Brand Update : Jazz Gets Reasonable

Finally common sense prevails over Honda Jazz. The brand is relaunched with a significant reduction in price marking the end of aggressive market posture by Honda. Honda have a terrific brand equity in the Indian market with its City being one of the most successful product which lead the premium sedan market in India. But with the aggressive product launches from Volkswagen, Toyota and others coupled with Honda's over confidence led to the situation where the brand was dislodged from its market leadership. This over - confidence has blinded the company from understanding the competitive landscape in the market which it operates. Even Honda is not immune to marketing myopia.

This attitude of aggression and over-confidence was evident in the company's attitude towards Jazz. Jazz was launched at a price of Rs 7-9 lakh INR and the attitude was Take It or Leave It. Indian consumers choose to leave the brand and sales floundered. But all through these years, the brand maintained its stance on not reducing its price and depending on the brand's strong image to lure customers towards expensive Jazz.

The sharp decline of the sales of Honda City  in 2011 was a wake up call for Honda. The company realized that a positive brand equity may not guarantee sales. The brand needs to make sense to the customer. It is a surprise that a reputed company like Honda was not able to understand the Psyche of Indian consumer . Honda also failed to see the changes that were happening in the Indian passenger car market. The entry of new players and the shift of consumer interest towards diesel paved the way for the Honda City's dethroning from the leadership position. These factors also made Jazz irrelevant in the Indian market. 

It is in this light that Honda decided to reposition Honda Jazz at the price point. The brand has reduced the price by almost 1.5 Lakh INR and Jazz is now available at price range of 5.5 Lakh to 6.5 Lakh INR . I think this price rationalization is too late too little for Jazz. The market is too negative for a premium priced petrol hatchback. Even at the current reduced price, Jazz is expensive compared to Toyota Liva and even Etios.

Having said that, the brand should be credited with an attempt to create the premium hatchback market in India but the timing was wrong and value proposition of Jazz was not good enough to justify the steep price.

Consumers may adore the brand but to make him purchase , the brand needs to make sense.

Related Brand

Honda Jazz

An Awkward Moment

Wait until you see it...
Yep, it's that awkward moment when your friends fat arm makes you look naked in a picture. Been there!

Thanks Riley!

Brand Update : Horlicks Goes Premium With Gold

GSK's megabrand Horlicks has launched a premium variant - Horlicks Gold in select cities. The new variant is priced around 30% premium over the regular Horlicks. The new variant's USP is the presence of double nutrients and a premium looking packaging.According to news reports, Horlicks Gold has better taste and aroma compared to regular one.

Horlicks has been on an extension spree in the last couple of years launching both product-line extensions and brand extensions. The brand touted itself to be a megabrand which endorses a wide range of products across categories. The latest is the foray of Horlicks into Premium Health Drink market.

Infact there is no such category in the Indian market. Most of the brands are priced in similar lines and it is the first time that a brand is aiming to create a premium segment in the Malted Health Drink market. The move also marks a shift in the segmentation strategy of Horlicks. Horlicks has used predominantly Age based segmentation for all its product development . It used gender as a segmentation when it launched Women's Horlicks. Now the brand has used Income as a segmentation variable. Although Age, Gender , Income etc comes under Demographic segmentation, using Income as a segmentation is first in this category of products.

The challenge for this variant is to convince the customer to pay a premium for Horlicks Gold. In the store shelf both Horlicks regular and Horlicks Gold will be dispayed and what will prompt consumer to chose Gold over Regular is the critical question. I don't think that double nutrients or packaging is a strong enough reason for consumers to pay a 30% premium. Does that mean Regular Horlicks is inferior product to Gold ? Is the brand targeting first-time users or expect the regular users to switch to the premium brand ? These questions will be cleared once the brand starts communicating. 

Horlicks is now in a extension trap. The brand in pursuit of market share is using extensions as a strategy . Too many extensions are bound to confuse the customers. As I understand, Horlicks Gold is aimed at the entire family . But this Premium variant so far fails to offer a very powerful differentiation to justify its premiumness over its own Regular variant. That can be a problem for Horlicks. Its too early to make a prediction but in the store both these variants looks the same except for the price. It is now upto the brand communication to do the convincing.

