Brand Update : Cadbury Eclairs Moves Up the Value Chain

2011 was an eventful year for Cadbury's Eclairs. The year saw the brand trying to move up the value chain by launching a new variant Cadbury Rich Brownie Eclairs. The move is significant because the brand has done an upward line stretch since the new variant is priced at Rs 2/-.

Cadbury's Rich Brownie variant is a significant move in the Rs 950 crore candy market where the most popular price point is Rs 1/- and  50 paise. The marketers were reeling under margin pressure because of a rise in the input costs at one hand and the price sensitive consumers at the other end. The problem was aggravated by the price competition from Nestle and local brands. Cadbury's still hold market leadership in value terms in this market while losing out the volume leadership to Nestle.

2011 also saw some changes in the positioning of Cadbury's Eclairs. The brand which earlier had the positioning of Doob le Zara ( which meant- immerse in taste) changed the tagline to "Get Lost".

Watch the ad here : Get Lost 
Cadbury's launched the Rich variant with the positioning of Chocolate Fountain. The brand adapted this from the earlier campaigns of Cadbury's Dairy Milk Eclairs' Chocolate Bomb ads. Instead of the heads exploding as bombs, in the Rich variant's ads, the heads explodes into fountains.

Watch the ad here : Cadbury's Rich Eclairs

Since the brand is priced high, the target market for this variant is older customers- the teens and youngsters.

While the new variant is banking on the chocolate fountain, the original Cadbury's Eclairs is experimenting with the " Lost in Taste " proposition. The creative brains finally came up with the tagline " Get Lost". For the first time , a brand is telling the customers to " Get Lost ".  May be the creative guys told the client  to " Get Lost " and client mistook it for the tagline and approved it !
The new tagline is far below the average creative standards for the reason that another brand from the same company i.e 5 Star is having the same positioning. It is common sense that it is not advisable for two brands from the same company to have same positioning. Positioning has to be unique and should not be shared unless it is a branded house. The entire campaign has a negative tone coupled with the tagline which itself is negative.
According to newsreports, the Rich Brownie variant wants to create a space for itself in the market which will convince the customer to pay higher price for the new variant.
Although nobody will have any doubts regarding the quality of these products, the campaigns for these two variants does not match the brand's real worth. Cadbury's have always known for its breakthrough campaigns. The recent ads for Silk, Shots , CDM all were of high quality creative executions. However, the ads for the eclairs does not match the standards of its siblings. What difference is there between the Chocolate Bomb and Chocolate Fountain  ? What difference is there between 5 Star and Get Lost campaigns ? Rather these come across as lazy cut-copy works.

Related Brand
Cadbury Eclairs

Stop Not : Whatever Happens !

Brand : Stop Not
Company : Perfetti van Melle

Brand Analysis Count : # 505

Perfetti Van Melle ( PVM) the leader in the Indian confectionery market and a master marketer who built brands like Alpenliebe, Centerfresh etc has ventured into Indian snacks market. In its biggest diversification, PVM launched its first brand Stop Not in the Indian market. 

Indian snacks market has been a lucrative market thanks to the impulsive great Indian middleclass. Indian consumers has always pampered themselves with  homemade snacks and marketers lured them to switched to packaged snacks. ET has pegged the Indian snack market at Rs 12000 crore ( source) and Hindu Business line puts a figure of  Rs 3000 crore for the packaged snack market . The market is highly competitive and has seen many brands burning out because of intense competition. 

Stop Not is launched in two formats - Stop Not FOFS - which is a filled snack and Stop Not GOLZ which is in the form of rings.The product is made for India using rice and wheat flour and comes in Indian flavors like Yummy Tomato, Khatti Meethi, Spicy South etc.

The main differentiator for  the brand is its packaging and product attribute of   "filled and not fried ". The packaging really is clutter-breaking and gives lot of visibility to the brand.The packaging can also repel many  consumers. The brand has tried to emulate the packaging strategy adopted by Hippo brand of snacks.

Naturally a product launch from a company like PVM evokes lot of interest among the marketers. Marketing enthusiasts look forwards to some clutter-breaking campaigns from a star marketer like PVM. 

Stop Not brand is currently running its launch campaign for its GOLZ variant.

Watch the ad here : Stop Not Golz

The launch ad is nothing but a complete letdown from PVM. Nothing is new in the ad that will create any meaningful impact for the brand. The concept of " taste to die for " has been raped many times by many brands. Wonder why PVM chose to air such a commoditized idea  as its launch campaign.

Stop Not has chosen the tagline " Whatever Happens " relating to addiction to taste. It is interesting to note that the brand is trying to take the earlier positioning - " No one can eat just one " of Lays. Lays had discarded this position and Stop Not is trying to capture that vacant space. But the creative was a big letdown in this regard . 

The clutter-breaking packaging may induce lot of trials by the consumers but the sad fact is that the brand campaign has failed to create any excitement about the brand. Let us wait and see " What ever that happens " to the brand.

McCain : Fresh Banega , Baat Banegi

Corporate Brand : McCain
Company : McCain Foods India Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : # 495

McCain is one of the World's largest frozen foods manufacturers. This Canadian giant is known for its potato based frozen foods. McCain is a leading supplier of potato based items like French fries to leading quick service restaurants like McDonald. This giant has big plans for India.

McCain came to India in 1998. The brand primarily set up shop in India to cater to the  requirement of its major customer- McDonald's. The company started with the import of potato based products later commissioned its first production plant in India in 2007.

Frozen foods is a category in nascent stage in India.The category is now worth Rs 1000 crore including B2B segment. Bulk of this business is contributed by B2B segment which consists of restaurants and fast food joints. Slowly the B2C category is growing and McCain is making all out efforts to tap this segment.

Frozen foods has low penetration due to many reasons. Firstly the consumers are not open to the idea of frozen foods yet. Another major impediment to the growth of this category is the distribution inefficiencies. The lack of freezer space at retailers, supply chain issues , retailer reluctance to stock this product category has created huge issues for marketers trying to create this category. How ever things have changed. Consumers have started to use frozen foods and the presence of large retailers gave the much required supply chain support to this category.

