Brand Update : Rin

Hindustan Unilver Ltd ( HUL ) is a master marketer. The owner of some of the iconic brands in the Indian FMCG space, I used to look at the marketing practices of this company with a sense of awe and admiration.

And at the same time, this is a company known for getting the brands & consumers into a state of utter confusion. In the name of change, HUL brand mandarins experiment with their brands and some of the strategies can drive Philip Kotler to suicide.

Take the case of Rin. Rin is a power brand in the HUL's brand portfolio. This 500 crore brand is deeply etched in the mind of the Indian consumer with its strong association with whiteness.
Then there is the iconic Surf. The brand has remained in the top slot thanks to sustained product and communication innovation.

Now in the past two years, HUL has been trying to find out how to mess up these two brands in the detergent cake market.
In April 2007 , HUL had initiated a process to migrate Rin Supreme to Surf Excel bar. The brand migration was a high profile one. The ads screamed : Rin Supreme is now Surf Excel.

After a couple of months later, ads of Rin detergent cake began to pop up in TV. Now there is a high profile campaign featuring Bomman Irani for Rin Advanced Detergent cake. So Rin detergent cake is still alive ?

The new ad talks about Sabooth ( proof ) of whiteness. Now Rin Advanced comes with a whiteness chart which will prove to the consumers that Rin offers better whiteness than other cakes.
So what about Surf Excel bar and Rin Supreme ?

Well . I suppose I need to take a lesson on brand portfolio management from HUL .

Ok Lets go back to history of this brand . During early 2000, Rin had two variants Rin Shakthi and Rin Supreme. Shakthi was a low priced detergent cake and Supreme was the premium variant ( Product line extensions ). Some where down the line, HUL dropped Rin Shakthi . Then in 2004, Rin Shakthi was relaunched as Rin Advanced.
Then in 2007 Rin Supreme was migrated to Surf Excel.

For What ? Frankly speaking I am clueless. Is it a brand rationalisation or brand confusion ?

The result of all these is visible in the Economic Times' Brand Equity Survey results for the last 4 years.
Rin was featured among top ten brands in the list during 2004,2005 & 2006. In 2004, the brand was in number 8 , in 2006 the brand was in number 3 and in 2006 the brand was in number 9.

In 2008, Rin was not even in the top 20 list , it had the rank of 21.

As a customer I walked into a super market in 2000 to buy a detergent cake. I see two variants of Rin : Supreme and Shakthi. I take Shakthi and happily walk away.

In 2004 I walk into the store to buy Rin Shakthi and I find that Rin Shakthi is not there but there is Rin Advanced and Rin Supreme. I walk away with Rin Supreme.

In 2006 I walk into the store to buy Rin Supreme , I find that now Rin Supreme is Surf Excel . I walk away with Tide detergent cake.

In 2008 , I still buy Tide.

If your strategy cannot be explained in one minute, then your strategy is not worth considering.

Related Brand
Rin Migration to surf
Rin

Jawbone #216: Underwear That's Fun To Wear!

Tonight, Neil joins us for a show. We talk about body sizes, Underoos, weddings and dreams, once again. If you are reading this, this blog has obviously been unlocked and we're back up and running again. So yahoo! Enjoy the show.

BTW, for those interested, here is the link to that UK Body Survey.

RSS feed.


Download now.

Baby Products From Hell

Here's an interesting list: 20 Nightmarish Baby Products. My favorite? The baby mop:

"Inventors in Japan are fed up with babies constantly making messes and never cleaning up after themselves. Introducing the baby mop, this leverages the all natural cleaning power of drool to buff your floors to a high shine. Please note that extended wear on carpet may build a static charge equivalent to licking a car battery."

See the whole chilling list here.

Zombies Need Love Too.

Very clever. I didn't register. If anyone does, let me know what happens. Thanks to Art for the link.

List of Upcoming Pixar Films

I missed linking the teaser for Pixar's next film (due out Summer 2009) called "Up" -- the video had been removed by the time I got a chance to link it. But luckily, the list of upcoming films through 2012 (including synopsis') is still out there. Toy Story 3 in 3-D?! How can one resist? Check out the list here.

Sharpen Your Pencils, Nerds

'Cuz here's an unofficial list of "Sexiest Stormtroopers". I have my own list of "Sexist Stormtroopers", but that one's not as popular. Thanks for the link, Art!

Moti Soap : RIP

Brand : Moti

Company : HUL

Brand Analysis Count : 341

Moti was India's premium brand of soaps during the seventies. Now there is no trace of this brand. Moti originally was a brand of Tata Oil Mills Company ( TOMCO). In 1993, 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 bored of 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 brand imagery 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 of moti.

Moti then moved to HLL following the merger. That marked the end of this brand.
I am not sure why HLL 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.

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.

Cool Audio Trick

Try this out. I didn''t think it would work, but it does. Thanks BB.

Caption This: 7-28-08

In case you were wondering, this is a pig-faced monkey. So there ya go. Enjoy captioning this one! Thanks to Monica for the link.

Can You Say Weird?

