Sona Chandi Chyavanprash: Trying hard: Not smart

Brand : Sona Chandi Chyavanprash

Agency : Ambience Publicis

Base line :Sona de surakshit tan, chandi de tez dimaag.






Chyavanprash is a 300 crore category with Dabur owning around 60-63% market share. The rest is held by Emami, Himani and other companies put together.
The competition has been hotting up in this category . This is due to the increase in demand for the health foods in the country. The root cause for such an increase in demand lies in the Psychographic profile of the Indian consumer. In other words, because of the changing lifestyle of Indian consumer.

Himani wants its share in the growing pie of this market. Dabur has roped in Amitabh Bachchan to endorse the product. So to compete with the big B, there is no other choice but Shah Rukh.

Shah Rukh makes perfect sense because of the unstoppable energy he has and the dream run he has at Bollywood.

Himani wants to get the share in the premium segment of the chyawanaprash market.

Sona chandi is positioned in the health platform offering both physical and intellectual well being.

Regarding the communication, as with Tata Indicom ad, the agency failed to impress even with the bubbling Shahrukh which could be blamed on the poor execution of the ad. With Shahrukh, Himani could have made a headway across the market , but alas.......

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A revolutionary product: Killed by poor advertising

Brand : Tata Indicom True paid

Baseline : Do more live more


The product from tata indicom prepaid is revolutionary since it "talks"about the incoming free for two years even without recharging ( not sure about the fine print). A great marketing idea that is similar to the campaign of Reliance Infocomm 501 mobile campaign which changed the Indian telecom industry for the better.

Earlier prepaid cards were having a disadvantage of having to be recharged everymonth which proved to be a disadvantage and companies had to ensure that they reach every point of the market and distribution reach was a deciding factor. This new product ensures the flexibility of the consumer to wait and purchase the coupon at his convenience.

But the campaign is nothing but a waste of money. I cannot comment more on the ads with prize catch of Kajol and Ajay Devganm. The message appears to be comic but ...... well I reserve my comments.

There is no clue as to who the target customers are?
Business class/ students/ professionals/ laymen , no idea? My dear marketing friends at Tata Indicom, please think about this.

It is a good product and unless the message is seriously executed. The product may sell because it is good, but just wait for Reliance or other firms to take this idea and make a market out of this. Just like the concept of " golden eye technology" was developed by videocon but executed with perfection by LG.

All the best Indicom.

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Surf Excel : Dirt Is Good:So Is The Idea

Brand : Surf excel
Agency : Lowe

Baseline : Dag Ache hain " Dirt is good"
Brand Count : 3


Surf has been in the market for a long time and has effectively managed its product life cycle with the help of product innovations and great marketing strategy.

The recent campaign of surf excel with the base line that says "Dirt is good" comes as a pleasant surprise to the Indian consumers

We were associating Dirt with Bad. Advertisers too had established dirt with some thing to avoid at all costs.

Even our cricketers seldom dive in the field because it would soil their white dress and we have seen our Cricket players, sorry Cricket models escorting ball to the fence in their spotlessly clean dress. Dag ache nahin hain!!!!

I am not sure why HLL tries to shock the public by saying that dirt is good, may be it is to shock the public and we are pleasantly shocked.

This campaign has a huge significance. It says
It is ok to soil your clothes
It is ok to play in the mud
It is OK to enjoy life
Surf excel hai na!

There are innumerable spin offs that surf can do with this campaign . I will say that after " Lalithaji" ,This is the next "BIG IDEA......

Hats off to Levers and Lowe

Key words : Brand, Positioning, Marketing strategy, Indian Brands.

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Toyota Innova: Classic case of celebrity endorsement

Brand : Innova
Company : Toyota
Agency: Densucomm
Brand Analysis Count: 2


Toyota Innova is an interesting brand. Interesting because it redefined the MUV segment in India and also it replaced the famous Toyota Qualis . Innova was launched in 2005. It replaced the successful Qualis when the sales of Qualis was at its peak.

Toyota decided to replace Qualis because of two reasons. Qualis was a major success among the tour operator segment but was not popular at the individual/home segment. Second reason was the increased competition from Chevrelot Tavera which was perceived to be a more refined upmarket SUV.
Toyota also wanted to bring in the latest products in the Indian market. Qualis was only a test product. Further, Toyota wanted to appeal to the individual/home users rather than the commercial segment.

Innova is positioned as a luxury MPV. The brand has the latest technology and is refined to perfection. The brand has roped in Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador. Innova is positioned as a vehicle for all purposes . The brand uses the tagline " All you desire " and the ads are also catchy. The brand is priced at a premium and is targeting families which are SEC A A+ and large in size.

It is already a well debated issue whether celebrities should be used for endorsements. I am of the opinion that the brand should be the center of attraction and celebrity should support the brand and they should not steal the limelight.

Innova has effectively used the charisma of Aamir Khan to promote itself. Recent newspaper reports suggest that the advertisement has clicked.

Let us see why Toyota has used Aamir for its product. The latest advertisement of Corolla with Rahul Khanna suggests that Toyota is bugged by celebrity paranoia.

The basic positioning of Innova is as a getaway vehicle that is spacious, trendy and upmarket. Innova has tried to distance itself from the Qualis ,its successful predecessor which was popular as a Taxi .
So it was necessary that Innova be promoted as an upmarket car that can be associated with the successful. So Aamir make sense. The execution was perfect so was Aamir.

The pricing of Innova was also inline with the positioning with over 7+ variants and priced at a premium.
Toyota would like to see less Innova Taxis and more families owning Innova.The current ad will help them in realizing that objective.

Key words : Brand, Positioning, Marketing strategy, Indian Brands.

Revised on 26/5/08

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