Although McCain started selling its branded products in India since 1998, the effort was largely restricted to BTL activities. The brands like Smiles existed in the market for long but there was not much promotions for the brands. 

It was in 2011 that McCain launched its first TVC in India. 

Watch the TVC here : McCain 

The first commercial set in a typical modern Indian household is aimed at introducing the brand to Indian consumers . The brand did certain research on Indian consumer's mindset regarding  frozen foods found that consumers doubted the freshness of such frozen foods ( common sense !). Frozen foods were often viewed by consumers as 'Old ' stale foods. The brand also found that this impression changed after they tried out these products. So the challenge was to convince the non-users about "freshness " of frozen foods. 

It is a Herculean task for marketers to convince customers that Frozen foods are Fresh.The first ad successfully managed the difficult task of connecting the two attributes which are poles apart - Frozen & Fresh in a very subtle but effective manner. The ad makers used a story telling approach and by including the entire family unit in the ad addressed the concerns of all stakeholders of the family. 

The brand has the tagline " Fresh Banega , Baat Banegi " which emphasis on the freshness aspect. 

Although McCain's competency is in potato based products, the brand has tried to cater to the local tastes of Indian consumers. Its product range includes Indian dishes like Aaloo Tikka etc.The brand surprised the Indian market by introducing Frozen Idli which can be cooked within 3 minutes. The product is still in the market testing phase. The company has now focused on the snack food market and once the consumers are opened to this idea of frozen foods, more products like frozen meals will follow.

One of the best practice of McCain is its keen understanding of Indian consumers. The brand spent lot of time in understanding the market before entering the consumer segment. It strengthened its distribution and ensured retailer support before launching its promotions. The brand also took care of pricing to ensure that the value conscious Indian consumers are not scared away by the high prices. Usually frozen foods are expensive but McCain launched packs at price points like Rs 25 which entices consumers to try it out. Also the firm introduced its products in smaller packs because Indian refrigerators are usually small or have small freezers. The products like Smiles attract young consumers because of the form factor. So on many fronts McCain has put in lot of thoughts and innovation which will yield positive results.

The Frozen Foods category is now having lot of players including Godrej . The changing lifestyle has further strengthen the potential of frozen foods in the Indian market. It will be interesting to see how these players shape this market.

Brand Update : RIP Sunfeast Fit Kit

Even God was not able to save this brand. The much hyped sub-brand of Sunfeast - Sunfeast Sachin's Fit Kit is dead. The brand is not available in any of the shops in my state and sources say that the brand was discontinued shortly after it was launched.

  The company so far has not given any hint ( in any media) about this brand being discontinued. I am making the assumption that the brand is being discontinued for the reason that it is not present in an important  market like Kerala. 

So how can a brand which is co-created and endorsed by none other than Sachin Tendulkar himself suddenly went out of the market ? That too when the market is flooded with "healthy biscuits " ? Fit Kit was touted as the first celebrity co-created brand in India. The brand had everything going for it - the marketing muscle of ITC, brand Sachin, etc but still it was not well received by the Indian consumers. The question baffles me. 

In the case of Sunfeast Fit Kit, one probability can be that the brand was too early for the market.The market size is too small for such a large investment and the quantity the market can absorb was limited to justify such a huge investment. Sunfeast thought that with Sachin's endorsement, the brand will grow and will carve out a niche of " Multi - grain " biscuits. But the product did not grew as big as the brand thought it would be. 

Secondly , the target market for Fit Kit was the kids and they would not eat a biscuit just because Sachin endorsed it. The taste and the variety matters more than the health benefits. With a plethora of brands and variants available in the market, getting kids to stick to a variant is near impossible. The poor volume offtake may have prompted the company to relook its investment in this brand. 

More than anything , the category demands heavy continuous investment in brands and ITC may have decided to route the investment to the entire basket of biscuits rather than only Fit Kit. 

These are only possibilities. Only the company officials know the exact reasons why such a much hyped brand be taken off quickly. The failure of the Fit Kit is a grim reminder of the weakness of  celebrity driven brands.

Related Brand

Sunfeast Fit Kit

Brand Update : Alpenliebe is no longer a candy its also an Eclair

Alpenliebe, the flagship candy brand from Perfetti VanMelle (PVM) recently launched Alpenliebe Eclairs.The brand which pioneered candy ( more specifically deposited candy) segment in India is no longer a candy brand.

PVM has been experimenting with Alpenliebe for a while now. Ever since the launch in 1995, the brand saw may product-line extensions and campaigns.

The brand over these years launched lollipops, different flavors of Alpenliebe and also extensions like Creamfills and Mangofillz Alpenliebe. Consumers willingly accepted these variants making Alpenliebe market leader in the segment.

Along with the extensions, PVM extended the equity of the brand to other confectionery segments through secondary associations. The brand launched Chocoliebe in the eclair category drawing equity from Alpenliebe.

The brand also saw some clutter -breaking campaigns in its life so far. The brand was launched with the positioning - Simply Irresistible. The brand used the messages like " Jee Lal Chahe ,Raha na Jaye " and finally to " Lalach Aha Laplap".

The brand then introduced Kajol as the brand ambassador and along with the animated alligator - Mr Munch began promoting Alpenliebe aggressively. In 2010, the brand launched another clutter-breaking campaign which saw Kajol doing a role reversal of sorts. The ad featured a theme where the role of human and monkey were reversed . Kajol took the role of a monkey and Madaari ( master) was a monkey ( detailed plot here)

Watch the campaign here : Role reversal

The latest move of Alpenliebe to launch eclairs was a complete surprise. First thing is that the launch of Alpenliebe eclairs completely changed the character of the brand. The brand now is no longer a candy. In a branding perspective, this is significant. It is just like Horlicks launching noodles. Horlicks no longer is an energy drink. So Alpenliebe has become a brand that endorses many confectionery products including eclairs, sugar filled candy, cream filled candy and lollipops.

Secondly, the brand now competes with Chocoliebe which is the eclair brand from the same company. So higher chance of cannibalization happening for PVM.