Logan : The answer is Here

Brand : Logan
Company : Mahindra Renault
Agency : Saatchi & Saatchi

Brand Analysis Count : 340

Logan was launched in India in 2007. With in a year's time, this brand has achieved reasonable success in the tough Indian auto market.

Logan is a brand from Mahindra Renault , the joint venture between Mahindra and the French auto major Renault. Renault is a global auto major known for innovation ,technology and racing. Mahindra is our very own company who hit a jackpot with the Scorpio.

When the Jv was announced, the entire auto enthusiasts were looking forward to a new experience to be delivered from these celebrated manufacturers. But soon the company made it clear that the product that they envision will be an affordable sedan rather than a premium one.

In 2007, Logan was launched. The brand was able to get good PR during the launch. The PR was there because of two reasons :
a. It was a launch from Mahindra who claimed lot of appreciation for the success of Scorpio. Hence every media was expecting a similar successful product.

b. The price of Logan was a major driver of the PR. Logan was to be sold at around Rs 4,50,000 which made it one of the cheapest sedan on road.


The initial hype created a huge flow of booking orders for Logan. There was 3000 bookings in the first three weeks itself.

Then came the commercials. In my personal experience, the campaign was a big let down. It was a meaningless ad which showed a foreign lady in some James Bond type plot and blah blah....
The car was initially positioned on the basis of the benefit of space. The slogan talked about Logan as a ' Wide Body ' car.

Although I did not understood what a wide bodied car is , commonsense told me that it is a more spacious car.

Logan has been a success so far . With in one year of launch, it has notched up 12% marketshare in the respective category . At one point of time, it surpassed the veterans like Honda City in sales.

Logan is yet another example of a brand understanding the value proposition of Indian consumers. When the brand was launched, many pundits decried the poor looks of the car. They wrote off the car saying that Indian consumers will vote out this ugly duckling.

But Logan survived. Survived because the product delivered. It was a spacious large well built car which came at a mouth watering price of less than Rs 5,00,000. The surprise came when Logan delivered big on mileage. Consumers began to see beauty in the beast .
In India, consumers give weightage to functionality than design. Toyota showed to us with its Qualis.

In June 2008, the brand went for a repositioning. Infact the brand has took a serious take on the image aspect. Kunal Kapoor was roped in as the brand ambassador and new campaigns were aired.

The brand also has repositioned from a functional angle to a mix of functional and emotional framework.
While the presence of Kunal added some spice to the image, the brand still talked about the deliverables like more mileage , better handling and great value for money . The new campaigns are far better than the initial ones and Kunal Kapoor gives some push to the image aspect.

The brand now tales the slogan " The answer is here " . The brand also has an interactive interesting site butwhy.in where readers can post questions that usually does not have a typical answer. For example : Superman and Batman wears underwear outside. But Why ?.

The logic behind the new slogan is that Logan is the answer to most of the questions asked by the customers . For example : Why can't a sedan give more mileage than a small car ?


A typical issue that most of these value for money brands face is on tackling two segments : the tour taxi segment and the individual segments. Brands like Indica, Indigo , Qualis and now Logan face the issue of the use of these brands as Taxis.

Brands worry that the popularity of a car as a taxi will tarnish the image of the brand. Indica and Indigo have the issue of being popular as a taxi thus repelling some customers from owning it.

Logan also have the same issue , go to Hyderabad, you see a lot of Logan as taxi cars. But will it really hurt the brand ?
I think popularity as a taxi car will be helpful to the brand if its able to provide some distinction to the individual owners.
Being popular as a taxi car means that the car is good. As we know , the taxi's cannot afford to have a car which is expensive to run and maintain. So if taxi owners are buying it, it must be good.
Second, more number of taxi's the more affordable will be the spares.

The major downside is about the image of a taxi car. My question is whether image is a significant factor when one decides to buy an Indica or a Logan . My take is that although image is important for these customers, the main driving force will be on functionality and cost of ownership. People buy Indica because it is the most value for money car in that segment.

But bad image can act as a repellent. So what can a company do about it ? .

I think that the brand should bring some distinction to the non-commercial cars by adding some feature that makes Logan ( or Indica ) different from taxi car . Either it can restrict these commercial cars in to one color or add some thing like graphics so that private Logan is different from the Taxi Logan .

To give the brand a boost. Logan recently launched a limited edition Logan Edge for those who wanted more from Logan. Edge also is aimed at repositioning the brand as an aspirational product to all those who are looking for an upgrade to a sedan.

Logan is not without threats . Tatas are on a marketing offensive now and has launched Indigo CS to take on the price competition. The compact sedan from Indigo has been a success since it made the sedans more affordable.
Service is another area for concern. Although Mahindra has excellent network of dealers, whether it can give excellent service to Logan customers is something to wait for. From the market feedback, Mahindra is not known for excellent service delivery compared to peers like Maruti. Renault has to work closely on the service front .

Logan has yet again proved that there is always a space for a product that functions well and priced reasonably. The success of Logan has prompted the parent company to explore more categories in the Indian auto market. Logan also has raised the bar for most of the car marketers. Now consumers are truly pampered.

