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Sunfill : RIP (2001-2005)Brand : Sunfill

Company: Coca Cola

Brand Count : 191

Sunfill was Coca Cola's foray into the Soft Drink Concentrate market in India.

Globally it was the company's first foray into the powder concentrate segment.

This good product died after 4 years primarily because the company did not

consider worthwhile to focus on marketing this product.

Sunfill was introduced in 2001 and Coca Cola intended to take on Rasna in the Rs

180 crore soft drinks concentrate market in India. Rasna was dominating the

market with a share of over 85%.

Sunfill was a powder soft drink concentrate . Powder concentrate occupy85% of 

the total soft drinks concentrate market. Sunfill came in three variants :

Regular,Anand and Tarang.

Sunfill differentiated from Rasna by taking the convenience route. The

concentrate had added sugar in it so to make the drink was easy for the

consumer. While other concentrates, sugar need to be added hence was

cumbersome for the consumer. The taste of Sunfill was also better compared to

other brands ( personal opinion). The brand also innovated in packaging by 

coming out with single serve packs and also multi serve pillow packs.

The biggest challenge for any FMCG/SDC products was distribution. Sunfill

found an innovative method to reach the market. It had alliances with other

FMCG firms in reaching the market. The brand had its own channel + third party 

alliance (Hybrid network) to ensure that the brand is available in all stores.

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But somehow the product failed in the market. The issue was with regard to

distribution, product and the promotion.

The product had some quality issues. In my personal experience, some of the

packs had very bad quality concentrate . At one point of time, the product was not

available in the stores. The issue in promotion was regarding the positioning.

 When Sunfill came into the market, Rasna countered Sunfill with its own range of 

powder concentrate with added sugar.Hence the differentiation became negated

for Sunfill. The promotion investment for Sunfill was not adequate to counter the

huge brand equity that Rasna enjoyed. I have a feeling that Sunfill was a half 

hearted effort from the company.That was reflected in the promotions for the

product which ultimately lead to the death of a high potential brand

I still feel that the company did not do justice to the brand which had a potential

to make it big in the SDC market but the plug was pulled on Sunfill in 2005.

Related brands

Rasna

 Source: Agencyfaqs,businessline,magindia

Labels: beverages, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:52 AM  0 COMMENTS  

F R I D A Y , D E C E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 0 6

Maruti Gypsy : RIPBrand : Gypsy 

Company: Maruti Suzuki

Brand Count : 182

Gypsy was one of India's first sports utility vehicles. The vehicle created a

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 breakaway category of SUV offroader from the existing jeep category which was

dominated by Mahindra. Born in 1985, the brand

 was considered as an aspirational one by many young at hearts.The brand was

positioned on the basis of its ruggedness. The brand was promoted as a pure

offroader. The ads used to say that Gypsy could even climb trees. The positioning

 was reinforced by the success of the brand in rally and offroad events. Maruti also

promoted such events to boost the brand as the ultimate offroader. The brand

had the tagline of " There is a Gypsy in Everyone".

But the brand failed to capitalise on the first mover advantage although it is still

considered to be one of the sportiest looking SUV in the Indian market. The

  brand is now confined to certain niche markets like Police and Army vehicle

segments.

Gypsy was the rebadged version of Suzuki Jimny. Although Jimny is still

surviving, Gypsy is in the last stage of its product life cycle. The brand which

pioneered the offroader category sadly is dying when the SUV category hasstarted growing. The brand failed because of the apathy of the company in

investing in the brand. The product had inherent problem that created negative

 word of mouth and the company didn't cared to look at the negatives of the

 brand.

Gypsy although considered as a tough vehicle lacked many important attributes

 valued by a customer. The driving quality and the mileage was awful. The product

  was priced at a ridiculous premium which was not justified interms of the

delivery of value.The brand was priced at around Rs 5 lakh which is comparable with a entry level

sedan.The product although looked excellent outside was a mess inside. The

  vehicle lacked space and comfort especially for the rear seat. It had all the

qualities for an offroader but failed to understand that Indian consumers use

offroaders on roads ( cities).The mileage was awful and that ensured that only 

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those who fall head over heals over the looks only will buy this brand . Since MUL

at that time was in the public sector, the brand was sold to Police and army. For

the ordinary consumers, the brand did not made any sense.

Gypsy also did not change itself in tune with the changing industry requirements.

The vehicle initially was severely underpowered for an offroader. The company 

enhanced the power from 975cc to  1300 cc only after

11 years. Gypsy King was launched in 1996 sported the more powerful Esteem

engine but was priced steeply.

The last four years has shown that SUV category is growing very fast fuelled by 

the success of the likes of Mahindra Scorpio. Most of the global bigwigs in the

SUV segment is now there in India. Suzuki also has launched its brand Grand

 Vitara in this segment. But in the current scheme of things, Gypsy was sadly not

in the picture.

Compare the picture of the Suzuki Jimny (given in the blog) and Gypsy and see

the difference. Had this brand changed its looks and feel in tune with the

emerging category requirements, Gypsy could have been a major brand. But

 Alas.... the brand's fate is to be cited as an example of Marketing Myopia or is it

Marketing Laziness.

 Source:marutigypsy.com,wikipedia

  Related

Tata sierra

Labels: automobile brands, branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:48 AM  1 COMMENTS  

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M O N D A Y , D E C E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 6

 Vanilla Coke : Wakaw Brand :Vanilla Coke

Company: Coca Cola

 Agency: McCann Erickson

Brand Count : 178

 Vanilla Coke was touted as the greatest innovation since Diet Coke in 1983. It also

has the distinction of the greatest flops after the New Coke. Vanilla Coke came

 with a bang in the Indian market in April 2004. It went without much noise in

2005.

The history of this product variant dates back as early as 1950's. The mass

marketing of this variant began in 2002.The brand went global in 2004.

2004 saw the unusual scream " Wakaw" played across mass media. We all looked

up in awe : a brand new variant from Coca Cola : Vanilla Coke. The brand was

targeted at the metro youth was different. It was different in taste, promotion,

package, price etc.

 Vanilla Coke was promoted in retro style. The brand had Vivek Oberoi , the then

 bollywood flame endorsing the brand in an unusual style. Vivek sported the retro

look with typical combination of Elvis style + Shammi Kapoor style in an Old

Lamby Scooter screaming Wakaw.

The ads were surely clutter breaking and backed by 360 degree branding efforts

that ensured good publicity. The creative done by the famed Prasoon Joshi was

discussed in all media and that ensured truck loads of free publicity. The brand

also got into viral marketing. The campaign along with Contenst2win asked the c

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ustomers to SMS Wakaw to 8558 inorder to win goodies.

 According to media reports, the campaign resulted in 440,000 SMS in just 4

 weeks creating a record of sorts.

 According to Indiatelevision.com report, the media brief given to the agency was

to create a clutter breaking campaign targeted at youth. The campaign should

create a dhamaka in the market. And rightly so all the client requirements was

achieved with in a short span of time.

But how come a product with such a good start failed so easily. With in one year,

the brand has been taken out from most of the Indian states. The brand is said to

  be available in Gujarat,Kolkatta and Delhi.

 As a marketing person, I am also perplexed. Frankly I liked the ad the feel and

 wanted to try it out. But soon the product was not at all available. The failure of 

this product line extension may have delighted Alries and Trout .

I am assuming that the following factors may have caused the failure of this

 brand.

a. The product may have been bad. The TG may not have liked the taste.

