Keyboard Love

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Brand Update : RIP Logan ( 2007-2011) , Welcome Verito

Logan is being laid to rest. Mahindra Rise , the new owner of Logan has decided to rebrand Logan to Mahindra Verito. The death of Logan marks the volatile life of a brand and the logical end of a sour Joint Venture between Renault and Mahindra.

The death of Logan brings into life a new brand Mahindra Verito. The product has a new brand name and a new set of marketing mix elements too ( may be except distribution  channel). It is expected that Mahindra will make some cosmetic change to the existing Logan and bring in a new identity for Verito. Verito is derived from the Latin word Veritas which means truth. It is said that Mahindra is particular that its vehicles name should end with O hence the name change !

The good news is that Verito will ensure that the car which is considered to be a good product suited to Indian conditions will continue its life. Mahindra is keen to develop new products based on the Logan platform and this ensures that the legacy of the brand will go on. And the existing owners of Logan can be relieved because the service support will continue. All these however depends on the success of Verito and the future relationship between Renault and Mahindra.

The rebranding of Logan to Verito makes sense to Mahindra because it marks the formal entry of the company into passenger car segment. Since the product is good, Mahindra needs to work on the branding part and the service support and I am sure that Verito will be a formidable brand in the market. 

Related Brand

Mahindra Logan 

Brand Update : Daikin focuses on Country of Origin Positioning

It has been 5 years since I updated about this brand. Last time I wrote about this brand, Daikin was having a fair share of  voice with lot of ads focusing on the Silence attribute. The brand was running the " Complete Silence " ads for a while and then went into silence for five long years. I don't remember any campaign from Daikin  during the last five years ( atleast in my place). But even without any hype, the brand still commands around 5% of the Indian  residential A/C market. The brand may be doing the sales activities in the B2B market in these years but in the consumer market, Daiken was having complete silence.

In this IPL 2011, the brand started making some noise. The brand is now showing some reminder ads and the presence is also felt in OOH media. 

What is interesting about the brand now is that it has been repositioned. The brand has done away with the attribute based positioning and is trying out the Country of Origin proposition. The brand has adopted the positioning " With Love from Japan " . From a highly creative Complete Silence to basic Made in Japan  tag seems intriguing.

Along with the tag, the brand seems to have adopted some aspects of  parent company's approach to branding. Infact the brand has imported some brand elements from the parent. Daikin now introduces a mascot for the brand - a character called  Pichon- Kun. Pichon-Kun is a mascot which is a droplet with a small body. The mascot embodies the brand's philosophy of best of nature, fresh and eco-friendly. 

Globally, the brand uses the tagline " Here , There , Everywhere". 

The new brand line " With Love from Japan " at first sounded very archaic to me. I thought that the era of Made in Japan tag was over. But on thinking, I have a feeling that this could work in practical sense better than high profile branding stuff. The association of quality and innovation is still very much connected with  Japanese products. But the issue is that most of Japanese brands sell their Chinese made products so the manufacturing excellence associated with Japanese products have diminished significantly. If Daikin could reinforce the connection of quality and Country of Origin, then the consumers will embrace the product.

The brand has been existence in India for the last 10 years . The brand has a market share of hardly 5 %. This surely means that the brand has not reached its potential. One of the factor being the lack of investment in brand building. 

The brand can boost its sales if it could position itself as a true blood Japanese product (like Toyota) emphasizing on quality , innovation etc. But that need a series of campaigns reinforcing each of those attributes rather than just advertising the  " Made in Japan " tag.

Related post

Daikin - Complete silence  

The Origins of Six Modern Easter Traditions

From Buzzfeed:

1. Easter Basket:
Modern use of the Easter basket can be traced back to the Middle Ages. Celebrating the end of Lent, Catholics around Europe would hold Mass and feast on large meals, usually brought to the church in baskets to be blessed by the Priest. Eventually this morphed into the modern smorgasbord of candy and treats.

2. Easter Grass:
  Easter grass, a nemesis second only

Waffles on the Cob

My wife is always telling me to quit staring at her while she sleeps eat more vegetables, and I think I've found the perfect compromise. Now you can turn delicious waffles into corn on the cob looking thingies, which are sure to stop the nagging requests to eat more veggies.
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GOATS MILK SOAP - Why I think it is the best thing for making soap

I decided to write this post as a way of explaining to you why I always use goats milk in all my soaps (apart from the Bridge Inn Beer Bar - I use beer of course!).

Also I want to take this opportunity to let you all know about Norsworthy Dairy Goats here in Devon as it is their lovely goats that provide the milk I use at Naturally Made Soaps. The link above is to a rather out of date blog but it does have the contact details.  I am told by Dave that he is soon to have a new website.

So, why goats milk.........

Goats milk contains lactic acid for skin rejuvenation.  Old skin cells are easily lost after exposure to lactic acid leaving the smooth new skin cells behind.  Your skin will feel unbelievably clean and refreshed.  I hear from people all the time saying how amazed they are that my soap makes their skin feel smooth and has eliminated the need for so much lotion and cream.

