The new Wagon R

Maruti and the Indian market go a long way! From the time being Indian market's monopolist to vying for the market share with all the big guns, Maruti has come a long way. Traditionalists still give it a thumbs-up (did some one say oldies?)

Wagon R has been the darling of the masses - for no reason it is the 2nd best selling car in India. However, everyone keep saying that the design could be a lot better. Not so flashy not so elegant, the Wagon R still sold. But, 6 years is a long time and Maruti decided to come up with a variant.

I'm not an expert on cars which meant I badly needed one - to get an opinion. The one I spoke to was very impressed by the new variant. He opined that Maruti addressed what it had to in the old model - front end looks!

With its competitors Santro, Figo, Beat in the range 3.4 L to 3.6 L, Maruti priced Wagon R between 3.28 - 3.8 for the variants. Maruti is expecting its blue-eyed boy to give it an edge over the competition. Will it?

Indian market and the lemon juice

When was it that Parle Agro decided to come up with LMN? At that time, when it wanted to make its mark in the Indian beverages market. Surprisingly, that was one untapped segment. No one thought of it before!

Lemon juice is tailor-made for Indian environment. Summers...holidays...cricket...all that ends up with a lovely chilled glass of lemon juice. And it is in-house which makes it sweeter than ever. Even now, when I have a glass of lemon juice, it reminds me of my childhood, cricket and lovely little home!

This is what caught up with the biggies. After LMN, it is the turn of Nimbooz and Minute Maid. The usual bragging in the ad world kept aside, both are trying to vouch for greater attention. And having tasted all the three products (LMN, Nimbooz and Minute Maid) apart from talking to people who have been drinking them, there seems to be some interesting observations which might help the strategists.

For starters, every one is wondering why it took so long for the companies to eye this segment. Was it because this was supposed to be an in-house drink? Was it because there are apprehensions on the market perception? Whatever it is, these are uncalled for; at least going by the receptions from my sample.

Then of course is a bigger question from all of them. Why are they coming up with pet bottles and not the economically viable 1 or 1.5 ltr bottles? Simple...companies would like to test the waters before they get knee deep. It always is good if you can come out unscratched in case of adversity. To put simple, cut your losses and don't commit early. (Yeah, the same mistake committed by poor Shoaib with Ayesha...ahem..ahem)

Surprisingly enough, going by the perception and the reception, I strongly believe there is enough mandate to go for bigger bottles. Again, Parle took the first step...but who will be the last one standing?

Moving away from the roots?

Western India Palm Refined Oils...name sounds a bell? Not really? Does WIPRO mean anything to you? Yes, WIPRO is an acronym for the same. Recently, Wipro decided to exit the Vanaspathi and the babycare business.

It truly is a move away from the roots, isn't it? Someone who has started in the Vanaspathi segment and diversified to become a potent force in, well, whichever segment it ventured to. However, it has to be noted that no decision in business is to be emotional and only sense is what prevails.

So, what makes WIPRO take this decision? The actual share of these two businesses is pegged at around 3% of the overall revenues of Wipro consumer care revenues. There are many problems in the Vanaspathi segment what with the adulterated market, health conscious people and the lower appeal among the urban consumers. In the baby care segment, it is an open secret that Johnson & Johnson is the leader by a long way. It controls more than 90% of the market in this segment. Moreover, there is very less brand appeal for "Softbrand" - Wipro's brand in this market.

Looking at all these factors, it seems to be a well-thought business decision from Wipro. After all, what is more important is your bottom line!

What an Idea sirji

It indeed is no exaggeration to say that Abhishek is actually abhi shake. His ubiquitous presence in Idea has been an idea in itself. Be it wielding power as a village head ordering everyone to chuck out names or donnign the role of a doctor asking people to walk the talk, the junior B has done it all for Idea.

The revolutionary theme off-late has been the effort to step up green ways. It indeed is a social theme linked to the commercial aspects...well, subtly. What you see is what you get...you see AB Jr. smartly manning the role of a tree and pushing all of us towards using the phone instead of a paper.

Smart..very smart. No where is ita direct brand awareness programme. In fact, Idea is not promoting Idea at all. It actually is promoting the 'green idea' but subtly says that this is its Idea. Result? You get so reached upon by the novelty and the generosity of the idea that you end up remembering the brand more than ever!

