It`s a mad, bad, sad, glad ad world!

It was never too difficult to sell to us, was it?

Sud’s up: Sunday mornings. The moment you heard the Nirma jingle blare from hundreds of TV sets in your neighbourhood, you knew it was time for Mahabharat to begin. The Nirma commercial may have been crude, but it was as effective as a sledgehammer. Listen to it, it’s playing in your brain right now!

At the other cerebral extreme was Surf’s Lalitaji, who could sell you a not-so-cheap detergent while buying tomatoes. To paraphrase David Ogilvy, the consumer is not a moron, she’s Lalitaji.

At the other end was the Ariel commercial. After observing 14,000 bathrooms across the country, Procter & Gamble came to the conclusion that to sell an expensive, high-tech detergent, you had to go through the mindset of the daughter-in-law who could tell her doubting mother-in-law that you need not beat the life out of clothes any more.

Starry, starry types: A rough-and-ready Kapil Dev saying “Palmolive da jawaab nahin” accompanied by a toothy grin, a rugged Dharmendra’s laconic announcement for the equally rugged Rajdoot motorcycles, a youthful Jeetendra jumping out of an aircraft for 30+ capsules, a dignified Shekhar Kapur marching ahead with Digjam suiting and a cheeky Sunil Gavaskar “taking the world in his stride” with Dinesh suiting.

Unlike today’s personalities who peddle stuff they wouldn’t be seen dead with and vice versa, it was memorable and effective. Quiz time: Which brand of office equipment does Tendulkar endorse? And Big B peddles hair oil from Emami or Baidyanath or Dabur? Psst! We don’t know either.

Soap operas: On the other hand, you have Lux — still starry after all these years. While the stars were in their bathtubs, one bold TV commercial took an effervescent Karen Lunel out in the open. From the bathroom to the waterfall, from coy neck shots to an itsy-bitsy bikini, from a gentle voice-over to a racy jingle, the Liril commercial went where no soap ad had gone before.

Jingle bells: Going back a bit, you had a device called the radio. People religiously tuned to Vividh Bharati and Radio Ceylon. Binaca had its Geetmala, while Bournvita concentrated on “Man ki Shakti” by sponsoring a superb quiz contest.

When we moved from radio to TV, some part of the previous medium stuck — the jingle. In old TV ads, they were really strong on soundtracks: Bajaj Lighting, Maggi 2-Minute Noodles, Glucon-D, Limca, Vicco Vajradanti, Thums Up...the list is endless.

Patriot games: Sometime in the 1990s, it was great to be an Indian. Well, the idiot box told you so. The exquisitely shot “Mile Sur Mera Tumhara” may not have been a commercial but it did sell the concept of One India.

Then you had the brilliant “Hamara Bajaj” campaign with its slice-of-Indian-life — that it couldn’t stop the downhill ride of the scooter category is another thing. In the same vein was Tisco’s “We Also Make Steel”, VIP luggage’s tear-jerking “Kal Bhi, Aaj Bhi, Kal Bhi”, and of course, the monster hit Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad, “Kya Swaad Hai Zindagi”.

Whose line is it anyway?: Made For Each Other. Whenever You See Colour, Think Of Us. Happy Days Are Here Again. Utterly, Butterly Delicious. The Complete Man. Give Me Red.

Iconoclastic: Some of them are still around: the Onida Devil, the Air India Maharaja, the Parle-G girl, Fido Dido. But most of them have sadly gone: Asian Paints’ Gattu, the bearded Zodiac Man, the Elpar cowboy, the Promise “Off-Oh” housewife, the Kelvinator penguin, the Murphy baby, the “I Love You Rasna” girl, the left-handed Vicks “khich-khich” girl... The memories remain.

Source: Strategist (Srinivas Krishnan,Mumbai) June 06, 2007

Think national, act regional

ADVERTISING: Do separate ads for separate regions pay dividends?

Not too long ago, Aamir Khan donned various avatars — from a Bihari babu to a Bengali bhadralok to a Punjabi villager — in a television commercial for Coke. And now Amitabh Bachchan will be doing something similar for Himani Navratna Tel.

There’s already one TVC up on various channels which shows the Big B as a UP bhaiyya, and two more are to follow, apparently, depicting him as a Tamilian and a Bengali. Clearly, “go local” seems to be the mantra here.

