Hamam : Trusted Family Soap

Brand : Hamam
Company: HLL
Agency: Lowe

Brand Count: 197

Hamam is one of the oldest soap brands in India. The brand came into existence in 1934 and over this 73 years has successfully built a space for itself in the consumer's mind.The brand has successfully fought the competition and the changed environment. The brand was owned by Tata Oil Mills ( TOMCO) and later became the HLL brand when HLL acquired Tomco.

Hamam is a natural soap .Although many reports put this brand as a herbal soap, Hamam is more of a natural soap than herbal. The brand have a market share of about 9-10 percent of the Rs 4000 crore Indian soap market.The brand has a huge market share ( more than 25%) in the Tamilnadu market.
When HLL implemented the Power Brand strategy, Hamam survived the axe because of the strong equity it had among the consumers. Hence the axe fell on Rexona which was also a natural soap with the same positioning as Hamam.
Hamam was positioned initially as a complete natural family soap.The brand was built on the Trust factor. The earlier ads typically showed Mother and child with mother explaining the meaning of Trust using the example of Hamam.The brand may have acquired this quality from its original creators TATA.
Although the brand was able to manage the PLC, it had its share of problems. At one point, HLL was facing the competition from Herbal/ayurvedic soaps. HLL tried to position Hamam as a herbal soap by changing the composition by adding Neem ingredient and reducing the TFM. But that reduction of TFM disqualified Hamam as a soap and the brand lost many of their loyal customers.
2005 saw HLL repositioning the brand by adding more ingredients. The brand now talks about having a Perfect Balance of Neem, Tulsi and Alovera Extracts. The packaging also has been made more contemporary and the shape of the soap has been made oval.2006-07 saw a change in the communication of the brand. The brand no longer talks about trust but now positioning itself as a beauty enhancing soap.The brand has now come out with a variant that contains green gram, turmeric and sandal .The color of the soap also has changed to sandal from the traditional green color. This move is a marked deviation from the age old positioning of the brand as a natural green soap.
Hamam for years has been able to sustain its market position because of the strong brand loyal customers .The brand now wants to be relevant to a new consumers ( younger generation). The brand also faces stiff competition from a plethora of brands offering the same ingredients and benefits. The latest repositioning exercise is aimed to keep the brand relevant and also leverage the brand equity it had built up over these years.

source: hll.com,businessline

Marketing Funda : Socio Economic Classification (SEC)

Funda#3 : What is Socio Economic Classification ( SEC) ?

A common classification that is used by marketers to describe the Indian population is the Socio Economic Classification ( SEC). SEC is the classification of Indian consumers on the basis of two parameters : Occupation and Education of the chief wage earner (Head) of the households.The SEC classification,created in 1988 ,was ratified by Market Research Society of India (MRSI) ,is used by most media researchers and brand managers to understand the Indian consuming class.

According to SEC, the Urban Indian households are classified on the basis of the two parameters Education and Occupation into

SECA1,A2,B1,B2,C,D,E1,E2

In urban households, SEC A1 include those with graduation/post graduate holding senior positions like CEO’s and Middle level managers and also those entrepreneurs having some college education and employs more than 10 staffs. The chart is self-explanatory.
While the Rural Indian Households are classified into SEC R1,R2,R3,R4.
In the rural classification, the parameters are Education of the Chief wage earner and the type of the house.

The SEC classification helps the marketers to identify segments tha t has high consuming potential.The high potential types : A1,A2, the medium ones and the bottom of pyramid ones. The SEC classification is used by Media planners to decide the media which gives the client maximum effectiveness. The research team at the me dia houses uses the NRS and IRS surveys' raw data to identify the reach of the media in these SEC segments and uses this input for pitching their campaign to large advertisers.

Although this classification is popular for over 18 years, the classification has its negatives also since it takes only two parameters: education and occupation .This is based on the assumption that higher education leads to higher income thus higher consuming potential. But we know that this may not be true always. A trader or a retailer with no qualification can earn more income than a Post graduate executive, but SEC will categorize the traders/retailers not as SEC A1or A2.

Hence Market research users council ( MRUC) has devised another classification called New Consumer Classification System( NCCS) which calculates a Household Premiumness Index ( HPI) which takes parameters like ownership and consumption of media services and products with other demographics.

All these classifications create jargon that we teachers lecture and brand managers are still searching for the White Light that provides the key to understand the Indian consumer.

