Canada Dry : RIP ( 1995-1999)

Brand : Canada Dry
Company : Cadbury Schweppes ( Later Coca Cola)
Agency : Mudra

Brand Analysis Count : 371

One of my colleagues yesterday showed me a 1989 issue of Business India where he pointed out an ad of a long forgotten brand - Canada Dry . We passionately talked about the brand which we both liked.

Canada Dry was launched in India in 1995 . The brand ,from Cadbury Schweppes ,was a highly popular brand of softdrinks across the globe. Canada Dry was a much hyped brand because it was from the house of Cadbury. Cadbury Schweppes launched Canada Dry and Orange Crush in the Indian market with much fanfare.

Canada Dry was a Champagne Softdrink. The brand has positioned itself as a champagne and the taste was different and refreshing.

The brand was also promoted heavily in various media. The ad featuring the snow and tiger brings back the nostalgia about this brand. The brand was positioned as a premium cooldrink . The brand gained immediate acceptance because of its association with Cadbury. The brand had the potential to become a premium softdrink brand in India .

But alas, the brand did not last too long in the market. In 1999 CocaCola took over the beverages business of Cadbury Schweppes and like GoldSpot and Limca , Coke killed this brand.

It is sad to see such brands being killed for no reason connected with customers. The only reason for Coke to kill these brands was to make way for Coke's original brands. In the case of Canada Dry , the brand only had a negligible presence in the Indian market.

Look at the Indian market now - Is there a premium softdrink brand in India ? Neither Coke or Pepsi was able to create a premium softdrinks category in India. They have not even tried yet.......

Brand Update : Bournvita

After building the brand over a beautiful concept of confidence, Bournvita has gone down the ladder in the latest campaign.

I was virtually shocked to see the latest campaign for Bournvita ++ ( a new variant ?) which talked about the merging of Science and Nature !!!

In my last update on Bournvita, I had applauded Bourvita in taking up Confidence as its positioning platform. But it all has been virtually killed in the latest campaign.

I will share the Advertisement once I have it..

The ad which is poorly executed talks about Science and Nature coming together in Bournvita thus helping the kid to succeed. The ad shows a ( poorly made) Robot and a Grass covered man ( indicating nature) helping out the kid who is doing the homework.

If the ad is made aiming at kids, the agency have no idea about the new generation kid's standards . If the ad is aimed at parents, then again the agency have no idea about Parents either.... This ad is ideally suited for a kid in the year 1965....

I wonder why this sudden change in positioning ? Science , Nature and Bournvita have nothing in common. Bournvita is a tasty Malt Food Drink... it was like that and it will remain like that for consumers.

Bournvita has been selling on taste which was again reinforced by the association with the company brand- Cadbury's . The earlier campaign has taken the brand to a better positioning platform of Confidence against the arch rival Boost's focus of 'Winning Energy'.

The only logic I see in this ad is that the brand feels that consumers perceive Bournvita to be unhealthy because it is brown and tasty. Hence the sudden love for this nature- science crap. There were lot of other sensible ways available for this brand for developing association with health .

I think the brand has done a terrible mistake in forgoing such a valuable positioning platform as Confidence and accepting a crap positioning which is not at all relevant to the target segment.

Related Brand

Bournvita

Saint Juice : 100 % Juice , Nothing else

Brand : Saint Juice
Company : Parle Agro
Agency : Creativeland Asia

Brand Analysis Count : 374

Saint Juice is the new entrant to the fast growing fruit juice market.The brand is making a foray into a market which is highly segmented and often highly confusing (to the consumer) .
Indian beverages industry which is worth Rs 7000 crore is divided broadly into carbonated and non-carbonated categories.

The fruit based drinks market is highly confusing for a customer . Frooti, Tropicana, Maaza, Real etc are all fruit based beverages. Some tastes good and some not so good.

If you look at the products, there are different types of fruit beverages :

Fruit Drinks : These are those drinks where there is a less than 20% fruit pulp.
Frooti ,Maaza etc belong to this category. Fruit drinks is the dominant category which is worth around 250-300 crores

Fruit Nectar : These contains less around 25- 85% fruit pulp. Brands like Godrej Xs and Real Nectar belongs to this category. This is a small category worth around Rs 35 crore.

Fruit Juice : These are fruit beverages that contain 85% and more fruit pulp. Tropicana and Real belongs to this category. This category is worth Rs 150 crore.

With in the Fruit Juices segment , a new category is emerging which is the 100% juice category.
( A nice article on this here : afaqs )

Most consumers are not aware of this micro segmentation. Those who drink Frooti or Maaza does not know or is not bothered about the fruit pulp content. The reason is that ,they drink these beverages for the taste ( and quenching thirst ).

Unlike the fruit drinks , customers of fruit juices are health conscious. One of the reasons for them taking this product category is that they want a healthy drink. The product is more of a health supplement than a beverage. The fact that these products are less tasty compared to fruit drink is a proof that only the health conscious ones will take it.

The category of fruit juices are dominated by Dabur's Real and Pepsi's Tropicana. Real is the market leader with around 55 - 60% share and Tropicana takes the rest.

Saint Juice is a 100 % fruit juice. The brand is positioned as a 100 % juice. This positioning is relevant because consumers are confused about the category. I tend to believe that Real and Tropicana was 100 % juice. But later only I found that these were not.

In such a scenario, Saint Juice's positioning of 100% fruit juice makes sense for the consumers. As of now , the brand is very clear about the positioning. Another factor that appealed to me about Saint Juice is its minimalistic design. The packaging is uncluttered and very visible on supermarket shelf.

The brand is now being promoted in print media and inside stores. The brand has taken the tagline " 100 % Juice , Nothing else ". The message is Simple and straight forward. The name Saint has been chosen in line with the brand's core promise.


The 100 % juice positioning of Saint is a real threat to Real and Tropicana. Real and Tropicana had extended itself into fruit drinks and fruit nectar categories. Real have Real Twist and Tropicana have Twirl in the fruit drinks category. Both these brands have their nectar variants. Recently Real and Tropicana launched their 100 % juice variant. This is a typical case where a brand is trying to be everything to everybody.

As a ordinary person, my perception of Real and Tropicana was that it was a fruit Juice brand. Now they have diluted their core proposition for a larger market play.

There are ofcourse hurdles for Saint Juice. While proclaiming that the brand is 100% juice, it may also have to convince the customers that its competitors are not having 100 % juice . Since the customers are already confused, 100% juice positioning will be relevant to them only if consumer doubt other brands. Real has identified this threat and has rejuvenated Real Active as a 100% juice brand .

