Friday, April 30, 2010
This Is Life (1950)
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Brand Update : LMN - Changing Brand Positioning
viewer's attention with its smart tagline " Emergency Lemon Refresher". The ads were based on the insight that people will have a 'shrinking feeling' when dehydrated. The current ads does not establish the brand and the ad theme. There is no connection between the two characters, thirst,LMN and positioning. I personally think that LMN does not need campaigns to establish association with Lemon because the name itself does that job.
Jawbone #271: The Windows To The Soul
Tonight's show, we discuss my upcoming appearance at W00tstock Chicago and Minneapolis, my experience with drawing people, and the next fashion trend.Leave us a voicemail message: 216.236.GEEK!
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Whoa, Cheeseburger Flavored Doritos
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
22 Sausages from Around the World
Geocities-izer
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
WHY I AM NOT USING PALM OIL ANY MORE
100 Movies to See Before You Die
DelMonte Sauce : Taste Like Never Before
Company : FieldFresh Foods
Agency : Contract Advertising
Brand Analysis Count #451
he Indian market.Delmonte sauces launched recently is bought to India by FieldFresh Foods Ltd which is a joint venture between Bharti Group and Philippines based Delmonte Pacific. The JV was formed in 2007 and the Del Monte products were available in select cities. I presume the company has decided to launch the products nationwide in 2010.
Del Monte is a global brand with a rich heritage of over 118 years. The Del Monte brand architecture itself is very confusing with different brand owners/licensees across the globe. The brand Delmonte is originally owned by US based Del Monte Foods and licensed to other firms across the globe. The detailed brand ownership details can be accessed here ( Wiki). FieldFresh Foods have the JV with Del Monte Pacific which has the Del Monte brand license for this part of the world.
FieldFresh Foods has launched a series of food products under the Del Monte brand name. The product range include Packed Fruits, Fruit Drinks, Ketchup and Sauces, Olives, Pasta and corn. I presume this is the first time that Del Monte brand has been promoted heavily in the media.
FieldFresh has launched two sauce brands under the Del Monte brand - Twango and Zingo. Twango is a fruit based sauce and Zingo is the traditional eastern style sauce with garlic, ginger etc. The brand is running the launch campaign for these products across various channels.
Watch the TVC here : Del Monte Sauce
The sauce product range has taken the tagline : Taste Like Never Before. The brand has taken the taste as the USP. Delmonte is promising refreshing new tastes for its range of sauces. The launch ad is at best amusing with the brand using hyperbole to drive home the taste USP. The histrionics of the lady in the ad and the theme has nothing new to talk about. I wonder why the brand chose to use one of the most common themes for the first major brand campaign. The Indian Ketchup/Sauce market is worth around Rs 220 crore and is dominated by Maggi.
Another interesting fact is that the company decided to focus on the Umbrella brand Del Monte instead of the sub-brands Twango and Zingo. Most of the viewers may have missed those sub-brands in the ads. It is very difficult of build and sustain individual brands in the foods business. Hence umbrella branding is the only sustainable economical branding solution. The company may use Point of Purchase promotions for pushing the sub-brands.
Although Del Monte has used " Taste Like Never Before" tagline, it may be used only for the sauc
e product line. As far as the umbrella brand Del Monte is considered, the brand mark resembles a Quality Seal rather than a Logo. Hence Del Monte does not really need a tagline for itself.Del Monte will be an interesting brand to watch because it has the backing of two big companies - Bharti and Del Monte. It will be tough for these brands to break the stronghold of established brands like Maggi, Heinz ,Kissan etc. Distribution and retailer support hold the key for any such brands in cracking the Indian market. Bharti which has big plans to establish retail chain may be looking for pushing the brands through its own stores in future.
Guy Beats Mario Brothers in Five Minutes
Monday, April 26, 2010
12 Unique Spatulas
Eating Camel Hump
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Pretty Posh Fair, Exmouth
Well the stall looked fine, not as good as normal as I was so rushed I just did not have time to get my normal overhead supports so I could cover it with spring greenery and flowers, but I managed to get time to stop off on the way in with gloves and secateurs and cut some new beech, oak and Hawthorn. I then put this into two jugs on either side and it looked nice, not quite the same but people liked it.
