NDTV Good Times : A Unique Co- branding

Brand : NDTV Good Times
Company : NDTV
Agency : Equus Redcell

Brand Count : 279

In September 2007, NDTV launched India's first hardcore lifestyle channel branded NDTV Good Times. This new channel is unique in two ways - its India's first lifestyle channel and secondly its the first time where a product brand has co-branded with a channel.
Co-Branding is where two brands operating in two different domains coming together for a common cause ( objective) . The objective can be anything from tapping a common market or sharing promotions. The oft quoted examples in classrooms were the co-branded credit cards .
NDTV Good Times is promoted by NDTV alone and not with any equity stake by the UB Group.
The new channel is all about lifestyle. In theory , we tend to describe lifestyle with the three descriptors
Activities
Interests &
Opinions ( AIO).
Truly like this concept, Good Times is all about activities, opinions and interests. The channel devotes its time to Health, Fashion, Food, Luxury, Technology , Chats with celebrities, life of rich and the famous etc. The channel also wants to create a class of its own by roping in HOT Properties to anchor respective shows. These include the actor Rajat Kapoor, Chef Manju Malhi, Techie Rajiv Makhni etc. The channel is full of aspirational lifestyle programs and contains about 50-60 original programs per week.
The channel is looking at the target market comprising of socially upbeat 20-40 yr old SEC A viewers.
The questions arises as to the benefit of these two different brands coming together in a channel. For NDTV, the brand association with Kingfisher gives it the revenue cushion. According to Agencyfaqs, UB group has committed around Rs 100 crore worth of ads in the next five years. For NDTV this takes away the risk of launching a lifestyle channel with is atmost a Niche . Kingfisher will provide the much needed ad revenue till the channel began to attract other advertisers.

For UB Group, its a boon. We know that Indian law does not permit Kingfisher Beer to advertise. The rules are getting stricter day by day. Hence there is nothing better than a channel that carries your tagline and the mascot. Besides that every businessman knows the power of having a media under its fold. UB Group may not have the capability to run a media, so why not associate with the best brand in the media domain NDTV. Also Kingfisher as a brand epitomizes lifestyle positioning. Whether its the beer or the airlines, Mallya has built the brand on lifestyle platform . Hence Co-branding with a lifestyle channel makes perfect sense.

But things are not as rosy as it seems. This whole concept will work only if NDTV can bring in quality content to the channel. NDTV has proved its capability in the news front but entertainment is a different ballgame altogether. Right now cost of the new launch maynot be a headache since NDTV has its processes and systems in place. What is going to make or break this channel is the quality of programming and the innovation that this channel will bring in to get the eyeballs sticking. For NDTV , Good Times is testing waters since it plans to roll out an entertainment channel in collaboration with the ace director Karan Johar. For Kingfisher, its a promotional expenditure ( nobody ever has perfectly measured the effectiveness of advertising as yet !!!). I feel that Good Times channel will be an integral part of inflight entertainment in the airlines too in future.
So as of now its a win-win game for both the brands. Time will tell if GOOD TIMES will last.
Related Brand
Kingfisher

Masterstroke Wisky : Create Your Own Masterstroke

Brand : Masterstroke
Company : Diageo Radico
Agency : Beyond Design

Brand Count : 249

Masterstroke is the first Whisky Launch from the joint venture Diageo Radico in the premium IMFL whisky segment. The brand is expected to tap the growing whisky segment in India. Masterstroke is a premium whisky crafted by Master Distiller Mr Peter J Warren of Scotland. The brand is exclusively created to cater to the Indian connoisseur's taste.
According to reports, the whisky is mellowed to perfection taking into consideration the unique preferences of Indian market. The brand is priced Rs 364 a bottle and is positioned as a premium brand. Masterstroke's brand values lies in High Quality and Commitment to Perfection. The brand adopts the positioning based on the following attributes : Pure Mellow and Exceptionally Smooth.
The most interesting part of this brand launch is the brand ambassador. Masterstroke is endorsed by ShahRukh Khan and that by way makes this brand special . King Khan is already dancing about this brand in the TVC splashed across channels

Watch the ad here : Masterstroke Ad

The ad throws in lot of questions about the STP for this brand. The reports from the media suggests that the brand targets the premium market. But sadly the characters in the commercial looks like a Young College,hip hop kind of segment which ( I hope) takes Coke or Pepsi rather than a Whisky. I was surprised when I saw the ad the first time because the plot totally is out of sync with the intended TG. The only shining point in the commercial is the presence of SRK. Not only that, it was too filmy for a Liquor brand. Can I say that the creatives spoiled a chance to utilize SRK properly and missing the entire brand essence and the target audience. That prompts another doubt : Who is the TG for this brand? Youth or Young Achievers?

