Brand Update : Virat says Alive is Awsome

Move over Hrithik Roshan, welcome Virat Kohli. In its struggle to stay relevant to youth, Cinthol has now a new celebrity endorser in Virat Kohli. The tvc featuring Virat is now on air

Watch the new ad here : Cinthol Virat Kohli

The ad is different and very well executed. I liked the twist in the ad and to the credit of the agency, the ad does justice to the new positioning of Alive is Awesome. But like the previous campaign, the character should avoid saying the tagline because it looks very artificial when someone says Alive is Awesome. Rather, a powerful visual with the voice-over of the tagline would have been perfect.

What Cinthol needs is not a heavy dose of celebrity but some serious execution of its positioning. Celebrities ofcourse add a little attraction to the campaign but its not the celebrity that matters.

Cinthol seems to have stumbled upon a sustainable positioning platform of " Alive with Cinthol". The new campaign although singularly focuses on the celebrity rather than the brand ,will help in keeping Cinthol alive for now

Related Post

Cinthol - Alive is Awesome

Brand Update : WildStone gets classy with Dia Mirza

The deo brand Wildstone which has been promising guys that " It Happens" is getting better. This year's campaign features the Bollywood diva Dia Mirza in the latest TVC.

Watch the ad here : Wild Stone Red

The presence of the celebrity gives a class to the ad but the stereotype still is intact. 

The new campaign is for the variant Wild Stone Red. The ad has matured a lot since its raunchy launch campaigns. The current theme of an older , married lady next door getting attracted to the fragrance of Wild Stone is indeed a powerful story . ( interesting analysis at Livemint)

Most of the deo brands are towing the line of seduction and Wild Stone is not different. Now the brand is able to standout because of its execution  in a more sensible manner compared to the rest and more importantly Indianized. 

Related brand

Wild Stone

Skore : There's Lot To Be Won !

Brand : Skore
Company : TTK- LIG

Brand Analysis Count : # 520

Skore is the new brand of condoms from TTK group. The brand which aims to be the " Stylish" condom in the Indian market is vying for a share in the Rs 600 crore market . The market is broadly classified into commercial and social segments. Social segment consists of brands which are subsidized/freely distributed by Government or social organizations.  

The condom market was dominated by the social segment till 1990. During the early 90's , private players entered the market and redefined the marketing of this product. From a contraceptive, condoms were repositioned as pleasure-enhancers by the marketers.

I think its the first time that a brand is aiming to segment the market interms of demographics and vocally saying that it is targeting the youth. Whatever the logic is, Skore makes an interesting case for itself.

The brand name is derived from the word Score and here score denotes the number of successes in bed , huh ! ( source)

Just like any marketer who try to woo the young consumer, Skore also talks about being adventurous , exciting and inventive. How the brand is able to communicate this is   debatable.

Its very difficult to differentiate a product like condom.  The innovations are  restricted to the flavors and packaging. Skore also tries to be innovative in these areas. The packaging is trendy and the brand has launched around 7 variants. A look into the product section of this brand's website will confuse you in to thinking that you have entered a fruit-shop rather than a condom's micro-site. The flavors or Skore include Banana, Orange, Strawberry, Chocolate, Blue, Shade and Not-Out.

Skore has tried to be adventurous in its promotion also .The brand's tagline is " There's lot to be won" and openly admits itself to be naughty and bad. The brand exhorts the youngsters that its a naughty world and get ready for that. 

Watch the ad here : Skore 

The ad is nothing great and fall in similar lines. The claim that the brand is targeting youth is not seen in the way the brand has executed the campaign. However the brand has gained traction in the distribution with major retailers stocking it. 

Although the brand claims to be different, there is nothing visibly different about Skore. 

Brand Update : Honda Jazz RIP ( 2009-2013)

According to news-reports  Honda has decided to put curtains to their premium hatchback Honda Jazz. Honda Jazz launched in 2009 was the most expensive petrol hatchback available in the Indian market. The brand was priced in the range of Rs 8- 9 Lakh which was at par with lot of mid-segment sedans.

Although the brand had impeccable Honda Quality, the aggressive pricing made consumers give a luke-warm response to this brand. Only the hard-core Honda fans who wanted exclusivity opted for Jazz.

