Brand Update : LMN - Changing Brand Positioning

After the high profile launch last year, the brand is back with the latest campaign this summer. And sorry to state that it is a big let down from the last year's campaign. The new series of ads now running in the channels features two African Natives as the protagonists. The entire campaign revolves round the antics and comedy of these thirsty guys in search of water.

The brand had come out with a critically acclaimed launch ad last summer. LMN quickly captured the viewer's attention with its smart tagline " Emergency Lemon Refresher". The ads were based on the insight that people will have a 'shrinking feeling' when dehydrated.

The new campaign has changed the " Emergency Lemon Refresher" to " Thirsty - Lemon ". The new campaign seems to establish a strong association between the brand , thirst & lemon. The thinking is very good but the execution is nothing but miserable. I think the brand lost track while attempting to be Funny.

Watch the ad here : LMN new Ad

This summer is witnessing lot of competition between lemon based drinks. Nimbooz, Minute Maid, etc are running campaign aimed at creating association between " Home made Lemon Juice " and the brands. To be fair with LMN, the brand is trying a new path of relating Lemon + LMN + Thirst which is more powerful than competitor's pitch on home-made lemonade.

LMN has a strong brand name, and with initial brand familiarity has already established, it could have milked the initial tagline a little bit more than suddenly changing the entire brand theme.

The current ads does not establish the brand and the ad theme. There is no connection between the two characters, thirst,LMN and positioning. I personally think that LMN does not need campaigns to establish association with Lemon because the name itself does that job.

If the brand's aim is to just create some noise, any ad would serve the purpose .

Related Brand

LMN

DelMonte Sauce : Taste Like Never Before

Brand : Del Monte
Company : FieldFresh Foods
Agency : Contract Advertising

Brand Analysis Count #451

Del Monte brand is making lot of noise across various channels as well as marketing blogs these days. The brand is in news because of the launch of its range of sauces in the Indian market.

Delmonte sauces launched recently is bought to India by FieldFresh Foods Ltd which is a joint venture between Bharti Group and Philippines based Delmonte Pacific. The JV was formed in 2007 and the Del Monte products were available in select cities. I presume the company has decided to launch the products nationwide in 2010.

Del Monte is a global brand with a rich heritage of over 118 years. The Del Monte brand architecture itself is very confusing with different brand owners/licensees across the globe. The brand Delmonte is originally owned by US based Del Monte Foods and licensed to other firms across the globe. The detailed brand ownership details can be accessed here ( Wiki). FieldFresh Foods have the JV with Del Monte Pacific which has the Del Monte brand license for this part of the world.

FieldFresh Foods has launched a series of food products under the Del Monte brand name. The product range include Packed Fruits, Fruit Drinks, Ketchup and Sauces, Olives, Pasta and corn. I presume this is the first time that Del Monte brand has been promoted heavily in the media.

FieldFresh has launched two sauce brands under the Del Monte brand - Twango and Zingo. Twango is a fruit based sauce and Zingo is the traditional eastern style sauce with garlic, ginger etc. The brand is running the launch campaign for these products across various channels.

Watch the TVC here : Del Monte Sauce

The sauce product range has taken the tagline : Taste Like Never Before. The brand has taken the taste as the USP. Delmonte is promising refreshing new tastes for its range of sauces. The launch ad is at best amusing with the brand using hyperbole to drive home the taste USP. The histrionics of the lady in the ad and the theme has nothing new to talk about. I wonder why the brand chose to use one of the most common themes for the first major brand campaign. The Indian Ketchup/Sauce market is worth around Rs 220 crore and is dominated by Maggi.

Another interesting fact is that the company decided to focus on the Umbrella brand Del Monte instead of the sub-brands Twango and Zingo. Most of the viewers may have missed those sub-brands in the ads. It is very difficult of build and sustain individual brands in the foods business. Hence umbrella branding is the only sustainable economical branding solution. The company may use Point of Purchase promotions for pushing the sub-brands.

Although Del Monte has used " Taste Like Never Before" tagline, it may be used only for the sauce product line. As far as the umbrella brand Del Monte is considered, the brand mark resembles a Quality Seal rather than a Logo. Hence Del Monte does not really need a tagline for itself.

Del Monte will be an interesting brand to watch because it has the backing of two big companies - Bharti and Del Monte. It will be tough for these brands to break the stronghold of established brands like Maggi, Heinz ,Kissan etc. Distribution and retailer support hold the key for any such brands in cracking the Indian market. Bharti which has big plans to establish retail chain may be looking for pushing the brands through its own stores in future.

