Brief Study on Failed Products

8/8/2019 Brief Study on Failed Products

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1. Onida : The Devil is BackBrand : Onida, Compnay: Mirc Electronics, Agency rediffusion

I am celebrating the Return of the devil, still wondering why it was taken away in the first place. I was

in my teens when they launched the TV with a " devil" . The marketers predicted doom for the brand

but the devil clicked.

The Devil was originally created by Mr gopi Kukde of Avenues in 1982. It was a welcome break from

the boring TV industry. If I remember correctly, Onida was the first brand to advertise in Television,

ie TVC about TV in TV.

The brand had a wonderful time and was in the top three brands in marketshare behind BPL andVideocon. Then the Koreans came and rest is (Became) history. Onida had a fair chance to succeed

when the koreans came to the Indian market. Onida was perceived to be a vibrant brand with

technological superiority.

Then Mirc electronics decided the switch the agency to O&M.The creative hotshots there convinced

Mirc that Devil is outdated. Hence the company changed from the famous " neighbours envy,

owners pride" to some thing that i dont remember. What a tragedy......

Here is a time tested and successful positioning statement and a mascot that was so wonderful but it

was changed for no reason what so ever. Then the newspaper reports quoted the agency telling that

people resented the " neighbours envy" part so they have to change it... it was a lie.

O&M used some funny creatives like two elderly women using TV to terrify some young thingwalking through the street. It was the death of a brand. The brand never recovered . Its market share

dwindled to abysmal 5% in the late 90's.

2001 marked the return of the devil and the account shifted to Rediffusion. The consumer surveys

showed high recall of devil even after 2 decades. The devil has to come back and it came in style.The first devil was acted out by David Whitbread who was a model coordinator. heplayed devil for 14 years
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The new devil is Matrix insprired and sports a contemprory look. Played by actor Rajesh Khera, the

devil now is rocking. Onida which has recovered its market share to 12 % is aggressively playing on

the marketing game. With a slew of product launches and careful segmentation, the market is

opening to the devil. Onida is careful in positioning itself as a technologically superior premium brand

although the prices are very competitive. It has launched the Poison brand which is a premium brand

and Oxygen , Black and KY for the value for money segment.In this Rs 10000 crore crowded market ,Onida has struck the right positioning .1

2. Frooti : Fresh N JuicyBrand : Frooti Company: Parle Agro food, Agency: Grey worldwide

Frooti is the first tetrapak fruit juice in India. Launched in 1984, Frooti still holds adominant position in the Rs300 crore tetrapak fruit juice (TFJ) market.

Frooti over these years have carved out a niche for itself in the market. Frooti instantly caught the

fancy of Indian consumer with its tetrapak and some smart campaigns. Initially the drink was

positioned as a kids drink. The product was perceived as a healthy fruit drink by the mothers . So

within a short span of time ,the brand was an alternative to the unhealthy colas. The tetrapak had

other benefits also . Fruit juice is a perishable product and tetrapak have extended the shelf life of


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Frooti because tetrapaks have 2 layers of paper and a plastic coating that ensured tamper proof and

enhanced shelf life.

Lured by the success of Frooti, there was a lot of new launches in the TFJ market. Players like

Godrej with Jumpin, kissan etc tried their luck in this market but failed to dislodge Frooti.

Frooti was positioned as a mango drink that is Fresh-n-juicy For over a 7 years, the company

promoted the product using that famous baseline. The product have tried to create excitement in themarket through a series of new variants and packing. But in late ninetees the brand was facing

stagnated sales. The company tried to excite the market with an orange and pineapple variant but

both the variant bombed. The came the experiment with packaging . The YO! Frooti variant came

with a slim paper can aimed at the college going youth.

Worried by the stagnating sales, Parle tried to reposition the brand to appeal to youth aged between

16-21. The positioning changed to be more fun based. The package also changed. The old green

color of the bottle changed to more bright mango color with lot of graphics added to it.

One of the most famous marketing campaigns India have witnessed took place during the

repositioning. The campaign is the famous Digen Verma campaign. This campaign was

considered as one of the most successful teaser campaigns in India. The campaign lasted for 15days started in February 2001. The campaign was about a faceless person Digen Varma2

There were posters and outdoors all across the markets that had messages like Who is Digen

verma Digen Verma was here etc. This created lot of excitement in the market and Digen Verma

became the most talked about faceless name at that time. The campaign was executed by Everest

communication. But the campaign was not followed up and the hype was not translated to long term

brand building.

Frooti is basically a nectar based drink so it is not 100% fruit juice, it also have some preservatives

added to increase the shelf life. Although Frooti did not face much competition in the category itcreated, competition came from a slightly different category, 100% fruit juices. Parle saw the

emergence of the 100% fruit drink market and launched Njoy brand but it did not clicked. Parle

could have extended Frooti to this market also .The brand Real from Dabur is the main player in this

category. Real effectively positioned itself as a premium healthy drink for adults. Frooti was not able

to appeal to adults and was considered as a mango drink while Real is not restricted to any flavour.


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Frooti also changed its positioning statement from Fresh-N-juicy to Juice Up your life which have

not clicked with the customers.

Although Frooti enjoys a commanding (75%) market share , Frooti is facing stagnation. May be

some serious steps should be taken to increase the usage of the product. The launch of PET bottle

Frooti is a step in this direction. Recently Frooti also launched a Green mango variant just to create

some hype in the market. Frooti may have to reposition itself again to appeal to cola drinkers.3. Ambassador : Marketing Myopia

Brand : Ambassador

Company : Hindustan Motors

Agency : Mudra/ Equus

Brand Analysis Count : 326Ambassador can be called as the first Indian car. Although the car has a

British legacy, it is considered as definitive Indian car. Ambassador was born in 1958. The car owes

its design and technology to a British car model - Morris Oxford which was built by Morris Motor Co

at Oxford UK. Hindustan Motors launched the Indianised version of Morris Oxford as Ambassador in

1958.

From 1958 to 1980's Ambassador ruled the Indian market. Infact there were only two cars in the

Indian market - Premier Padmini and Ambassador. The licence raj, lack of capital and the unfriendly

Indian economic policies ensured that no automobile manufacturers entered the Indian market.3

1983 saw the emergence of a new era in the Indian car market. Maruti Udyog Ltd launched the

Maruti 800. Soon Ambassador lost its leadership position to Maruti. The family segment which is the

largest segment in the car market embraced Maruti. Ambassador was reduced to a marginal player

within no time.

But Ambassador had some advantages over 800 which made it dearer to certain segments. It was

the only Indian car with Diesel option. During those times, there was a significant difference in the

prices between Diesel and Petrol. Second advantage was the space and sturdiness of the Amby.

These two factors enabled the brand to become popular among big families and more importantly

among the Taxi and tour operators.

Amby was perceived to be a sturdy car ideal for Indian roads. The brand also had a positive

perception of being less expensive to maintain. These two were only perceptions . Infact

Ambassador was expensive to maintain and even though the car looked sturdy and well built, the

car lacked the quality and refinement. Rattling sounds and rusting was common complaints.But consumers bought the car because of the significant economy of diesel cars whichmade consumers to compromise on other parameters.

Another significant market for Ambassador was the Government. Over 16 % of the brand sales

came from the Government. Ambassador was the first choice for most bureaucrats. Ambassadorused to be the Prime Minister's car till 2002. That status was lost when the PM of that time Mr Atal

Bihari Vajpai replaced Ambassador with a BMW Limo.

Soon the officials also lost interest in the brand. With the emergence of new and better models from

other auto-makers, there was a significant drop in the orders from the Government.

The fall of Ambassador from a leadership position to a marginal player is a classic case of marketing

myopia. For four decades, the brand has been taking its customers for granted. There are many


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reasons that can be attributed to this brand's failure. The fundamental issue was with the product

and price.

If we look at the product, Ambassador never changed with times. The brand made many cosmetic

changes from 1958-2000 and three upgrades was made which was named as Mark II, Mark III and

Mark IV . There was no significant value addition between these upgrades. The look and the built

quality remained the same. A major change happened when the brand introduced a 1800 Isuzuengine. The Amby with Isuzu again lifted the sales of the brand. But the euphoria was short lived.

