Brand Update : Axe

Axe is a marketing phenomenon. This brand knows how to keep excitement ticking in the market. Last year saw the controversial Axe Dark Temptation making headlines . The brand has started 2009 with yet another launch - Axe 3 deo.

This is a unique innovative product where the brand asks the consumer to use two Axe Deos to gether to make a new fragrance. So Axe 3 comes in a combi-pack of two fragrances and the consumer can make a third one by spraying the two deos together.

Watch the ad here : Axe 3

Smart move indeed. Has anybody thought of combining two deos for a new fragrance ? ..

Axe 3 was launched in other markets in 2007 as a limited edition product.
A typical Axe 3 packs contains two deos marked 1 & 2. These cans should be sprayed together for a new fragrance.
The question is why should a consumer spend double the money for deos ? Why should he use two together and blow away double the money ?

The answer is that the brand does not expect every one to do so...

This is a product launched to keep the excitement going. That is the purpose of limited editions. All those Axe fans will try out this new product and competitors will have tough time matching this brand .

Axe has always been an unconventional brand. These seemingly outrageous innovations are in line with the brand's core positioning. And these launches gives enough reasons for Axe to advertise and that keeps the brand on top of the share of mind.

Related Brand

Axe

End Note : Neither the HUL website or the Axe Effect website carry any information about this new product launch. It is sad that a professional company like HUL did not have the common sense of regularly updating its websites.

Brand Update : Liril

After a long long time, the iconic Liril is back. Yesterday I saw the new tvc for Liril. The campaign looks foreign, complete with foreign models and settings.

The new tvc talks about 2000 points in our body which when touched will refresh us!!!! The ad uses the theme of a playful interaction between a father and baby to drive home the power of touch and these 2000 sensitive body points.

The ad claims that using Liril will rejuvenate those 2000 body points to keep you FRESH...

Well... some brands will never learn from mistakes. After the dumping of the famous imagery of Liril girl and the waterfall, the brand has never recovered. The fall of this iconic brand was accelerated by some stupid campaigns like Uff Umma and mindless product-line extensions like Orange Liril.

Now comes another half-hearted attempt to rejuvenate the brand. Although the new ad has a touch of class, it does not gel with the brand image of Liril that we had in our mind.

Another interesting development is that the entire product has also being changed. The brand packaging has been changed to dark green and the shape of the soap is changed to rectangle.

I still don't understand why the brand has not thought about bringing back its iconic positioning on freshness and its brand element of waterfall and still famous music. I am not saying that the brand should exactly replicate the earlier ads but it can creatively take advantage of that brand image which is still there in the consumer's mind.

Liril's consumers has become old and the new generation does not know much about this brand. But the collective memory and images are still there in the consumer space. It is also interesting to note that no other brand has been able to take up the space of Liril. So there is still lot of opportunity for Liril but going by the new campaign, that opportunity has been wasted miserably.

As a consumer , I still miss this soap.



Related brand
Liril

Brand Update : Lays

Lay's is on a repositioning mode again. The brand is currently running a new campaign with a new tagline " Be a little Dillogical ".

Dillogical is the new manthra for the brand. The newly coined term represents the logic of the heart ( I think So !). The new campaign with the new tagline how ever does not speak much about the new positioning.

Ever since the brand dropped its famous " No one can eat just one " tagline, Lays has never really caught the consumer's share of mind. None of the campaign with the tagline " Har Program Ka Main Food " really was as effective as the previous campaigns.

In my last post about this brand, I had criticized about the decision to change a famous tagline just for the sake of change . I think the brand never found its soul in the " program ka main food " tagline. This may have created the need for a new tagline.

I don't think that the Dillogical tagline is going to be any better than the last one. Pepsi is obsessed with Hinglish words , the recent one being Youngisthan.

In sheer share of voice and creativity, Bingo has clearly outsmarted Lays. The campaigns of Bingo has always been clutter- breaking and funny. Lays never was able to bring out a classy campaign after its repositioning.

