Getting Docomised

One more cellular operator in the fray. Another me too? Nah… this time it was for real. Tata Docomo entered the bandwagon and hit everyone hard where it really hurts. Except for the consumer who is surely delighted by the latest developments in the market place. The best part about the Docomo launch was its communication. When life changes in seconds, here’s an operator who charges 1 paise per second. The communication was classy, upmarket and absolutely aspirational. The ads had a subtle element of humour and were thoroughly entertaining. I remember that over 5 years back, I had a BPL Mobile connection where the tariff was indeed 1 p/second – of course only for local calls. But there was no strong branding around it. However, this campaign was a rage. It created a furore in the market place and had the other players gasping for breath. They were in denial until they realized that Docomo was not only eating market share but actually gobbling it. And then history happened. The so-called leaders followed the latest entrant just like timid mice followed Pied Piper. They all began offering the tariff of 1 paise per second, and their communication looked absolute me-too. Despite celebrities like SRK, consumers will surely feel that the brands they trusted for so many years were taking them for a ride until the ‘Docomo Effect’ hit them. And Docomo did it all without any celebrity. Kudos. The smartest part about their communication strategy is that as soon as all the other players began taking about their been-there-done-that value proposition of 1 paise/second, Docomo exited the 1 paise/second bandwagon and created an impressive jingle based ad. While I don’t understand what the friendship express ad is trying to communicate, the memorable jingle does the trick. Obviously, the brand strategists of Tata Docomo realized that having got this platform, they cannot continue to be successful being a price leader – they need to be a powerful brand that can stand the test of time. Not sure what time will tell…but as of now, lets give it to the player who by sheer strategy docomised the world’s fastest growing mobile telephony market.

The Devil’s Advocate

When I was young, the only cult brand that I can think of was the one with the devil. ‘Neighbours Envy. Owner’s Pride’ is a tag line that surely still resonates in the minds of thousands of Indians. The devil had attitude – completely new to the Indian branding context in the eighties. Using a devil to create a powerful brand was one hell-of-a achievement by Mirc Electronics, the company that owns the brand ‘Onida’. So powerful was this homegrown brand that many perceived it to be better than even Sony and JVC.

However, over the late eighties and the nineties, the devil lost touch. The Koreans stormed into the consumer durables business and changed the game. With a basket of consumer durables and heavy advertising, their proposition to dealers was compelling. And the devil started bleeding.

I did not see much of the devil thereafter. Onida had only televisions to offer and not a basket of consumer durables. They started losing retailers as well as share of voice in advertising. And the Koreans kept marching ahead.

A few years ago, Onida decided to enter the market with a basket of consumer durables and challenge the Koreans and Japanese. The devil was back and I was really happy to see him after years. He had mellowed down, had less attitude, but was still a strong differentiator. The advertising, to my mind, did not really leverage the attitude of the devil; the devil turned more into a sutradhar explaining product features.

To my utter disappointment, a few months ago, Onida decided to kill the devil. This surely was a sad moment in the history of Indian advertising. Onida felt that the devil is not relevant to the Indian consumer anymore. I beg to differ, though. Don’t think it was even relevant in the 80s. But it displayed a lot of attitude. The devil was a cult and I think Onida should have been more patient with the devil. A brand, especially in the commoditized consumer durables business, needs a strong differentiator. Onida had it with the devil. They threw it away.

Their latest proposition mooted by their agency McCann Ericson of ‘Tumko dekha to yeh design aaya’ is far from a differentiator. Onida is looking like yet another me-too next door consumer durables player. An Indian brand who had what it takes to take on the Koreans threw their trump card trying to ape the Koreans.. The ‘Koreans Envy. India’s Pride’ is no more. Whatever happened to the Devil’s Advocate?

Daag Acche Hain? Really? I can’t see them do any good.

The Surf campaign of Daag Acche Hain (stains are good) has perhaps been the most applauded campaigns of Unilever. Making stains a hero, rather than a villain is surely an orbit shifting innovative idea for any detergent. And I must complement the spirit of thinking radically different.

But while the campaign is being lauded all over, I often wonder whether it achieved what the objective was. I am sure the motive behind most advertising is to get into the consideration set and command a premium. Will Surf be able to do that with this campaign? I guess only time will tell.

I recently saw Surf’s latest TV commercial, where a small school boy tries acting like a dog, getting dirty all over, trying to console and appease his teacher who had recently lost her pet dog. That got me thinking. Would I want my daughter to do something like that? No way. I felt that Surf had taken this over the edge.

