Zen : Surrendered To The New Generation

Brand : Zen
Company: Maruti Suzuki
Agency : Hakudo Percept


A brand that ruled the Indian midsegment car market will be laid to rest very soon. Maruthi Zen which was considered to be one of the best cars on the Indian roads after a long life of 13 years have become redundant. It is a sad news for all Zen owners who still vouch 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. There was 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 2003 with 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.

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.

Pillsbury : Dil se Khao

Brand : Pillsbury
Company: General Mills
Agency: Leo Burnett

Pillsbury is a global food brand that is trying to replicate its success in Indian market. The brand was launched in Indiain 1998 as a result of a joint venture between Godrej and Selviac Nederland BV ( Pillsbury). Pillsbury have a rich heritage dating back to 1869. It started as a flour milling company named A Pillsbury and is now one of the largest brands in the food products market in the world.In 2002, the company was taken over by General Mills.

When Pillsbury was launched, it had the option of coming in with the blockbuster global "ready to eat products" , but it chose a contra approach heeding to the advice given by Mckinsey “ GO Basic”. So Pillsbury launched Pillsbury Chakki fresh atta ( pounded wheat flour) in the Indian market.
It was a bold move because the atta market is a commodity market and the branded atta market is only 3% of the total atta market in India estimated to be around 23000 crore.

Pillsbury chakkifresh atta was launched in India on the platform of softness. Since ordinary Roti’s lost their softness after some time, Pillsbury claimed that its Roti’s retained the softness for over 6 hours. This appealed to the modern homemakers since Roti’s can be kept in tiffin boxes without worrying about softness.

It was a tough task for Pillsbury to enter into Indian kitchens since the households followed traditional way of buying wheat and giving them to flour mills. Pillsbury realized that food products marketing are more of Repertoire marketing where more variety is the key to success. Pillsbury decided to move up the value chain by coming out with a range of products.
The firs one was the launch of Oven cake mixes in 1999. The product failed in the market because of poor penetration of microwave ovens. Taking a lesson from this failure, came the successful launch of Cooker Cake mixes in 2000 ie cakes can me made using pressure cookers. Ub 2002, Pillsbury launched Pan Fresh Pizza.

Despite these launches, Pillsbury was not happy with the way the atta brand was moving. A marketing research showed that health was a leading attribute that customers look for when they buy food products .

In 2004 the product was relaunched in the health platform with emphasis on “ good to heart” since heart problems are on a rise in Urban market. The idea is to promote the idea that whole wheat atta is good for your family’s heart .The latest positioning is “ Dil se Khao “ reinforces the health positioning.The brand is endorsed by Healthcare foundation.

Using the innovative differentiation and positioning, Pillsbury is having a market share of 8% in the branded atta market. While the market leader is Ashirvad from ITC (40%) followed by Annapoorna from HLL (18%).

Pillsbury globally is famous for its mascot “ Poppin Fresh” popularly known as the doughboy. Although the mascot is in Indian market too, it does not have the same fan following as it is in the west.

Pillsbury despite its foreign origin and brand name is trying to fit into the Indian mindset. Despite having a good product, the brand is lagging behind Ashirvad which was launched much later. With the backing of a global foods giant and with some very smart thinking, this brand has the potential to make it big.The only thing Pillbury needs is lots of money for advertising

Everyday Dairy Whitener: For a Great Tasting Tea

Brand : Everyday
Company: Nestle


Indian milk powder market is at a nascent stage . While the dairy market in India is a huge market, milk powders were not able to garner a major share in this market. While the loose milk market is estimated to be around Rs470 billion, the processed milk market is only Rs 10000 crores. Milk powder market is only 7% of the whole milk market. 46% of the milk produced in India is consumed in the liquid form while 47% are used for making products like ghee etc only 7% is used for making western products like butter milk powder etc.

There are two types of milk powders

a. Whole milk powder
b. Skimmed milk powder.

Everyday is a major player in the Dairy whitener category that is a part of the skimmed milk category. The dairy whiteners are used for tea making.
Everyday was launched in 1986 now have a market share of around 22%. The category is facing the major obstacle of consumer perception towards this category. The consumers perceive that loose milk is fresh. And with abundant milk supply, milk powders were able to penetrate only 4.7% of the entire market.