Although the core Alpenliebe brand has been consistent with the positioning of " Irresistible Taste", the product-line extensions were having different positioning. For example -

Lollipop has the tagline " Lagay Raho"

Creamfills has the tagline " Kuch Alagh"

Mangofills has the tagline " Mango ka Tinku".

This shows that Alpenliebe is not maintaining a consistency in the core positioning. For an umbrella brand, consistency of core brand message " Simply Irresistible " is vital and this message should run through all the campaigns of the extensions.

Eclairs however has maintained the irresistible taste as the positioning. But the launch campaign is horrible.

Watch it here : Alpenliebe Eclairs

I feel that the ad agency was told to create a funny commercial and they tried and failed miserably. Alpenliebe Eclairs has the tagline " Chocolatey Laila " which I think is a tagline that may not have much life in it.

Having said that, there is a business logic behind the launch of eclairs. Confectionery marketers are faced with the issue of consumer price- fixation. The market is highly price conscious. Candies are now priced at 50 paise and all efforts of marketers to make consumers pay more has failed. Alpenliebe Eclairs is an attempt by PVM to trade-up the pricing ladder. The Rs 1 eclair will add more profitability to Alpenliebe portfolio and eclair is a high growth category in this industry.

Related Post

Alpenliebe

Brand Update : Sunfeast enters noodles segment with Yippee

Sunfeast is on its way to become a megabrand. This challenger biscuit brand launched in 2003, within a span of 7 years, has presence in categories like biscuits,pasta and now in noodles. Sunfeast made its first brand extension in 2005 when it launched Sunfeast Pasta Treat and created the pasta category in the Indian market.

In September 2010 , the brand launched its noodles brand extension- Sunfeast Yippee. Indian noodles segment has now become a huge market worth Rs 1200 crore . Maggi is the market leader with a whopping 70% market share ( Business Standard). A huge market with one major market leader is definitely an attractive one. That is one of the reason why so many players have recently launched their brand in this segment.

Sunfeast ( ITC) is a worthy player to take on the might of Maggi. ITC is a company that is not averse to taking risk and have a huge cash reserve to fight a marketing war with Nestle.

The Sunfeast brand already has built up sufficient equity in the biscuit business with its high profile campaigns featuring Shah Rukh Khan . The brand also occupied good shelf space in most of the large retail formats . Another aspect of the brand was its penchant for launching a series of new products and flavors which helped gain lot of consumer liking in the biscuit business.

Looking at the strategy behind extending the biscuit brand into noodles, there are pros and cons that has to be noted. The major advantage for ITC in extending the Sunfeast brand is that it may have saved lot of money through this extension. Building a brand in a sensitive category like food will take lot of investment and time. Since Sunfeast is already in food business, it makes economic sense to launch noodles under this brand.

The disadvantage is the dilution of the equity of the brand in its core business- biscuits. Sunfeast is not now a biscuit brand but an umbrella brand endorsing many food items. Hence the personality of the brand has changed . This change has happened from 2005 itself when the brand launched the Pasta Treat.

In the branding of noodles, Sunfeast has adopted an endorsing structure where Sunfeast brand will endorse the Noodle brand "Yippee " . The look of the brand says that it is going to be positioned as a happy, vibrant, fun loving brand. I am yet to see any campaigns for this brand in any of the channels. Retail shops are displaying the brand with some POP promotions but not much on the message side.

Picture courtesy and an interesting take on the brand by Karthik - here

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Sunfeast

Fryums : Eat Smart

Brand : Fryums

Company : TTK

Brand Analysis Count : 466

Fryums is a very interesting brand. Infact how many of us know that it is a brand ? Recently when two of my students visited my home, my wife served them a bowl of Fryums which invoked a sense of nostalgia and we discussed about this Indian snack which failed to fight the invasion of Lays.

Fryums was launched by TTK in 1990. This ready-to-cook Indian snack quickly gained popularity in the Indian market . The brand became so popular that soon consumers began to use the brand name as the generic name for such snacks.

Sometimes too much popularity can be bad for the brand. When brand names become generic, marketers should worry because there is a chance that they will lose the brand. The same happened with Fryums. Consumers started to refer to Fryums as a generic name for all such ready-to-fry snacks. Soon competitors also started using the term Fryums in their packs.

When consumers started using Fryums as generic name, retailers too made use of that opportunity to push the similar product that offered better margins. Soon Fryums became more of a commodity than a differentiated , protected brand.

Along with this unique problem came the competition from Lays. Fryums was not able to counter the competition from Lays. Lays were more up-market, aspirational, convenience and had more perceived quality than Fryums. The fact that one needs to fry this product in oil before use also made it less appealing to the younger generation .

From a generic brand , Fryums fell into oblivion. The brand soon went off the shelves or became one among the many " Fryums " at the stores. The company also was clueless about the future of this ' famous' brand.

However in 2000-2001, the brand went in for a makeover. Fryums was rebranded as Fryums Yummies and the brand had a new logo and even a mascot. In the new avataar, TTK tried to rev up the brand's fortune by launching it in new flavors and also in new product forms. But even this rebranding did not work in the favor of Fryums. The problem was that the brand did not have enough steam to fight the competitors.

Fryums 's issues highlight the need for marketers to fiercely protect their brands from becoming generic. The brand should pursue and protect itself from being used as a verb or as a category identifier. Once the brand become generic, there are chances that legally it cannot be protected by the owners. This fate happened with the likes of Aspirin.

There is future ahead for Fryums. The brand needs to reinvent itself and position itself as a healthy alternative to existing snackfoods. The brand is cholesterol free and contains no MSG or trans fats. The new flavors + new brand campaign can raise the interest about this Indian snackfood in the market.

Brand Update : Tic Tac moves from Hello to Refreshment

Tic Tac , the mint confectionery brand from the Ferrero group has gone for a new positioning. The brand has changed its positioning from " Conversation Starter " to a " Refreshment that needs to be Shared ".

The brand had gone for a similar repositioning in 2008 when it adopted the tagline " The New Hello ". The brand was then positioned as an " ice-breaker" or " Conversation Starter". The brand after two years is embarking on a new communication route.

