Brand Update: Coca Cola

Its summer time and things are hotting up ( literally). This is the season where cola majors open their war chest and spent lavishly. But come April, summer has not yet reached Atlanta headquarters yet. Coke has been lying low so far... While Pepsi had bitten the bullet sinking crores of money hoping that Indians spent their nights wathcing World Cup suddenly finds themselves in the same situation faced by Indian team : Out of the World Cup...

Coke had released their new ad featuring Aamir Khan in a new avatar ( watch it here) . The tagline has changed from " Thanda Matlab Coca Cola " To " Sab Thanda Ek hai". That is the only thing that they have done this summer for the brand.( or has summer not reached yet?)

But I feel that Coke is missing out the World Cup and the summer. Remember 1996 World Cup where Coke was the official sponsor and Pepsi did a classic Ambush marketing with its " Nothing Official About it" campaign. That was a campaign that propelled Pepsi to mainstage in India. From that campaingn, Pepsi was closely associated with cricketers and cricket while Coke chose not to associate with the game at all. That disassociation in a way limited Coca Cola's acceptance among the youth.

Coke now has the perfect opportunity to revenge the humiliation of 1996. Pepsi is busy reworking its media strategy since its plans to invest Rs 350 crore in World Cup was called off. The campaigns "Blue Billion" " ooh Aaah India" and " Ladega to jitega" now has to be shelved. Reports suggest that Pepsi is going back to SRK and the likes to tide over the World Cup debacle.

But surprisingly Coke is playing it cool. Isn't it the best time to get aggressive? or

Thanda matlab Coca Cola?

Related Brands
Coca Cola

Gold Spot : The Zing Thing ( RIP 1977-1993)

Brand : Gold Spot
Company:Coca Cola


Brand Count: 217

Gold Spot is a sad story in the Indian Branding world. This iconic brand was killed for paving way for Coke's brands in India. Every one knows the story but still...

Gold Spot was one among the three major softdrinks brand that ruled Indian market along with Thums Up and Limca. The brand was built by Rames Chauhan of Parle after the exit of Coca Cola from India during 1977. Chauhan spoted the opportunity and three mega brands were born.
When Coca Cola came back to India in 1993, it bought out the three mega brands from Chauhan for a consideration of $10 mn. These three brands had a huge market share (combined) of over 69 % of India's SDC market. Then came the expected move. Coke slowly began killing the Parle brands to make way for its own brands. Thums Up was sidelined in favour of Coca Coala. Limca was sidelined and Goldspot was killed to make way for Fanta.

Gold Spot was the orange drink with a Zingy taste. This iconic youth brand was positioned as " Zing Thing" and was promoted heavily through all media. The jingle " Gold Spot.. The Zing Thing" was one of the most memorable jingle at that time ( still that jingle lingers in the mind of old timers).
Gold Spot was positioned as the youth brand and the ads talked about being crazy about the brand . You can watch the Gold Spot ad here .
But the brand was killed. Fanta was launched but till now the brand has not being able to take the position of Gold Spot. Coke was not able to clearly focus on the segmentation of Fanta. Fanta is never perceived as a youth brand. Fanta is not viewed or targeted at college students/youth. This confused targeting may have crippled the growth of Fanta and still it couldn't reach the status of Gold Spot. Coke expected that the users of Gold Spot will migrate to Fanta but it did not happened.
We saw Limca coming back in 2006.. can we ever hope Gold Spot coming back ?

Related Brands
Limca

Lacto-Calamine: For Complete Complexion

Brand : Lacto-Calamine
Company: Nicholas Piramal
Agency: Orchard Advertising

Brand Count: 216

Lacto-Calamine is one of India's oldest cosmetic/skin care brand. Once a necessity in the beauty kit of every ladies, this brand has started its second life after meeting a near death situation. Lacto-Calamine was introduced somewhere in 1970's by Duphar Interfran. But later in 1996 the brand was took over by Nicholas Piramal group for a consideration of around Rs 1.75 crores.

Lacto-Calamine was a popular skin lotion during early days. Calamine is another name for Zinc Carbonate. Lacto-Calamine was earlier used as a lotion for soothing the skin especially during summer. The lotion had germicidal properties and more importantly had a cooling effect on the skin. Calamine lotion was also used as a base for applying powder/other cosmetics on the face. In short, the brand was very popular in the early eighties.
Later for some reasons, the brand faded away from the market. There was no promotion, no marketing as such. The brand missed the new generation by miles. The brand's availability was restricted to medical shops .
Although I don't remember any ads of Lacto-Calamine, but I think that the brand was positioned as a complexion lotion. One report suggest that the brand had the tagline " Skinnoccence" meaning " Innocent skin". The brand was also prescribed by dermatologist for skin rashes and sunburns.

This year NPIL has relaunched this heritage brand. Earlier at the demise of Lacto-Calamine, Lakme has introduced Lakme -Calamine lotion but could not make an impact on the market. There are still lot of unbranded generic Calamine lotions available at medical shops ( druggists).
Although I feel little nostalgic when I hear this brand being relaunched, doubts linger in my mind about the future of this brand. The new generation is neither unaware of this brand nor the efficacy of the product. There is a huge generation gap which cannot be bridged easily. With a plethora of cosmetic brands in all sizes ,shapes and variants, the scope of this brand is very much limited. Although TVC's are now running , I don't see any forceful communication that can bring this brand back into the market. There are chances that the old users will start buying this again.