Related posts
Indigo CS

Moby Dick Tweets

Based on an original idea by Apelad AKA Adam Koford, the book Moby Dick will be posted on the social microblogging site, Twitter. Every week day, there will be 13 paragraphs of Moby Dick posted on the hour, starting at 8AM CST. Check it out here. It should take about 5 weeks.

BTW, the programmer behind this is none other than Whiz Kid Dan Coulter, programming genius behind the 700 Hoboes Project, E-Zombie and Monster By Mail.

Update : Randy Pausch

The inspiring Carnegie Mellon Professor and the author of the book - The Last Lecture ,Dr Randy Pausch passed away on July 25th Morning.
The ailing professor has inspired millions through his lecture and through his book. I hoped for a miracle recovery but god had other plans for him.

See the news update from Carnegie Mellon : Here

To quote his words
" We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand ".

Randy played his hand very well and left a legacy. He reminded me of living the life to the fullest and achieving your dreams.
Thank You Professor.

My condolences to Jai, Chloe, Dylan and Logan.

Watch the last lecture : here

Related Post
Book Review of Last lecture

Dip Trix : Just for Kids

Brand : Dip Trix
Company : General Mills

Brand Analysis Count : 339

Dip Trix is a unique brand. This iconic US brand debuted in India in 2005.Already the brand has become a hit in the Indian market.

Dip Trix is a snack food targeted at kids aged 4 - 12. The product is a Cookie and Cream snack which consists of fun shaped cookies and Cream.

Trix brand was launched in US in 1959. The brand has an iconic status in US with a range of products like cereals and yogurts. Dip Trix is the Indian avatar of Trix.


Dip Trix is a result of a careful consumer observation . The brand found that the users ( Kids ) wanted to play with food . But parents usually does not permit their kids to play with food.

Thus born this product which allows kids to play with the food with out getting rebuked. Dip Trix satisfied this need in a most simple way. The product comes in a unique tray pack with two compartments. The product comes with fun shaped cookies in one compartment of the pack and there is a cream in the another compartment.
Kids can then eat cookies either by dipping it in the cream, make sandwich , dunk or lick thus making the whole process fun-filled.

In India the brand has been doing pretty well. Going by the rate in which I buy it for my kid, Dip Trix has achieved its share of success.

Even before Dip Trix came to India, HUL has tried its luck on a similar product branded as Bistix. But the brand failed to took off.

There are two main reasons for success of Dip Trix. One is the smart pricing. Unlike other foreign snacks , Dip Trix is priced reasonably at Rs 5 . This is a magical price point which allows the parents to buy it because its perceived to be affordable. The fact that one pack can keep the child occupied for 10 minutes add more value to the product.

Second success factor is the marketing strategy adopted by General Mills. The brand has adopted a 360 degree marketing effort to capture the consumer mindset. It has successfully aligned the brand with films like Krrish . The brand gave away Krrish masks along with the product thus increasing popularity many times. Last year the brand has promoted itself through Spiderman 3 by giving away goodies.

The brand also have a highly interactive site at diptrix.com where kids can log in an play games. According to reports, the brand site has tremendously enhanced the brand's salience among the target group.

The brand also have a mascot. The mascot is the Trix rabbit which is always in the lookout for the creams. The cookies usually comes in the shape of the Trix rabbit.

Selling snacks to kids is a tough job. To catch the attention and loyalty of kids is a marketer's acid test. In a way Dip Trix has achieved that.

From my experience, I have observed that kids are also influenced by the peers. For instance, when I first bought Dip Trix, my child was not impressed. But when she saw one of her friends eating it, she also began to ask for the product. So these sales promotions help the brand to get into those 'little' opinion leaders and thus breaking into the rest of the TG.

Light Blue By Dolce & Gabbana For Women

D & G LIGHT BLUE by Dolce & Gabbana for WOMEN EDT SPRAY 1.7 OZ Launched by the design house of Dolce & Gabbana in 2001, D & G LIGHT BLUE by Dolce & Gabbana possesses a blend of rose, apple, musk and jasmine. It is recommended for casual wear.

Shi By Alfred Sung For Women

SHI by Alfred Sung for WOMEN EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY 3.4 OZ Launched by the design house of Alfred Sung in 2000, SHI by Alfred Sung possesses a blend of a soft, delicate floral, a feminine fragrance. It is recommended for daytime wear.

Green Tea By Elizabeth Arden For Women

GREEN TEA by Elizabeth Arden for WOMEN EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY 3.4 OZ Launched by the design house of Elizabeth Arden in 1999, GREEN TEA by Elizabeth Arden possesses a blend of citrus lemon, rhubarb, peppermint, oakmoss, musk and amber. It is recommended for daytime wear.

Eau De Parfum Spray For Women.

PARIS HILTON by Paris Hilton for WOMEN EAU DE PARFUM SPRAY 3.4 OZ Launched by the design house of Paris Hilton in 2005, PARIS HILTON by Paris Hilton possesses a blend of Frozen Apple, Peach Nectar, Freesia, Mimosa, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Ylang Ylang, and Oakmoss.

Jawbone #215: Aw, The Baby

Feedback on last week's show. Lots of voicemails and adulations for our kids. Plus, a drum kit in our house? Listen in and enjoy, damnit!