Marketing Strategy : The Difficult Task of Differentiation

The Difficult Task Of Differentiation

Originally Published here in Adclubbombay.com

Marketers are a worried lot. The market is flooded with similar products and offerings which has created a huge clutter of brands and products. The situation is worse in markets where the entry barriers are low. Added to this is the entry of private labels by retail giants to cash in on the consumption opportunity.

Take the case of the soft drinks market in India. The market is flooded with desi and foreign brands with similar flavours and product properties. This summer is witnessing fights over mango and lemon flavours. The brands are segmenting and micro-segmenting the market with every possible variable.

For a marketer, this situation has multiplied his marketing expenditure. The focus is on outsmarting the competition by grabbing more share of voice. To standout from the crowd, marketers are using every tricks of trade. Instead of one celebrity, now a team of celebrities are endorsing brands. Consumers, on the other hand, are overwhelmed by this plethora of brands. Instead of simplifying the purchasing process, brands are now confusing consumers by choices.

For brands, the abundance of choices creates a huge problem of differentiation. Differentiation based on product features has become a difficult task with competitors taking no time in copying /adopting that feature. Differentiations based on incremental product improvements /features have become difficult to develop and sustain in the market.

In an era where companies expect brands to be successful with in three months (quarter) and brand managers being evaluated on their quarterly performance, creating sustainable long-term differentiation strategies are not in vogue.

The current economic situation has now forced many marketers to rationalize their portfolio and cut the flab. It is time for Indian marketers to go back to the basics of creating sustainable differentiation strategies for their brands.

Invest in R&D

India is a R&D and product development hub for most of the MNCs but seldom Indian marketers were able to create breakthrough products for the Indian market. Tata Nano has shown the world what Indian minds can do when inspired. A project which was labelled ‘ Impossible’ by many analyst is now a reality. Nano is a lesson to all marketers. This product was created from a need and backed by conviction and support from the top management.

It is not easy and the Nano example shows the myriad of issues one can face when venturing into creating something original. But the effort is well worth the results. The market is moving in a direction where only those brands will succeed who can innovate.

Protect the Differentiation

An important determinant of a successful differentiation is the brand’s ability to protect the differentiation. Patented features are powerful differentiators. But it is very expensive and time consuming process to patent features. In the case of FMCG products like soaps , such kind of patents are not a viable proposition.

Smart brands use ingredient branding to protect their key differentiators. Ingredient branding is where a particular product feature or an ingredient is branded by the company. There are two kinds of ingredient brands.

One type is where the ingredient is owned by another company. Intel is a pioneer in ingredient branding. Intel has built ingredient brands like Pentium, Celeron, Atom etc .These are not standalone products but ingredient of computers. By creating powerful ingredient brands, Intel has successfully created a space for itself in the consumer’s mind.

Another type of ingredient branding is where the feature/ingredient is owned by the company itself.Bajaj has a powerful ingredient brand DTSI ( which is also a patented technology) which it now uses for all of its two wheeler brands.

The ingredient branding strategy helps firms protect their critical innovations or even benefits. These ingredient brands can be copyrighted which will prevent competitors from copying these innovations.

Connect to a Relevant Need

Creating a sustainable differentiation is possible only when brands become customer focused. Most differentiations that we see in the market are product oriented. When products become standardised, it is important for marketers to create differentiation focusing on consumer needs.

Brand laddering is a strategy that can be used by marketers to create differentiation on a need rather than on a product feature. Raymonds is a brand that has created a space for itself by effectively laddering up to a customer need ( Complete Man). The benefit of such a strategy is that competitors will find it difficult to copy the differentiation since it is based on an intangible attribute. The brand has created a unique powerful image which is sustainable over time.

It is also important for the differentiation to be relevant to the consumers. When connecting to a need, marketers should ensure that the need is highly relevant and will fill in a very important gap in his life.

Long Term Vision through Brand Charter

Brands will take time to establish and marketers should be able to give some breathing space for the brand to discover itself and connect to the consumer. It is important for marketers to create a brand charter which will spell out the long term vision for the brands, its differentiation and positioning platforms, guidelines and strategies.

