Brand Update : Amul puts the butter narrative into its biscuit entry

 Launched in 2019, Amul's foray into the highly competitive and fragmented Rs 37000 biscuit market has become national. The ads for Amul Butter cookies are now streaming across various markets. Although the brand is not yet in stores in Kerala, I guess it is a matter of time that the brand will be in the stores. Amul has been on a roll in the last couple of years with a slew of launches in various categories. The brand has decided to leverage the full potential of the equity and is experimenting with various products and categories. 

Biscuits is a tough market to crack owing to the low entry barrier and fragmentation. The consumers in the category have fleeting brand loyalty and are swayed by new variants and innovative flavours. So it will not be an easy walk even for Amul. Just like what it did with the ice cream market with its " made with cow's milk" proposition, in the biscuit category, the brand is pivoting the market with the proposition of " 25% Amul Butter" ingredient. In a subtle way, the brand is referring to the presence of vegetable oil in the competitor's products creating jitter among the competing brands. The powerful narrative it created in the ice cream market with the education of consumers about ice-cream and frozen dessert made Amul a strong contender in the category. The same narrative is applied in the biscuit category also. For a consumer, the very Amul brand name is enough to enthuse trial and rest will depend on the product efficacy. 

The challenge for Amul will be to create the variants and innovate in the product category. Sunfeast, Parle and the likes are bringing in new flavours, variants and new products and getting into the market quite fast. Amul is known for its distribution prowess and marketing muscle, it will be tested to the fullest in this category. 

Nimwash : The First Step in a Recipe

 Brand: Nimwash

Company: ITC

Brand Analysis Count: # 607

Covid-19 has made some category like sanitisers, handwash etc penetrate the market very fast and became a part of the consumer basket within a short span of time. In a way, consumers were forced to adopt those products. Along with these essentials, marketers are trying to push their luck in some other categories taking advantage of the new normal of fear and personal hygiene. One such category that is witnessing a lot of product launches is the vegetable and fruit wash category

The category of fruit and vegetable wash is not a new one, in fact in 2008, I had written a post about a brand Bio-Fresh which is in the same category. The difference in 2021 is that many brands from famous companies are in the fray. One such big launch is Nimwash from ITC. 

The interest behind such new launch in this category is to take advantage of the general sentiment of the consumers towards personal hygiene and fear of getting sick. While sanitsers have reaped the benefit of direct connection with the pandemic, the fruit and vegetable wash category is trying to go with the flow.  

Having said that, there is a very real benefit that these products are offering. It is real that the fruits and vegetables that we consume are laden with pesticides and chemicals and these are potential threats to our health. So just like the santisers, it makes immense sense to clean the vegetables from the chemicals and pesticides.

Nimwash is pitched as a healthy vegetable wash with natural contents like Neem. The proposition seems to be very logical and attractive. The brand has chosen a celebrity endorsement route with the celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor as the endorser. The brand has smartly put the tagline as " The First Step in  Recipe" highlighting the importance of cleaning the vegetables and fruits before confusing. 

Nimwash along with the competitors like Marico's Veggie Clean, Raho Safe are already available across various supermarkets and consumer offers like 1+1 free also have started coming highlighting a sense of panic selling by the marketers. 

As a consumer, I was also tempted to purchase such a product because I am aware of the core issue that this product is solving. So the issue is not the need-identification or problem recognition, the challenge is the repeat purchase and continuous adoption of this category. That continuous adoption requires a change in consumer behaviour in terms of cooking and eating fruits. These marketers need to teach consumers to use this product to wash the fruits and vegetables before cooking/ eating. That is not a small task. The same issue was faced by sanitisers before and Covid was a good teacher in that aspect. For a brand like Nimwash, despite the product being beneficial, it is a challenge to shore up the volume by making these products a part of the daily life. The benefit of washing the fruits and vegetables daily with such products does not offer any visible pieces of evidence other than a mental satisfaction. Products like floor cleaners, sanitisers have already created that mental feeling of germ-free/ cleaning picture in the mind of the consumer, it is now the task of Nimwash and others to replicate the same. 

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk Mousse puts you in chocolate heaven

Under Mondolez, Cadbury as a brand is on a roll. The fans of the brand are seeing a host of thoughtful product launches which are thoughtful and unique. What is so good about Mondolez's approach towards its product is to look at each brand as a platform through which new products( variants) can be launched. The company is not afraid to launch variants which are unique and often risky. These launches make the brand look sophisticated and interesting. 

This season, Cadbury under the popular brand Silk has launched a new variant- Mousse. Mousse is a french food which is in a soft and aerated form. Cadbury has successfully incorporated this popular dissert inside the Dairy Milk Silk. The mousse seamlessly integrates with the soft nature of Silk chocolates. 

Consumers are looking for indulgence and unique experiences everywhere. A brand succeeds when it gives a unique experience with product consumption. It is vital in the snacking category that is growing leaps and bounds among young consumers. Mondelez game plan is to capture the snacking market with unique variants launched under its power brands like Cadbury and Oreo. 

