Vanish: Trust pink, Forget Stains

Brand: Vanish Stain Remover
Company: R&B
Marketing Agency:EMC Solutions worldwide

The detergent market in India is a mighty 12000 crore market lead by HUL with a market share of 34.6%, and P&G with 16-17%. And then, there are some regional brands which are giving a tough competition to these global brands. Brands like Ghadi and Nirma are taking the share from these large global players in certain areas.

In this highly competitive market, R&B had launched Vanish in 2005, but hasnt quite performed as well as the brand has in other countries (Vanish is a market leader in 75% of the 57 countries it sells in.) And unlike other detergents which are used for general cleansing of clothes, Vanish was launched with a clear brand positioning of removing stains without fading colored clothes.

Now, the brand is back to advertising in the Indian market, and not only is it a comeback for the brand but to feature in its advertisements, it has signed the yester years actress, ravishing beauty, Sridevi.Am glad that the brand is sticking to its positioning of being a stain remover, its pink color and emphasizing on its "Active Oxygen" properties. In addition to this its marketing the brand as a new improved brand with a "new improved formula" which is capable enough of removing stains in the very first go. The core messages have been communicated well with simple usage of terms like "First Time" and "Tough daag"(Tough Stain).

As far as Sridevi is concerned, her looks and personality definitely relate to the "Pink" image that the brand has been relentlessly trying to establish in the consumer's mind as a differentiation.

Hoping that this combo will this time manage to create some ripples and increase the market of the stain remover.

Deodrant marketing: Common brand positioning

With the sultry and sweaty summers at the peak, fragrance and deodorant market is all set with their aggressive marketing campaigns.

Perfume and Fragrances is a $3.169 billion industry in India, growing at a +12% rate, and has seen a good number of FMCG companies foraying into this sector. However, the disturbing fact is the minimal differentiation strategy followed by these companies in there campaigns. Every deodorant marketing campaign seems to revolve around the same theme these days: Ability to lure the opposite sex. The assumption taken behind all these campaigns is essentially that all males groove themselves for the female species and the classic Indian male fantasies. Even if the assumption is a correct one, and assuming they aren’t crossing any ethical limits (I leave it to Advertising Standard Council Of India(ASCI) to decide that), I don’t think it’s a smart move to go ahead with a positioning that has already been successfully used by an existing market leader, because you do not give the consumer a reason to switch from the brand he is presently using. One of the strategies to break the brand loyalty that is being currently used by Zatak is pricing their products at lower prices.

What was started by HUL(Axe) way back in 1999 and being continued since then, is now being used by McNroe Chemical Pvt to sell Wild Stone, Elder Health Care Ltd for Fuel for Men, Paras pharmaceutical Pvt limited for Zatak, Denver of Vasena Inc and the current marketing campaigns of Fa Men’s extreme. HUL on the other hand, has been very smartly positioning its brands Axe and Rexona into two different categories, one as an attraction, and other with an antiperspirant formula, and hence forming a major portion of the market share in this category.

Cinthol on the other hand is an exception and has built its brand around a different positioning: A deodorant which removes odour-causing bacteria and keeps one smelling great and feeling fresh all day long, a brand that stands by Godrej’s overall brand positioning, that of quality and healthy products.

Hoping that deodorant brands change there positioning to something that is fresh in themarket, yet striking the right note.

Off screen couples. On-Screen brand ambassdors. Smart duo?

Capitalizing on the off screen chemistry between some of the industries well known faces has become a norm these days. Whirlpool and Tata Indicom signed the husband-wife duo, Ajay Devgan and Kajol, as their brand ambassadors to market their products. The golden couple of Saif- Kareena which is perceived as a natural favorite amongst the audience was raked in by Airtel to advertise their Digital TV recorder. Yet another famous sizzling celebrity couple that has been aired in commercials is that of John-Bipasha which featured in the ad campaign of Clinic All Clear.The high profile couple of Ash-Abhishek featured in the new Lux ad campaign.

Off Screen couples being pulled in by some of the top corporations to participate in these commercials is a high risk high reward proposition. As long as the couple is together and carries with itself good vibes its well accepted by the audience, and many of the families relate to them. And to a great extent, these firms have been successful in associating the couples to their brand positioning and value propositions. For instance, Kareena and Saif are portrayed as a busy couple, which due to certain social obligations aren’t able to watch their favorite TV programs at their designated time, and hence utilize the option of recording them at a mobile’s click, a situation many of the nuclear families face in their lives. Hence, as of now, all these ads are going well with audiences.

On the downside, relying too much on the chemistry of these on screen couples is a huge risk being invested into. Whirlpool, for instance is now almost inseparable, from Kajol-Ajay duo. God forbid, if anything goes wrong with the relationships of these two, an exit strategy and reestablishing the brand amongst the viewers would be an uphill task that would have to be undertaken. Airing of the ads featuring the couple would have to be taken off the air with immediate effect to avoid any negative energy spreading from off-screen to on-screen, and then, without hurting the positioning of the brand a whole new series of the ads would have to be in place.

Over dependency on Tiger Woods did a lot of damage to Accenture’s strong ad campaign, I can only wonder what would be the impact of a much more susceptible issue here.

Pepsi, on the other hand has been able to successfully balance out its ads. After airing in Ranbir-Deepika Jodi for a certain period of time, they put on only Ranbir with other actors for their future ads. Since their wasn’t much dependency on the couple, the transition was a subtle one and well planned.

Kareena-Saif, Ash-Abhi, Kajol-Ajay, John-Bipasha other than your personal lives and emotions, there is a lot more at stake and interest in the relationships you share. Am not sure if you have god’s blessings or not, but am pretty sure you have the blessings of all the corporate houses you are advertising for!