Duckback is a brand owned by Bengal Waterproof Ltd ( BWL). BWL is a pioneer in water proofing products in India. The company, which was founded by Mr Surendra Mohan Bose in 1920, is best known for its Duckback brand of rainwears.

Duckback brand evokes a nostalgia in me because it was an aspirational brand for me during my school days. But since Duckback was a premium rainwear, I had to settle with the local look alike.

As a brand, Duckback had huge brand equity. It was synonymous with quality raincoats. The brand had a strong association with quality and consumers were willing to pay a premium for the quality offered by Duckback.

But in the marketing front, Duckback was a laidback marketer. The brand spent very little on the promotions front. In an interveiw published in the Business Line, the company officials admitted that the brand was an arm chair marketer since demand always exceeded supply.

Rainwear market is a highly fragmented one and is dominated by local players. Duckback is the one of the few raincoat brands in the organized segment . I don't really remember any famous rainwear brands other than Duckback.

Duckback as a brand faces the issue of seasonality. These products are sold only during rainy seasons.Hence managing seasonality is a big issue for companies selling these kind of products.

Duckback infact have a very diversified portfolio. The brand have a product range of over 62 products ranging from rainwear, boots,boats, tents,baby mats, medical beds , school bags ,luggages etc. The brand is also a supplier to defence forces. So the brand has managed the seasonality issue through a diversified portfolio.

But Duckback is predominantly known to the consumer world for its raincoats and school bags. Although the brand is known for its quality products, it had done little to develop the rainwear category as such. If you look at this rainwear category, we still see those poorly designed stale raincoats . In the developed markets, rainwear is a designer category which is positioned as part of one's wardrobe. Hence companies come out with well designed raincoats and bags which often is considered as style statement.

But in India, Raincoat is not considered as a part of your wardrobe. You will have a raincoat, if you ride a bike. But if you travel by bus or when you walk, raincoat is not at all considered. I have seen in the west, people wearing raincoats while walking in the rain. So in a sense, there has been no attempt to expand the user base of this product . The marketers so far has been concentrating on the bike commuters for selling this category.

If you look at an ordinary commuter in a bus or train, it is a nightmare to travel during rainy season. Umbrellas help but not much to protect your clothes and especially if you travel by bus, you will be drenched after the travel. I have always thought of using a raincoat while traveling in rain ( walk or bus) because it is so convenient but did not dared to use because it was not common for a person to use a raincoat while walking. I feel that there is a hidden need for smart rainwears targeting those people who travel in local transport and also for those who prefer to walk.

In the branding front also, Duckback never capitalized on the tremendous equity it had. Duckback could easily projected itself as a " Offroader " brand like Woodlands. But it never invested in building it as an umbrella brand .

Duckback still have a huge potential both as an umbrella brand for rainwear products and also as a rugged offraod brand. The only thing the brand should do is to invest in building the brand.

Ad courtsey : Cutting the Chai

Related Brand
Woodlands

Brand Update : India Post

Its more than two years since I posted the critical analysis of India Post. I had criticized about the wastage of immense potential of a service which had unmatched distribution reach across the length and breadth of India.

In 2008, Indian Government had decided to restructure the entire postal department. The restructuring exercise is called Project Arrow. The project aims to make India Post a logistics giant by leveraging the core strengths of the institution. The restructuring is being done in consultation with Mckinsey.

As a part of the restructuring exercise, the institution has redefined its business. According to Professor Theodore Levitt, Every business should ask this fundamental question : What Business are You In ? The answer to this question can throw up lot of opportunities for growth. Narrowly defining the business can create Marketing Myopia which may wipe out the business in the long run.

From just a postal institution , the department has reframed its business to be in the logistics service rather than just a postal service. The move is a significant step in broadening the scope of services that could be handled by this giant.

It is important to reinvent the business definition since the postal service is facing competition which could make its business irrelevant. The e-mail and the rise of affordable private courier services has taken away a significant chunk of profitable business of this institution. Since it is a government department, India Post could'nt change fast to accommodate the changing environment.

In line with the restructuring exercise, the department has also rebranded India Post by launching a new logo. The rebranding was done by O&M.

The new logo retains the signature red color but has made significant changes to the logo. The new logo sports a yellow color which signifies happiness , hope and joy. Red stands for passion. The wings from the old logo has been retained with some modification. The new look brand take Passion, Power and Commitment as the core brand values.