A funny old day really. Lots of people, a steady flow all morning, lots of interest and questions but just not buying much. Why? Could it be the recession, could it be the election looming? I know people are still very worried about finances, and why not, and it was not just me, lots of other stall holders were slow too. Oh well, cupcakes flew off the stall and sold lots of the new palm oil free range....
On the other hand I made lots of good contacts. Two more shops wanting to stock Naturally Made Soaps, two more fairs to attend and a chance to buy into a very cheap supply of pomace olive oil - basically enough for potentially a years supply for £1.95 a litre. So pretty pleased really. Anyway, Debbie (the organiser) did a fantastic job of getting a really great selection of products today, it always amazes me how many talented makers there are in Devon, some really lovely stuff. I will be booking my stall for the October Fair anyway, thanks for organising it Debbie and thanks to all my loyal customers who came and bought as always.
A few of my fellow stall holders who really caught my eye:
KATYCAKES - http://www.katycakes.biz
Wow! fantastically beautiful cupcakes that you can eat!! much more filling than mine
ATHENIAN OLIVE - http://athenianolive.co.uk
Lovely Greek olive oil products including soap (which I bought and cant wait to try!)
THE CAKE LADY - http://www.the-cake-lady.org
HMMM yummy, yummy, yummy her chocolate cake I sampled was so sticky and lovely. What is it with me and cake at the moment? I'm already at least 2 stone overweight, am I on a roll? I hope not. Anyway, her cakes are really good and look fantastic.
LEAFSTREET - http://www.leafstreet.co.uk
One of the shops in Exeter wanting to supply my soaps, thanks guys!
By the way, the other shop is opening soon in Exmouth, details to follow.
Finally a link to Pretty Posh to find out more about future events and how you can get involved - http://www.prettyposhlocal.co.uk/
Techfilm Studio, MoscowExperiments in the Revival of Organisms (1940)
Marketing Strategy : The Difficult Task of Differentiation
Marketers are a worried lot. The market is flooded with similar products and offerings which has created a huge clutter of brands and products. The situation is worse in markets where the entry barriers are low. Added to this is the entry of private labels by retail giants to cash in on the consumption opportunity.
Take the case of the soft drinks market in India. The market is flooded with desi and foreign brands with similar flavours and product properties. This summer is witnessing fights over mango and lemon flavours. The brands are segmenting and micro-segmenting the market with every possible variable.
For a marketer, this situation has multiplied his marketing expenditure. The focus is on outsmarting the competition by grabbing more share of voice. To standout from the crowd, marketers are using every tricks of trade. Instead of one celebrity, now a team of celebrities are endorsing brands. Consumers, on the other hand, are overwhelmed by this plethora of brands. Instead of simplifying the purchasing process, brands are now confusing consumers by choices.
For brands, the abundance of choices creates a huge problem of differentiation. Differentiation based on product features has become a difficult task with competitors taking no time in copying /adopting that feature. Differentiations based on incremental product improvements /features have become difficult to develop and sustain in the market.
In an era where companies expect brands to be successful with in three months (quarter) and brand managers being evaluated on their quarterly performance, creating sustainable long-term differentiation strategies are not in vogue.
The current economic situation has now forced many marketers to rationalize their portfolio and cut the flab. It is time for Indian marketers to go back to the basics of creating sustainable differentiation strategies for their brands.
Invest in R&D
India is a R&D and product development hub for most of the MNCs but seldom Indian marketers were able to create breakthrough products for the Indian market. Tata Nano has shown the world what Indian minds can do when inspired. A project which was labelled ‘ Impossible’ by many analyst is now a reality. Nano is a lesson to all marketers. This product was created from a need and backed by conviction and support from the top management.