The current positioning of Saint Juice is targeting the consumer who is actively looking for a 100% juice. These are consumers who take juice as a part of their diet and also knows the difference between various fruit drinks and doesn't bother much about the taste. But the category is very small .

The larger category belongs to those who like taste but wants to have a healthy fruit juice. This is the category which has large number of customers. Here taste is a significant attribute. Customers in this segment may not clearly see a distinction with in the category. For these customers, any drink in tetra pack will qualify as a fruit juice. These customers may not see a relevance in the 100% juice positioning. It is going to be a challenge for Saint to bring these customers to its fold.

Hence the next challenge for the brand is to take the 100% pure proposition into certain benefits that a larger set of customers will appreciate.


When there is lot of clutter and noise in the market, it makes sense for the brand to talk straight. Consumers look for simple solutions to his needs.

Related Brand
Real

Brand Update : Sprite

Summer is setting in and beverages companies are upping their marketing ante. Sprite have heavily started their summer campaign by launching two television commercials. Last time Sprite launched a high profile ad blitz for its variant Sprite Xpress.

This time Sprite is doing the campaign for the core brand. Since its launch, Sprite has been experimenting with its tagline ala positioning. It has changed its famous original tagline of " Buchaye Only pyaas, baaki all bakwas" to
No Gyan only Sprite ,
Seedhi Bath, No bakwaas
then to the last one " Clear hai"

The brand had also experimented with celebrities by roping in Sania Mirza as the brand ambassador. All those efforts have created astounding results.

Sprite had a spectacular 2008. According to Economic Times dtd 11.2.09, Sprite has become the second largest softdrink brand in India thus trouncing Pepsi to No.3 .

Quoting the AC Neilsen study, the following are the market share figures of soft drink brands in India
Thums Up leads the pack with a share of 16.6%
Sprite is the second largest brand with a share of 15.6%
Followed by Pepsi with a share of 13%.

This should have shocked Pepsi .
Sprite has reached the top because it delivered its promise of a no-nonsense simple brand.

Sprite now is an overdrive to cash in on the new found leadership position. Currently the brand is running two TVCs.

Watch the tvc here : Sprite Killer
Sprite Wedding
True to the spirit of the brand, the ads are cool and humorous. It is also interesting to note that the brand now have a combination of all taglines it used in the recent past.
The new tagline is :
Seedhi Baath, No Bakwas, Clear Hai ?

I liked the ads because the characters are cool, plot is simple and funny and even after seeing it for more than 10 times, it is not boring.

Pepsi is also not sitting idle, it had rejuvenated the 7UP brand with some new ads. The ads focus on the lemon content. But the problem with 7UP is that Pepsi has not invested in the brand as consistently as Sprite. 7Up have not yet found the correct positioning platform and Pepsi was little confused in terms of focus with their two brands 7Up and Mountain Dew.

Sprite has reached the top because of consistent investment in brand building. Although it had aberrations, the brand was also consistent in its positioning platform.

Kudos for the marketing team.

Related Brand
Sprite

Brand Update : Bru

Bru has recently launched a new television campaign in line with its positioning of " Happiness Begins with Bru".

Watch the commercial here : Bru

This is one of the best commercial I have seen in recent times. Why I liked this TVC is the touching slice of life theme which is derived from careful consumer observation.

The new commercial projects Bru as the " Mood Maker ". The brand has the tagline " A little Bru makes your mood brighter ".

The ad shows the tired homemaker giving the Bru Coffee to her husband ( as usual the relaxed laid back one) and after taking a sip, the hubby was lifted to such a blissful mood that he slowly massages his tired wife's feet.

In my own experience, I think that men usually are less empathetic to homemaker's problems. While I expect everything to be perfectly done by my wife, often I forget the fact that she is also very much tired as I am. And men's love towards their betterhalf is always governed by his moods.

So the sudden empathetic reaction by the husband in the commercial effectively captures the goodness of Bru and it is right on target. It is also a break from the usual stereotypes of homemakers and strongly connects with the new generation women.

Kudos to the marketing team.

Related Brand
Bru

Brand Update : Coca Cola

Coca Cola has launched their new campaign in India recently. The new campaign features the brand ambassador Gautam Gambhir and comes with a new positioning.

Watch the new TVC here : Coca Cola

The new campaign is a part of the global communication campaign initiated by Coca Cola known as Open Happiness.The Open Happiness campaign is an extension of the Coke Side of Life campaign of last year. Open Happiness campaign is based on the notion that Coke brings happiness to life. The brand tries to communicate the idea of " Enjoying life's simple pleasures".

In the press release, Coke says that " Central to Open Happiness is the notion of enjoying an ice cold coke and taking a small break from the day to connect with others ".
See the press release here : Open Happiness Campaign

The big idea behind this platform is that Coca Cola offers fun and refreshment whenever you need it.

India is also a market where the company has extended the Open Happiness Communication platform.The latest campaign is the first one on this positioning platform.

And a totally disappointing one. The agency has done total injustice to the wonderful idea that Open Happiness envisages.

Instead of connecting Coke with Happiness , the new ad puts Coke in a dangerous position. The central theme of the new ad is that " Coke ke sath Dost free " means " A friend free with Coke ".

The ad shows Gautam helping out the owner of an deserted store by putting a display that " You get a friend free with Coke " and people starts showing up because of the free offer !!!!

I am not being cynical or critical but here are my concerns about the current theme.

In my little understanding about the Indian youth psyche , the new generation youngsters spent lot of time hanging out with their friends. The new gen likes to have lot of friends and is also influenced heavily by their peers.

And having no friends is UNCOOL. Here Coke is somehow telling the consumers that the users of Coke are those who are in desperate need of friends . And the concept of " Free Dost with Coke" is discounting the value of both Friends and Coke. Why should you give something free ( even symbolic) with Coke. And will you accept a " Free " friend ? And the characters depicted in the ads look like lonely desperate guys searching for friends which is also UNCOOL as far as the younger generation is concerned.

The Indian version of Open Happiness platform has failed to understand the essence of this positioning and miserably failed to connect the concept of happiness and Coke.

Slice : Aamsutra

Brand : Slice
Company : Pepsico
Agency : JWT

Brand Analysis Count : 388

Slice is the fruit drink brand from the Pepsi stable. Slice was launched in India in 1994. But even after 15 years, the brand has not been able to make a mark in the Indian market. The product was good, had the backing of world's best marketing company but could not become the market leader in the segment.