Tic Tac is a unique brand. The shape, taste and packaging sets this brand apart from the rest of the mint-based confectionery brand. The brand has also gained good penetration interms of distribution.

The uniqueness of the brand has poised certain positioning issues for the marketer. Since the brand is different from the conventional mint-based products, the positioning should also reflect the uniqueness. Polo is a brand that has used its unique form to its advantage by its positioning based on the " Hole " factor. Tic Tac ideally should have discovered some smart way of communicating its uniqueness. But so far it failed to do so.

Tic Tac so far has not able to find a differentiated communication platform that reflected the uniqueness of the brand. That is the reason why this brand failed to came out with any clutter-breaking campaigns.

The current campaign and the positioning is no better. Infact it is worse than the earlier proposition of " The New Hello ".

Watch the new ad here : Refreshment to be shared

The theme of a group of bored youngsters breaking into ecstatic dance after consuming the product is an idea from pre-historic era. The new positioning based on " Sharing " is also not capturing/communicating anything unique about Tic Tac.

The brand globally had the positioning statement " Its not just a mint. its a Tic Tac " which is a very powerful positioning platform. I wonder why the brand discarded such a powerful statement and settled from something sub-standard ? It has to be mentioned that the brand also adopts the concept of " Sharing a Tic Tac " in the values but it is not the primary talking point. The current global theme for the brand is centered around " Refreshment " but in India , the brand failed to reflect any of the original brand values.

The new campaign and the positioning of Tic Tac is a big letdown. The brand lost its USP of shape, taste and freshness in the current campaign. I think the brand should first talk about why use it and then talk about sharing it.

Related Post

Tic Tac

Brand Update : Cadbury Dairy Milk For Shubh Aarambh

Cadbury's Dairy Milk has recently launched a new campaign " Shubh Aarambh" ( meaning Auspicious Beginning ). The campaign is the refined version of the earlier Payday campaign which evoked mixed response from the Ad analysts and consumers.

The Shubh Aarambh campaign reinforces the occasion based positioning of Dairy Milk. The brand has been trying to position itself as a symbol of enjoyment and celebrations. Indians have the tradition of sharing sweets on auspicious occasions and also when one initiates a venture/activity. Whether the activity is small like writing an exam or huge like starting a company, sharing of sweets is an integral part of the event. The belief is that good things happen when one starts a venture on a positive note ( like sharing sweets).

Dairy Milk very cleverly captured this tradition and incorporated into its brand story. The new campaign takes the brand to the center of this tradition linking Dairy Milk to Sweet and Auspicious Beginning.

While the previous PayDay campaign was a narrow interpretation of the occasion based positioning , Shubh Aarambh has given the brand a broad playing ground. In my opinion, the brand has hit upon a really great Big Idea. The concept is very much Indian and offers huge opportunity for creatives to weave great stories for the brand.

Watch the launch ad here : Shubh Aarambh

The concept also gels with the brand's tagline " Kuchch Meetha Ho Jaye ". The launch campaign is targeted at younger generation and hence the brand added a little humor and twist into the campaign.

Shubh Aarambh is a great idea for this great brand. It will be interesting to see how Dairy Milk milks this idea to the fullest.

Nature Valley Granola : 100% Natural , 100% Delicious

Brand : Nature Valley
Company : General Mills

Brand Analysis Count # 452

Last day when I was shopping in a grocery store, a young guy came rushing in to the cash counter to tell the staff that he is going to consume a granola bar which is placed in front of the counter without waiting for billing because he is feeling very hungry.Welcome to a new way to satisfy your hunger pangs.

Granola bars is an emerging new category in the Indian market. Granola is a snack food made from oats, honey, nuts etc which are baked till crispy ( Wiki). Granola Bars are the bar form -packed like a typical chocolate bar. Granola bars are popular in Western and European markets as a convenient healthy snack food.

Nature Valley is a brand from the US Foods giant General Mills. The brand claims to be world's first granola bar brand with its origin dating back to 1975. The brand is said to have an iconic status in the US market.

Nature Valley was launched in India in 2006. The brand had a very soft launch and the distribution was restricted to certain markets. I think that now the brand has gone for a national launch.

Granola bars comes under the broad category of functional foods. The functional foods market in India is estimated to be around Rs 1700 crores. The bar form of functional foods emerged just recently.
Nature Valley is currently running a small campaign in some select TV campaign. The imported ad just shows a waterfall and a voice over explaining the nutritional benefits of the product. The brand has the tagline " 100 % Natural, 100 % Delicious ". The launch campaign is too small and basic that there is nothing much to talk about. The ad at best just introduces the brand name - nothing more, nothing less.

One would have expected some thing unique and creative from a marketing giant like General Mills especially when they launch an iconic product. But at present, nothing so far has been on air. Globally Nature Valley brand is pitching heavily on the " Natural " platform . Infact the name is a unlikely candidate for a snack food brand.

Brands like Nature Valley and Horlicks Nutribar have a difficult task of creating brand salience . Brand salience covers all aspects of brand awareness. Professor Keller describes two facets of brand awareness - Depth and Breadth of Awareness. Depth of brand awareness refers to the ease with which the brand elements can be recalled. Breadth refers to the awareness about the brand under various potential usage situations.

In the case of Nature Valley, Depth of Awareness refers to how easily a consumer can remember the brand. Breadth refers to the various usage situations and how easily the brand is recalled in those situations . For example, Nature Valley can claim breadth of awareness when consumers remembers the brand when hungry/ while traveling/ watching movies/ after a workout or a game etc. It may be easy to create awareness depth with high profile ads. To create breadth, marketers may have to convince the brand efficacy in various usage situations. So brands first must decide on the targeted usage situations and then device communication strategies to create the breadth of awareness.

It is interesting to see that both globally and in Indian market, the NatureValley pitches not on "hunger/food platform" but on the natural ingredient platform which is quite different. Even the global campaigns give a different view on the brand. Hopefully the brand will follow the same framework here also. It can work here because most of the functional foods including the brands that directly competes with Nature Valley like Horlicks Nutribar, talks about hunger . So the brand can stand out by taking such a different platform. The brand has priced itself smartly at Rs 12 for a single bar and Rs 20 for pack of two. This is significantly lower than Horlicks Nutribar.

