Is Kizashi 'Something Great'?

Tracked by TEJA BANDARU

Kizashi, means ‘Something great is coming’ in Japanese. So is the car worth the meaning? May not be in this country with a billion people who know about Maruti in and out. It can be seen that Maruti is trying to break the notion that Indians have towards the company. Currently the D segment and the upper D segment are ruled by Honda, Toyota, Skoda and Volkswagen who have a very high brand recognition which is difficult for Maruti Suzuki to overcome as they have been and still making small cars and they stand for it.

I would say, it might not make a mark in this particular segment. It had previously tested waters through Baleno. Baleno is a good car. It’s got decent looks, if not great and a very efficient mill under its hood. But everybody knows what happened to the ‘product’. Same happened with Grand Vitara, futuristic looks, great promotions et al but no luck. I fear that same might happen with Kizashi.

To add to this dilemma and apprehension; is the TVC’s brought out. What does it convey? Nothing. What I could deduct was that Maruti is trying to showcase that kizashi IS a luxury car but the audience might not recognize it because nothing apart from a quarter of the steering wheel is shown and every car from 8 laksh have those buttons on the wheel . Are they special? Then put it in the ad! BUT, there’s a flipside to my point; it can be a teaser ad but nowhere is it mentioned like that. So I assume that the TVC is a proper one and is not captivating enough to make the prospect close the sale.

Next, an innovation that is being done by MSIL specifically for Kizashi is that they are establishing a direct sales force for the brand. This can steal the hearts of its prospective buyers. Nevertheless one can’t guarantee the model’s success. Hence, to overcome this, there is a time tested strategy which might work, it is the creation of a sub-brand bearing no relation to Suzuki. Yes, you are right, like the Lexus. The Japanese have been pioneers in this strategy especially in the automotive space. Though this is not as simple as giving this idea but the most benefit able solution given that Suzuki is partly owned by Volkswagen. Hence, let us see if Kizashi can really make a dent in the Indian market.

Saffola - The Curious Case of Brand Extension. How Far is too Far?

Tracked by KUMAR RAUNAK

Saffola the flagship brand of fmcg major Marico in the cooking oil space has over the years become well-entrenched in the minds of the consumers as a health and wellness brand. This led the company to extend this brand name to its other offerings in the packaged foods category. The company sought to leverage the positioning of Saffola as a health brand for other products in this category. The obvious logic behind this was that in a fiercely competitive market with players like HUL, Pepsico, Conagra and Nestle, it was essential to use the health plank for positioning as consumers became more health conscious. It first started with Saffola low sodium salt and atta for diabetics which did reasonably well and created a niche market segment. In feb 2010, Saffola Arise, a low calorie and low carbohydrate packaged rice brand was launched after being successfully test marketed in the high rice consuming states of Maharashtra and Andhra pradesh. So far the response has been good and according to company sources there are a good number of instances of repeat purchases. Seeing the good response the company has also started test marketing Saffola oats from june 2010 in some select cities especially in southern states where oat consumption is high. But in this brand extension spree there was one launch which failed miserably and that was Saffola Zest, a salty snack with different flavours. It was launched in mid 2009 but was withdrawn from the market in dec 2009 after it registered low sales and could not generate good consumer response.

What could have gone wrong ?

Brand extension works well when there are certain core similarities that seamlessly connect two or more products via the brand being used for extension. This basically means when a consumer buys a new product with brand name borrowed from an existing product, he/she should be able to connect this product to the existing one through some core value propositions. In case of Saffola Arise and atta this value proposition was firmly pronounced , just as we consume cooking oil everyday in some or the other food item and yearn for fried food items , in the same way we prefer to consume rice everyday and yearn for it, and in both the case health concerns should be taken care of and saffola brand name reassured consumers about this. But in the case of salty snacks it is the taste of the product which is the overriding factor since snacks are not consumed in bulk and thrive on impulse buying, so health concerns take a backseat. This could have rendered Saffola brand name irrelevant to a certain extent. So the lesson that could be learnt from this is that brand extension exercises have to be undertaken while taking into account the synergies that would be created as a result of this and not merely a common umbrella name.

Cross Promotions

Contributed By VARUN VASUDEVAN

McDonalds turns Eeco-friendly

When you lift that burger from your plate to take a bite, your eyes fall on that paper mat which a McDonald’s vendor has slipped onto your tray. And what do you see?