 Although Coke has test marketed this product, there is always a chance that the

customers may have disliked the taste.

 b.The campaign was not targeted at the right segment. This campaign had its fair

share of critics also. I liked the campaign because I have seen the old stars and

the lamby etc and could easily relate the old characters and the concept. But for a

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twenty year old, he may not relate or understand the concept. The brand may 

have lost out in that respect.

c. The brand was priced at a premium over the ordinary coke. This may have

discouraged the TG from checking out the brand. Together with the retro

campaign not clicking with the intended audience may have given a double

  whammy for the brand.

d. Indian SD industry is a duopoly. Pepsi and Coke rule the roast and there are

 brand loyal on both sides. The new variant will be tested first by the Coke loyal

and not the Pepsi loyal. Hence like most of the Product line extensions, the

 variant will be pitted against the mother brand. Hence the customers may have

compared the new variant with the classic coke and not as a new drink. And

surely the classic coke won .

These are all assumptions because I am still confused.

The failure of Vanilla Coke is a classic case that proves that Marketing is not a

perfect science. There are no formula or theory that can make a brand successful.

To Quote Kotler " Marketing is easy to teach and understand but difficult to

practice".

source:agencyfaqs,indiatelevision.com,wikipedia,magindia,businessline

 Related Brands

Thums Up

Coke

Sprite

Labels: beverages,  branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 11:36 AM

 0 COMMENTS

 

T H U R S D A Y , D E C E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 0 6

Clearasil : For Clear SkinBrand : Clearasil

Company: Reckitt & Benckiser

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 Agency: Euro Rscg

Brand Count : 177

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--><!--[endif]-->

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->Clearasil was a brand that was synonymous with skin care

in India. The brand occupied a distinct space in the Indian market as the ultimate cream

for Pimples and acne. But over the years this brand is facing the decline stage in its

 product life cycle. The b rand reached this pathetic state because of  

reasons not of its own.

Clearasil is a global brand famous world wide as a cure for acne and pimples. The brand

is 56 year old. Mr Ivan Combe of USA invented the product in 1950. It was the first

dermatological brand for curing pimples and acne made especially for young skin. In

1961, the brand came into the fold of Richardson Vicks. In 1985 P&G became the owner 

of Richardson Vicks. Later the company sold of these brands to Boots Pharmaceuticals in

the year 2000. In 2006, Reckitt &Benckiser bought the brand globally. The brand came to

India in 1967.

 Now you can easily see the reason why the brand failed. The brand went through too

many ownership changes. Some companies did not feel that the brand was a part of its

core portfolio. For example during the ownership of Clearasil by P&G there was no

investment on the brand since for the company, the personal care business was not a core

area. Hence during this period the brand was not at all promoted. Even though the other 

owners had tried to revive the brand, frequent changes made the brand vulnerable.

<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->

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<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]-->Clearas il during its peak years had the

reputation as a strong cream for fighting pimples and acnes. At that time there was no

direct competition for Clearasil although there were many skin creams. For a family

having teenage girls, Clearasil was an essential brand. But over the years, because of the

lack of brand building efforts, the brand became irrelevant to the younger generation.

Clearasil slowly became the brand that “my mother used”. When Boots owned the brand,

lot of variants were launched. The brand changed its packaging and was extended to

soaps.Rather than limiting to acne control, the brand tried to position itself as a skin care

 brand. But the effort did not bear fruit because by that time, the market was flooded withmodern contemporary brands.

The brand is now owned by Reckitt and marketers expect that the brand will get a new

lease of life. The greatest challenge before the new owners is to make the brand

contemporary and relevant to the new generation. Reckitt had to find a new

differentiation platform for this heritage brand. It has to tap the existing brand equity and

try to create a new space for Clearasil. Globally Clearasil is positioned on the basis of 

Confidence through better skin . The global positioning statement is “Get Clearasil , Get

Confidence”. But in India, Cinthol uses this positioning . The brand faces tough

competition from the likes of Ponds, Lakme, Loreal and so on .So to find the right space

is going to be tough.I think that the brand could take the “ Clear Skin” positioning where

 by it is not limited to controlling pimples but overall skin care. With the brand Veet from

Reckitt is in the same skin care market; the brand managers will have a tough time

integrating Clearasil to the portfolio.

 source:agencyfaqs,businessline,reckittbenckiser.com

Related Brands

Ponds

Fair&Lovely

Vicco

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Loreal

Bodyshop

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMHG, marketing myopia, personal care

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 2:58 PM  0 COMMENTS  

T H U R S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 3 , 2 0 0 6

Ganga Soap : RIPBrand : Ganga

Company: Godrej Consumer Products

Brand Count: 163

If the Western Media's projection or prejudice about the social and cultural

makeup of India was correct, then Ganga soap would have been the most sold

soap brand in the world. Those who have been watching India specific programs

in BBC and National Geographic may wond er how can such a brand

fail in the land of elephants and Sadhus ?

Ganga soap was launched with much fanfare in 1993. The soap was positioned on

the religious platform and was claimed to be made of water from the river

Ganges. The soap attained salvation in the early 2000.

The brand comes from an accomplished marketer who markets such iconic

 brands like Cinthol. The brand was promoted heavily and even had the film stars

like Govinda endorsing it. Promoted using the tagline " Now bath in Ganga" very 

directly puts the soap in a religious platform. Reports suggest that the brand's

initial sales was encouraging and also there are reports that blame on the P&G

and Godrej break up caused the brand to decline.

Ganga had a revitalisation effort in 1997 when Godrej tried to relaunch the brand

under the name Doodh Ganga. But those effort went in vain.

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The primary reason why the brand failed was that the differentiation was not

sustainable over time. Although Hindu's are very religious in nature and revers

the tradition but the consumers are discerning when it comes to purchasing

products. There is a clear divide between religion and products. Consumers

seldom like mixing the two. It is OK if religion and politics are mixed not soups

and gods. That may be the reason why the toys of Hindu mythological characters

are not popular in India.

The brand when launched was really praised for its innovative thinking. One

could see through the logic of the launch. Just looking at the crowd at Kumbh

Mela would encourage any marketer to think about launching a product for the

devotees of Ganga. But a closer look at the customers could have proved the

marketer wrong. Why would a customer buy a product? That is a question that

could reveal that Love for Ganga would not rake in sales.

Rather than using Ganga as a differentiator, Godrej could have positioned the

product on the basis if Purity and Gentleness like the Pears Soap. The can show 

the use of Water from Ganga to reinforce the positioning. But the religious

platform failed miserably. More over this platform is too old dated for our new 

generation. Another funny element is that although Hindus revere the Ganges,

people are aware that the river is the most polluted one. Hence there were

consumer buzz that using a soap made from such water may be dangerous.

Sensing this consumer talk, Godrej had to tell that the water was taken from

places near the origin of Ganges hence not polluted. Overall it was a messy affair.

Ganga is a brand that could have survived as a small niche. I am still not sure

about the exact reasons that brand have failed in the Indian market.The failure of 

such a brand should inspire a marketer to delve deep into the psyche of Indian

consumer before jumping into conclusions.

source:economictimes. Mouthshut .com

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Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia, personal care, soap

 brands

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 2:09 PM  0 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 0 6

Proline : Follow Yourself Brand : Proline

Company: Bombay Dyeing

 Agency: Orchard /Leo Burnett

Brand Count: 160

Proline is a pioneer in the creation of Sports/ Leisure wear segment in the Indian

market. The brand was launched in 1983 by the Batra group was one a premium

sought after brand during that time. The Indian apparel market is huge with a

market size of Rs 18000-20000 crore. There

are different versions about the actual size of the branded segment in the apparel

market ranging from Rs 2500-4500 crore ( Market size and market share reports

are always confusing).

Sports and Leisure wear segment during the eighties were virtually non existent.