The apathy of HM to offer product changes in tune with the times made the brand stale. Second

factor that failed Amby was the price. HM never bothered to rationalize the price of the brand. Even

now Ambassador costs more than Rs 4,80,000. At that price one could afford a more luxurious

Indigo sedan.

According to reports, the HM plant had achieved full depreciation in 2000. But the company did not

thought of passing on the reduced cost to the consumer. Had the company rationalised the price of

Amby in 2000, the brand could have survived the competition.4

The nail in the coffin came with the launch of Indica. Indica took away the taxi car market from

Ambassador. Again the diesel loving individual consumers had a better affordable modern car as

compared to the ageing Ambassador.

In order to lift the sagging sales of the brand, HM launched a radically designed Ambassador variant

Avigo in 2004. Although the styling was radical, the customer response was lukewarm.

Indian consumer is now spoilt with choices. The competition is immense and the quality of cars has

also gone up. Consumers now have new set of purchase considerations like quality, brand,

drivability, luxury ,cost of maintanence etc

In the value proposition domain, Ambassador is never in the radar of the consumers. The narrowing

price difference between petrol and diesel also eroded the value in investing in an old dated

Ambassador.

The company also has never invested in the brand. Without investing in either brand or product, HM

had sealed the fate of this brand. The question that arise is could a brand like Ambassador maintain

its position Indian market despite all the competition?

In the brand management perspective, its suicidal not to continuosly invest in a brand .Often

heritage brands wait till it becomes dated. Once the brand becomes dated, its virtually impossible to


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rejuvenate the brand. The task is to prevent the brand to become dated. For that the brand has to go

to the consumer for ideas. Changes in product or promotions can sustain the brand even in the light

of emerging competition. Brands like Lux , lifebuoy, Surf has been successful because of continuous

investment in branding and product development.

Ambassador should have learned from Maruti 800. The brand is still surviving because it made

changes along with the changing consumer values. Also the brand rationalised its price in the light ofemerging competition which made Maruti 800 relevant even in the current market.

I am not saying that Amby had the potential to become an Iconic brand like Volkswagen Beetle. But

the brand could have been relevant to Indian market as a basic family car. It is a herculean task to

bring Ambassador back to life. A price below the price of Indica is the only option for the brand to

keep its fortunes alive4. Bajaj Chetak (1972-2005), Brand: Bajaj Chetak, Compnay Bajaj Motors ltdThe brand which ruled the Indian roads have been laid to rest. Bajaj has officially stoppedthe production of Bajaj Chetak from December 2005. The stocks will last may be upto5

March 2006. The company says that the product no longer have any relevance to thecustomer. To quote Rajiv bajaj " Any one who clings to the past is a failure".

I owned a Chetak: a gift from my father for having secured admission to MBA program. It was in the

year 1996. Later I exchanged it for a bike in 2001. Still Chetak lingers in me ( or rather haunts me) in

the form of " Back Pain".

The brand which was launched in 1972 virtually owned the two wheeler segment. If reports are to be

believed, Chetak was an unavoidable dowry in 1970's and 80's. It had a waiting period of more than

10 years ( can you believe it ? ) and now here I am after 34 years, writing the epitaph of this brand.

The brand which was named after the legendary stallion of the Rajput king Maharana Pratap, was

known for the reliability and sturdiness. The brand thrived during the license raj with virtually no

competition. It was during 1990-91 that the brand began the journey to the end. Bajaj Chetak had a

huge brand equity . The brand had the persona of a " work horse


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With reasonable price and the low maintenance cost made this product a huge hit among the middle

class Indians.Promoted along the base line " Hamara Bajaj", this was the Indian Family vehicle - a

position now owned by Maruthi 800.But then How can a brand that was so popular and successful fail?Frankly, I am not sure.But here is what I think about this brand...

The primary reason is that the Brand forgot the customers. Another case of Marketing Myopia. Thecompany failed to understand the changing perception of the customers towards scooters. Rather

than looking at the customers, the company focused on influencing Government to block the

opening up of economy. Bajaj never did anything with the product. For 40 years Chetak had the

same look, same quality and style.

During the mid nineties the company realised lately that the segment has shifted to motorcycles.

Scooters were no longer the option. But did the company made a mistake in discarding the scooter

segment ? Looking at the way the share prices are going, the market thinks that Bajaj Auto made the

right decision. But I think that6

they made a mistake in leaving the scooter segment completely. Contrary to expectation,the scooter segment has not died. It has only changed.

Chetak lost its identity some where during the nineties. What should be the future of the brand : no

body knew. It was only in 2004 that company made any change in Chetak. In 1994 Bajaj introduced

Classic another scooter with same style as Chetak, but failed.

Bajaj never was serious about product development. The R&D spent for a long time was a miniscule

1%. The average cycle time for the new product development was 4-5 years compared to 2-3 years

of Japanese competitors.

Even after the opening up of economy, the scooter segment did not witness much competition. The

players like Vespa did not had much of success in this segment. Kinetic Honda managed to carve a

niche with its gearless scooters. Another segment which was growing was the scooterette segment

which was dominated by TVS scooty.

Bajaj never seriously looked at customer perception about Chetak. The product had serious

problems like starting trouble and riding comfort. The " Tilting the chetak to the side for starting " wasa common joke. Did the company do anything for that ? no

There was nothing wrong with the Promotion. " Hamara Bajaj " and " No one can beat a Bajaj " were

famous base lines. There was nothing wrong with distribution and the pricing was very reasonable.

The major problem was in the first P : Product.

So without addressing any problems regarding the product, can you expect the customer to buy the

product? Bajaj was never a leader in technology (now they are !!!). They never bothered to and paid


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the price . Had Chetak pioneered Electric start, had it provided more riding comfort, it could have

survived. Somebody have just beat the Bajaj........ the customer!5. Big Fun : Rest- in - Peace

Brand : Big Fun

Company : Gum India Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : 335Big Fun was one of the hottest selling chewing gums during the Eighties. The brandevokes lot of nostalgia in me and reminds me of the countless fights that I had with myparents to buy this brand.Big Fun was launched in 1985. At that time the bubblegum market was at the nascentstage. It was this brand which initially created the bubblegum market in India.7

Big Fun was also one of the first brands in confectioneries to focus on sales promotion as the core

promotional strategy . The brand initially started by offering the pictures of Disney characters to

induce the kids . The brand was also harping on the BIG bubbles that can be made with it.

But the real tipping point came with the 1987 Cricket world cup. Big Fun ran a highly successful

campaign focusing on cricket. The brand offered a series of collectible pictures of cricketing stars

along with the bubblegum wrapper.

Along with the pictures, there was also runs/wickets which the kids would collect and keep score. At

the end of the sales promotion, the kids can exchange the scores with some gifts like comics and

goodies.The scheme was a super-hit. More than the goodies, kids started collecting these picturesfor the love of cricket. Favorite star's pictures was traded and kids began to buy theproduct for the pictures rather than the bubblegum. Those were the days of Kapil, VivRichards, Holding, Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Shastri


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.Bubblegum during those times was not as sophisticated as today's. Big Fun was hardrectangular shaped with a syrupy taste. One has to do a lot of chewing to make it mellowand also to make the first bubble.

The brand was cashing in on the cricket fever during those times. But in the early nineties the brand

died . I am clueless on the reasons behind the death of such a highly popular brand. There is a

possibility that the company ran into financial trouble and together with the decline of the popularity

of the entire bubblegum category may have caused the death of Big Fun. The product also was not

tasty enough to sustain the brand once the sales promotions' effect is gone.

I was now wondering why companies were not running such promotions during IPL. If a brand has

done similar promotion during this era , will it create the same magic that Big Fun has created 20

years back ?8


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Big Fun is yet another brand that has faded from the memory of consumers. Another sadstory of a home grown brand biting the dust.6. Canada Dry : RIP ( 1995-1999)

Brand : Canada Dry

Company : Cadbury Schweppes ( Later Coca Cola)


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Agency : Mudra

Brand Analysis Count : 371One of my colleagues yesterday showed me a 1989 issue of Business India where hepointed out an ad of a long forgotten brand - Canada Dry . We passionately talked about

the brand which we both liked. Canada Dry was launched in India in 1995. The brand ,from Cadbury

Schweppes ,was a highly popular brand of softdrinks across the globe. Canada Dry was a muchhyped brand because it was from the house of Cadbury. Cadbury Schweppes launched Canada Dry

and Orange Crush in the Indian market with muchfanfare. Canada Dry was a Champagne Softdrink. The brand has positioned itself as achampagne and the taste was different and refreshing.