Silk Mousse is promoted across the various platforms with the proposition of " heavenly indulgence". The variant has the tagline - Scoop into Chocolate Heave" which reflects both the product form and the nature of the variant. 

Silk has always being promoted in the platform of romance. For this variant too, the brand is banking on the romance and a very young couple. As usual, the advertisement ticks all the right boxes.

Bumberry : Conscious Diapering

Brand: Bumberry

Company: Bumberry Baby Products Pvt Ltd

Brand Analysis Count: #606

Bumberry is a brand of cloth diapers for infants and kids which wanted to give an environmentally friendly alternative to the usual disposable diapers that are popular in urban India. Started in 2013, the brand is currently selling through online e-commerce platforms. 

The diaper market in India is worth around $800 million and is characterised by high growth and low penetration. The market is dominated by P&G and concentrated on the urban market. The earlier players like Huggies, Snuggy, Pampers created the market by educating the consumers about the benefit of diapers in terms of convenience and health. The market is growing owing to the demographic nature of India and the fact that the entry barrier in this category is only the brand power has encouraged many players who import these products from manufacturing hubs like China and brands it and sell in India. 

While disposable diapers are cheap and convenient, it is not without problems. Although the unit price is affordable to the middle-class, there is a cost in the long run because of the disposable nature of the product. Another big issue is the environmental cost of these disposable diapers. Further, these diapers can create skin-related allergy if used for a prolonged period of time. 

It is these problems that encouraged the founders of Bumberry to find an alternative. A chance encounter with cloth diaper imported from the ave the idea of a home-grown brand which is less expensive than the imported ones. 

Thus brand Bumberry was created. The brand is now an online-only brand and is marketed through influencers and other digital promotions. The product is basically a durable diaper with removable inserts. The cover diaper is cloth-based and hence environment friendly and re-usable. The USP of the brand is re-usability and comfort and design. Priced at around Rs 740, the brand is trying to offer value compared to expensive imported products. 

The brand with its value proposition will appeal to a section of consumers who are looking for a healthy organic alternative to the synthetic diapers. 

So the initial market will be niche and with the diaper market growing, the potential for such diapers will naturally grow. 

The challenge for a brand like Bumberry is similar to that of the brands which created the diaper market in India -educating consumers to change. While the pioneers wanted the consumers to change from using cloths to diapers, Bumberry wants the ordinary diaper buyers to change to cloth diapers. That requires an investment on a large scale in terms of promotion. To make these products mainstream will be a mammoth investment in terms of promotions. A startup brand like this can at this point can only rely on digital tools and influencer marketing. While the brand's main talking point is its environment friendliness, I think that attributes like fashion, comfort, image are more attractive at a consumer point of view. 

Brand Update : Coca Cola to Turn Up Your Day

 This season was a washout season from most product categories. The pandemic forced many firms into crisis mode with no money or energy left for brand promotions. After the massive lockdown has been lifted, things are limping back to normal so is brand promotions. 

Coca-Cola during these periods was steady in its brand promotions. During Diwali 2020, the brand was running a popular campaign featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Paresh Rawal and the theme was focused on relationships.

The best thing about the ads was that the focus was on the brand rather than the celebrities despite the presence of two powerful celebrity brands. Then came the new campaign featuring Ranbir. 

The problem with celebrity endorsement is that there is always a chance that the celebrity will eclipse the brand in terms of screen presence. You have to be very bold and creative to make the brand stand out in the presence of a celebrity. In the current campaign themed Turn Up Your Day, the focus is on the charm of Ranbir rather than the brand even if it is the brand that makes him dance. It is all celebrity when you show the girls head over heels over Ranbir and the poor Coke brand is just rattling in the fridge. 

The new brand tagline is Turn Up Your Day which is a sort of confusing! Internationally the brand is running a campaign Turn Up Your Rythm which links the brand to music. However, we get a dancing Ranbir here in India. 

Brand Update : Tata Safari is back to Reclaim Your Life

 It's happy news for Tata Safari fans. Tata Motors has decided to relaunch the iconic Tata Safari in a new platform. The brand which created the premium SUV market in India was languishing in the sidelines when the Indian market was gravitating towards SUVs. After 2016, there was no product improvements nor any campaigns. The only saving grace for the brand was that it was chosen by Indian armed forces to replace Maruti Gypsy.

Then Tata Motors did a coup. It began to launch a range of products under a more refined platform. Harrier was launched in the Land Rover platform quickly began to impress the customer with its road presence and refinement. I almost believed that Safari will be silently killed and the new era belonged to new brands. Tata Motors then began its work on a 7 seater SUV which was showcased as a new brand Gravitas. 

But then the twist happened. The 7 seater Harrier was decided to bear the name of Safari. The teaser ad is now on air and what is interesting is that the brand is retaining the tagline Reclaim Your Life. 

The advantage of launching Safari is the immediate adoption by Safari fans. Although many have migrated to other SUVs, still Safari brand commands a lot of traction among the auto-enthusiasts. Since Harrier has already established itself as a reliable machine, Safari will not have to worry about the mechanical issues which were the Achilles heel of the brand in its earlier avatar.