It would be proper to say that there were no serious effort to brand such apparels.

Proline rightfully found the gap. Proline gain prominence in the segment through

high profile promotions using sports celebrities. Super players like Ravi Shastri,

Sandip Patil, Padukone and other major players from different sports. This

created a hugh equity for the brand. Proline was an Aspiration brand for most of 

the youngsters (middle class) like me during that period. But the brand was

premium priced and that kept us from trying out the brand.

Unlike the west, the sports wears are used as casual wears in India. There is little

difference between the two segments except for the football jerseys. The

consumers used to categories all the Sportswear in the T-shirts category. Proline

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  was successful in projecting a Premium International image in this segment.

Proline buoyed by the success of its brand began retailing initiatives in a big way.

The brand was promoted through exclusive shops and " Shop in Shops" in big

supermarkets. The owners also began to market international brands like Fila

and K-swiss through this retail outlets.

2000 saw the international players entering into Indian market with serious

 business plans. Brands or icons like Nike , Reebok and Adidas started their brand

  building efforts. The Pioneer in the market, Proline was dwarfed by the

International giants.

Proline could not stand upto the competition from these players . With

competition from unbranded players at the bottom of the market together with

the onslaught of International brands at the premium end. The brand could not

find enough space to fit in.

Proline was positioned as a brand that respect individuality. The brand revolves

round the value of " Self Respect" and the confidence gained by accepting what

 you are. The attitude " Been there  and Done That" was exemplified

 by the campaigns. That is one of the best positioning that a brand can opt for.

But despite the good brand name, first mover advantage and the memorable

positioning, Proline was a brand that could not sustain. The brand is said to have

a market share of less than 6% in the segment.

The reason for the underperformace are many :

a. Competition from International players and domestic brand: It is interesting to

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note that almost all the national brands have a casual sports wear range. Whether

it is Colorplus or Peter England, T-shirts are available. That poses serious threat

to a pure play sports wear marketer.

 b. Value: The brand could not sustain the value proposition in the mind of the

consumers. Priced at par with brands like Nike, Proline needed to show the

customers more value for the premium it was asking for. More over, there were

issues of segmentation. Proline never looked at affordability of the brand. With a

choice of international brands, Proline had a tough time convincing the

customers to stick to the brand. Further the presence of brands like Fila selling

side by side Proline was little risky . Unless the brand is clearly careful about its

pricing and segmentation, there is a chance that the franchised brand cannibalise

the manufactured brand. I am not sure whether this has happened in Proline's

case.

c. Distribution : Proline had limited presence in only major cities.

In 2003, the brand changed hands. Bombay Dyeing took 51 % ownership in the

 brand and that gave the brand an instant access to the distribution outlet of the

textile major. Now Proline also has the responsibility of marketing the

failed/failing Vivaldi brand of Bombay Dyeing.

 Although brand is now with a textile major, the brand is yet to take off. What the

 brand Proline needs is some fresh thinking interms of Segmentation. The brand

may not be able to compete with the likes of Nike at the premium end. But I feel

that there is immense scope for a brand at the affordable segment in the casual

 wear market. For example , in the t-shirt market, there is a scope for Proline to

make a mark if it follows the strategy of Peter England ( quality at affordable

price). Although there are brands like Classic Polo, crocodile etc, there still space

for Proline.

The brand need not do much to revitalise itself because still Proline commands

some respect and recall in the market. Price rationalisation and some high profile

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 brand building will definitely rejuvenate the brand and take it to new heights.

source: businessline, prolineindia.com,agencyfaqs,universalgarment news

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 11:25 AM  0 COMMENTS  

T U E S D A Y , N O V E M B E R 1 4 , 2 0 0 6

Burnol : The Burn SpecialistBrand : Burnol

Company: Dr Morpean Labs

 Agency: JWT

Brand Count: 156

Burnol is one of the oldest antiseptic cream brands in India. This 65 year old

 brand still holds tremendous brand recall among the Indian consumers. Burnol

has changed hands many times in its existence in the Indian market. The first

 brand owner was Boots and the brand the brand was acquired by Knoll. Later

Reckitt and Piramal bought the brand from Knoll. In 2002 the brand wasacquired by Dr Morpean labs. This constant change over of this brand from one

company to another has virtually undermined the equity of this heritage brand.

The Indian antiseptic cream market is estimated to be around Rs 210 crore. The

market is dominated by Boroplus from Emami which commands a

market share of around 60%. Burns market is

specialised market with a size of Rs 30 crore. Burnol had a generic status in this

market.

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Burnol during the hay days had a strong demand in the market. It was perceived

as a " must have" in households and offices in the first-aid boxes. Although in

households , there is rare incidents of burns, Burnol was kept as a essential first

aid medicine.

The market still remains the same. The homemakers still deal with fire and there

is still a perceived need for such a burn specialist at home. Despite the market

remaining unchanged , Burnol was pushed to a negligible presence because of 

reasons not of its own.

Burnol was positioned as a burn specialist from day one ( I think so). Customers

also associate this brand with burns. The fact is that Burnol is an antiseptic cream

that could be used for burns as well as cuts just like other antiseptic creams.

Burnol was positioned so strongly that the association has become embedded in

the mind of the customers. Even the name reinforces the positioning of this

 brand. During its life cycle, the brand had tried to change over from being a burn

specialist to an all purpose cream but it was a mistake. Customers refused to

accept the repositioning and the whole exercise was a failure.

 When Dr Morpean relaunched the brand with the positioning based on being "

Burn specialist", the customers reacted favorably to it. Burnol was promoted as a

" must have " at every home.

The brand was not able to garner its potential share in the market for reasons

related to the brand owners. Either some of the companies who owned this brand

 was in financial crisis or the brand was not in their core marketing plan. Because

of these two reasons, the brand promotion was virtually nil and this apathy 

reflected in the market share of this brand. Although Morpean labs initially 

pushed the brand, the financial health of the company is limiting the brand

promotion to a great extent. Morpean had initiated major repositioning

campaign and even changed the product to a more acceptable cream

composition.

The brand will remain a niche brand for the following reasons.

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a. Unlike other antiseptic creams, the incidence of small burns are rare and hence

the usage of this product is limited thus causing little or no repurchase. This

creates stagnation in the sales of this brand.

 b. Since Burnol is very much embedded as a burn specialist, the extension of this

 brand to other uses is virtually non existent because customers will not or may 

not accept such an extension.

The factors outside the control of the marketer is severely hindering the brand

growth. With lot of money for promotion, one can see this brand regaining its lost

position in the market.

 Source: businessline, agencyfaqs,express4media,

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMHG, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 3:39 PM  1 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , N O V E M B E R 0 6 , 2 0 0 6

Melody : Chocolaty Brand : Melody 

Company: Parle

 Agency: Grey 

Brand Count : 153

Melody is one the oldest brand in Parle's Portfolio. The brand which has made a

place for its position in the market because of its unique quality and taste is

making a comeback. Melody is a unique 2 in 1 toffee with

chocolate inside and caramel outside. The brand which was premium priced in

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early days had used its chocolate content as its differentiators.

But somewhere in its life the brand lost its way. The brand was not visible in the

media or in the stores. With the entry of high profile aggressive marketers like

Perfetti almost pushed Melody to oblivion. Also the brand managers at Parle was

not spending enough on this old brand. Confectionery products are bought

impulsively and hence the store placement and brand recall performs an

important part in the success of a brand in this category. At one point of time ,

Melody lost on both of these accounts.

The brand thus was slowly forgotten by the customers. Melody had some unique

attributes that made it once successful

a. Its unique taste

  b. The brand recall and equity  

c.The brand elements like its jingle and tagline and packaging.

