Hi Bloggy

I am coming back to this blog after a very long time.... well, time for re introductions. I am Praveen K Rai a marketing professional now based in Mumbai. When I first started this blog i started it to analyze the positioning strategy of well known indian brands...but frankly pretty soon i got real bored..... SO what I am going to do in Brand Positioning 2.0 is just publish "interesting things" related to Branding so that i am also left interested in posting to the blog.

Will try to make sure that i am able to make posts on regular basis this time around (bt dnt count on me wid dat).

So do I have some thing to post for today.......yup Introducing the ZOOZOOs

By far I assume you all know who they are , how they were created and who they work for..... for those rare species who dont, these are characters from vodaphone india's recent ad campaigns launched during the IPL. The ads have been designed in manner to build recall, infact all the hoopla around the characters is also created for the same reason. But to better understand why these characters really had to be created lets go back a little into the past. Not long time back Vodaphone was Hutch which enjoyed very high recall rates with its classic "You and I" campaign. Post acquisition vodaphone had the objective of communicating the transition to the audience which it achieved through its campaigns till date. Now IPL was a big moment and opportunity to take the Vodaphone brand on its own and remove all Hutch baggage. Also it was a big opportunity to boost falling recall rates as the IPL was supposed to provide great numbers in viewership.

The next step was to design ADS which should

1) Describe product and features

2)Create curiosity

3)Connects instantly

4)Not markedly distanced from Hutch ADs(positioning)

5)Entertain across age groups as in earlier Hutch Ads

6)Be memorable

And the rest they say is history...

LESSON : Original work and innovative ideas are always rewarded handsomely.... the Zoozoo's are turning out be atleast as big a success story as Chika (the pug in the hutch ad) But will all this lead to any real gain in volumes for Vodaphone...........I am waiting.

KINGFISHER BLUE

This summer promises to be very exciting for all beer drinkers. With a number of international & domestic players having already launched or planning to launch their products in the market this category is all set for some high intensity fireworks.

The Major players in the domestic Beer market are United Breweries ltd. (Kingfisher, Kalyani, Zingaro, Sand Piper, and London pisner.) and Sab Miller (Haywards series, Fosters, Royal Challenge, Knockout, and Castle Lager). The rest are brands by foreign majors like Carlsberg and Heineken.

Kingfisher blue is a premium, high end beer launched by UB (United Breweries) to combat the threat posed by new entrants in the category like Carlsberg, Anheuser-Busch, InBev and Asia pacific breweries.

Beer sales in India are primarily driven by premium and standard products. There are hardly any economy brands available due to the heavy duties and taxes on beer. The premium brands are growing faster than standard or economy brands as consumers are trading up to better-quality strong beer. Urban consumers increasingly prefer to buy well-known premium brands such as Kingfisher or Foster’s rather than standard brands such as Knock Out, despite the higher prices.

The upsurge in consumerism has been a result of changing demographics. Changing consumer perceptions, lifestyles, media coverage and high-profile promotions have prompted the strong growth in beer sales.

Domestically produced beer is the dominant force in the Indian beer market, with a volume share of more than 99% in 2007. Restricted advertising, high prices and the limited distribution reach of beer make it difficult for foreign players with an imported brand to create brand awareness and loyalty. Moreover, archaic legislation and high import duties lend a helping hand to domestic manufacturers. This is mainly the reason why many foreign players have started domestic production.

Major brands that are either already launched or about to be launched are Carlsberg, Löwenbräu, Heineken, Tiger and Stella Artois. Domestic brands also tend to have a higher alcohol content compared to imports, and consumers prefer strong beer due to its faster intoxication effect.

Positioning Kingfisher Blue

With a positioning stability achieved in the mainstream segment of premium and strong beer in the Indian market between the two major rivals UB and SM. Major clashes are expected to happen in the high end segment for beer (Rs.80 and upwards for a 700/500 ml bottle) where new foreign entrants are positioning themselves. The Launch of Kingfisher Blue by UB (and INDUS PRIDE by Sab MIller)is a response to this new development in the market .