DID YOU TAKE THE GREEN RAMADHAN PLEDGE?

GREEN RAMADHAN PLEDGE

"I _______________________ pledge this Ramadhan to MAKE A DIFFERENCE to be environmentally conscious, socially responsible and compassionate to those around me in following the example of Prophet Muhammad – the mercy to the worlds. In order to fulfill this, I pledge to do the following action items (SELECT PLEDGE ITEMS):

WATER

ð 1. Adopt a Sunnah Wudu: It is reported that the Prophet Muhammad would perform the entire wudu from a bowl two-hands full together (approximately 0.5 liter) and he warned against excess in performing ablution (israf).

ð 2. Quick Showers: Reduce shower time by 20%. On average, a ten minute shower results in twenty-five gallons of water down the drain.

WASTE

ð 3. Eliminate Plastic Water Bottles: Plastic should be minimized because of harm related to global warming and health.

ð 4. Eliminate Styrofoam. Styrofoam is unrecyclable and non-biodegradable, which means that it will persist as garbage even a thousand year after its use.

ð 5. Adopt a Reusable water bottle/mug whether you are at the mosque, work, or home. Avoid bringing plastic disposable bottles to the mosque during iftars and for tarawih.

ð 6. Reduce Disposable Party items: Remove or reduce all of disposable items from your parties and save money while doing so.

FOOD

ð 7. Reduce food waste and over consumption by eating moderately, keeping in mind the hadith (fill ⅓ of stomach with food, ⅓ water, and ⅓ empty). Take only what you can comfortably finish.

ð 8. Sunnah Iftars: Eat More Fruits & Vegetables, Less Meat: The Prophet’s diet consisted mostly of grains, dates, water, milk, honey, vegetables and fruits. Meat was not daily part of his diet.

ENERGY

ð 9. Make an effort to carpool.

ð 10. Plant or expand a garden this year (less grass, more trees and plants) at home or the mosque and remember that planting a tree is a charity.

May God help me accomplish this pledge to the best of my ability seeking His pleasure, amen.”

It is not too late, let's take the pledge now!!

(Green Ramadan Initiative - TAG, Think As Green.com)

Maruti A Star : Stop @ Nothing

Brand : A Star
Company : Maruti Suzuki India Ltd

Brand Analysis Count : # 490

A Star was an ambitious brand for Maruti Suzuki India Ltd ( MSIL). The brand was expected to consolidate the massive leadership position of MSIL in the A2 segment of Indian passenger car market. The brand was also expected to penetrate into the highly lucrative demographic market of young Indians.

Launched in 2008, A Star was a global car made in India. The brand was touted as a World Strategic Model and was the first car to be fitted with the famed KB series engine. The brand was expected to fit in between Zen Estillo and Ritz priced around Rs 3.5 lakh to 4,.5 lakh.A1 and A2 segment ( together called as Small Car Segment ) constitutes around 80% of the Indian passenger car market.

A Star was launched with two objectives - to tap the export market and also to launch a model in the premium A2 segment. The first objective was met through a series of strategic alliances with Nissan and Volkswagen. The grand plans for the Indian market however hit a rough patch over these years with A Star failing to impress the Indian consumer after the initial enthusiasm

.

The brand started its journey with an aspirational note positioning itself as an aspirational- loaded- young- car for the successful ones.The brand was also a highly eco-friendly car that met the toughest European emission standards. The brand roped in Farhan Akther as the brand ambassador and adopted the tagline " Stop @ Nothing ". Farhan Akthar was reigning hot with his movie Rock On and A Star tried to capitalize on Farhan's image as a cool successful young man.