Melody was famous for its jingle " Melody hai chocolaty" and " Melody khao khud

 jan jao" emphasising on the rich chocolate core and the high decibel campaigns in

the past was so effective that now also people remember the jingle.

But those who remember the jingle and the brand has now become older and the

 younger ones are not knowing this brand. That is a big problem that this brand

faces.

2006 saw this brand coming back to the Rs 1200 crore Indian confectionery 

market. The brand handled by Grey Worldwide is retaining the famous

positioning of "Chocolaty" .The latest ads shows the famous question 'Why 

Melody is so chocolaty" has made a comeback.

In the analysis of competition, we often say that there is a competition for an Idea

among marketers. Brands compete for idea or positioning. Here the " Question"

that made Melody famous was hijacked by Chlormint which ask the same

question in a different way " Log Chlormint kyon khathe hain". Hence Melody 

lost the exclusivity of the Q & A that made it famous ( to a certain extent).

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But for a consumer who has liked this brand and missed this brand, the

comeback is a welcome event. If Parle sustains its product quality and maintains

its share of voice, Melody will lift the fortunes of its confectionery business.

source: agencyfaqs,parle.com,businessline 

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 6:59 PM  1 COMMENTS  

T H U R S D A Y , O C T O B E R 2 6 , 2 0 0 6

Nivea : Gentle Care

Brand : NiveaCompany : Beirsdorf AG (JL Morrison in India)

 Agency: TBWA 

Brand Count : 147

Nivea is a German brand marketed in India by JL Morrison. This brand has a

history of around 96 years. Nivea came into existence in the year 1911. The brand

has derived its name from the Latin word Nivius meaning "Snow White".

Nivea has been in Indian market for more than 30 years. But this brand which is

truly a global brand has not met with success in India. Nivea globally is the brand

that has its presence in around 20 product categories in more than 50 countries.

But in the 1300 crore Indian skin care market, the presence of Nivea don't justify 

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its rich heritage.

Nivea is famous worldwide for its face cream. Nivea Creme created by 

Dermatologists was launched in 1911 . The brand is considered to be the first to

take the skin care category from the elite class to the masses. The brand

 worldwide is known for its Trust, Reliability and Accessibility. Globally this brand

is positioned in the platform of "Gentle Care" and " Wellness". The brand has its

elements of Color embedded firmly in the minds of the customers. Nivea took its

"Blue and White" color as its brand element as early as 1924. From there

onwards, this color scheme has been a brand identity for Nivea.

In India, the brand is known for its skin cream. Nivea cream is but perceived as a

 winter cream because of its thickness and oily consistency. While in other parts of 

the world, Nivea has successfully came out of this narrow perception, in India,

the marketers were not able to effectively take the brand forward. With most of 

Indian stated do not have severe winter, the market for winter cream is very 

limited.Nivea has a market share of 19% in the Rs 108 crore skin cream market

 which is dominated by Ponds.Now Ponds hold the position which Nivea could

have taken had it been more aggressive in the market.

 Although JL Morrison tried to extend the brand to soaps, the extension has not

 been successful bec ause of the halfhearted effort.

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  With salespromotion now being used to promote this brand of soaps,further

dilution of the brand equity is inevitable.

Nivea face serious marketing issues in India. The brand has not been aggressive

enough in this market which is crowded with established brands. Nivea was never

 bothered about strengthening its positioning as a skin care leader. While Ponds 

successfully extended itself to other product categories, Nivea is stuck with its

cream.This is a brand that failed because of marketing laziness. Nivea have huge

  brand recall and equity. It has the global parentage, successful positioning

opportunity but was not able to leverage the strength because the Indian

marketers didnot want to invest in the brand. The problem is that when the

 brand is licensed to a marketer in a country, the objective of the brand manager

 will be to milk maximum out of the brand rather than invest in longterm brand

 building. Every ads and campaigns will be weighed interms of the ROI and sales

growth. Successful brands required longterm investment that will yeild results

over a period of time. But in the case of Nivea, no such brand building efforts

  were to be seen.

The potential of the brand is evident from the fact that in the Grey market, the

 brand is sold well. There is also significant difference in the quality of imported

Nivea and the local one. It is said that Nivea Deo is the best selling product in the

grey market.

Nivea is sad story of a brand that failed to succeed inspite of having all essential

Brand qualities. If failed because of marketing laziness.

source:rediff,brandweek,businesstoday,nivea.com

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia, personal care, soap

 brands

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 10:12 AM  4 COMMENTS  

T H U R S D A Y , O C T O B E R 1 9 , 2 0 0 6

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Tata Sierra : RIPBrand : Sierra

Company: Tata Motors

 Agency: O&M

Brand Count :144

Sierra is the first passenger car from Telco ( Now Tata motors). Tata Sierra was

launched in 1991 marking the transformation of a Truc

k manufacturer to a Passenger vehicle maker. Sierra

 was an entirely a new product in the Indian car market at that time. This three

door vehicle was indeed the first SUV to hit the Indian roads.

Sierra was the baby of Ratan Tata and his first attempt to make a mark in the

Indian Business world after taking over Telco. But the product bombed inthe

market. Sierra can be said as a brand that came too early. The Indian market was

not ready for this concept.

I personally love this car for its look. Most of you will agree that this vehicle is a

stylish one. Even with the entry of all major SUV brands in India, Sierra looks

contemporary ( my opinion) and modern.

  Why did Sierra failed in the market?a. Price

 b.Quality 

Sierra primarily failed in the market because of its steep price. Priced around Rs 5

lakh, the brand failed to appeal to the value proposition of the Indian consumer.

  Another factor was the corporate image of the company. Telco was rightly 

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perceived as a truck manufacturer and Sierra was the first passenger car. Hence

the consumers were not ready to shell out a premium for this brand

Then there was the quality issue. Sierra was a truck in the car form ( no problem

 with that!) .The consume rs knew that and the price

don't justify the quality proposition given in the product. Although steeply priced,

Sierra had all the goodies that 2005 cars offered like power steering, power

  windows etc. Yet.... Sierra failed to enthuse the customers.

Sierra was rightly positioned as a sporty beast. The ads and campaigns rightly 

promoted the brand and it had all the potential to be an icon. Telco made a

mistake in having high hopes for this brand. At the best, the product could have

  been a niche brand and an important one. The brand could have lifted the

company to a higher level, had the quality issue was rectified.

Even today , we can see this car on the road . And most of the owners who uses

this product because they like the brand not for any other reason such as low 

price.I read in an article that the design guru Dilip Chabaria loves the look of 

Sierra. As the old ad of Sierra says , "Sierra is not owned It is Possessed". Today 

Sierra's position is occupied by Scorpio and rightly so.. If launched again with a

right price , there is still a market for Sierra.

 Source: indicar,businessline,agencyfaqs.

Labels: automobile brands, branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 3:16 PM  1 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , O C T O B E R 0 9 , 2 0 0 6

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Coffy Bite : Coffee or ToffeeBrand : Coffy Bite

Company: Lotte India

 Agency: JWT

Brand Count : 137

Coffy Bite is a power brand in the Rs 1500 crore Indian Sugar Boiled Candy 

market.This 100 crore brand has a history of 18 years of existence.

Coffy Bite is one of the brands which I grow up with. The brand is unique and its

positioning and ad campaign was one of the best in that era. The brand is in the

coffee category which is around 15% of the Sugar boiled candy category. Coffee

Bite have around 9 % market share in the SBC segment.

Coffee Bite was introduced in India by Parry's confectioneries of the Muruggappa

Group. This was the flagship brand of Parrys. Later in 2004 , Parry's

confectioneries was sold to The Lotte group.