According to the press reports, 50 post offices will be refurbished to make it a new-look hi-fi post offices in the first phase of Project Arrow. The number will be scaled up to 500 post offices in the near future. The new post-offices will be technologically enabled to provide faster service to the customers. A lot of new products have also being created for meeting the new demands of the customer.

It gives me joy to see that the brand has slowly waking up to the new realities. I was surprised to find that India Post was losing almost Rs 1300 crore every year on its operations. This is despite the fact that India Post handles 10 crore Money orders and 17 crore savings accounts with deposits over Rs 5,40,000 crores. The deparment has 1,55,000 post offices out of which 89% is in the rural areas. India Post is the largest postal service in the world.

The government hopes that with this restructuring, India Post will be able to make profits rather than bleed the exchequer .

Related Post
India Post

Dunlop : Always Ahead ?

Corporate Brand : Dunlop

Brand Analysis Count : 353

Dunlop is a failed brand. It was a brand that pioneered automobile tyres . But the brand failed miserably for reasons not of its own making.

Dunlop is a British brand that have a rich heritage and history. The brand has its origin dating back to 1889. Infact the brand is named after John Dunlop who patented the technology for making pneumatic tyres.

The brand has a fragmented ownership across the world. Dunlop tyre is sold in Europe and US by Goodyear. Recently Apollo Tyres acquired the brand in South Africa and the Japanese company Sumitomo is selling this brand in other countries . In India, the brand is owned by the Pawan Ruia Group.

Dunlop set shop in India in 1926. This is the brand that pioneered tires in India. Even after 82 years, the brand is still living in the minds of the Indian consumers.

Dunlop had been ruling the Indian market for a while . Being a pioneer and also being a British brand had its own advantage. After our Independence, the brand continued to thrive. At one point of time, even RP Goenka was on the board of Dunlop India.

But the brand was moving into rough patch. There were strikes and lockouts which hampered the smooth operations and in 1988 Manu Chhabria's Jumbo group acquired the controlling stake in Dunlop India.

The situation in the company went from bad to worse. The company was virtually bankrupt and was referred to the BIFR ( Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction ) in 1997. Much of the company's problem was attributed to the mismanagement .

Dunlop is a heritage brand in the tyre industry . Despite being the pioneer in tyres, the company had invested in developing the Dunlop brand. The brand offered excellent quality tyres and even in a category which belongs to slow-moving consumer goods ( SMCG), Dunlop made customers ask for this specific brand.

The brand started as a cycle tyre then became the generic brand for all tyres be it for commercial or passenger vehicles.
Dunlop was heavily promoted in the media. The brand had the memorable tagline " Dunlop is Dunlop, Always Ahead ".

Another interesting fact about the brand is that , although Dunlop is known for its tyres, the term ' Softness ' comes to my mind when I hear Dunlop . The reason is that the brand is famous for its pillows. The company diversified into manufacturing pillows which was branded as Dunlopillow. The pillow was famous for its softness and still Dunlop brand is associated with softness .

This brand went into trouble not because of marketing problems but for mismanagement of company operations. After a long while, almost ten years since referred to BIFR, the brand found its saviour in a maverick entrepreneur Mr Pawan Ruia who heads the Ruia Group.

Pawan Ruia took over this brand along with another tyre brand Falcon Tyres in 2005. Within a short span of three years, he has managed to turn the company around. According to reports, the company is set to make a notional profit in 2008.

But things are different now. Indian tyre market is crowded with Who is Who. All the major international brands are here fighting it out with Indian brands like MRF, JK and Apollo. The dynamics of the market also has changed.

Dunlop still has its brand equity intact in the consumer's mind. Although the consumers remember this brand, its not enough to make them opt for this brand in the new avataar. That may be the reason why the brand is now concentrating on OEM and other industrial markets.

Dunlop is a sad story of a heritage brand biting the dust. But the silver lining is that the brand is trying to make a comeback.

Snickers : For the 4'O'Clock Hunger

Brand : Snickers
Company : Mars INC

Brand Analysis Count : 351

To the joy of all chocolate lovers, the world's largest selling chocolate Snickers is now officially in India. The brand has been selling like hot cakes in India as an imported chocolate. Now Mars INC has formally launched the brand in India.