RSS feed.


Download now.

Consumer Insight #1 : What are your customer's expectations ?

I just put down my telephone after some heated exchange with my traveling agent. The reason as always about refunds. I canceled my air tickets a couple of weeks back and after a dozen phone calls I still wonder about the possibility of getting my refunds in the near future .

Much has been written on customer service . Researches, articles, books and what not. But still we see the same pathetic management of customer service.

Last week, while visiting my new generation bank which boasts about being the most tech- advanced bank, I had to wait for 45 minutes for getting a Demand Draft. That too in a bank which have an automated queue handling system. The manager was helpless and surprisingly the bank does not have a formal complaint's handling mechanism. I was amused to see that the link for registering complaints in the bank's website does not work !!!!! Hum Haina ???

So is it about meeting expectations or managing expectations ?

Today's Economic Times ' Brand equity has a great piece written by Ms Janelle Barlow titled " Take your customer's complaints seriously ". She is the author of a very relevant book " Complaint is a gift ".

Read the article here : Take your customer complaints seriously

I strongly believe that a firm's customer service quality will reveal only when there is a complaint.How a company handles the complaint is the true determinant of its customer service quality.

Coming back to my experience with my traveling agent, I had certain expectations regarding the service to be provided by the agent. The service provider was not able to understand those expectations. The company may have systems and processes which can delay the refund, but as a consumer, I am totally unaware of what happens inside the company.

The entire issue would not have happened if the service provider gave me the information about possible delay at the point of cancellation. But that did not happen. So marketers should learn to be truthful to the customers while setting expectations.

Its common sense that no marketer can satisfy all the expectations of the customers. But what he can do is to try and manage those expectations.

In the case of the bank , it had built a series of expectation in the consumers through high profile celebrity endorsements and ads. Then at the consumer touch-points it fails miserably . For example the 'service request receipt ' generated by the machine sets the expectation by giving the time taken to attend my request. The time given to me was 90 seconds. Then everything went offtrack .
Marketers often fail to practice the wisdom of Understate and Overdeliver. Most of the time you bring in the customer promising him many things that you are not able to deliver.

Seth Godin has written a good post here : Seth on customer expectations

For the consumer : Never pay for your service in advance. If I hadn't paid my tour operator in advance, things could have been much different. He would have made calls to me and I would have been the king. So if there is an option for taking the service on credit, do it. Because marketers have a bad habit of forgetting their customers after being fully paid.

Please share your views and experiences on the customer service you have encountered.

Natural Brush-On Satin Blush Midnight Mauve

Long-lasting radiant cheek color. Extraordinary wear. Luxurious texture.

Max Factor Lustrous Sponge-On Satin Blush

Long-lasting radiant cheek color. Extraordinary wear. Luxurious texture. Non-comedogenic. Dermatologist tested.

Max Factor Natural Brush-On Satin Blush

Long-lasting radiant cheek color. Extraordinary wear. Luxurious texture.

Funniest Description of My Kids. Ever

This was the caption written for the photo of my kids taken by Subspace (AKA Sunday) during her and fellow Hobo, Mike's visit this past weekend:

"These guys knew The Who forwards and backwards. It was like meeting aliens who are much, much smarter than you who have been monitoring Earth transmissions for the last 30 years. "

We had a ton of fun during their visit. We ate at local famed eatery, Sokolowski's. We played Zombies and Rock Band. And generally had a jovial, shin-kicking good time. More photos of this momentous meeting can be viewed here.

Caption This: 7-21-08

Thanks to Chad once again for this week's Caption This.

Brand Update : Titan

Titan has repositioned itself this year with a new set of brand values and positioning statement. In a typical case of Laddering, Titan has embraced a higher set of values going beyond the basic product attributes.

Titan has come a long way . From a preferred gift item to a stylish accessory, the brand is now moving towards a higher goal of self - actualization.

Titan has now acquired a new positioning. The new slogan " Be more " captures the essence of the new set of brand values. From the reports, I think that the brand has adopted " Live life to the fullest " as the core brand manthra .

Watch the new commercial here : Titan Be more

As usual the commercial has captured the essence neatly and as usual Aamir does a perfect job.
In the commercial, Aamir says " Be born Everyday " which truly captures the spirit of the new positioning.

As a customer, I find the commercial and new positioning attractive. The brand is trying to move away from product attribute/benefit ( style) to a more abstract set of values ( Liberation).

Having said that , there are a couple of apprehensions also. Usually brand-laddering is a tricky move . Unless you are very careful, there is a chance that the customers may miss the whole idea. Sometimes marketers have a grand idea but customers will be left clueless. Ultimately if the customer does not understand the advertisement, then everything is a waste.

The current campaign is strictly for urban customers and is going to appeal to those customers who have a definite view of themselves and the world around them. Others will see this as another ad featuring Aamir .

The brand has to make sure whether this category now is mature to have this higher level of message. I still feel that Indian consumers look at a watch primarily as a time-keeping device as well as an accessory. It has not yet reached the position where consumers see it as an expression of liberation or self actualization.