Coffee Bite is famous for the " Coffee -Toffee " argument followed by the tagline "

Its a Coffee in a Toffee" . All th e campaigns of this

 brand was a fun to watch and as a product, the brand offered excellent taste and

quality. Overall this product was a winner. The brand enjoys a recall of as high as

85%.

 With the entry of Big names like Perfette, Parrys faced intense competition in themarket for all its major brands. Along with this heat, the company faced

pressures in pricing coupled with rising raw material costs. Infact, these issues

are still haunting the confectionery manufacturers.

The candy market is faced with two marketing issues

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a. The product: since the product is purely an impulse product, lot of money has

to be spent on the brand and also on developing new variants to create and

sustain excitement.

 b. The Price: The consumers in this segment is price conscious. Because of the

competition, companies cannot afford to price the product at a premium and

renounce volume. With the 50 paise price point becoming the industry norm,

most of the companies are facing profitability issues.

The problem that Coffy Bite faced was again the issue of relevance. Because of 

some reasons, the brand missed the new generation. The brand was perceived to

 be " Old". Hence even though the recall was high, the actual purchase was as low 

as 20%.

The task for the new brand owners "Lotte" was to make the brand more relevant

to the new generation. By New Generation , I mean those kids born after1990's :

the liberalisation child.

Lotte changed the packaging to make the brand more contemporary and

 youthful. The communication also was changed. Thank God, the brand managers

did not change the famous " Argument". So the argument continues. The new 

 baseline is " Enough to start an argument" was an unnecessary change for this

 brand which is famous for its " Coffee in a toffee" baseline. The brand owners has

to think as to who is bored by the old baseline, company or customer? As a

customer I prefer the old one. I think that the brand need not change the taglines

and positioning to become more relevant.

Since the category is Coffee, you cannot have any other taste, that can give some

consistency to the communication.I hope the owners will not come up with

 variants like Pineapple coffy bite. Besides the taste, the "Coffee -Toffee" argument

gives the creative guys lot of things to work with.I feel that this brand should take

the " Topical" advertisement route perfected by Amul( discussed somewhere in

my blog) which will be enjoyed by all. One more major positive for this brand is

that it is more of a family toffee that gives it a huge market to tap.

Coffy Bite is a brand that has a unique space in the mind of the customers. Is it a

Coffee or a Toffee.. the argument continues.

 Source: Businessline, agencyfaqs,fnbnews.com, lotteindia.com,economictimes.com

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Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 1:46 PM  0 COMMENTS  

F R I D A Y , O C T O B E R 0 6 , 2 0 0 6

Cuticura: Leaving You SpeechlessBrand : Cuticura

Company: Cholayil

 Agency:Rediffusion

Brand Count:135

Cuticura is an International brand which has a history of 200years. Once

synonymous with talcum powder, this brand was pushed to oblivion because of 

marketing myopia or marketing laziness.

Cutucura came to India 80 years back.Cutucura was owned in India by 

Muller&Phipps. Globally this brand was owned by Keyline Brands which was

acquired by Godrej Consumer products in 2005. Interestingly the brand is owned

in India by Cholayil who are the marketers of Medimix soaps.Cholayil refuses to

sell the brand to Godrej. Godrej hence have the rights to the brand outside India.

It looks like a typical hindi film story script. Cutucura may be crying " Main kon

hu, Main kahan Hu, Mera papa Kaun hai"?

Cholayil acquired the brand from Muller in 2002. The brand was given a make

over and the new owners was trying to revive the brand. Cuticura was a leading

 brand of talcum powders in India in the 80's. Indian talcum powder market is

estimated to be around Rs 600 crore. In the late 80's the brand faced competition

from HLL and Cuticura was not able to sustain in the market.One major factors

 was that the Muller underestimated competition. The brand failed to change .

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Today the talcum poweder market is dominated by HLL's Ponds with 65% share.

Cuticura's stronghold is the southern market where it claims to

have a share of 30%. The brand still holds equity in this market. So for Cholayil

 who markets Medimix, this brand gives a platform to get into personal care

 business.Cuticura is known for its fragrance. The classic brand also famous for its orange

and white packing which still has a huge recall. Cuticura while retaining its classic

product launched a lavender variant in 2003. Reports suggest that the variant

failed to make any ripples in the market. But these efforts helped the brand to

post a decent turnover thanks to the brand equity. Now this brand is worth Rs 10

crore.

 Although the Cholayil group has taken serious steps in reviving the brand, the

campaign lacked the punch needed to propel the brand to new heights. The brandstill retains the classic positioning based on fragrance. The new tagline talks

about the brand leaving you speechless . Although creative idea is OK, the

execution is horribl e. The hyperbole fails to catch the imagination of new 

generation.

The biggest challenge that the brand face is that its core users have become old.

The customers who liked and used this brand have now become old and the new 

generation does not know this brand. Hence the brand has to be relevant to the

new generation competing with the power brands like Ponds.

2006 saw the brand extending to deodorants. The extension was branded as

Cuticura DeO2.The main USP of DeO2 is its ingredient Farnesol. The brand has

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the tagline " Let your underarms breathe". Although a not thrilling tagline, to

some this make sense because this product will help you smell good without

inhibiting perspiration which is an important function of the body. Most of the

deos inhibits perspiration to control the bad smell.

Unlike the talc ad, the DeO2 campaign is carefully executed to appeal to the

newgen. Cuticura DeO2 will be pitted against Rexona, Fa, etc in this segment.

The brand has a potential to be a serious player in the personal care segment. The

 brand has to exploit its brand equity and strive to be relevant to the new 

generation who may have forgotten this brand

source: historypages.net, magindia.com, agencyfaqs, cholayil 

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia, personal care

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 10:33 AM  0 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , A U G U S T 2 8 , 2 0 0 6

 Akai : The Original Price WarriorBrand : Akai

Company: Videocon

 Agency:SSC&B

Brand Count 118

 Akai is the brand that changed the Indian CTV industry for ever.The 25000 crore

Indian consumer durables market survived at one time because of Akai. Akai was

 brought to India by Baron International , a company floated by the young Kab

ir Mulchandani.

 Akai was launched in India in 1995 and there after the CTV market was never the

same. Before Akai, the CTV was a luxury affordable only to the middle class and

above. The starting price of CTV at that time was Rs 15000 and above. It was a

  big task for a middle-income family to afford one at that time.

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Players like Videocon, BPL, Philips and Onida dominated CTV market at that

time. Akai had to break the stronghold of these players and how they did it is one

of the greatest marketing success stories ever.

From 0 to14% market share within 18 months. That was the outcome. Akai did

this by going by the advice of Don Corleone “ Make an offer that no one can

refuse”.

“ Rs.9999 for a 21 inch color television” screamed full-page ads in newspapers. It

 was for the first time that a consumer durable marketer took full pages that too

frequently. Along with the price, Akai invented the concept of exchange schemes

into the Indian market and customers loved it. Nobody could believe the offer

and the price. I don’t think anyone now also knew how it worked out.You go to

the dealer with an old TV and you could get a discount of Rs 5000 on the new 

one. WOW…

  Akai positioned itself as a price warrior and the heritage factor of being a

Japanese company boosted the brand image of the company. The tag “Made in

Japan” always impresses Indian consumers and it helped Akai to scale up in the

market with in a short span of time.

Baron also took an unconventional distribution strategy by advertising heavily 

  before the product hit the market. This created rush in the market and

distributors paid upfront to get the orders and the company had the money 

  before selling its product. The additional margins also satisfied the dealers.