But does regionalisation in advertising work? “Oh, yes,” says Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, “India is a hetrogenous country and having a regional flavour in your ads goes down extremely well with audiences.”

But, of course, it has to be done with a lot of care. “If you are targetting people in Karnataka, then you to have see what appeals to the various sub-sects in that state.” And it has to be authentic as well, he adds. The setting, the clothes, the dialect — everything has to be in sync with the region or else the ad might fall flat on the face.

Bijoor, who used the tactic for a Bru campaign 15 years ago, says that separate regional ads work better for products which have wider appeal.

Sagar Mahabaleswar, group creative head, Ogilvy, has a different take on the issue: “It depends on the kind of audience you want to connect with. A commercial for Tata Safari wouldn’t work too well if regionalised.” But yes, overall, it is a great idea to go regional, he feels.

But in this case, Mahabaleshwar feels, “It is because celebrity endorsers have been used that it is getting highlighted, else regionalisation has been done in the past as well.”

Josy Paul, national creative director, JWT, feels that more often than not, regionalising an ad is an attempt to address the north-south divide.

“When you talk about regionalisation, the only area where you can have a major impact is down south. All the rest are Hindi dominated states, where it’s actually not regionalisation but just tinkering with the jingle or the language.”

Paul makes another valid point. “When you use Mumbaiya lingo, is it regional? No, it’s not.” But Paul too agrees that regionalisation can do wonders for a brand, if handled properly.

Well, the strategy did work wonders for Coke. But it remains to be seen how things unfold for Himani and the rest which might follow suit.

Source: Strategist (Aabhas Sharma,New Delhi) June 07, 2007

Old wine, new packaging?

MARKETING: When it comes to creating a buzz in F&B products, a change of design helps.

The next time you visit your neighbourhood supermart, make sure you pay a visit to the beverage aisle. Increasingly, that section of the store has started resembling more of a fashion ramp than a drinks retail segment. And the same might be said for the ice cream and packaged foods aisles.

Brand dressing and packaging innovation is fast becoming the food and beverage industry’s favourite indulgence. But sitting pretty atop the retail showcase is not the sole function of the new, improved products.

Within the last two months, Amul has re-designed the packaging of three of its products — ice creams, cheese and shrikhand. While making the product more attractive and eye-catching is the primary reason, for Amul the innovation in packaging also carries another message — widening its target audience and being a crowd puller at the retail outlets.

“We wanted to broaden our target audience to include the youth. So, we decided to change the look of our brands to attract this segment. Plus, in the competitive market and with organised retail coming in, our products need to look attractive in order to stand out from the rest on the shelf,” says R S Sodhi, chief general manager, GCMMF (Amul).

When Dabur Foods introduced the tetra pack for its juice range Real, the company made an investment of Rs 3-5 crore. Thereafter, every time the company innovates on its packaging design, it spends a minimum of Rs 15 lakh. Take this time, for instance.

The Real range has been re-designed once again, with more colour, more activity and more appeal at a cost of almost Rs 18 lakh. It’s an investment that others like Coca-Cola, Frito Lay, Britannia and Nestle enjoy making.

This April, Coca-Cola launched the new look Limca, curvy and seductive. Called the Limca Splash bottle, the company affirms that the decision behind the new bottle was to give it a better grip, for the consumers... and over the market.

“The curvy bottles in Limca and Fanta have been re-designed so that anyone drinking from them can hold the bottle better,” says a Coca-Cola spokesperson and adds, “but it also builds excitement around the brand and any kind of excitement is bound to increase sales of the product.”

Good looks always sell, as do unique ones. Probably the mantra for Britannia when the company completely changed the look, design and packaging of its mass market biscuits — Milk Bikies. Frito Lay too drove its packaging towards a more international look when Lays chips were filled into cardboard containers...armed to fight it out with its close competitor, Pringles.

“Any product in the market, from mobiles to computers is constantly evolving as a design. So, our products also have to evolve from having a functional to an emotional connect with the consumer and this is possible only by design innovation,” asserts Sanjay Sharma, general manager, sales and marketing, Dabur Foods.

One of the highlights though is the Nestle yoghurt, which has not only undergone a design makeover but even been re-christened from Nestle Fruit ‘n’ Dahi to Milkmaid Fruit Yoghurt. Packed into a charming new cup, the yog-hurt has also witnessed a price increase, much like the Real fruit juice from Dabur.