A Maruti Suzuki Eeco advertisement! Eeco is targeting the middle class family man who loves to take his family out with him frequently – for shopping, to restaurants, picnics etc. Priced for this target audience, Eeco is positioned as being spacious and value for money. Of course, reliability and service are implicit in any new offering by Maruti India.

Hey, but isn’t that whom McDonalds is targeting too - the middle class family which loves spending time together over a value for money, hearty meal and wants quick service and reliability.

You may think they are strange bedfellows, but our ‘M&M’ have joined hands to do a classic ‘Cross Promotion’. Yes, that’s the marketing term for this alliance. Think about it – their target audience is similar and their positioning is on the same lines. So while Maruti reaches its target audience in a more focused manner, McDonalds gets some extra pocket money.   

ABG books Crossword

Crossword, of all the places, I thought! But then, why not? Actually, it’s a pretty good hunch that the person picking up a book from the baby care shelf may be buying baby-care products as well. So Aditya Birla Group’s baby care brand - Puretta has strategically placed its advertisements on these shelves so as to catch their target consumer’s eye.

Surely, there are many such cross-promotions running at your place. You just gotta keep your eyes open. At least the company targeting you will be hoping so.

Micromax - My First Android

Tracked By KARTHIK RAJA

Micromax entered the hugely lucrative smartphone market with its first Android   Phone - Andro A60 in November 2010.It came up with a tongue in cheek campaign to catch the attention of its TG.

Viral marketing

Micromax had a website up where it is offering an Android phone for free.  Here’s what you had to do to stand a chance of getting a free Android phone.Head over to MyFirstAndroid.com. Fill in a story of what you can do to get your first Android.

The campaign coupled with the TVC’s based on the same theme were a massive success among its TG with total entries touching 4 figures.

Some of the innovative quotes -

"For my first android phone..i can talk with mahesh bhatt and yash ji..with ear-plug of course.."

"For getting my first android i can listen himesh reshamia’s song for atleast 1 min…after that i can faint.."

"For my first android, I will dump my girlfriend and marry any random girl my parents pick up. True story!"

The feel of the entire campaign reflects the preferences and interest of youth in the age of 18-25 which forms a major portion of their customers.Micromax bases its communication on the premise that the major interests of this group of customers are cricket,bollywood and music. This focus is reflected by their choice of IPL as a medium to brand, their tie up with MTV and the USP's of their products.  The spunk element in the campaign helped capture attention and connect with potential buyers in a unique way helping it carve out a distinctive positioning among the clutter.

Pepsi - The Kiss Campaign

Tracked By KARTEEK SRI MURTHY

Pepsi India came up with the ad in December 2010. It was put up on youtube. Pepsi says “A chilled Youngistaani in a sizzling situation! Check this out people!!! “. On the contrary the comment with the highest likes is “I hate the Youngistaan ads. They may be funny but they make our generation  appear careless and immature. I can’t support this shit. Eve”. The video has garnered 65 likes and 36 dislikes. The total number of views garnered till now 135,127.

So what is Pepsi doing right or wrong? In an attempt to identify itself with the Youngistaan, is Pepsi crossing the boundaries?  Has the ad arrived too early for the Indian audience? Little I wonder, the educated class who must have watched this video on youtube didn’t like it. Where is all the negativity coming from? Is Pepsi doing the right thing in allowing the negative comments to stay on the page or has it moved on from the commercial? Is Pepsi sending out the right message to the Youngistaan?

The following population figures from the World Bank gives a clear picture of the potential of India’s demographic dividend. In 2020, it is estimated, the average Indian will be only 29 years old, compared with the average age of 37 years in China and the US, 45 in west Europe and Japan. Exploring the attitudes and perspectives of India’s young population, therefore, becomes as much an exercise of historical curiosity as it is a political necessity.

India is seen as the new happening place by the global media. The attitude of the Indian youth is vulnerable and needs to be prepared for the future. This attempt by Pepsi waylays the point. Hinting at crossing the boundaries in such an unscrupulous fashion suggests that according to Pepsi the Indian youth have successfully aped the west. In a country where such scenarios are considered taboo and the elders are still given utmost respect, the ad breaks this notion. Maybe that is why it has become unpopular, because the present adult generation still wants to keep tabs on the younger ones and not let them slip out of sight. The protectiveness which is pervasive in the Indian family is being challenged.

On the other hand to those chosen few who can indulge in such vistas, this is Pepsi’s attempt at encouraging him/her to think beyond the conventional boundaries. Such an audience would welcome this ad.