The price and the hype affected the market share of the

leaders in CTV market .All the players cut their prices as high as 40% so as to

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survive. This prompted customers to believe that they were being forced to pay a

higher price before Akai came into the market. The price offers expanded the

Indian CTV market like a rocket propeller

 Akai ran into rough weathers shortly after 1998. Akai globally was owned by 

Ontario based Semi Tech corporation. Baron ‘s relationship with Semi Tech

  became rough. Baron, to tide over the probability of severing ties with Akai,

forged a deal with Aiwa of Japan for marketing Hi Fi music systems.

Kabir Mulchandani did the same with Aiwa selling the brand at a price unheard

of and making the product category reachable to middle class. But Aiwa as an

upscale brand ( 51% of the co is owned by Sony) was not happy by this

positioning ,however an the brand was looking for an upstart in the Indian

market and Kabir’s strategy helped Aiwa to create a brand awareness and expand

the market.

 Akai thus severed its association with Baron and forged a marketing relationship

  with Videocon. Videocon was marketing the brands of Semitech like Sansui.

 Akai struggled to shrug of the image of a low price brand which was strongly 

embedded in the mind of the Indian consumer. As Mr Abrahan Koshy of IIMA 

says ‘ Discounted brands are promotion dependant” so to survive Akai had to

spend heavily on Advertisements and it was a difficult proposition.

Baron later tried its luck with another Chinese brand TCL but could not succeed.

Once a poster boy in the media and once acclaimed as a marketing whiz kid,

Kabir Mulchandani has faded in to history as a one product wonder. He is

  battling lot of legal issues and nobody talks about him now. But marketing

history remembers him as a Disruptive Marketer who made two luxury product

categories CTV and Hi-FI systems affordable to the Indian consumer.

 Akai expanded the Indian CTV market which is now estimated to be 80 lakhs

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units per year. The Korean majors currently dominate the market. Since the

launch of Akai in 1995, the entry-level models are ranging sub 10000, which was

unthinkable in the 90’s. Now all the major players including SONY have a CTV 

model below Rs 10000. Even Flat TV starts in this range. All these, thanks to

 AKAI. But the brand has now become a marginal player in the Indian market.

 Videocon is finding it difficult to fit this brand into its already crowded product

portfolio. Aiwa is fighting it out at the affordable TV and Music system category 

  with the backing of SONY.

 Source : agencyfaqs, estrategicmarketing,businessworld 

Labels: branding, consumer durable brands, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:11 PM  1 COMMENTS  

W E D N E S D A Y , A U G U S T 1 6 , 2 0 0 6

Ceasefire: RIP 1989-2002Brand : Ceasefire

Company: Real Value Appliances

 Agency: Grey 

Brand Count : 114

Ceasefire was India's first domestic fire extinguisher. It was one of India's best

and worst marketing stories. A brand that virtually created and ruled a category 

faded out after12 years.

Fire extinguishers comes in the category of unsought goods and it is difficul

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t and expensive to create and survive in such a

product category . Real Value Appliances owned by Mr. Pheroze Engineer started

operations in 1989 bringing to the country a new concept - a domestic fire

extinguisher. The fire extinguishers were not uncommon to Indian consumers.

 We see it in large malls and theaters. But a domestic one was unique. Indian

consumers never thought of having one in their homes.

The product made perfect sense in Indian market ( infact every market). Our

households deal with fire all the time and the risk of fire being getting out of 

control is very much there. Hence a marketing mind would easily see the

prospect of cashing in that need : the need for protection from fire. Thus came in

to market Ceasefire. The product was compact, unique had a catchy name, looked

good and boasted of extinguishing all sorts of fires.

Ceasefire was halon 1211 based fire extinguisher that was very compact and was

handy and easy to use ( with minimum effort). Much more than the efficacy of 

the use, it gave a certain peace of mind to the Indian consumer against the

possible fire mishap.

The product was well received in the market. The ads were focusing on building

in the consumer a fear about a possible fire mishap . The ads were backed by a

sales campaign. The company focused on direct marketing for promoting the

product . Since the " Fear of Fire" is so basic to human psyche, the success was

imminent. The product was priced at a premium and the customers never

complained.

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Fire extinguishers , like Insurance is one kind of product where customers are not

unhappy if it is not being used. Hence the success is in keeping the " Fear " alive

in the customer's mind. The success of Ceasefire was much discussed in

Management classes those days.

Then buoyed by the success, the company diversified to Vaccumizer and " rest

 became history". From a brand that was among the top ten fastest growing brand

in the country to a company referred to BIFR, things moved very fast from 1997

onwards.

It happened not because the brand failed the company but it was because the

company failed the brand. The unsuccessful new product like vaccumizer and the

alleged mismanagement failed the brand once gloried as a marketing success

story.In 2002, Real Value Appliances closed down

its operations. May be the brand / company tried to grow very fast without

consolidating, may be because of mismanagement.

It was a brand that lost its life because of faults not of its own. But surprisingly,

no other brands have come forward to take that position. The product category 

that was created by Ceasefire is still void. May be the category may not be

appealing to the other marketers. But the potential is there and the fear is also

there.

 Source: magindia, indiainfoline, estrategicmarketing.com

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:52 AM  0 COMMENTS  

T H U R S D A Y , J U N E 0 8 , 2 0 0 6

 Yardley : Immense Potential Wasted !Brand : Yardley 

Company: Lornmead

This 235 year old cosmetics brand from England is yet to take off in India(after

crashlanding) despite its long life here. The iconic brand was a hit in 1950's

among the elite Indians but some how missed the liberalisation bus.

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The brand which has a rich heritage was marketed by P&G and since they did not

have any interest in the cosmetic market sidelined this brand. The brand was

relegated to Talcum Powders and with no promotions and poor pricing has

dampened the equity of this brand.

 Yardley is now owned by Lornmead which is under the Jatania group : one of the

richest Indian family in UK. If reports are to be believed, they have big plans for

India and Yardley may fit into their strategies.

 Yardley has been positioned as the quintessential English brand with its

conservative look and royal touch. Although the brand was appealing to the TG in

early nineties, the newer generation has not been kind to this brand ( or this

 brand is not existing to gennext). The cosmetic market is dominated by the likes

of Revlon and Lakme, calls for a major rebranding exercise for this brand.

 A look at their website revealed a whole range of luxurious perfume and cosmetic

range which was sadly not available in India. Yardley have the advantage of being

perceived as a Unisex brand and thus can extend the brand to a larger audience.

Since the perfumes market is still undeveloped, Yardley have a huge market

 waiting for it.

 What the company needs to do is to get its marketing mix correct and make the

 brand contemporary. If it does it fast, the brand has the potential to make it big

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia

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POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 3:49 PM  0 COMMENTS  

F R I D A Y , M A Y 1 2 , 2 0 0 6

Bajaj RE : The End Of Days?Brand : RE

Company: Bajaj Auto

Rickshaws were a part of Indian roads as early as 1880 and the rickshaw pullers

of Calcutta are famous in the West as a symbol of Indian Poor. Rickshaw 

originated from Japanese words that meant Human Powered Vehicle. Later these

rickshaws become powered by motors hence became autorickshaw.

Bajaj is the pioneer in this market with a

market share of almost 95%. Auto which is the short form of Autorickshaw 

started off with a front engine model with 'Dolby Digital ' sound effects with

petrol smoke which comes free. In 1977 Bajaj launched the rear engine Auto

 which bought some decency to this class of vehicle.

 Autos are a source of income for lot of families.There are estimated to be around

24 lakh three wheelers in India. The three wheeler segment include both

passenger and goods carrier and Bajaj enjoys a near monopoly in this segment.

The other players are Mahindra , Piaggio Greaves. KAL etc.

