Aquaguard: Paani Ka Doctor

 Brand: Aquaguard

Company: Eureka Forbes

Brand Analysis Count: 613

Launched in 1984, Aquaguard was one of the pioneers in the water purifier market in India. The brand from Eureka Forbes created and led the water purifier market for more than three decades now. Aquaguard was launched after the success of the vacuum cleaner products from Eureka Forbes. The company used the direct selling model to sell the water purifier also. Like any pioneer, Eureka Forbes had to do the hard work in convincing the market, the need for a water purifier at home. 

Slowly the market warmed up to the category and the growing awareness of water pollution and the need for better drinking water accelerated the adoption of this product especially in the middle class. When the market grows so does the competition. Aquaguard got a worthy competition in Kent. Kent approached the market in a different way by launching a premium water purifier with an advanced technology called Reverse Osmosis (RO). 

Through heavy advertisement campaigns featuring Hema Malini, the brand quickly gained traction and virtually owned the RO water purifier product line. Kent successfully communicated its claim that RO purifiers are better than the ones marketed by Aquaguard. Despite being the market leader, Aquaguard struggled to counter Kent's RO based marketing push.

Over a period of time, Aquaguard launched its own range of RO purifiers. One of the chunks in the brand's armour was the advertisement support for Aquaguard. Kent was heavily promoted and the communication was consistent and targeted. While Eureka Forbes was not that aggressive on the promotional front. 

Later the brand wake up from lethargy and followed the celebrity endorsement strategy of Kent by roping in Madhuri Dixit. Aquaguard is positioned as an expert in the water purifier domain communicated through the tagline " Paani ka Doctor" meaning - Doctor for Water. The water purifier portfolio has three extensions - Aquasure which is aimed at the lower-priced segment, Aquaguard which caters to the bulk of the market and Dr Aquaguard aimed at the premium consumers. 

While Aquaguard initially was following a catchup strategy with Kent in terms of technology perception, the brand took an aggressive stand in recent years. The brand launched variants with advanced technology and features such as Aquaguard Ayurfresh that gives taste and aroma to the water through a herb diffuser. Another launch was the copper and stainless steel variants taking the features ( augmentations) to the next level.

Recently the brand launched a veiled attack on Kent RO purifiers in the campaign for the Aquaguard active copper variant. The market leader claims that RO has become an outdated technology and the new technology is the active copper feature. The move is a smart one but a tough call. Kent has spent a huge amount of resources to convince the customer that RO technology is a superior version. Aquaguard may have to match that share of voice to claim technology superiority over the rival. It needs to be seen how Kent will react to this move by Aquaguard. 

Brand Update : Prestige takes Svachh idea to gas stoves

 It is always good to see how brands leverage good ideas and use them as a platform for product innovation. Prestige had struck a smart idea of Svachh ( clean) products probably inspired from the highly lauded Svachh Bharat Abhiyan. The first product was the Svachh pressure cooker which had a deep lid with spillage control that prevents froth from flowing down the cooker. Although I was sceptical, I found the cooker very useful at home. Spillage is a common problem is a pain point in the kitchen. 

The brand has not extended the idea to gas stoves with the invention of Svachh gas stoves where the burners can be lifted so that the entire stove platform can be cleaned. It is a simple idea but very useful especially since homemakers are often troubled by unclean gas stoves. I guess that Prestige will be looking to expand the ideas to multiple products under its umbrella. 

These small ideas are incremental, simple but make sense for the consumer. Although these ideas can be replicated by the competitors, Prestige now has the image of being a very innovative and thoughtful marketer. Vidya Balan as the brand ambassador brings more authenticity to the brand campaigns. The brand is well poised to harness the power of little ideas. 

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Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk and Nostalgia Advertising

 Recently Cadbury Dairy Milk did the unthinkable; it recreated the iconic advertisement of the girl dancing during a cricket match with a twist. The marketing and advertising community was thrilled to see the recreated ad and the creative prowess of the agency O&M.

