“Thunder
striking soon,” the
latest campaign of Thums Up, has a twist. One needs to see it twice to understand what it is conveying. Show it to a Caucasian American, and he would be nonplussed. He would understand it as a promo, but it would not make any sense to him.
But
for Indians and Indians throughout the world, it makes perfect sense. Thums Up has partnered with Allu Arjun; the Thums Up teaser is for the much-awaited movie Pushpa 2.
Does
it make sense? You bet it does. For Allu Arjun, who is endorsing Thums Up, it
is free publicity for his movie. For Thums Up, the teaser gets tremendous
eyeballs, and the image that Allu Arjun portrays in the movie matches the
positioning tack that Thums Up has consistently used.
The
positioning is that of a macho man who wants the strongest cola in the market.
And even better if that strong man borders on the line between lawfulness and lawlessness. That is Sona Pe Suhaga (That is the icing on the cake). The
present generation wants to be a rebel—with a cause or without. A perfect
marriage between the brand, its positioning, the brand ambassador, his
on-screen image, and movie promotion.
Polo
is a product in the mint candy category. Polo was launched in India in
1994. The brand name of Polo is said to be inspired from Polar meaning cool as
the ice from the Polar region. Polo was famous for its positioning as a
"Mint with a Hole" which created lot of excitement for the
brand.
The
Polo campaign played on the unique shape as a differentiating factor. The
witty campaign garnered lot of attention and created awareness and brand recall
for the product.
MintO
from Candico aggressively took on Polo and hit Polo where it hurt the most, its
positioning. MintO did a great campaign which said "You don’t have a hole
in the head, so why should you have a hole in the mint".
It
was implying that having a hole in the head meant a person had very little intelligence.
It positioned Polo as a Mint for the unintelligent customers. It was a classic ploy of positioning against the competition
aka Avis who positioned itself as a no – 2 against the no – 1, the market
leader Hertz.
Suddenly
it was not very cool to have a Polo mint. MintO was positioned as
a cool brand. Later Nestle dropped its positioning based on the Hole for Polo.
The last post we had discussed Positioning.
Let us see some examples:
1) Johnson and Johnson baby
shampoo (Differential Positioning): Johnson and Johnson
is the company that is famed for child care products. It is the mother of all baby
category products (pun intended). Thus it is not surprising that mummy care and
mummy love is equated with J & J products. Parents willingly spend a bomb
as long as they get the best baby care products for their children. J & J’s
baby shampoo has that soft, mild smell and texture that gives the baby the soft
creamy hair. Mothers used the same mild baby shampoo on themselves.
Seeing the marketing opportunity, J
& J launched a “Baby Shampoo” series targeted at adults - Adult mothers who want the same soft baby hair
just like their children hair.
2) Marlboro (Classical Repositioning): Marlboro is the ultimate male cigarette and
the advertising reinforces the same. The famed cowboy, his Stetson hat and the
rugged looks have gone a long way in reinforcing that image of rugged manhood. Marlboro
had started out as a ladies cigarette. Check out the very red filter. The very red
filter was used so that the lady‘s lipstick is not spoiled. Over a century’s
what started out as a lady’s cigarette has been repositioned as the ultimate
manly cigarette. Talk about persuasive advertising!
3) Scooter: (Classical Repositioning): Scooter
is a product that was invented in Italy. It was a product that was made with
the women in mind. The male two wheeler vehicle of choice is the motorcycle. It
is heavy manly and sure is rued like the Bullet. Scooter was designed by Vespa
keeping women in mind. The lady can get on to it like a ladies bicycle. They
need not straddle like a motorcycle (a lady wearing a skirt could drive a
Vespa). It was lighter and had a easier kick start. The early Italian Advertising campaigns for Vespa and Lambretta, mainly targeted
at women, the advertisement seem to be saying, "I may want to be with you, but I am a busy
girl, I have options, I am independent I can do what I want and choose
who I want"!
The Vespa called Chetak in
its Indian Avatar got positioned as a man’s bike of choice. It was heavy,
rugged and had a kick start. The positioning of the lady’s bike of choice had later
first occupied by the Kinetic Honda and later by Honda Activa.
