#Alive is Offline - Cinthol just doesn't give up

Attempting desperate transformation over the past 3 years & still at it.

Finally a brand with patience, and thus I should say to my liking. Marketers’ write-off their hard work very soon, especially over the last decade, but Cinthol's approach I feel will pay off in the medium run. 

Cinthol made a bold modernization/new launch combination a few years ago, primarily when their back was against the wall. But since then the marketing team at GCPL has pulled off some stunning concepts & campaigns. (Cinthol, Protekt, Aer..to name a few).

After their original ‘Alive is Awesome’ campaign, sales stagnated & even deteriorated in a few southern markets, but the team kept at it, maybe because they had no choice, or maybe because they were in it for the long haul.

It’s a matter of time before New category entrants, or tweens/teens exercising their with new found purchasing power start enjoying a little Cinthol (without even hopefully knowing its 60 year old legacy) in their lives.

While the original Alive is Awesome campaign broke the clutter on television & at retail with it bold colours, variants, excellent retail visibility solutions etc. – the marketer’s surreal dream didn't pay-off. Sales was slow & the trend was no wear close to being reversed.

Nevertheless coming now phase-2 as I call it of the brand story - #Aliveisoffline.

This is making quite a bit of noise in Social media, as it has struck the perfect cord with every busy corporate jailed 25-30 year old. The irony of the AV trending on Social media, a mild poke at every tweet or post on our timelines. GCPL looks like it has also learnt from its earlier errors of blind ATL bombardment and has still restricted this to Social media only.

Whether Cinthol can shed its harsh erstwhile Red packaging into its more vibrant green, yellow, black, cyan is yet to be seen, but looks like they’ll be at it till they succeed.

Now to the critique: there could be a better integration of the brand 'Cinthol' into the overall theme. Looks like P&G's global fever on the 'cause' has gotten to every marketer. A powerful integration or closure with Cinthol would have maybe scored a few more points.

But nevertheless, a brand soon to be noticed (yet again)...

Brand Update : Virat says Alive is Awsome

Move over Hrithik Roshan, welcome Virat Kohli. In its struggle to stay relevant to youth, Cinthol has now a new celebrity endorser in Virat Kohli. The tvc featuring Virat is now on air

Watch the new ad here : Cinthol Virat Kohli

The ad is different and very well executed. I liked the twist in the ad and to the credit of the agency, the ad does justice to the new positioning of Alive is Awesome. But like the previous campaign, the character should avoid saying the tagline because it looks very artificial when someone says Alive is Awesome. Rather, a powerful visual with the voice-over of the tagline would have been perfect.

What Cinthol needs is not a heavy dose of celebrity but some serious execution of its positioning. Celebrities ofcourse add a little attraction to the campaign but its not the celebrity that matters.

Cinthol seems to have stumbled upon a sustainable positioning platform of " Alive with Cinthol". The new campaign although singularly focuses on the celebrity rather than the brand ,will help in keeping Cinthol alive for now

Related Post

Cinthol - Alive is Awesome

Godrej Aer : Aer it Out

Brand : Aer
Company : Godrej

Brand Analysis Count : # 517

Godrej has entered the Rs 300 crore Air Care market with the new brand Godrej Aer. Godrej was instrumental in developing the category of air-freshners in Indian market through the JV Godrej - Sara Lee. Ambi-Pur was the brand which had created this category in India. But in 2011, Sara Lee sold its personal care division to P&G and the brand Ambi-Pur has moved to P&G.

Not to be left behind in the category which Godrej's JV had created, the company was quick to launch its own brand Aer in the Indian market. Godrej Aer is now running its launch campaigns across the Indian market. 

The brand has started off with some thoughtful branding strategies. To being with, Godrej has chosen a very powerful brand name " Aer ".Aer which is the marketer's way of using the generic word " Air" .

Ambi-pur is the most visible brand in the air-freshner category in India. Air-Wick is another brand which is focusing on the home category . There are also many local and imported brands in this category.Odonil was one of the pioneers in the room-freshner category but some how this brand is restricted to washrooms ( pun intended). This lifestyle product is expected to see better growth in coming years. According to reports, this category is growing at the rate of 20% each year.

Godrej in the launch campaign is focusing on the car -freshner segment of the category. 