Slice was a neglected brand in Pepsi's portfolio. These Cola majors are too centered on their flagship cola brands that they fail to cash in on the opportunities for other brands. Indian consumers love mango drinks but Pepsi was too engrossed with Pepsi Cola that they forgot to put their resources behind this brand.

Slice was originally launched as a mango drink. But over time, the brand lost its focus and introduced many flavors. In 2002, Slice was launched in multiple flavors. This extensions cost the brand dearly. While the competitors Maaza and Frooti concentrated on the mango flavor, Slice tried to become an umbrella brand for all fruit based drink in the Pepsi's portfolio.

It could have become an umbrella brand had Pepsi invested in the brand. But the promotional investment behind the brand was never consistent.According to Afaqs, there was no ad support for the brand from 2002 to 2006. The brand went into obscurity during these period.

It was in 2006 that Pepsi began to seriously look at Slice. But by that time Maaza had established itself in the market along with the market leader Frooti.

Slice never had a proper consistent positioning. While Frooti and Maaza positioned itself on the Real Mango Flavor platform, Slice was a confused brand. In 2006, the brand took the positioning of a provider of simple joy platform. The tagline was " Simple Joy ka Raas " . But there also the brand did not catch the imagination of the consumer.

Slice was relaunched in 2008 in a new avataar. Atlast, Slice anchored itself as a mango drink. The brand launched a very smart campaign - Aamsutra .
The campaign was a real clutter breaker. The brand wanted to position itself on the basis of exprience or pleasure of having a mango drink. The brand took the attribute of Pleasure, Sensuality and Indulgence as the core brand attribute that delivers that Experience.

Slice also roped in the Bollywood Diva Katrina Kaif as the brand ambassador. The brand launched its first Aamsutra campaign during the summer of 2008

Watch the TVC here : Slice Aamsutra 1

I think that the Aamsutra campaign shook the brand from its inertia. There was lot of noise about the campaign and I think the brand sales also benefitted from the noise.
This summer of 2009 saw Slice launching the next edition of the Aamsutra campaign.

Watch the 2009 campaign here : Slice Aamsutra 2

The Slice story shows the power of the Big Idea. A brand will thrive when it gets that " Aha " or the " Wow" factor. Aamsutra is a definite WOW factor for this brand .

It is also interesting to see that this summer all the mango drinks marketer has chosen to target the younger generation ( 25 + ) rather than kids. Maaza in particular chose to put a much older character in their recent advertisement. Frooti also is now focusing on the youth. This may open the door for a brand to target specifically Kids while other brands fight it out for the younger gen.

Personally speaking , I liked the Aamsutra concept and also the way it was executed. The ad was able to completely use the brand ambassador's charm and looks . The only doubt is whether the brand is looking at a more mature audience rather than a younger segment.

Aamsutra as the name suggests has a very sensual connotation. The brand will be moving in a thin line between sensuality and sexuality. Too much sensuality makes the ads less veiwable while too less becomes a bore. But the current campaign effectively manages to deliver the right kind of message. It is also a significantly different positioning from its competitors hence manages to get and hold eyeballs. It will be interesting to see how Slice will be able to extend its new found formula.....

Brand Update : Bournvita

Cadbury's has launched a brand extension for Bournvita - Bournvita li'l Champs. The new extension is targeting the little kids aged 2-5yrs. The brand is competing with Junior Horlicks in this segment.

It seems Bournvita has taken this new extension seriously. The brand is on a high gear and has roped in the tennis sensation Sania Mirza to endorse this product.

The Television Commercial is right now on air in most of the channels : Watch it here

I think the brand has jumped into this segment for two main reasons. The first being the potential of the market. The current lifestyle and the family profile has increased the need perception for health supplements/ drinks for the little ones. Mothers are always worried about the food intake of the kids and it is a universal phenomenon that during this age, kids hate food.

Hence it is easy to attract mothers towards such products that promises well being for their little one. Another reason is that there is only one major player in this category. Hence there is room for Bournvita to explore this market already created by Junior Horlicks.

Bournvita Li'l Champs is touting on its nutritional content and its 5 Star taste to catch the target segment. The packaging is refreshingly new and attractive. The brand is promising the mothers to make their kids champions like its brand ambassador.

There is a difference in the positioning of Junior Horlicks and Li'l Champs. The Junior Horlicks has positioned on the functional benefit while Li'l Champs is riding on the a higher platform of emotional benefit. How ever since both these parent brands are well established, there is enough room for growth without eating to each other's shares.

Like Junior Horlicks, Li'L Champs will also ride on the equity of the parent brand.

Related Brand
Bournvita
Horlicks

Brand update : Frooti

Frooti has come out with a new campaign this summer. The brand had gone in for a complete makeover. The packaging and the positioning has changed. Infact Frooti for the past few years has been trying to catch hold of a consistent theme.

It had earlier moved away from the " Fresh'N'Juicy " positioning . From there onwards, the brand was on a sticky wicket and was not quite settling on a positioning. It had the Bindaas positioning and later " Frooti- another name for Mango " theme. But the brand was not quite stable on those platforms.

The new Frooti has a new modern packaging. The choice of colors and the logo has been tweaked to make the brand more contemporary. Now the packaging is lot more neat and cool.

What is more stiking is the change in the positioning of Frooti. Last year , the brand tried to pitch itself as an alternative to mango. Now the brand is trying to be more radical and a little mad.

Watch the new TVC here : Mango Frooti

The new campaign is based on a simple consumer observation. Most of us which drink Frooti Tetrapack will try to chase the last drop of Frooti. This habit has been continuing for generations. Last day I saw my daughter trying her best to capture those evasive last drops trapped inside the pack. Knowingly or unknowingly we make funny sounds using the straw when indulging with Frooti. And we all had the habit of breaking those packs for that sound. The agency had tried to capture all these in the new communication.

The brand also has adopted a new baseline " Why Grow Up". I think this positioning is a powerful idea which can be sustained for many years provided the creatives are able think fresh.Even in the new avatar, the brand is retaining the old famous tagline " Fresh N Juicy " which is good since Frooti has a very strong association with that tagline.

Another interesting move by the brand is the creation of Mango-emoticons . The brand will now be using mangoticons in its communication which is a really smart idea. The brand using emoticons can further strengthen the association of Mango and Frooti.

Also this mangoticons can generate instant recall with the brand. So even a 1 second splash of this emoticons in the TV screen can give the same effect of a 30 second ad. The brand currently have 3 emoticons and according to the agency , it is planning to increase it to 25 by next year. I hope that Frooti uses this emoticons beyond the product package. It is a powerful brand element which can be an asset to Frooti.

