McDowell's Royal Snag

The recent advert by McDowell, targeting Royal Stag, is a brilliant example of parody advertising going belly up. The ad featured M.S.Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh, senior cricketers of the Indian Cricket Team and apparently, close friends.

Parody ad - McDowell vs. Royal Stag

One could argue that this was an example of comparative advertising; however, comparative advertisements specifically mention competitors’ names to highlight why the competitor is inferior. In this case, McDowell used everything but the name ‘Royal Stag’ and poked fun at its competitor for most of the length of the ad. Hence, parody advertising would be more apt a reference.

However, this particular advert took parody advertising to a level that left a bad taste in most viewers’ mouths. It contained serious mistakes, which explains why it was taken off the air soon after it was telecast.

McDowell possibly released the ad to start a duel with Royal Stag, however, it ended up hurting its own brand image.

The whole premise of the ad was to dismiss the ‘make it large’ concept of Royal Stag and promote the ‘think different’ concept instead. However, the ad chose to showcase this dismissal by pitting two senior players of the Indian cricket team against each other. Although both players were not shown in the ad, the ad was not convincing enough to avoid that impression or to simply dismiss it as harmless humour.

Dhoni represents a team of Indian cricketers who are almost always (except in the IPL) seen playing as a unit and working with each other towards a common goal. Cricket is the cause of the various advertising and endorsement effects that the players enjoy. Cricket is a team sport and the team always comes before the individual, however, this notion is clearly defied in the McDowell ad. Pepsi has followed this concept well in its ads, by highlighting team spirit apart from the feel good factor or benefits of its product. It is acceptable to show players having a go at each other, but it should be in a humourous or/and harmless manner. The viewer should not get an impression of dampened team spirit within Team India.

Understandably, many questioned Dhoni’s audacity to participate in such an advert and even anticipated a strained relationship with Singh. This goes completely against the concept of camaraderie that players should be promoting through their ads. The negative impact on Dhoni’s image, however, was minimal because of his and his team’s superior on-field performance. A revered sport has the power to suppress many an uncomfortable situation.

The other grave mistake was a reference to Harbhajan’s (or his look-alike’s) father and then showing a man slapping Harbhajan's look-alike and referring to him as “khottey de puttar.” Singh’s father passed away in 2000 and this derogatory connotation would not have been taken well by him, his family or his fans.

The other important factor to consider is that the Indian audience does not take to such ads kindly. This might have been taken in the desired spirit in another country but Indians takes their cricket and cricketers way too seriously.

IPL is a different ball game altogether. It shows Indian players pitted against each other but the pretext of that format is clear and understood well by the audience. The audience knows that it is more entertainment than cricket and come to think of it, there are no distasteful references by players, team owners or advertisers.

Now, celebrities participating in parody advertising would make much more sense than cricketers. Celebrities do not act in teams, in fact, many take a jibe at each other at press conferences. The cola giants did in fact participate in parody advertising involving celebrities. The ads were not only creative but also ended up helping the actors involved, as it strengthened their respective fan bases and loyalty factors.

The McDowell ad and Mallya’s strong support for it would probably have cost him more than it benefitted him. The plug being pulled ended up saving Mallya and his brand from further damage and negative press, although it might have helped with sales. Then again, it is not wise to compromise brand image over a small increase in sales. Even a seasoned businessman like Mallya knows that, or does he?

Maruti Suzuki – the desire to win !

In this day and age of fierce competition, especially in segments like Telco and Automobiles, Maruti Suzuki holds a staggering 45% share of the Indian passenger car market. With competitors flooding the market place, its leadership clearly indicates its knowledge of the Indian consumer’s changing wants and needs, its evolving sense of appeal, its ability to produce high-performance vehicles in multiple segments and its mastery in lean manufacturing. One would assume that Suzuki’s Japanese roots would have a significant role to play as far as cost efficient manufacturing is concerned.

Maruti Suzuki has been rolling out one winner after another at a rapid pace. The Maruti 800’s tremendous success in the Indian market made Maruti a synonym for the compact car segment, much like Nokia in its heyday was synonymous for mobile phone.