Debeers: (Repositioning the customer mindset): Debeers is the king of diamonds. It had a easy
time in the western world where the traditional symbol of love has always been
a diamond. A diamond is forever. Diamonds are extensively used in engagements
and there was no dearth of customers queuing up to buy its diamonds. In India Debeers
faced a problem. In India the metal of choice is gold. So much so that the
majority of gold mined and sold in the world finds its way to India (either legally
or illegally). Debeers is still working out its positioning strategy in India. It
is trying to persuade Indians to buy diamonds along with Gold. It is trying to
change the Indian perception that stones are not that glamorous. It is pitching
hard to drive home the fact that diamond are forever and so is the bond that is
about to be sealed (the engagement ring being the symbol of everlasting love).
Positioning according
to Al Ries and Jack Trout is the space that the brand occupies in the mind of
the customer. Oh yes the product has a significant position on the shelf but
does it occupy a significant position in the minds of the customer? When faced
with an impulse purchase decision to buy a chocolate would the customer blurt
out the words “Cadbury Fivestar” or would he utter some other brand name.
Battles are won and lost in a split second.
Human mind is cluttered
and has many things to ponder. Tus there is no space for many brands. Positioning
is the clutter breaker. It clearly defines what a brand stands for. For example
Volvo is the safest car, Charminar is synonymous with Hyderabad, and Hero
stands for best in mileage and so on. The brand that occupies the top (Pole)
most position in the mind is the TOM
(Top of the Mind). On prodding the customer might remember other brands. Brands
that he is able to remember with out aid (or external help) are referred to as unaided recall.
Best English movie - I
might say “Titanic”. When asked about other most like movies, I might add “Modern
Times, Ten commandments”, and may be mention three other movies. That is in any category most people are able to remember six brands without
external aid. When shown posters of famous English movies I might happily
remember many movies that I might have seen and liked. Movies that were remembered with aid (external help wold fall under the subset of Aided Recall.
Marketers try their
level best to be in TOM or atleast to be in the stage of unaided recall. Both
TOM and Unaided recall are ideal. Aided recall status is very costly and
cumbersome. Most advertising is reminder advertising that brain washes the customer
to make the brand reach the stage of TOM or atleast in the unaided recall stage.
7th Article Published in HANS INDIA titled "Marketing Lessons From Kellogg's'. It is an article about how Kellogg got its positioning wrong in India and later went on to correct its positioning!
Lifebuoy,
the strong-smelling, dull red soap came to life through the energetic advertisements
in the cinema halls with the tune of “Tandurusti ki raksha karta hai
Lifebuoy …”
First
introduced in India in early 1895 Lifebuoy spans nearly 130 years, Lifebuoy
moved from being a men's soap to a family soap. Over the years Hindustan
Unilever Ltd (HUL) moved away from the strong carbolic scent, it also modified
the aesthetics of the outer packaging. The result is a contemporary-looking and
fresher smelling soap which promised ‘continuous protection from germs' for the
entire family.
1. Initial Positioning Strategy (from 1894 to 2002): Since 1894 Lifebuoy had largely remained the ultimate mens'
bathing bar.
2. Positioning shift (in 2002): The challenge for Lifebuoy was to effect the change, while
retaining the core – its disinfectant properties. So the core positioning strategy
was moved from men battling grime and dirt to mothers chasing a healthy soap to
ensure their children don't get infected.
3. Reinvesting positioning strategy (2004):In 2004, Lifebuoy
was re-launched with four variants and all the variants came under one
‘umbrella' look. The variants were Lifebuoy Strong, Lifebuoy Fresh,
Lifebuoy Gold and Lifebuoy Naturals
4: Seasonal Positioning strategy (2011): Lifebuoy started being sold on a ‘seasonal' platform with
the communication proposition being ‘Protection from 10 infection causing
germs'. The ten germs being are flu, sore throat, respiratory
infection, dysentery, diarrhoea, rash, skin infection, sore eyes, pimples and
ear infection.
5. Positioning Problem in the urban markets: Although Lifebuoy has stuck to its base proposition over
the years; analysts say it has not been able to keep many of its urban
audiences interested. Given the category and the competitiveness therein, it's
not surprising that Lifebuoy has attempted to refresh itself every few years.
Over the years, there are many campaigns from the brand that are fresh in
public memory, right from the sweaty players on the football field to the
Little Gandhi advertisements.
