Brand Update : Hole New Fashion from Polo

The new campaign " Hole New Fashion " is one of the best campaigns I saw in recent times. The communication  once again brought back the humor, excitement and freshness into the brand. Polo has always been an interesting brand. The " Mint with a Hole " virtually made mint candy category very popular in the Indian market.

The brand was on a hiatus after the " what is your hole story " campaign which took a different take on the concept of " Hole ". 

The current campaign introduces four new flavors for Polo - Lime Mojito, Watermelon Sorbet, Peach Schnapps, and Cocoa Mocha. The most interesting factor being that these new variants are positioned as signature flavors which are "designed" by the Goa based Designer Wendell Rodricks. The brand achieved new heights in creativity when it partnered with a designer to launch a Fashion Range. The new range of Polo is known as Signature Flavors and is a classic case of a Celebrity - Brand co-creation.

What is most important in the new campaign is the new thinking that Polo brought in to mint candy. It is a great big idea to see variants as a fashion range and the execution is perfect. According to Economic Times, the flavors was such a big hit that the entire stock was sold out in two weeks in markets where it was introduced. 

Watch the ad here : Polo Signature

The new campaign will significantly help the brand Polo to reinforce its positioning as an off-beat interesting fun loving brand. The epitome of the brand's personality is its ability to think out of box which is conveyed by the tagline " The Mint with a Hole ". The brand tied to maintain its personality in most of the campaigns. The current campaign brings in much needed freshness to the brand in every sense. The new variants will also bring lot of new consumers to the brand . It also gives the existing fans of the brand to indulge more of the brand.

I am not sure whether these signature flavors are limited editions or permanent addition to the product-line. What ever be the life of these variants, it has achieved in elevating the brand to a higher level of positioning.

Related Brand

Polo

Blow Smoke in Her Face

I find this not to be the case. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.

My week

Hi everyone, back from lovely, sunny Portugal now and fully immersed in soap making, markets, kids, house and everything - you know how it is?  No sooner that you are back from a wonderful break life moves in and takes over at breakneck speed.

Can you believe we are already into August?  Well I can't.  I had so many plans and lists of things to do to get ready for the busy Autumn season of soap making and organising courses, needless to say I have done less than half of them.  One thing I have promised myself I will do is to update my blog more regularly and a way of doing that is to report once a week, at least, on the things I have enjoyed/learned about/seen etc. that have made a lasting impression on me.  I am going to try and do it every Sunday, so here goes.....

Oh, before I start (you see - Im already distracted), I just have to share this wonderful photo with you from our 130th Birthday celebration in Portugal.  All the family turned up and a lot of Riks family too, it was simply magical, the best birthday anyone could wish for and, for me, this sums it all up.  My dad was 80 this year, this was the first time that all his grandchildren and his great grandaughter have ever been all together so its a very special moment for us all.

My Dad and his wonderful Grandkids

WELL, this week was my first full week as a full time soap maker and it was great.  I just loved not having to worry about fitting in work days, I could just make, design, make more and create all week.  New soaps on the curing rack this week are

• fabulously over the top soap cupcakes
• Bridge Inn Beer Bar
• My new Gardening/kitchen soap - Lime and Mocha
• Some new sample soaps using local honey and beeswax from a North Devon beekeeper - more information to follow but its looking really good.

We flew to Lundy Island! 

Now its not very often you get to say that.  There was a planned 'Fly In' on the Island, the 10th anniversary event and I jumped at the chance of going as we planned to make a weekend of it and camp on Saturday night.  They were expecting over 100 light aircraft to fly in but then the British weather took hold.  The forecast was dire but we went for it, landed on a very bumpy, rabbit hole covered grass runway that was very short and taxied to the parking area, only a few planes were there and they all left bar one as we heard the event had been cancelled.  We decided to risk it, pitched the tent and stayed the night.  I don't know quite how weather forecasters in the UK do it, but they seem to get it wrong all the time.  The weather was fab today, after a very windy, rainy night we took off at 11.30am, flew back with a detour to the south coast to fly over Slapton Sands and Bee Sands as my mum was camping there with our dogs - all really wonderful.  I wonder that anyone bothers to plan excursions, camping trips or visits if they look at forecasts here, sometimes you just have to do it!  It very often turns out a lot better than you think.

Our Europa on Lundy taken from the tent door

I have also been really busy working on a brand new business venture with my very good friend and fellow soap maker Shelley Barnes.  Its so exciting, I am going back to Portugal for another two weeks in September to prepare, can't say too much right now but as soon as we get it all up and running, you will be the first to know.

So that's it, in a nutshell, nothing earth shattering, just a lovely, busy, happy week.  I hope I can say that every week.  Do let me know what you think?  I so love getting comments.