The 800 probably outdid itself, considering that it was launched in 1983. It was the best selling car in India until 2004. Two decades of dominance not only speaks volumes of Maruti’s power as a brand but also the conservative Indian consumer mindset. Due to limited players in the marketplace, it was comparatively easier for Maruti (in conjunction with its Japanese venture partners) to stay ahead of the mediocre competition and satisfy the Indian palate.

India’s emergence as an outsourcing and offshoring destination led to the kick-start of a developmental revolution in sectors such as technology, infrastructure and education. Development sparked opportunity for both domestic and international participants and very quickly, the empowered Indian consumer was spoilt for choice, in terms of consumer durables and non-durables.

The changing scenario of the Indian market also saw an evolution in Maruti Suzuki’s way of thinking. Recognising the changing demands and new consumer segments that it could tap into, Maruti produced a variety of vehicles, targeting each identified segment. It upped its ante not only in terms of power and performance but also design and quality. The next super-hit after the 800 was the Maruti Esteem which was a visual delight and sold by the bucket loads for an astonishing fifteen years, until phasing out in 2008. Maruti’s rugged variant, Gypsy, also enjoyed tremendous success, especially with the defence forces. Even in the year 2010, twenty-five years after its launch, Maruti Gypsy has a waiting period of over 3 months. Through the years, the Gypsy underwent enough changes and additions to maintain, if not increase demand. More recently, the Swift (coupé) and Swift dzire (sedan) are the new sensations in the small to medium segment. Despite trouble with workers at the manufacturing facilities, consumers are willing to wait for 7-8 months to get their hands on the brand new Swift (coupé).

Low maintenance and convenience has been a consistent theme in Maruti Suzuki’s adverts. With widespread Sales, Distribution and Servicing networks, and locally manufactured parts, running costs are seldom a concern for the consumer.

Maruti has been cleverly playing the national and emotional cards in its ads, through the punchline “India comes home in a Maruti Suzuki.” In this ad, it showcases a large number of its variants, as the broader theme is more the consumer’s connect with Brand Maruti Suzuki rather than the specific benefits of each product variant.

Click to view Maruti Suzuki commercial

Maruti has made its mistakes as well. Kizashi, its entry vehicle in the luxury segment, failed miserably. There seem to be three clear reasons contributing to Kizashi’ downfall. (1) The car was significantly over-priced. The mid-sized sedan was fully imported, and cost nearly 50% more than what it was priced at in the US. (2) Brand Maruti Suzuki is not a luxury brand. (3) Kizashi did not have a diesel variant, as opposed to its competitors. Despite the luxury tag, diesel variants do attract high demand. A low-cost, low-maintenance pioneer introducing a luxury vehicle, thus turned out to be too ambitious and too risky a move. What should be kept in mind is that the Kizashi presented a very impressive package, despite its price tag. With a Honda or VW logo, it would have probably sold a lot more vehicles. Brand power (or the lack thereof) in the luxury segment is probably what did Maruti most.

Despite the Kizashi debacle, Maruti Suzuki has been very consistent with its core values, as mentioned on its website - customer obsession, fast, flexible and first mover, innovation and creativity and openness and learning. Openness and learning was clearly exhibited through its foray into the luxury segment, pulling the plug as soon as it anticipated a bleak future and a rapid launch of Swift v2.0, another runaway success in its ‘bread and butter’ segment.

Maruti Suzuki is a brave brand, and fortune favours the brave. It is not afraid to experiment and more often than not, it produces impressive machines backed with highly effective marketing and advertising campaigns. It might be just a few more variants away to successfully foray into the luxury segment.

Knowing Maruti Suzuki, the innovations will continue, the brand equity will further improve and it will break through into the premium segment, where bigger margins await. Maruti Suzuki has what it takes – it has desire (and the dzire) to win !!

The new Hero on the block

One of India’s most reputed brands, Hero Honda, is undergoing major restructuring and re-branding, following the recent split between Hero Group and Honda Motors. Hero Moto Corp. has emerged as the new corporate identity.

Hero Moto Corp. is by far the leading two-wheeler brand in the Indian market. With 57% market share, it sells more two-wheelers than its next three (biggest) competitors put together. That might seem like a comfortable position to be in but the split with Honda marks a critical phase in Hero’s evolution.