Source: cks.in,readbetweenps.blogspot.com,agencyfaqs

Tata Indigo : Spoil Yourself

Brand : Indigo
Company: Tata Motors
Agency:FCB Ulka

Brand Count : 196

Tata Indigo is a super brand in the Indian car market. The brand is my choice as a Super brand not only because it was successful, but also because this is India's own brand. In a segment where the World's "Who is Who " is present luring the customers, Tata Indigo is the only truly indigenous presence. With the government exiting Maruti, Indigo and Indica represent the only domestic car manufacturers having their presence in the car market.

After the success of Tata Indica, Indigo was a riskybut bold move from Tata motors. Indigo is a sedan in the C-segment of the 600,000 new car market in India. C- segment represents around 20-25 % of the total cars sold that makes the c-segment market size around 1,50,000 units.

Indigo was launched in 2002.The car was developed on the highly successful Indica platform and was targeting the entry level C-segment. The brand was positioned as a truly value for money car in line with Indica.The brand from the launch itself wanted to pamper the customers. The car offered more space and comfort than even its high priced competitors.

The C-segment is one of the fastest growing and most competitive segment . The brand competition include Accent,Sienna,Esteem, Ikon,Corsa and the like.
Indigo did not compare itself with the immediate competition but wanted to offer what the premium brands in the D segment offered. The car was known for the space and the accessories it offered as a part of the standard equipment was seen only in premium segment cars. Indigo (like Indica) came out with different variants at different price points. One variant even had DVD player and Screen attached to the seat -a feature that you see not even in luxury cars.All these at a very affordable price.

The brand adopted the tagline " Spoil Yourself" and all the ads, highlighted the goodies that came with the product. Another series of ads promised the customers, business class experience. The basic focus of the brand was to drive home the fact that Indigo has more legroom and space compared to most of the C-class sedans.
This campaigns and the reasonable performance of the car with the tempting price tag ensured the brand's success in the market. Indigo has now 33% market share in the c-segment.

2004 saw the launch of a product variant of Indigo : Marina. Marina was the estate version of Indigo. The brand harped on the extra space that the Estate version offered and was promoted with the baseline " We like to carry our world with us".

In January 2007, Tata motors surprised everyone by launching India's first stretch limousine - the Indigo XL. Indigo XL marked the entry of Tata into the premium segment. Indigo XL has a longer wheel base that gives the rear passengers legroom comparable with the Limousines. Even the premium sedans in the E segment do not offer the leg space that XL offered. So Tata chose to call it a stretch Limousine. This straight comparison has irked some auto watchers who could not believe an Indian automaker calling their car a Limousine. XL has already created enough buzz in the market. Indigo XL as usual is positioned as a value for money car. The car offers comfort and accessories that is seen only in super luxury cars and comes with the price of a luxury sedan.

Despite all the right things that Tata Motors has done, the brand faces issues regarding its image. Whether be it Indica or Indigo, the brands does not carry the image of a Hyundai or a Honda. The main reason is that this brand does not get the support of the media. The media has only tried to degrade these brands and most of the time tried to find fault with these brands. I saw an Indian author berating the Indigo XL 's positioning as a stretch limousine by comparing Cadillac and the like with XL. But the comparison showed that Indigo has a comparable Wheel base with these super brands. Even in the auto shows, the anchors are blinded by the glamour of global brands. I am not stressing on being patriotic (am not a swadeshi jagron manch member) but Indica and Indigo should be treated at par with the global giants because they have proved their worth ?

Indigo is another classic example of Masstige product and is a proof that we also can make world class product.

Source: businessline,agencyfaqs

Cross : For a Lifetime

Brand : Cross
Company: AT Cross

Brand Count : 195

Cross is an iconic brand in the Indian writing instruments market.The brand which is around 160 year old has a unique place in the Pen market across the globe. The brand has its origin in 1846 when American Richard Cross passed his pencil making secret to his son Alonso T Cross. Cross family later in 1916 sold the business to Walter Boss who went on to create one of the most respected pen brand in the world.

Cross existed in India for decades. The pen is marketed through UAE based Jashanmal group’s Harmony.Cross is a niche product in the Rs 1600 crore writing instruments market.

Cross became popular in India without any brand promotion. The Pen which adored the pockets of “ Who is Who” did not need advertisements. I remember seeing the ubiquitous golden Cross adoring the pockets of the rich businessmen and executives. When I got my job, I realized my dream of owning a Cross (a silver one) for Rs 875. The most popular Cross is the slim Century Classic,which was launched in 1946 to commemorate the brand’s 100 years.