It indeed is what an idea sir ji...all of its ads were; the 'walk and talk' ad changed the perception. Remember, people actually walked prior to that ad as well. But now, when you see someone walking while talking, you can't stop yourself saying walk and talk. As they say, it is a master stroke...a candid master stroke

The taste of India

The little girl with the red dots...the yellow colored thing that spawns water in the mouth and tickles our taste buds...and the humorous one liners...yes, the real taste of India...AMUL.

Generations of youngsters like me (of course, am still young...) have grown up along with the polka dotted girl and the jingle of Amul. The taste of India is in fact the toast of our generation. The engagement model that Amul has adopted is impeccable and talks to every one. The print ads, the bill boards, the television ads...what not, everything is a master piece; a lesson in teaching brand engagement.

I still remember my early college days when I used to rush towards the lone bill board near my house to check the latest riddle from Amul's stable. And then I run around telling each of my friends to do the same. Whenever we happen to pass by that junction, I make it a point to ask everyone to enjoy the message. Unknowingly, I became a part of the publicity bandwagon of Amul...the customer engagement worked wonders for Amul's word-of-mouth publicity.

And the best part of all this is, at no point of time will you feel that this is a brand advertisement. The messages are so relevant and so in-the-time that it hits on your face. And behind all this, Amul makes its way to your dining table and the taste of India becomes the toast of your home!

The pyramid and its dynamics

I love pyramids...They are a wonderful portrayal of how life is; busy at the bottom lonely at the top. The various spectra of earnings and livings are beautifully signified by one Dr. C.K. Prahalad which of course became our bible!

And how! Everyone started looking at the actual untapped market at the BOP (bottom of the pyramid). It may not make sense to a BMW or a Toyota but it definitely makes sense to a HUL or a Godrej to tap the markets. If not with a specialized product definitely with a modified version.

Look at Godrej now. They wanted the Vinod khanna-era-stuck Cinthol's image to be modified. So...kaboom...off went the old Cinthol and in came the new re-branded Hrithik's Cinthol. Did they gain mileage? Well, a little. They at least got eye balls and got the minds tickling with the whole exercise. (They got me hooked too, thanks to Hrithik!)

But what did they realise now? That the too-costly-for-rural Cinthol soap might not make it to the bottom of the pyramid. So in comes the new lesser price models. A recent report states that Godrej is looking at penetrating the market with Rs. 5 and Rs. 10 packets to tap the huge market.

Is it going to work? If the conventional wisdom is anything to go by, Cinthol has a decent shot at the market. It isn't rocket science to tap the rural market. You just need to be approachable - on all 4Ps. Get your product in a feasible model reaching every nook and corner (you are targeting) and then make it affordable.

Cinthol might not receive an instant thumbs up from the market. It would take probably little longer before the market embraces Godrej. And if it does, they might try the same technique on other products. However, beware of competition...ITC already has the strength of its operational backbone and might use it (which they are actually doing) to push its products.

But one thing is sure...the next few months are going to be wonderful for the market. Let's sit back and enjoy

Brand manager

It's often a well-placed misconception that brand manager means someone who takes care of the brands that you buy in the market place, the ones that make up your life style space etc. With the changing times and the eras, brand has extended its portfolio (Can I call it brand extension? I wonder!) and boasts of people too, under its umbrella. Brand Sachin, Brand Aamir, Brand SR, Brand Bachchan(How can I not write about him!) and on and on and on... The curious link up between a brand and an ambassador has moved up a notch and has now taken the proportions of branding at personal level.

Most of the so-called branded people have PR firms taking care of their activities. I do not specifically know how many of these actually take care of their branding activities but one such person is Aamir Khan. The self-styled, the marketing-savvy and the ever-changing unique actor of Indian cinema is for all reasons known THE potential brand of the Indian celebrities. With all due regards to every other celebrity, Aamir holds his own in this space.

How does he do that? Simple; he makes sure that he walks the talk. Aamir sports a Titan watch, drinks a Diet Coke, drives an Innova, watches a Tata Sky and of course sports a new hair style every day. It's not about driving the brand but driving the message. In an era of message clutter and brand-ambassador incongruence Aamir comes as a refreshing change. Samsung, another brand endorsed by him leaped from number 4 in the GSM handsets to number 2 after he started endorsing them.