Snickers is owned by Mars Inc which is a $21 Billion company headquartered in US. The company belong to Mars Family which has a rich heritage dating back to 1911. Snickers is the largest selling chocolate in the world with a sales of over $ 2 Billion. Mars Inc is famous for its famous Mars chocolate which have a huge fan following across the world. It also markets the brands like M&M and Bounty.

Snickers has been a favorite of Indian chocolate lovers who devoured this chocolate bought either from the duty paid shops or brought in by the NRIs. But over the last two years , the brand has been available in most bakery's across the country . A report in Business Standard ( June 08) suggest that the imported Snickers and Mars outsold Cadbury's and local brands.

Snickers was born in 1930. The brand acquired the name from one of the favorite horses owned by Mars family

Snickers has been soft launched in India. There are no media reports or Press releases announcing the launch of this brand. I am not sure whether Mars Inc has started producing this chocolate from Indian factories or its still imported.

Snickers is a heavy chocolate with peanut, milk chocolate and caramel. Globally it is positioned as a snack rather than a chocolate . In India too, Snickers has been positioned as a snack.
What is interesting about Snickers launch in India is that the brand chose to localise the brand communication . The first TVC of this brand is made for India and made in India.

Watch the TVC here : Snickers India

Usually MNC brands try to import their global communications to India to create that global image. How ever Snickers chose to be Indian from the very beginning.

Snickers is positioned as a snack food. More specifically , the brand is being positioned as a snack food to fight the Four' O ' Clock hunger. The brand has the Hindi Tagline " Hunger Baja Char . Snicker Khol Yaar " , translated to " When 4'o'clock hunger strikes, open Snickers bar".

The positioning of Snickers is not very different from its competitors. Remember that CadburyPerk had the same positioning as a snack. However Snickers have a strong fan following in India even before its official launch.

For many years chocolate marketers have been struggling to teach Indians to take chocolates when you feel hungry. But so far they are not able to break into the mindset of Indian consumers. Indians don't consume chocolates when hungry. Chocolates are mostly taken after you take some food or they take it when they want some thing sweet . Why because Indian consumers don't consider chocolate as a food. So Snickers will be fighting the age old perception and will have a tough time teaching Indian consumers new lesson.

Snickers will have a tough time in India. Most of the chocolate manufacturers are faced with stagnant sales . To sustain the initial momentum is not going to be easy. Globally the brand has been trying hard to prove that Chocolates are good for health. It had undertaken many studies which prove that chocolates can be good for health. These studies are also very controversial and sparked many debates about its validity.

Snickers has the advantage of a strong cash rich parent and a strong brand equity. It will be interesting to see how this global brand breaks into Indian market.

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.

Ambassador : Marketing Myopia

Brand : Ambassador

Company : Hindustan Motors

Agency : Mudra/ Equus

Brand Analysis Count : 326

Ambassador can be called as the first Indian car. Although the car has a British legacy, it is considered as definitive Indian car. Ambassador was born in 1958. The car owes its design and technology to a British car model - Morris Oxford which was built by Morris Motor Co at Oxford UK. Hindustan Motors launched the Indianised version of Morris Oxford as Ambassador in 1958.

From 1958 to 1980's Ambassador ruled the Indian market. Infact there were only two cars in the Indian market - Premier Padmini and Ambassador. The licence raj, lack of capital and the unfriendly Indian economic policies ensured that no automobile manufacturers entered the Indian market.

1983 saw the emergence of a new era in the Indian car market. Maruti Udyog Ltd launched the Maruti 800. Soon Ambassador lost its leadership position to Maruti. The family segment which is the largest segment in the car market embraced Maruti. Ambassador was reduced to a marginal player within no time.

But Ambassador had some advantages over 800 which made it dearer to certain segments. It was the only Indian car with Diesel option. During those times, there was a significant difference in the prices between Diesel and Petrol. Second advantage was the space and sturdiness of the Amby. These two factors enabled the brand to become popular among big families and more importantly among the Taxi and tour operators.

Amby was perceived to be a sturdy car ideal for Indian roads. The brand also had a positive perception of being less expensive to maintain. These two were only perceptions . Infact Ambassador was expensive to maintain and even though the car looked sturdy and well built, the car lacked the quality and refinement. Rattling sounds and rusting was common complaints .

But consumers bought the car because of the significant economy of diesel cars which made consumers to compromise on other parameters.