Whether consumers will get hooked to the " green " nature of the brand is a different story altogether.

Related Brand
Horlicks Nutribar

DelMonte Sauce : Taste Like Never Before

Brand : Del Monte
Company : FieldFresh Foods
Agency : Contract Advertising

Brand Analysis Count #451

Del Monte brand is making lot of noise across various channels as well as marketing blogs these days. The brand is in news because of the launch of its range of sauces in the Indian market.

Delmonte sauces launched recently is bought to India by FieldFresh Foods Ltd which is a joint venture between Bharti Group and Philippines based Delmonte Pacific. The JV was formed in 2007 and the Del Monte products were available in select cities. I presume the company has decided to launch the products nationwide in 2010.

Del Monte is a global brand with a rich heritage of over 118 years. The Del Monte brand architecture itself is very confusing with different brand owners/licensees across the globe. The brand Delmonte is originally owned by US based Del Monte Foods and licensed to other firms across the globe. The detailed brand ownership details can be accessed here ( Wiki). FieldFresh Foods have the JV with Del Monte Pacific which has the Del Monte brand license for this part of the world.

FieldFresh Foods has launched a series of food products under the Del Monte brand name. The product range include Packed Fruits, Fruit Drinks, Ketchup and Sauces, Olives, Pasta and corn. I presume this is the first time that Del Monte brand has been promoted heavily in the media.

FieldFresh has launched two sauce brands under the Del Monte brand - Twango and Zingo. Twango is a fruit based sauce and Zingo is the traditional eastern style sauce with garlic, ginger etc. The brand is running the launch campaign for these products across various channels.

Watch the TVC here : Del Monte Sauce

The sauce product range has taken the tagline : Taste Like Never Before. The brand has taken the taste as the USP. Delmonte is promising refreshing new tastes for its range of sauces. The launch ad is at best amusing with the brand using hyperbole to drive home the taste USP. The histrionics of the lady in the ad and the theme has nothing new to talk about. I wonder why the brand chose to use one of the most common themes for the first major brand campaign. The Indian Ketchup/Sauce market is worth around Rs 220 crore and is dominated by Maggi.

Another interesting fact is that the company decided to focus on the Umbrella brand Del Monte instead of the sub-brands Twango and Zingo. Most of the viewers may have missed those sub-brands in the ads. It is very difficult of build and sustain individual brands in the foods business. Hence umbrella branding is the only sustainable economical branding solution. The company may use Point of Purchase promotions for pushing the sub-brands.

Although Del Monte has used " Taste Like Never Before" tagline, it may be used only for the sauce product line. As far as the umbrella brand Del Monte is considered, the brand mark resembles a Quality Seal rather than a Logo. Hence Del Monte does not really need a tagline for itself.

Del Monte will be an interesting brand to watch because it has the backing of two big companies - Bharti and Del Monte. It will be tough for these brands to break the stronghold of established brands like Maggi, Heinz ,Kissan etc. Distribution and retailer support hold the key for any such brands in cracking the Indian market. Bharti which has big plans to establish retail chain may be looking for pushing the brands through its own stores in future.

Brand Update : Knorr

Knorr recently launched another product line extension - Soupy Noodles. The brand is currently running the campaign featuring its brand ambassador Kajol. Soupy Noodles combines both the properties of soup and noodles. The brand is promoting this variant as a new category to be carved out of Noodles .

Knorr brand was doing well in the market after the company shed all the unwarranted product extensions and concentrated on soup category alone. Knorr retained its lost brand equity and is currently the market leader in the soup market in India.Knorr later extended itself into ready to cook range to expand the portfolio.

The launch of soupy noodles can be looked upon as just another interesting variant of soup product line or as a planned foray into Noodles segment. If the soupy noodles remain as a variant in the soup product line, the brand has done the right move in creating excitement in the market. Soupy Noodles will be attractive to the kids who has now the option of best of both worlds. Having said that Soupy noodles is not entirely an innovation since a similar version called Curry Noodles exists in the market.

The second scenario is where Soupy Noodles is a first step of Knorr into extending itself into noodles. If that is the case, then Knorr has not learned from its previous mistakes. Extension of Knorr brand to noodles will make the brand lose its generic status on the soup category. Of course the brand can point out the case of Maggi extending itself to various other categories. But Knorr had a bad history of extension failures and brand name confusion unlike Maggi.

I think soon Maggi will also launch its version of soupy noodles. If the taste is good, Indian market will see the emergence of a new category of soup + noodles.

Related Brand
Knorr
Maggi

Hippo : Fights Hunger

Brand : Hippo

Company : Parle Agro

Ad Agency : Creativeland Asia

Brand Analysis Count # 446

Another brand has entered into the highly competitive snack- food market. The brand Hippo was nationally launched recently by Parle Agro. The Indian branded snack-food market is worth Rs 6500 crore has now become a battle ground of titans.

Indian snack-food market growing at 25% p.a is witnessing marketing fight worth watching. The players are trying every tricks of the trade. This intense marketing competition has expanded the market and also created new segments. One such new segment is the healthy snack segment.

Marketers were aware of the gradual trend among consumers towards healthy foods. Although this trend is limited to certain sections of society, marketers are calculating that healthy snack-foods will become a mainstay category in the snack-food market. Infact Ms Indra Nooyi of Pepsico had openly stated her vision of Pepsico leading the healthy food movement.

The healthy snack segment in the Indian Snack market has got a big boost in recent times with the launch of Aliva brand by Pepsico and Monaco Smart Chips by Parle. Earlier, Lays tried its hand by launching a low-calorie version to counter Bingo's claim of 'baked not fried 'proposition. The high profile campaign of Monaco Smart Chips featuring Aamir Khan put the spotlight on the healthy angle of snacks.

Hippo calls itself " Delicious Baked Munchies ". This baked wheat based munchy is neither a potato chips nor a biscuit, but something in between ( source Business India). The munchies are available in Pizza flavor,Chinese Manchurian, Hot N Sweet, Thai Chilly , Yoghurt Mint Chutney and Indian Chatpatta. The brand is priced at Rs 10 per pack.

