Brand Update : 7Up is riding on celebrity this summer

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

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

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

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

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

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

Brand Update : Thums Up in a Celebrity Trap

Thums Up which is one of the most resilient brands in the Indian market was in the news recently when the parent Coca-Cola decided to drop Salman Khan as the brand ambassador. ( source). The reports also suggest that the brand is in talks with actor Ranveer Singh

to replace the Khan. That points  to a celebrity trap which this brand has fallen into.

It is true that Thums Up has always been promoted using a celebrity, be it Akshay Kumar or Salman Khan, but the fact is that Thums Up has moved into a position where it cannot think of a promotional strategy sans a celebrity. That is why the news report announcing  Salman's exit also suggest the search for new celebrity.

Soft drink brands are always after celebrity as if there is no existence without a famous personality endorsing it. While there are a lot of advantages of using a celebrity, the fact remains that slowly but surely, the brand and the brand manager loses confidence to go without the support of celebrity. 

It is sad to see the same thing happening for Thums Up. The brand doesn't need a celebrity. In the brand's early years, the equity of the brand was built  from within. Now the brand is trying to find a celebrity so that it can depend on the celebrity for equity which, at least theoretically, is bad for the brand. Thums Up has the innate strength which made it overcome the existential crisis when the owners decided to kill it. That strength was not from any celebrity endorsement but the image of a rough resilient brand. Coca-Cola should at least try making the brand stand on its own rather than going the easy way out. 

Brand Update : Appy Fizz repositions to lose its cool factor

This summer, Parle Agro has made a drastic repositioning of its unique  product - Appy Fizz. Launched in 2005, Appy Fizz had carved a unique place in the Indian market with its fizzy apple drink. The brand was built on a cool quotient exemplified by the strategy of anthropomorphism. The drink became  the cool character and the ads too supported the positioning. Appy Fizz had one of the good taglines  " A Cool Drink to Hang Out With"

Now Parle Agro decided to undo all those with the new campaign. A lot of things have changed in the new repositioning.

• The package was changed. The logo was tweaked and the design is in line with the Frooti logo design.
• The tagline was changed to " Feel the Fizz".
• The Appy Fizz  character has been discarded.
• New celebrity endorser in Priyanka Chopra.

watch the ad here : Appy Fizz Repositioning

The new repositioning came as a big dampener. The brand changed its personality completely. The tagline " Feel the Fizz" is also a poor replacement of " Cool drink to hang out with". This " Feel " thing is an overused tagline. For example, the scooter brand Hero Maestro has the tagline " Feel the Josh". Ford earlier had the tagline " Feel the difference ". So Appy Fizz really fizzled out in the tagline section. 

Secondly about the celebrity endorser part. Appy Fizz was personified as a male. Now suddenly when the brand is endorsed by a female celebrity, I really felt odd. Moreover, the new ad is too much Priyanka and very less Appy Fizz. In all the earlier campaigns, it was the brand which had the prominence.  In all sense, Appy Fizz lost its coolness.

My hypothesis is that Parle Agro wants the brand to come into the mainstream. Appy Fizz by nature is a niche product. Because it is apple drink, the salience will also be low. Trying to change that would be a risky affair. At the same time, the brand can work to strengthen salience and build preference. The current route taken by Appy Fizz is too risky and unnecessary.

Cool Quotient is something that is very difficult to attain. Appy Fizz was fortunate to successfully position itself as a Cool brand. In one stroke,  the company has undone all the investment it has made in the brand. My forecast is that at some point in time, the brand will be forced to be a " Cool drink to hang out with ".