4Ping Brandalysis: Boroline

Boroline: "Khushboo wala cream"

Boroline is a 80 years old brand from kolkata based GD Phramaceutical Ltd. The name Boroline has been derived from its ingredient “Boric” and “Oline” as a variant of the latin word ‘oleam’ meaning oil. Boroline was a house hold name in India especially in the eastern part. Consumers use this brand for different purpose i.e. to cure cuts and stitches after operation and also as a cold cream during winter to protect skin.

Till mid eighties Boroline was an undisputed market leader with almost 100% market share in antiseptic cream market. Today this position is taken away by Boroplus which enjoys 60% market share in 220 cr. antiseptic cream market. (Except in Kolkata where it believed to have higher market share, may be because of emotional attachment with the brand.) The other products which are giving stiff competition are Borosoft and Boro Natural – both from the maverick marketer Paras Phrama - Today market share of Boroline has slipped below 20%.

Over the years Boroline has used different tagline to attract consumer and the latest being “The Boroline – Works Wonder”. I have selected to write about Boroline because it sets a perfect example that addresses the issues of importance of brand management. In spite of being the best quality product in antiseptic cream category, the marketers of Boroline failed to upgrade its product to attract the new age customer. Today most of the users of this product are old aged people. Over the years, marketers of Boroline have kept the same package to keep it as heritage brand. Probably they failed to understand the need of the new generation consumer. One factor that went against Boroline could be its oiliness. Also its dark and dull green colour packaging failed to attract first time buyers. These were the weak points of Boroline on which Emami and Paras hit the hardest. As a result, today Boroline has just remained a brand with higher brand awareness but lower convertibility. They also failed to understand importance of advertising in building a brand. Apart from “Khusbuwala Cream” radio jingle, I can not recall any other form of advertising of this brand. The case of Boroline clearly gives insight that in today’s age brand can not be made only on the quality factor. It requires the perfect blend of quality, packaging, pricing and most importantly management’s concern about brand management.

Interesting fact about Boroline (Courtesy: Super Brand)

• In 2002, a user while shifting homes found a tube of Boroline manufactured in 1976. He found that it had retained the same texture, efficacy and perfume as the new one.

4Ping Brandalysis: Strepsils

Strepsils: Clear Speak

Strepsils is being sold in over 110 countries and in the most of them, strepsils has maintained market leader position in sore throat lozenge market. Strepsils was originally researched and developed in Britain by Boots Company in 1958. Over the years, company has introduced new variants of the product without changing its original formula. The strepsils formula contains

amylmetacresol and 2,4-dichlorobenzyl alcohol, the antiseptic ingredients which fight against bacteria that causes sore throat conditions.

Strepsils was introduced in Indian market in the year 1963. Earlier strepsils was available only on prescription. Boots Healthcare International had an objective that a customer should try strepsils lozenge before he/she consults a doctor for throat problem. To cater to Indian taste, company introduced orange and lemon flavour in 1971 followed by lemon ginger and menthol in 1977 and 1994 respectively.

In 1998, Boots Healthcare International and Nichola Piramal Ltd. joined hands together and created Boots Piramal Health Care Pvt. Ltd. to market BHI products like Clearasil, Lacto Calamine, Saridon, Sweetex and Strepsils in OTC segment. Biggest obstacle for BPHL was its negligible presence in market. Because of Strepsils’ dichlorobenzyl alcohol and amylmetacresol formulation, it can be sold only at chemist shop.

Although we can not compare strepsils with other low priced brand like Vicks and Halls, they give fierce competition to Strepsils. Vicks, Halls and Mint o Fresh are the players of 50 Paise confectionary lozenge category and are freely available while strepsils is positioned as medicated lozenge and available only at chemist shop. But strepsils has been holding ground against all these obstacles. In 2003, strepsils cough syrup was launched as part of line extension in Rs. 600 crore cough syrup market.

