Brand Update : Thums Up has a variant Thums Up Charged

In a surprising move, Coca-Cola launched a new variant for Thums Up celebrating 40 years of glorious challenging existence. The new variant is named Thums Up Charged. According to the company, the brand has more thunder in it compared to the parent product. 

Thums Up Charged is currently running the launch campaign featuring the brand ambassador Ranveer Singh. As we know, Ranveer Singh replaced Salman Khan in 2016. With the new brand ambassador, the brand had also changed the narrative. While Thums Up always had the theme of the protagonist chasing the product and doing what it takes to get hold of the product, the new theme completely destroys the core promotional theme by making the protagonist a superhero with the brand as a sidekick. 

The new variant also follows the same theme of the hero doing unbelievable stunts and brand is positioned as an enabler. The current ad is hyperbole at its worst and one wonders what the brand is trying to communicate. 

The act of racing in reverse gear is something I cannot comprehend even in my dreams. While the earlier campaigns featuring Salman or Akshay, there was hyperbole but in those ads, the fact that the stunts are done for getting the brand made sense. There Thums Up was the hero, not anymore. 

The logic of launching Thums Up Charged is also intriguing. What can be the possible reasons?

The stated reason is to expand the brand and fuel growth. Often brands use product-line extensions as tools for growth.  But the question is whether a brand like Thums Up needs a variant for growth. My understanding is that Coca-Cola never aggressively pushed for growth for Thums Up. The brand is so strong that it doesn't need a variant for growth, only focused efforts from the company are needed. 

A conspiracy theory from my side is that the company may be trying for a taste change for the brand. According to newspaper reports, the Thums Up Charged have a higher amount of caffeine which gives it more punch compared to the original one. The new variant will test the new taste and if the consumers accept the new taste, then slowly the variant will replace the original one in future. 

The performance of Thums Up Charged would be an interesting thing to watch for months to come. This summer would decide the fate of this variant and the future of original Thums Up. 

However, here is wishing a Happy 40th Birthday to Thums Up. 

Veeba : Aaj Kya Khaoge

Brand: Veeba
Company: Veeba Food Service

Brand Analysis Count: # 581

Veeba is an excellent example of  forward integration. The company which is one of the major suppliers of salad dressings and sauces deciding to enter into consumer retail. The company is a major supplier for brands like KFC. 

In 2015, the company decided to enter into the consumer retailing of its wide range of sauces, dressings etc and in December 2107, Veeba made an aggressive marketing campaign across the various media.

 Indian food industry is worth $48 billion (source: Livemint) and is witnessing a lot of action owing to the changing demographic profile and a shift in consumer behavior. The relevance of a brand like Veeba is enhanced because of the shift in consumer behavior. According to this interesting piece from Best Media, Indian consumers are becoming foodies. Not only that there is a trend of experimental cooking at home but in that consumers look for convenience. 

The interest in the food is not new in the Indian market. However, we are also seeing an influence of West in the food habits which is also reflected in the home cooking part. Veeba tries to capitalize on this trend and one of the news report calls the products of Veeba as " enabler" which is a very good description of the brand. 

The brand campaign by Veeba correctly captures the value proposition of the brand. 

The ad highlights two main value proposition of Veeba - Convenience and Variety. The brand has the tagline " Aaj Kya Khaoge " which translates to  " What will you eat today " gels well with the brand's value proposition. 

  I feel that as a brand, Veeba has hit the right notes to capture the attention of the consumers. The brand is also priced quite competently and is available in many supermarkets although the distribution is yet to reach its required intensity at least in my city ( Cochin). 

The brand's major challenge is competition. It is interesting that the owners of Veeba created the brand Fun Foods which was sold to the German company Oetker which is also in the same line of business. If you go to a supermarket, we can see a lot of brands jostling for space in this category. While Veeba has essentially created an attractive value proposition and brand awareness, the sustainability of this will be crucial to brand's success in future. 