Related Brand
Lays

Brand Update : Pulsar

Faced with stiff competition from the likes of Yamaha, Honda and TVS Apache, Bajaj Pulsar have decided to strike back. The brand has been facing competition from the super bikes and was pressurised to hit back aggressively. Yamaha with its new launches and Apache are slowly eating away the market once owned by Pulsar. Pulsar reacted to this by launching new variants but on the promotional front, it was keeping silence.

In my earlier posts, I have been criticising this brand for being laid back in its promotions and commoditising its DTSI USP.

The brand has launched its revamped Pulsar 220 variant which will reinforce the brand's core promise of a performance bike.

Watch the new tvc here : Bajaj Pulsar 220

Although the ad is quite long , I really liked the climax.

And Hurray, Pulsar has a new tagline " The Fastest Indian ". After dumping the " Definitely Male " tagline, Pulsar ads never was a thriller. The product qualities made the brand a huge success. The ads just increased the familiarity and recall.

The new ad and new tagline gives a remarkable boost to this brand. And " Fastest Indian " is a very very powerful tagline. ( Hopefully Bajaj will retain this tagline for years to come ).

It is very wise for the brand to own the highest superlative . Pulsar has owned the " Fastest " superlative , that means another brand cannot be faster than the fastest. This gives a powerful boost to the brand itself. It all depends on how well Pulsar takes this proposition forward.

And being Fastest appeals directly to the target audience . Now in the promotion front, Apache and other performance bikes has to create a new superlative to beat the Bajaj.

The new ad is also well executed and packs the punch at the end beautifully . More than the ad, I liked the tagline.

It is good to see Pulsar getting the much needed promotional and creative boost.

Related Brand

Pulsar

Brand Update : Liril

In my last brand update on Liril, I mentioned the relaunch of Liril as Liril 2000. This week's Brand Equity carried a story about the new adventure of Liril 2000. Read it Here .

As mentioned in the report, Liril is currently repositioned as a soap that refreshes 2000 vital body points.

I was really surprised at the news that Liril is copying the international brand Lever 2000 of the parent Unilever. The positioning of Lever 2000 and Liril 2000 is the same. The only difference is that Lever 2000 is white in color.

I would say that this marks the sad demise of one of the iconic brands in India. Liril has lost its entire brand personality and now is degraded as the poor cousin of another brand. This is strikingly similar to the automotive brand Maruti Zen which again had this same sad story.

HUL in recent times is in the process of bringing in international brands by replacing Indian brands. Clinic All Clear has been changed to Clear. Now Liril is being morphed into Lever 2000.

This is very surprising that a company like HUL ,which has built some of the iconic Indian brands, resort to killing its brands to make way for brands from its parent company.

I cannot buy the argument that Liril 2000 was launched to rejuvenate the Liril brand. If you are rejuvenating a brand, why should you copy the positioning of another brand and import its entire brand elements and even advertising ? A possibility of Liril 2000 being rebranded as Lever 2000 cannot be ruled out . HUL is notorious for such extra-ordinary marketing practices.

If you were really keen on rejuvenating Liril, any person with common sense will tell you to bring back the old memories. A campaign with the old jingle and the imagery will instantly bring this brand back to life. Every newspaper, channel and blogs will write about the comeback of Liril. (Now also blogs and newspapers are writing but not praising the brand) . But alas....

To be fair to Liril, I liked the concept of rejuvenation and 2000 body points. I would have loved it ,if it was for Lever 2000 but not for Liril On the positive side, the old imagery and the ads are popular among a segment of consumers who has now become old. For the new generation, they may have heard about the famous waterfall and the girl but never have experienced the it in real time. So for an uninitiated 20 year old, Liril 2000 may be a new experience. That may be what HUL also is hoping for....

Related Brand
Liril
Brand Update - Liril

Brand Update : Onida

According to a report in Economic Times, Onida has decided to send its iconic mascot- The Devil to Hell. According to the report, the brand feels that Devil is no longer attractive to the consumers and hence the decision to remove it. The report further says that the brand is working on a new mascot.