It is not easy and the Nano example shows the myriad of issues one can face when venturing into creating something original. But the effort is well worth the results. The market is moving in a direction where only those brands will succeed who can innovate.
Protect the Differentiation
An important determinant of a successful differentiation is the brand’s ability to protect the differentiation. Patented features are powerful differentiators. But it is very expensive and time consuming process to patent features. In the case of FMCG products like soaps , such kind of patents are not a viable proposition.
Smart brands use ingredient branding to protect their key differentiators. Ingredient branding is where a particular product feature or an ingredient is branded by the company. There are two kinds of ingredient brands.
One type is where the ingredient is owned by another company. Intel is a pioneer in ingredient branding. Intel has built ingredient brands like Pentium, Celeron, Atom etc .These are not standalone products but ingredient of computers. By creating powerful ingredient brands, Intel has successfully created a space for itself in the consumer’s mind.
Another type of ingredient branding is where the feature/ingredient is owned by the company itself.Bajaj has a powerful ingredient brand DTSI ( which is also a patented technology) which it now uses for all of its two wheeler brands.
The ingredient branding strategy helps firms protect their critical innovations or even benefits. These ingredient brands can be copyrighted which will prevent competitors from copying these innovations.
Connect to a Relevant Need
Creating a sustainable differentiation is possible only when brands become customer focused. Most differentiations that we see in the market are product oriented. When products become standardised, it is important for marketers to create differentiation focusing on consumer needs.
Brand laddering is a strategy that can be used by marketers to create differentiation on a need rather than on a product feature. Raymonds is a brand that has created a space for itself by effectively laddering up to a customer need ( Complete Man). The benefit of such a strategy is that competitors will find it difficult to copy the differentiation since it is based on an intangible attribute. The brand has created a unique powerful image which is sustainable over time.
It is also important for the differentiation to be relevant to the consumers. When connecting to a need, marketers should ensure that the need is highly relevant and will fill in a very important gap in his life.
Long Term Vision through Brand Charter
Brands will take time to establish and marketers should be able to give some breathing space for the brand to discover itself and connect to the consumer. It is important for marketers to create a brand charter which will spell out the long term vision for the brands, its differentiation and positioning platforms, guidelines and strategies.
Such a brand charter will guide the future brand managers to create tactics which are in line with the overall brand vision. If a brand chose to create intangible differentiation opportunities, there has to be a consistency in the brand’s positioning and differentiation strategies. Brand Charter will help bring consistency which will inturn facilitate create a sustainable differentiation.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Nifty Links
So, There's This Thing Called W00tStock...
At the risk of sounding like that British guy from those infomercials, I am bursting with excitement to share this big news with you. I will a special guest at W00tstock Chicago and Minneapolis on June 6 and 7th. What will I be doing there? Good question. I will be drawing, live in front of the audience, the official poster for W00tStock Chicago and W00tstock Minneapolis. Then after the show, you'll be able to order the poster that you watched me draw live. Not only that, but for a few extra bucks, you'll be able to have yourself drawn into the poster. And I'm not saying this will be a big group shot. I mean, you will be drawn into the poster, essentially personalizing the poster for yourself. Imagine, your own personlized W00tstock poster. These will be only available for order ON THE NIGHT OF THE SHOW. These will not be available to buy after the show is done. So save your pennies for the event because I don't think anyone else has done anything like this before. It will be a lot of fun and certainly a challenge. But I think I'm up for it. I've been doing drawing calisthenics for the past six months and I think I'm going to be ready to go by June.
I am totally jazzed to be sharing the stage with the likes of Adam Savage, Wil Wheaton, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, John Scalzi, Peter Sagal and of course, my good friends, Paul and Storm, without whom this would not even be happening.
Wish me luck! And I hope to see you in Chicago and Minneapolis!
The Trustworthiness of Facial Hair
Einstein's Desk At The Time Of His Death
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Jummah Mubarak!
Jawbone #270:Nein Nunb Is My Co-Pilot
On tonight's show, we talk about ugly folk, freaks, Tod Browning and my night at Dr. Sketchy drawing hot models. Thanks for listening and if you like the show, please subscribe!Leave us a voicemail message: 216.236.GEEK!