Doesn't it send a subtle message to all the marketers around? Yeah it does. Choose your endorser who knows and appeals to the people. And by appeal, it's not just the visual appeal. The connect between the brand and the endorser has gone beyond the commercial; it's time marketers take notice!

Interviewer: Ruk Shan Khar ji you endorse Tepsi but why are you drinking Poke?

RSK: HHHHHey, in that case I need to bathe with a Sux, have a NairTel connection...I'm beyond all this...

B.R.A.N.D.

Why did I name it in a way immortalised by a famous sitcom (The irresistable Jennifer Aniston is an off-the-cuff reason, but not for public revelation)? Simply because I believe a brand is a conglomerate of so many things immortalised by the letters.

B - Basic

R - Realistic

A - Appealing

N - Needy

D - Duly serving

People say different things about why they need brands - it reduces the time of search of a customer, increases the affiliation...blah blah blah. But, at the end of the day, it boils down to the basic stuff. Unless the product immortalises the basic thing what a customer is looking for, you cannot, absolutely cannot, hit the psychological levels with your product. And make no mistake, a product remains a product until it gets an attachment with the customer.

Try designing a funky product which is very basic but is far away from the expectations of the customer. No matter how well you stick to your basics, it is almost as much pertinent to cling on to the realistic expectations of the customer. The GOD of marketing (customer boss, customer...he is our GOD!!!) doesn't take any bull shit. (S)He just expects a real version of his needs.

There is already so much clutter out there. Even for a pen, I've so much to choose from based on various factors. And of course, there is the celebrity factor. Amidst all this chaos, if your product needs to hold its own and go on to become a brand it has to be appealing to its customer. Unless I find something very appealing, I won't change my usual buying decision (Of course, it's another matter that I rarely think while buying). In an era where it is very difficult to find and hold your customers, the best thing your brand can do (and may be the least, as well) is to appeal (to all senses, if possible) to the consumer.

Is that all? Am afraid not...it is almost next to impossible to make a brand in an area where there is no need! You can survive on fast-track sales for a day, a week and may be a little more if you pick on some clever tactic. But unless there is need on the consumer side your product can not think of the next step. Make sure that your product picks up all these attributes and duly serve the consumers; because the life of a product doesn't end with being a B.R.A.N.D, it starts with it.

What's in a name?

I used to hate my 10th class Hindi teacher. Not just because she never answered my queries (What is the meaning of Kacche Dhaage, Parinda, Purani Haweli - all movie names) but also because she never remembered my name. The very first class started with her re-hinduening (I fear the Dal members and so no Christening word in my blog) me as Ganesh. 

Me: Ganesh!!!! but that's not me

Teacher: Oh! But you look very much like Ganesh, your senior.

I tried to forget it as a one-off day. But, little did I know that it's just a pre-cursor to my plight. Ganesh made it to the rolls everyday and Sridhar was always absent. I wonder if the principal ever peeped into the class; he would definitely have put up a missing notice on the school board. I protested vehmently at every taken opportunity - every time.

(Roll call) Teacher: Ganesh

Me: Absent

Teacher looks up and says seriously I wouldn't tolerate any mischief

I looked down and muttered Neither would I! Wait till I pass out...

Days rolled by and I started hating Shake-sphere (the guy who wrote What's in a name! Did he not write his own name after the quote?) and my teacher too. One lucky day she got her memory back (probably returning from a long pilgrimage) and I got my name back. Though I do not remember, my friends say that they never saw an impromptu dance (and prayed that they never had to!) before.

Days rolled by and it became a memory until it got dusted after a session on branding. Why do people go for a name? Isn't it actually the product that sells? More often than not, people get associated to more than the offering on board. You give them a soap and they get addicted not just to the smile but also to the lady who showers in the ad; they get attuned to your company name so much so that a day would come when naam hi kaafi hain. 

What's in a name? There is so much...can you think of Colgate deciding overnight that it wants to be Hinduened (remember, no Christening word in my blog, never!) Tollgate just for a change. Or Lakme renamed Lakus? Well, at least not in the near future because I don't see my Hindi teacher joining these companies...

Teacher: Ganesh

Me: He's absent, teacher Anamika

Teacher: But, am not Anamika!

Me: Neither am I Ganesh!!