It is difficult to promote a liquor brand through surrogate advertising . Brands like Kingfisher, Bacardi,Johnie Walker had shown the way of using restrictions to create an Iconic brand. Here the ads showed the brand essence to the audience and that too in a high impact fashion. But comparing with these giants, Masterstroke have missed the iconic bus for now. Masterstroke adopts the positioning tagline " Create Your Own Masterstroke " to promote itself. The idea loosely revolves round the concept of " Be Your Self" which as a concept is good.
The brand could have just showed ShahRukh and the tagline.. that was enough. By bringing in dancing and drama really took the premium image from this brand ( My Opinion).

Whether Masterstroke will create its own masterstroke is something to watchout for....

Source : magnamags,agencyfaqs,businessline

Johnnie Walker : Keep Walking

Brand : Johnnie Walker
Company: Diageo
Agency: Leo Burnett

Brand Count : 235

Johnnie Walker is a global icon in the Beverages business. The brand named after the founder Mr John Walker, this heritage brand was born in 1820. An umbrella brand that endorses may of the iconic variants like RedLabel , Black Label etc, this brand is considered to be a brand leader in the worldwide whiskey market.

Johnnie Walker came to India in 2001. Before that the brand and its variant commanded a whopping 65% share in the duty paid channel. India is a huge market for liquor and the estimated market for Indian Made Foreign Liquor is around Rs 34,000 crore.

Deviating slightly from the brand, I thing IMFL or Indian Made Foreign Liquor is one of the classic Oxymoron. I still cannot understand the logic of the IMFL. It is still a living example of the erswhile License Raj.
Johnnie Walker is an interesting brand to me because of the classic campaign " Keep Walking". Keep Walking is the brand's global branding campaign which began in 1999 .The campaign took the brand from a local player to a global icon. The idea is so simple that this could be used in any market and in anyway that the marketer chose to use it. The tagline is one of the most memorable and I rate this as one of the best taglines. The tagline became so hit that in some markets, the line has become a part of the lingua.
The tagline is splashed across the globe in billboards, posters and print ads. The brand and its agency was able to look at the current environments and communicate something similar to TOPICALS pioneered by Amul in India.
One such billboard in Lebanon captured attention in the media across the world. According to reports, the campaign is running in 125 countries. The local managers are given the freedom to adapt the message to suit their own market. For example, recently Keep Walking campaign was run in India taking a cue from the India's World cup debacle.

The brand is being positioned on the concept of Progress. The Striding Man logo was devised to convey the philosophy of the founder's belief that through perseverance, the dreams can be realized. The brand is basing its positioning on the spirit of hardwork and perseverance and will appeal to the customers who adore those values. I think the brand has segmented the market on the basis of values ( broadly speaking).
In India too, the brand is following its international strategy. The interesting feature of this campaign is the use of outdoor media to the maximum. The brand uses minimalistic approach to communicate to the audience. It is said that the " Keep Walking " campaign has helped the brand to increase atleast 60% of the sales. More over in the Indian scenario, Keep Walking Campaign also has helped the brand to touch a new level in surrogate advertising.
Johnnie Walker's Keep Walking campaign is a classic example of the power of Big Idea.

Original Choice: Whats Up This Evening ?

Brand : Original Choice Whisky
Company: Paul John Enterprises
Agency: Maithri Advertising


Brand Count ; 223

Original Choice is a leading whisky brand in India especially in the South India in states like Andhra,Karnataka and Kerala. The brand has acquired a whopping 51 % market share in the South India since its launch in 1996. The brand has humbled big names like the UB group and Shaw Wallace in the southern markets.The brand is currently one of the five leading Whisky brands in India.

Original Choice brand was in limelight these days for its guerrilla marketing tactics which surprised both the consumers and marketers alike. The brand is running a high profile campaign featuring the Superstar from Kerala : Mohanlal.

The current campaign is one of the best surrogate advertising campaign I have seen in recent years. All through the state , there are banners that feature the actor asking the question " Vaikittentha Paripadi" meaning " What's Up this evening". This is a very common slang in the state of Kerala. The hoarding also features the brand " Original Choice" banana chips not Whisky. We all know that liquor ads are banned in India and marketers often come out with products like Club Soda ( bagpiper), CD's ( Bacardi) Water (Johnny Walker) etc. Original Choice chose Banana Chips which is a favorite snacks with tipplers.