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Merrie Melodies: Falling Hare (1943)
Butt Synonyms
Car Shark
Big Hair
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
K Series Engines : Leaner Meaner Fitter
Company : Maruti Suzuki
Brand Analysis Count #450
Although Professor Keller defines Ingredient Brands as a brand from one company which is an ingredient/component in a host brand from another company.But recent marketing practices has shown that ingredient branding can be done by the host company itself .
So ingredient brands can originate from the same company or from different companies. For example HP computers powered by Pentium Microprocessors is where ingredient brand Pentium is owned by a different company ( Intel) . Hence it is a case of co-branding.
In this case of K series, the ingredient brand is owned by the company itself. So theoretically it cannot be termed as a case of Co-branding.
K Series was launched in 2008 . The launch was to counter the much touted Kappa engine to be launched by Hyundai. K series engines also conformed to the tougher emission norms that came into force from April 2010.
Branding engines is not new in the Indian market. Bajaj Auto was a pioneer in branding its DTSI technology and reaped tremendous benefits in terms of differentiation. Maruti is trying to replicate Bajaj's success in the four wheeler market.
K Series engine is claiming to be more fuel efficient offering better control and ride quality. Maruti has invested some amount of money for the promotion of this ingredient brand. This is rather unique marketing practice seen in India because most of the other car makers having ingredient brands does not resort to exclusive ingredient brand promotion. There will be mention of the engine in the product ad but no campaigns exclusively for the engine.
The brand was launched with the ad featuring the marathon runner. Watch the ad here : K Series ad.
The ads could have been much better and more creatively done. The campaign lacks the " Aha " factor and only helps to create a brand awareness .How ever the company needs to be applauded for this type of branding. K series has adopted the tagline " Leaner, Meaner, Fitter" which sums up the brand promise.
The reason for Maruti going for ingredient branding is simple. Engines are now largely becoming commoditised. Now we see same engine in different car brands from different makers. For example, some models of Tata Motors, Fiat, Swift carry the same engine. When engines become a commodity, marketers have to look for other powerful differentiators. Hence ingredient branding comes to help. Ingredient brands are protected by the firm and creates its own identity in the mind of the customers. So K Series engines provide the much needed sustainable differentiation for Maruti.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Dirty Dog soap back from testing in Thailand
Check out the Girls Travel Club Blog http://girlstravelclub.co.uk/blog/2010/04/keep-bugs-away-with-ahem-pet-care.html
Dog soap is the best!!
Snakes Are Jerks
GO GREEN MUSLIMS CAMPAIGN 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
New soaps added to the website
Anyway, go and have a look at:
Rose Garden Mini Soap Cupcakes
http://www.naturallymadesoaps.co.uk/Rose-Carden-Mini-Cupcake-p/rg2.htm
So cute and simple looking. Its a tiny version of its bigger brother Rose Garden. Palm Oil Free!
Chamomile Spring
http://www.naturallymadesoaps.co.uk/Chamomile-Spring-p/ch1.htm
I just love this soap, funny how Lemongrass and sweet orange essential oils smell a little like freshly grated ginger when they are put together - or at least I think they do! This is selling very fast. Palm Oil Free!
Vanilla Cream and Sugar Candy
http://www.naturallymadesoaps.co.uk/Vanilla-Cream-and-Sugar-Candy-p/vcsc1.htm
One for the kids, or the kid in us! It has a lovely warm, 'just baked cake' fragrance. Palm Oil Free!
Azure Waters Sea Salt Bar
https://www.naturallymadesoaps.co.uk/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=Azure1
Brand new and really different, treat yourself to your very own 'spa' soap home treatment. Palm Oil Free! (not ready for dispatch until after 4th May)
It fills us with enormous pride and satisfaction that both our certified organic tamanu oil and our certified organic unrefined shea butter are sourced from such projects."
Click on the link below to see a presentation about their Shea Butter.