The earlier campaign " What's Your style " appealed to a larger segment of customers because it talked about a very tangible benefit of the brand. The new campaign is more on one's 'view of life ' hence there is a chance that many customers may miss the whole point.

Usually when the brand is laddering up, it will also have supplementary campaign that reminds the customers about the functional attributes and benefits of the brand. In the case of Titan also , such supplementary campaigns are essential to appeal to a broader audience.


With regard to the concept of " Be More ". This is not a new manthra as far as Indian brands are concerned. There are many brands which talked about doing more and realizing dreams. The recent Cinthol campaign is also about doing more ( Don't Stop ). However, this need for self actualization is all pervasive and is a highly relevant value as far as customer is concerned.

Related Brand
Titan
Brand Laddering

Star Wars Photoshopping Contest

The title says it all. Pretty awesome stuff here. Check it out.

Brand Update : Idea

Idea is running a new campaign on education . The new campaign featuring Abhishek Bachchan as a School Principal is aimed at promoting the concept of inclusive education ( education for all).
The campaign begins with a scene where a poor girl child is denied admission in a reputed school .The school principal think of a new idea to use Idea Mobile phones for teaching these poor kids.

Watch the Tvc here : Idea School Campaign

I was both impressed and intrigued by this idea. Impressed because the concept of inclusive education is a noble cause. Intrigued because I was not sure whether its possible to teach through mobile phones.

Further probing on the internet virtually crash landed my admiration about Idea. The idea is only an idea. This is just a campaign . Nothing more and nothing less. I thought that Idea cellular had actually developed a real model where kids in rural India can learn using mobile phones. But in fact this is only a campaign.

I think that many of the viewers would also be thinking that Idea has actually implemented this in rural areas .

The latest campaign was more in touch with reality than the earlier campaigns ( mobile numbers instead of name ) . That may be the reason I mistook it for a real life CSR initiative.
So what Idea is going to do is to spread the message of " education for all " using these campaigns. The brand also have tied up with an NGO Nanhi Kali and NDTV to further spread the message.
Had Idea tried implementing this model , then it would have given more credibility into the new initiative. The award winning campaign of Times of India's Lead India is a classic example of cause marketing . Not only was the campaign effective but at the end of the campaign there was also an output interms of identifying some leaders.
But in the Idea campaign , there is no visible output which can further enhance the brand's equity . There is no scope for following it up with another set of campaigns.

Idea with execution will change your life.

My Spoiler-Free Review of "The Dark Knight"

Ok, so I just got back from the 9:30 AM showing of the most anticipated summer blockbuster in years "The Dark Knight". Yes, you read that right. 9:30 AM. I could have opted for the 9:00 AM showing or even the 12:01 AM showing, but I wanted my older boys to be able to have a good night's sleep before the big proceedings. I may be a fanboy, but I'm a sensible fanboy.

I had mentioned to Nora last night that I planned to go into the theatre with open eyes. That is, not to be clouded by all the incredible hype this film has been getting the past few weeks. It was tough to find a bad review of this film. But I know a lot of that hype was generated from people who really WANTED this film to be good. One of the things that I liked so much about the other heralded comic book film this season, "Iron Man" was that I didn't go into it with any preconceived notions. I didn't know Tony Stark's origin story. I had no connection to the comic at all. So I was able to view the film as a movie goer. I wanted the same experience with this film. I wanted to see the film as Average Joe Movie and not as someone who has been dying to see it since the Joker makeup was revealed last spring. A daunting challenge to say the least. She didn't think I was up to it. But I held my ground.

That being said, this is what In have to say about the film, from the eyes of a casual moviegoer. And let me add a caveat here: about an hour and a half into the film, the sound cut out in the theatre we were in. I lost about 10 minutes of film during the debacle, all of which I was able to see at another showing. Although nothing can really repair a movie experience being marred by something like that, I was able to piece the film together.

I thought the story was well-plotted, although Chris Nolan seems to want to pack as much into the front end as possible. It seemed a bit top-heavy to me in the first hour, trying to explain the situation Batman, Dent and Gordon and the rest of Gotham find themselves in. Lots of characters and situations to keep track of make you take your eye off the action to try to digest what's happening. I'm usually pretty good at following the action and plot, but wish I had a rewind button next to me to get some lines of dialogue that I felt ran past you too quickly.

The film was shot entirely in Chicago, and it shows. The dark landscape of Gotham and The Narrows from "Batman Begins" has been replaced with the grittiness of real-world Chicago. Which in some way, added to my issues with how serious the film was trying to take itself. This is the crux of my criticism of the film. Nolan and his team are trying so very hard to ground these characters in reality, but in the end, you still have a crazy guy running around in a rubber costume.

Don't get me wrong. I think that Nolan is able to find that balance within the film and is able to sustain it for the most part. But not without a few awkward moments to jolt you back into remembering that this is just one big graphic novel comic book.

Ok now to the elephant in the room: Heath Ledger's performance. Make no mistake, he does a very good job as The Joker. Contrary to Nicholson's Joker, Ledger's Joker literally is nuts. Nicholson's performance seems very comic-booky next to this performance. Ledger's Joker is both calculated and brutal and you can't not be riveted by his portrayal. Had he lived, it would have been the performance that would have demented er -- CEMENTED -- his place on the A List.. The Joker made me laugh and cringe. Moreso on the cringe. And it seemed like when Ledger wasn't on screen, the movie lost some of it's stamina.