Kingfisher blue is positioned as fresh and easy to drink beer with a strong kick (the alcohol quotient is upwards of 8%). Undoubtedly the company is targeting the youth concentrated in the major cities and having high income levels along with a hip and happening lifestyle. There is also an attempt made in the communication to make a connect with the highly adventurous personality of the present day youth. Though the texture has been kept smooth to appeal to this segment (sensation of sophistication) the alcohol quotient has been kept at a high level of 8%. This is logical because typically Indian customers want to experience a quick high.

The packaging bears a sophisticated look which goes well with the positioning but it remains to be seen how all this actually plays out in the market place. My own personal take is, the upper end of the market is comprised of highly informed and sophisticated customers who are more likely to form association with a prominent international brand rather than an extension from a domestic brand which generally caters to the masses.

To tap this segment the better strategy would have been to bring in some international brand either through tie up or through acquisition and play on the relevant plank. It’s worth mentioning here that the positioning “fresh and easy to drink” might be quite relevant for a beer but it’s just that the brand behind the positioning doesn’t quite have the stature to convince the target audience.

The move in fact can prove counterproductive with the possible negative connotations from the extension seeping into the parent brand and thereby creating negative associations with the Kingfisher brand. The brand accounts for most of the 50%+ share of the company in the Indian Beer market. Certainly UB would have analyzed all possible outcomes before making the move. As far as I am concerned for me it’s a “not so good” move.

But not to worry there are going to be plenty of brands to gurge. This summer’s really going to be great fun. CHEERS !!!

Kitchens Of India ITC

Friends, I have a confession to make this is not exactly the brand I started with, I thought of analyzing the Indian ready to eat segment and started analysis for Veetee foods. But in between all this, the analysis took me to the web page of Kichens of India (From ITC) and frankly speaking I fell in love with the website (and the brand). The site is a must visit for marketing students.

ITC made its foray into the branded packaged food business in August 2001 with the launch of kitchens of India. ITC wanted to de risk its revenue from the tobacco business and The packaged foods business was an ideal avenue to leverage ITC's proven strengths in the areas of hospitality and branded cuisine, contemporary packaging and sourcing of agricultural commodities. ITC's world famous restaurants like the Bukhara and the Dum Pukht, nurtured by the Company's Hotels business, was a proof that ITC has a deep understanding of the Indian palate and the expertise required to translate this knowledge into delightful dining experiences for the consumer. ITC has stood for quality products for over 98 years to the Indian consumer and several of its brands are today internationally benchmarked for quality.

The Foods business is today represented in 4 categories in the market. These are:

• Ready To Eat Foods
• Staples
• Confectionery
• Snack Foods

Kitchens of India falls in the ready to eat segment. It is present with two broad range ( 1) Kitchens Of India priced at Rs.89. (2)Kitchens Of India Ashirwaad priced at Rs.49.

Kitchens of India the flagship range offers major delicacies line from the major ITC restaurants like Bukhara, Dumpukht, Dakshin etc. The other range Kitchens of India Ashirwaad is a low priced range which offers traditional Indian cuisines at affordable price.

The kitchens of India brand faces competition in the Indian market from MTR foods, Haldiram’s Minute Khana, Veetee foods. It also faces competition from other instant food categories like Noodles, Soups etc.

Analysing Positioning Strategy

Kitchens of India’s positioning can be best summarized as Feast of the senses, which also is, by design (not default) its tagline. There is a lot of care which is required to be taken before analyzing this brand and hence we will proceed element by element only. After analyzing the brand element s we will analyze the communication effectiveness of the Ads.

LOGO – The logo of the brand has a wooden plank with Kitchens of India written on it in a stylized font . And a stylized India map in black and golden borders  in the corner of the plank, it has also got Kitchens of India written on it. These elements together give a royal , exclusive and warm feeling to the brand. The use of wood is good move because it is traditionally believed that food prepared using wood for cooking is tastier. Thus the use of wood helps evoke the memories for taste. One thing worth noting in the logo is that  INDIA is written in a greater font size than the rest of the words. The main reason behind this may be that the product was initially developed keeping in mind the export markets, where evoking india and royalty centric emotions would have been necessary. 

COLOUR – Mainly light golden colour is used to give a royal Indian feel to the brand.

IMAGES – The images used are very high quality images of Tasty food in precious/exquisite looking utencils. The imagery has been designed to appeal to the visual senses and hammer the concept of high quality food deep inside customers cognition.