If you really see from the TG’s perspective, I am not sure if the proposition is appealing. No parent would like to see their kids get mucky and dirty just because they have the support of a good detergent. Because with dirt and muck, any kid can get sick. Forget about the clothes; I am more concerned about my kid’s health than super white clothes. I would hate to see my daughter skid over puddles, no matter how compelling the reason. My kid matters the most, not the detergent. I would not like her taking any risks in this age of super infections and flu.

I am a parent and I am sure quite a few parents think like me. Are stains, therefore, really good from a parent’s perspective? I don’t think so. Will it persuade me to buy Surf? Perhaps not, because my kid may get encouraged to fool around in the muck if she saw me buying this brand. I know I have shifted this completely reverse and many may not agree with me. But if you really see the psyche of a parent, I do believe that stains are not good. At least for my child; who cares about clothes?

You’ve come a long way, baby! What an Idea, Sir ji!

When the cellular network Idea was launched, believe it or not, it used a Sumo Wrestler as its brand ambassador! I guess they were desperate to break clutter and differentiate from the well entrenched brands. But there was no relevance. A couple of years later, they came out with a jingle ’98 la la la….’ which was catchy but again made no impact. Idea was yet another me-too brand trying to fight for mindspace in the cluttered environment.

But when Aditya Birla Group took over the reins of Idea, their strategic intent led to a quantum jump. One major difficulty, which even the Vodafone marketing head admitted in a conference I attended a few months back, is that the TG for any cellular network is right from a vegetable vendor to a CEO. How does one create an ad which is SEC independent and effectively appeals to all strata of the society?

Idea came up with the big ‘Idea’. Make the brand communicate a socially relevant message which is relevant to a cellular network. With the help of the brand ambassador, Jr AB, they came up with a commercial where a priest/father of a convent school used cell phones to teach children who could not travel to school. Brilliant! They then followed up with politicians using SMS-based polls to take policy decisions. Outstanding! Here was a brand that created communication which appealed to one and all and the relevance was bang on. Also, this is a glaring example, where a brand is much above the brand ambassador. Even if Idea has to part ways with Jr AB, it would only have minimal impact. While, I am a little disappointed with their latest ‘walk-n-talk’ campaign, I still give Idea full marks for its sound strategy to drastically change the way a brand is perceived. What an Idea, Sir ji!

Wanna start something new? And stupid too?

Shoppers’ Stop is my favourite store. I simply love the experience. They don’t hard sell, don’t bother and leave you to enjoy the experience of shopping. Their mantra of ‘Experience while you shop’ was bang on! But when they changed their logo, something happened! They came up with a bizarre tag line of ‘Start something new’. Why? What was the relevance? I am still trying to figure out. How does starting something new help a brand in garment and lifestyle retail? Not sure at all.

And then I saw a hoarding of my favourite store at Juhu Circle one day. It showed a sexy girl with ultra short skirts with the headline ‘Wear short skirts. Hitch hike. Conserve Fuel. Start Something New’ It left me stunned for sometime. What was that all about? They were actually literally saying that you can lure, intice and create a lust in drivers with your well waxed legs to give you a lift? And that too to save energy and contribute to the cause of global warming!

This is not some perfume brand where I would expect this kind of sexist communication. This is my favourite store we are talking about. What is the all oomph about? And would women get sexcited by this thought of getting a lift by seducing someone? Completely ridiculous! One takes years to build a brand and how easily it can all go down the drain. Wake up Shoppers Stop! It’s indeed time to start something new.

Aaj Pehli Tareeq Hai – Want some chocolates?

I have always respected Cadbury for their strategic branding. After all they changed the way chocolates were consumed in the country by making it appeal to all ages rather than only kids. The jingle of their famous TV commercial in the nineties showing a young lass celebrating the success of a match on the field with a chocolate – ‘kuch khaas hai zindagi mein’ still resonates in my mind.

But of late, I have been very disappointed with their communication. After parting ways with AB, I guess they felt that they needed a breakthrough idea. The one that they came up with was to make chocolates a monthly affair rather than only being a festival food. Aaj Pehli Tareeq hai, its pay day, so come on and grab some chocolates. I was not sure about the strategic intent. Whom were they trying to target? Only those who live hand-to-mouth and wait for the 1st to get a 10-buck chocolate! Weren’t they trying to alienate the others who have chocolates regularly by perhaps implying that you need to have chocolates only on the first of the month?

‘Mera Munch Mahaan’ Nestle completely decimated the campaign. The smart team immediately came out with a counter campaign that Nestle Munch is affordable and so you don’t have to wait for the first of the month – you can have it throughout the month. They got this opportunity on a platter! Using a competitor’s share of voice to get your proposition across is a marketer’s dream. Kudos!

Often, brand communication is like chess… you must foresee what the competition is likely to do in response. Cadbury had to overnight withdraw their ‘pehli tareeq’ campaign. And Nestle Munch had the last laugh! Check Mate!