Conversely, (and I know I'll take some heat for this) I felt that Christian Bale's performance was a bit wooden. And I LIKE Christian Bale! I feel he is the best Batman to don the cowl that there ever has been. But the effect they put on his voice when he is The Batman gets distracting after a while. Once again, though, put toe to toe against Burton's Keaton, this is stellar and pretty much spot on from Miller's Caped Crusader reboot of the 80's.

The supporting cast including Eric Roberts, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Maggie Gyllenhall are all in top form and enjoyable to watch. But I have to give the film a 9, only for some of the small flaws I felt that kept it from all time greatness. Is it a Best Picture? Meh, probably not. But then again, when a film like The Departed can win for Best Picture, this wouldn't be much of a surprise. Does Ledger deserve a posthumous Oscar? I feel he should be nominated for his role, it is that good. Will it happen? We'll have to wait.

One last note: this was probably the most intense film I have ever watched with my kids. It's certainly the darkest film they have ever seen. So let this be a warning. This IS NOT a film for kids. My 11 year old says he liked it, but I could tell he was disturbed by some of the Joker's antics. So please let that be a warning. If you're wondering, do yourself a favor and keep the kids at home.

And finally, Three Words: NEW WATCHMEN TRAILER. And it's looking FINE.

Bring on 3/6/09.

Jawbone #214: A Dark Night With The Kids

Tonight's show is a midsummer show with the kids. We discuss, among other things, World of Warcraft, Rock Band 2, Lego's, video games, birthday cakes, tea, and of course, The Dark Knight. Thanks for joining us for this audio archive. And please, tell a friend.

Music:
Live | Paul and Storm

RSS feed.


Download now.

Inkfruit : Always On

Corporate Brand : Inkfruit

Brand Analysis Count : 338

Infruit is a unique brand with a special business model . The company is a e-retailer of designer T shirts. But there is a specialty in its business model. The brand aims to source designs from the consumers itself . It is another attempt to co-create with the consumers.

Inkfruit in its earlier avatar was known as Gnome was launched in December 2007. The company aims to discover the design talents in the country and provide a platform to exhibit their designs to a broader audience.

The model work like this :
The aspiring designers can send their designs to Infruit and these designs will be put to vote inside the Inkfruit community. The designs which gets maximum votes is eligible for a honorarium .
These designs are screen printed on T shirts which will be put on sale in the website. The company claims that the T-shirts are made of high quality and the screen printing delivers to the designs.

The T shirts is available for Rs 349 ( Plus delivery charges ) which I think is a reasonable price .

India does not have a pure T-shirt brand. Although most of the readymade brands have T shirts I feel that there is a scope for a pure-play T shirt brand. Because there is a wide acceptance of this category among all demographic profiles in the Indian market. Ladies, Kids, Gents, youth ;all like wearing T-shirts.

In this perspective, Inkfruit has done the right move in tapping this market. Here the differentiation is with design. The company smartly is trying to tap the design talents in the country in a very economical way. We know that reputed designers are costly while there is a huge design talent in India who are looking for platforms to express their skills. Inkfruit offers them the much desired platform.

But all are not rosy for the business model of Inkfruit. The concept of e-retailing is in the nascent stage. The penetration of Internet among the consumers is a vital variable in the success of any e-retailing venture.
There are security fears among consumers in using internet for shopping . To tide over this fear, Inkfruit has introduced Cash-on- Delivery at an additional cost of Rs 30.

With regard to the branding, Inkfruit has to have more clarity. Is it going to be a corporate brand or the T-shirt brand or is it going to be the store brand ?

From the pictures of T-shirts in the website , It is not clear whether there is Inkfruit label in it.According to the company, the name of the designer features on the label which would be a highly motivating factor for the designers.

So with regard to the brand, Inkfruit has to decide and convey its basic brand values to the consumers.
In the marketing perspective, I feel that Inkfruit should be branding its T shirts either using the corporate name or other suitable names. Then they can develop designer series based on the results of the community voting.

Another factor is the sustainability of the model . Inkfruit has tapped the enormous potential of ' Word of Mouse ' and the marketing team has been proactive in reaching out the bloggers and CGM publishers. So far Inkfruit has got tremendous support from the bloggers and online publishers. The brand has to take it forward to the next level of engagement.

T shirt is more of an experiential product which the consumer would like to see, touch and feel before going to make the purchase. So the challenge for the company is to tide over this experiential nature of this product and make the consumer to look at the design and then buy.

To do that , the company may have to induce the customer to make trial purchases. Although the price is reasonable at Rs 349, if a customer wants to order it through COD, then the cost will come to Rs 409. This can put off those customers who wants to try it off. So the company can rethink on the delivery/ COD cost to induce more trial purchases.

It is not easy to make the customers vote for designs and then buy from the website. That require lot of effort from the company . In branding jargon , the level is the Active Engagement where the consumer will use their personal time to participate in activities connected with the brand.