The campaign also features a TVC where the actor is munching the chips and asking everyone this loaded question in Malayalam " Vaikittentha Paripadi" ( Whats up this evening? ). According to media reports, the distillery has a tie up with the actor's food venture " Mohanlal's Tastebuds" to jointly develop a product line of " evening snacks". But every one knows that this is an excuse for Surrogate advertising.
The latest campaign has angered the moral police and has created a controversy ( more benefit for the brand !). What enraged the civil society is the posters that feature the actor with the chips and bottle of Original Choice which was splashed all across the bars and liquor shops. Original Choice is targeting the economy segment of the liquor market.

The campaign is a terrific hit and according to reports, the sale of this brand has increased after the campaign. The tagline " Vaikittentha paripadi" is on the lips of everyone and sms featuring this line is buzzing everywhere.
Good or Bad, Surrogate or unlawful, this is a marketing success story. If the company is able to take this campaign forward, we can see the birth of an iconic brand.
Watch The TVC here: Original Choice

Vaikittentha Paripadi ?
Cheers....


Source: Agencyfaqs,BBC.co.uk

Brand Update : Kingfisher

It is a tough task for a beer marketer to keep the brand's share of mind when there are government restrictions on advertisement. How surrogate can you go without getting into trouble... The issue become more critical when you have a super brand like Kingfisher. The brand had so far being able to promote itself through high profile events like the Kingfisher calender. 2007 saw another series of ads of Kingfisher mineral water taking advantage of the Jingle...
You can watch the latest TVC here , : Lift :Fitting Room
The ads take advantage of the brand element : jingle.. a smart way of reinforcing the brand in the customer's mind. The ad is an attempt addressing the new users and non users of the brand at the same time a reminder ad.
The ad also shows the power of brand elements and its importance in brand building and promotions. The jingle was carefully built over time, you can watch some of the brand's earlier promotions here: Kingfisher ads

Great attempt. ole lale lo


Related Brand
Kingfisher

Kingfisher : The King Of Good Times

Brand: Kingfisher
Company: UB Group
Agency:JWT

Brand Count :169

Kingfisher is a classic case of branding success. This brand can even be termed as an iconic brand. A brand that had extended itself from beer to airlines can be equated to the Virgin brand. The brand is synonym with Beer in India. Now ask a young man from India what a Kingfisher is ? The most likely answer will be either Beer or Airline. The power of the brand has virtually made the bird a brand extension.

Kingfisher is a brand from the UB group stable.It is the largest selling beer brand in India commanding a market share of over 28% in the Rs 5000 crore Indian Beer market.The brand epitomises energy, youthfulness ,enthusiasm ,freedom but with a touch of professionalism.

United Breweries (the original name of the group) have a history dating back to 1857. The company came into existence as UB in 1915 with the merger of five small breweries . The Kingfisher brand was launched in the year 1980 ( the exact year of the birth of Kingfisher is not known,80's marked the real life of this brand).

The brand was the brain child of the current Chairman of UB group Mr Vijay Mallya. Reports says that Mr Mallya went to work in Calcutta as a part of mentoring program under Mr HP Bhagat. At that time the brands that were popular from UB stable was Kalyani Black label, Doctor's Brandy etc. Mr Mallya wanted to create an exciting brand and none of the existing brands did not impress him. He went back to Bangalore,searched archives and stumbled upon an old label with a Kingfisher in it. That marked the birth of the Iconic Kingfisher brand.

The major factor behind the success of Kingfisher brand is the Passion that Mallya have on the brand. When marketing theorists says that Marketing is a serious business, Mallya will tell you that Marketing is CEO's business. When the CEO takes interest in the brand and virtually promotes the brand in every occasion, there is so much equity generated on the brand. Like Virgin's legendary Richard Branson , Mallya also showed that the primary task for any CEO is to be passionate about the brand. While in most cases CEO comes into picture to deliver the annual shareholder's meet, Mr Mallya takes the brand with him everywhere.

Kingfisher brand is a unique marketing success story because it thrived in an environment where liquor/ beer advertising was banned in India. The owners have built the brand circumventing the ban on promotion. During 1997 , the brand roped in Ajay Jadeja and Sourav to feature in the campaigns. In 1996 the brand become the worldwide sponsors of the West Indies cricket team. But the brand was conscious to keep Kingfisher the star . The West Indies team personified the brand values of fun loving but successful team. The famous jingle " Oola la le lo" and the fun filled TVC rightly placed the brand as a fun loving one. Unlike brands like Pepsi which is focused on cricket, Kingfisher promotes all sports and the brand sponsors football stars and even Formula 1.

The brand directly talks to people who are Easy going, chilled out person who's always willing to take a break and party with the friends. But they are very professional and successful .