The brand was also promoted heavily in various media. The ad featuring the snow and tiger brings

back the nostalgia about this brand. The brand was positioned as a premium cooldrink . The brand

gained immediate acceptance because of its association with Cadbury. The brand had the potential

to become a premium softdrink brand in India.

But alas, the brand did not last too long in the market. In 1999 CocaCola took over the beverages

business of Cadbury Schweppes and likeGoldSpot andLimca , Coke killed this brand.

It is sad to see such brands being killed for no reason connected with customers. The only9

reason for Coke to kill these brands was to make way for Coke's original brands. In thecase of Canada Dry , the brand only had a negligible presence in the Indian market.

Look at the Indian market now - Is there a premium softdrink brand in India ? Neither Coke or Pepsi

was able to create a premium softdrinks category in India. They have not even tried yet.......7. Carona : RIP 1953-2003Brand : Carona Company : Carona Ltd Brand Analysis Count : 361

Carona was a heritage brand of India which was once the second largest footwear company in India.

The brand is now no more. Carona is one of those brands which could not withstand the competition

which came after 1991.

Carona was a brand which thrived during the license raj. The brand thrived along with Bata. Infact

Carona was fighting head on with the market leader Bata. In my home town , Carona store was justopposite to the Bata store. There were only two choices for quality footwear Bata and Carona.

Carona in a way imitated Bata in every possible manner . The shops and the products were

extremely similar. When Bata launches one style, Carona quickly followed suit. Both Bata and

Carona was instrumental in popularising canvas shoes in India. These shoes was a rage among kids

at that time.

In 1992, Carona tried to tap the premium segment by launching the German sports shoe brand

Puma in the Indian market. This was to counter the popular Power , Northstar and Hush Puppies

brand from Bata.

Carona made a big mistake while launching Puma. The company felt that the Indian consumers will

fall for the global brand . The Puma brand was priced above Rs 600. At that time the Bata brandslike Power and Northstar was retailing in the range of Rs 200 -300. Puma was a big flop in the Indian

market because of wrong pricing. The joint agreement was revoked by Puma in 1998.

The environment changed drastically during late 90's with the market opening up. All the footwear

companies faced the issue of tough competition and increased costs. The cost was primarily

attributed to the heavy workforce that these companies had.


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New brands like Liberty, Action, Lakhani etc began to corner the market with new designs and

fashion. Foreign brands like Nike ,Reebok and Adidas began to market aggressively which further

worsened the position of Carona.

Both Bata and Carona went in for big trouble those days. Bata had the backing of their foreign

parent which helped them sail through the restructuring exercise. Carona did not had that

luxury.Bata was able to sustain itself by launching new models at affordable price ranges. ButCarona was not able to excite the market with new launches. Both Bata and Carona had its own

showrooms which became expensive to maintain. .Carona went in to BIFR fold in 1998.

In 2003, BIFR recommended closing down of Carona. BIFR noted that Carona Management did not

have the will or the capacity to sustain the company. Carona went into eternal sleep in 2003. Carona

was a brand that failed because of mismanagement.10

Somewhere the company lost its control over the costs. It failed to understand thecompetition and respond to it.8. Ceasefire: RIP 1989-2002

Brand : Ceasefire

Company: Real Value Appliances

Agency: Grey

Brand Count : 114

Ceasefire was India's first domestic fire extinguisher. It was one of India's best and worst marketing

stories. A brand that virtually created and ruled a category faded out after12 years.Fire extinguishers comes in the category of unsought goods and it is Difficult& expensive

to create and survive in such a product category. Real Value Appliances owned by Mr. Pheroze

Engineer started operations in 1989 bringing to the country a new concept - a domestic fire

extinguisher. The fire extinguishers were not uncommon to Indian consumers. We see it in large

malls and theaters. But a domestic one was unique. Indian consumers never thought of having one

in their homes.

The product made perfect sense in Indian market ( infact every market). Our households deal with

fire all the time and the risk of fire being getting out of control is very much there. Hence a marketing

mind would easily see the prospect of cashing in that need : the need for protection from fire. Thus


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During those periods, there was severe restriction in the manufacturing and selling of TVs because

of licence raj. Those companies who got license minted money because of lack of competition.Dyanora also benefitted out of such limited competition. Dyanora started selling B/Wtelevision and in 1982 it launched the Color Television.The TV marketers started selling real volumes during 1980's when the governmentstarted increasing the transmisson towers across the country.

The company was also going to face threat arisng out of the Government's liberal economic policy

during the 1980's where the licences for manufacturing TV was given liberally. With the liberal

license policy, many small and medium companies started their manufacturing and marketing of

television sets.12

From a period where Dyanora faced competition from Solidaire and nobody else, thingsstarted moving towards a highly competitive scenario.

Dyanora faced competion from large multinational and national players and also from local regional

players. It could not sustain itself in that competitive world. The demand also began to go down

which inturn affected the profitability.Dyanora was a highly popular brand. The company also invested in brand building. Thebrand had the tagline " keep in touch".Watch the commercial here :D yanoraThe jingle were very popular at that time so was the visuals. I especially liked the dogwith spectacle visual.The lyrics went on like this:

Are you in touch with whats going on

Are you in touch with the latest aroundGet in touch with Dyanora

Get the best point of view

and the Sound thats true

stay in touch with the times

keep in touch with the new

Get the latest Dyanora

Keep in Touch.......

The ad was well made and was very popular during that time. But the brand did not survive. The

company also was confused about the future of the brand. Faced with competition from large

companies, Dynavision also tried to prefer building a foriegn brand over the home grown Dyanora.In 1995, the company entered into a JV with French multinational Thomson International to sell their

brand in India. With the focus on Thomson, Dyanora was relegated to the backyard. Consumers also

preferred national and international brands which resulted in a significant erosion of Dyanora's

market.Finally the company went into BIFR fold in 1999 and later into eternity.Dyanora was thus a part of history10. Ganga Soap : RIP


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Brand : Ganga

Company: Godrej Consumer Products

Brand Count: 163

If the Western Media's projection or prejudice about the social and cultural makeup of India was

correct, then Ganga soap would have been the most sold soap brand in the world. Those who have

been watching India specific programs in BBC and National13

Geographic may wonder how can such a brand fail in the land of elephants and Sadhus?

Ganga soap was launched with much fanfare in 1993. The soap was positioned on the religious

platform and was claimed to be made of water from the river Ganges. The soap attained salvation in

the early 2000.The brand comes from an accomplished marketer who markets such iconic brands likeCinthol. The brand was promoted heavily and even had the film stars like Govinda

endorsing it. Promoted using the tagline " Now bath in Ganga" very directly puts the soap in a

religious platform. Reports suggest that the brand's initial sales was encouraging and also there arereports that blame on the P&G and Godrej break up caused the brand to decline.Ganga had a revitalisation effort in 1997 when Godrej tried to relaunch the brand underthe name Doodh Ganga. But those effort went in vain.

The primary reason why the brand failed was that the differentiation was not sustainable over time.

Although Hindu's are very religious in nature and revers the tradition but the consumers are

discerning when it comes to purchasing products. There is a clear divide between religion and

products. Consumers seldom like mixing the two. It is OK if religion and politics are mixed not soups

and gods. That may be the reason why thetoys of Hindu mythological characters are not popular in

India.

The brand when launched was really praised for its innovative thinking. One could see through the

logic of the launch. Just looking at the crowd at Kumbh Mela would encourage any marketer to thinkabout launching a product for the devotees of Ganga. But a closer look at the customers could have

proved the marketer wrong. Why would a customer buy a product? That is a question that could

reveal that Love for Ganga would not rake in sales.

Rather than using Ganga as a differentiator, Godrej could have positioned the product on the basis if

Purity and Gentleness like the Pears Soap. The can show the use of Water from Ganga to reinforce

the positioning. But the religious platform failed miserably. More over this platform is too old dated

for our new generation. Another funny element is that although Hindus revere the Ganges, people

are aware that the river is the most polluted one. Hence there were consumer buzz that using a soap

made from such water may be dangerous. Sensing this consumer talk, Godrej had to tell that the

water was taken from places near the origin of Ganges hence not polluted. Overall it was a messy

affair.