Regarding the new campaign, although the idea is good, I frankly did not get the idea the first time . I liked the ' Why Grow Up' Tagline but not the ad- may be because I did not like the look of the main character in the ad. Somewhere down the line, the ad lost the " Cool" factor .

You can read more about this repositioning from Raj Kurup of CLA here : Raj on Frooti repositioning

Related Brand

Frooti

7 Up : Bheja Fry, 7 Up Try

Brand : 7 Up
Company : Pepsico
Agency : BBDO

Brand Analysis Count : 393

7 Up is a neglected brand. This brand despite being a Pepsico brand had failed miserably in the Indian market. Sadly it is not because of the product that the brand failed but because of the marketing mismanagement.

7 Up was launched in India in 1992. According to reports, it had a wonderful start becoming the largest selling brand in the category by 2002 . 7 Up is a lemon drink similar to Limca.

Seven Up globally is closely associated with its mascot Fido Dido. When launched in India, 7Up also bought in the famed mascot. Fido came to India in 1992 along with the brand but had a very erratic relationship with 7 Up.

Despite being in the Indian market close to 19 years, 7 Up was not a successful brand. The fault lies in the confused marketing strategy adopted by Pepsico with this brand. Pepsico is one of the world's best marketers. But when we look at individual brands like Mirinda and 7 Up, we see a confused product mix strategy from the company.

Pepsico never had a long term plan for 7 Up. When the brand was launched, the lemon flavored drink segment was perceived to be a small market with the market leader Limca ruling the market. But both Coca Cola and Pepsi was not interested in developing the category or the brand for a long time. Limca was killed by Coca Cola while Pepsi after the initial enthusiasm dropped investing in 7 Up.

The problem with 7 Up was two fold. First was the company's lack of interest in the brand and the category and second was the positioning confusion.

When launched, 7 Up was positioned as a cool drink. The brand used Fido Dido and certain imported commercial to position the brand as a cool drink for the youngsters. But the mascot and its international style failed to impress the audience. Every one liked Fido Dido but there was no connect with the mascot and the Indian audience. The company was in a dilemma because 7 Up had a strong association with Fido Dido but Fido Dido had a disconnect with the Indian audience.
This is a typical problem faced by those brands that import their foreign mascots to India . Pillsbury had a mascot Doughboy which is very famous in US but less popular in India . Fido Dido was a foreigner and hence the lack of connect was evident.The brand was really confused on how to use Fido Dido in the Indian market.

Fido Dido has an interesting background. The character was born in 1985 in a cafeteria napkin T he founders Susan Rose and Joanna Ferrone was in a discussion during which Susan Rose scribbled a figure in the napkin which later became Fido Dido. Fido became the brand ambassador for 7 Up in 1989. Another interesting fact is that Fido Dido trademark does not belong to Pepsi but belong to the founder Joanna. Hence the mascot is highly controlled by the owner and not the brand.

This lack of control has prevented Pepsi from Adapting Fido to Indian audience. It does not have the freedom to change the mascot's personality. This is an absolutely awkward situation for the brand where it had a wonderful mascot but could not change anything about the mascot.

Another factor that aided for the failure of 7 Up was the thinking among Pepsi marketers that taglines and positioning statements should not remain constant. So they keep on changing taglines and statements. One of the highly popular taglines for 7 Up was " Keep it Cool ". But the marketers at Pepsi wanted to change it for the sake of changing it. " Keep it Cool' was perhaps one of the apt and best tagline which could have lifted the brand to new hieghts had Pepsi invested in developing it.

Seven Up and Fido Dido had a short affair. In 1995 Pepsico globally stopped using Fido Dido and in India too the company stopped using the mascot. Later in 2003, the brand began using Fido Dido but again it was a half- hearted approach.

The investment of Pepsico in 7 Up was no where consistent. The brand tried some marketing gimmicks like launching a curvey bottle named 7 Up Curvey in 2006. The brand took the hot bollywood Diva Mallika Sherawat as the brand ambassador since she had those curvey look. There was an initial hype behind this launch but later it died a slow death. Beyond such stunts, there was no marketing thinking for this brand.

The brand also faced competition internally from Mountain Dew. Pepsico launched its iconic brand Mountain Dew and put lot of investment behind the brand. As a consumer I do not see any difference between Mountain Dew, Sprite and 7 Up. Limca was perceived a little different because it was cloudy. Pepsico was also confused on how to clearly differentiate Dew and 7 Up when consumers perceived both as similar.

The easiest way to end the confusion is to sideline the brand. 7 Up was thus sidelined for almost 8 years. In 2007-08, the company began to look into this brand. A new theme was prepared to take the brand away from Fido Dido and focus on another theme. The brand took the tagline " Bheja Fry, 7 Up try " which talked about the refreshing feeling of Seven Up . The campaign featured many Bheja Fry situations and how 7 Up can lift your spirits in those occasions.

This summer saw the extension of this theme. Pepsico realized that Lime Juice was the largest selling drink and most favorite flavor among Indians. So it started to pitch 7 Up as " The Lemon Drink " . The brand had the new tagline " Mood ko do Lemon ka Lift ".

In 2009, Pepsico launched another brand Nimbooz which is a drink having the original lemon juice taste. Nimbooz is launched as a brand endorsed by 7 Up.Nimbooz has been launched with the tagline " Ek Dum Asli Indian ". The brand is trying to compete with the ordinary lemon juice which is one of the favorite thirst quencher of Indian consumers. The question remains as to why a unsuccessful brand is used to endorse a new brand ?

The new launch is going to be further problematic for 7 Up. 7 Up has recently pitted for associating itself with Lemon Flavor. Now Nimbooz is saying that it is the original lemon drink. One is artifical and other is original .

What ever be the argument of the marketers, consumers seldom see the difference between a cloudy drink, a clear drink, artifical, flavored etc etc. These micro segmentation actually confuses consumers and force them to go for the simplest solution. Sprite became the largest selling beverage brand because it was simple for consumer to understand what that brand did.

Keep it Simple please.....

Brand Update : Minute Maid

Minute Maid, launched in 2007 is currently running a new campaign this summer. The brand had caught the Indian consumer's attention through its launch campaign " Where is the Pulp ". The launch campaign was so interesting that it encouraged the consumers to try this international brand from Coca Cola.

The brand had the positioning based on its Pulpy Orangy characteristic . You can really feel the orange pulp when drinking this . This makes the brand unique. The uniqueness makes this brand a niche because there will be many consumers who do not like that pulpy nature of the drink which is Minute Maid's USP.