GRAPHICS – The graphics used are those which can be described as traditional Indian art used for crafting sides and borders, usually found in Indian palaces and forts. This is also done to provide an india centric identity.

FONTS – Stylised fonts which add to the india centric appeal. Moreover they also evoke association with ITC.

PACKAGING- The outer packaging has been done In good quality hard paper to preserve that “authentic” touch prominent with the brand.

NAMES- The names of the dishes have also been wisely choosen to reflect the positioning which is “Authentic ,Tasty Indian Cuisines” . Names are also choosen to reflect the association with ITC’s restaurants like Bukhara,Dumpukht etc in its welcome group hotels.

ADVERTISEMENT – The advertisements reflect the positioning well while sending strong visual stimuli to stimulate the senses and create favourable perception. The marketer adopts a peripheral route to persuasion by stimulating the senses. The brand tries to appeal to more than one sensory receptor to make effective impact and there fore it has started endorsing  Indian classical music to complement the visual stimuli with the auditory stimuli. The brand has come out with a range of classical music albums to appeal to consumers hearing tastes. The website even has a classical tune playing in the back ground. (I liked it..and even got it downloaded). Thus Kitchens of India is really a feast for the senses.

HIMALAYA

The Himalaya Drug Company was founded in 1930 by Mr. M. Manal with a clear vision to bring Ayurveda to society in a contemporary form and to unravel the mystery behind the 5,000 year old system of medicine. The company in 1950 came out with the block buster product in the form of Live 52. Then nothing much happened until December 2001 when the brand went for a complete make over and emerged with a new identity.

The brand, the company analysed, is targeted at the modern Indian consumer who is willing to pay a premium for good medicine, and for those who believe in ayurveda but are not inclined to go traditional ayurveda clinics. This is a good example of effective concept development.

The company adopted a new logo to contemporise the brand image. It was designed with a distinct font size so that the consumers can easily identify Himalaya products. The labelling and the print is bold, which makes it easy for customers to read them, even when placed in displays at pharmacies.

The current Himalaya logo is a visual definition of the brand. The leaf that forms the crossbar of the letter H evokes the company's focus on herbal healthcare. The teal green represents proximity to nature, while the orange is evocative of warmth, vibrancy and commitment to caring, associating the Himalaya brand with the promise of good health and well-being.

Once product positioning was clear, it was important for the company to spread word to the consumers. Thus effective ad campaigns were designed in a manner  to serve objectives like 1) Dispel Myths 2) Spread information 3)Be interesting 4) Link Himalaya with ayurvedic concepts.

The company entered 3 broad segments i.e.

1)Pharmaceutical - health maintenance, eye, cardiac and skin care, immune booster and cough control

2)Personal Care - Health Care, Oral Care, Hair Care, Skin Care and Baby Care.

3)Naturals - Pure Herbs, Chavanprash, and Honey.

4)Animal Health – Livestock, Poultry, Aqua and companion

Now it is clear that the company thought it to be fit to extend the brand in all areas where the construct “ayurveda”, “Natural” etc. are relevant. Moreover the brand has a non-contemporary appeal which can come in handy in the extensions. However, while it is very good that the brand has extended itself into areas where the brand extensions lends credibility to both the brand and the category, it is also important to analyse how much of the constructs can be infused into individual categories. While it may be perfectly alright to heavily emphasize the concept in a category like pure herbs. It may not be too appropriate to do the same in a category like Chavanprash and skincare.

What I am trying to say is that though the brand has extended itself in the right categories it has not extended in the right manner. More appropriate would have been something on the lines of a Sub Brand Strategy. The benefit of such an approach would be that instead of the concept being applied uniformly to all product categories, the concept can be applied to the extent it is relevant for the category, The remaining space in communication and positioning thus could be used for adding category specific new concepts . This will provide the brand strategists the flexibility to maneuver their strategies effectively. This will also make the brand appeal more attractive to the category user.

For example : The skin care category is sold under the corporate brand Himalaya just like all other categories. Now skin care is a category where “ayurved” and “natural” may be less important than, lets say “beautiful” “White” “Soft” etc . So when the brand enters the cognitive faculties of the consumer through senses along with “ayurved” centric stimuli, chances are the user doesn’t find acceptance with the product. Now if the category had been branded in a way that some elements of “beautiful” “soft”etc are added along with the primary element “Ayurved” chances are that our customer who seeks to become/remain “beautiful” is attracted towards the new stimuli. Moreover category/segment specific sub-branding would result in strong categorizations in the customers cognition, this will eliminate brand specific  confusions.