The ad evoked a lot of nostalgia among the consumers who not only liked the chocolate but also enjoyed the brand's advertisements. Nostalgia is defined by marketing academicians as a preference for objects that were common when one was younger. Marketers use nostalgia both in products as well as communications. Recently Mahindra brought back the Jawa brand as an example of nostalgia-based product development and launch. Nostalgia is also used in brand communication in different forms. It can be in the form of themes, music, imagery etc. Parachute Advanced used an old Hindi song in their campaign evoking old memories, some brands bring back the old jingles, taglines evoking nostalgia among the consumers. Research has indicated that consumers have a preference over products that are more aesthetic in nature which has strong associations with their youthful days. Another set of researchers have found that there is an increased tendency of spreading the brand through word of mouth. 

The recreated Dairy Milk ad is a brilliant move by the brand rekindling the interest and love for the brand. The ad also strikes a chord with the new generation because it ticks all the right boxes in terms of gender equality and empowerment. More than that this is yet another brilliant example of brand storytelling. 

Brand Update: Cadbury 5Star takes forward the Do Nothing Theme with new Ad

 Cadbury 5Star seems to have hit a jackpot theme - Eat 5 Star, Do Nothing. The brand has launched a new campaign extending the theme in a new situation. And just like the last one, the ad is funny and not boring. To find a campaign theme that can be used as a platform for multiple ad campaigns is a priceless moment for marketers. It gives the much-needed juice for consistent marketing campaigns without boring the viewers. I think that 5Star got such a platform. Kudos to the campaign team.

Brand Update: Milkybar Attempts Gamification

 Over the last few years, there has been a serious attempt by the milk chocolate brand - Milkybar to chart a new path through activity-based brand engagement. It can be broadly classified as gamification where the game elements are incorporated into the brand and consumption. 

In the earlier campaigns, Milkybar has been focusing on the benefits from its milk ingredient and highlighting the calcium content and the health benefits associated with it. Later there has been a strong focus on bringing in activities through games/puzzles bundled along with the chocolate. This along with celebrity endorsers like Shilpa Shetty is expected to boost the brand's preference. Interestingly, the brand's communication is primarily targeted at the mother rather than the child. The brand has the tagline - Play Eat & Learn.

The brand hopes that the activity bundling will encourage mothers to choose Milkybar over others because of the added benefit ( like children getting smarter !). Milk chocolates are a small segment of the market and it is purely an individualistic choice whether people like this category or not, so marketing makes it much harder since it lacks the universal likeness of ordinary chocolates. The concept of such gamification is good since it engages the consumer ( kids) with the brand beyond just consumption and makes the kid play with the brand longer than usual. It has the potential to create more brand-related outcomes. 

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Good Day Toothpaste: Start Your Day with a Good Day!

 Brand: Good Day Toothpaste

Company: Good Day Oral Care

Brand Analysis Count: #612

It takes a lot of guts to launch an FMCG brand in the time of a pandemic like this. In that sense, what a group of entrepreneurs has done in this pandemic by launching a toothpaste brand is indeed very courageous.

Little is known about the brand Good Day Toothpaste. In fact, a google search has not yielded many results. I came to know about the brand from a television advertisement and thought that Brittannia got crazy and launched a brand extension of Good Day biscuits. 

A search indicated that it is not the case and the brand is from Kerala. 

As a marketer, the first question that comes to mind is the brand name. While Good Day is obviously a nice brand name for toothpaste, why should a firm take a famous biscuit brand name from a big business house?

Technically it is possible that the Good Day brand name is available for the toothpaste category but there may be litigation on the use of such a brand name.  Brands like Amul and Lux are indeed used by hosiery marketers overcoming the legal challenges over trademarks.

Having such a brand name is very helpful because of instant recognition and recall and may prompt some initial adoption because it carries a reputed brand name. But those are very short-term advantages.

The brand doesn't talk much about the key differentiators against its competitors like Colgate or Closeup. The ads just talk about the tagline - Start your day with Good Day. 

Good Day toothpaste comes with three variants - Milky White, Herbal and Meswak. 

The brand also is having Xylitol and hence the brand does not contain sugar. That brings a question as to whether other toothpaste brands have sugar? ( Need to check on that). 

The brand may be testing the waters in some test markets, which may be why information is not there on the internet.

However, the toothpaste market is a highly cluttered and competitive market and an ordinary product will not do any good in this market. To launch a brand in such a market needs a lot of guts and let us see how the brand pans out in the future.