This summer, the brand is trying to further reinforcing the positioning based on its pulpy-factor. But there is a big difference in the current marketing strategy. If you remember the launch campaign , the strategy was to drive home the USP of the brand. The ad was highly successful in communicating this basic differentiating point. the task of the commercial was to tell the consumer that Minute Maid has more Orange Pulp in it. And the ad communicated it prefectly.

Watch the first commercial here : Minute Maid- Where is the Pulp

The new commercial is now translating this USP into customer benefit. The current positioning is based on the benefit that this Orange Pulp gives to the consumer. The brand promise is that Minute Maid gives you the UPLIFTING Feeling. You feel energized and Uplifted when you drink Minute Maid. So the brand is trying out the equation Pulpy Orange = Uplifting Feeling.

Watch the new commercial here : Minute Maid 2009

The ad is simple and directly conveys the brand's promise. When you drink Minute Maid, oranges comes and lifts you up. The ad backed by good music keeps you glued to the screen and ofcourse there is the temptation to pick up a bottle of the product. A brilliant idea and a very good execution. Kudos to the team.

Related Brand
Minute Maid

LMN : Emergency Lemon Refresher

Brand : LMN
Company : Parle Agro
Agency : CreativeLand Asia

Brand Analysis Count : 395

This summer is special . Special because this summer , Indian softdrink/beverages marketers suddenly found that Indians love lemon flavored drinks. They realised that despite Shahrukh, Aamir and host of celebrities endorsing cola brands, large section of Indian consumers quench their thirst with nimbu paani.

And surprisingly the revelations came to Indian marketers all at once and this summer everyone is after NimbuPaani-- our very own lime juice or in malayalam (my native language)- Naaranga vellom .

Ofcourse marketers are forced to go after numbers. Even if their friends and relatives chose lemon juice over bottled drinks, marketers are forced to look at numbers, trends and statistics. This summer statistics have told them that the market for lemon based drinks have a potential.

According to a report in Business Standard, out of the Rs 7500 crore sparkling drinks market,colas comprise of only 38% of the total market while flavors comprise of 54%. The realization came only after Sprite dethroned Pepsi to become the number two selling beverage brand in India.

What marketers did not see was the big picture. Business Standard estimates that out of 120 bn litres of beverages consumed in India, packaged drinks account for only 5%. Marketers failed to look at consumers but too focused on categories and micro segments. It is not this summer, every summer, Indian consumers were taking lots of lemon drinks but marketers failed to see the bigger picture while spending their energy on outsmarting competition.

The fire cracker in the lemon based drink segment was started by Pepsi with the launch of Nimbooz . Soon to follow was the brand LMN.

LMN is from the house of Parle Agro. This summer Parle Agro is in an over drive with new launches like Saint Juice, LMN and Grappo Fizz. It is encouraging to see an Indian company aggressively taking on the Cola majors.

When I first saw the ad of LMN, what striked me was the brand name. It is one of the best brand names I have seen in recent times.Pepsi has done a masterstroke by taking in the generic name Nimbu by launching Nimbooz. I thought Nimbooz will score because of the powerful brand name. But LMN proved to be a equal worthy competitor for Nimbooz.

Having a brand name which is generic has many advantages. It is easy for consumers to understand what the brand promise is and what the product will do for them. The downside is that the generic name restricts further brand extensions. There cannot be an Orange flavored Nimbooz or Orange LMN.

LMN is indeed a powerful brand name and the brand benefits out of that. While Nimbooz is desi LMN is modern. So the brand is aiming more at the younger crowd by the way the packaging is designed and also the way the brand is positioned. Having said that even Kids may like the brand because it is very simple and easy for them to understand what it is.

While Nimbooz is directly taking on the ordinary nimbu paani ( generic lemon drink), LMN is positioned as a refreshing drink little away from being pitched right against the ordinary lemon juice.

LMN is running the launch television commercial across channels. The brand is being positioned as a refreshing lemon drink and has the tagline " Emergency Lemon Refresher ".

Watch the TVC here : LMN

LMN compete with brands like Limca, Sprite, 7 Up and Nimbooz. But the interesting fact is that all these brands represents different categories.The basic difference between LMN and Sprite is that Sprite is a carbonated beverage while LMN is not.
Limca is a cloudy drink while 7 Up and Sprite are clear drinks. LMN and Nimbooz are non carbonated drinks while others are carbonated.

But am not sure whether Indian consumers are aware of these categories . But the situation in the beverage market is that marketers are too much focused on categories and micro categories. We have juices ( 100%,85% 50% ), fruit drink,fruit juice,nectar, artificial,carbonated,non carbonated and what not.. What consumers want is a very simple solution- quench the thirst. Brand that do it with style wins.

LMN has tried to innovate interms of its brandname and also its packaging. It has comeout with a 110ml package that costs only Rs5. This sounds attractive and many consumers would try out this mini tetra provided the quantity satisfies their thirst.

The primary issue for the Indian beverage players is the distribution reach. Pepsi and Coke had built a robust distribution reach. The power of distribution is evident in the case of Kerala. Here Pepsi rules the market with over 80% because of robust distribution strategies. The key to LMN success is how well Parle Agro is able to leverage its distribution reach for this brand.

LMN has a headstart with a good brand name and a cool packaging. The brand has a potential to be a serious player depending on the investment that the company will put in for the brand. To build a brand in the highly competitive beverages market, one should invest continuously and consistently. Hope that LMN will get refreshers from the company interms of brand building investments.

Related Brands

Sprite

Limca

Coke

Appy Fizz

Grappo Fizz : Another Cool Drink To Hang Out With

Brand : Grappo Fizz
Company : Parle Agro
Agency : Creativeland Asia


Brand Analysis Count : 398

Parle Agro has launched a " new brand " Grappo Fizz . Grappo Fizz is a sparkling grape drink similar to the successful Appy Fizz.

Grappo Fizz is launched as a cousin of Appy Fizz. Appy Fizz had created a successful niche for itself among the young consumers. The drink has a unique taste, look and also interesting positioning as a Cool Drink.Parle Agro is trying to replicate the success of Appy with the new grape drink.

I have a little confusion in the branding of Grappo Fizz. Should Grappo be considered as a brand extension or is it a new brand.

Theoretically , brand extension is where the company uses an existing brand name for new products. But Grappo Fizz is a new brand name which has significant association with Appy Fizz. Both these brands share a common term Fizz in their brand names.

Another similar case occured when Perfetti launched a brand called ChocoLiebe which has the same association with Alpenliebe.