Over the years strepsils has emerged as market leader in Rs. 60 crore medicated lozenge market. Marketers of strepsils has continuously changed its packaging, communication and branding strategy to meet changing customer’s need but it has not affected the brand’s core value. Worldwide strepsils has been positioned as lozenge that soothes throat and gives clear voice. In India, they have used same platform to promote the brand. In 2005 strepsils tied up with popular singing talent hunt show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa to produce 12 Strepsils Pure Voice Albums. They also initiated in film placement of strepsils in bollywood flick Salaam Namaste wherein actress Preity Zinta attributes her clear voice to strepsils.

In October 2006, Boots Healthcare International was acquired by FMCG giant Reckitt Benckiser. As a part of this move strepsils (along with Clearasil and Sweetex) came in the fold of Reckitt Benckiser. In January 07, Reckitt Benckiser introduced all new campaign highlighting First Aid Formula wherein Mr. Throat acted as a brand mascot. Mr. Throat is described as a friendly character which builds a strong affinity with the consumers. The new campaign touches the sore throat problem at its core, its manifestations and the role of strepsils in providing effective and soothing relief.

Over the year, strepsils has emerged as a time-tested medicine and has cured throat of many people around the world than any other brand.

Print ad for Strepsils

4Ping Fundas : Ingredient Branding

Ingredient branding is a branding strategy wherein company also promotes the key ingredient used to make the product and how it can be benefited to customer. Used ingredient works as an USP of the product. Sometime ingredient transfers its brand identity to the host brand so both the brands get benefited.

Let’s take some cases of Indian brands.

Amul Probiotic Ice Cream and Lassi
Amul, the brand owned by GCMMF Ltd. launched its probiotic range of ice cream in early 2007 -Amul Prolife Icecream-. Probiotic food is relatively new concept in India but it has been very successful in western countries. Amul Probiotic ice cream contains special kinds of bacteria which is good for human body. It helps in digestion, improve the immune system and fight against allergic reaction. This probiotic bacteria works as an ingredient and brand is being promoted with this unique feature. Probiotic Lassi is also one such product and under test marketing phase.

Clinic All Clear with ZPTO
HLL introduced Clinic All Clear ZPTO in 1999. ZPTO short form of Zink Pyrithione, a chemical compound used as anti-fungal and antibacterial agent. Company promoted unique ZPTO in their advertising. Proctor and Gamble also used same strategy to promote Head & Shoulder shampoo with ZPTO. Though most of consumers didn’t know anything about ZPTO and its benefit, it really created wonders for the brands.

Why Ingredient Branding?

• Ingredient branding gives boost to the host brand when ingredient brand has its own brand identity. Don’t you prefer PC or Laptop with “Intel Inside” tag on it? It is because of brand identity created by Intel for its microprocessors. (Intel is a classic case of ingredient branding. We will discuss in it future post.)
• Ingredient also helps product if product is creating new category. Remember, Amul is pioneer in pro-biotic foods in India and same strategy has been followed by MNC behemoth like Nestle (NesVita Curd) and HUL (Moo – Calcium Enriched Ice-cream).
• Many times consumer perceives ingredient as an added advantage so he is not reluctant to pay extra price for it.
  

4Ping Brandalysis: Tiger Balm

Tiger Balm: Dard Mitaye Duniya Ka

Tiger Balm is an interesting example of a truly Asian brand that has gained international recognition. It is originally manufactured and distributed by Haw Par Healthcare in Singapore. Tiger Balm was originally developed in the 1870s by a herbalist, Aw Chu Kin, in Rangoon, Burma, who asked his sons Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par on his deathbed to improve and market the product. Using their marketing acumen, Haw Par brothers grew the salve business into an empire that today includes pharmaceuticals, banking, insurance, rubber and newspapers under the Haw Par name. Over the century, Tiger Balm has won the hearts of Asians and eventually the world.

Packaged in unique hexagonal jars and colorful paper boxes, and adorned by a tiger leaping across the label, Tiger Balm was originally called Ban Kim Ewe (ten thousand golden oil). The name tiger was derived from the founder’s son, Boon Haw which means “gentle tiger” in Chinese.