Hero Honda adverts of the 1980s with the infamous tag line, “fill it - shut it - forget it,” clearly emphasised the fuel efficiency of its two wheelers. Price was the most important influencer for the Indian consumer at the time. With the exponentially increasing middle-class segment and the rising spending power of the Indian consumer today, price still has a major impact on decision-making but expectations of quality and service have also reached new highs. Indians now have a much larger appetite, which is why the country is attracting investors from all parts of the globe. Today, the average Indian household is more educated, culturally aware, financial stable and hungry to succeed.

At a time like this, it will come down to how Hero Moto Corp. positions itself, interacts with its customers and continues extending new and differentiated products and services to maintain or increase its market leadership. The split with Honda Motors thus becomes all the more sensitive – the decision will spark both a risk and a tremendous opportunity.

Honda Motors was responsible for the technology in the bikes of Hero Honda. The risk of the recent split lies in losing a veteran in motor-bike technology that enjoyed an amicable relationship with the Hero Group and presumably followed the rigorous Japanese manufacturing techniques of Kaizen, Kanban, lean manufacturing and others. These techniques, however, are now so popular the world over that they have not only been adopted by several other manufacturing houses but also made their way into case studies at various business schools.

The opportunities that Hero faces are many. The split gives Hero a chance to forge partnerships with various other technology houses. Having more than one technology partner would increase Hero’s negotiating power; then again, having minimal partners would have a favourable impact on cost. Acquiring a technology house, however, would give Hero the opportunity to manage end to end production.

The tie-up with Honda had in fact tied down the Hero Group as it could not venture into overseas markets. The split thus provides a tremendous opportunity to extend its low-cost models to overseas customers. Understandably, Hero has announced to increase its revenue from international markets to $1B or 10% from (2%).

Hero Moto Corp. was recently in the news for having spent Rs. 100 crores on developing its new ad campaign.

Click to view Hero Moto Corp.'s Official Ad

The “hum mein hai hero” song composed by the Oscar-winner A.R.Rahman for the campaign was an instant hit with viewers, as it had a tremendous ‘feel good’ factor about it. It is a great example of good advertising as the ad speaks more to the people about ‘belief’ than about the product or the company. That is the very feeling that Hero is looking to ignite not only within its customers but also within its staff – the spirit that promises upholding leadership and quality despite drastic changes that it is going through. In the first half of the ad, a child artist is shown typing “I want to do it” on his phone. That is the only text that has been focussed on in the ad which again conveys the message of self-belief. The ad, through footage, lyrics and a catchy tune, brilliantly showcases that Hero is a true patriot at heart, that it never gets bogged down by hurdles or circumstances, that it believes in itself, that it summons inspiration from others, that it conquers fear, that it excels, that it believes in itself and that it believes in you.

At this critical juncture, the theme of the ad was always going to be crucial. Hero hit the nail in the head with its new ad. I believe that the message was loud and clear and conveyed effectively. What I liked particularly was that no Bollywood star or Cricketer was used to hard sell the new brand. Rahman was shown a few times, however, he was shown singing the line ‘hum mein hai hero’ to us. The advert exhibits a lot of self-belief on Hero’s part and gives the brand a very honest and transparent feel. These subtleties are crucial in advertising which even reputed organisations mismanage or miscommunicate at times.

Hero Moto Corp. has taken a very confident step in the right direction towards building its brand equity. Hereon, the partnerships that will be forged, the products that will be launched and the messages and interactions that follow will determine the future of Hero Moto Corp.

Bodyguard – how “Brand” wins over “Brain”

I watched the much-awaited Bollywood flick, Bodyguard, recently and thought to myself: “This is such a clear example of how brand power prevails over logic for the Indian consumer.” The brand involved is Salman Khan.

Click to view official trailer of 'Bodyguard'

In my books, the movie lacks a convincing rendition, the songs are average, roles of supporting actors are more ‘insignificant’ than ‘supporting,’ the fight sequences are beyond far-fetched and the dialogues, crass. Despite these several shortcomings, the one right choice of casting Salman Khan much more than makes up for the inadequacies. The movie turned out to be the largest grosser, beating ‘3 Idiots,’ which made me feel rather uncomfortable with the Indian consumer’s choice.

Then again, I am one of those consumers.