Marketing Strategy : The Art of Story Telling
Lux for the past 75 years has been telling the story of Bollywood beauties. Dettol has been telling stories of fighting germs and Johnson & Johnson continue telling stories about the love between mother and child.
Story telling is a difficult task and that explain the reason why many brands fail to succeed in the market. Story telling is different from advertising. Advertising helps communicate the stories to the audience but brands have to first build a compelling story.
Take the case of Santoor. This is one of the first brands to tell a story of a beautiful mother mistakenly identified as a young girl because of her younger looking skin. The theme has been consistently reinforced by the brand through various advertisements. The story was compelling, realistic and easy to understand.
Brand stories are not a standalone complete story. The brand story does not have an ending. It is evolving and continuing.
Theme
Stories should have a compelling theme. In order for the story to be compelling, then the theme should be powerful and relevant to the consumers. In the case of Santoor, the story theme was based on the consumer insight that beauty is often associated with younger looking skin. The entire brand story was based on this premise. Axe deo brand has been telling stories of how women chase men who are using Axe. Men like the theme of getting chased by women. Axe was told a compelling story of how ordinary men got chased by beautiful women.
Relevant
Stories should be relevant to the audience (consumers). Marketing Guru Seth Godin in his book “All Marketers are Liars “, talks about the importance of understanding consumer’s world view. He argues that only those stories will be successful which are relevant to the consumers’ world view.
Brands must know their audience before telling stories. They have to understand the audience’s world view in order to create a relevant theme. It is one reason behind the huge success of “slice of life “commercials. Consumers are able to instantly link to the theme because it is something that they can relate to.
Consistent
Brand stories are continuous. Hence the stories need to be consistent with the same set of characters reinforcing the basic theme. Brand stories can be imagined as a large collection of highly related stories woven with a common thread. Hence it is important for the story teller to have the bigger picture while telling their stories. When the stories deviate from the common thread, consumers get disconnected.
Onida was telling a compelling story of envy with the central character of devil. The story was liked by the consumer and a brand was built. But later the brand deviated from the theme, characters were changed, devil was taken off and soon consumers felt disconnected with the stories.
Often we see brand stories change for no reason. When advertising agencies change, brand stories also change. Once the common thread is lost, consumers tend to forget the story.
It is also important to be fresh while consistent. Adults are easy bored by repetition. So brand managers should ensure that there is freshness in the stories that is being told. These stories should evolve from the big picture. Airtel is a classic case where the brand is able to create freshness with consistency. The brand’s core theme of Expressing Oneself is being reinforced through ads which are fresh and attractive.
Connect with the consumers
Successful stories are those which become close to the consumers. The audience should involve with the stories and should own up the theme. Successful movies are those where the audience become a part of the story. They cry and laugh with the characters and are a part of them during the movies. Successful brands are those where the consumers become the part of the story. The more involvement the consumers are, the more iconic the brand becomes. Apple and Harley Davidson are brands which told compelling stories. These brands became iconic because consumers became the part of the story theme.
Brands are trying to tell stories through different media and platforms. The powerful stories are usually told by consumers to consumers. It is very difficult to make a consumer tell a brand story to another. The story should be simple, uncomplicated and personal.
It is a True Story
Brand stories are true stories and it is not fictional. Consumers understand brand stories through experience. He uses all the sense to understand the stories told by the brand. Marketers often think that consumers will buy the story told through advertisements. Hence the focus was more on building a fantasy which is far from reality. What is often forgotten is that the consumers tend to validate the story through experience. If there is a mismatch between the story and the experience, the brand will not be trusted again.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Funny Off Brand Soda Names
Friday, April 16, 2010
Brand Update : Accenture
I could imagine the plight of the agency and the brand manager to come out with a new set of campaign without undoing all the equity and brand position that has been built over these years. Since their consulting business is not depended on advertising , they could breathe easy. If it was a consumer business , Accenture would have been in a soup.The brand has started a new series of campaigns with a new set of brand ambassadors - the animals. Seems that Accenture has decided to depend on animals since there is no risk of them getting into any controversy. The brand is running a TVC featuring an elephant while the magazine ad features a type of Chameleon.
