Improvising on historic glory
A number of brands have attempted comebacks in india. Anchit Gupta of 4Ps B&M analyses some of the more successful ones.
From the standpoint of brand equity, there is definite logic for brand revival in a market. In an era where building a brand from scratch requires considerable investment and time, here is a brand that already has a fan following, which has leaped ‘x’ years ahead but retains some old values. At the same time, there is the young generation that may not have grown with a passion for the brand, but may have some reference points in its mind for the same.
A case in point is Bata. The brand that was synonymous with footwear itself till 1996 and was a part of every middle class Indian’s collection. Despite being a foreign entity, it had so well rooted itself to Indian sensibilities and desires that many people were surprised to discover that it is an Italian brand and not a homegrown brand. Despite enjoying such high regard, that perception perhaps also turned against it when it fell prey to ‘recognised MNC’ entrants such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas and the consumers desire to try something new. Unable to reinvent & align with the newly liberalized nation, its brand appeal started eroding rapidly. It’s share price went as low as Rs.33.8 on August 15, 2002. All of this led to a restructuring of the brand beginning with the introduction of a trendier product range and massive store expansion drives. The share price of Bata closed at Rs.650.05 on November 15, 2011, which indicates the kind of revival that has taken place.
However, comebacks are not all of a similar hue. Kentucky’s Fried Chicken, a flagship venture of Yum International, did not get the chance to develop a fan base before it had to exit after a controversy over beef products being used. But in 2003, it decided to re-enter India, better prepared. It decided to give Indian customers what they wanted, rather than pushing American dishes. It learnt that in a country where a majority of the population has vegetarian food three times a day, it cannot survive by selling just fried chicken. And without doubt, it has delivered. By the end of 2010, the total count of KFC outlets in India exceeded 100 units; a feat that took 10 years to achieve in China. What also worked in its favor was that almost a decade had passed since its first launch and India had evolved from a culturally reserved nation to one with a greater number of urban broad minded individuals. While it did not have a fan base, all the media coverage over the years after its exit actually became a plus. Note how it doesn’t highlight the full form of the abbreviation in India and keeps the name KFC. Although it really isn’t a vegetarian’s paradise yet, it does seem to have garnered some favour among the Indian ‘chickentarians’!
However, Nirma Washing Powder did not have that publicity edge. Despite having a very humble beginning in Ahmedabad, it went on to challenge the might of Unilever’s Surf in the 1980s and successfully so. However, it lost steam in between and steadily lost retention and popularity. This continued for some time until a slew of advertising campaigns were launched in 2009 to restore it’s lost glory. “Nirma had stopped leveraging its brand and when they felt that the brand is dying, they came back with a bang,” says Sanjay Chauhan, Client Servicing Director, Crayon Advertising. The brand used the same tag line and the much loved old jingle & was able to immediately connect with viewers and generate a feeling of nostalgia. Following its tried & tested style of clear cut advertising, it stood by its principle of focusing on product benefits. Similarly, the condom brand - Kamasutra tried to revive its brand through branding and advertising. The brand lost its coveted appeal with the advent of foreign players into the playing field. After a silence of two years, it returned in 2003 with a series of advertisements with suggestive humour as the theme. According to Ujjwal Sinha, CEO, Genesis Kolkata, “The advertisements of Kamasutra attempted to veil the taboo that buying a condom previously was. Their advertisements made a lot of people happy since they could now go out and buy a condom minus the embarrassment”.
A number of homegrown brands have similarly attempted a comeback in the past few years. Dalda, the vanaspati ghee that India once loved, made a comeback in 2009 by ensuring that its products were fortified with Vitamins A, D & E and anti-oxidants. The mantra, as per the new age India, was health combined with taste. Reliance has been working on its Vimal brand for around three years. It started with strengthening its image from a fabric brand to a ready to wear brand for men and also reintroduced Vimal sarees. It even pushed the trade by bringing in Italian designer Maurizio Bonas to India to talk to tailors about Italian fashion and design. Onida reconnected its audiences to the devil to bring back old memories. Horlicks has recovered some of its lost sheen by focussing on developing new flavours and also taking out segment specific products like Women’s Horlicks (a first in India) and Junior Horlicks. But that hasn’t exactly worked and the company gave up on the positioning in 2009. In fact, it seems to be focussing more on its mobile handsets currently as the buzz goes.