Compare this ad with the “lead India” campaign by times of India or the Jaago Re campaign by Tata Tea. Both are again focused on the youngsters. Both are very successful campaigns. Looks like the Indian youth has successfully taken in the modern outlook from the west but has the traditional roots intact. In fact, I believe that the Indian youth is now in a position to take their own decisions and they can choose well. Pepsi has to recognize this fact and instead of showing the adults in a poor light, they need to come up with something more meaningful for the Youngistaan.

FIFA World Cup - Brand Battle Ground

Contributed By AMAN OBEROI

Football is no child’s play, its serious business.  The global football market is valued at $10.9 billion, with the U.S. siphoning off $900 million. Top dog, however, is the U.K., with $1.4 billion being spent on soccer. In 2006, Brits spent almost $245 million on replica football merchandise.

Last year the biggest football fiesta took place in South Africa – the 19^th FIFA World Cup. It is the most widely viewed spectacle across the globe with an estimated viewership of around 700 million for the finals alone.

This is a golden opportunity for anyone who can shell out the money to garner the maximum eyeballs they can. When it comes to sports apparel, this event is what all their efforts boil down. With billions of dollars riding on their world cup campaigns no one can afford to make a mistake.

Nike and Adidas are the leading players in the Sports Apparel Industry. They have a strong presence throughout the world and together they account for about two-thirds of this market, with Puma coming in a distant third.

Adidas has long been associated with the World Cup and has been the official Ball manufacturer for FIFA since 1970 and it was also the official sponsor of the World Cup. Apart from this , 12 teams kits were sponsored by Adidas as compared to Nike’s  nine.

But as the world cup kicked off both the companies had only one thing on their mind, whose brand generates the maximum buzz.

Nike countered Adidas’s official sponsor strategy by launching a massive campaign “ Write the Future” which went viral on the internet, it also bought the top banner ad on Youtube (which readapted its logo for the football frenzy). Nike also leveraged the success of its 2010 World Cup Write the Future ambush marketing effort with a campaign extension that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness in partnership with (RED). The pro-social message, which stars soccer icon Didier Drogba, is particularly apt in Africa as "ground zero" for the global AIDS crisis.

It  also let fans "Write Your Headline, Write the Future" in an interactive extension of its World Cup campaign. Johannesburg's 30-story Life Center is served as a digital billboard that projected a mix of soccer stars with social networkers' personal messages sent via #NikeFuture on Twitter, Facebook, QQ in China and Mxit in South Africa.

The Write the Future ad was a 3 minute video featuring the top footballers with whom Nike has a contract, even though these footballers such were wearing Adidas kits during the World cup (example Cristiano Ronaldo who plays for Portugal , sponsored by Adidas). The video was aired on primetime sports channels before and after the world cup matches and garnered about 20 million views till date . Adidas tried to make a comeback with a video based on star wars featuring Daft Punk, Snoop Dogg and David Beckham but couldn't match upto the buzz created by Nike.

But even as Nike took the lead in this respect Adidas had crossed $2 billion in sales before the World Cup had begun.

This pattern was seen throughout the World Cup before the matches started. Non-sponsors outperformed sponsors in terms of online marketing around the event. There's Nike over Adidas; Pepsi over Coke; Carlsberg over Budweiser. FIFA organizers got a lot of cooperation from South African officials to stop ambush marketing during the matches. 36 Dutch fans in orange mini dresses were removed from a game, for planning a stunt for non-sponsor Bavaria Beer.

But as the world cup progressed the buzz around Nike died down and Adidas took the lead again , partly due to the controversy over the Official Jabulani ball and partly due to the success of the teams that it sponsored mainly Spain and Germany which were tipped as the favourites for the Cup.

But FIFA, which earns 30% of its income from sponsorships, can't do much about marketers capitalizing on World Cup excitement on the web (or TV, for that matter). This raises the question of what the future holds for big-money sponsorships around events. Non-sponsors are showing they can do as well or better without paying up for "official" status, especially if they have existing marketing relationships with the athletes themselves, as Nike and Pepsi do .This becomes all the more important in the Indian context, as we are on the threshold of witnessing another sporting phenomenon, The 2011 cricket World Cup. In the past, companies have not shied away from launching an offense on the official sponsors (ala Pepsi versus Coke, Nothing official about it campaign in 1996). So it still is a tough call whether to go Official or not , but with stricter laws and stronger enforcement in order to protect official sponsors by the governing bodies such as FIFA and ICC, the ambush marketing campaigns are set to get better and more innovative than ever before.