The ads were far far below the standard of the erstwhile ads featuring Tiger Woods. I feel that the brand could have continued using human beings ( models) as the protagonists rather than switching suddenly to animals. Since Accenture's core strength is People, ads featuring animals may not do well to reinforce the core positioning of the brand. The brand could also take the risk of taking multiple celebrities for the campaigns rather than shying away altogether from celebrities.
The Accenture brand saga throws in some important lessons. The importance of De-Risking the brand's associations. Accenture as a brand has put in lot of investment in Tiger Woods without de-risking. Ideally it would have either used more than one celebrity or could have run parallel campaigns with the same positioning but using a different creative platform. I had raised the same issue of risk in my analysis of Katrina endorsing Slice. Brands cannot escape from secondary associations. These associations can be on features,celebrities, countries etc. It is important for brand managers to have a clear understanding on these associations and how it is affecting consumer perceptions. It also pays to de-risk the brand from certain strong associations so that the brand may not land up in trouble.
Brand Update
Accenture
Soda or Pop?
Best Dumb and Dumber Quotes
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Another new soap on the drying rack!
This one is a replacement for my White Chocolate & Strawberry Gateaux, inspired by Twiggy from FuturePrimative http://futureprimitivesoap.com/ and thank you to Twiggy for allowing me to use her ideas especially the one about making dark, thin lines around your layers and embeds. I'm happy with the initial results and it smells fab. Same scents as before (Chocolate Truffle from Gracefruit and Strawberry from The Soap Kitchen), the balls are rebatched and scented with Strawberry, the bottom layer is chocolate, middle layer plain white and top layer dollops of all 3 swirled together.
Its curing well and is already nice and hard, again a bit sticky out of the mold but my palm free experiments are getting better. I hope you like it.
21 Awesome and Unique Playgrounds
360 Degree Spherical Panoramas in and Around Utah
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
12 Evil Clowns
Playing Card Sculptures
M&M Art
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Danone Choco + Milk : Chocolate Smoothie
Company : Danone
Ad Agency : Rediffusion Y&R
Brand Analysis Count :449
Danone is a world leader in dairy products. This Paris based $16 bn giant was present in India as a stakeholder in Britannia Industries Ltd since 1993. By 2006, problems surfaced between Danone and the Wadia group which later culminated in Danone exiting Britannia.
This year saw Danone venturing on its own into the lucrative Indian market. Danone has launched Choco + Milk brand in the Indian market .The company is currently testing this milk beverage brand in certain Indian markets before the national launch.
The milk based beverages market in India is still in a nascent stage and is pegged at around Rs 200 crore. Experts predicts a growth in this segment because of inherent qualities associated with milk products. The total dairy market in India is estimated to be Rs 2,30000 crore.
Choco plus milk is a flavored milk beverage which will be competing with brands like Amul Kool , Nestle Milkmaid Funshake and Horlicks Chill Doodh.
Chocoplus Milk is currently running its launch campaign in certain channels. Watch the ad here
Chocoplus is focused on the health + taste aspect of the product. The brand is calling itself a Chocolate Smoothie and not as a milk drink . The brand features a protagonist Raghu as the brand advocate.As the launch strategy , the brand is running an SMS campaign along with the brand website - Chocolatesmoothie.in. The brand has the tagline " Its not a drink, its chocolate smoothie". The brand is priced at Rs 15 for 200 ml.
The positioning of the brand is nothing much to talk about. Every brand now is talking about health and taste. The only difference that Chocoplus has done is to call itself a Chocolate Smoothie.
In such kind of products, taste has lot of importance . Kids needs to hook up to the brand and chocolate flavor rules the taste attribute. Another critical factor is the brand recall. Most of the existing milk beverages are not aggressive enough in this front. Kids needs to be constantly bombarded with brand messages . The usual strategy of retail visibility and dependence on spontaneous purchase may not be sustainable in the long term .Without building a strong brand pull, these products will be at the mercy of the retailers.