Such a brand charter will guide the future brand managers to create tactics which are in line with the overall brand vision. If a brand chose to create intangible differentiation opportunities, there has to be a consistency in the brand’s positioning and differentiation strategies. Brand Charter will help bring consistency which will inturn facilitate create a sustainable differentiation.

K Series Engines : Leaner Meaner Fitter

Brand : K Series
Company : Maruti Suzuki

Brand Analysis Count #450

Marketing Practice Blog has reached another milestone of 450 brand analysis. Let me take this opportunity to thank my readers whose constant feedback was a source of inspiration for me. The next obvious target is 500.

I am happy to mark this achievement with a very interesting brand - K Series Engines from Maruti Suzuki.

K Series is a classic example of Ingredient Branding. Professor Kevin Lane Keller defines Ingredient Branding as a special case of Co-Branding which involves creating brand equity for materials, components or parts that are necessarily contained within other branded products.

Although Professor Keller defines Ingredient Brands as a brand from one company which is an ingredient/component in a host brand from another company.But recent marketing practices has shown that ingredient branding can be done by the host company itself .
So ingredient brands can originate from the same company or from different companies. For example HP computers powered by Pentium Microprocessors is where ingredient brand Pentium is owned by a different company ( Intel) . Hence it is a case of co-branding.

In this case of K series, the ingredient brand is owned by the company itself. So theoretically it cannot be termed as a case of Co-branding.

K Series was launched in 2008 . The launch was to counter the much touted Kappa engine to be launched by Hyundai. K series engines also conformed to the tougher emission norms that came into force from April 2010.

Branding engines is not new in the Indian market. Bajaj Auto was a pioneer in branding its DTSI technology and reaped tremendous benefits in terms of differentiation. Maruti is trying to replicate Bajaj's success in the four wheeler market.

K series has been a success and the company has produced more than 3 lakh units in 18 months time. K Series engine is fitted in the new generation models like Swift, Swift Dzire, Ritz ,A star and new Wagon R. The first model to come out with this engine was A Star.

K Series engine is claiming to be more fuel efficient offering better control and ride quality. Maruti has invested some amount of money for the promotion of this ingredient brand. This is rather unique marketing practice seen in India because most of the other car makers having ingredient brands does not resort to exclusive ingredient brand promotion. There will be mention of the engine in the product ad but no campaigns exclusively for the engine.

The brand was launched with the ad featuring the marathon runner. Watch the ad here : K Series ad.

The ads could have been much better and more creatively done. The campaign lacks the " Aha " factor and only helps to create a brand awareness .How ever the company needs to be applauded for this type of branding. K series has adopted the tagline " Leaner, Meaner, Fitter" which sums up the brand promise.

The reason for Maruti going for ingredient branding is simple. Engines are now largely becoming commoditised. Now we see same engine in different car brands from different makers. For example, some models of Tata Motors, Fiat, Swift carry the same engine. When engines become a commodity, marketers have to look for other powerful differentiators. Hence ingredient branding comes to help. Ingredient brands are protected by the firm and creates its own identity in the mind of the customers. So K Series engines provide the much needed sustainable differentiation for Maruti.

According to reports, Maruti is planning to have K series engines for all its models. When the competition in the market has increased substantially for Maruti, such smart moves will help retain its leadership position in the Indian market.

Marketing Strategy : The Art of Story Telling

The Art of Story Telling

Originally published here at Adclubbombay.com

Branding is the art of story telling. Successful brands are those who tell stories that catch the imagination of the consumers. More compelling the story is- the more customers will love the brand.

Lux for the past 75 years has been telling the story of Bollywood beauties. Dettol has been telling stories of fighting germs and Johnson & Johnson continue telling stories about the love between mother and child.

Story telling is a difficult task and that explain the reason why many brands fail to succeed in the market. Story telling is different from advertising. Advertising helps communicate the stories to the audience but brands have to first build a compelling story.

Take the case of Santoor. This is one of the first brands to tell a story of a beautiful mother mistakenly identified as a young girl because of her younger looking skin. The theme has been consistently reinforced by the brand through various advertisements. The story was compelling, realistic and easy to understand.

Brand stories are not a standalone complete story. The brand story does not have an ending. It is evolving and continuing.

Theme

Stories should have a compelling theme. In order for the story to be compelling, then the theme should be powerful and relevant to the consumers. In the case of Santoor, the story theme was based on the consumer insight that beauty is often associated with younger looking skin. The entire brand story was based on this premise. Axe deo brand has been telling stories of how women chase men who are using Axe. Men like the theme of getting chased by women. Axe was told a compelling story of how ordinary men got chased by beautiful women.