Technically Grappo Fizz should be considered as a new brand . Then it become a unique case where two brands share common brand elements like packaging and even positioning. I would consider this as a new brand for theoretical purpose. For all practical purpose, Grappo is an extension of Appy. ( confusing isnt it?)

Marketing is more of a historical subject describing the past actions of marketers.So when the marketers devise new strategies, marketing academicians find it difficult to explain those with existing terms,concepts and jargons. Hence we come out with new jargons to explain the new practices. I would invent a new jargon - Association Extension to describe brands which are launched with significant associations with an existing brands.

Coming back to Grappo Fizz, the company considers this brand as an extension of Appy Fizz. In an interview with Business Standard , the CMO describes this brand as a product extension of Appy Fizz ( Read Here)

Grappo Fizz is trying to create another niche like its cousin. Grape is a neglected flavor in the Indian market. There are virtually no grape based drink in India except for some 100% fruit juice brands. Grappo is trying to fill in such a gap.

Like Apple drink, Grapes may not become a mainstay beverage but it will be a welcome option for those users who would like to have something different. I have observed that people tend to like grape juices, but seldom this flavor is marketed.

Grappo shares every branding element with its cousin . The packaging is the same , the nature of the drink is the same and the positioning is also the same.

Watch the launch commercial here : Grappo Fizz

Like Appy Fizz,Grappo also has a personality. The brand has a interesting CV which you can see in the packaging. He is a ex- call center employee who has lost his job because of recession. Grappo is a rap lover and loves rhyming.

The brand is targeting the same segment which Appy Fizz is targeting - The Youth.

Grappo shares the same positioning of Appy . Now the brands come together in ads and the tagline is " Two cool drinks to hang out with ".

I am a person who fears brand extension. So the same fear appears when I see both Appy and Grappo sharing a common positioning platform.

A few question arises in my mind.

I love Appy Fizz, so the fear is whether Grappo dilutes the positioning of Appy Fizz ?

Why should Grappo share the same tagline as Appy ? Will they always be together in ads ? If so then what is the differentiation of Appy ?

My personal opinion is that Grappo sharing the positioning will dilute the equity of Appy. When two brands say that they are cool, the question arises who is the coolest ?

My apprehension was deepened when I saw another campaign where Grappo outsmarted Appy . So is Grappo more cooler than Appy ?

Since the tagline is " Two cool drinks to hang out with " , has Appy lost is individuality ? Will we ever see an ad featuring Appy alone ?

Is there a chance of more drinks coming like Orange Fizz, Guava Fizz with the same positioning ?

Alries and Jack Trout always argues against extensions. Their argument was that by extension, the brand will lose its unique position in the mind of the consumer. It is true also. There was only one cool drink - Appy Fizz. Now there is two.. So Appy Fizz definitely is going to get affected interm of positioning.

In the company perspective, it makes sense to put these brands together because the cost of building a new brand is huge. Grappo could easily ride on the popularity of Appy. Since these brands are niche without much competition, the consumers will stay with these drinks switching between Appy and Grappo. Marketing costs will come down because one ad will sell both.

On a branding perspective, I would have loved the brand Grappo if it had an individual positioning. Appy Fizz should be the ultimate cool drink and no other brand even if it is the cousin should be allowed to take that mind space.

So which is the cool drink to hang out with ?




Related Brand

Appy Fizz

Brand Update : Horlicks

Yet again , another brand extension from Horlicks. Horlicks has recently launched a ready to drink flavored milk product branded Horlicks Chill Dood.

The product category is reported to be worth around Rs 250 crore. Dairy based products are now seeing more action these days owing to the shift of consumers to healthier products. Amul is the most visible in this segment with its Kool drink.

Horlicks ChillDood comes in attractive flavors like chocolate and the product is targeting kids. Animated ads are now on air to promote this product.

2009 has seen this brand undertaking aggressive extensions into un/related categories like energy bars and now dairy products.
Horlicks is one of my favorite brands. I liked it because the brand was very flexible in adopting to changing competitive environment and proactive in launching new products in new segments .
But one gets jittery when the brand becomes too ambitious. Horlicks has always been associated with health drinks and it was highly focused on that category.The result was obvious, the brand has been a market leader for long time.
The current extension gave me a feeling that the brand is taking too much far by extending itself into categories like energy bar and milk. All these new launches will get a positive initial acceptance by the consumers because of the huge brand equity of Horlicks but all these launches has the potential to dilute the core brand.
The silver lining is that all these launches are in the health related products and thus cater to the emerging trend among the consumers.

Related Brand

Horlicks

Brand Update : Slice

This season, Slice has come out with another campaign further reinforcing the highly successful positioning of ' Pure Mango Pleasure '. Slice has found a perfect match in the brand ambassador Katrina Kaif and the ad agency has extracted maximum from the celebrity.

Watch the ad here : Slice

I am not a spoil sport but when the celebrity and the brand gel too much the inevitable question arises as to " What Next". When I raised this question in one of the forums, lot of my ex-students asked me this very important question " Why should you ask What Next ?" . If things are working perfectly fine, why be a cynic ? There will be many other celebrities who will be taking place of Katrina . Frankly I did not have answers for that .

When we look at branding as a long term strategy, it is important to look at all brand associations on a long term perspective. Slice had hit upon a terrific idea of " Pure mango pleasure " and Aamsutra concept. The brand also found a perfect match in Katrina Kaif. There is an intense chemistry between the positioning concept and the celebrity now. It reminds me of the Accenture - Tiger Woods relationship.Accenture consciously built that singular pivotal association with Tiger Woods that landed up in trouble. Now Accenture had to break the earlier association built over a number of years and getting some equally good creative campaign for the brand is not going to be easy.

The lesson is that brands must have a plan to take the concept forward independently. I assume that marketers at Pepsi may have thought about it. Marketers should feel jittery when there is too much association with any celebrity for that matter. Be it Akshay Kumar for Thums Up or Katrina for Slice.

For now, Slice is on a roll. Insiders say that the brand has grown more than 300% in Kerala alone in the last quarter.
Great Going

Related Post
Slice

Danone Choco + Milk : Chocolate Smoothie

Brand : Choco + Milk
Company : Danone
Ad Agency : Rediffusion Y&R

Brand Analysis Count :449

Danone is a world leader in dairy products. This Paris based $16 bn giant was present in India as a stakeholder in Britannia Industries Ltd since 1993. By 2006, problems surfaced between Danone and the Wadia group which later culminated in Danone exiting Britannia.