Another significant market for Ambassador was the Government. Over 16 % of the brand sales came from the Government. Ambassador was the first choice for most bureaucrats . Ambassador used to be the Prime Minister's car till 2002. That status was lost when the PM of that time Mr Atal Bihari Vajpai replaced Ambassador with a BMW Limo.

Soon the officials also lost interest in the brand. With the emergence of new and better models from other auto-makers, there was a significant drop in the orders from the Government.

The fall of Ambassador from a leadership position to a marginal player is a classic case of marketing myopia. For four decades, the brand has been taking its customers for granted. There are many reasons that can be attributed to this brand's failure. The fundamental issue was with the product and price.

If we look at the product, Ambassador never changed with times. The brand made many cosmetic changes from 1958-2000 and three upgrades was made which was named as Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV . There was no significant value addition between these upgrades. The look and the built quality remained the same. A major change happened when the brand introduced a 1800 Isuzu engine. The Amby with Isuzu again lifted the sales of the brand. But the euphoria was short lived.

The apathy of HM to offer product changes in tune with the times made the brand stale. Second factor that failed Amby was the price. HM never bothered to rationalize the price of the brand. Even now Ambassador costs more than Rs 4,80,000. At that price one could afford a more luxurious Indigo sedan.

According to reports, the HM plant had achieved full depreciation in 2000. But the company did not thought of passing on the reduced cost to the consumer. Had the company rationalised the price of Amby in 2000, the brand could have survived the competition.

The nail in the coffin came with the launch of Indica. Indica took away the taxi car market from Ambassador. Again the diesel loving individual consumers had a better affordable modern car as compared to the ageing Ambassador.

In order to lift the sagging sales of the brand, HM launched a radically designed Ambassador variant Avigo in 2004. Although the styling was radical, the customer response was lukewarm.

Indian consumer is now spoilt with choices. The competition is immense and the quality of cars has also gone up. Consumers now have new set of purchase considerations like quality, brand, drivability, luxury ,cost of maintanence etc

In the value proposition domain, Ambassador is never in the radar of the consumers. The narrowing price difference between petrol and diesel also eroded the value in investing in an old dated Ambassador.

The company also has never invested in the brand. Without investing in either brand or product, HM had sealed the fate of this brand .

The question that arise is could a brand like Ambassador maintain its position Indian market despite all the competition?

In the brand management perspective, its suicidal not to continuosly invest in a brand .Often heritage brands wait till it becomes dated. Once the brand becomes dated, its virtually impossible to rejuvenate the brand. The task is to prevent the brand to become dated. For that the brand has to go to the consumer for ideas. Changes in product or promotions can sustain the brand even in the light of emerging competition. Brands like Lux , lifebuoy, Surf has been successful because of continuous investment in branding and product development.

Ambassador should have learned from Maruti 800. The brand is still surviving because it made changes along with the changing consumer values. Also the brand rationalised its price in the light of emerging competition which made Maruti 800 relevant even in the current market.

I am not saying that Amby had the potential to become an Iconic brand like Volkswagen Beetle. But the brand could have been relevant to Indian market as a basic family car. It is a herculean task to bring Ambassador back to life. A price below the price of Indica is the only option for the brand to keep its fortunes alive.

Brand Update : Margo

Margo is set for a new life. The India's heritage brand is getting a brand ambassador in Rani Mukharjee. According to news reports, the Bollywood diva is set to breathe a fresh air into this brand.
In my blogpost on Margo two years back, I had recommended some heavy duty celebrity endorsement for the brand. Glad that it is happening .

Margo, which was in existence even in 1920s , derives its strength in the neem formula. But over these years, the brand failed to keep itself relevant to the changing consumers. But still the brand is popular in West Bengal and Tamilnadu.

The brand is now not in the radar of the new generation . The endorsement of Rani will increase the brand recognition among the target audience. According to reports, Margo is not changing its formulation and is being positioned on the Neem attribute.

But the brand may have to work on the fragrance. Without losing the neem essence, the brand may have to make the fragrance more attractive to the new consumers. The ads for Margo is yet to be aired , so I am not sure about the new positioning of this soap.
There is a silver lining for this brand. The soap market in India is increasingly cluttered and consumers to an extent is overloaded with new attributes and variants. In such a case, the common tendency of consumers is to look for a simple easy solution. Margo with its neem attribute can very well take that space.

Related Brand

Margo

Image courtesy : Sify