From the standpoint of brand equity, there is definite logic for brand revival in a market. In an era where building a brand from scratch requires considerable investment and time, here is a brand that already has a fan following, which has leaped ‘x’ years ahead but retains some old values. At the same time, there is the young generation that may not have grown with a passion for the brand, but may have some reference points in its mind for the same.
A case in point is Bata. The brand that was synonymous with footwear itself till 1996 and was a part of every middle class Indian’s collection. Despite being a foreign entity, it had so well rooted itself to Indian sensibilities and desires that many people were surprised to discover that it is an Italian brand and not a homegrown brand. Despite enjoying such high regard, that perception perhaps also turned against it when it fell prey to ‘recognised MNC’ entrants such as Nike, Reebok and Adidas and the consumers desire to try something new. Unable to reinvent & align with the newly liberalized nation, its brand appeal started eroding rapidly. It’s share price went as low as Rs.33.8 on August 15, 2002. All of this led to a restructuring of the brand beginning with the introduction of a trendier product range and massive store expansion drives. The share price of Bata closed at Rs.650.05 on November 15, 2011, which indicates the kind of revival that has taken place.
However, comebacks are not all of a similar hue. Kentucky’s Fried Chicken, a flagship venture of Yum International, did not get the chance to develop a fan base before it had to exit after a controversy over beef products being used. But in 2003, it decided to re-enter India, better prepared. It decided to give Indian customers what they wanted, rather than pushing American dishes. It learnt that in a country where a majority of the population has vegetarian food three times a day, it cannot survive by selling just fried chicken. And without doubt, it has delivered. By the end of 2010, the total count of KFC outlets in India exceeded 100 units; a feat that took 10 years to achieve in China. What also worked in its favor was that almost a decade had passed since its first launch and India had evolved from a culturally reserved nation to one with a greater number of urban broad minded individuals. While it did not have a fan base, all the media coverage over the years after its exit actually became a plus. Note how it doesn’t highlight the full form of the abbreviation in India and keeps the name KFC. Although it really isn’t a vegetarian’s paradise yet, it does seem to have garnered some favour among the Indian ‘chickentarians’!
However, Nirma Washing Powder did not have that publicity edge. Despite having a very humble beginning in Ahmedabad, it went on to challenge the might of Unilever’s Surf in the 1980s and successfully so. However, it lost steam in between and steadily lost retention and popularity. This continued for some time until a slew of advertising campaigns were launched in 2009 to restore it’s lost glory. “Nirma had stopped leveraging its brand and when they felt that the brand is dying, they came back with a bang,” says Sanjay Chauhan, Client Servicing Director, Crayon Advertising. The brand used the same tag line and the much loved old jingle & was able to immediately connect with viewers and generate a feeling of nostalgia. Following its tried & tested style of clear cut advertising, it stood by its principle of focusing on product benefits. Similarly, the condom brand - Kamasutra tried to revive its brand through branding and advertising. The brand lost its coveted appeal with the advent of foreign players into the playing field. After a silence of two years, it returned in 2003 with a series of advertisements with suggestive humour as the theme. According to Ujjwal Sinha, CEO, Genesis Kolkata, “The advertisements of Kamasutra attempted to veil the taboo that buying a condom previously was. Their advertisements made a lot of people happy since they could now go out and buy a condom minus the embarrassment”.
A number of homegrown brands have similarly attempted a comeback in the past few years. Dalda, the vanaspati ghee that India once loved, made a comeback in 2009 by ensuring that its products were fortified with Vitamins A, D & E and anti-oxidants. The mantra, as per the new age India, was health combined with taste. Reliance has been working on its Vimal brand for around three years. It started with strengthening its image from a fabric brand to a ready to wear brand for men and also reintroduced Vimal sarees. It even pushed the trade by bringing in Italian designer Maurizio Bonas to India to talk to tailors about Italian fashion and design. Onida reconnected its audiences to the devil to bring back old memories. Horlicks has recovered some of its lost sheen by focussing on developing new flavours and also taking out segment specific products like Women’s Horlicks (a first in India) and Junior Horlicks. But that hasn’t exactly worked and the company gave up on the positioning in 2009. In fact, it seems to be focussing more on its mobile handsets currently as the buzz goes.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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