Ganga is a brand that could have survived as a small niche. I am still not sure about the exact

reasons that brand have failed in the Indian market.The failure of such a brand should inspire a

marketer to delve deep into the psyche of Indian consumer before jumping into conclusions.11. Gold Spot : The Zing Thing ( RIP 1977-1993)Brand : Gold Spot Company:Coca Cola, Brand Count: 217Gold Spot is a sad story in the Indian Branding world. This iconic brand was killed forpaving way for Coke's brands in India. Every one knows the story but still Gold spot was


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Gold Spot was one among the three major softdrinks brand that ruled Indian market alongwith Thums Up and Limca. The brand was built by Rames Chauhan of Parle after the exit14

of Coca Cola from India during 1977. Chauhan spoted the opportunity and three megabrands were born.

When Coca Cola came back to India in 1993, it bought out the three mega brands from Chauhan for

a consideration of $10 mn. These three brands had a huge market share (combined) of over 69 % of

India's SDC market. Then came the expected move. Coke slowly began killing the Parle brands to

make way for its own brands. Thums Up was sidelined in favour of Coca Coala. Limca was sidelined

and Goldspot was killed to make way for Fanta.

Gold Spot was the orange drink with a Zingy taste. This iconic youth brand was positioned as " Zing

Thing" and was promoted heavily through all media. The jingle " Gold Spot.. The Zing Thing" was

one of the most memorable jingle at that time (still that jingle lingers in the mind of old timers).

Gold Spot was positioned as the youth brand and the ads talked about being crazy aboutthe brand . You can watch the Gold Spot ad here .

But the brand was killed. Fanta was launched but till now the brand has not being able to take the

position of Gold Spot. Coke was not able to clearly focus on the segmentation of Fanta. Fanta is

never perceived as a youth brand. Fanta is not viewed or targeted at college students/youth. This

confused targeting may have crippled the growth of Fanta and still it couldn't reach the status of Gold

Spot. Coke expected that the users of Gold Spot will migrate to Fanta but it did not happened. We

saw Limca coming back in 2006.. can we ever hope Gold Spot coming back ?12. Hero Honda Street : RIP

Brand : Street

Company : Hero Honda

Brand Count : 128

Hero Honda Street was the first venture of Hero Honda to the the scooter category. Street is not a

scooter but a step through bike. The product category lies between a Scooterette and Scooter.

Street launched in 1997 died a slow and quiet death.15


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The product was launched as a step thru bike was not entirely new product category. There was a

step thru bike running in the Indian roads named Bajaj M80. Street wanted to create a market for

itself or perhaps a new category. But the product failed because it was haunted by M80.

Street was the Indian version of the world famous Honda Cub series of stepthrus. Honda Cub was

the world's largest selling single model bike which has sold more than 2.5 crore units. But how come

such a product fail in India.

The case is about marketing mistake. The product failed in all aspects of marketing mix except the

distribution. The product was not good enough. It looked like a glorified M80 which was used by Fish

vendors and the like. M80 was the cheapest and rugged step thru from Bajaj aimed mainly at the

vendors who had bought this product not for its looks but for the price and utility. Since Street exactly

looked like M80, it put off all the urban buyers.

The brand was priced extremely high. Hero Honda thought that because of the success of its bikes,

they can charge the Street a premium but this price around 30% higher than M80 failed to show

value to the customers.

The campaign was also not successful. The initial campaign tried to teach the customers the new

Clutch less gear system and its efficacy, the customers was not impressed with this feature. Infact

this gear system is famous elsewhere in the world but in India it did not click.

I wonder why Hero Honda ventured into bringing this model to India fully knowing that an exactreplica is selling here that too at a lower price and quality? It is plain arrogance or myopia trying to

sell such a product with out any design change. Hero Honda thought that the brand name Honda will

differentiate the product but it didn't happen. More over the product did not offer any value

proposition to the customer except that it has a unique gear system.

The brand was also not sure about the target segment ,whether it aims at the gender or any specific

category. Kick start mode eliminated the entry chance to the Ladies category and the lack of styling

repelled the guys.Brand Report Card for Street: Delivering on Customer's desires : Negative . The brandfailed to understand the need for the customer in the aspect of design of the vehicle.

Relevance: The category had some relevance since the customers were looking for a powerful

scooterette. Most of the mobikes were sub 60 cc. But the brand failed to capitalise on this

opportunity.16


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Value: Negative. The high price of the brand did not offer any value proposition to thecustomer. Although the product was of high quality

Positioning : Negative. The brand was not positioned on any sustainable and important feature. This

prevented the effective communication of value to the customer. This was one of the major cause of

this brand's failure. Besides the Points of Parity with M80 created problems for the brand. The

owners failed to foresee this problem.

Integrated Marketing Activities: Since the problem was with the basic design of the product, there

was not much the other activities could do. The marketing activities was bound to fail.Street could have been a success if it had changed its design. Indian consumers are verydiscerning and value conscious. This brand failed to understand that13. Kelvinator : RIP 1963 - 2005Brand : Kelvinator, Company : Electrolux Brand Count : 246

Kelvinator which ruled Indian refrigerator industry is no more. The brand did not die on its own. This

heritage brand was killed by sheer negligence and marketing myopia. Any marketer with common

sense would not have done this to a brand like Kelvinator.

Kelvinator came to India in 1963. The brand along with Godrej, Allwyn has ruled the market for

decades. A global brand, Kelvinator has its origin dated back to 1914.The brand changed hands somany times and came to the fold of Electrolux in 1985.

In India, the brand's disaster started in 1996 when Whirlpool acquired this brand globally. Whirlpool

wanted to sacrifice Kelvinator for its own brand The entire episode of the change of ownership of this

brand will make any Hindi serial sops look like a kid's story. According to Business World, When

Electrolux bought the company White Consolidated which owned the brand globally, In India during

1996 Kelvinator's Indian licensee sold the license to market Kelvinator to Whirlpool. So Electrolux

became a contract manufacturer of its own brand which was being marketed by its competitor.

Whirlpool had the license to market Kelvinator brand in India till 1997. Because of this Electrolux

entered Indian market with its own parent brand. The fate of Electrolux in India was also not good

since it ran into huge loses.17


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which virtually wiped off Kinetic scooters from the market.

Kinetic was not able to produce any blockbuster products other than the most popular Kinetic

Honda. The launches like K100 and Nova range bombed in the market. Honda while captured and

redefined the entire scooter market with its Activa.

2006 saw the launch of Kinetic Blaze. Blaze is the 1st product from the much publicised seven

vehicle Italiano series. These designs are bought from the world famous Italjet Moto. The designs

are done personally by Leopoldo Tartarini, the head of Italjet Moto.Blaze is so far the most powerful scooter in India. This 165 cc mean machine is huge and

heavy. Blaze was all set to redefine the scooter market in India. So far so good....Kinetic was clever in rightly identifying the problem. The brand had took a beating after Honda left.

The brand equity suffered a hit after many new product failures. So the primary task for the company

was to reposition and rejuvenate the brand and give it a contemporary look . For that Kinetic needed

something that could be the talk of the town. So wisely it invested heavily in getting the best

designers and conceived the seven series with emphasis on style and "machoness".

But all these efforts went into mud because the agency played spoil sport. The launch ads ( TVC)

was nothing but a marketing disaster. The agency just killed the product. The ad talks about Rohit

Varma.

We had enough of Digen Varma and Balbir Pasha. Then here comes Rohit Varma jumping from the

tenth floor of the flat on a Kinetic blaze and a bunch of cracks(fans) cheering.I wonder how this guy

managed to take this heavy thing all the way up. Then the baseline says " Short cut to Fame". It is

one of the lausiest positioning statements ever.

The product is supposedly good; that is what most of the reviews say. The scooter is huge with the

size of Pulsar and wheel base of a Bullet and weighing 135 kg. Hell this is a macho scooter that too

with a mileage of around 50 kmpl ( under dream conditions), and look at what the agency has done.

No positioning and no creative thoughts only bull shit.The brand had lots to talk about. It was male,

powerful, stylish and safe. The TG


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19

could have been those who wanted a powerful city rider.Here much more rationalcommunication was needed instead of hyperbole.

