Their latest Cake commercial is real solid literally.While surfing through the TV channels,TMSBee came across this interesting commercial.In the start it didn’t seem to be a toothpaste commercial at all.It seems to be some consumer durable aiming at having a young brand personality,then suddenly comes the twist.The cake shoots off the plate and hits the fridge and leaves a big dent in it and then falls on the floor to break the tiles.

Then the door bell rings and the husband of the protagonist enters and sees the cake.Without second thoughts,he picks the cake up and bites into it.Now What ?

Nothing,he eats it easily as he brushes his teeth with the new Anchor White toothpaste.

Lets have a look.

This commercial has the capability of making people stop and take notice of the brand which is trying to get your walletshare( and the mouth share) from long.When your competitors are Colgate and Pepsodent,its always tough but Anchor has always been an established brand and not just a ‘me-too’.But still their real competitors always turned out to be the likes of Dabur Red,Amar etc.

Kajol endorsed this product for some time but then went missing.This new commercial doesnt feature any ambassador.The ordinary looking guy with super teeth makes the ad look even better.

The Kajol Commercial

Anchor never had the Wow factor or an eye grabbing commercial with them to get the attention.They were a known brand but not a great brand.Anchor was assumed to be the toothpaste of the older generation.The younger generation preferred Colgate or Pepsodent.Is it or not ?

TMSBiz is not claiming that this commercial will make Anchor a known brand overnight but yes this commercial would be a hit.

Keep the fundas away for now, just enjoy the commercial.

What Say ?

© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

5 Star has always been a well advertised brand.Cadbury’s always treated 5 star at par with dairy milk when it came to advertising.Many brands came and went but could not topple 5 Star from its position.The closest any brand came was Nestle BarOne which was liked by many.Now a days Mars is also being preferred.

Lets talk about 5 star’s latest campaign which has been in existence.

The ‘Lost in Taste’ campaign which features two or three guys who have temporary loss of memory due to the awesome taste of 5 star.The campaign is quite successful and they have come up with 3 ads in the series till now and  the latest is just awesome.

Suresh-Ramesh Ad

The first ad in the series was also a great one.Everyone really enjoyed it.

Even the following ad was quite popular.

The ads are popular because they are unique and creative.The whole idea is integrated well with the product.The concept that the taste of the chocolate is so good that you will lose yourself for some time goes well with a product like 5 Star and appeals to the youth as well as kids.

A product like 5 Star doesn’t need super ads to keep it going.5 Star is one of the most preferred in its category (caramel based chocolates) but still it has to compete with all the other chocolates(mostly from its own house Cadbury’s) and also generic confectionery on a bigger scale.So such ad campaigns keep the brand alive and keep it in talking terms with the customer.

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© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

But today I saw this new ad of Fem bleach.

Fem is the same company which actually was at the forefront of this white revolution.When i was a kid their campaign had a jingle ‘Gori Gori Fem Fem Se’(Fair with Fem).

The new ad is first if its kind.The first few seconds of the ad makes one feel ‘one more fairness product ad’ but then you will find that it is different.They don’t show the dark girl as the loser in fact they tell that there is a separate bleach for different complexion.At the end of ad,the dark girl is shown with a  wheatish complexion and not super fair as is the case with all other products.She is confident and looks good.Check the ad which features Priety Zinta as the brand ambassador.

We feel that the ad would be liked by all.The ad points out that like any color clothes are not suited to all complexions, similarly a bleach should also be different for different complexions.The ad doesn’t degrade the dark girl or doesn’t show the fairer girl better or superior.The ad just shows that Pink color dress goes better with fairer skin and blue color dress suits the wheatish skin.
It’s time that such products should advertise with certain sensitivity as Fem has done.Is there a real need to show a dark girl facing issues in the country to reinforce the poor mentality we already have ?
India is changing so its outlook also has to change.Who has ever become fair by applying  fair and lovely ?
Even men fairness creams have now come in the market.Who knows when its their turn to face the music ? LOLZ
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© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

I looked closely and took a picture of it too.
These hoardings looked well designed,colorful and of some luxurious product.But when i saw the product a bit closely.I saw that Soul was a brand of pickles.

I could not believe that this actually is an ad for a pickle brand.But after looking at it to the extent that bystanders started to see me with the same expression i was looking at the hoarding,I was confirmed that it is a pickle ad.

I came home and searched the net regarding them but failed to find any information.I had noticed the company name on the hoarding.It was ADF foods.I went to their website http://www.adf-foods.com but could not find any sign of SOUL.

But today when i searched again i saw that ADF had updated the website with SOUL brand.