Inkfruit is a unique brand with lot of potential . The realization of this potential is dependant on the effort of building a community around this brand.
Checkout the brand site : Inkfruit.com

Monster By Mail Update!

Just want to let everyone know that Monster By Mail is still happening and you can order a monster (with or without video) from me today! Here is today's latest entry: The Marriage of Queen Kamayhemayhem and Her King

Today In Unnecessary Censorship

Thanks to Dan the Man for this link.

Vote For Us!

Just a quick note...we are a finalist in the Podcast Peer awards in the category of Best Couplecast. We need your vote to win, so please do us a favor and head on over to the Podcast Peer Award Site and give us a vote. You'll have to register, but it's a pretty painless process. Your vote is much appreciated!

Caption This: 7-14-08

Thanks Chad for this week's Caption photo.

Protein Rx Reparative Conditioner

Protein Rx Reparative Conditioner is ideal for brittle, broken hair that has been weakened from coloring, relaxing, or heat styling. An exclusive soy and milk protein complex restores and reinforces hair preventing future breakage, leaving hair stronger and more manageable.

Protein Rx Reparative Shampoo

Protein Rx Reparative Shampoo is ideal for brittle, broken hair that has been weakened from coloring, relaxing, or heat styling. An exclusive soy and milk protein complex restores and reinforces hair preventing future breakage, leaving hair stronger and more manageable.

Dancing With the Star Wars Stars

Thanks to Neil for the linkage.

Natural Hair Fortifying Bar Soap for Hair - Scalp Treatment with Cacahuananche + Vitamin E & C

By combining it with our Cacahuananche Shampoo, this soap regulates excess grease on your scalp, restores and strengthens weakened hair roots. The Cacahuananche is rich in fatty acids and trace minerals and has been used traditionally to treat scalp and stop hair loss in men and women. Combining it with Vitamin E & C it enhances the production of collagen and elastin to promote healthy hair growth naturally.

100% Natural Biotin Shampoo w/Silica

Our Biotin Shampoo with Silica is designed to cleanse gently while strengthening and nourishing your hair. Biotin, part of the B-complex nutrient group, contributes to the hair's natural structural integrity, while silica protects the shaft and produces fullness, giving your hair incredible body. You'll feel and see the results after just one wash, but over time, you'll find that others are commenting as well. Your hair will come alive, shining with strength and health your friends will certainly notice. And when they ask how you're keeping your hair so beautiful, you can tell them with pride: It's Swanson!

Santé Natural Color Enhancing Shampoo with Black Walnut + Rosemary

Black Walnut has been used traditionally as a powerful natural colorant and for its tonic and antiseptic properties. Black Walnut is rich in Natural Oils, Organic Iodine and Vitamins. Combined with Rosemary, a natural astringent and stimulant help oxygenate your scalp eliminating excess toxins and fatty materials. This special formula enhances all black hair tones, maintains and darkens your hair gradually and naturally with its daily use. It is ideal to cover gray hair.

Santé Natural Hair Fortifying Shampoo with Cacahuananche + Vitamin E & C

Also known as mother of Cocoa and used by the Aztecs for centuries to treat and stop hair loss in men and women; the oil from the seed of the Cacahuananche fruits are an excellent source of Trace Minerals such as iron, copper, selenium and chronium. By combining this oil extract with the Antioxidant agents of Vitamin E and C, it helps regulate the excess grease on your scalp and enhance the production of elastin and collagen to restore and strengthen weakened hair roots and promote healthy hair growth naturally.

Pilot : The World's Most Reliable Pen

Brand : Pilot

Company : Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd
Agency : Lowe


Brand Analysis Count : 337

Two days back, while looking for a pen, I came across the good old Pilot Hightech Point 05. The pen brought back memories of student days where Pilot used to be the favorite pen especially for the exams. I gave in to the temptation and bought Pilot pen. The pen is just the same. The same style, same smoothness and same quality.

Pilot is a global brand. Ryosuki Namiki, a Professor at Tokyo Nautical School invented a gold writing tip for fountain pen. He along with hid friend Masao Wada established Namiki manufacturing co in 1918. In 1938, the company name was changed to Pilot Pens Ltd.
Pilot pioneered the fine art of writing by introducing path breaking products and evolved itself to be a leading brand in the writing instruments market.

Pilot came to India in 1982 in collaboration with Luxor Writing Instruments Ltd. The market at that time was dominated by ballpoint pens especially Jotter pens. The first product from Pilot in India was Pilot 05 micro-tip. Retailed at Rs 10, the brand gave a new writing experience to the Indian customers. The pen was lot smoother and the micro-tip gave a new freshness to the writing. So even though the product was expensive, it became a huge success.Micro-tip virtually changed the pen's market in India by creating a segment in itself.

Then came the Pilot 05 Hightech point . Priced at Rs 25, the brand had the USP of ' three dimple technology which enabled consistent flow of ink. The pen could also be refilled. Pilot had by then established its reliability and quality in the mind of the consumers. The pens became aspirational for most of the students.