The report gave me a sense of Deja_vu. This is not the first time that Mirc Electronics ( brand owners) has scrapped the Devil.

In1998, Onida withdrew the mascot citing the same reasons that they have given now. The explanation given in 1998 was that Indian consumers no longer find Devil, who symbolizes Envy, relevant. So they scrapped the famous tagline " Neighbour's Envy, Owner's Pride " together with the Devil. But ever since it changed the tagline and mascot, Onida never found a powerful positioning .

After six years of drifting around, Onida brought back the Devil with much fanfare in 2004. Media and brand enthusiasts welcomed the move and eagerly awaited the Devil in a changed modern avataar. But the comeback was damp squib. The brand suffered heavily due to ownership issues within the company. There was no brand promotion or new product launches worth talking about since 2004. If at all there were launches, promotions were not sufficient enough.

Now in 2009, Onida is redoing its old strategy.

Onida is facing a marketing problem and not a branding problem. Everything is fine with the brand. People recognize the brand, love its mascot. The issue is on a larger perspective. It needs to concentrate on its entire marketing mix not just the brand elements. Changing the devil and bringing in a new mascot is not going to do any good to Onida.

The Economic Times report suggest that Onida is changing its brand elements because of competition from Korean brands like LG and Samsung. These Korean majors has built its position in Indian market riding on Product strategy rather than on heavy duty brand promotions. Their products were good, reasonably priced and well promoted. In the case of LG and Samsung, nobody really cares about the tagline. For them , the product speaks for itself.

Onida failed because its products failed. I was a die hard Onida fan . I loved my Onida KY Thunder Television. But after that there was nothing remarkable about Onida. No high technology products came from this brand.Onida became successful because the Devil was backed by products that really created envy in others. Now there is nothing to envy about Onida. Last year, I bought an Onida DVD player which boasts about playing scratched DVDs but the product failed miserably.

Now in the consumer durable space, brands are coming out with new advanced products on a monthly basis. Technology keeps changing and most brands are moving with break-neck speed to catch up with consumer expectations. In the case of Television, flat is now old and brands are talking about plasma, LCD etc. What is Onida doing in this space ?

Onida is now in one of the most difficult times. The brand needs to come out with a product that will change the game. Changing the mascot is secondary at this point of time.

Related Post

Onida Brand Update

Onida

Brand Update : Pears

It has been a long time since I wrote anything about Pears. The fact was that there was no big development about the brand for the past two years. The brand is regularly and consistently promoted across various media.

The brand extended itself to kid's category with the launch of Pears Junior and also into personal care segment with products like face wash. Pears also launched variants like Mint, Aloe Vera,Oil control etc during this period. Although the brand launched these variants, the core positioning of the brand remained the same for the original soap.

Recently I saw the new commercial of Pears

Watch it here : Pears

The brand is very consistent about the positioning strategy. Pears is built on the wonderful relationship between the Mother and

Child. All Pears ads captured this emotion quite perfectly. The brand focused on its " Transparency " and is positioned as a " Pure and Gentle " Soap.

This time too, the brand follows the same theme. The significant addition is that now Pears has a tagline - Masoom.

Masoom translates to Innocence . So Pears now celebrates a new brand value - Innocence.

The new campaign is nice but as a Southie I did not quite understood the dialogue. But the cute child and the theme always work the magic.

I am assuming that Pears brand is serious about the Masoom Tagline. Masoom concept works very well for Pears. The concept of innocence fits with the " transparency " and Pure & Gentle positioning.

Pears was one of those brands which did not have a tagline. With out the help of the tagline , the brand was able to communicate its core positioning. The core brand values of Pears was communicated through visual cues .

The tagline of Masoom seems to gel with the brand. Whether and how the brand is going to use this tagline in future is something to watch for.

