Celebrity Endorsements of Indian Brands- 2013

1. Frooti : Shah Rukh Khan
2. Thums Up : Salman Khan
3. Pepsi Atom : Sushant Singh Rajput
4. Luminous : Sachin Tendulkar
5. Godrej Group : Aamir Khan
6. Olay : Kajol
7. Britannia Tiger : Salman Khan
8. Wheel : Salman Khan
9. Maggi : Amitabh Bachchan
10. Yathra : Salman Khan
11. Shaadi. com : Chetan Bhagat
12. Lux : SRK, Katrina Kaif
13. Revital : Salman Khan
14. Nerolac : SRK
15. Berger : Katrina 
16. Slice : Katrina
17. Kalyan Jewellers : Amitabh Bachchan
18. Parle Goldstar Cookies : Amitabh Bachchan
19. Toshiba : Sachin
20. Panasonic : Katrina Kaif
21. Kent RO : Hema Malini
22. JK Cement : OM Puri
23. Binani cement : Big B
24. Sony Xperia : Katrina Kaif
25. Nokia : Priyanka Chopra
26. Nikon Coolpix : Priyanka Chopra
27. Garnier men :  John Abraham
28. Maaza : Parineeti Chouhan and Imran Khan
29. Tata Tea : SRK
30. Sparx Shoes : Akshay Kumar
31. Hyundai i10 : SRK
32. Dabur Glucoplus C: Ajay Devgn
33. Coca Cola : Sachin
34. Amul Macho : Saif Ali Khan
35. Onn Innerwears : SRK
36. Dollar Innerwear : Akshay Kumar , Prabhudeva
37. Dixcy Scott innerwear : Salman Khan
38. Orient Fans : MS Dhoni
39. Limca : Kareena Kapoor
40. Macroman Innerwears : Hrithik Roshan
41. Mountain Dew : Hrithik Roshan
42. Rado : Hrithik Roshan
43. Titan Raaga : Katrina Kaif
44. Honda Dream Yuga : Akshay Kumar
45. Appy Fizz : Saif Ali Khan
46. Berger Paints : Katrina Kaif
47. Nerolac Paints : SRK
48. Rasna : Virendra Sewag
49. Revital : Salman Khan
50. Cinthol : Virat Kohli
51. Xylys Watch : Farhan Akthar
52. Nescafe : Deepika Padukone, Karan Johar, Purab
53. Gujarat Tourism : Big B
54. Luxor Nano Clean : Big B
55. Colgate : Sonam Kapoor
56. BrookeBond Taj Mahal : Madhuri Dixit
57. Lakme : Kareena Kapoor
58. Bru Coffee : Imran Khan, Anushka Sharma
59. Lo'real : Aishwaria Rai Bachchan
60. Mirinda : Asin
61. Tanishq : Sridevi
62. Danone Milk : Karishma Kapoor
63. General A/C : Sania Mirza
64. 7 UP : Puneeth Rajkumar
65. Parachute Advansed : Deepika Padukone
66. Dabur Babool : Irfan Khan
67. Nutrogena : Prachi Desai
68. Toyota Etios Liva : Virat Kohli
69. Kellogg's : Juhi Chawla
70. Nestle Munch : Virat Kohli, Vijender 
71. Appolo Munich Health Insurance : Sourav Ganguly
72. Wild Stone : Dia Mirza
73. Fair & Lovely : Virat Kohli
74. Snickers : Rekha, Urmila
75. Sugar Free : Akshay Kumar

..... To be continued

Missed out many , please contribute to this list

Brand Update : TVS Wego wants you to Find Your We Time

TVS Wego , launched in 2011, was an earnest effort by TVS to garner a fair share of the Indian scooter market which was dominated by Honda's Activa. The brand had a high profile launch with a campaign pitching on one feature - Body Balance. 

Two years down the line, Wego although had a good start failed to make a significant impact on the scooter market ( source). The customers were not that impressed by the way the company had tried to convey its message through the launch campaign.

In 2013, TVS is running another campaign with a new theme - We Time. The new thinking is probably the result of a new agency ( Dentsu India) handling the account. In India we see the phenomenon of changes in brand positioning as and when the advertising agency is changed.

However, the new agency had thankfully changed the positioning away from the body-balance theme upon which the product was pitched. The new campaign takes a holistic view of the product features and takes the pitch above the features into what they call- We Time. I think the brand wants to convey that the scooter is so agile that the obstacles are easily evaded.