The value added milk beverages has a potential in the Indian market. Milk has lot of positive associations with health and nutrition. Mothers would like their children to take milk based beverages rather than soft drinks. But it is the pricing that is restricting the growth of this market to a certain extent. Rs 15 for a pack makes such beverages a luxury rather than a regular product purchase. These brands needs to make consumers stock these products at home. The brand needs to experiment with product packaging and SKUs to find the right mix.
On the promotion side also, milk based beverages are not aggressive enough. Since these brands target kids (except Amul Kool) sales promotions have lot of strategic importance. But seldom have I seen a good sales promotional campaign for such a product.
Danone is a global force to reckon with. The company has deep pockets and the capacity to shake up Indian market. It will be interesting to see how the company will build this brand in Indian market.
Monday, April 12, 2010
A Trunkful of Knowledge!
Class ; Mamalia
Order ; Proboscidae
Family ; Elephantidae
Genus/species ; Elephas maximus
Status ; ENED & TOTALLY PROTECTED
Estimated population ; About 1,500 to 1,800 in the wilds of Peninsular Malaysiamainly concentrated in
Taman Negara, Pahang/Terengganu - Taman Negara Endau Rompin, Johore and Royal Belum Forest, Perak
and Sabah, East Malaysia.
Malay nicknames ; OBJ - Orang Besar - Tok Gajah
Rescued from the nearby jungles of Felda Mawai, Johore in 2001
Habitat
Elephants favour riverine vegetation zones in the dry season of late May to late September. During the wet
seasons, they prefer tall grasses and deciduos forests areas while short grass and scrub forests are used
for the months of September to December.
They are also regular raiders into oil palm and fruit plantations in the states of Pahang, Johor, Terengganu,
Kelantan , Kedah and Perak. Incidentally.." Kedah " is Thai language for elephant trap!!!
Physical Characteristics of young adult & mature adult elephants
a) Average weight of between 2,500 kg to 4,500 kg
b) Average height at the shoulder is 2.4 metres
c) The thickest skin is found on the back and head areas. The thinnest skin is around the mouth, anus and the
back of the ears.
The elephant's gray skin is only 0.8 to 1.6 inches thick, and sparsely covered with hair.
The skin does become pinkish white with age.
d) The heart weighs an average of 15kg, about 0.5% of body weight. The average heart rate is 28 per minute
standing up and 35 per minutes lying down.
The pulse will increase when an elephant is lying down and slowest at a standing position.
e) Typically, there are 5 nails on each front foot and 4 nails on each hind foot.
f) The most prominent adaptation of the trunk is that of the upper lip and the nose into the trunk. This functions like a hand and in the Asian elephant has one finger-like projection on the top.
The trunk has the ability to suck and spray water, manipulate objects and grasp and hold large, heavy objects. Elephants sometimes beat the earth with their trunks as a sign of anger, too or as snorkels when crossing waterways! Subhanallah!
Yes, It's a Real Sandwich
The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real and it's coming April 12th! This one-of-a-kind sandwich features two thick and juicy boneless white meat chicken filets (Original Recipe® or Grilled), two pieces of bacon, two melted slices of Monterey Jack and pepper jack cheese and Colonel's Sauce. This product is so meaty, there’s no room for a bun!
15 Babies Sitting in Pumpkins
Brand Update : Knorr
Knorr brand was doing well in the market after the company shed all the unwarranted product extensions and concentrated on soup category alone. Knorr retained its lost brand equity and is currently the market leader in the soup market in India.Knorr later extende
d itself into ready to cook range to expand the portfolio.The launch of soupy noodles can be looked upon as just another interesting variant of soup product line or as a planned foray into Noodles segment. If the soupy noodles remain as a variant in the soup product line, the brand has done the right move in creating excitement in the market. Soupy Noodles will be attractive to the kids who has now the option of best of both worlds. Having said that Soupy noodles is not entirely an innovation since a similar version called Curry Noodles exists in the market.