Related Post

Pears

Brand Update : Onida

Onida has launched its new campaign after putting the devil to rest. The campaign is aimed at repositioning and rejuvenating the brand. The brand is trying for a comeback after years of uncertainty which made this (once) iconic brand lose its share in the market.

Watch the new campaign here : Onida new campaign

In my last post on Onida, I commented that Onida's real problem is not branding but marketing. The brand desperately needed break-through products and embrace new technologies. If the new ads are any indication, the brand is moving in the right direction. The brand is trying to launch products with new features, which is the right thing to do .

Regarding the brand campaign, Onida now has a new tagline- " Tum Ko Dekha to ye design aya" meaning " Designed with you in mind ". The brand replaced the iconic devil with a new-age couple as the protagonists.

Onida is now repositioning on the basis of " Customer Oriented Design". The brand is saying that its products are designed with the new-age customer in mind. The new tagline has nothing new in it and "customer-oriented" design positioning is used by many brands before. In comparison with the classic "Neighbor's envy , Owner's Pride", the new campaign falls short of expectation. ( Another viewpoint here)

In the consumer durable space, it is the product features that attract the buyers not the ads. If Onida can give technologically advanced products at reasonable price, consumers will definitely try it out. But there are issues in such a product oriented strategy. Most of the new features can be copied easily by the competitors unless otherwise protected by patents. When Onida launches a DVD player which plays micro-sd cards, other players are bound to follow. It is in this scenario that branding becomes important. Onida needs to convince the consumers that its products are better designed and technologically superior. It is about managing perception .Features can be copied by competitors easily but changing perception is a difficult task.

Onida needs to work hard on creating and nurturing new perceptions about itself in the mind of the consumers. Long way to go for this brand......

Related Brand

Onida

Mont Blanc : A Story to Tell

Corporate Brand : Mont Blanc
Agency : Meridian

Brand Analysis Count : 432

Mont Blanc is an iconic brand. This luxury iconic brand is now making waves in India. Mont Blanc has a very rich heritage. Created in 1906, the brand was born in Germany. Mont Blanc was founded by stationer Claus Johannes Voss , banker Alfred Nehemias and engineer August Eberstein in Hamburg. The company was earlier christened as Simplo Filler pens but was later changed in to Mont Blanc in 1910.

Mont Blanc which started off as a writing instrument brand soon became an iconic accessory brand selling wallets , watches, jewelery, eye wear and fragrance. This brand thrives on luxury and exclusivity. More than a writing instrument, Mont Blanc is more of an art item, something to show off your success than a functional instrument.
The brand is also carefully crafted. Mont Blanc takes special care in ensuring that the brand communication is reflecting its exclusivity and premium positioning.

Mont Blanc entered India in 1995. The brand has adopted the strategy of slow skimming was initially available in premium boutiques at places like Taj Hotels.
Globally, Mont Blanc built its brand through print media. The brand crafted exquisite ads in the premium lifestyle magazines. This year, the brand deviated from its time tested media strategy and launched its first Indian TVC featuring Bollywood Actor Anil Kapoor and his daughter Actress Sonam Kapoor.

Watch the TVC here : Mont Blanc

Mont Blanc has the tagline " A story to Tell" . This is a positioning that takes the brand from a functional perspective to a higher level positioning. The brand talks about pen as a power to write one's own destiny. This is one of the best positioning statement I have seen in recent times.
In India, Mont Blanc is trying to tell stories of successful personalities who had achieved success not because of heritage but hard work.

The television commercial surprised me because of the choice of Anil Kapoor as the brand ambassador. Even though Anil Kapoor fits well in the brand's positioning based on " story to tell" and rags to riches kind of stuff, Anil Kapoor does not really gel with the over all brand personality of Mont Blanc.
He is an actor who has now virtually retired . Even during his hay days, Anil Kapoor was never considered as an iconic star. So by choosing a star who has faded from limelight seems to be a wrong choice for the brand.
Another question that came to my mind is whether Mont Blanc really needed a brand ambassador ? In the Indian advertising world, stars have become a commodity. These stars only give some 'stickyness' to the ad and other than that there is virtually no value addition to the brand equity.
In my personal opinion, Mont Blanc lost some its premiumness by choosing to get help from a celebrity.