Hippo is currently running its launch campaign across channels.

Watch the ad here : Hippo

Hippo has tried to position itself differently from the rest of the brands. While the other snack brands have positioned itself on product properties, Hippo brand tried to take the generic need platform.

For example :
Lays is positioned as a convenient snack,

Bingo on the different tastes,

Aliva also on health + taste

Monaco Smart Chips on health ( baked ).

Hippo is being positioned as a hunger- killer. The brand wants to be a guilt-free snack for hunger moments. The brand is banking on two properties - made from wheat and free of MSG & GMO to prove its healthy snack claim.

The brand also chose a different way to communicating its positioning to the consumer . The brand is trying to tell a story. The story is based on the premise that ' Hunger is the root cause of all evil. So the brand motto is ' fight hunger, fight evil'. The brand has adopted the mascot Hippo who is in the forefront of eliminating hunger and thus eliminating evil. Hippo has the tagline " Hippo Fights Hunger ".

Although the brand has tried to tell a story and successfully created an initial hype, I have serious reservations about the differentiation of the brand. The brand has taken the " Hunger" platform, but how is it different from other snack-foods that offer same qualities ? How is Hippo different from a Bingo or Monaco Smart Chips ? .

I feel a lack of uniqueness in the brand. The problem of lack of differentiation will come into forefront when the initial consumer interest dies down. Without a clear USP, the brand needs to constantly stay on top of the Share of Noise to drive the sales. If you observe the campaigns of Parle Agro brands, the company adopts a " On/Off " kind of advertising strategy. Sometimes there are lot of ads, and sometimes, there is no sign of any brand communication. In a category like Snacks such intermittent burst of ads may not work. One needs to have a steady continuous stream of campaigns ( ATL and BTL) to drive the sales.

From the first campaign, I don't see any attempt from the brand to create a differentiation. What the brand had tried to do was to establish brand familiarity which it had done successfully. But the brand needs to find a meaningful differentiation if it wants to survive for the long term. The brand can develop its positioning further using its core brand promise of " Guilt-free snack for hunger moments ".

One of the most striking aspect about this brand is the packaging. The company has put in lot of work behind making the packaging stand out in stores. Since the purchase of snacks are highly spontaneous, the packaging offers immense strategic importance. Hippo has really differentiated itself from the rest of the crowd in the packaging front.

Another aspect of the brand is its emphasis on ' After-Marketing". After- Marketing is what the brand does after it has sold itself to the consumer. Like Appy Fizz, Hippo has cleverly used the packaging to engage the consumers after the purchase. The pack contains interesting information and one-liners which takes the brand-consumer conversations beyond advertising .

As a new product launch, Hippo has done all the right marketing moves. The brand has a catchy name , good product qualities, excellent packaging, nice pricing, distribution reach etc. It has also created right kind of noise in the media during the launch. The real test is after the initial euphoria. The brand is fighting players with deep pockets. It will be interesting to watch how Hippo takes on the giants.

Related Brands
Lays
Aliva
Bingo
Appyfizz

McVitie's : Taste Ki Nayi Language

Brand : McVitie's

Company : United Biscuits

Brand Analysis Count # 445

Another global brand has come to India. United Biscuits which is World's third largest biscuit manufacturer has launched its flagship brand McVities in India recently. United Biscuits is a $1.6 bn giant which has brands like BN, McVities, Jacob's, Phileas Fogg, Hula Hoops etc. United biscuits has already acquired a manufacturing facility in Himachal Pradesh .

McVitie's is a whole wheat based digestive biscuits. The brand is currently running its launch campaign in various channels.

Watch the launch ad here : McVities

United Biscuits has entered a highly fragmented fiercely competitive Indian market. The biscuits market in India is around Rs 6000 crore with major players like Britannia, Parle , ITC, Unibic etc fighting for the share. Along with these players, there is also a fair share of competition from private labels and local players..

McVities has a rich heritage. The origin of the brand dates back to 1892. The brand derived its name from the original owners McVities & Price Ltd.

The first product to be launched in India by the brand is McVitie's Digestive. Infact McVitie's digestive is worlds first digestive biscuit ( source) created in 1892.

McVitie's is positioned as a healthy biscuit . Worldwide, the brand is positioned based on its " Whole grain " content. Globally, the brand has the slogan " Whole Wheat At Its Heart".

Regarding the launch campaign, I feel that the ad was not able to do justice to the brand. I came to know about this only after some desktop research for this blog. For an ordinary consumer, the advertisement conveys nothing much about the rich legacy of this global brand.

McVitie's positioning in India is based on two attributes . It focuses on Health ( whole grain) and Taste. The brand has adopted the tagline " Taste Ki Nayi Language " translated to " The new language of taste ".

In my personal opinion, the ad was poorly made. The concept of people speaking caves as maves, thank you as Mhank you , Wow as Mow etc after eating McVitie's was little overboard and out of woods. I feel a total disconnect between the brand and the current communication. The segmentation and targeting of the brand is also unclear. The products like Digestive biscuits will not appeal to all customers. The brand may be thinking that taking a positioning platform like taste will bring in all customer.

The brand wanted to bring in some humor in the ad but failed miserably. At the end of it, the launch ad was a very hastily made poor one which failed to do justice to this global brand. Regarding the positioning, McVitie's choice of taste as the major platform is also flawed. I don't think that taste can act as a powerful differentiator for McVities. All brands talk about taste at one time or the other. The powerful differentiator for McVities would have been its global image and the quality factor which made it one of the most respected brands in Britain. The brand could have projected itself as the REAL Digestive biscuit which invented this product category. The packaging mentions the brand as " The Original " , the brand should have focused on that.

Having said that, the critical factors for success in this business is the distribution reach and the shelf space. Since biscuits is largely a spontaneous purchase, retailer support is the key. McVetie's has the back of a global major. So marketing support may not be an issue. But it will take a long time for the company to reach to the nook and corner of the market. It will be interesting to see the subsequent launches of United Biscuits also into the Indian market.