India’s ‘scale advantage’ and delivering what the audience would expect from a Salman Khan-starrer is what ensured Bodyguard’s success. After delivering hits with ordinary movies like Ready and Bodyguard, one needs to accept the fact that “Brand Salman” is the most bankable brand in Bollywood today.

What Ready and Bodyguard did right was tailor the movie to suit Salman Khan instead of the other way round. Instead of playing a gamble by showing the actor in a different light/avatar, the movies simply continued with showcasing the elements of the actor that his fans identify him with – an exhibition of his physique, over-the-top fight scenes, dialogues oozing machismo and ludicrous comedy. The movies were more an infomercial of Salman Khan, harnessing only (or mostly) his strengths and portraying him to be bigger than the movie itself. Come to think of it, even the more talented Aamir Khan can probably not pull that off. That is the beauty of brand power. A strong brand makes appeal trump logic.

Another brave and brilliant move was to release the movie on Wednesday instead of Friday, creating cinematic history. Despite movies being screened in theatres from previous weeks, the Salman Khan-starrer garnered 85% release clearance from distributors across India. This gave the movie a huge advantage to cash in on the holidays due to festivals on Wednesday and Thursday. The results spoke for themselves, with the movie raking in over Rs. 20 crores on Day 1.

The marketing budget set aside for the movie was also by far the highest in the industry, at Rs. 22 crores. Having said that, the promoters did not hard sell the movie, since the target audience was so large and loyal that it guaranteed a good opening as long as there was enough buzz. The marketing was not as innovative as that of Ghajini, but the systematic TV, radio, print and online promotions reached significant eyeballs and created the required buzz.

The sheer power of “Brand Salman” is evident through the 65:35 ratio in favour of single screens showcasing the movie, indicating not only a large but also widespread fan base.

I strongly believe that Salman Khan’s philanthropic efforts are tremendously helping him with marketing and with increasing his fan base. Apparently, an autowala had approached the actor’s parents in their Mumbai residence after hearing about the actor’s benevolence. Salman Khan more than obliged by financing the surgery of the autowala’s daughter, thus creating a huge fan and a mobile advertisement of his movies (courtesy the auto rickshaw). The actor has helped several people in distress through such acts of compassion.

It takes a lifetime to cultivate an image and develop a reputation. Despite his casanova image, Salman Khan has consistently contributed to society. His charitable work has clearly overshone his antics and his recently launched NGO, Being Human, is also acting as a powerful marketing tool. Indians are an emotional people. Acts of charity and social upliftment will always go down well with the audience and only help garner increased support.

Bodyguard has been a great lesson in how Brand wins over Brain.

Sarabhai - a brilliant rendition

Sarabhai vs. Sarabhai is by far one of the wittiest situational comedies that I have come across on Indian television.

It showcases the hypocrisy prevalent in the upper crust of society, the clear difference of opinions and thought between the upper and middle classes, the distinct individuality of every character and the hilarious situations that emerge from the oddities of each individual and his/her way of thinking.

The character of the mother depicts a two-faced upper-class woman, who enjoys being revered by her dim-witted younger son. The show also portrays the clash between the upper and middle class through the relationship between the mother and daughter-in-law. The father always creates situations and enjoys watching what unfolds and the poor elder son always ends up sandwiched between his upper-class mother and middle-class wife. The brilliance of the shows lies in the consistency of this theme through the 69 episodes that have been aired in its first season. There are other pertinent and very carefully chosen characters as well, that have seamlessly become part of the show. These characters, too, have oddities that one could identify them by.

I thought it would be interesting to dissect the show in terms of the key elements that have contributed to its huge success.

Sarabhai seems to be aimed at the upper class of society and the broad-minded middle class. The reason I say broad-minded is because the sitcom, through its characters, does make fun of the Indian middle class mentality. Having said that, the Indian middle class is expected to more than treble in the next decade, so Sarabhai’s target consumer base is increasing by the day.

The other plus point about Sarabhai is the quality of its actors. All the main characters have been stretched, in terms of acting skills, in multiple episodes. Not only is their acting convincing but also fun to watch. The physical appearance of the individuals has also been given considerable thought, be it the overweight father who hates milk and loves junk food or the socialite mother who is always well-dressed and well-groomed or the daughter-in-law who is loud, lacks social graces and haggles with anyone she deals with.