Mont Blanc also was in limelight in India as a part of a controversy. The brand launched a limited edition Pen inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. The pen which was priced at around Rs 12 lakh generated enough controversy for the brand ( worth millions of dollars of free publicity).
The limited edition pen had Gandhiji's image engraved in the nib and also the top of the cap and cone was inspired by the spindle which Gandhiji used to spin cotton.
The limited edition pen with its huge price tag quickly captured the imagination of media and politicians who began a high profile debate on " commercialization of Gandhiji".

As an individual , I was happy that Mont Blanc chose to celebrate one India's finest son with a special edition product. I was more happy because they chose to price this special product with an exorbitant rate. I believe that Gandhiji is not cheap. He lived a humble life does not mean that everything about him should be cheap or priced low. If politicians can choose to use Gandhiji for furthering their goals, why can't brands ? And marketers are not fools to mess with a highly revered icon like Mahatma.

Mont Blanc is a brand that changed the way pens were looked at. The classic white flower-shaped symbol that adored the cap of this pen is considered an ultimate symbol of success. Mont Blanc does not need someone to make it a success it is the other way around.

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk

Cadbury has launched a new variant of Dairy Milk branded as Dairy Milk Silk. The brand is currently running two TVCs for this variant

Watch the tvc here : Dairy Milk Silk Dance

: Dairy Milk Silk Conference

The brand has been moving away from the celebrity endorsed approach it was following in the last few years. The new campaign is refreshing and brings back the memories of its earlier iconic campaign " Asli Swaad zindagi ka" . I liked the conference one than the dance one.

As I understand , Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is a smooth and silky version of the original Dairy Milk. The brand is priced at a premium over the Diary Milk which makes it an Upmarket Stretch in marketing terms.

The ads are spot on the brand's core positioning of " enjoying the moments". The agency has conveyed the message in such a captivating manner that many adults who has forgotten about the original brand promise and experience will be attracted back to the brand.

I hope that the brand will scale new positioning heights and it is a learning experience to watch this brand evolving itself.

A related nice article in Afaqs.

Related Brand

Cadbury's Dairy Milk

Allen Solly : My World , My Way

Brand : Allen Solly

Company : Madura Garments

Ad Agency : Ogilvy

Brand Analysis Count : # 458

Allen Solly is a brand that changed the dressing habits of Indian executives. Launched in 1993, Allen Solly attained a near cult status in a highly competitive readymade market within a short period of time.

Allen Solly's heritage dates back to 1744 when this brand was created by William Hollins & Co . In 1990, the brand was taken over by Madura Garments which launched it in India in 1993. Madura Garments which was looking for an unconventional brand targeting young professionals found a fitting brand in Allen Solly.

Madura Garments rightly spotted a need for a casual work-wear among the young professionals. The growing young working class and the rise of the IT clan of employees further reinforced the potential of a relaxed formal wear.

Allen Solly entered the market with the blockbuster concept of Friday Dressing. The idea was not new. Globally the there was a marked trend towards relaxed workwear and Allen Solly pioneered that concept in the Indian market.

Allen Solly launched office wears in colored shirts and Khaki trousers which became an instant hit. For the first time, Indian consumers were exposed to the idea of relaxed formals. Indian consumers took the bait and rushed to color coordinate their wardrobe with enthusiasm.

Not stopping by these, Allen Solly further experimented with

unconventional shades like beige and tan. Soon the logo attained cult status among the Indian consumers . Allen Solly was in a way announced the coming of age of the mature global Indian workforce.

In 1995, the brand launched ultra bright colors in the formal segment. Colors like yellow, brown , red etc was introduced as formal wears. The yellow shirt featured in the TV commercial became a big hit among the consumers.

The brand further reinforced its cult status with the launch of wrinkle free cottons and checked formal shirts. The young restless generation lapped up the unconventional formals and used it as an expression of their personal freedom.