This year saw Danone venturing on its own into the lucrative Indian market. Danone has launched Choco + Milk brand in the Indian market .The company is currently testing this milk beverage brand in certain Indian markets before the national launch.

The milk based beverages market in India is still in a nascent stage and is pegged at around Rs 200 crore. Experts predicts a growth in this segment because of inherent qualities associated with milk products. The total dairy market in India is estimated to be Rs 2,30000 crore.

Choco plus milk is a flavored milk beverage which will be competing with brands like Amul Kool , Nestle Milkmaid Funshake and Horlicks Chill Doodh.
Chocoplus Milk is currently running its launch campaign in certain channels. Watch the ad here

Chocoplus is focused on the health + taste aspect of the product. The brand is calling itself a Chocolate Smoothie and not as a milk drink . The brand features a protagonist Raghu as the brand advocate.As the launch strategy , the brand is running an SMS campaign along with the brand website - Chocolatesmoothie.in. The brand has the tagline " Its not a drink, its chocolate smoothie". The brand is priced at Rs 15 for 200 ml.

The positioning of the brand is nothing much to talk about. Every brand now is talking about health and taste. The only difference that Chocoplus has done is to call itself a Chocolate Smoothie.
In such kind of products, taste has lot of importance . Kids needs to hook up to the brand and chocolate flavor rules the taste attribute. Another critical factor is the brand recall. Most of the existing milk beverages are not aggressive enough in this front. Kids needs to be constantly bombarded with brand messages . The usual strategy of retail visibility and dependence on spontaneous purchase may not be sustainable in the long term .Without building a strong brand pull, these products will be at the mercy of the retailers.

The value added milk beverages has a potential in the Indian market. Milk has lot of positive associations with health and nutrition. Mothers would like their children to take milk based beverages rather than soft drinks. But it is the pricing that is restricting the growth of this market to a certain extent. Rs 15 for a pack makes such beverages a luxury rather than a regular product purchase. These brands needs to make consumers stock these products at home. The brand needs to experiment with product packaging and SKUs to find the right mix.

On the promotion side also, milk based beverages are not aggressive enough. Since these brands target kids (except Amul Kool) sales promotions have lot of strategic importance. But seldom have I seen a good sales promotional campaign for such a product.

Danone is a global force to reckon with. The company has deep pockets and the capacity to shake up Indian market. It will be interesting to see how the company will build this brand in Indian market.

Brand Update : LMN - Changing Brand Positioning

After the high profile launch last year, the brand is back with the latest campaign this summer. And sorry to state that it is a big let down from the last year's campaign. The new series of ads now running in the channels features two African Natives as the protagonists. The entire campaign revolves round the antics and comedy of these thirsty guys in search of water.

The brand had come out with a critically acclaimed launch ad last summer. LMN quickly captured the viewer's attention with its smart tagline " Emergency Lemon Refresher". The ads were based on the insight that people will have a 'shrinking feeling' when dehydrated.

The new campaign has changed the " Emergency Lemon Refresher" to " Thirsty - Lemon ". The new campaign seems to establish a strong association between the brand , thirst & lemon. The thinking is very good but the execution is nothing but miserable. I think the brand lost track while attempting to be Funny.

Watch the ad here : LMN new Ad

This summer is witnessing lot of competition between lemon based drinks. Nimbooz, Minute Maid, etc are running campaign aimed at creating association between " Home made Lemon Juice " and the brands. To be fair with LMN, the brand is trying a new path of relating Lemon + LMN + Thirst which is more powerful than competitor's pitch on home-made lemonade.

LMN has a strong brand name, and with initial brand familiarity has already established, it could have milked the initial tagline a little bit more than suddenly changing the entire brand theme.

The current ads does not establish the brand and the ad theme. There is no connection between the two characters, thirst,LMN and positioning. I personally think that LMN does not need campaigns to establish association with Lemon because the name itself does that job.

If the brand's aim is to just create some noise, any ad would serve the purpose .

Related Brand

LMN

Tata Tion : Why Let Go

Brand : Tata Tion
Company : Tata Tea

Brand Analysis Count # 454

Tata Tion is Tata Tea's foray into the non-carbonated beverages market. Tion which was soft launched in 2009 has been launched nationally. The brand was initially launched in TamilNadu and has been in the market for more than a year.

Tion is a fruit based drink which has extracts of tea, ginseng and fruit. The brand is a challenger in the Rs 2500 crore non-carbonated beverage market in India.

Tion is positioned as an energy drink . The brand although fruit flavored is positioned as a tea-based cool drink. The major differentiators for Tion are its ingredients. The brand has tea extracts and Ginseng which makes the brand stand out from the rest. The presence of these ingredient also makes this brand look more healthy compared to other drinks.

Tion has the tagline : Why Let Go. The launch campaign is does not have much to talk about.The brand is essentially giving a message that it has so much in it that you cannot let it go.

Consumers have different take on the taste of Tion. The taste may not be universally appealing and that can restrict this brand to a niche. Tion will appeal to those consumers who are looking for a healthy cool drink and something different from the fruit juices. Compared to the existing fruit drinks, Tion gives certain kind of refreshment thanks to its ingredients.

Tion was initially launched in 400 ml packs priced at Rs 22. But now the brand is available at 200 ml packs priced at Rs 13. The packing is novel and can generate lot of trials.
But the 200ml drink seems to be too little to quench thirst and can create a perception of too little for that price. That was the typical reaction of a consumer after having the drink on a hot day.
Tion is a different product from the rest and along with the endorsement of Tata, the brand can get lot of trials. In the city where I live, Tatas have managed to make the brand available at key locations. The proposed JV with Pepsi will also help the brand get into more store shelves.

The challenge for Tion is to convince the customers to regularly consume the brand. The brand is banking on its ingredients to convince the consumers to patronize it. I feel rather than the ingredients, the brand will hold the key. With the kind of communication strategy, Tion may not be able to build a strong equity. It may need a heavy dose of celebrities especially those in the athletics/sports which can reinforce the message of a healthy energy drink. With global brands like Gatorade, Burn etc upping their ante, Tion should invest more on the brand rather than banking on its ingredients.

Brand Update : Sprite Started Preaching Gyaan !

This summer Sprite has launched a series of campaign under the banner of University of Freshology. This heavily invested high decibel campaign is interesting because it has subtly changed the basic DNA of Sprite ( Indian context). 

Sprite belongs to the sparkling beverages segment which is having a market size of 700 million unit cases and the brand has a market share of 14% . ( Source afaqs). The brand had crafted a special place for itself by differentiating itself as a plain thirst quenching drink.