Aer has tried to tackle the market using two differentiating attributes. First factor is the design. Aer has put lot of thought into the design aspect of the container. The design is eye-catching and very contemporary. Second differentiator ( in car freshner) is the ON/OFF switch. The brand is harping on this factor in the television commercial .

Watch the ad here : Aer 

Godrej Aer's focus On/Off switch  as the key differentiator may not be sustainable since any competitor can easily replicate the feature. Launching the brand purely on this easily copy-able feature is a marketing mistake on the part of Godrej. Its also surprising to see that Godrej is downplaying the wonderful design element of the brand. The brand is focusing on functionality + fragrance as the main focusing point. The brand has the tagline  " Aer it Out " and has put its mission as to change the way air smells and spells. The brand has priced the product a little above the Ambi-Pur but I feel that the design will encourage many consumers to switch to this product for a trial.

Related brand

Ambi-pur

Strong consumer demand should help boost revenues

Growth in consumer spends and value generated by price hikes are expected to deliver steady growth for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies in the quarter ended March, 2008.

The year-on-year average growth in the operating profit growth could be around 18 per cent on a net sales growth about 15 per cent while the net profit is expected to be about 20 per cent.

The better performers in the FMCG space could be Nestle and Godrej Consumer: the former is expected to post the highest growth in net sales over around 17 cent whiel the latter Godrej is expected to post the highest growth in net profit at 40 per cent. Both these firms should benefit from margin expansion resulting from price hikes taken by them to offset cost increases.

ITC may well post a decline in volumes growth due to the recent excise duty hike on non-filter cigarettes. However, together with the FMCG and other businesses, ITC should turn in a growth in net sales of over 11 per cent and growth in operating profit of close to 18 per cent. (Rs crore) Company Net sales Operating profit Profit after tax Q4FY08 E Q4FY07 Change % Q4FY08 E Q4FY07 Change % Q4FY08 E Q4FY07 Change % ITC 3,867 3,466 11.6 1,095 930 17.7 753 650 15.8 HUL 3,627 3,184 13.9 446 362 23.5 397 333 19.2 Nestle 1,054 899 17.2 220 178 23.2 139 111 25.4 Dabur 480 444 8.0 86 73 18.0 75 65 15.0 Marico 359 335 13.0 42 38 12.0 30 27 11.0 Tata Tea 287 251 19.0 18 15 26.2 11 2 636.3 GCPL 210 186 12.9 39 32 21.2 35 25 40.6

Price hikes taken in the detergent category and growth in personal care products business could help Hindustan Unilever deliver a growth in net sales of about 14 per cent and an operating profit growth of about 24 per cent.

Other companies which are expected to witness strong growth in earnings are Dabur, Marico and Tata Tea. However, Dabur's expected net sales growth of 8 per cent and operating profit growth of 18 per cent would be primarily volume-driven as it has not taken any price increase in this quarter.

Marico should deliver a revenue growth of 13 per cent and an operating profit growth of 12 per cent, enabled by the growth in sales of its functional foods and hair care brand Parachute.

For Tata Tea, the impact of profit from Glaceau stake sale could cause a jump of over 600 per cent in net profit. However, its operating profit due to better domestic performance could grow by 26 per cent and net sales are expected to grow by about 19 per cent.

Fortis HealthWorld enters rural India with Godrej Aadhaar

Fortis Group company Fortis HealthWorld Ltd (FWHL) on Monday said it has tied up with the rural retail initiative of Godrej Agrovet Ltd, Godrej Adhaar, to open pharmacies in rural areas.

By setting up FHWL pharmacies jointly with Godrej Adhaar, the company seeks to empower the rural India mainly the farming community by providing all encompassing health needs under one roof, FWHL said in a statement.

These stores will also be equipped with a wide range of fast moving health good and support systems. To start with these Aadhaar Pharmacies are being launched at the key Aadhaar centres, at Taran Taran, Batala and Mehta Chowk in Punjab, it added.

"This partnership with Godrej Aadhaar is an integral part of our commitment of providing world class pharmacy and allied services to rural India," FWHL CEO Ashish Kirpal said.

"The rural market in India holds huge potential for pharma industry. Godrej Aadhaar with its extensive reach in Rural areas is uniquely positioned to provide a platform for products and services for rural areas," Godrej Agrovet Ltd CEO B S Yadav said.

Fortis HealthWorld is the retail arm of the Fortis Group, which is planning to set up retail network of health stores across the India.