With a price tag of Rs.50000, this brand is going to compete with none other than Pulsar. The

question is will you opt for a Blaze or a Pulsar? Hence the success of this brand will be heavily

dependant on the way the company position the brand. No other bikes have so far being able to

dethrone Pulsar, so does Blaze have a chance? With this stupid positioning, I will say No chance.Blaze was the right vehicle for rejuvenating Kinetic Brand. It could have been a Pulsar for Kinetic

had it marketed it right. Pulsar captured the attention of TG with its Definitely Male campaign. But

what about Blaze?

Blaze if positioned properly at best would have been a niche product. The brand would have

appealed to people who did not like Bikes. But the current positioning dampens every chance of its

success. Kinetic have to realise that there are no shortcuts to fame.15. Kristal Dtsi : Intelligent ScooterBrand :Kristal Dtsi Company:Bajaj Auto, Brand Count :215Kristal is Bajaj Auto's latest offering in the ungeared scooter segment in India. It is aunique situation with the erstwhile king of scooters struggling to find place in the scooter

market which it once ruled. Kristal is a 95 cc ungeared scooter targeted at college girls. The productwas first showcased at Auto Expo 2006. This month the company has launched this new brand in

the Indian Market. Kristal takes on the market leader TVS Scooty in the increasingly competitive

Ladies' scooter market. Kristal is somewhere in the middle of the 75 cc Scooty and 102 cc Pleasure.

Kristal Dtsi is positioned as an "Intelligent Scooter". The brand boasts about lot of innovative

features. The website of this brand focuses on 7 features that makes Kristal different. The seven

features are

1.Front Fuel tank: the company says that it is the first in this segment to offer this facility.The fuel

tank is in the front hence the rider needn't step out and lift the seats to fill in the petrol. Also the fuel

flap opens with the turning of the ignition key that is also a great convenience to lady riders.

2.DTSI: No body knows what it means but every one has see this technology delivering in the

Pulsar. Bajaj has put this technology into the new scooter and hopes that it does the magic.3.Extra large storage space: Kristal boasts about 22lts storage space and lot of additional20


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hooks aimed at making the product user friendly for the TG. The storage below the seatalso has an automatic light (like a fridge).

4.Pentalock: The brand has one key that opens many doors. The company has made use of the

ignition key to the maximum. With a single knob , the rider can open the fuel flap,open the seat,

accelerator lock ,steering lock and ignition.

5.Smart Lamp: The brand has sensors that look at the lighting conditions outside and will adjust the

front and panel lights. The front light will be automatically on when you go through a tunnel or when

the lighting conditions become low.6.SNS suspension: Kristal also features Spring in Spring suspension to deliver morecomfort to the riders.7.Low battery /fuel indicators: The scooter also have battery and fuel indicators.

Bajaj has put in lot of thinking behind Kristal. The failures of earlier scooter brands like Wave,

Saphire & Sunny may be still haunting the company.So they have put in all out effort to regain the

lost empire. According to reports, Bajaj is planning another Male Scooter branded Blade and may

launch it this year.

As a scooter with all those thoughtful features, Kristal has done it right at the product front. The

brand is now being promoted through television ads that calls this brand as an Intelligent Scooter. To

a certain extent, the communication is able to catch the attention of the viewers. About the size of

the scooter, I have a feeling that the brand is smaller than its peers. If it is so, then Kristal will have a

huge problem.

But the issue is with the price. Kristal is priced stiffly at Rs 35000 and I think if that is the price ,

Kristal may not succeed in the market ( my view). Why because, the features that the brand talkabout doesn't justify the heavy price put on this brand. Another issue is that except for the DTSI,all

the features can be copied by the competitors. Kristal may have to spent too much money

convincing the customers about the value proposition. Why I am skeptical is that the TVS Scooty

has strong brand equity and to match that , Kristal has a long way to go.16. Liril : Bring back the Liril girlBrand : Liril Company : HLL, Agency : Lowe21


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If you are looking for a case of an iconic Brand that is going to be killed by poormarketing strategy , look no further, here is Liril for you.

Launched in 1975, the year I was born, this is a brand that built a segment or should I say category

for it self in the Indian market. The brand is also the testimony to the genius of India's Ad man

Alyque Padamsee. This is what he says about the Liril Brand

The name Liril had been registered by Hindustan Lever from a list sent to them by Unilever in

London. Levers were very keen that the soap have striations, wiggly stripes of different colours

running across the tablet. I recommended the tablet be blue - because waterfall is blue with white

striations. Hindustan Lever was very excited and produced 1,000 tablets for testing.

At this point Derk Wooller, the Marketing Controller of Hindustan Lever's soaps division, stepped in

and suggested we add the freshness of lime to our story. He felt that though the waterfall had

tremendous emotional appeal, Liril needed a rational ingredient to clinch the deal. I was not averse

to this but suggested that we do an `As marketed' test: Blue Liril versus Green Liril with limes. I waswrong and Wooller was right. The rest is history." Alyque Padamsee in his book A Double Life.

The brand was a run away success and the Liril girl became the talk of the town. The brand has

been consistentt with its communication and the effective use of brand imagery.Furtheronbrandimagerycanbefoundin

thisarticle,visithttp://www.blonnet.com/catalyst/2004/09/23/stories/2004092300100200.htm

Liril was positioned on the freshness platform right from its birth. The girl and the waterfall with the

unique jingle ensured that the freshness is experienced by the audience. Liril can be called as an

experiential brand and the communication perfectly supported that.


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Liril did not change its positioning for 25 years although the models changed, the brand

communication was consistent. Then some nut in the company or the agency thought that they

should change the communication that worked so effectively. The rest as I say it " Liril became

history".

Liril has changed the imagery and the jingle in the name of freshness .The new jingle or the ad never

had that freshness. That is why Liril had to change the Ads twice with in a span of five years. Mindyou Liril never changed its imagery or the Jingle for 25 years...22

Reports say that Liril had to change because of its stagnant marketshare. I think there are reasons

for declining market share which can be that the brand failed to understand the changing consumer

expectations. There was a flurry of brand launches during the past 10 years and Liril was sleeping all

the time " may be resting on the laurels" . It should have hold on its positioning of ' freshness " not by

changing its communication but by communicating more, developing variants, bringing in flanking

brands or variants

thus owning the whole segment for itself and But it never happened , Liril tried to introduce the Icy

mint variant very late and that too with a different jingle and imagery. We knew that the Old Liril had

died. HLL could have used the same communication strategy . Then came the horrible experiment of

Orange Liril with a stupid Jingle OOFYUMMA.... excuse me what the hell is that?

The product failed. Then came the new campaign involving a couple and a new jingle " La-ira -ela",

the ad was good but where is liril ? Like Onida , Liril has to come back with the old imagery and oldjingle that made liril what it Is ( or WAS?) [ It is a prediction].When it does that consumers will take the brand to their heart . Laaaaa lalalala laaa17. LML Vespa :RIP 1960-2006Brand : Vespa, Company : LML Brand Analysis Count : 321

Vespa is an interesting brand firstly because it was a brand which was once bestselling and now

dead and secondly because of its unique history in India. Vespa first came to India in 1960 with a


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most JV's happen with the issue of control. While Indian partners want technology, seldom does

Indian entrepreneurs want to lose control over their companies. During the licence raj , foreign

partners used to succumb to this because there was no other way to enter the Indian market. But

post - liberalisation, Indian market is a level playing ground. Indian business either have to shore up

their investment in R& D or may have to negotiate hard with the JV partner on power-sharing.

Piaggio have a presence in Indian market in the three-wheeler segment. The resurgance of scootermarket has inspired Piaggio to re-enter the Indian market with the Vespa brand. According to news

reports, 2008 may see the re-entry of Vespa once again to India.18. Margo:lost in the Neem trees !

24

Brand : Margo

Company: Henkel

Agency: FCB Ulka

Margo is one of the oldest herbal soaps in India. The brand which is more than 85 years old is

famous for its neem content. The product although famous for its positive effects to the skin is

nowhere in the market. This is a brand which never changed with the customer. During its launch,

the product had dedicated customer base and since the product was unique due to its medicinal

value , customers tend to be loyal. The whole brand was having Neem as its core identity.But Margo failed to understand the changing dynamics of Indian consumers, more and more choices

began to unfold before the consumer and Margo was becoming a niche brand. Margo was

positioned as a "complete skin care soap". When market became fragmented with lot of products

positioning at different attributes, Margo was sidelined as a medicinal soap.