These pickles are not promoted as just pickles but as some luxury brand.

‘P for Pickle,P for Passion’  is the copy on the Ad.Note the use of color in the hoarding.The colour is a bright exotic Bluish color which again associates a kind of  luxury to it.

But can it be done ? That too in india ?

Pickles have been part of every Indian cuisine and have been there for long.But can it be a product of desire as SOUL is being positioned as ?

SOUL as a brand has a whole range of pickles made in virgin olive oils and then they have the traditional pickles.

If you see their webpage in detail,you see that it is being projected as a health food too e.g. calories are mentioned and also all the fat,carb. contents etc.

Coming back to the question Can it be a premium or luxury product ?

ADF as a company seems to be more focussed towards its international customers in US,Europe,Australia,New Zealand,middle east.They are a kind of company which exports ethnic Indian food products,spices and pickles.They even have Juhi Chawala as their brand ambassador.But they have hoardings in India for SOUL pickles.

So for customers outside India such ethnic Indian food products can be a luxury but in India I don’t think it would be possible.

Maggi too had launched pickles but they didnt pick up.People in India either make their own pickle or buy local made pickles which are much cheaper.Off late many pickle brands have come in market like Nilon,Tops etc but they are positioned on taste,ingredients etc and not fancy terms like Passion,Food is Love etc(SOUL).

But similar thoughts would have come when water was bottled or when Tea was branded.Today people are paying for buying a water bottle worth 15 bucks/litre.

Brands like Himalayan and Vedic can be classified as premium or Luxury bottled water.They are positioned as the purest water brands available which have been packed at source(Himalayas).

Can Soul do the Himalayan with Pickles ?

I am skeptic.

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© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

Coca Cola,Pepsi,Parle Agro all have jumped in the pool with brands Minute Maid Lemon,Nimbooz and LMN respectively.

Nimbooz was the first brand that was launched in market which was positioned as natural lemon refresher.I was positioned as asli indian,asli nimbu(Real Indian,Real Lemon).

Then came LMN,from the house of Parle Agro,which also positioned it as lemon based refreshing drink.

Now few days back,Coca Cola too entered the battle with the lemon flavour of its brand Minute Maid which was available in Pulpy Orange flavour.

The positioning is similar.They claim it to be Ghar Jaisa(Home Like).

Lets have look at the 3 commercials doing rounds on the television.

NIMBOOZ

LMN

Minute Maid Lemon

LMN wins on the commercial but in positioning i think Minute Maid is the best.

But why suddenly lemon has become the hot favorite ?

From what i understand is that most Indians have grown up with two beverages

1) Home Made Lemonade

2) Sugarcane Juice available in market

Indians love these two flavours.From North to South,East to West,these two drinks are well known and enjoyed with ‘delight’.

The problem with Sugarcane commercialization is that it is tough to process it and package it.But lemon based natural drinks are a lot easier to produce.

Shikanjavi or Limboo Sharbat(Lemonade),call it anything,whole India loves it.

Lemon as a flavour has been popular from long time.Coca Cola and Pepsi have their lemon flavoured soft drinks(Fanta,Limca,7up,Sprite) but none was natural(just flavoured).

But now things have changed,’actual lemon’ is the center of attraction.People have actually started to like them.In my institute itself i have seen people carrying pet bottles of one of these 3 rather than the black or orange colored drinks’ pets.

Nimbooz and Minute Maid are rising real fast as brands.LMN is not that much visible in the market.

Regarding flavour,they are good and quite close to the home made lemonade.Minute Maid comes quite closer to the real thing.

But i was thinking the other day ? Should i spend 15 20 bucks on something like this or rather buy two lemons and squeeze them to make my self a king size glass of the real lemon drink.The original shikanjavi(Lemonade).

So has lemon got its due ? Or still long way to go ?

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© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

The campaign was launched on March 1.There were OOH ads all over the cities,then came the commercial featuring Ranbir Kapoor.

Then just 2 3 days back,Pepsi launched the next commercial,Pepsi-The Game featuring Ranbir Kapoor and surprisingly Sanjay Dutt who i thought was content with Ads like Navaratan Tel and Goa Pan Masala .

The ad is a teaser to the Pepsi Game which starts soon.The campaign actually features a game in which the customers( or people watching TV)  will help Ranbir to steal Pepsi from Sanjay Dutt.