While Everyday faces stiff competition from Amul's Amulya and Britannia's Milkman, the major competition is from the ordinary milk. Now consumers use milk powder as a standby for packaged milk and also for making tea and coffee. Although, milk powders have the advantage of shelf life and convenience, that is not enough to fight the competition from packaged milk.

The only strategy is to add value to the milk powder other than the expected attributes of convenience and shelflife. Although Amulya tried to differentiate focusing on the " free from insolubles" it is not enough to expand the category.
Conventional marketing theory says either expand the market or increase the usage /usage situations .
When you look at this product, the usage right now is limited, one cannot use this other than making tea, that is a major drawback for milk powders. Hence within these limitations, Everyday has to add more value. The price is expensive compared to loose milk so without adding more value, the market will not expand. Everyday have launched a new " low calorie" variant of the whitener. Also an extension to the ghee category has been made.

The milk powder market, it it had to grow may have to show that it is a better option compared to the liquid form. Adding more nutrients , variants and identifying multiple uses are the only option in this nascent market.

Till then have a cup of tea.

La Opala : Adding style to your lifestyle

Brand : La Opala
Company : La Opala Rg
Agency: Leo Burnett


Indian crockery market is very much fragmented and dominated by unorganised sector. The market is estimated to be around 43000 MT of which the unorganised sector is commanding around 60 % share. Crockery market consists of pottery, kitchenware and tableware.

La Opala is one of the major player in the organised crockery market in India. The brand which was launched in India in 1987 dominates the premium segment in the market. The industry is limited by high labour cost and lack of modern technology. While in India , the industry is labour intensive where as in developed countries , it is fully automated.

The crockery market is driven by innovation. The need for such items varies very much with the culture of the market. While in Saudi a typical dinner needs around 90 pieces of crockery, In India, a dinner needs only 20 pieces. So there has to be distinct products for each market.

Since the need varies with culture and lifestyle, this is a market that is going to grow fast in India.

La Opala is ready to ride this boom by positioning itself as a lifestyle product. But inorder to do that a strong marketing effort is needed to change the way Indians use the tablewares. Traditionally Indians use stainless steel tablewares. While these ceramic and melamine wares are reserved for special occasions. With the popularity of unbreakable plasitic look alikes, products like La Opala will have a tough time in breaking into Indian households.

La Opala is positioned as a premium tableware. The brand aims to " Add style to your lifestyle ". It is a lifestyle product and is very popular as a gift item. Recently La Opala has launched a premium crystal ware brand Solitaire to tap the emerging crystal ware segment. The lower end of the glassware and ceramic segment is dominated by players like Yera and Milton.

La Opala is playing the premium game and have effectively created a name for itself. Using good ads and maintaining high quality , this brand have lot of potential to grow in this market.

Sunlight : Sunset?

Brand : Sunlight
Company: HLL
Agency: O&M

Sunlight is the oldest brand in the HLL’s portfolio. Launched in India in 1888, this brand is a heritage brand. Sunlight came to India as a detergent brand.
Indian fabric wash market is expected to be around 5700 crore. Sunlight over these 118 years had its life cut out in the “power brand strategy” of HLL.
Sunlight was famous as a detergent or laundry cake which was very popular in the early times. The change in the customer lifestyle has tilted the market towards powder detergents. HLL focused its efforts on the powder detergents market and Sunlight was lost in the woods. Detergent cakes are losing consumer preference because of the advantages of powder detergents. Earlier, powder detergents were considered to be premium and with the rationalizing of prices, consumers have shifted towards powders.

Under the “Power brand “strategy, HLL decided to phase out Sunlight brand and focus on Wheel and Rin. But in 2004, Sunlight came with the new avatar as a Powder detergent. What made the company think about this brand is unknown. Sunlight detergent is now positioned as an affordable detergent with differentiation of “Color Guard” feature. The detergent also has the Pure Clean Technology that minimizes the “Insoluble” in the detergents. Sunlight is priced above Wheel and below Rin. The brand is promoted more in Eastern India and Kerala.

Why a brand that have such a heritage become a liability for HLL. It’s because HLL failed to use Sunlight to counter the onslaught of Nirma. Instead it chose a new brand Wheel. With the introduction of Wheel as a powder detergent and with the decline of the detergent cake market, Sunlight lost its relevance. HLL also extended Wheel and Rin to Detergent cakes so further sidelining the Sunlight brand.