From the sales data,the company noticed that there was a huge demand for trousers of size 26-28 from women. Taking a cue, Allen Solly launched its range of women wear which was well accepted by the target group.

The competitors soon caught up with the concept of Friday Dressing. Every brand launched similar ranges and colors and soon relaxed formal wear became part of normal work wear. Allen Solly was valued at Rs 250 crore brand by now.

In 2009, the brand went for a repositioning exercise. Allen Solly found that there is a shift in the demographics of the target segment. While the workforce of 1990s were predominantly of the age group of 26 +, now youngsters of age 22-23 yrs have started entering the workforce. The brand wanted to be more relevant to the new young working class. Also the brand somehow wanted to attract consumers beyond the workplace.The worldview of the young consumers have also changed. Earlier success in life was measured based on work. But now the success is more holistic . Allen Solly wanted to reflect this change of perspective of the young consumers.

This thinking prompted the brand to change its positioning from a work-wear to a fashion brand. The brand positioned itself as a casual brand for all occasions.

To reflect the change in positioning, the brand changed its brand campaigns.In 2009, the brand launched its famous " I Hate Ugly " campaign targeting the youth.

The basic proposition was to reflect the irreverent , non-compromising attitude of youngsters towards life. This in-your- face communication struck a chord with the consumers and critics and the brand was able to break the earlier association of the brand as a formal wear.

The brand created a big noise in the market with I Hate Ugly campaign and it will be interesting to see how the brand carries forward the momentum.

Allen Solly also changed the tagline to " My World , My Way " to reflect the new brand proposition. My World , My Way reflects the strong individualistic view of the youngsters who own their world and create their own rules.

In a way, the brand has completely shed its earlier DNA. No longer the brand is associated with formal wears. The brand literally exited the category of relaxed formal wears which it has created. One reason can be that category itself became irrelevant since all brands have their own line of relaxed formal wear. Brands like Color Plus has successfully established itself in that category .

In the new avatar, Allen Solly is targeting the ever- fickle young generation whose concept of fashion changes by the day. The brand has identified a gap for a premium fashion brand specifically targeting this segment. Although brands like Levi's have a strong equity in the market, there is a gap for a player like Allen Solly.

Allen Solly's repositioning is a loss to the generation who saw the Friday Dressing avatar of this brand. Lets us hope that Allen Solly will repeat what it has done to the Work-wear market in 1993.

Brand Update : Rasna brings back " I Love You Rasna " Tagline

After around 5 years of messing up and experimenting with various taglines and positioning, Rasna has reverted to its original and famous tagline " I Love You Rasna " in 2011. The brand is now running a campaign for Rasna Fruitplus with the original tagline.

Watch the ad here : Rasna 2011 ad 

The brand from 2006 has been unnecessarily dabbling with its taglines and positioning. The change in the classic tagline was  prompted by increased competition and to attempt to attract youth towards the brand. The tagline of Rasna was first changed to " Relish a Gain ". Then came the tagline " Taste the madness".The campaign theme was also drastically altered. The cute girl child which formed the protagonist was changed. The target segment was also changed to include adults.  The brand was totally confused as to how to go about attracting the youth who were hooked to aerated softdrinks. Rasna could have attempted this using a sub-brand rather than changing the parent brand's positioning strategy. 

One good thing that the brand did was to focus on the health platform. But the communication during these years were totally below average ( personal opinion ). Another smart marketing practice adopted by Rasna was to launch products at interesting price points like 50 paisa, Rs.5 Rs.10,Rs.15, Rs.20 to Rs 85. The brand came out with smaller packs, Sachets and a packaging innovation like Rasna Sticks at Rs 5. These price points acted as a strong entry barrier for the competing brands.

Rasna is the market leader in the power-segment of Rs 1000 crore Indian prepared beverages market. The powdered beverages segment is valued around Rs 400-450 crore. Source : Business Standard.  The market has witnessed lot of competition but these competitors were not able to make a big dent in the market share of Rasna. Even the globally renowned brand like Tang was not able to make its mark in the Indian market. 