Keeping
in mind Lifebuoy's heritage and lineage, analysts think that if HUL wants to
improve its sales in the urban markets it should position the soap as a retro
soap that is a soap that harps on its lineage and its traditional values and
try to hook on people who were once very loyal to it rather than trying to be a
modern soap and compete with other brands of soap.
Rural
Market strategy: Lifebuoy has a pan-India presence and
the rural markets make up more than half of its overall sales. There are a lot
of challenges that the soap faces in these markets.
In
rural markets Lifebuoy has to build a relevance of germs. In the case of urban
markets a lot of people understand that germs cause illness. In rural markets Lifebuoy
has to explain to people that there are things called germs and if they don’t
wash their hands the germs will cause illness.
Although
the product quality is the same, the company does have cheaper variants of
Lifebuoy in rural areas. Lifebuoy is available in 38-gm stock keeping units
that cost Rs 5, in rural areas. This aids easy product penetration.
Cadbury India
Ltd. is a part of Mondelēz International. Cadbury India operates in five
categories – Chocolate confectionery, Beverages, Biscuits, Gum and Candy. In
the Chocolate Confectionery business, Cadbury has maintained its undisputed
leadership over the years. Some of the key brands are Cadbury Dairy Milk, Bournvita, 5 Star, Perk, Bournville, Celebrations,
Gems, Halls, Éclairs, Bubbaloo, Tang and Oreo.
Below is a video about Cadbury history.
In India, Cadbury began its operations in 1948 by
importing chocolates. After over 60 years of existence, it today has six
company-owned manufacturing facilities at Thane, Induri (Pune) and Malanpur
(Gwalior), Bangalore and Baddi (Himachal Pradesh) Hyderabad and 4 sales offices
(New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai). The corporate office is in Mumbai.
In the Milk Food drinks segment our main product
is Bournvita -
the leading Malted Food Drink (MFD) in the country. Similarly in the medicated
candy category Halls is the leader. It recently entered the biscuits category
with the launch of the Worlds No 1 biscuit brand Oreo.
Cadbury chocolates the ultimate seductress in the
form of chocolate has been a favorite with the Indians. The brand repositioning
that Cadbury has tried have been very interesting and worth a study.
CDM is for
the kid in you: In the early days, the CDM (Cadbury Dairy Milk) brand had a
huge fan following among kids. In order to build stronger appeal among older
age groups, the brand re-positioned itself through the ‘Real Taste of Life’
campaign in 1994. The campaign positioned Cadbury Dairy Milk as the chocolate
that awakened the little child in every grown up.
CDM is for all occasions: With the launch
of the Rs. 5 pack in 1998, CDM became more affordable and hence more accessible for
the masses. The ensuing positioning of ‘Khaane
Waalon ko khaane ka Bahana Chhayie’ made consumption into a joyful,
social occasion.
CDM is a substitute for Indian sweets: In 2004, the `Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye’ campaign was
launched, seeking to increase CDM consumption by making it synonymous with traditional
sweets (Mithai).
CDM as a dessert: With the campaign ‘Khaane Ke Baad Meethe Mein Kuch Meetha Ho
Jaaye’, Cadbury’s aim was to introduce the thought of having a CDM as a post
dinner meetha (dessert).
In the year
2010, the `Shubh Aarambh’ campaign
was launched, drawing lines from the traditional Indian custom of having
something sweet before embarking on something new. With `Shubh Aarambh’, Cadbury took the Dairy Milk journey a step
further into the hearts of its million lovers.
Cadbury GEMs the kid in you: The 2011 campaign “Raho
Umarless” celebrates the kid in all of us. The ad talks about two friends unabashedly
exchanging the gifts that they get when they buy a Cadbury GEMS pack..
As on yesterday
Cadbury has innovated a new repositioning strategy again. They have changed
Cadbury Eclairs’s name to Cadbury Choclairs. The think tank of Cadbury seem to believe
that their USP are the words Cadbury and Chocolate and they don’t want the
brand dilution. So the reinforcement of the word Choclairs along with the word Cadbury.
But one small doubt. The category is called a Éclair. Is it possible that
Cadbury is opening a wee bit of the door for the competition to jump in?