In the earlier days, the brand was a much sought after brand because there was supply constraints because of import restrictions. Cross was the premium pen available in the market. It competed with Parker and Sheaffers at the premium end. But the stylish design set this brand apart from the competitors.Cross was the preferred gift item for corporate and individuals alike

Now the situation is entirely different. The writing instrument market is witnessing huge competition as well as growth.All the premium brands are now available in the market. Now Cross is no longer considered to be the aspirational brand that position is now taken by Mont Blanc. But Cross has some thing special, the image that it had created not luxury but premium.

Cross all through its life was never a luxury product but it was a Masstige brand even before that term was invented. Priced at the range of Rs 875-7500, the TG can afford to buy a Cross by stretching a little.One cannot say that for a Mont Blanc.

In the Indian market, the brand is now the only affordable premium pen .Parker sadly has diluted itself by offering plastic cheap pens for Rs 50 thereby diluting its equity. Sheaffers is not available in the market and does not have the popularity of Cross.

Cross globally is positioned as a brand for life. The brand is famous for the company’s assurance of repair and replace against any mechanical failure. The product quality is absolutely marvelous .My Cross did not have a single problem even after rough use for more than 8 years. According to a report in Business India Dec 2006 issue, the VP of AT Cross say that the brand’s USP includes Life time guarantee, continuous innovations and ongoing enhancement of product portfolio. Globally this brand is positioned as a preferred gift item.

The brand has extended itself to become a Personal Accessory rather than limiting itself to pens. Cross also has a range of pens for ladies too. The specially designed pens for men include Platinum Plated Verve, Merlot, Cross Townsend,Apogee,Century II, Aventura.The Classic Century still continues to remain a favorite (Source: Business India).

With the Writing Instruments moving away from functionality to Lifestyle,Cross has immense potential in the Indian market. But the low profile existence should pave way for more aggressive marketing and distribution strategy. I came to know only recently that Cross gives a lifetime guarantee.

Related Brands
Parker

Source:BusinessIndia,AT cross website

Scotch Brite : Makes Cleaning Fast and Easy

Brand : Scotch Brite
Company: 3M
Agency: Grey

Brand Count: 194

Scotch Brite is an interesting brand from a very interesting company. Scotch Brite is a niche product created by Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co ( 3M). The brand which was born in 1958 was launched in India in 1990 .
Scotch Brite is a Scrub which is used to clean the kitchen utensils.The product comes under the Kitchen Tools market which is estimated to be around Rs 30 crore.3M has around 2000 products in India across diverse industries and application.
Scotch Brite was the result of an effort to produce a non woven fabric. Later the technology was spun off to produce scrubs and other related products.In 1958 Scotch Brite was launched as a consumer product.

3M is considered as one of the world's best innovative companies. 3M has a corporate goal which states that 30% of its sales should come from products less than 5 year old. Further 10% of the sales should come from products that are less than a year old. The innovationsof the company are so relevant that one third of world's population is either using or has used a 3M product.Most of 3M products are complex to make and simple for the customers to use. 3M is best known in the consumer space for its Post-it notes.

Scotch Brite is one such innovation which is a simple product : a Scrubber.The brand has been slowly penetrating into Indian Kitchen. The brand is targeting SEC A and SEC B households.The brand faces competition not from any established brands. I can say that this brand face no brand competition. But the competition is from the traditional methods of cleaning the utensils.Although the home makers are discerning customers for most of the products , in the case of the kitchen tools, the home makers do not think much. Most of the households use either cloths or plastic and nylon scrubs or steel scrubs with the dishwash bar to clean the utensils. In rural households , coconut fibre is used as the scrub.
Another challenge that the brand face is the fact that in urban households ( SEC A) , 60% of the cleaning activity is performed by the housemaids rather than the home maker. So the challenge is to get the housemaid to use the brand rather than the traditional ones. 3M has countered this problem true to its innovative nature. In 2006, the company undertook a massive campaign targeted at the housemaids. In Pune, it organized a march by housemaids ( walkathlon) and they took the pledge to keep the houses clean ( using Scotch Brite of course). Reports suggest that the campaign was successful. The company also conducted a 10 day training program for housemaids and rewarding them with goodies for participating. This is a proof that the brand realises the impact of " Primary Users" in making the brand successful.The whole campaign is expected to be rolled out nationally , if the initiative results in positive sales.