In 2011, Honda decided to rationalize the pricing of Jazz and reduced the price by almost Rs 1.5 lakh. Despite the price -drop, Jazz was quite expensive and the move was little too late. 

The shifting of Indian consumers to diesel cars coupled with new launches and offers from quality brands made Jazz less relevant to Indian consumer. The diesel-focused Indian car market has been giving lot of problems for  Honda . 2013  will see Honda entering the diesel car market with its Amaze brand. Honda is also rejigging its product offering and Jazz did not fit into the new plans. Although reports suggest a relaunch of Jazz in 2014, the brand is now dead for all practical purpose.

Things would have been different if diesel and petrol prices were the same in India. Had it been like that  Jazz would have found some takers . But the huge price differential between diesel and petrol is giving nightmares to companies like Honda who was late in developing diesel engines for India.  I thought that Jazz would come with the diesel version once Amaze is launched but surprisingly Honda decided to kill this brand and concentrate on the new launch.

Jazz is a lesson for marketers who in their aggression turn a blind eye towards value. Brands should first convince the customers about the value  it offers and then take pride in that. But being aggressive just because there is a well respected brand name is a big mistake. 

Related Brand

Honda Jazz

Brand Update : Dettol is also a Dishwash ??

Economic Times reports that Reckitt Benckiser has decided to extend the popular Dettol brand to Dishwash category. This will be one of the bizarre brand extensions I have seen in the last few years. Now we can see supermarkets having Dettol bathing Soap and also Dettol Dishwash  placed near to each other.  ( ET Report)

The reason behind the extension is simple. According to ET, the dishwash category is worth Rs 2000 crore and the category is dominated by HUL with its Vim brand. Reckitt is now pitching Dettol against the Vim brand. 

While Dettol is a brand which was able to leverage the brand's germ killing proposition to various categories like soap, handwash etc, it has not moved into toilets or kitchen. Now we are going to see this brand extending its reach to kitchen. According to the report, Dettol's entry into the dishwash will be using the sub-branding strategy - Dettol Kitchen . Dettol Kitchen will share the same positioning of germ killing and will be competing with Vim and Exo. The first product will be a Dishwashing Gel ( multi-purpose cleaner).

Can a soap brand share its name with a dishwash ?? Dettol seems to think that since the positioning is the same, it may not be a concern to the consumers. My take is that Dettol's entry into Kitchen will affect the premium image of Dettol.  I don't think that a brand which has dishwash gel or a toilet cleaner can retain its premiumness for its bathing soap brand-extension. Since Dettol has a very strong equity, erosion will be felt slowly. Secondly the message for a dishwash product would also talk about strong cleaning ability . So if Dettol is going to claim that it will remove the toughest of the dirt/stains, how would a consumer of Dettol soap perceive that message ? 

If Dettol can extend to Dishwash, can Vim extend to bathing soap ?? 

How about Pril Bodywash ??? 

Harpic Beauty Soap ??

I hope HUL will not react by launching Lifebuoy Dishwash gel. 

Brand Update : Sprite continues its Bakwaas

If ads are any indication of brand's strength, Sprite is in deep trouble. Ever since the brand discarded its 

 "N o Nonsense " positioning , the brand has been struggling with its message. In that process, Sprite has just become another softdrink brand which promises instant attraction of females.

This summer of 2013, Sprite again went one notch down in the creative execution of the core brand mantra . The tvc is a huge disappointment and virtually kills all the equity that the brand gained through is previous campaign which talked about Sprite quenching thirst and nothing else.

Watch the new ad : Sprite 2013

 And just look at the totally boring tagline " Chalo apni chaal " which virtually puts the protagonist as a schemer or a trickster which is just opposite to the earlier positioning of the brand as a no-nonsense drink.

The brand owners should have put some kind of quality standards for India's biggest non-cola softdrink's campaign. These kind of campaigns and taglines are ultimately going to make the brand go down interms of  its uniqueness. Now these brands are advertising like deodorants and aphrodisiacs and the primary aim of the protagonist is to get the girl. 

Grow up guys, Sprite bujhai only pyaas, baaki sab bakwaas.