Relevant

Stories should be relevant to the audience (consumers). Marketing Guru Seth Godin in his book “All Marketers are Liars “, talks about the importance of understanding consumer’s world view. He argues that only those stories will be successful which are relevant to the consumers’ world view.

Brands must know their audience before telling stories. They have to understand the audience’s world view in order to create a relevant theme. It is one reason behind the huge success of “slice of life “commercials. Consumers are able to instantly link to the theme because it is something that they can relate to.

Consistent

Brand stories are continuous. Hence the stories need to be consistent with the same set of characters reinforcing the basic theme. Brand stories can be imagined as a large collection of highly related stories woven with a common thread. Hence it is important for the story teller to have the bigger picture while telling their stories. When the stories deviate from the common thread, consumers get disconnected.

Onida was telling a compelling story of envy with the central character of devil. The story was liked by the consumer and a brand was built. But later the brand deviated from the theme, characters were changed, devil was taken off and soon consumers felt disconnected with the stories.

Often we see brand stories change for no reason. When advertising agencies change, brand stories also change. Once the common thread is lost, consumers tend to forget the story.

It is also important to be fresh while consistent. Adults are easy bored by repetition. So brand managers should ensure that there is freshness in the stories that is being told. These stories should evolve from the big picture. Airtel is a classic case where the brand is able to create freshness with consistency. The brand’s core theme of Expressing Oneself is being reinforced through ads which are fresh and attractive.

Connect with the consumers

Successful stories are those which become close to the consumers. The audience should involve with the stories and should own up the theme. Successful movies are those where the audience become a part of the story. They cry and laugh with the characters and are a part of them during the movies. Successful brands are those where the consumers become the part of the story. The more involvement the consumers are, the more iconic the brand becomes. Apple and Harley Davidson are brands which told compelling stories. These brands became iconic because consumers became the part of the story theme.

Brands are trying to tell stories through different media and platforms. The powerful stories are usually told by consumers to consumers. It is very difficult to make a consumer tell a brand story to another. The story should be simple, uncomplicated and personal.

It is a True Story

Brand stories are true stories and it is not fictional. Consumers understand brand stories through experience. He uses all the sense to understand the stories told by the brand. Marketers often think that consumers will buy the story told through advertisements. Hence the focus was more on building a fantasy which is far from reality. What is often forgotten is that the consumers tend to validate the story through experience. If there is a mismatch between the story and the experience, the brand will not be trusted again.

Brand Update : Accenture

After the high profile Tiger Woods controversy, Accenture was quick to distance itself from the celebrity who was the virtual face of the brand. Accenture as a brand was in a tough spot because it was strongly associated itself with Tiger Woods and suddenly the brand was put in a position to disown its own brand image.

I could imagine the plight of the agency and the brand manager to come out with a new set of campaign without undoing all the equity and brand position that has been built over these years. Since their consulting business is not depended on advertising , they could breathe easy. If it was a consumer business , Accenture would have been in a soup.

The brand has started a new series of campaigns with a new set of brand ambassadors - the animals. Seems that Accenture has decided to depend on animals since there is no risk of them getting into any controversy. The brand is running a TVC featuring an elephant while the magazine ad features a type of Chameleon.

The ads were far far below the standard of the erstwhile ads featuring Tiger Woods. I feel that the brand could have continued using human beings ( models) as the protagonists rather than switching suddenly to animals. Since Accenture's core strength is People, ads featuring animals may not do well to reinforce the core positioning of the brand. The brand could also take the risk of taking multiple celebrities for the campaigns rather than shying away altogether from celebrities.

The Accenture brand saga throws in some important lessons. The importance of De-Risking the brand's associations. Accenture as a brand has put in lot of investment in Tiger Woods without de-risking. Ideally it would have either used more than one celebrity or could have run parallel campaigns with the same positioning but using a different creative platform. I had raised the same issue of risk in my analysis of Katrina endorsing Slice. Brands cannot escape from secondary associations. These associations can be on features,celebrities, countries etc. It is important for brand managers to have a clear understanding on these associations and how it is affecting consumer perceptions. It also pays to de-risk the brand from certain strong associations so that the brand may not land up in trouble.

Brand Update
Accenture