The second scenario is where Soupy Noodles is a first step of Knorr into extending itself into noodles. If that is the case, then Knorr has not learned from its previous mistakes. Extension of Knorr brand to noodles will make the brand lose its generic status on the soup category. Of course the brand can point out the case of Maggi extending itself to various other categories. But Knorr had a bad history of extension failures and brand name confusion unlike Maggi.
I think soon Maggi will also launch its version of soupy noodles. If the taste is good, Indian market will see the emergence of a new category of soup + noodles.
Related Brand
Knorr
Maggi
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Marketing Strategy : How to Brand a Commodity
We are living in an era where brands are becoming commodities and commodities increasingly being branded. Commodity can be broadly defined as those products which are undifferentiated and consumers buy these products on the basis of the price. Price is the most critical factor that determines the choice of purchase of commodities.
Many product categories are becoming commoditized owing to the huge number of products that enter the market and the inability of marketers to find meaningful differentiation. Consumers do not see much difference between the products/brands and make their choice based on price. Marketers worried about this trend increasingly concentrate on cutting costs and selling products at the lowest possible price and thus effectively making the product a commodity. While marketers should prevent products becoming commodities, increasingly companies are looking towards branding product categories which was usually considered as commodities.
Indian market has witnessed lot of success stories of marketers successfully branding commodities like salt, atta etc.
Moving away from Price
One of the major challenges for marketers trying to brand commodities is to move away from price based competition. It is not easy to convince the customers to make choices independent of price while buying a commodity. The task for the marketers is to show more value that will justify the premium paid.
Tata Salt was a pioneer in branding salt. Tata had the backing of a strong brand name. Besides taking advantage of the strong brand equity, Tata Salt was one of the first iodised salt brands and the iodine content proved to be a great value addition. The launch of Tata Salt coincided with the Government of India’s initiative to promote iodised salt. Tata Salt positioned itself on the basis of purity and trust. Another player in the branded salt market Captain Cook tried to add value by promoting its Free Flow feature. The strong promotional campaigns and the very relevant value additions shifted the focus of consumers away from the price.
Differentiation
The most important determinant of a successful commodity branding is the differentiation. The marketer has to establish a very strong meaningful and relevant differentiation to the commodity if he wants to develop a brand in that space. Creating a successful differentiation is not easy in commodity marketing. There is a strong constraint of cost while searching for a meaningful differentiation. The brand will be targeting a price sensitive customer who may not be willing to pay a high price for a differentiated commodity.
Most of the marketers try to use Quality as the key differentiator. Quality is a strong differentiator but the brand has to establish a significant difference between the existing product and the brand to convince the customer about the quality. Parry’s sugar is India’s first branded sugar. The brand is trying to differentiate on the basis of purity and is positioned as a refined pure sugar.
Branding
The brands in the commodity space may have to grab a major share of voice for establishing itself in the category. The brands which have been successful in the commodity space have invested heavily in branding and promotion. Once the brand is established, the promotional spends can be rationalized.
While branding commodities, marketers have to use the various brand elements to the maximum. The colour, brand name, logo, mascots have significant impact on the consumer’s perception about the brand.
Packaging also plays a significant role in successful commodity branding. Brands like Pillsbury, Aashirvaad have caught the consumer’s attention through careful packaging. Parachute which has created a brand in the coconut oil category has put in lot of investment in packaging and brand promotion.
Celebrities also play an important role in building a brand in the commodity space. The use of celebrities creates an immediate impact on the consumers during the initial phase of branding. The disadvantage is that the use of celebrities can push up the cost for the marketers. BPCL used Narain Karthikeyan and MS Dhoni to endorse its Speed range of Premium petrol.
Brands should be innovative while entering the commodity space. Nightingale is a highly successful brand in the highly fragmented Notebook/Diary category.The brand was built on innovation. Nightingale introduced theme based notebooks and Diaries which became an instant hit. Parryware changed the entire sanitary industry with the concept of Glamourooms.