Bajaj Pulsar - Growing Older and Meaner

Tracked By ABHISHEK GUDIMETLA

Bajaj auto initially known throughout the decades for its scooters and a few commuter motorcycles in the late 90s gave the Indian biking scene a new boost, a performance motorcycle revolution after the turn of the century in 2001 with the launch of the Pulsar.

Originally launched with two engine options 150cc and 180cc the bikes grew to cult status in India. They joined the Hero Honda CBZ in the 150+ cc performance bike segment in the domestic market which was still largely an Economy-Commuter two wheeler dominated market till then, except for a few models of 2-stroke performance bikes from Yamaha and Suzuki. The 180 was the fastest bike on sale then. From the strategy point of view, this was the time when Bajajs mainstay, the Chetak scooter sales were dropping rapidly in the competition from the competitions  100-125cc 4-stroke bikes  which provided far better fuel efficiency figures, ergonomics, and other modern advancements. Customers looking for performance bikes had very few options.

The Pulsar range was to change this all and it far exceeded expectations. Both the 150 and 180cc versions of the bike were highly successful. The bikes offered in your face macho styling (and hence the caption ‘Definitely Male’) and very sharp handling and high power for the Indian biking enthusiast of the day. People loved it. There was nothing people could complain about. The bike was cheaper than the competition, faster than it and also more fuel efficient. The market did not have much on offer for the starving Indian motorcycle audience and the Pulsar flew in so rapidly with yearly and even half yearly updates of the bike!  The liking to Pulsars taken by the enthusiasts and commuters alike can be clearly seen from the sales figures achieved by the Pulsar bikes over the years. Many have turned Pulsar loyalists! The Pulsar is one of the main reasons for the sudden bloom of performance motorcycle scene in India as they offered class leading performance, fuel efficiency at a price cheaper than competition. The bikes since then have gone through a number of facelifts, modifications, iterations and developments, Bajaj never failing to innovate their product in the wake of competition and customer needs. Pulsar 200dtsi and 220dst-fi were subsequently launched in 2006 for the ever power hungry Pulsar aficionados. Both the bikes had higher power and performance figures than ever. The Pulsar 220cc flagship bike has the distinction of being ‘The Fastest Indian manufactured bike ever’ and the title still holds again today.

The advertisement campaigns themselves were perfectly suited to the Pulsar. Bajaj launched a string of ‘Pulsar Mania’ ads which very a huge rage and ground breaking. The after effects of the campaign was the number of informal Pulsar stunting/racing/owner groups spawning across the country!

Models launched till date - 

2001: 150cc and 180cc single spark

2003:  150cc and 180cc Digital Twin Spark Ignition (dtsi) and 2005: Upgrades to Suspension, Wheels, Electricals etc

2007: Launch of 200cc dtsi(discontinued in 2009) and 220 dts-fi  

2009: Pulsar 135 dtsi, smallest and lightest Pulsar yet

2010: Launch of Pulsar 220 DTSi , the current Fastest India Production bike

2011: Expected anytime the KTM-Bajaj Duke 200

Present and the Future 

The market dynamics have seen a major shift since the days of the Pulsar launch in 2001 and how! Number of bike manufacturers in the country has seen a huge increase with the top names on the globe making a beeline for the ever growing Indian 2-wheeler market and the number of models and variants available are again impressive. The Indian customer is now spoilt for choice in the bike market with everything from a simple 100cc commuter HH CD dawn to a 1800cc Suzuki Intruder. Everything your heart desires is right here with manufacturers and models flowing in numbers every year, provided, you have the big deep pockets to afford these super powerful and super expensive bikes especially the Ducatis, Harley Davidsons and super bikes from Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Hyosung.

This is one of the biggest reasons the Bajaj pulsar still makes sense today and will for some time to come. It’s still a very good handler combined with the powerful and efficient 220/180/150/135 engines, is much cheaper than the competition in terms of ‘performance per rupee’, and is easier and cheap to maintain. But with the ever toughening competition in the same segment from Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, TVS and Mahindra, Bajaj has plans to step up its Pulsar brand for better performance, looks, technology and quality. Its also being said that Bajaj is going to remove Bajaj from the Pulsar, ie give Pulsars a completely different brand identity!

Bajaj and KTM Alliance:

Gauging from facts such as Bajaj’s recent 38% stake buy in KTM, the Austrian Super/Adventure bike maker, Bajaj is going all out for the new Pulsar range. The alliance together with Kawasaki and KTM, enhance the company’s capabilities multi-fold to deliver the next lineup of fiercer and faster Pulsars. Currently Bajaj has developed a Duke 200cc sport bike with KTM, which in undergoing testing currently and the next Pulsar is speculated to sport a 250cc engine which will go head on with the Honda CBR250, Kawasaki Ninja 250 and other upcoming Yamaha and Suzuki.  