 As a marketer I feel that this segment is going to witness the same fate as the

scooters and as usual Bajaj Auto, unless it wakes up, is going to be in the samesituation as it was in the case of Scooter segment.

Let us look at the product first. Autos is a mode of public transport. The reason

 why it succeeded in India is

a. Cheaper than Taxi

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 b.Ideal for short distance travel

c. City maneuvering is easy 

d.Comfortable than buses.

Over these years all these factors has turned against the Auto. With the rising fuel

prices, the auto rates have increased and is now out of reach for the lower middle

class.This vehicle was earlier fulfilling the needs of the lower and upper

middleclass families of India.But with the upper middle class going for two

 wheeler and Maruthi, these autos now have no significance in their traveling

plans. For the lower middle class, the new auto rates are now not affordable so

there is a shift to two wheelers or buses. For example a one and a half kilometer

trip in an auto will cost you nothing less than 15 Rs while a car will cost you

around Rs.6

The pollution caused by autos have forced authorities to put stringent norms for

this segment. The rash behaviour of the drivers also is repulsing the customers

from this mode of transport. One has to answer many questions from the auto

driver before taking you for the ride. This segment till now has not understood

the ground realities.

The vehicle is pathetic with respect to comfort to passengers aswell as drivers.

The customers are using this product just because there is no other alternative. It

is a sort of De ja vu .. Till now Bajaj has done nothing to the product. No change

in the shape , comfort, technology etc. Yes they have came out with diesel version,

4 stroke self start and CNG version but essentially the product is still the same.

The market size is estimated to be around 400000 units per year. Since this is a

major source of income, government will not take a drastic step to kill the

segment . But I foresee a disruptive change in this segment. Already some

disruption is happening. The goods carrier three whe eler

segment is witnessing competition from other players and the Tata motors have

launched a Blockbuster product TATA ACE to take on the three wheeler goods

carrier.

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 A similar disruptive product will easily kill Autos. Already there are rumours of 

Honds seriously looking into this segment. To escape the fate of Chetak , Bajaj

has to once again think in terms of customer. The autos in order to succeed

should deliver more value to the passenger and the owner. Better mileage,

ridability, comfort for the passenger are a must to survive the next ten years.

Drivers should be trained to be more customer friendly because with their Union

strength it may be possible to get higher rates but not the customers.

 With the public transport systems gearing up fo major changes with better buses,

metro rails etc, customers have choices. Taxi's have sensed this and have

changed. Now we have better and courteous taxi cabs and their business is

growing.

Hey Auto : R U listening?

Labels: automobile brands, branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:28 PM  0 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 2 7 , 2 0 0 6

Margo:lost in the Neem trees !

Brand : Margo

Company: Henkel

 Agency: FCB Ulka

Margo is one of the oldest herbal soaps in India. The brand which is more than 85

 years old is famous for its neem content. The product although famous for its

positive effects to the skin is nowhere in the market. This is a brand which never

changed with the customer. During its launch, the product had dedicated

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customer base and since the product was unique due to its medicinal value ,

customers tend to be loyal. The whole brand was having Neem as its core

identity.

But Margo failed to understand the changing dynamics of Indian consumers,

more and more choices began to unfold before the consumer and Margo was

 becoming a niche brand. Margo was positioned as a "complete skin care soap".

 When market became fragmented with lot of products positioning at different

attributes, Margo was sidelined as a medicinal soap.

The product has inherent negatives, the fragrant was not attractive nor the shape.

It was also less lathering compared to its competitors. Margo changed hands

from Shaw Wallace to Henkel. Although Margo was relaunched in 2003 with a

new fragrance and shape , it has not excited the market so far. The new 

positioning is " Margo skin clear skin". The brand had a following in AP,

Tamilnadu and West Bengal ( am not sure about its present status). The single

mistake the brand made was to miss the new generation. It failed to attract the

 young users.

 With Lifebouy herbal variant and other established brands taking in the "neem"

content away from Margo, this brand needs a hell lot of money to rejuvenate

itself. May be a high decibel big celebrity endorsement may help this brand ( try 

 Aishwarya for a change) . Can it change its avatar and fight lifebuoy in the health

platform?

This is a brand that failed to change with the customer or changed very late.

Labels: branding, failed brands, FMCG, marketing myopia, personal care, soap

 brands

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 12:11 AM  0 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 1 3 , 2 0 0 6

 Vimal suitings : Where art Thou ?

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Brand : Vimal Suitings

Company : Reliance Industries Ltd

 Agency : Mudra

One of the oldest and most respected iconic textile brand of India is languishing

some where in the attic of the mega corporation Reliance. The brand which

started of as a Saree brand developed itself into a mega textile brand for women ,

men and even for furniture ( Vimal Harmony is one of the largest furnishing

 brand).

 Vimal suitings was launched in 1980 after the successful Vimal range of sarees. At

that point of time Reliance was a predominantly a textile company. This brand

 was carefully positioned as a premium men's suitings brand. The brand which

 was handled by Mudra, was promoted heavily by Reliance. At that time the major

competitors being Bombay Dyeing and Raymonds.

 According to the case study of Vimal available in Mudra Website, the Vimal

Suitings brand was developed in 4 stages . The first stage involved convincing the

customer about the quality of the brand explaining the technology behind the

making of Vimal in advertisements. The second stage involved creating a

personality of the brand using living legends. In the ads, living legends like army 

 veterans, experts in various fields were used as models to build the character of 

the brand as a credible brand. The third stage involved promoting the brand as a

fashion brand or Style gur u. The ads showed Kabir

Bedi and the likes catched the imagination of the TG. The 4 stage used cricketer

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as models to appeal to larger crowd. May be Vimal was one of the first brands

that used cricketer as models ( correct me if I'm wrong).

I would add the fifth stage as letting the brand die without giving it any marketing

support.

The brand was targeted at the young ambitious who are challengers to the CEO's .

The brand personality was stylish, and aspirational. Vimal was promoted using

the famous tagline " OnlyVimal " created by Late Frank Simoes. The tagline is

said to be personally approved by Dhirubai himself. The brand was a premium

 brand and the ads were catchy. Reliance also opened exclusive Vimal showrooms

as a part of promoting the brand.

Later in the 1990's the Reliance business model changed. The company changed

from textiles to petrochemicals and Vimal was not fitting into reliance business

plans. It was the only retail brand of Reliance ( now we have RIM) and company 

never focused on Vimal.

 As far as a marketer is concerned, Vimal was a great brand with huge potential

( whether it fits into Reliance plan is another issue). 90's also saw the shift in the

consumer's preference towards readymades. Although reliance had a readymade

 brand "Reance" it was a half hearted move which resulted in a flop.

 Vimal was known for its quality and style. Still people remembers its simple

 baseline " Only Vimal". Lack of marketing support had virtually killed the brand.

Now the position that Vimal occupied is now owned by Raymonds and Reid &

Taylor.

News reports suggest that Reliance may revive the Vimal brand owing to their

retail foray and the opening of the textile sector to the global markets. Vimal have

already being messed itself up with the launch of V2 brand which is cheap and

available even in grocery stores. What a way to mess up a brand ! Vimal have

stopped marketing sarees and is said to be concentrating on suitings. Suitings are

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 becoming more popular because of the increasing globetrotters and

professionals.

Reviving Vimal will be very difficult since this brand has lost its touch with the

new Indian consumer.

Oh Vimal!