Watch the ad here : A Star Farhan 

The brand was projecting itself as a sports car for the youth and was one of the first car brands to show car stunts in their campaigns - Watch another ad here

Despite these attempts to position the car for the youth, the sales started sliding and was not meeting the expectation of the company. One of the major complaint about A Star was the space. Although the car was rated high on drive quality, the interiors was totally cramped even had less space than Alto. The back seat virtually was too crampy and as one of the reviewer commented - the car is suited for a bachelor . This single disadvantage threatened the entire life of the brand coupled with the fact that A Star was launched during the beginning of recession. It is an irony that Zen Estillo sold more car than A Star because it was more spacey although less modern.

In 2010, the brand faced another blow interms of a recall because of a fuel leak. The recall dented the image of A star as a unreliable car. 

To counter the sales decline, A Star tried to change the promotional strategy by adopting a functional thrust to the messages than the earlier emotional take. The brand also began to talk about A Star consumer profile inorder to boost it image as a car for youngsters who believe in themselves. Watch the ad here

2010 also saw a slew of product innovations for A Star. The brand launched an automatic version which was very well received by the consumers. Another innovation was the introduction of personalization option for A Star. The brand launched Wrapping kits using which consumers could personalize their car. The kits was pricey at around Rs 16000 which scared many consumers away from that option. 

2011 was the year when the brand got really aggressive and bold . The brand is currently running a campaign which talks about Whakypedia which is A Star's dictionary of commonly used terms like Stepney ,censored  test drive , etc. The brand uses the tagline " New Definitions for New Generations " for this campaign.

The ads definitely bring lot of youthfulness and energy to the brand and after the campaigns, there are lot of  A Stars on the road ( discounts too are a reason). But the brand's product deficiencies cannot be masked by smart campaigns. 

A Star will do well as a first car for youngsters. The brand will fit those customers who cannot afford a Swift or a Ritz but would love to have a reliable car ( predominantly Maruti choosers). Beyond that , A Star will not be able to impress a family man solely because of lack of space. 

My Week (a bit late!)

Sorry, I know I said I was going to be better but things just keep cropping up like they always do. It looks like we have decided to try selling our house again so we are madly trying to clean, sort out rooms and de-clutter.  As part of that Rik is having to move his office out of the conservatory, hes moving up to my office (a small 4th bedroom) and I am moving mine out to my workshop!  its been quite mad as you can imagine and we have only just started.

Beautiful Freya - RIP - Aug 2011

Very sadly this week my Mums beautiful German Shepherd Freya had to be put to sleep.  Her hips had got to the point where she just could not walk anymore.  She was a wonderful dog, bouncy, always up for a walk and swimming and was brilliant with kids.  Mum rescued her years ago so she was a lucky dog, getting a really loving, active home.  We will all miss her especially my poor Mum.

 

Happier things now - and as you all know, Lola is guaranteed to make me feel happy.  I discovered this photo while downloading a load of holiday photos onto my computer.  I forgot I had taken this, its on the ferry to Spain, back in June when Rik and I were privileged to be able to take Lola to Portugal on our own for a week.  Her parents were at Glastonbury and I jumped at the chance of taking her.  she was fantastic, 20 months old and slept through every night, ate everything put in front of her, generally smiled and laughed a lot and was the best of fun.  Grandchildren are so great.

AND LASTLY..... I have been working very hard on launching my new soap making classes.  its been great fun but lots of work.  My first class is scheduled for October 8th, just in time to make your own lovely soapy Christmas presents.  It will take place at Faringdon, a beautiful venue in East Devon, from 10am and will cover the basics of Cold Process soap making.  If you come along you will learn to make and take home 2lbs of soap with you, the soap will be fragranced and coloured to your liking and in your own molds that you can re-use again and again at home.  Packs of ingredients to carry on making will be available as well as comprehensive handouts to remind you what you have learnt.  If you are interested in getting priority booking forms please email me at soapchick@naturallymadesoaps.co.uk the course has not yet been publicised so get in quickly, I would love to see you there.  There will be a maximum of 8 people on each course.

All the best, sorry no soap photos this time, my camera has bust and I need a new one.  I have just turned out a lovely new Sandalwood and Rum Cream soap, its looking lovely.  I will take some photos soon.  One for the men this Christmas.

Poor Advice, Total

Not advice any man should give to any woman he wishes to continue seeing.