Engineering and Design dna of both the manufacturers will be fused or combined to bring out very exciting performance models in the future. KTM is known for its super sport bikes such as Duke 690, Super Duke and RC8. Adventure bike line up of KTM is even more impressive with Adventure 690, Adventure 990, Supermoto 690,990 and other motocross motorcycles. KTM also has impressive track records at Motorsport such as the Dakar rally which it won many a times. One can only imagine what world class bikes will roll out in future from the Pulsar stable! Very exciting times indeed for the Pulsar loyalists and the biking enthusiast!

   Adventure 990 Dakar Rally Special >>>>>>>

<<<<<<Super Moto 990

Super Duke 990

RC 8

Bajaj has also launched the Pulsar family Internationally together with certain models in Sri-lanka, Bangladesh, Philippines, Colombia, Central America, Iran, Nigeria, Uganda and Angola. With 6,33,463 2-wheelers sold Internationally during 2008-2009, the Pulsar brand is poised to make further inroads across the globe.

TATA Venture - VENTURing Again Into A New Segment

Tracked By NAGENDRA SIVATEJA

TATA Motors, unveiled an MPV targeting the rural customers and the middle class primarily. It’s the TATA VENTURE. Tata again brought a new segment than competing with an existing product/segment. It previously showcased this by creating brilliant models like TATA Ace, and TATA Nano. These show that TATA is increasingly following the classic theory of Blue Ocean strategy.

The vehicle seems to be positioned as a vehicle which can be used as both commercial and passenger vehicle. It can be used as a taxi, a van and given its contemporary design (at least when compared to similar vehicles from FORCE and PIAGGIO which have large passenger capacity), it even can be used for weekend getaways. 

The front look of the vehicle clearly indicates that it is based on the ACE platform. Thank goodness that TATA is changing its design philosophy of its models as all its previous models were mainly used as commercial vehicles and taxis though they were not positioned that way.

Also, VENTURE seems to compete with the EECO from Maruti Suzuki. Though both the vehicles are positioned similarly, if not same in the market, EECO clearly wins on the pricing with the highest variant costing a neat 1.5 lakh lesser than the VENTURE. This low price is mainly due to the absence lot of features like power windows, steering, two-tone upholstery, HVAC, space et al.

Considering the branding strategie, TATA might use brand product strategy: ‘TATA Venture’ rather than ‘VENTURE by TATA’ which is a product brand strategy which doesn’t go with low end, less appealing products.

Promotion: The vehicle is launched in Rajasthan with a tag line ‘Bade dil wala’. The tag line connects well with the core attribute of the vehicle i.e. space and the way it caters to various functions it can perform but fails to recognise the target segment in the ad. One should watch for this space once the TVC rolls out to understand how connected the ad is to the target segment.

Lastly, as said above, one can see that TATA is trying hard to overcome the ‘taxi-look’ image for its vehicles and bringing out newer and more appealing designs to the market. This can be seen from the PIXEL; recently launched at the Geneva Motor show. Its association with Italian design companies I.D.E.A and Pininfarina has clearly paid off. Now it’s time to see how the VENTURE performs!

Bingo! - Har Angle Se Chatpata

Tracked by VARUN VASUDEVAN

The Mad Angles family just got bigger as ‘Masti Chaat’ sashayed into the Bingo rack, dressed in pink and purple.

Highly visible (It’s goddamn everywhere thanks to ITC's strong distribution network) and competitively priced (Rs. 10 for 50 gm and Rs. 20 for 120 gm), this Bingo product has aroused a lot of curious tongues.(The Tamarind-Pudina combination has already made my mouth water!)

While the ‘crazy’ TVCs that coincide with a ‘Bingo’ flavor launch have been absent, the brand is whipping up a frenzy on its Facebook page. Every wall posting by the Bingo Marketing guys (and they are quite regular), starting January 3^rd, 2011, has been about ‘Chaat’. Fans have been quizzed about their favourite chaat dishes, the local vendors from whom they buy chaat etc. Throw in a contest giving away free pen-drives, sling bags and T-shirts and the people are hooked.

Talk about crazy viral promotion to help top of mind recall for the word 'Chaat'! Bingo will be hoping that this virus spreads.