Success of Pilot pens can be attributable to its ability to satisfy a need in the Indian market. Pilot pens combined the positives of both fountain pens and ball-point pens. People favored fountain pen because it enhanced one's handwriting and ball-point pens where popular because it was easy to use . Fountain pens was messy and refilling it was a boring routine. Pilot was a pen which had ink but it was not messy compared to a fountain pen.

The brand was also promoted heavily by Luxor. At one point of time, Pilot was endorsed by the actor Shekhar Suman. The tagline of the brand was " Pilot : Reads well, writes well ".

But during the late ninetees, the brand became stagnant. The reason was the increased competition from me-too products. Soon consumers had a lot of choice. Luxor also focused more on its other brand Parker. Hence in the media also, Pilot was not active. The high profile entry of Add Gel Pens also sidelined this brand.

One of the important reasons for Pilot's fading relevance is that the brand now does not have any meaningful Point of Difference. All the competitors have achieved parity with Pilot interms of technology . Even some have came out with superior technology than Pilot.

But still Pilot holds a unique position in the mind of the consumers. The brand still is one of the oldest and largest selling pen in that segment ( I do not have figures ).Luxor has launched a series of new pens under the brand Pilot. Now Luxur holds 15% marketshare in the Rs 1500 crore writing instruments market.

After using Pilot 05 after many years, I wonder whether this brand is being under- utilized by Luxor. According to reports, the brand has been focusing more on below-the line promotions. But the brand has the potential to do more.

Indian consumers also have become more choosy in terms of this category. There are customers who like micro-tip , some like a more heavy tipped pens, some go for style and image, some for the ergnomics etc. Pilot has to adapt to the varying customer requirements. Luxor has not been able to launch the new products of Pilot which are available in other parts of the world.

It is time for Pilot to ladder up to a higher plane rather than closeted as a mere pen. So far the brand has not compromised on quality and image . But the equity is slowly fading because of lack of promotional support.

The brand is a highly functional, reliable and quality writing instrument. Worldwide , Pilot takes the core brand value on reliability . But here Reynolds has already taken the reliability position. But Pilot can always take the core value of " Fine Writing ". It is something that all Pilot users will vouch for.

I Must Issue A Retraction

Five Neat Guys
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Over the past week, and on our latest podcast, I was a bit harsh on the city of Cleveland. I may have used words that could be construed as offensive to those Clevelanders with a more sensitive constitution. The words "lame" and "loser" -- maybe even "homosexual" -- could have been used to describe the denizens of this fine city.

But I must issue a retraction due to the overwhelming support that the city of Cleveland showed last night at the Jonathan Coulton/Paul and Storm concert at the Beachland Ballroom. Over two hundred thousand Clevelanders packed the small, over air-conditioned venue making it the most lucrative and sweaty Coulton concert to date. Apparently, the crowd could be seen from space with the naked eye.

All kidding aside, the show was great last night. Lots of people came. Merch was sold and more importantly, it demonstrated that Clevelanders can be cool and support cool things, with or without my berating.

I love you, Cleveland. Stay gold. And accept my apologies.

NOTE: Photo evidence of above stated good time can be viewed at this Internet Slideshow Creator.

And adding more proof of a great show, here is my video version of Paul and Storm's song "Live" in the style of Jonathan Coulton:

Ever Wonder What Getting Struck By Lighting Is Like?

Ask her. She's lucky to be alive, dabnabbit.

Gamers Are Getting Younger and Younger

Baby Gamer
Originally uploaded by jawboneradio.

Proof. We put a ball and an Xbox controller side by side to see which one my daughter would crawl toward. Three out of three, she want for the controller. What does that say?

Ultra Swim Shampoo

INDICATIONS: Ultra Swim Shampoo, Reflenishing New & Improved Formula. Moisturizing formula. UltraSwim Gently removes chlorine and chlorine odor. Chlorine strips your hair of life - leaving it dry, brittle and unmanageable. UltraSwim is uniquely formulate.

Ultra Swim Shampoo, Reflenishing

INDICATIONS: Ultra Swim Shampoo, Reflenishing New & Improved Formula. Moisturizing formula. Ultra Swim Gently removes chlorine and chlorine odor. Chlorine strips your hair of life - leaving it dry, brittle and unmanageable. Ultra Swim is uniquely formulated to remove chlorine and chlorine odor from hair while it replaces lost moisture. This non - drying formula gently removes build-up of harmful elements such as chlorine & oxidized metals to give your hair a fresh, clean start. Vitamin E, Aloe and protective conditioners nourish and add moisture back to your hair every time you shampoo. Leaves hair soft, silky & healthy - looking.

Ultra Swim Chlorine-Removal Shampoo

Chlorine strips hair of moisture, leaving it dry, brittle and unmanageable. UltraSwim Chlorine Removal Shampoo is uniquely formulated to gently remove chlorine and chlorine odor from hair while helping to replace lost moisture. This non-drying formula gently removes build-up of harmful elements such as chlorine and oxidized metals to give hair a fresh, clean start. Vitamin E, aloe and protective conditioners nourish and replenish moisture with each shampoo, leaving hair soft, silky and healthy looking.

Ultra swim Conditioner

Dry and damaged hair formula. Nourishesand repairs dry, damaged hair.