Tiger Balm is a global brand in true sense. It was bought to India by Elder Pharmaceutical Ltd and witnessed law profile advertising. (Elder Pharmaceutical also has strong portfolio of brand like Fairone, AMPM Mouthwash and Blistex.)

The balm market size is estimated to be at. Rs. 500 crore in India. It can be further divided in to two categories, Pain Reliever Balm and Cold Rub Balm. Tiger balm commands 6% market share in Rs. 300 crore pain reliever market and directly competes with brands like Moov, Iodex, Himani Fast Relief and heritage brand Amrutanjan. It is available in two different variants. Earlier it was available as Tiger Balm Red but consumer survey revealed that red is strong and caused a burning sensation when applied on the nose. This result lead company to launch new mild variant called Tiger Balm White in Oct. 2005. It is effective for headaches, stuffy nose, stomach flatulence, insect bites, itchiness, and muscle and joint aches

Elder Pharmaceutical is also planning to launch its mini size pack of 3 gm. to encourage trial purchase. According to company resources, biggest problem for Tiger Balm is sales erosion caused by similar sounding products available in the market. Tiger Balm has a tremendous heritage following in Asian countries, and it is now successfully marketed in over 75 countries worldwide.

Print Ad: Tiger Balm

4Ping Brandalysis: Tortoise Mosquito Repellent

Tortoise Mosquito Repellent: Kachhua Jalao, Macchar Bhagao

Tortoise mosquito repellent coil is a 40 years old brand owned by Bombay Chemicals Ltd (BCL). Tortoise mosquito repellent dominated around 67% of market till 1994 and was a generic name in the product category. Infact “Kachhua Jalao, Machchar Bhagao” was one of very famous campaign of those days with humorous element.

Mosquito repellent’s market can be divided in to coil, mat, vaporizer, aerosol and cream with total marketing size of Rs. 1600 cr. and growing at the annual rate of 15%. This market stood at Rs. 400 Cr in 1997. It attracted multinationals like Reckitt Benkisser, Sara Lee in late 90’s and witnessed lot of happenings in the market. AllOut, the brand by Karamchand Appliences created a new sengment of liquid vaporizer.

Mosquito repellent has been growing category because of four month long monsoon season in most of the parts of India. There are around 300 spices of mosquitoes and are responsible for malaria, dengue fever and chikungunya.

The coil segment of the market is around 35% of total market size and dominated by Mortein and Good Night, brands by Reckitt Benkiser and Godrej Sara Lee respectively.

Tortoise (Kachhua) coil was pioneer brand in the Indian market and was the first player to provide solution to get rid of mosquitoes. But this pioneer brand could not stand against MNC players. Company failed to upgrade its product in accordance the market need and total market share came down to 12% in 2000. Mortein introduced red colour coil which is believed to be long lasting than green colour coil. Mat and aerosol was also growing category in the urban market.

In effort to rejuvenate the historical brand, Bombay Chemical Ltd. introduced Tortoise Active, the herbal coil. They promoted hazards of allethrin based coil on major TV channels like Zee and Sony. In 2002, it also introduced Tortoise Lazor in strategic tie up with Byers India. Tortoise Lazor contained NAK (A molecule patented by Byers AG) based coil. NAK acts on the wing of mosquitoes thus reducing speed of flight. So mosquitoes never come near the area and even it doest it can not fly and grounded to death for want to water. It was claimed by the company that NAK based coil is less toxic and two times more effective than allethrin based coil. Company was so confident about the claim that they went on to give money back guarantee on purchase. Sales team of BCL also conducted live demonstration to convince distribution about benefits of the product. For Tortoise NAK, company also adopted the strategy to give live demonstration of product in some backward area where the water-logging problem was high. All this efforts helped company to regain it market share a little bit but it could not gain the market leader status and top of the mind recall.