Explains Sharma, “The global commodity prices have witnessed an increase, which is why we had to increase prices too. But we only timed the price increase to coincide with the change in product package design.”

He, however, admits that companies may at times use design innovation to disguise price increases. The strategy seems to be helping companies and the consumers in making decisions on what brand suits their design sense best.

Ask Sodhi, who reveals that the demand for Amul’s shrikhand has seen a definitive improvement after its package design was changed and you know what you eat — or drink — is a function of aesthetics.

Source: Strategist (Radhieka Pandeya, New Delhi) June 07, 2007

Nokia jumps to No 4 as most trusted brand

Three years ago, one wouldn’t have seen a mention of a mobile phone in the listings of India’s Most Trusted Brands. While Brand Equity’s annual survey has included handset brands since 2004, they were relegated to the bottom of the rankings. But three years is a long time, especially in a country that’s played host to one of the world’s most successful telecom revolutions. And this year, Nokia enters the Top 10, indeed the Top 5, displacing a bunch of venerable brands to claim the No 4 position. From a rank of No 71 in 2004, Nokia moved to No 44 in 2005. The brand, which has become synonymous with the rise of mobile telephony in the country, is now reaping the rewards of investing over a long time horizon. In some sense, one could consider Nokia’s rise indicative of “FMCGisation” of the mobile handset market. From a pure technology play, cellphones have become a lifestyle statement with customers going beyond technology, looking at quality, convenience and value for money. Nokia has been able to tap not just the bottom of the pyramid, but the entire consumer universe in India to create a leadership position. “India is not one market, but many markets of different complexities and dynamics and we have deployed all our latest thinking and business acumen in addressing the sizeable opportunities,” says Keith Pardy, Nokia Worldwide’s senior vice-president , strategic marketing. Pardy believes that by building its understanding of Indian consumers, Nokia has been able to create products that meet the needs of consumers across the spectrum, “whether that is the demand for high tech products like Nokia Nseries or the importance of durability and affordability for people living in more remote areas,” he adds.

For Nokia, India is currently the third largest market in terms of volume and Pardy believes that there’s still bigger potential in areas like mobility and internet. To maintain its leadership position in India, it’ll need to retain its fierce focus on consumer need states, and those of retail partners. Some of those efforts take the form of experiential marketing — through Nokia concept stores, Nokia mobile vans for the rural markets, investing in a robust infrastructure that will respond to customer queries promptly, or even through product innovation that allows consumers to ‘do more’ with their handsets with ease. In the near future, consumers can look forward to multimedia and internet offerings. The emergence of organised retail particularly mobile retailing is both an opportunity and challenge, according to Devinder Kishore, director marketing, Nokia India: “While it’s an opportunity to showcase the brand experience , the rise of a new channel also brings issues like negotiations, customised promotions and marketing initiatives,” he says. A lot of these come out of global synergies. Pardy says Nokia’s local and the global marketing teams have worked to create cutting edge campaigns for India. “The teams have worked together to come up with innovative ideas that are being used across India and will also be rolled out to other countries as well,” he says. The results of consistent efforts in distribution are that the Nokia brand is present across 80,000 outlets in the country. Its excellent showing in both the volume and value games reflect in the survey findings. In the top four metros — Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai — Nokia figures in the Top 15 brands, with a No 2 position in Delhi and a No 6 position in Mumbai.

Source: Times News Network

India's growing luxury market

NEW DELHI: With consumers for luxury goods more in numbers than adult population of several countries, luxury brands are setting up shops in India to tap the growing market. So you have Fossil wrist watches, Dunhill menswear, Bang and Olufsen, Escada ..., the list is growing in the metros and they are now planning to spread. For 21 year old, Mukesh Kumar, his most prized possession is the Fossil watch that his feather got him for his birthday early this year. "I had always wanted to buy this watch but could not afford it with my pocket money. He gave me Rs 7,000 and I bought the watch," he says. For many like Mukesh looking for high-end premium branded clothes, accessories, perfumes, footwear and electronic goods, the growing recognition of India as a potential market by international luxury brands is a boon. "India is a huge market for us. We are looking at having eight more stores across the major cities here," says Mark Newman, Asia Pacific Managing Director, Dunhill, a premium men's-wear brand, which recently launched its first store in the capital. The company is looking at India contributing between 10-20 per cent to its international market, he adds. Of late, companies such as premium electronics-maker Bang & Olufsen and fashion designers like Escada and Brioni have opened shops in New Delhi and Mumbai, joining the likes of Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Versace, Fendi and Valentino
Source: PTI