Vi-John : Building Brand on Celebrity Power

Brand : Vi-John
Company : Maja Healthcare (Vi-John Cosmetics)

Brand Analysis Count : # 489

Do you know that Vi-John is the largest selling Shaving cream in India ? I didn't knew that till I saw Shah Rukh Khan spreading this message across the media. The marketing world is full of surprises. Vi-John which is from the house of Maja Healthcare is an interesting brand. There are lot of interesting facts about this brand which has virtually grabbed attention nationally through the endorsement from none other than Shah Rukh Khan.

Vi-John is not a new brand. The brand has been in existence from 1960 and has a strong presence in the rural market.According to certain reports, the brand has around 60% penetration in the rural market. That makes the claim of " largest selling shaving cram " valid.

Vi-John is also known for its innovation in the distribution strategy. Unlike the usual personal selling brands which focus on retail formats, Vi-John tried to innovate on the distribution by pushing it through saloons. The brand also have huge equity in saloons which has helped the brand tremendously. One of the main reason for the success of Vi-John is the keen awareness about the consumer needs. While global giants like Gillette failed to impress the rural consumer, Vi-John understood that rural consumer needs are different and its shaving cream produced more lather, better fragrance ( strength) than the competitors. 

Vi-John is not only into shaving products but a whole range of personal care products. The company has roped in celebrities like Sonali Bendre, Bipasha Basu etc. 

Vi-John has come into limelight with the endorsement from SRK for its shaving cream range. The brand is currently running a commercial featuring SRK.

Watch the ad here : Vi- John 

The advertisement is very basic with the usual stuff like Women , Smooth Shave and Keedanu (Germs). The brand ambassador stresses the fact that Vi-John is the largest selling Indian shaving cream and that adds lot of power into the brand's plan  to enter the national market.

 The brand has moved from its low-key channel based strategy to a highly aggressive celebrity based pull strategy to cater to the larger market. Although this strategy gives immediate results interms of popularity and trials, the sustainability of such a pull strategy will depend on the investment on promotions. These expensive celebrity based pull has a potential of draining valuable resources over-time and the brand hopes that the market returns will justify the investment made on such promotions.

The high profile campaigns how ever fails to give a brand identity to Vi-John. The umbrella brand Vi-John does not have a positioning on its own. The brand neither has a tagline nor a core positioning which could be extended into various product categories. Since Vi-John is an umbrella brand, the company should have tried to develop a positioning for the core-brand and then used various campaign for its products. But instead, the firm tried to promote its shaving products first. The only issue is that people will start perceiving Vi-John as a shaving product brand rather than a personal care brand.

When promoting a brand which endorses multiple product categories, it is essential to develop a brand positioning hierarchy which shows how each of these products will be positioned and how the umbrella brand will be used to promote these products. It will be wise for Vi-John to think of developing a brand personality for its parent brand and then leverage that across its product range.

Dinosaurs Shooting Lasers - Freaking Awesome

Why are dinosaurs shooting lasers? I don't know why. But doesn't it really matter? No, this is still the coolest thing I have ever seen, and I've see a lot.

Brand Update : Mentos needs Mentos

Mentos recently launched a new variant Mentos Watermelon flavor. The brand is currently running a campaign for the new variant. Mentos has been a very interesting brand because of the unique product features and famously humorous campaigns. The tagline " Demaag Ki Batti Jalao " has been one of the most famous taglines in the Indian context .

The new ad somehow was way off the creative standards that the brand had set for itself.The ad features a young man using a watermelon carved as a helmet to evade a traffic police check really tests the common sense of the audience.

Watch the ad here : Mentos Watermelon ad 

The policeman's expression of  " what the hell " sums up the creative execution of the positioning of the brand in this campaign. The protagonist of the ad looks like an idiot wearing that watermelon helmet and the only saving grace being the " yeh Jawani " song.

I used to look forward to Mentos' ads because there was refreshingly new ideas that were being tested in those campaigns. From the campus to the last animated ad, Mentos ads were bang on the positioning of a " refreshing chewy". The current campaign really lacks the standards of the early campaigns.

For a brand like Mentos, each of these ads are important for two reasons - the brand does not have too many campaigns in an year. Typically it is one or two ads. Those ads usually are very good and is often used again and again throughout the year. Second reason is that consumers expect really high quality creatives from this brand which boasts of being a " brilliant " brand. So in this case of watermelon flavor, the agency failed to deliver a quality creative. 

Related Brand

Mentos

Ovaltine

Oh no, I've been drinking Ovaltine for years!!! Sorry wife, I had no idea.