Brand Update : Maggi

I recently saw an ad featuring Maggi Sauce. The ad was commemorating the 25 year celebration of the Maggi sauce brand. The ad was a collage of all the ads of Maggi Sauces that features Javed Jaffery and Pankaj Kapoor. The duo was instrumental in making the Maggi sauces famous through the intriguing tagline " Its Different".

But the new ad also had a shocker. Maggi Sauces has decided to change the tagline ' Its Different ' to " Make A Difference ". Regular readers of this blog will be knowing that I despise when brands changes their famous tagline. This time also, its true. Maggi over this 25 years has built consistently the tagline " Its different " and the tagline has been very famous. Now how in the world should the brand change its famous tagline ?? Who was bored with the tagline- is it the customers or the ad agency or the brand manager ??

There is a lot of positioning difference between " Its Different " and " Make a difference ". "Its different" is a tagline that directs towards the product characteristics. The brand had earlier changed the tagline " Its different " to " Enjoy the difference " but later reverted back to the classic tagline. The tagline was able to act as a differentiator for the brand without clearly mentioning the difference. But " Make a Difference" is something that is directed away from the brand. I am not sure how the brand is going to communicate the new idea . What I have seen is only a teaser announcing the change of tagline.

What ever said and done, changing a tagline which has become an integral part of the brand and which has become a powerful brand element is not at all a good idea.

Go Cheese : From 100% Cow's Milk

Brand : Go

Company : Gowardhan Dairy ( Parag Milk Foods)

Ad Agency : Scion Brand Incubation

Brand Analysis Count : 444

GO is the new brand of Cheese from Gowardhan Dairy which is a part of Pune based Parag Milk Foods. Gowardhan Dairy is one of the largest players in the dairy market in India. The company owns India's largest cow farm and also has constructed Asia's largest cheese plant near Pune.

GO cheese brand is the company's venture into the value added product category. The Indian cheese market, although in a nascent market stage ,having a market size of about Rs 2000 crore is dominated by brands like Amul, Britannia, Mother Dairy etc.

GO cheese has entered a market which is growing at around 20% p.a. But the market is dominated by established players on one side while there is a large unorganized market on the other side.

GO Cheese in now running the launch campaign in various channels.

Watch the ad here : Go Cheese

GO cheese is positioned on the basis of the attribute that it is made from 100% cow's milk. The ads are really good and infact I thought GO is an international brand. More than the 100% milk factor, what is more striking about GO cheese is its packaging.

GO cheese has took packaging very seriously and it will be one of the brand elements that is going to help the brand with lot of customer trials. The packaging looks international and the wedge shaped Cheese pack SKU is appealing to kids and will help the brand get lot of customer trials. It is good to see lot of Indian brands utilizing the potential of packaging in their branding efforts.

Besides the smart packaging and interesting communication, GO brand also has a brand mascot - the cow. The mascot ( although the name is not mentioned anywhere) is shown in the pack and reinforces the positioning of 100% cow's milk.

The 100% cow's milk positioning is a good strategy but not new. Infact Amul used the same positioning for its icecream product range. The problem with 100% cow's milk is that competitors can easily copy the USP and hence negate the point of difference created by GO Cheese. If Amul or Britannia starts showing that their cheese is also made from 100 % cow's milk, GO Cheese may lose its USP.

Hence GO Cheese either needs to OWN up this platform or find another USP which could be sustainable over time. GO can only own this positioning through heavy ad spends reinforcing the consumers about their claim. I am not sure whether the brand can spend that much on the promotions . Another way is to create an ingredient brand which can own up the 100 cow's milk proposition . How ever , the brand needs to protect this proposition from the competitors.

There is always a space for new brands in the large untapped Dairy market in India. GO is in the right position to create a space for itself. There are larger issues to consider like the distribution reach and supply chain management. Cheese is a perishable item and needs a very strong supply chain set up if the brand wants to create a national impact.The brand's task will be to get the distribution and logistics correct and ensure enough retail support for the brand. The brand is expected to go on a phased approach while catering to a large market like India. Even Amul is finding it difficult to get its distribution right in many markets. For example, in my city Cochin, Amul dairy product's distribution is erratic with the products not available in many retail outlets. I hope that GO will go after volume only after setting up a strong distribution reach across the markets.

Brand Update : Horlicks

I was shocked to see an ad in todays newspaper announcing the launch of a noodles brand by Horlicks. I was wondering how can a company like GSK mess up a power brand like Horlicksby launching a totally unrelated extension ?

Horlicks has launched a new extension in the noodles category . The extension has the brand name Foodles and is endorsed by Horlicks. Foodles is positioned as a healthy noodles. The brand has launched two variants of noodles. - Regular and Multi-grain The main USP of Foodles is the " Health Maker" sachet which comes along with the noodles pack. The health maker sachet contains the essentials of 5 vitamins.

Frankly , this is one brand extension which I cannot understand.Theoretically Foodles by Horlicks cannot be termed as a brand extension. In this case Foodles is the main brand and Horlicks is the endorser brand. But for all practical purposes, Foodles is going to impact Horlicks just like any other brand extension.

Horlicks off late has been on a extension spree. It recently launched the Nutribar snack bar with an aim of transforming Horlicks in to an umbrella brand for launching health related food products.

My first contact with Foodles happened last week when my wife tried to trick me with Foodles instead of Maggi. I hated the taste of it and wondered whether Maggi changed the taste of its noodles again. It is only then my wife revealed that she tried to make me eat " healthy " noodles.


What can be the possible logic behind Horlicks trying its hand into launching a noodles brand ?

One reason or argument can be that Horlicks is only an endorser brand . Once the brand is accepted in the market, Foodles can remain as a standalone brand.

If that is the logic, then has the marketers thought about the brand equity dilution of parent brand? Horlicks in no way can be associated with noodles category. Noodles is perceived to be unhealthy , junk food and by associating with this category, Horlicks is definitely going to dilute its core positioning of a health drink.

Secondly, why should a multinational giant like GSK launch a brand with an endorsement from its power brand ? What is restricting the company from launching a new standalone brand ? Only reason seems to be the lack of confidence of the marketer or the search of a short cut to market acceptance.