In a series of TV commercials,Ranbir will move a step closer to Sanjay Dutt with help of the people.‘The Game’ is played over five films with three levels, each ending with a brainteaser. Three options are given for each riddle and you have to select the right answer by using your mental smarts. To play, you can call or SMS ‘GAME’ to 093 27 27 27 27 or simply log on to www.youngistaan.com

The Game involves a young boy in search of his Pepsi — namely Ranbir Kapoor — and some tests he has to pass in order to seize his drink. Enter a ‘Game Master’ — Sanjay Dutt — who would pose questions to Kapoor, pertaining to Pepsi and Youngistaan.

The Game is set in a fantasy world, and all the action takes place in a castle owned by the Game Master, who ‘challenges’ youngistaani Kapoor to get his Pepsi from his lair. Kapoor has to pass three levels of questioning, after which he would win the drink.

The first prize is RS 50 Lakhs.

The campaign looks good and quite different.FOr a product like Pepsi,such campaigns can lead to higher customer engagement,lyality and hence purchase.

The campaign is just in the initial stage right now.Lets see how it unfolds over the coming days.

What Say ?

© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

Snacks/Chips as a category has evolved a lot in past few years in terms of advertising.With the likes of Lays,ITC Bingo coming up with interesting ads,Hippo has joined the bandwagon(or the brandwagon).

The commercial is nice and features a satire on evil practices in general.With a Bollywood backdrop song,’Pyaar Baant te Chalo’.It ends with a saying that cause of every bad thing in the world happens because of hunger.So eat Hippo,fight hunger and spread love and peace.Hippo,the mascot,solves the world’s problems by simply helping people fight hunger.In war,terrorism,corruption,politics,Hippo just solves all issues by offering hippo chips.

Nice Positioning and Ad ?

Watch the Ad now

The ad breaks the clutter as Bingo did in the past.Whereas Bingo just concentrated on humour and fun,hippo has gone a step ahead carrying a social message.

Parle(not Parle Agro) also has launched Smart Chips with Aamir Khan running around cities explaining people to be smart and to eat the healthy chips.It also is in similar category,so there is a kind of ‘internal’ competition too for Hippo.

Note : Parle and Parle Agro are not part of a single company but are two separate companies.One simple example is that Bisleri belongs to Parle and Bailey belongs to Parle Agro.Its a similar story to Reliance industries.You guessed it right !

Coming back to Hippo,some days back,i tried Hippo.I liked them but they are not as great as Lays or Bingo but are a bit different.It would take time before people develop a taste for such snacks.

Hippo also have come up with a website HippoFightHunger.com to create additional buzz for the brand.

Ads with social messages hidden in them have always been successful like TATA Tea etc but would it place Hippo alongside other snacks such as Lays,Bingo,Kurkure etc.

That time will tell,meanwhile enjoy Hippo and its adventure.

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© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

This jingle and positioning has been nearly constant over the years.Nirma as a brand has enjoyed good position in brand awareness and recall.In recent years it has faced a lot of competition.From Wheel to Tide,the list is long.

Now few days back,a new Nirma ad has been released.It has the same jingle(unchanged) but the way it is delivered is totally different.It has a certain hidden dimensions and positioning to it.

Have a look at the ad

The all smooth happy cheerful Nirma jingle is delivered with a certain attitude.It is not exactly rude or harsh but yes it is delivered in a way that sounds harsh to the pool of mud and dirt.The protagonist points the finger to the pool and reminds it that if it touches her,it has to meet the harshness of Nirma which would finish it.The pool gets scared and doesn’t touch her.

The positioning is that nirma is hard on dirt,so hard that the dirt is scared on mention of it.

After Surf Excel and TIDE ads,Detergent Ads are now no longer constrained to just housewives washing clothes but a little more than that.

Coming back to Nirma.There have been mixed reactions to it.Some people liked it some didn’t.People have not taken the change in delivery of jingle well.

But still,the ad is such that you can’t ignore it as you listen something familiar in a different style.More eyeballs means good ad right ?

Will the ad do the needful  ? Would it bring Nirma in the same consideration set as tides and surf excels ?

What Say ?

© 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

I even heard that people used to refer any general cheaper substitute as Dalda.e.g.any cheaper brand for any product would loosely be referred to as Dalda.On the pack ‘VEGETABLE GHEE’ was written always as it was positioned as a subsitute to ghee.

You can read more about Dalda on wiki.

Over time as Indians became more health conscious,dalda and ghee were seen less on the cuisine.More healthy and edible cooking oils like groundnut,mustard, rice bran,soyabean and even olive came into picture. For more details on cooking oils you can refer to this article on rediff.It kept on losing market share to these new categories.Dalda also came up with its healthier version.It was called Dalda Activ but it didn’t taste much success in market.

in 2003 a company called Bunge bought Dalda from HUL.In 2004, it’s market share in vanaspati had come down to 16% and the market kept shrinking. To grow Bunge needed to enter the cooking oil market with an ‘oil’ and not a ‘fat’ (vanaspati). Bunge extended the Dalda brand into oils. It launched oils like; Sunflower, Mustard, Groundnut, Soyabean, Gingelly (Til). They aimed at market leadership in two years.Did that happen ?