Now Sunlight is used as a brand to effectively fill the gap between Wheel and Rin, so that no competitor can come in that price point. It is also interesting to note that this brand does not feature in HLL’s website. The brand have a very relevant brand name which denotes brightness and cleanliness, it is a brand name you cannot afford to lose. Sunlight should be positioned as a " Value for Money " brand. This segment is vacant in the Indian Detergent market. Wheel is perceived as a low priced brand, Surf Excel is a midsegment brand while Rin is for whiteness. Sunlight with its colorguard and Pure clean technology is in a position to create a market for itself.

Hercules : Ride Your Passion

Brand : Hercules
Company: TI Cycles India Ltd
Agency : Mudra

Indian Cycle market is estimated to be around 2000 crores. Hercules is one of the oldest cycle brands in India. Hercules was launched in India in 1949. The Indian cycle market was a growing market those days because it was the main mode of transportation while motorcycles and cars were not affordable to Indian consumers.

The cycle market can be broadly divided into
1. Kids cycle
2. Adults cycle (old roadster type)
3. Youth’s cycle (girls and boys versions)

The cycle market was skewed towards rural market and the market is very price sensitive. The leadership position of TI cycles was taken away by Hero cycles in the nineties. TI cycles have brands like Hercules and BSA to its fold.

Indian cycle market is facing a major crisis now. The opening up of economy has changed the psychographics of Indian consumers. With the advent of affordable motorcycles and cars, the industry which was hit hard was the cycle industry. Since consumers have shifted to more sophisticated mode of transportation, the cycle market was shrinking and became confined to rural market. In the urban market the cycles were used mainly by kids aged 6-17.
The market for cycles for youth is virtually killed with the entry of mopeds and low end motorcycles. The rural market is also facing pressure with more mopeds and motorcycles exploring that market.
The two major brands of TI cycles were Hercules and BSA. While Hercules was the ordinary adult cycle, BSA focused on the youth segment with more cotemporary look.

With Hero cycles claiming the leadership position in the mid segment of cycles in India. TI cycles were in a tight spot.TI cycle had two choices,
1. To focus on Kids cycles and rural market
2, To focus on urban market.

TI chose to tap the urban market which was virtually at the decline stage. It chose the age old Hercules brand to revive the urban cycle market. Hercules brand is originally owned by Raleigh UK. TI decided to change the brand Hercules as an Urban brand. In 1992 it launched the Hercules MTB ,the first mountain terrain bike of India. The new product was backed by some cool ads from Mudra. The ads raised the stature of Hercules brand to an aspirational level and was targeted at youth aged 14-19. The consumer insight was that the youth prefer cycle which is more masculine and the positioning also was in tune with this insight.

But a problem with cycles is that it is easy for the competitor to clone your product innovations. Hero cycles matched TI in all product launches with their own version. In 1998-2000 Hercules MTB was relaunched as a more adult like cycle.
TI hit upon the idea of tapping the adult while launching the Hercules MTB range. Since there is no incentive for adults to use cycles, the task was to create a cycling culture in the market. First the product has to appeal to adults and there should be a need to use this product. Thus came the idea of promoting cycles for leisure and exercise. This idea enabled Hercules to come out with lot of new products and value additions. The cycles were made more masculine, more comfort and promotions aimed at creating a cycling culture.
TI used the multi brand strategy to counter the threat of Hero cycles, Using BSA and Hercules, TI was able to command the premium segment of the cycle market. The geared cycles, BSA ladybird for girls, BSA city for 30+ city rider, BSA i bike designed in Italy, cycle with shock absorbers, cycle without chain etc ensured that Hercules and BSA is known for innovation and created some excitement in the otherwise dull cycle market.The latest BSA Foldman is India’s first foldable cycle . Hercules has roped in Yuvraj Singh to endorse the cycle. Although I have criticised celebrity endorsements, using Yuvraj singh makes perfect sense for a sagging market.

These innovations have helped TI to still hold 30% market share and a major share of premium value added cycle segment. But the path is not so easy to survive. One of the major task is to create the culture of cycling in India. In the West, there is a cycling culture while in China and Japan it is a major mode of transportation. With the increasing fuel prices, congested roads, increasing health consciousness are indicators that there is going to be a reinvention of cycling in India. It takes patience and money to ride that reinvention and Hercules is all set to ride that wave.