Has the company thought of the impact of Horlicks if Foodles fail ? If Foodles succeed, does it add value to Horlicks brand or will it dilute the core proposition of a health drink ?
What is Horlicks now - a health drink for kids, health drink for adults, health drink for women, a snack brand, a biscuit brand and a noodles brand .... where is the connection.

Foodles is not going to revolutionize noodles market in India. All the noodles brands are now on the health plank and having a vitamin sachet is not going to do big things for Foodles.

Earlier, my students used to ask me about my favorite brand and I would tell them it is Horlicks because of the focus and smart marketing moves. Now I would say that Horlicks 'used' to be my favorite brand.

Brand Update : Maggi

Maggi has launched its product in the growing Pasta market recently. The variant called Maggi Nutri-licious Paazta is Maggi's major new brand extension in recent times. The Indian pasta market is still in nascent stage with a market size or around Rs 50 crore ( source) but growing very fast.

Maggi pioneered the noodles market in India 25 years back but was not the brand which created the pasta category. The credit goes to Sunfeast which first launched a National brand in this category.

Maggi decided to jump into this Pasta bandwagon for obvious reasons. There is a lot of customer interest in this category. Indian consumers are now more adventurous in their food habits. The Gen Y is mesmerized with the exposure to various cuisines thanks to the media. So there is no dearth of innovators in this segment. Once you get into the good books of these foodies, the flock follow.

Maggi's move was further endorsed when Domino's forayed into the Pasta market with their offerings . So this market is going to see lot of action.

Maggi is currently running a TVC for their Pasta variant : Watch it here

The ad is very similar to the Noodles positioning and both pasta and noodles are sharing a common tagline(with a slight variation) . Paazta uses the tagline " Health bhi, taste bhi, happiness bhi"

One marketing practice reader observed the risk of Maggi moving into a different product category ( brand extension) . He opined that the equity of Maggi will be lost because of this extension . Personally , I differ because Nestle had slowly but surely developed Maggi as an umbrella brand for their food products. They have launched the soups and sauces under this brand. And the brand is doing well in these extensions.


Maggi is currently addressing a category competition. The brand feels that pasta can have a negative impact on its noodles business. For consumers, they view these products as snacks. For such customers, Maggi needed to offer pasta choice otherwise they will move to a competing brand. The current brand extension will have all the disadvantages of brand dilution and cannibalization . But on a broader perspective, it is a matter of survival and category leadership.

Related Brand

Maggi
Sunfeast

Snack Break : Creating new Category

Brand : Snack Break
Company : Agrotech Industries ( ConAgra )
Agency : FCB Ulka

Brand Analysis Count : 429

There is a new kid in the market for snackfoods. Agrotech Industries, which is an affiliate of the US food giant ConAgra, has launched Snack Break brand of snackfoods.
There are two interesting things about this new product. The first one is the category. Snack Break is the first major brand that has introduced "pudding " as a snack. Although Indians love pudding, no one has so far ventured into launching a branded pudding.

Snack Break is inspired from the Snack Pack brand from ConAgra. The Snack Break brand shares the same brand /product characteristics as the parent brand.
Snack Break is positioned as a tasty snack with the goodness of milk. The brand has three variants - Chocolate, Butterscotch and Chocolate Mud-Pie. The brand is priced at Rs 25 for 99gm and Rs 100 for a pack of 4.

The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting the " taste " factor and the nutrition. The brand has adopted the tagline " Simply Irresistible".
Launching a pudding brand is definitely a good idea. The brand is aiming youngsters and kids alike and the nutritional value makes a good reason to indulge.

The second interesting fact about this brand is that Snack Break is endorsed by Sundrop. In theoretical terms, Sundrop is the endorser brand for Snack Break. Sundrop is the popular cooking oil brand from Agrotech. It was surprising that a cooking oil brand is endorsing a pudding brand. Frankly it does not make sense. Oil brand and a snack brand doesn't go together . More over it can be dangerous association since Oil is considered unhealthy and so do snacks.
One reason that prompted Agrotech to endorse Snack Break with Sundrop is to familiarize the brand. Since Snack Break is new and the category is also new, the brand owners felt that a stand alone brand will not be able to make consumers try it. By endorsing it with the popular Sundrop, there is an increased chance of trial by the consumers.

Snack Break is priced a little high compared to the competitors. This high price can be a deterrent for regular purchase for this brand. Once in a while indulgence will be what a middle-class customer will feel about this brand. But for the affluent youngsters, Snack Break offers a new product category to indulge.

Brand Update : Gems

Cadbury Gems is currently running a new series of interesting commercials. The brand has chosen a Giant Panda as the main character in the new set of ads.

Watch one commercial here : Rangeen Panda

Gems has been very consistent in associating with the attributes - color,fun and excitement. Over the last few years, the brand has been concentrating on associating " color" with Gems. The current campaign is trying to further reinforce the association.

Frankly , when I first saw the new Gems ad with the colored Panda, I did not understand any bit of it. Only thing I understood was that Panda became colored when it ate Gems. But my kid seems to enjoy watching the Panda.
Gems now have the new tagline " Rangeen Panda ka Rangeen Pasand". The earlier tagline of Gems was " Meri masti ka Partner ". The new tagline seems to be too tactical in nature focusing more on the Panda rather than the brand.

Gems is targeting the kids of age 8-14 yrs.(source) The way kids look at these messages are way different from how we adults look at the campaigns . Hence I am not venturing into analyzing the new campaign using my adult lens. However I think that the ad could have been more clear so that adults will also understand the essence of the message.

Having said that, the choice of Panda as the main protagonist is a very good idea. The animal evokes a sense of cuteness and stickiness to the ad. When marketing to kids, the presence of such a character will add more punch to the brand. The association of the attribute "color" to Gems also is a class act because it makes Gems unique compared to other brands.

Even though Gems does not have a competitor with similar product properties ( color candies), the consumer does not think in terms of categories while making a confectionery purchase. Most of the purchases are spontaneous and marketers can only wish that their brand is on top of the mind during that moment of truth. Let me hope that the Rangeen Panda helps Gems to capture that moment.

Related Post
Cadbury Gems