No

The growth Bunge envisaged for Dalda never happened. It has grown from 350cr in 2003 to 550cr in 200 (a decent growth of 8-10%, mainly because the industry also grew by the same percentage). But the market share never moved up. Today Dalda has a 2% market share in oils and fats in India.

Basically Dalda never was able to come out of its old cheap ghee substitute image.

But few days back i heard about a relaunch of DALDA.

A new logo,a new look,a new tagline,a new positioning.

It has a new tagline ‘husband’s choice‘.

They are launching a range of new products.To make housewives see Dalda as a healthy oil Bunge has planned a spend of 22 crores over the next two years. They are planning TV commercials, FM spots and retail activation to spread their message. Two more variants (Rice Bran Oil & Coconut Oil) are also in pipeline.

I am a bit surprised by the tagline.The consumer study by Shining Emotional Surplus and Bunge’s marketing team revealed a particular worry for most housewives — health of the husband who is overworked, stressed and often eats outside.This means that housewife will chose this brand because its good for her husband’s health but then it should have been ‘Healthy choice for My Husband‘ or something similar as they are targeting housewives.

Nevertheless Dalda is a heritage brand marred by a poor brand image which needed something like this to revive itself.

What Say?

© 2009 – 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.

TATA hai to achcha hi hoga ! (If its TATA,It would be good).This is general public perception about TATA.

TATA is built on trust and quality.

Now yet again TATA has diversified and stepped into a new market (where trust is paramount ) i.e. Cold Beverage market.They have a new offereing called TATA TiON.The market is not exactly cold beverage but non carbonated and natural cold drinks to be precise.

TATA TiON is a branded,packaged and flavoured Iced Tea.Iced Tea as a refreshing drink has become quite popular in recent past.But mainly Iced tea was not branded and packaged per say.It was available as an option at vending machines at McDonalds,Subway or Nestle vending machines installed at various places.

Its priced at Rs 22 for 400 ml which is quite competitive if we see the simlar offerings in the segments such as Real,tropicana,Minute Maid etc.The Iced Tea which i normally have at outlets are also costlier than this.I remeber paying even 15 -20 bucks for a small glass(150 ml approx) so Price is not at all an issue for TiON.

I would definitely prefer a Ice Tea rather than a coke or a pepsi if it available at such a good price.I have not seen it in Mumbai yet.One of my friends in Chennai told me about it.In Chennai it has been launched with OOH campaigns.

The drink is available in 3 fruit flavours which gives consumer the much needed choice.

“This is a defining moment in the history of Tata Tea as it symbolises the transformative change taking place in the company,” Tata Tea, executive director Sangeeta Talwar said in the release.

The competition includes Nimbooz,Minute Maid,Tropicana,Real,LMN,Frooti,Slice and even Red Bull as you would notice later in the post.And yes the usual suspects,all the aerated drinks would definitely compete for their share.

Would people prefer TiON over normal soft drinks ?

TiON takes the question and answers it too on the label as

“It is a fact of life. You can’t let go off the new T!ON. Why? It’s delicious. It’s refreshing. It’s absolutely buzzing with active energy. And, best of all, its good. Na, good isn’t good enough. It’s good 3 times over. With 3 good things – tea extracts, fruit juice and ginseng. That’s (count them) 1. health, 2. nutrition, 3. energy. All in one bottle. The new T!ON with 3 good things. So why let go!”

One thing which i noticed in the above copy was the word Ginseng.On googling i came to know that its a plant that is useful in Stress Relieving,But not without some Side Effects and concerns but overall its a friendly substance.

Even HUL is coming up with its own Lipton Tea Ice Tea variant and they also are stressing on a chemical called ‘Theanine’ to appeal to working professionals.

Theanine is known to increase alpha brain waves associated with “relaxed yet alert” state of mind and the ability to focus attention and stay sharp, HUL said.

A new competition is about to begin where a chemical(or biological) warfare would be used for the first time in the field of marketing.

Ginseng vs Theanine

Both are supposed to be Stress Releasing substances but i wonder what would be the stress levels of the professionals involved in the launch and marketing of the products containing them.

The competition in the beverage market will only become fierce with the entry of such natural and health drinks.Pepsis and Coca Colas of the world are definitely feeling the heat.

What Say ?

© 2009 – 2010, TMSBee. All rights reserved.