Sprite gained much traction in the market by promoting simplicity. While the other soft-drinks brand including Coke spend lot of time building hype and building castles on air, Sprite did a contra - thinking and projected itself as a drink that quenches thirst . That plain non-reverence take on the other brands made Sprite a huge hit in the market . 

Sprite was launched with a famous tagline "Bhujaye only pyas , baaki all bakwaas" ( Sprite quenches thirst while rest talk nonsense) .Over these years, the brand experimented with different taglines which were not quite successful as the first one. The brand never the less maintained its posture of a no-nonsense softdrink which was its DNA.

The recent taglines were " All taste, No Gyaan " and "Seedhi baat, no bakwaas, clear hai "

The current campaign of Sprite talks about a hypothetical " University of Freshology " . The University presided by the brand and a fictitious professor will teach youngsters to tackle difficult situations like :-

 How to ogle at girls when you are sitting with your girlfriend ?

How to handle difficult questions especially from papa or mom ? 

etc etc.

Watch the campaign here : Sprite roommate

                                          Sprite Girl friend

                                            Sprite ogling 

Even though the campaign looks quite interesting, there is nothing fresh as far as the big idea is concerned . The idea of a University is pretty stale and has been in the market before in the form of Axe Academy and Horlick's Nutrition Academy  etc. The positioning strategy of a brand posing as an expert is old fashioned strategy.

Here there are two significant changes that has happened interms of brand's positioning. The brand has moved from its core positioning as a Thirst Quencher to Freshness Provider. Thirst and Freshness, although related, are two different platforms. Thirst is a basic need while Freshness is a broader concept  ( benefit). So by shifting focus from thirst to freshness, the brand has made a  significant change in its positioning.But the current positioning has a problem. Another brand from Coca Cola stable - Limca has the positioning based on Freshness. The imagery of water splashing is shown in the commercials of Limca also.Limca has the tagline " Fresh Ho Jao " meaning " Be Fresh " . So is Sprite taking the place of Limca  ? Can two brands from the same company in the same market have same positioning ? Which is more fresh  - Limca or Sprite ? Is Limca on its way out ??? Has the company looked at the similarity in positioning of the brands in their portfolio ? 

Another significant shift is with regard to the brand personality of Sprite. All through the life, Sprite has been a ruthless critic of preaching. It had made sarcastic parodies and spoofs of brands which tried to show off or preach to customers. At one point of time, Sprite even had the tagline  "All Taste No Gyaan " means All taste No Preaching. It is saddening to see such a brand starting a university to teach some Gyaan to the consumers. This is a huge backtracking from the much publicized, much liked DNA of Sprite as a plain Thirst Quencher. The new ads of Sprite even shows the professor having a board which shows Freshology Lessons  ( Gyaan) ! What a paradox.

It is confusing why Sprite thought of such a big shift interms of the brand DNA ? The concept of a honest thirst quencher is a platform which is very strong and relevant. The scope of creative execution was also plenty. Since the brand has strongly associated with that platform, it also acted as a clear differentiator for the brand. If a consumer is asked  about Sprite, he would definitely say that its a clear drink that quenches the thirst , which is a powerful place to occupy in the consumer's mind. I feel that the brand has taken a huge risk in diluting the core positioning and altering the brand personality. The damage will be hard to repair.

Another factor which I have noticed is the audience or the TG which the brand is talking to. Sprite, in its commercials has always been male dominated. In all the campaigns except the Sania Mirza ad, main characters were male but the brand was never perceived to be a drink for men because the ladies were not shown in poor light. But in the latest two campaigns of Sprite, the brand has taken potshots on girls directly which is also a risky move for a gender- neutral product like a softdrink. There was no need to show girlfriends as jealous or boring unless the brand decides to target only male consumers. All though these issues may seem petty, its better to be careful.

The brand also has changed its tagline to " First Drink, Then Think " which may not have much relevance to the brand outside the context of the current campaign. The tagline is neither catchy nor worth remembering unlike the earlier taglines.

All those which has been discussed in this post are changes which have long-term effects. The shift in the core DNA of the brand will dilute the brand's equity which was built over the last 12 years. There is a clear sign of confusion in the brand's vision about its Manthra and Positioning. I think the brand should  First Drink and Then Think ... Clear Hai ?

Related Brand

Sprite

Brand Update : 7 Up gets into Anger Management

After a long period of neglect, Pepsi has given some life to its sparkling lime brand 7UP. Ever since the spectacular brand launch in 1992, the brand went down in its share of mind and the market share. Pepsi is to blame for not nurturing the brand enough. The space left vacant by 7 Up was successfully taken by Sprite and Pepsi still is confused between Mountain Dew and 7 Up.

Now after almost 3 years, some decent marketing campaign has been launched for this brand. The last campaign was in 2009 for the launch of 7 Up Nimbooz which further diluted the existence of the parent 7 UP brand.

For the summer of 2011, 7 Up has roped in the Bollywood star Sharman Joshi as the brand ambassador. The brand is currently running a series of TVC featuring Sharman.

Watch the ad here : 7 Up Truck 

Along with the new celebrity comes the new positioning platform. The brand has taken up the role of Anger Management Expert. The new ad puts 7 Up as the best way to chill the anger. The ad can be seen as a continuation of the earlier positioning of " Bheja Fry , 7 Up Try".

One of the grave problem that this brand faces is its positioning. The brand has never been able to find a right positioning for itself  in the Indian market. Although it came first, it had to play second fiddle to Mountain Dew and Pepsi was confused about the position of 7 Up  in the brand portfolio. This confusion enabled Sprite to become the third largest soft drink brand in the country.

The new ad and the positioning of Anger Manager is not going to do anything better for 7 Up . The ads are quite catchy and Sharman offers some amount of  " cool factor " . The brand has the new tagline " Chill Machao " . Again the tagline is skewed towards the Hindi speaking consumers and I cannot find a better English translation for that. Anyways the brand talks about keeping cool.. 

The new campaign and the celebrity will raise the share of mind for the brand. 7 Up still have strong awareness in the market. Fido Dido is still alive in the mind of the consumers and in this era of ZooZoos, Fido could have done wonders to the brand if it made a comeback now.

In my personal opinion,7 Up still has not found a right positioning but has come close. By explicitly focusing on Anger, the brand lost a chance to position itself as a " Keep it Cool " positioning . The brand should have taken a broader platform than just Anger . Anger is just one of those instances where one loses cool.   Hopefully the follow up commercials may take the brand to a much broader positioning platform than just anger management. 

Related Brand 

7 Up