The product has inherent negatives, the fragrant was not attractive nor the shape. It was also less

lathering compared to its competitors. Margo changed hands from Shaw Wallace to Henkel.

Although Margo was relaunched in 2003 with a new fragrance and shape , it has not excited the

market so far. The new positioning is " Margo skin clear skin". The brand had a following in AP,

Tamilnadu and West Bengal ( am not sure about its present status). The single mistake the brand

made was to miss the new generation. It failed to attract the young users.

With Lifebouy herbal variant and other established brands taking in the "neem" content away from

Margo, this brand needs a hell lot of money to rejuvenate itself. May be a high decibel big celebrity

endorsement may help this brand ( try Aishwarya for a change) . Can it change its avatar and fight

lifebuoy in the health platform?This is a brand that failed to change with the customer or changed very late.19. Maruti Gypsy : RIP


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Brand : Gypsy

Company: Maruti Suzuki

Brand Count : 182Gypsy was one of India's first sports utility vehicles. The vehicle created a breakawaycategory of SUV offroader from the existing jeep category which was dominated

by Mahindra. Born in 1985, the brand was considered as an aspirational one by many young athearts.The brand was positioned on the basis of its ruggedness. The brand was promoted as a pure

offroader. The ads used to say that Gypsy could even climb trees. The positioning was reinforced by

the success of the brand in rally and offroad events. Maruti25

also promoted such events to boost the brand as the ultimate offroader. The brand had thetagline of " There is a Gypsy in Everyone".

But the brand failed to capitalise on the first mover advantage although it is still considered to be one

of the sportiest looking SUV in the Indian market. The brand is now confined to certain niche

markets like Police and Army vehicle segments. Gypsy was the rebadged version of Suzuki Jimny.

Although Jimny is still surviving, Gypsy is in the last stage of its product life cycle. The brand which

pioneered the offroader category sadly is dying when the SUV category has started growing. The

brand failed because of the apathy of the company in investing in the brand. The product had

inherent problem that created negative word of mouth and the company didn't cared to look at the

negatives of the brand.

Gypsy although considered as a tough vehicle lacked many important attributes valued by a

customer. The driving quality and the mileage was awful. The product was priced at a ridiculous

premium which was not justified interms of the delivery of value. The brand was priced at around Rs

5 lakh which is comparable with a entry level sedan.

The product although looked excellent outside was a mess inside. The vehicle lacked space and

comfort especially for the rear seat. It had all the qualities for an offroader but failed to understand

that Indian consumers use offroaders on roads ( cities).The mileage was awful and that ensured that

only those who fall head over heals over the looks only will buy this brand . Since MUL at that time

was in the public sector, the brand was sold to Police and army. For the ordinary consumers, the

brand did not made any sense. Gypsy also did not change itself in tune with the changing industryrequirements. The vehicle initially was severely underpowered for an offroader. The company

enhanced thepower from 975cc to 1300 cc only after 11 years. Gypsy King was launched in 1996sported the more powerful Esteem engine but was priced steeply.

The last four years has shown that SUV category is growing very fast fuelled by the success of the

likes of Mahindra Scorpio. Most of the global bigwigs in the SUV segment is now there in India.


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Suzuki also has launched its brand Grand Vitara in this segment. But in the current scheme of

things, Gypsy was sadly not in the picture.

Compare the picture of the Suzuki Jimny (given in the blog) and Gypsy and see the difference. Had

this brand changed its looks and feel in tune with the emerging category requirements, Gypsy could

have been a major brand. But Alas.... the brand's fate is to be cited as an example of Marketing

Myopia or is it Marketing Laziness.20. Tata Sierra : RIP

Brand : Sierra

Company: Tata Motors

Agency: O&M

Brand Count :14426

Sierra is the first passenger car from Telco ( Now Tata motors). Tata Sierra was launched

in 1991 marking the transformation of a Truck manufacturer to a Passenger vehicle maker. Sierra

was an entirely a new product in the Indian car market at that time. This three door vehicle was

indeed the first SUV to hit the Indian roads.

Sierra was the baby of Ratan Tata and his first attempt to make a mark in the Indian Business worldafter taking over Telco. But the product bombed inthe market. Sierra can be said as a brand that

came too early. The Indian market was not ready for this concept.

I personally love this car for its look. Most of you will agree that this vehicle is a stylish one. Even

with the entry of all major SUV brands in India, Sierra looks contemporary ( my opinion) and modern.


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luxury Multi Purpose Vehicle from Maruti 's stable. Versa was the logical upgrade brand for Maruti

Omni. Omni was successful as a family van and Maruti thought that there is a market for a luxuri van

that can carry more passengers than an ordinary car. Versa is the Indian version of the popular

Japanese van EVERY/ Carry. Versa was called MPV which is the acronym for Multi Purpose VehicleVersa had a dream launch. Maruti roped in the Big B and the small B ( Amitabh and

Abhishek Bachchan) to endorse the brand. The commercial featuring the father son duowas a big hit at that point of time. According to reports, Versa was Abhishek's first brandendorsement.

Versa was launched as an Affluent Microvan. The brand was positioned as " Two luxury cars for the

price of one" . The ads talked about twin A/C, comfort and space. Versa was launched with a 1300

cc engine which was the same used in Maruti Esteem.

Despite the dream launch, Versa failed to generate volume . The basic issue was the price. Versa

was launched with a price of Rs 5.15 lakh for the base model and the top end model costs around

Rs 6 lakh. Those enthusiastic customers who flocked the showroom28

after viewing the ads was shocked by the steep price of Versa. Versa was priced at parwith Maruti Esteem and other entry level sedans.

Maruti was totally wrong in estimating the customer's perception of price in this case. It sounds little

paradoxic because the company had blockbuster products like Maruti 800 and Alto which was in

sync with Indian consumer's price value equation. In the case of Versa, Maruti was little too

ambitious. Versa was a large car and the initial buyers were essentially those who had large family.

For a small family , there was no logic in going for Versa when a sedan was available at the same

price. Moreover the ' mini bus ' shape of the car also was a put off for many customers .

The lack of customer enthusiasm translated to inventory pile up and sluggish volumes for Versa. In

2004, Maruti relaunched Versa with a base price of Rs 4 lakh which was a drastic price cut. The

positioning was also changed. The brand was relaunched with the new positioning based on the joys

of traveling together. The tagline was changed to " Traveling in company in a car has its own kind of

fun". New campaigns were launched which highlighted the theme of traveling together . The TG was

identified as families which are large. The aim of the campaign was to inform the new price as well

as drive the message that Versa is ideal for large families.

Watch the TVC here : Maruti Versa. But these campaigns did not had the desired results. Although

sales peaked immediately after the announcement of price cut, Versa was not able to sustain the

volume. More over the brand was eclipsed with the success of Maruti Wagon R which was priced

higher than Versa but with less space and engine power.

Frankly I am perplexed with the failure of Versa especially after the price cut. Because this brand

makes a perfect upgrade for those users who was fed up with Omni. I feel that again the prime

reason is the price. Even after the price cut, the Versa still offers little value to the Indian consumer.Now that there are many large comfortable vehicles with in the price band of 4.5- 6 lakh range,

Versa is not even considered an option by the consumer. The brand recall is also very low. The

success of Wagon R also have put this brand in a very odd position in terms of the Product line

logic.Versa has only two options left before it : one is to reduce the price drastically so that theprice value equations are favorable Or await the slow death.22. Moti Soap : RIP


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Brand : Moti

Company : HUL

Brand Analysis Count : 341Moti was India's premium brand of soaps during the seventies. Now there is no trace ofthis brand. Moti originally was a brand of Tata Oil Mills Company ( TOMCO). In 1993,29


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TOMCO merged with HLL. Moti was a special soap which had certain differentiation. The first

differentiation point was the Shape. Unlike other soaps which came in cake form, Moti was round

soap. Moti is the vernacular term for Pearl . So the soap was also in the shape of pearl.Another uniqueness was the size of the soap. Moti was a big soap. Often one gets boredof the soap and it never quite finish fast.Moti came in popular fragrances like Gulab ( Rose) and Sandal.Moti was promoted as a premium soap . The soap was expensive and during the eighties,the soap was priced around Rs 25.Tomco also promoted this brand heavily. Most of the campaign had a signature brandimagery the soap surrounded by pearls. Those ads were in most of the magazines during

the peak stage of this brand. Pearls formed an important role in the entire brand communication and

pearl was an anchor which created an association with the brand in the consumer's mind.I was searching for an ad of Moti and thanks to Saumyadip's blog, I got a vintage ad ofmoti.