Great acting coupled with an interesting plot always makes a TV program fun to watch, irrespective of the jibes taken at sections of society. There would thus be an additional consumer base that simply watches the sitcom for its quality (one could expect an overlap with the target consumer base mentioned above).

Another element of the sitcom that always cracks me up is the sound effects in the background. Every character has a certain sound that one can identify him/her with. These sound effects have been aligned very well with each individual’s role and are timed according to the situation.

I find the title song quite brilliant as well. It has a catchy tune and carefully selected lyrics that cleverly give away the premise of the program. The title song would also signify its target audience – English-speaking.

The brilliance of any good TV program is its consistency and this is where Sarabhai scores big points. It has maintained its comic quality and used the characters extremely well.

The program has been uploaded by several users on Youtube and the comments clearly indicate its popularity and how eagerly people are waiting for Season 2, and that includes me.

The Revolution called Anna Hazare

In India, Anna Hazare is corruption’s worst enemy and the good news is that he has taken the all-important first and biggest step to tackle this menace.

Had he not read that book on Swami Vivekananda (as the story goes), he might not have chosen serving his fellow humans as his life’s motive. In that case, the Lokpal Bill might still have been a ‘bill in theory.’ Anna has served people in various avatars – 15 years of service in the Indian Army, pioneering rainwater harvesting in his drought-prone village in Maharashtra, rallying to build schools and provide electricity to the people of his village and much much more.

His winning tactic is ‘hunger strikes.’ Gandhiji would be so proud, not only to see a determined social activist using his non-violent means but also the causes behind his rallies.

Anna Hazare has been a defining figure against corruption, soon after launching a popular movement - Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan or People’s Movement against Corruption. Ever since, he has used his winning tactic on several occasions, leading to multiple incarcerations and resignations of various guilty politicians. One of his defining wins was the enforcement of the revised Maharashtra RTI Act, which formed the basis of the RTI 2005, enacted by the Central Government.

The year 2011 has put Anna on a new pedestal. His rallies against corruption achieved new heights, with the huge support that they received from the nation - in person, in spirit and in social and professional media.

Anna’s fast in April 2011 attracted supporters from multiple states and from various realms of society and professions. It led to the formation of a joint committee of government and civil society representatives to draft a strong anti-corruption bill. However, the government very smartly, or so it thought, excluded all its employees, the CBI and the PMO from the Bill’s purview. The media needs to be thanked here – daily coverage of the facts, progress and intricacies of the bill enlightened the common man in terms of the raw deal he was getting.

It is this realisation that made thousands of people stand with Anna during his second fast in August 2011. The fast was only delayed by Anna’s arrest, immediately followed by demonstrations by people, forcing the government to sanction his release. Not only lawyers and celebrities, but also the opposition party was on his side, which strengthened the movement all the more. With every move of the ruling party being scrutinised, the fast spanning 13 days and tens of thousands of people showing support in person, the government had to cave in to the pressure and agree to work with Anna’s team and pass the Lokpal Bill. After all, it was what the ‘people’ wanted.

Anna’s topi has become a symbol against corruption. In fact, Kiran Bedi advised citizens to always keep a topi on their person and reveal it if asked for a bribe. Anna Hazare has become one of the most powerful brands in India. 

However, the usage of ‘Brand Anna’ by advertisers has been extremely limited and there is a reason for that. Anna Hazare has committed himself to serving the people for over four decades. His objective is extremely simple, yet tremendously powerful – he wants equal opportunity for everyone and he wants the guilty punished. He is not looking for endorsements to earn the extra buck. To be able to garner support of this magnitude from all realms of society speaks volumes of Anna Hazare’s credibility and commitment as a person. But showcasing this with a product would taint it all – the product, Anna himself and the cause he stands for.

Anna Hazare has done what governments spanning nearly 42 years could not do – enact the Lokpal Bill. It clearly indicates how deep-rooted corruption has been and how every government in power has failed to take accountability.

Along with ensuring that the government does not digress from the Jan Lokpal Bill, Brand Anna now needs to use all this mileage to enforce a change in mindset. Corruption is ingrained in the Indian mind and the Indian mind is an emotional one - it might be a case of Brand Anna talking to us through creative TV and mobile adverts and encouraging us to be part of a ‘clean India !’