4Ping Fundas : Sensory Branding

Interesting Facts:

• According to recent study conducted in America, the tempo of background music affects the pace at which shoppers move and diners eat. Faster music in a restaurant can speed up the flow of diners. Slower music can lead people to spend more time in stores, so that they are more likely to buy something.


• Some super markets in North America are connected to bakeries by hundreds of meters of pipeline. The pipelines carry the aroma of fresh bread to the stores entrances.


• Singapore Airlines has patented a distinct aroma (Stefan Floridian Waters) that permeates its entire fleet and is included in the flight attendants perfume and also blended into the towels served before take-off. Surprisingly regular customers are distinctly able to relate to this scent to lovely attendants and impeccable service of Singapore Airlines.


• When Rolls-Royce buyers began complaining in the mid-1990s that the new cars didn't live up to their predecessors, researchers tracked the problem to its source: the smell! Using a 1965 Silver Cloud as a reference point, the company deconstructed the scent, identifying 800 separate elements. It then recalibrated the aroma of leather and mahogany and now sprays it under the seats to re-create the scent of a classic "Roller."


• Break Fast cereal manufacturer Kellogg’s has created unique sound of crunch with the help of Danish Laboratory.

And the last one,

• Mercedes-Benz has 12 engineers dedicated to the sound of opening and closing of doors.
  
  All given example leads to a new discipline in the area of neuroscience marketing called Sensory Branding. Sensory branding is about involving all sense of customer into branding activities of product. Most of the branding activity focuses on just eyes and ears. Sensory branding goes beyond it and claims that smell can generate higher value of brand recall.
  
  Branding is all about creating emotional ties between product and consumer. But emotion is not only limited to eyes and ears. If emotions are generated through smell, touch and feel then why it can’t be used in building a brand.
  
  In his recent book “Brand Sense”, renowned Brand Guru, Martin Linstorm claims that Almost 83% of marketing and brand building concentrate on just two senses and just 17% make use of the other 3 senses. This fact is based on global research done by Millward Brown which studied the relationship between branding and sensory awareness. He also notes that only 3% of Fortune 1000 companies have given thought to using smell in their marketing or branding, despite the claim that 75% of our emotions are generated by what we smell. Lindstrom’s basic point is simple - brands that appeal to multiple senses will be more successful than brands that focus only on one or two.
  
  This study of branding has given new direction in the area of branding and was called “the first branding revolution in 30 years” by the American Advertising Research Foundation.
  
  In India, this practiced has been followed by some of the big brands (Knowingly or Unknowingly?) For example Pepsi, it launched aroma centres in some cities which emanates the smell of coffee which attracts the attention of passer-bys to its newly launched cafechino coldrink.
  
  Mr. Kishore Biyani confesses in his book “It happened in India” that it doesn’t not give feeling of “Sabse Sasta”, unless customers in Big Bazaar doesn’t feel crowd of people around and rub their shoulders to each other.
  
  There are some product in which sensory branding can be implemented effectively i.e. Pen (Smell of Ink), Book Publishing (smell of pages of book ), Retail etc.
  
  Sensory Branding can also have negative impact if it is not appropriate to the environment. The smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies would be appropriate in a bakery or coffee shop but the same smell gives negative feeling when it is used in toiletries area of retail shop. Consumer’s brain will process it differently.
  
  So next time when you can not resist your self by the aromatic smell of coffee when you are passing by CCD and end up buying one, remember you are falling into the marketing trap laid by Brand Manager.
  
  I am sure if my favourite Bhujia Shop Keeper can make a mobile stove to fry Bhujia and move around in nearby area just to generate smell of Bhujia, he can attract more customers to his shop.

Welcome to the 4Ping

So here my journey begins…..

Hello World,

I am Ravin Kapadia, a management student and marketer by heart. And as a marketer, how can I underestimate influence of upcoming Consumer Generated Media (CGM). So this blog will feature my views on different wings of marketing like Brand Management, Consumer Behaviour, Service Marketing, FMCG etc. in-short everything that involves marketing.

I guess that is enough for my debut. Although I can not promise frequency of updates, I will try to keep it live with different articles.