Labels: branding, failed brands, marketing myopia, readymade brands, textiles

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 9:54 AM  0 COMMENTS  

W E D N E S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 0 8 , 2 0 0 6

 Yamaha : Not truly Yamaha !Brand: Yamaha

Company: Yamaha

 Agency : Dentsu

 Yamaha which once ruled the mind of Indian youth is now in dire straits. The

company which is the second largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world is

having a market share of 5% in the booming Indian two wheeler

market which is growing at a rate of 12-15%.

 Why?

 Yamaha is a performance bike manufacturer which recently celebrated its golden

 jubilee of its existence . In India Yamaha was present in a joint venture with

Escorts which brought out the blockbuster Yamaha RX 100 and the cult Yamaha

RD 350. Yamaha and Hero Honda had during the late 80's beat the hell out of 

scooter manufacturers , but Yamaha now has lost its edge. Yamaha broke the

partnership with Escorts and started its India operations as a 100% subsidiary of 

 Yamaha Japan from 2001 onwards.

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 Yamaha was not able to sustain the momentum it had generated during 1990's

 with RX100. RX100 was a bike that had style and substance. The product was

powerful, gave no mech problems and was embraced by the youth. But after the

tight environmental regulations introduced in 90's , RX100 had to be shelved.

RX100 was replaced by RX135 which was no where near RX100. The ride was

terrible and the product had nothing to boast about. It was the beginning of 

decline of Yamaha.

 Yamaha was not able to bringout a blockbuster product in the recent past. It is

unfair if I don't mention that there were lot product launches from Yamaha but

nothing clicked. The reason being that the company was focused on Utility 

segment ( true that money is there only in that segme nt).

 Yamaha did not try to look at the changing profile of the Indian consumer.

 Yamaha also thought that it had the same premium image in the mind of the

customer . It failed to realise that the brand equity has eroded because of failed

product launches. It had no product to showcase its superiority as a bike

manufacturer. While Bajaj demonstrated its arrival in to the bike segment with

Eliminator and Pulsar, Yamaha still tried its luck in the executive segment which

 was dominated by Splendor from Hero Honda.

 Yamaha should have realised that inorder to break the Splendor's dominance, It

had to build a brand in the premium segment and using that image, try its luck in

the mid segment. Bajaj launched Eliminator to show the technical superiority.

 We drooled at the cruiser and then grabbed Pulsar. Yamaha failed to do that.

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 Yamaha tried to shock the market with a low pricedCruiser Enticer at an unbelievable price of 49000 but the product failed because

the company wanted to play the volume game. Enticer could not sustain the huge

initial it got because the market for cruiser was only emerging and the product

did not live up to the expectation. Cruiser with only a power of 125 cc was itself a

failing proposition. Now that there is a trend towards low priced cruiser

pioneered by Bajaj Avenger, Enticer relaunch may succeed.

 Yamaha then launched Crux and Libero and Fazer in the executive segment but

cou ld not set the market on fire . The company says that it is

moving away from utility bikes to performance bikes. The launch of Fazer was

towards this direction. The product had an unusual look hence failed to catch the

imagination of Indian bike enthusiasts. Here again the company made a mistake

of not making a statement.

 Yamaha is having big plans for India. The company is earmarking 200 crores in

revamping its operations. On the marketing side, it has roped in John Abraham

as the brand ambassador.

I am no expert in Motorcycles but I feel that Yamaha now needs to make a

STATEMENT. A powerful statement that will force the consumers to look up and

say " Its a Yamaha".

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Just  compare the Fazer launched in India and the Fazer which

is showcased int ernationally, the Indian Fazer is no where

near the international one. Why did Yamaha which wanted to play the lifestyle

game launch a stripped down Fazer ? Had it launched a chunky masculine

 Yamaha in India, the brand will move miles ahead in the mind of the consumer.

Forget the price and the volume, bring the best bike to India and make astatement.

 What we have in India is not the Yamaha but only a shadow. Yamaha if it wants

to emerge from the shadows will have to shed the volume game and seriously 

 build the brand.

To become Truly Yamaha , Change the rules...

Labels: automobile brands, branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

POSTED BY HAR ISH B AT 12:23 PM  0 COMMENTS  

M O N D A Y , J A N U A R Y 2 3 , 2 0 0 6

Bajaj Chetak (1972-2005) :RIP

Brand : Bajaj Chetak 

Company : Bajaj Auto Ltd

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The brand which ruled the Indian roads have been laid to rest. Bajaj has officially 

stopped the production of Bajaj Chetak from December 2005. The stocks will last

may be upto March 2006. The company says that the product no longer have any 

relevance to the customer. To quote Rajiv bajaj " Any one who clings to the past is

a failure".

I owned a Chetak: a gift from my father for having secured admission to MBA 

program. It was in the year 1996. Later I exchanged it for a bike in 2001. Still

Chetak lingers in me ( or rather haunts me) in the form of " Back Pain".

The brand which was launched in 1972 virtually owned the two wheeler segment.

If reports are to be believed, Chetak was an unavoidable dowry in 1970's and 80's.

It had a waiting period of more than 10 years ( can you believe it ? ) and now here

I am after 34 years, writing the epitaph of this brand.

The brand which was named after the legendary stallion of the Rajput king

Maharana Pratap, was known for the reliability and sturdiness. The brand

thrived during the license raj with virtually no competition. It was during 1990-91

that the brand began the journey to the end.

Bajaj Chetak had a huge brand equity . The brand had the persona of a " work h

orse". With reasonable price and the low maintenance cost made

this product a huge hit among the middle class Indians.

Promoted along the base line " Hamara Bajaj", this was the Indian Family vehicle

- a position now owned by Maruthi 800.

But then How can a brand that was so popular and successful fail?

Frankly, I am not sure. But here is what I think about this brand...

The primary reason is that the Brand forgot the customers. Another case of 

Marketing Myopia. The company failed to understand the changing perception of 

the customers towards scooters. Rather than looking at the customers, the

company focused on influencing Government to block the opening up of 

economy. Bajaj never did anything with the product. For 40 years Chetak had the

same look, same quality and style.

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During the mid nineties the company realised lately that the segment has shifted

to motorcycles. Scooters were no longer the option. But did the company made a

mistake in discarding the scooter segment ? Looking at the way the share prices

are going, the market thinks that Bajaj Auto made the right decision. But I think 

that th ey made a mistake in leaving the scooter

segment completely. Contrary to expectation, the scooter segment has not died. It

has only changed.

Chetak lost its identity some where during the nineties. What should be the

future of the brand : no body knew. It was only in 2004 that company made any 

change in Chetak. In 1994 Bajaj introduced Classic another scooter with same

style as Chetak, but failed.

Bajaj never was serious about product development. The R&D spent for a long

time was a miniscule 1%. The average cycle time for the new product

development was 4-5 years compared to 2-3 years of Japanese competitors.

Even after the opening up of economy, the scooter segment did not witness much

competition.

The players like Vespa did not had much of success in this segment. Kinetic

Honda managed to carve a niche with its gearless scooters. Another segment

 which was growing was the scooterette segment which was dominated by TVS

scooty.

Bajaj never seriously looked at customer perception about Chetak. The product

had serious problems like starting trouble and riding comfort. The " Tilting the

chetak to the side for starting " was a common joke. Did the company do anything

for that ? no

There was nothing wrong with the Promotion. " Hamara Bajaj " and " No one can

 beat a Bajaj " were famous base lines. There was nothing wrong with distribution

and the pricing was very reasonable. The major problem was in the first P :

Product.

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So without addressing any problems regarding the product , can you expect the

customer to buy the product ?

Bajaj was never a leader in technology ( now they are !!!). They never bothered to

and paid the price . Had Chetak pioneered Electric start, had it provided more

riding comfort, it could have survived.

Somebody have just beat the Bajaj........ the customer!