Marketing Basics Brand Positioning 2

Cutting Edge in Marketing - Brand Trust

Brand Trust is an important concept that is of interest to both practitioners and professionals. The brief video highlights the basics of brand trust and its important dimensions.

Bajaj Dominar : Go Hyperriding

Brand: Dominar
Company: Bajaj Auto

Brand Analysis Count: #580

In December 2016, Bajaj Auto launched a new product line under the brand Dominar. Dominar was Bajaj Auto's challenger for the market leader in the 250- 500 cc premium motorcycle segment  - Royal Enfield. Royal Enfield commands almost 96% share in this segment. According to reports, Royal Enfield managed to sell 3500 - 4500 units every month. 

And Dominar arrived in style. The launch was marked by a campaign which made fun of the market leader. 

The advertisement had two objectives. First is obviously to create attention and it does with perfection. The second objective is more subtle. The objective is to establish a competitive frame of reference in the mind of the consumer. Dominar doesn't want to be seen as a sports bike in the same class of the best selling Pulsar. If the customer categorizes Dominar in the same category as Pulsar, it can lead to cannibalization. Hence Dominar wants the consumer to consider the brand as a competitor for Enfield even though the brand looks very different from the market leader. 

Another objective is the create a comparison with the exemplar - in this case, Enfield, and thus make the consumer compare the brand with the market leader thus making an entry into the choice set of the consumer. 

Dominar is positioned on the performance platform. The brand is positioned as a bike which is fast and powerful. The launch campaign " Not for Babies"  was intended to position the brand as the fastest of the lot. 

The results during the launch were very good for Dominar. It even closed the gap with the market leader in some months, but later the sales plummetted which prompted Bajaj to refresh the product line with new launches. Some decline is attributed to the GST effect. 

Although the initial advertisement campaign was superb, the brand failed to sustain the creative onslaught. Dominar's current campaign " Dominar vs Social Media " is IMHO a dud campaign. 

The campaign totally looks unbelievable and kiddish. From comparison with Enfield, the brand started its comparison with Social Media ?? This hyperbole not only misses the mark but also dilutes the positioning and image built around challenging Enfield. Probably this lack of creativeness caused the decline in the sales of the brand. 

As per the news reports, Enfield continues the dominance in the segment. In a market where one player holds substantial share, there is always room for other players. But whether Dominar will be able to dominate the segment would largely depend on how the brand is consistently positioned against the competitor. 

Brand Update : Is India Post missing out of e-commerce boom ?

Indian e-commerce industry is on a song these days with Big Billion Days and Great Indian Festivals and products flying off from the web-shelves. According to KPMG, on an average, there are 1-1.2 million transactions happening in India every day. Indian e-commerce industry had done business worth $12 billion GMV in 2016. Analysts paint a bright future for this industry in years to come. 

The backbone of the e-commerce boom is the logistics. According to KPMG report (Link), the logistics industry driving the e-commerce is worth $ 0.46 Bn and expected to touch $2.2bn in 2020. 

With all these actions happening, our very own India Post seems to be taking a backseat in the whole festival. While Flipkart and Amazon have already built their own logistics arm, there are scores of entrepreneurs who want a reliable logistics partner who can reach the nook and corner of a vast country like ours.  

Look at India Post, no one can beat the reach and equity of this institution. At the same time, the institution is also not in good shape financially. One year back the department has scaled down its post offices and closed down a lot of unviable post offices. In a country where last-mile connectivity is a bottleneck for many firms, India Post scales down its reach to become financially viable. Irony. 

 According to this report in ET (link) India Post is taking actions to reap the benefits of this e-commerce boom but not enough. By this time, it could have been the largest beneficiary of the boom. But sadly the institution failed to capitalize the opportunity. It could have geared up the infrastructure and technology to match the speed of the market. I think the game is not over yet with many new formats are being explored in the Indian market and lot of small shops are getting on the bandwagon. Hope that India Post can become the preferred partner for those firms who desperately need a reliable last-mile partner. 

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