Mr. Ravi Prasad are you listening….??

GAS

GAS is a leading Italian premium apparel brand owned by Grotto S.p.A and promoted by the Grotto family. The founder, Mr Claudio Grotto, started his business in fashion in the early '70s. In 1986 the Company was incorporated as Grotto S.p.A. and beginning in 1990 commenced a new phase: which was the launch the very first internally produced GAS collection. The brand has strengthened its reputation by setting fashion trends across 56 countries and 3000 points of sale. Foreign sales are steadily growing thanks to a targeted sales strategy that receives the support of six European branches (Italy, Germany, France, Spain, United Kingdom and Hungary), the Japanese branch in Tokyo, the Hong Kong branch for the Far East area and the newly born GAS India. The Company has a strong Vertical Retail strategy that is being implemented on a global scale.

The GAS brand in India was launched in August 2007 by Raymond Limited in New Delhi. GAS' retails a lifestyle collection that includes its core heritage in premium denim clothing. The brand seeked to offers Indian fashion patrons an incredible fusion of contemporary international fashion and quality clothing that represents GAS values of passion, positive thinking, sensuality and essentiality.

With a total investment of approximately Rs. 500 million, this joint venture was supposed bring together Grotto S.p.A's proven expertise in design and managing a successful brand and Raymond Ltd.'s expertise in apparel brand building and retailing along with its vast distribution network. Besides exclusive stores, GAS is retailed through several multi-brand outlets across the country.

Targeted at high purchasing power, fashion-intelligent consumers, men and women who look for great quality and style with which they can express their own personality. The apparel is priced between Rs.1500 and 8000.

The brand however has run into troubles 2 years after launch and there have also been news in the media about Grotto evaluating the option of quitting the JV.

Analysing Positioning

Since this is a little complex analysis lets take the identity-image route to analysis. Apart from other things this will also present the problem and solution in a more structured manner.

IDENTITY: The core identity of GAS revolves around two constructs namely “essential’ and “sensual”. The brand tries to position itself in the market place around these two constructs. The brand has been very successful in the west because of its positioning on these dimensions so the company deemed it fit that the brand should be brought to India as well. However it seems the company or its JV partners in India (Raymond) did a wrong assessment as to how much important these constructs are to the Indian customers. There are some major problems in the brand logo too. The double  rainbow logo is good as a metaphor for synergy or convergence but not sensuality…ateast not in the Indian context. Moreover the logo colour hardly has any connotations of sensuality in it. Also the name GAS doesn’t seem to have an element of sensuality in it …atleast not to me. The stores do not exhibit the exclusive feel that should have been typical for a brand priced at Rs.1500-8000. It is important to note here that the identity may have been perfectly fine in some other culture, but here in this culture the image it will eventually form is likely to be different from that intended. (This is because each culture’s perceptual process is conditioned according to the fundamental BVC of that culture.) *BVC stands for beliefs,values,customs.

IMAGE: The brand is most likely to form a very confusing image in the minds of the consumer this is because of the confusing identity. For eg the products are priced high but the store ambience doesn’t reflect that. Confusions in the mind of the customer as to what the brand stands for - is it for sports wear, formal wear, day wear, night wear, casual wear etc etc. The brand is available in exclusive showrooms as well as multi brand outlets this adds to the existing confusion. But the major problem leading to a confusing image is the fact that the brand’s positioning is very unclear, customers simply “can’t see” what the brand is, what it stands for and for whom it is. Unless a major revamp is done the brand is unlikely to become effective in near future.

Someone needs to convey this to Mr.Grotto that changing JVs isnt going to change the problem....repositioning the brand will.

I-PILL

I-pill is a female emergency contraceptive from Cipla, launched in 2007; the product has already become a runaway success. Apart from marketing consequences, the pill is interesting from the social angle too because it is expected to have great social consequences. It is not that oral contraceptive pills were not available in the Indian market before i-pill, Hindustan latex limited has been marketing Mala-d and Saheli for a long time now. But the introduction and success of I-pill assumes importance because it is for the first time a contraceptive is directly targeted to the upper end of the market. Traditionally, female emergency contraceptive or the “morning pill’ have been sold targeting only the lower end of the market spectrum. The consequence was that there was always a huge market in the urban areas waiting to be tapped. Cipla made a good move when it decided to launch such a product targeting urban women. The product received heavy reviews from the media despite the fact that the category has already been there for a long time.