Positioned between mass & class

'Masstige' is the new buzzword on marketers lips. What's 'masstige' - it's mass plus prestige or premium brands without the premium pricing. Brands across categories like Ponds, Maruti SX4, Motoflip and even Kingfisher are busy doling out masstige offerings. So, while Motorola offers snazzy phones at a cheaper price, Nivea is launching a range of grooming products for the consumer who digs aspirational products but at an affordable price.
A cellphone company with a stable of high-end models, decides to dip into the middle class market with a new model. Priced at Rs 4,000, Motorola claims to have sold five lakh Motoflip phones in the last six months. On the other hand, HLL's cold cream and talc brand - Ponds - has moved up on premium imagery. In March, it launched its Age Miracle range for the consumer who is ready to splurge to look good. Both companies are looking for space on the masstige bandwagon - the sweet spot between mass and class.
Here brands stand out as a prestige product without the expensive tag. Driving this trend is the spend happy middle class. A recent McKinsey report defines them as seekers earning between Rs 2 and Rs 5 lakhs and strivers are people earning in the Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 1 crore income bracket. Put togther, they make for around 55 million households today and are expected to drive the consumption in India for the next 20 years. So, when a personal care company, Nivea lines up for launches in the Indian market, it's toeing the masstige or mass premium line.
Managing Director, Nivea India, Kal Boris Bendix told CNBC-TV18, "Today, the consumer who buys mass products might also go for premium products. We have a very hybrid consumer these days. We are talking about people who are travelling a lot and who buy products from abroad."
Brand Consultant, Anand Halve says, "Prestige products are becoming commonplace products or price points, which were earlier considered premium prices are now base prices."
Meanwhile, other sectors like automobiles have seen a similar trend. India's family car Maruti, recently launched SX4, another offering in the masstige segment, where the earlier model - Baleno - failed to deliver. Even though it continues to sell products at the lower end of the market, to get rid of its price warrior image, in the last two years, consumer durables major, LG has stuck to premium imagery in its advertising.
Besides advertising, malls are also helping companies to indulge in experiential marketing. However, marketers who take up the mass-premium plank, (which is right in the middle of the consumer pyramid) need to constantly innovate. Because if that doesn't happen, whats a 'masstige' brand today could easily turn mass market tomorrow.

Bingo: Shakeup in snacks segment

Colas, airlines, retailers - their rivalry has become legendary. Joining that list are those pure impulse buys - the snack brands. The battle is between Pepsico Frito Lay's Kurkure and Lays that dominate the Rs 2,000 crore branded snack market and challenger, Bingo from ITC Foods. Right now, they are slugging it out for a shelf near you.
ITC Foods was counting on Lays and Kurkure not being around, when it entered the Food Bazaar chain. While backend sourcing tie-ups between the two may have sweetened the relationship, the bottomline at this retailer is Bingo, which is what you see most when you look for salted snacks. It's not just here that Bingo has struck at the small shops, to whom it's offering a margin that's 4% to 5% higher than what Frito Lays is paying. Not just that, if the display is better, they get paid even more. ITC Food's largeses is largely to catch up with Frito Lay's national reach of 8 lakh outlets.
So, that's distribution but what about the product and pricing? Well, the current No.1, Frito Lays has been lauded for a round pricing strategy, slow but steady taste innovations and the big hit - the 'Made in and for India', Kurkure. After two-years of homework, ITC's offerings are priced at par with Frito's and the USP is as many as 16 variants in one go. The idea to get the consumer to take that first bite.
So, while Bingo is using a high-decibel launch campaign, Frito Lay's new strategy is to get personal with consumers. Through its just launched chaitime contest, it is inviting recipes that use Kurkure. 25 winners along with their families will make it across to 2.5 crore packs of Kukure. Supported by outdoor promotion, the promotion hopes to drive volumes and break the barrier of seasonal demand.
For now, this is how the players stack up in the branded snack narket. Pepsi's Frito Lays leads the pack, followed by Haldiram. ITC Foods hopes to capture a quarter of that within the next four years. But Lays will also have to take distributor margins to a new level, if it wants to maintain its 50% share of the market. It's in negotiations with Food Bazaar and Kurkure could make a comeback in the next 3 to 4 months.
Molshree Vaid

For Moneycontrol India