Brand Update : L'Oréal

L'Oréal has been aggressively promoting the men's range of personal care products in India. Loreal uses the brand name Men Expert for its men's range. The company expects a

big boom in the personal care products targeted at men. Although there are no exact figures on the size of the male grooming market, one report in cosmeticsbusiness.com puts the figure between Rs800-1100 crores($0.25bn) and growing exponentially. Men Expert was launched in India in 2006. The company has been using the Slow Skimming strategy in India till now. The products are advertised in selected magazines and the product range is amazing: which Indian men may not have seen before. The company has been using its international ads here also.For example one ad in a leading English magazine was for Pure & Matte (?) Anti Regreasing Moisturising gel with anti sebum complex. The gel promises long lasting hydration, non greasy, non sticky texture. If used after shaving, it soothes razor burn...Cool isn't it? The ads are tempting and appeal to the rational mind unlike the ads of " fair and handsome".

Indian men has not seen anything like these before... Check out their website lorealmen.com, you will amazed by the range..
Globally Men Expert is positioned rationally using taglines :" The best skincare technology for every man's skin". In India, the brand uses the tagline " You're worth it too" taking a cue from Loreal Paris' tagline " Because you are worth it".
Loreal men expert is premium priced and the print ads convey the message of premiumness. The brand is looking at the increasingly beauty conscious Indian male who doesn't shy from spending on grooming.

Related Brand
Loreal

Kristal Dtsi : Intelligent Scooter

Brand :Kristal Dtsi
Company:Bajaj Auto

Brand Count :215

Kristal is Bajaj Auto's latest offering in the ungeared scooter segment in India. It is a unique situation with the erstwhile king of scooters struggling to find place in the scooter market which it once ruled.
Kristal is a 95 cc ungeared scooter targeted at college girls. The product was first showcased at Auto Expo 2006. This month the company has launched this new brand in the Indian Market. Kristal takes on the market leader TVS Scooty in the increasingly competitive Ladies' scooter market. Kristal is somewhere in the middle of the 75 cc Scooty and 102 cc Pleasure.

Kristal Dtsi is positioned as an "Intelligent Scooter". The brand boasts about lot of innovative features. The website of this brand focuses on 7 features that makes Kristal different. The seven features are
1.Front Fuel tank: the company says that it is the first in this segment to offer this facility.The fuel tank is in the front hence the rider needn't step out and lift the seats to fill in the petrol. Also the fuel flap opens with the turning of the ignition key that is also a great convenience to lady riders.
2.DTSI: No body knows what it means but every one has see this technology delivering in the Pulsar. Bajaj has put this technology into the new scooter and hopes that it does the magic .
3.Extra large storage space: Kristal boasts about 22lts storage space and lot of additional hooks aimed at making the product user friendly for the TG. The storage below the seat also has an automatic light (like a fridge) .
4.Pentalock: The brand has one key that opens many doors. The company has made use of the ignition key to the maximum. With a single knob , the rider can open the fuel flap,open the seat, accelerator lock ,steering lock and ignition.
5.Smart Lamp: The brand has sensors that look at the lighting conditions outside and will adjust the front and panel lights. The front light will be automatically on when you go through a tunnel or when the lighting conditions become low.
6.SNS suspension: Kristal also features Spring in Spring suspension to deliver more comfort to the riders.
7.Low battery /fuel indicators: The scooter also have battery and fuel indicators.

Bajaj has put in lot of thinking behind Kristal. The failures of earlier scooter brands like Wave, Saphire & Sunny may be still haunting the company.So they have put in all out effort to regain the lost empire. According to reports, Bajaj is planning another Male Scooter branded Blade and may launch it this year.

As a scooter with all those thoughtful features, Kristal has done it right at the product front. The brand is now being promoted through television ads that calls this brand as an Intelligent Scooter. To a certain extent, the communication is able to catch the attention of the viewers. About the size of the scooter, I have a feeling that the brand is smaller than its peers. If it is so, then Kristal will have a huge problem.
But the issue is with the price. Kristal is priced stiffly at Rs 35000 and I think if that is the price , Kristal may not succeed in the market ( my view). Why because , the features that the brand talk about doesn't justify the heavy price put on this brand. Another issue is that except for the DTSI,all the features can be copied by the competitors. Kristal may have to spent too much money convincing the customers about the value proposition. Why I am skeptical is that the TVS Scooty has strong brand equity and to match that , Kristal has a long way to go.

source: bajajauto.com

Brand Update : Pleasure

Pleasure has started using Hrithik Roshan in a latest marketing move. The latest ad is aimed at promoting the Just4her showrooms. Just4her is the all female showrooms for giving personalized service to Pleasure customers.
The latest ad offers Pleasure customers to have a date with Hrithik. 21 lucky customers will dine in style with Hrithik. Hrithik is the brand ambassador for Hero Honda group as such and had been endorsing Karizma. Pleasure is now trying to leverage the celebrity in breaking the stronghold of TVS Scooty.
Pleasure is Hero Honda's take on scooters. Aimed at the fairer sex, the product is advertised heavily in media with the tagline " Why should boys have all the fun". Just4her showroom are first of its kind in India. The showrooms are promoted using the tagline " Where every girl is a celebrity". Hero Honda has also created an Exclusive Lady Rider Club taking a lesson from the success of its Passport programme.

Related Brand
Pleasure