The company is aiming to create a market rather than looking at market share. The market for such scrubs are in the emergence stage. Hence the primary aim for the brand promotion is to create awareness about the product and its attributes.More emphasis is being put on below the line activities rather than other promotions. The promotion is aimed at highlighting the hygiene factor in using Scotch Brite.
As a consumer I still feel that the brand is not user friendly in the sense that since Scotch Brite is small in size, it often slips from the hand ( When I tried using it).Hence something like a small strap will help in a better grip for the product ( just a suggestion !).

Scotch Brite is a classic case of Customer centric Innovation.

Related Brands

Vim

Source:magindia,3mwebsite,businessline,indiafirstfoundation.org,agencyfaqs

Vim : The Vim Challenge

Brand : Vim
Company: HLL
Agency: Lowe

Brand count : 193

Vim is the market leader in the Rs 400 crore branded dishwash category. This 100 year old brand has evolved with the changing Indian consumer and is a power brand of HLL stable. The Dishwash market in India is estimated to be in the range of Rs 600-1000 crore ( conflicting reports on the market size) while the branded dishwash market is roughly 40%.The dishwash market consists of three categories: Powder, Bar and Liquid. Bar is the largest category followed by Powder and then liquid. Bar category constitutes 60% of the total market.

Vim has created the dishwash bar category in 1993. Till that time urban households used dishwash powders. The bar offered many advantages to the homemaker over the powder which was messy and uneconomical.Since then Vim Bar ruled the dishwash market .Currently the brand has a market share of over 60%.

Vim was initially positioned on the lemon content in the bar. The brand using its ingredients positioned itself on its Stain Removing benefit. The positioning was consistent through these years. A terrific marketer HLL is, invested heavily in this brand and made sure that the brand stayed on the growth stage of its PLC. The brand changed its form,added new features and expanded the market to stay on the growth path. To reinforce the stain removing property , the brand repositioned in 2003 by introducing the Stain Cutter feature .The company was trying to extend the brand from "Dish wash" to Kitchen Care market.The brand also created much inroads into the market with its Vim Challenge campaign which directly compared the brand with competition.

By looking at the kind of promotions that the various players in this category , I often wondered what is the logic behind these high spends on promotion. The logic lies in the potential of this category. The percapita consumption of this category ( value terms) in India is hardly Rs 4 while in UK it is Rs 150. There is long way to go for this category...

Vim faces intense competition in this category not only from other brands but also from the traditional methods. In rural areas, Ash is used to clean utensils and the biggest hurdle in rural penetration of this category is to educate the rural folks to use Soap instead of ash.
In the branded segment, Vim faces competition from brands like Exo from Jyothi Lab , Pril, Sabeena and host of other local brands. Exo is the challenger brand forthe market leader Vim. Exo brand has effectively differentiated itself by using its anti-bacterial property and uses the ingredient Trichlozene to reinforce the germ fighting positioning.

The emerging category in dishwash market is the liquid dishwash. Pril from Henkel commands this market with a share of 72%. Although Vim has launched its own variant, it failed to create an impact and was withdrawn in 2003. 2006 saw a relaunch of Vim drop with Actor Madhavan endorsing the brand. Pril has countered the campaign using Shobana as the brand ambassador.Marketers beleive that over a period of time, consumers will shift to Liquid since it offers more economy and convenience. But there is a problem with this category: Liquid dishwash is targeted at urban upper middle class home makers and here the users are home maids rather than home makers. It will be difficult to teach house maids to use the liquid efficiently .
The powder segment is dominated by Sabeena brand from ECOF. Sabena is very strong in the southern market and has a market share of over 65%.

To stay on top of this highly competitive market, Vim has invested not only in promotion but also in product improvements. In 2005, the brand took on the most problematic aspect of this category i.e the dishwash bar getting soggy. The reason is that these bars are kept near the sink and is always in contact with water and with in days, the bar gets messy. Vim then launched one of the most customer centric innovation at that time : Poly coated Vim bar. The coating prevented the bar from becoming soggy and hence the brand became more economical. This innovation is a testimony to HLL's ability to understand Indian consumer and translate that to product improvements.

Although these innovations can be copied by the competition, Vim has constantly improved upon the marketing mixes and has stayed relevant and different in the consumer's mind.Vim is also a classic example that even a boring category like Dishwash can be made exciting through smart thinking.. cheers !

source: businessline, agencyfaqs,magindia financialexpress