Moti then moved to HLL following the merger. That marked the end of this brand. I am not sure whyHLL decided to sideline Moti soap. The brand was never promoted and slowly the brand faded into

oblivion.

The reason for this brand's death may be because it did not fit into the brand portfolio of HLL. While

Hamam ( another Tomco brand ) thrived, Moti was never in the picture. Then with the Power Brand

strategy, brands like Moti never had a chance to survive.30


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The brand had prospects if HLL had done some serious product development. In the branding

perspective Moti had certain assets. The name and the imagery were wonderful assets for a

marketer. Moti had both these assets.

The problem was with the product. There was something missing in the soap which ultimately lead

to the death of this brand. Another factor was at the segmentation side. Now also the market for a

premium soap is abysmally low in India. Now also there is no successful premium brand of soaps in

India ( Essenza de wills is trying hard ).So it was also a tough choice for HLL. The company may have felt that Moti did not have a future as

a premium soap. And it may cannibalize some existing brands if the prices are rationalized. Moti

may had to be repositioned if it had to survive . But HLL was not prepared to invest in a brand which

had a minuscule 2% of the market. So the decision was to slowly kill the brand.23. Sunfill : RIP (2001-2005)Brand : Sunfill, Company: Coca Cola, Brand Count : 191

Sunfill was Coca Cola's foray into the Soft Drink Concentrate market in India. Globally it was the

company's first foray into the powder concentrate segment. This good product died after 4 years

primarily because the company did not consider worthwhile to focus on

marketing this product. Sunfill was introduced in 2001 and Coca Cola intended to take on Rasna in

the Rs 180 crore soft drinks concentrate market in India. Rasna was dominating the market with ashare of over 85%.

Sunfill was a powder soft drink concentrate . Powder concentrate occupy85% of the total soft drinks

concentrate market. Sunfill came in three variants : Regular,Anand and Tarang.

Sunfill differentiated from Rasna by taking the convenience route. The concentrate had added sugar

in it so to make the drink was easy for the consumer. While other concentrates, sugar need to be

added hence was cumbersome for the consumer. The taste of Sunfill was also better compared to

other brands ( personal opinion). The brand also innovated in packaging by coming out with single

serve packs and also multi serve pillow packs.

The biggest challenge for any FMCG/SDC products was distribution. Sunfill found an innovative

method to reach the market. It had alliances with other FMCG firms in reaching the market. Thebrand had its own channel + third party alliance (Hybrid network) to ensure that the brand is

available in all stores.31


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But somehow the product failed in the market. The issue was with regard to distribution,product and the promotion.

The product had some quality issues. In my personal experience, some of the packs had very bad

quality concentrate . At one point of time, the product was not available in the stores. The issue in

promotion was regarding the positioning. When Sunfill came into the market, Rasna countered

Sunfill with its own range of powder concentrate with added sugar.Hence the differentiation became

negated for Sunfill. The promotion investment for Sunfill was not adequate to counter the huge brand

equity that Rasna enjoyed. I have a feeling that Sunfill was a half hearted effort from the

company.That was reflected in the promotions for the product which ultimately lead to the death of a

high potential brandI still feel that the company did not do justice to the brand which had a potential to makeit big in the SDC market but the plug was pulled on Sunfill in 2005.24. Tamariind : RIP ( 2001-2002)Brand : Tamariind, Company : Skumar's, Agency : Percept, Brand Analysis Count :380Tamariind was a brand which died inside the TV Tube. This much hyped brandhad only one year of existence in the Indian market.

Tamariind was the readymade brand from the textile major S Kumar's Ltd. The company wanted to

tap the emerging readymade segment . Tamariind was targeting the middle and upper-middle class

segment.

Tamariind had a dream launch. The brand had roped in Hrithik Roahan who was at that time was a

phenomenon. I think Tamariind was one of the first textile brands to take him as the brand

ambassador.Riding on the pulling power of Hrithik Roshan, Tamariind had a huge brand recall duringthe launch. Infact the ads were so effective that large retail chains were stocking thisbrand within a few days of launch.How ever, the euphoria did not last long . For some strange reasons, the brand was deadin no time. In 2002, the brand was out of the retail shelves.32


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Tamariind was positioned as a fashion wear. The clothes were designed by the famed London

based designer John Paul Vivian. The brand had the tagline " The Flavour You Wear ". The brand

was designed to be a fun,fashionable trendy brand.Tamariind was also brought in the concept of Total Wardrobe Solutions by providing alltype of clothing to the target consumer.

Initially the company planned to use the brand name Cinnamon for its readymade venture. But aretail chain having the same brand name moved to court and restrained SKumars from using

Cinnamon. That caused the company to come up with the new brand name -Tamariind.

So here is a brand which had a trendy name, a big star, an international designer and a reputed

company...... and how come such a brand fail that too so fast ? I personally think that three major

factors was the cause of this brand's failure.Price and Distribution and Differentiation.

Price was the critical issue in this case. Tamariind was steeply priced and this repelled many

potential customers . Those who bought the brand could not be convinced about the quality which

did not justify the steep price.The brand also tried to focus more on exclusive outlets which again severely restricted its

reach among the audience.Tamariind spend around Rs 12 crore on the launch promotions but could not sustain or convert the

initial hype into sales. The brand ambassador Hrithik also faced so many flops after the initial

success which inturn affected the brand negatively.

Other than the brand ambassador, Tamariind has nothing to talk about. The product did not have a

meaningful differentiation that could justify its high price. When a brand is aiming at the premium

class, the product should have some meaningful qualities that will justify the premium. A mere

presence of a celebrity will not create a sustainable value for the product .PS : Tamariind brand has two "i" s and is not a spelling mistake.25. Toyota Qualis : RIP (2000-2004)

Brand : Qualis

Company : ToyotaAgency : Dentsu

Brand Analysis Count : 294

Qualis is a puzzling brand for most of the marketing students. The simple reason is that Toyota

stopped the production of this brand when Qualis was having its highest market share in Indian

market.Qualis was launched in India in 2000. At that time itself the brand caught headlines33


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because it was the first product of Toyota in India. Qualis was atleast two generation old when it was

launched in India. Qualis is Indian version of Toyota Kijang from Indonesia. There were cases of

globally dated models introduced in India biting the bullet like Peaugot 306. So there were skeptics

who forcasted doom for Qualis.

Those predicted failure for Qualis had real logical reasons. First, Qualis was a dated model. Indian

consumers are aware of global trends and may not accept an outdated model. Second was the

design of Qualis. Qualis was not good looking. Hence the chances of the brand's acceptance was

perceived to be minimal .

But Qualis proved everyone wrong. For Toyota, Qualis was a brand launched to test the market. The

brand was launched after careful market research and several consumer insights gave the company

confidence to launch this product in the market. Qualis was a utility vehicle. The brand was

competing with the Tata Sumo which was the market leader in the nascent MPV segment. Sumo

was a work horse and the product had its problem regarding lack of refinement and brand image.

But there was a need for a refined, high quality multi-purpose vehicle.MPV's are used by businessman and self employed and those who would like to take theentire family around. Sumo was more of a commercial vehicle rather than a family one.Sensing this gap, Qualis was launched as a family MPV.

Qualis was launched with much fanfare and the launch also saw some iconic advertising. The brand

was launched with " Touch and Try" campaign which encouraged the customers to test drive the car.

The brand initially focused on Space and comfort as the main differentiator. The sales soared once

positive word of mouth about the comfort of the car began to circulate. Infact Qualis redifined the

MPV segment in India.