Watch the ad here : TVS Wego We Time

Body Balance is still the USP for the brand however, the brand has sidelined it in the commercials. There is still no WoW factor in the product that will hook customers to it. The new ad is watchable but doubt still persists whether the brand has made a strong case for itself against the leader - Honda Activa ?

Related Brand
TVS Wego : Body Balance

Tata Motors : What ails the brand ?

India's largest automobile company is struggling with its passenger car business. The company which owns best selling ( once upon a time) brands like Indica, Indigo, Safari and the " Iconic" Nano is finding it difficult to sell their cars in a market which is diesel crazy. Isn't it ironic that Tata Motors is not at the top of a market where diesel models are selling like hot cakes ?

I was reading a very critical piece of analysis in Forbes India ( read here) which throws in many pertinent issues. My two cents is that there is a larger issues of marketing in play here. Tata Motors has a big marketing problem and the company is not doing anything on that. It is sad.

Tata Motors virtually changed the Indian passenger car market in 1998 with the launch of Tata Indica. Although Indica faced lot if teething issues , the brand became a trail-blazer creating the diesel car segment which is affordable and durable. But along with the success came the baggage of perception. Indica despite being highly successful was perceived to be a car riddled with nagging problems. The lack of refinement and the not-so-perfect build quality became the hallmark of Tata passenger cars. Consumers accepted those nagging issues because the value offering was so good.

But market began to change with competitors catching up with better quality diesel engines and superior built quality. Tata motors , in my opinion,  was  stuck in the past. Although the company came out with product refinement, it failed to make the quantum leap in changing the perception problem.

Now a time has come where Tata cars are not in the ' choice list ' of the customers. It is a grave problem that needs to be addressed quickly other wise the firm will enter into a league of Ambassadors and Premier Padminis.

 Tata Motors need a new face. The company is desperately trying to improve upon the Indica platform which has a huge perception issue. If the firm wants to get back into the game, it needs a new brand which is distinct from Indica and Vista as a brand has not been effective since it was launched as a sub-brand of Indica. So a new product with a new brand would be the ( expensive) option available for Tata Motors to make a comeback. At the product level, nothing less that a sort of quality revolution is needed to bring consumers back to Tata showrooms. Aria was a leap in terms of built-quality but priced beyond common sense.

The product related drive should be followed by a strong branding campaign for Tata Motors to change the quality perception. This should be  backed by a strong change in attitude of dealers towards Tata Motors ' customers. The dealers still live in the era where there is a beeline of customers for Indica. That attitude needs to be changed and a strong responsive action at the moments of truth touchpoint is needed in this crisis.

Tata Motors need a strong product pipe-line backed by a strategy to change the perception of the market towards its products. This needs to be addressed at the highest level and Tata Motors has the wonderful JLR resource to do this within no time.

Market Statistics : Indian Fitness-Wear Market

Business Standard dtd 17/05/2013 puts the Indian fitness-wear market at a whopping Rs 4000 crore growing at the rate of 25% per annum. The market is dominated by shoe category. The report says that the traditional audience for this market is youth aged 15-35. Marketers opine that the segment now includes older adults because of the increased awareness towards fitness. Global brands like Nike, Reebok, Puma, Fila etc are vying for their share in this market. 

Fiat : It is the Service, Stupid !

Corporate Brand : Fiat
Brand Analysis Count : 525

World's 7th largest automotive company, a company that markets iconic brands like Ferrari , a company whose diesel engine powers the best selling hatchback ( marketed by a competitor) is having a market share of ~0.3 % share in World's 5th largest automobile market. Isn't it ironic !

Fiat had so far three avatars  in the Indian market. In its first avatar , the company licensed its product to an Indian company Premier Automobile Ltd. Premier sold these cars under the brand name Premier Padmini and Premier 118 NE. That was in the early 1990s.

In the next avataar, Fiat came to India as Fiat India Automobile ltd ( FIAL) in 1997 . During those times, the company launched Fiat Uno in India. The product although  had a dream launch with over 30,000 booking , the dream went sour since Fiat's partner PAL couldn't deliver the orders. The lack of delivery created a backlash from the customer. 

Besides once the product was in the market, there was a feeling that Fiat bought an outdated model to India.

In 1997, Fiat formed a JV with Tata Motors to jointly manufacture and distribute cars in India. Under the JV, Tata Motors would allow Fiat to use its dealers for selling the Fiat models. The Fiat engines were inturn used in Tata Motors models like Indica, Manza etc.

Fiat launched Palio during these times. Palio initially gained lot of customer attention. The brand was endorsed by Sachin Tendulkar. The car earned a reputation for being a very sturdy car with a good engine. During this time a sedan brand Sienna was also launched. But yet again, Fiat was not able to build on the momentum generated by the initial launch of these cars. 