Regular use of goats milk soap makes a huge difference to how your skin feels.  In wintertime hands get terribly dried out by washing and drying them, this is because with commercial soaps the acids and oils are stripped away leaving behind uncomfortably dry skin.  Your poor skin endures a lot of punishment when exposed to hot water and factory made soap and gels.  This constant abuse leaves skin feeling dry, taut, irritated even cracked. 

Coming in to be milked

Goats milk is a natural emollient that helps soothe and moisturise the skin.  It contains vitamins A, B6, B12 and E.  Goats milk has 3 times more beta-casein than cow's milk.  Caseins are easily absorbed into the skin and allow for quick hydration.  Other contents such as triglycerides, capric, caprylic and caproic acid help to balance the skins natural pH and promotes natural exfoliation of dry skin.  In fact goats milk soap is almost the exact same pH level as human skin.

Now I'm not allowed to make medical claims for my soap or tell you that it definitely will help people suffering from skin allergies, winter itches, eczema, psoriasis, chicken skin, bumps and pimples as well as dry skin.  However many, many people using my soap who have these conditions and others too tell me regularly that it helps them and most definitely does not further exacerbate them.

Only yesterday at Exmouth Farmers Market a lovely lady in a wheelchair came to the stall, I recognised her immediately, she is terribly overweight and suffers with diabetes, as a result of this she has horrible boils on her skin especially where the skin folds and touches.  She came to me a month ago and asked if my soap would be OK for her - Wow, big decision, I did not really know what to say, all I could think was that no one has ever complained that my soap has made a skin condition worse and I knew that there were no ingredients in it that could cause allergies or harm.  So she bought a bar of my lavender soap and came back yesterday to buy another one!  she said it had only just run out and she showers with it every day.  She also said that her boils were much better, really drying out and not itching any more, it was the only thing she had ever used that made things better for her.  I felt so pleased for her as she had obviously been really suffering.

Why do I use Dave and Marlyn Johnsons milk?  Simply because it is the best around.  They are very experienced, well known West Country goats cheese makers with outlets for their award winning goats milk cheese all over the country.  Their farm Gunstone Farm, is situated in the heart of Devon with views across the slopes of Exmoor.  Dave and Marlyn have a herd that is 180 strong, their girls produce beautiful, creamy milk which is unpasturised and left full fat, perfect for my soap.

The girls being milked

They make 3 hardish varieties Norsworthy, Gunstone and Posbury which have been joined by two soft cheeses Tillerton and Chelworth Ash, there is also a blue - Nanny Bloo.

I only ever use Norsworthy milk for my soaps because it is high quality, raw, unpasturised and comes from very happy, contented goats.  I will never use powdered milk or carton goats milk from Tesco - that is a promise!

Norsworthy goats are also incredibly cute

So, there you have it.  If you have never tried goats milk soap, well you think that soap is soap right?  You would be wrong.  Goats milk soap leaves your skin feeling clean and refreshed, the difference can easily be felt but don't just take it from me, give it a try yourself.

Maa : Sweet Taste of Success

Brand : Maa
Company : Cavin Kare

Brand Analysis Count : # 480

Maa is a serious challenger brand in the Rs 500 crore Indian fruit juice market. This South Indian brand is on the way to a national launch is expected to give a tough competition to brands like Frooti and Maaza. Maa brand was originally created by Maa Fruits Pvt Ltd. The brand was acquired by CavinKare in 2008. Ever since the acquisition, the brand has been growing consistently in the markets like Kerala and TamilNadu. 

The Indian non-carbonated Beverage market is around Rs 3500 crore and of which fruit based drinks constitute around Rs 3000 crore. The market is divided into various categories like 100 % fruit juices, fruit based drinks ( that has less than 20% fruit pulp) , nectars which has fruit pulp between 25% -85%.

Maa for the last two years has been consolidating its position in the South India. The brand has scored well interms of distribution reach and brand awareness. The brand is closely associated with the mango flavor but also has three more flavors - Apple Guava and Pineapple.

Maa has also invested lot of money in brand promotion. The brand had adopted a positioning strategy based on aspiration and success during the relaunch in 2008-2009 under Cavinkare. The brand targeted the young consumers and positioned itself as a brand that will refresh you to move towards success in life.

Watch the ad here : Maa Success

In 2010, the brand resegmented the market and ran a campaign targeting kids rather than older consumers. The brand is running this commercial in the media this season.

Watch the ad here : Maa Mother 

The two ads however are poles apart interms of marketing strategy. Since the company is going to fight the likes of Frooti and Maaza, it will be proper if the brand identifies the right STP.

The success of Maa in South India is largely driven by smart distribution strategies. The brand is heavily promoted by the retailers and in some cases the retailers stock only this brand and no other mango drink. Since consumers are willing to switch between brands in the case of beverage category , Maa was able to boost the sales and establish connection with the consumers. The brand will be hoping to recreate the same strategy in the Northern market also.

In the branding front, the lack of a clear positioning is evident from the past campaigns. Maa needs to have clarity in its brand manthra and core value proposition. The brand is highly associated with Mango drink and the brand should be clear whether it should reinforce that association or try to position itself as a multi-fruit drink. Getting retailer support will also be a key determinant of the success of Maa in the National market. 

It is good to see a brand growing and scaling up for more challenges and a larger market. Maa should get its marketing funda sharp and clear and then take on the leaders with confidence.