The  positioning of I-pill revolves around the construct “Consequence” although the label never features in either the TVC or the print ads, the whole communication has been designed around this label. Firstly lets analyse the slogan i.e Get back to life. Unwanted pregnancy has serious social and psychological consequence which may lead to Anxiety, uneasiness, anger, fear, self pity, regret, loneliness, shame  etc. Furthermore an abortion can  aggravate the existing trauma and result in severe psychological problem. Thus normal “life” does gets affected because of unwanted pregnancy. Now if the pill promises that it can help the subject  get back to “life’ is it likely to find a favour with the subject who is facing/or likely to face the trauma in future….my personal stand is – highly likely.

The TVCs and the print ads have also been skillfully executed. The “tension’/’fear of pregnancy and the resulting trauma has been captured in each TVC depicting different situations and consumer profile. The ad activates tension in the minds of the subject by forcing them to think of the consequences of getting unwanted pregnancy and then offers a solution in the form of i-pill. The ads take a central route to persuasion and bring the consumer on the evaluation mode even prior to a purchase intention – This is the reason why the product enjoys high recall and recognition among urban women. Two major risks have been highlighted in the ads namely 1) social and 2) Psychological . What is commendable in the ads is the degree to which the ads have been able to subtly create the tensions rooted deep inside the cognitions of the subjects.

The packaging of the product is also appropriate because it does reflect feminity, modernity and safety. Pink is a colour of feminity and has there fore been incorporated in the packaging and print ads, White has connotations of safety and has therefore been used to connote that the “product can get you to safety from undesired consequences”  The women reflected in the TVC , print ads etc. all reflect the middle and upper middle class urban women. The fluid graphics on the packaging also adds to the modernity angle.  You must be wondering how such subtle stimuli can have an impact. Well , these factors are so designed to affect the unconscious part of the customers cognition….and unconsciousness accounts for 95% of total consciousness. Therefore it is highly likely that these stimuli, like others will also have an impact.

No wonder that the product is doing well.

BLACKBERRY

The BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device introduced in 1999 as a two-way pager. In 2002, the more commonly known smartphone, BlackBerry was released, which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. It is an example of a convergent device. Developed by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), it delivers information over the wireless data networks of mobile phone service companies. BlackBerry first made headway in the marketplace by concentrating on e-mail.
On 25 Sep 2008, RIM announced the number of BlackBerry subscribers has reached approximately 19 million.
The success of the brand was because of one core factor and that is that the company was able to identify a genuine target customer need in the form of requirement for accessing emails while being on the move. Corporate executives generally have to travel a lot and therefore they value highly the idea of remaining “connected’ at all times. Blackberry capitalized on this very need and provided a platform to individuals and corporate to help the executives remain connected.
Blackberry’s positioning has always been as an business executive phone. The design of the product, the incorporated feature, marketing communications have also reflected this positioning. This positioning helped the company to carve out a niche for itself and avoid any direct conflict with any other mobile handset player.

The Changed Scenario

Blackberry first with the “Pearl” and now with the “Storm” is attempting a change in positioning and moving more towards the “Lifestyle segment” space. This can prove counterproductive for the company because it directly places it in competition with Nokia , LG, Samsung and Apple I phone. In fact the storm is being actively compared to models like N95, LG Viewty, and Apple iphone. This situation can only work against blackberry and in favour of Apple…. Apple stands for lifestyle blackberry does not.
One may put forward the argument that the offering of similar features (connectivity) along with a host of other value adding features by the other players may have prompted Blackberry to make such a move. But the mistake in such argument is it assumes that Parity in the physical level has nothing to do with parity in cognitive level . The physical always conditions the cognitive, physical cues act as ‘hints’ for the mind to form interpretations or in other words “positions”.
I personally believe Blackberry could have done without this strategy of looking slick and feature laden. There is plethora of other ways to expand market which the company should have tried before resorting to change in positioning.