The brand hold tremendous recall and equity in the market and is the preferred choice to consumers thanks to the earlier brand building efforts. The kids who relished the " I love you Rasna " era has now grown up and the brand needs to establish the same connect with the next generation. Unlike the earlier Rasna generation, the new kids are growing up with Pepsi, Coke and Lays. 

In the last few years, the brand was trying to woo the so called " Youth " towards itself and messing up the brand. Afaqs Reports say that the brand earlier desperately wanted to break out of the earlier positioning worrying that it will be perceived as a kid's brand . I don't understand why the brand wanted to breakout from kid's market ( which is sufficiently large). In that process, the brand went into a positioning mess. 

How ever, Rasna did many right things in the other marketing mix elements. The brand priced itself smartly, launched many variants including squash and glucose powder , strengthened its distribution reach . 

Now the brand got back to the old ways. I am not sure about the reasons for this reversal of positioning strategy. How ever, it brings back the old memories for sure. 

Related Brand.

Rasna

Vespa : Fashion Unchanged

Brand : Vespa
Company : Piaggio

Brand Analysis Count : # 512

Vespa is back in a new avatar or rather in its Original avatar. The brand which died in 2006 is being resurrected by its original owners is set to change the way Indian consumers think about scooters. Vespa initially came to India in 1960 with partner Bajaj  and later through LML. The brand had a tough ride in the Indian market with some few successes like LML Vespa Select. But the brand failed to bring in volumes which eventually led the demise of this stylish brand.

Although Vespa had a different image compared to its rival Bajaj, the brand was never considered to be lifestyle oriented. Consumers considered it as a stylish scooter and the image ended with that.

This 2012, Vespa has come back to Indian market with its original persona of an Italian Scooter. The launch is significant because of the iconic status that Vespa enjoys elsewhere in the world. It is also interesting to see how Indian consumer will welcome the second homecoming of the brand.

The main reason behind the relaunch of Vespa is the increasing interest shown by consumers towards the scooter segment. According to Economic Times, Indian scooter market is around 2.5 million units growing at CAGR of 20%. Lot of new launches are happening in this market and consumers seems to prefer the utility of this product.

What is interesting in Vespa is the brand's positioning as a fashion statement. For the first time in this segment, a brand is exploring the possibility of creating a new market - lifestyle scooter. The target segment is youth who wants to be different, make a style statement. Essentially a psychographic segmentation. The brand is now focusing on print campaigns which makes sense .

The brand has the tagline " Fashion Unchanged" and is drawing power from its legacy dating back to 1945. The brand uses funky colors and evokes as sense of youthfulness that fits a fashion brand.

The brand has done it right in terms of the product design. The scooters looks cute and stylish and the advertisements looks chic. Although the product reviews are average, Vespa is expecting to sell for its looks and more importantly its brand image. The brand owners are repeatedly telling that Vespa is not for power-hungry as an excuse for the poor engine specifications. But hope they don't forget that consumers should get a decent deal when the brands commands a premium. Poor specs cannot be masked through colorful advertisements and lifestyle positioning.

The challenge for the brand is to show value. The brand is expensive and the specifications is nothing special so getting Indian youth to open up their wallet for the sake of looking fashionable seems to be a tough task.

The silver lining is that this is the era of design and experience. Lot depends on the brand's ability to convey fashion statement through the product. 

The steep price will force customers to compare value with the workhorses like Activa, although Activa is not a style statement. There is a chance that the brand will remain aspirational restricted to a few. The brand could have done wonders if it was priced at an affordable range and get more on the road - some thing like an affordable fashion statement. But Italian arrogance is visible in the pricing. The brand with the styling and premiumness can make Indian consumers drool or will they ?

Related brand

LML Vespa

Brand Update : Cinthol says Alive is Awesome

It is very easy to kill a brand or weaken its positioning. Ignore it, reduce investment and within no time, the brand will fade away from consumer's mind. But to bring a brand from obscurity to stardom is a Herculean task. 

