Jas Business Blog

Few years back I read a report detailing how HLL was considering to change its then green colored leaves logo to something that was closer to its mother brand Unilever, which itself was undergoing a plastic surgery for fresh image in consumer mind. Now HLL has changed to HUL, company board deciding to use the word Hindustan (with reports that its probably only occurrence in world that Unilever has allowed a local name). After each advertisement of a Lever’s product you can see the new ‘vitality’ filled sign of Unilever with Hindustan Unilever written below it. This branding fo corporate identity along with the brand makes sense for the obvious. But is it just because of changing corporate image or is due to higher competition in market? Is it that HUL now wants to leverage its larger than life corporate image and add the benefit to its brands?

In case you are ready to negate the argument then have a look at other happenings. Check the FMCG battlefield where the goriest of battles have been fought – soft drink industry. After the Pepsi ads you would now see the branding of PepsiCo. Post liberalization PepsiCo was allowed to use its international brand name in India (earlier it had to use ‘Lehar’ alongside), but since then it hasnt done any branding. Infact I was surprised to see the name PepsiCo used in US instead of Pepsi as the corporate name 3 years back, and here in India nobody had heard about PepsiCo! PepsiCo India even has its own website now, which I once tried to find helplessly 2 yrs back (for assignment purpose). The impact may have been because of pesticide issue.

Coke too has worked a lot for its corporate image with McCann Erickson, with Prasoon Joshi coming up with new ad line “Boond boond khushi khushi” or “Little drops of joy“. He was the one who changed Coca Cola’s fortune with hugely popular “Thanda matlab Coca Cola“. According to Joshi,

In a growing, constantly changing market like India, a brand needs to have an emotional connect. In small-town India, which is the next big market, marketers are constantly trying to find the right lingo that will guarantee the right connection. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi is their connect with the brand. One isn’t supposed to look at the drops in isolation, but see them as drops of a larger vision, aimed at mutual growth and development. Boond Boond Khushi Khushi will refresh the consumer on an everyday basis. We are not saying that Coca-Cola cause miracles. What is very real about it is that we don’t claim to transform lives but simply envelop a moment with joy.

The entire campaign, “Little Drops of Joy”, is based on moments of joy in the daily lives of consumers. The TVC portrays how little drops of Coca-Cola transform drab moments of life to a more cheerful one. One of these commercial opens with the shot of a couple, walking on the road and fighting over daily chores. Suddenly, drops of Coca-Cola engulf them and the boy spots a beautiful dress on a mannequin and decides to buy it for the girl in order to pacify her. The second section of the commercial shows an old Parsi lady in a pensive mood. Again, the bubbles appear and immediately the old lady spots her friend in a car and they go out. In the end the message appears: “Coca Cola India — Boond Boond Khushi Khushi.” If you ask me, my point will be that big things give you excitement but its the small things that make you feel happy and contended, hence crucial for branding.

Also, as part of its re-positioning strategy, Coca-Cola has revealed its five-pillar growth strategy, that of 5 Ps -

The company is testing a foray into dairy-based products as well as introducing in India energy drink major Glaceau’s brands that it recently acquired for $ 4.1 billion. This is in response to shift of Indian consumer towards healthy drinking habits. Pepsi had beaten Coke on this with its Tropicana range of juices. and with report of Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., being close to purchasing a juice brand in India, the battle is surely gonna hot up

There is a term called activation. A company may have a very good distribution network, a decent product, making the final product rightly available at the retail counter and promising a value to the user but it all reduces to ashes if the product doesn’t register in the mind of consumer and he just passes away. Its not that the product is bad, its just that the mind of consumer is not receptive to that category of product because of some reason. This will happen if either the product is a low involvement one or if it has become one, which may further happen due to many reasons, loyalty being one.

Some companies focus on packaging to make the registration; others try shouting, and many these days go for guerilla. Idea is to INDULGE the consumer, and this essentially has to be by involving or rather pushing to involve his senses. Attractive packaging catering to sight, asking people to touch and feel the product related to skin and so on. The consumers have been getting used to innovations and marketers to innovating. Add those two together and you get some really creative marketing campaigns. Say, lately the trend of Scent Marketing has picked up. Being true to its name, it’s blowing nice aromas at you to get you to spend more and keep coming back.

ScentAir, a firm from North Carolina has indulged itself in this marketing. It makes specialized smells for the companies. These are then used in retail outlets, in hotels, in magazines and lot more open avenues left to be innovated. Sometimes smells of actual products are pumped into the room. In one case, says Van Epps, CEO, ScentAir, that it actually lured more people, step by step, to a basement ice cream shop by wafting the essence of sugar cookie and waffle cone down the stairs. He claimed that the shop found a tremendous lift in their sales as a result of using that like a sign. “It’s why we call it an aroma billboard.” he points.