We are seeing a revolution unfold before us. If we are in support, it is imperative that we participate and utilise our skills to further this noble cause.

Nokia – reConnecting People

Not too long ago, Nokia was considered the pioneer of mobile phones. It enjoyed majority market share for a number of years until competent rivals like Apple and RIM upped the ante by becoming the only companies that owned both phone software and hardware. Google recently joined that bandwagon.

The game has changed considerably ever since. Nokia has faced stiff competition and has been quickly losing market share. Earlier this year, its global market share dropped to below 30% for the first time in a decade.

One of the biggest moves that Nokia has made to revive market share is the strategic alliance forged with Microsoft to develop Windows-based phone software. It is moving away from the Symbian and Meego platforms and looking to develop a formidable ecosystem that includes mapping, navigation, search, gaming, social media and more.

India is one of Nokia’s largest and most dynamic markets. Nokia definitely cracked the code to sell in India, with its super-successful Nokia 1100 that broke all records and was declared the world’s top-selling consumer electronics product.

Nokia has always made catchy ads pertinent to its target segments. With the company trying to revive its image and market share, it needs to embark on a branding campaign that not only features its new Windows-based products but also speaks to the old Nokia consumer, who once owned a Nokia phone. This campaign should not be aimed at just attracting new customers. Instead, it should focus more on retaining current customers and winning back old customers and their loyalty. Research by Ernst and Young shows that it costs six times more to acquire a new customer than to keep an old one.

From a technology/product perspective, this would call for competitive and differentiated handsets and an impressive ecosystem with improved VAS capabilities.

From a branding and advertising perspective, it would call for all Nokia ads to have a central theme, irrespective of the target segments – a theme that revives the old spirit when the word ‘Nokia’ was synonymous with the word ‘phone.’ That spirit is belief!

The ‘Nokia – Believe’ campaign is what I propose.

I propose Nokia to embark on an Airtel or Hero Moto Corp.-like advertising campaign to convince the consumer that ‘Nokia believes that you believe.’ The whole purpose of this campaign is to tell the consumer that Nokia rests faith in you to make the right choice and to give consumers a clear message that Nokia is all about you. This needs to be closely followed by phone/ecosystem ads that showcase more the value proposition for the target segment than the product. Nokia seems to have mastered that art, going by its previous adverts. All ads should have a central punch line or champion theme of “Nokia – Believe.”

Selecting ambassadors or endorsers for the ad is a critical and highly sensitive decision. The person selected needs to enjoy immense credibility in his/her professional career and preferably personal life as well. Let’s face it – this person is going to be urging the audience to believe in Nokia, in other words, buy Nokia. Here, Nokia can be different by not choosing someone from Cricket or Bollywood but go for a different field of endeavour that epitomises traits like honesty, sincerity, excellence, charm, reliability.

Product placements can be used effectively to garner eyeballs and advertise the champion theme. However, product placement should be very relevant. If the company decides to place a product in a movie, the character using the product should epitomise the traits that Nokia stands for.

Nokia should also have competitions at periodic intervals, say, every quarter. These competitions should be used to engage with the audience in order to evaluate the consumer’s perception of the Nokia brand and analyse the traffic generated to measure consumer interest. This would be an effective way to assess the impact of the ad campaign over time.

Speaking of consumers, Indians are an emotional people. Nokia, therefore, needs to position itself as more of a ‘friend in need and in deed’ rather than just a fancy tool or a new avatar. The portrayal should seamlessly lead to the ‘Nokia – Believe’ theme.

Tie ups in adverts also need to be handled with caution. The Finnish phone giant would want to only select partners who share its ideals, values and theme - the last thing that the company wants is to confuse the viewer. Branding/advertising is only one cog in the wheel, but a critical one, as it is aimed at making the consumer think a certain way.

All that said, before regaining its image and the ambitious position of a trend-setter, Nokia has to go through the grind of effectively dealing with the competition and prevent steady loss of market share. The road ahead is awfully bumpy but it is these ‘journeys of revival’ that separate the men from the boys. Let’s see what the future has in store!