Cinthol is one such iconic brand which now has the daunting task of bringing the old glory back. The neglected 60 year old brand from Godrej's stable saw some activity in 2008 when the brand was re-packaged and Hrithik Roshan was introduced to endorse the brand.  The brand also saw a new tagline " Don't Stop" . Some hope was restored about the brand's future. But alas, the enthusiasm was temporary and the campaign died down. For the last couple of years, the brand went again into slumber except for some sporadic campaigns.

Now with much hope, the brand owners have decided  ONCE AGAIN to reposition Cinthol. The brand will be launching the new campaign soon .

Watch the new ad here : Cinthol campaign

The brand has hit upon a new idea " Being Alive is Awesome ". The ad is targeted at the younger consumers who wants to live their life to the fullest and the brand has tried to squeeze itself in the entire scheme of things. In a sense, the tagline represents the brand essence of  a very active lifestyle. But the question is did the brand used the earlier positioning of  " Don't Stop" to the maximum ? These frequent changes in the tagline and the positioning has affected this brand by confusing the consumers with different messages and brand promises. 

I feel that in the new campaign , the brand is trying little too hard to relate to the new generation. For a brand like Cinthol, it need to resist from trying hard to convince. The lyrics and the singing ( rather screaming) gives me a feeling that the brand is desperate to connect to the new generation consumers. That desperation is sadly visible in the campaign. For example the term awesome is a very visible  and obvious attempt to show that the brand is young. But why try hard ? 

To be fair to the brand, it is a smart idea for the brand to go back to the classic form factor and  packaging.  The classic Cinthol comes in the rectangular bathing bar form while the variants came in the usual  soap form with rounded edges. The brand had earlier retained the traditional paper wrapper to the Classic Cinthol and used the common plastic pack for the variants. Here in the new avatar, the brand uses the  rectangular bar form in all the variants and the packaging is also same as that of Classic Cinthol soap. The form factor can give the brand a unique identity.

Alive is Awesome as a positioning platform makes sense. I hope that in subsequent campaigns, the brand will take this concept to a higher level. Sadly the experience so far suggest that after the initial spurt, the brand has a tendency to go to hibernation. And when it rises again, then there will be a new agency and a new positioning. 

Related Brand

Cinthol

Brand Update : Axe Extends to Soaps

Axe deo , the market leader in the Rs 1000 crore Indian deo market has extended itself to soaps. In the typical Unilever style of experimenting with successful brands the current guinea pig brand is Axe. The rationale is very simple  a) The soap market is witnessing a growth while deo market is now full of competition

b) With Cinthol brand becoming unisex, there is a vacuum for a men's soap brand and Axe is the best fit for filling the gap.

c) The lure for incremental profits from an established brand.

Indian soap market is around Rs 6500 crore and the men's grooming market is around Rs 1500 crore ( Economic Times). The brand may be looking to become an umbrella brand endorsing multiple products across the men's grooming category. The big question is whether these extensions will make the original deo brand vulnerable ? 

I think so.

I wonder why Axe is being extended when there is so much competition in the deo market. Axe is now attacked both on positioning front as well as on product attributes front. The Axe positioning is aped by most of the deo brands to the point that everything is so predictable and boring. Now HUL is further diluting the brand by its extension into a different category. 

The new extension carries the same positioning as the Original Axe brand . Axe bathing bar has the tagline " Engineered for Guys ". The ad campaign follows the same theme as the Axe Deo brand.

Watch the ad here : Axe Deo

Priced at a premium of Rs 35, Axe expects the brand loyalists to be the early adopters for this brand. HUL will be leveraging on its huge distribution strength and its reach to make sure that Axe Bathing Bar is available across the markets. To be fair to this experiment, Axe globally also is extended to various categories like Body Wash, Talcum powder etc but none of the extensions has been as successful as the original product. The same will be the case in the case of Axe Soap also.