In the  early 2010, the company launched two modern models Fiat Punto and Fiat Linea. These cars had drop-dead gorgeous looks and like any other Fiat launches, gained lot of customer interest but again the take -off in sales never happened. 

In 2012, the Tata Motors -Fiat JV collapsed. According to newsreports, Fiat is now on its solo life in India and has incorporated Fiat Group Automobiles India Pvt Ltd as a fully owned subsidiary . 

It is interesting to note that India's best selling car brands run on Fiat's engines. The best sellers like Maruti Swift , Dzire, Indica, Manza all run on Fiat engines but how come Fiat is not able to produce a best-seller. 

Only one reason- commitment. Fiat so far was trying to avoid committing itself to Indian market. It never had a serious intention to build itself in the Indian market. When companies like Ford, Tata Motors, Maruti etc had took pains to establish dealerships and service centres all across the country, Fiat opted to take a short-cut by roping in partners who never delivered. 

Service is a very big component in the decision making process of a car buyer. Its common sense that Indian consumers who typically kept a car for more than five years ( earlier even 15 years) look for a trusted brand who offered good service back-up. That is why despite all short-comings, Maruti still rules the Indian market with more than 60% share
Fiat's biggest mistake was its lack of service support for the consumers. It had all the time to build a robust network atleast in the key markets. But rather than that Fiat outsourced a very critical component of a automobile brand's building block.
Fiat had realised this and is now building its own channels and it is not easy. Concurrently, the brand is trying to build its trust back through campaigns pitching its two models Punto and Linea.
Watch the ad here ; Fiat Corporate campaign
Fiat has taken the slogan " Make the Move" urging consumers to take the leap of faith and buy a Punto or a Linea. But Faith needs to be built in the mind of the consumers through actions and ads only serves to reinforce the faith.

Fiat, due to its lack of commitment  , was never in the choice list in the buying process of an average Indian consumer. The typical reaction was " the car is good but I am worried about service ". It takes lot of time and effort to change that. 

MeriiBoy Ice cream : Fighting Frozen Desserts

Brand : MeriiBoy
Company : Cousin's Group

Brand Analysis Count : 524

MeriiBoy is a brand from my home state Kerala. The brand is an interesting marketing story because it virtually changed the perception about ice-creams in the consumer's mind to a certain extent. The brand was created in 2003 as a part of the diversification of the parent group which was in the plastic moulding business.

MeriiBoy is interesting because it is on a task of educating the consumers about " real" ice-cream. The brand is positioned on the fact that it is made of pure milk and hence it is THE ice- cream. Most of the brands that is perceived to be ice-creams are " Frozen Desserts ". 

So what is the difference between Frozen Dessert and Ice Cream.

According to Prevention of Food  Adulteration Rule 1955 , Ice-cream is a product which contains not less than 10% of milk fat while Frozen Dessert contains vegetable fat ( source Business Line)

Many so called ice-cream brands are selling frozen desserts in the pretext of ice-creams because of the perception factor. No frozen dessert brands have advertised themselves as a part of the frozen dessert category and played on the consumer's inclusion of frozen desserts as a part of the ice-cream category. And till brands like MeriiBoy began to advertise the difference between the ice-creams and frozen desserts, consumers were not much bothered since these tasted quite similar .  

What Meriiboy has done was to run campaigns not only highlighting the difference between these two products and also subtly hinting that frozen desserts are less healthy than ice-creams since it contains vegetable oil (fat). Many frozen dessert's marketers has since then objected to this pitch with complaints to ASCI. 

However, the campaign has  created lot of buzz in the consumer's mind. MeriiBoy succeeded in creating a space in the consumer's mind as a brand which is " real" ice-cream . Ofcourse brands like Amul also was in the fore-front in creating the perception of " real ice-cream" . Infact Amul ice-cream's tagline itself is " Real Milk, Real Ice-cream". But in terms of share of voice, MeriiBoy has been quite vocal about the claim of being a real ice-cream.

Will this strategy work in the long term ? 

Having the positioning of  " real ice-cream " is a credible proposition now since not many brands now can claim that positioning. The task is to convert the awareness generated by the campaigns to real sales. This can be done only with a strong distribution back-end. Now although MeriiBoy has a presence in major shopping centres, it has not been able to built strong dealer network in the state. Given a choice between a frozen dessert and ice-cream, my hunch is that consumers will prefer an ice-cream. But the brand ought to be available to give that choice. That is not an easy task for a small brand like MeriiBoy.