From rugged product to a refined car, consumers were educated to new levels of comfort. But things

were not rosy for Qaulis . Rather than the intended consumers, this brand began to attract taxi and

tour operators. Qualis was selling like hotcakes as taxis. From the initial 9% market share , Qualis

dethroned Sumo and was the market leader with over 40% share.The brand tried to bring back the individual consumer through a series of campaigns and


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variants. The brand had the following taglines " Touch the perfection " and " Live the34

Qualis Life" . New luxurious variants were launched to attract businessman and individuals to buy

this car. The TG for Qualis were businessman/self employed with an annual income between Rs

600,000- Rs 800,000 who travels atleast 40-50 Km per day.

Qualis was known for Quality Durability and Reliability. With MPV segment taking off, competition

was getting hotter for Qualis. New launches from Chevrolet and Mahindra began hurting the market

position of Qualis. More than Chevrolet, it was Scorpio that worried Toyota most. The company felt

that the intended consumers ( individuals) were moving away from Qualis. Market research suggest

that consumer needs are changing and Qualis did not fit into the consumer's schemes.

Toyota had the company policy that a model should have attained leadership position before

phasing out. Qualis has attained its saturation point. So the company had the challenge of retaining

the leadership position in the segment and also to expand the market. It wanted to get out of the "

Taxi " tag. Another development was the famous Innovative International Multipurpose Vehicle

Platform ( IMV) which was decided to be the base for all international products from Toyota.

In 2004, Toyota announced the phasing out of Qualis. Interestingly, the month where the phasing

out was announced saw record sales for Qualis. Its difficult for a brand to succeed and even more

difficult for a marketer to kill a successful brand. Qualis ' death was timely and paved way for a more

successful Innova.

The natural question arises when a company decides to kill a brand is about the existing customers.

For products which needs after sales support and spares, usually companies have a policy of

supporting its phased out brand for over a decade. The existing customers may feel less worried if

they are assured support by the company for a reasonable period.26. TVS 50: RIP (1980-........)

Brand : TVS 50 Mopeds

Company:TVS

Agency:McCann Erickson

Brand Count:212TVS 50 is in the death bed. Anytime the plug can be pulled from the life support systemwhich supports this brand. The brand which was once the favorite two wheeler ofcommon man is at the end of its lifecycle.

TVS 50 has a special place in the automobile history of India. This brand was the first twin seater

moped in India. Moped is the combination of Motor + pedal ( nobrainer isn't it).The history dates

back to the time of first world war and later a resurgence during the great depression.Mopeds were pioneered in India by Kinetic with its single seater Luna. But TVS 50 made35


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The history of this product variant dates back as early as 1950's. The mass marketing ofthis variant began in 2002.The brand went global in 2004.

2004 saw the unusual scream " Wakaw" played across mass media. We all looked up in awe : a

brand new variant from Coca Cola : Vanilla Coke. The brand was targeted at the metro youth was

different. It was different in taste, promotion, package, price etc. Vanilla Coke was promoted in retro

style. The brand had Vivek Oberoi , the then bollywood flame endorsing the brand in an unusualstyle. Vivek sported the retro look with typical combination of Elvis style + Shammi Kapoor style in an

Old Lamby Scooter screaming Wakaw.

The ads were surely clutter breaking and backed by 360 degree branding efforts that ensured good

publicity. The creative done by the famed Prasoon Joshi was discussed in all media and that

ensured truck loads of free publicity. The brand also got into viral

marketing. The campaign along with Contenst2win asked the customers to SMS Wakaw to 8558

inorder to win goodies. According to media reports, the campaign resulted in 440,000 SMS in just 4

weeks creating a record of sorts.

According to Indiatelevision.com report, the media brief given to the agency was to create a clutter

breaking campaign targeted at youth. The campaign should create a dhamaka in the market. And

rightly so all the client requirements was achieved with in a short span of time.

But how come a product with such a good start failed so easily. With in one year, the brand has

been taken out from most of the Indian states. The brand is said to be available in Gujarat,Kolkatta

and Delhi.

As a marketing person, I am also perplexed. Frankly I liked the ad the feel and wanted to try it out.

But soon the product was not at all available. The failure of this product line extension may have

delighted Alries and Trout .


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37

1.I am assuming that the following factors may have caused the failure of thisbrand. The product may have been bad. The TG may not have liked the taste. Although Coke has

test marketed this product, there is always a chance that the customers may have disliked the taste.

2. The campaign was not targeted at the right segment. This campaign had its fair share of critics

also. I liked the campaign because I have seen the old stars and the lamby etc and could easily

relate the old characters and the concept. But for a twenty year old, he may not relate or understand

the concept. The brand may have lost out in that respect.

3. The brand was priced at a premium over the ordinary coke. This may have discouraged the TG

from checking out the brand. Together with the retro campaign not clicking with the intended

audience may have given a double whammy for the brand4..Indian SD industry is a duopoly. Pepsi and Coke rule the roast and there are

brand loyal on both sides. The new variant will be tested first by the Coke loyal and not the Pepsiloyal. Hence like most of the Product line extensions, the variant will be pitted against the mother

brand. Hence the customers may have compared the new variant with the classic coke and not as a

new drink. And surely the classic coke won .These are all assumptions because I am still confused.

The failure of Vanilla Coke is a classic case that proves that Marketing is not a perfect science.

There are no formula or theory that can make a brand successful. To Quote Kotler " Marketing is

easy to teach and understand but difficult to practice".28. Yezdi (1961-1995) : RIP

Brand: Yezdi

Company: Ideal Jawa India Ltd

A brand that was once the heartthrob of Indian urban Youth is now resting in peace...

A case of marketing myopia...I am not sure why I chose this brand , may be because of nostalgia. During my schooldays me and my brother used to argue as to whether Yezdi or Bullet is the best.This bike was manufactured by Ideal Jawa Ltd with technical collaboration with Jawa ofCzechoslovakia. Ideal Jawa started its operations in 1960 .Yezdi ( that time Jawa ) was in38


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long life of 13 years have become redundant. It is a sad news for all Zen owners who stillvouch for this hatchback. Marketers will also be sad because it was a marketing failure

and not a product failure. The good old zen is still valued as precious by its owners.

Zen was launched in India in 1993. Instantly this premium car became the favorite of the upwardly

mobile Indian middle class. The was something special about this jelly bean shaped car and the

driving and maneuvering quality was nothing but superb. In cities where there is bumper to bumper

traffic, the Zen was the most preferred one.

During the nineties all the cars from Maruti ruled the segment because of lack of competition. Then

came Santro and Zen had a competition. Although initially people scoffed at the tall boy design of

Santro, slowly through smart marketing, Santro began to eat into Zen's market. Then came the

major blow in the form of Indica which changed the rules of the game in the hatchback segment.

Zen came out with Zen LXi in 2001, but the market share was slowly declining. The major reason

being, the owners of Zen were getting older and Zen was missing out on the new generation. Therewas no excitement about Zen. Maruti is a poor marketer with good products. All their products are of

exceptional quality and all their marketing campaigns ( including the campaign of new Swift) is

exceptionally poor. Customers buy it because it is good.

While the competitors are gaining the share of mind of consumers using smart marketing

campaigns, Zen was no where in the picture. The launch of Zen with round headlamps was a major

disaster.

During 1999, Maruti launched Wagon R and 2000 saw the launch of Alto, With these products, Zen

was left in a no man's land. The segmentation became fussy. Since there was no clear positioning

for Zen, the new launches proved to be a major blow to this brand. With the launch of sporty Swift ,

Zen has now become a liability for Suzuki's portfolio.To arrest the slide of the market share of zen, Suzuki, launched a redesigned Zen in 2003with a new look with much fanfare. The campaigns were shot in Paris. The logic was to

attract the new generation and the positioning was " strong sleek and sexy". The base line was "

Surrender to the new Zen". The campaigns was lousy never excited the new generation. The

existing users were pissed off because the resale value of their old beauty crashed. The new look

Zen also bombed because of poor marketing.40


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Infact their was no need for such an upgrade because the problem was with positioning and not the

product. Zen was known for its power, easy driving and quality. It never looked sporty and the colors

were lousy. Zen could have excited the younger generation just by introducing a sporty variant with

some fantastic colours. The colors of Zen were never exciting.I still believe Zen have that premium

touch to it. So with some smart colours and with some sensible advertisements, Zen could have

zoomed. The positioning can be a sporty and a smart car for the urban professionals. But alas....Zen is a classic example of how poor marketing can kill a good product.

Brief Study on Failed Products

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