Most of the business reports try to relate the persona of Mr Mallya and the brand which I feel is unjustified. The brand Kingfisher does not derive any thing from the personality of Mr Mallya. The brand has its life of its own. Since the chairman is passionate about the brand, he takes personal interest in the brand . Other than that relating the person and the brand and trying to say that Mr Mallya is more flamboyant than the brand is doing unjust to the brand.

The brand also have a 360 degree approach to promotions tapping all possible ways to communicate with its target audience. The brand sponsors lifestyle events and the Kingfisher Calender has attained a cult status with in 4 years of launch. During 2003-04 the brand logo got a make over and the Kingfisher started flying rather than sitting. The new logo signals the brand's vision to get to new heights. The new logo designed by Claessens was backed with lot of noise in the media.

To circumvent the regulatory ban on surrogate advertising, the brand has launched into different categories like Mineral water and even into readymades taking a lesson from Wills.
2005 saw the UB group getting into the Airline business with its Kingfisher Airlines.The airlines became a brand to reckon with with in a year because the brand lived to its expectation and promise. Positioned as a funliner, the brand equity of the mother brand has been enhanced by this Extension ( can i call it an extension?).

Behind the glamour of swimsuits and parties , one should not forget the strategies that made the brand a super brand. The distribution and the point of promotion strategies of KF is excellent. The brand has maintained international quality but made sure that it is with in the reach of the Indian consumer.

source:kingfisher.com,businessline,magindia.

Cerelac : In a Tough Terrain

Brand : Cerelac
Company: Nestle
Agency: McCann Healthcare


Brand Count 136

Cerelac is the market leader in the Rs 3oo crore Baby Cereal market in India. With a market share of 85%, the brand have a huge equity in the Indian market. The brand right now is facing the worst nightmare of its lifetime .

In Kotler's Marketing Management text, he elaborates on the various external environmental factors that affect marketing . In that chapter, he talks about the regulation and laws affecting the marketing of a product. Cerelac is a classic example of Regulations negatively impacting the marketing of a brand.

The infact foods market is a very sensitive market. Since it is concerning infants , the stakeholder's interests are high. In India the market is regulated by an act IMS act of 1992. The act lays down the rules for marketing infant foods and other products in the market. Earlier the law prohibited any advertising and marketing campaigns for baby foods for babies under 4 months of age.Recently the act was amended and restricted any promotion of foods for infants upto the age of 2 years. This amendments was a severe blow for Cerelac whose target market was infants.

Along with this regulatory factor , other factors also affected this brand. The major influencers of this product ;the doctors began recommending normal food for infants. Another major influencer WHO began global campaign on promoting breast milk and the government began to demarket milk substitutes.

The marketers (generally speaking) were also responsible for creating such a situation. The brands were promoted using claims not validated and there were also quality and health issues that was ignored. Seeing all the chubby babies on the ads, it is said that mothers started feeding infants with artificial foods that may have caused health problems. ( I have not yet come across any such serious health issues in kids who took these foods).

The new amendment prohibits use of baby models in the packs and restricts any form of promotions including sponsoring doctor conferences, surrogate ads, events etc. For sure this may have a huge impact on the market for such kind of products.

Sensing the threat to the category of Cerelac, Nestle has launched a brand Ceremeal ( a porridge) for kids aged above 2 years.

Now Cerelac sells through word of mouth publicity. The product will sell because there is a need for such nutritional infant foods in the market. Even there is going to be a huge potential for infant milk substitutes because of changing lifestyle and the fact that there is an increase in the number of working mothers.

Cerelac as a brand has not written off its future. In 2003, the brand launched a new formulation Cerelac 123 aimed at different stages in a baby's growth chart.

Since the brand is not advertised, the positioning is not very obvious. The brand is basically positioned as a highly nutritious food for infants.

So here the million dollar question for the marketer is this :

How do you promote such a product where there cannot be any promotion?

Surrogate advertising will be caught by the civil society workers and unnecessary controversy will be created. Events are also ruled out.

As of now the company rely on the shelf promotion for the product. The company has launched lot of flavours and variants in attractive colorful packages that give a banner effect at the shops.

The product is priced at a premium and does not have any sales promotions giving the company value growth.Since the brand is facing little competition, the lack of media promotions may not hurt the company too much.

One thing I have noticed is that the brand has a cute mascot or brand character . It is a blue teddy ( I am not sure whether it is named). If the brand wants to aggressively promote, then Teddy can show the way. Start giving away this small teddy with Cerelac and kids are gonna love it. The marketer can do wonders if they have a cute Mascot /Character.

Cerelac has one, use it.

source: businessline, agencyfaqs, magindia, nestleindia

Disclaimer : This is an analysis of the Cerelac brand in the point of view of a marketer, not a promotion of this brand.