Saturday, May 05, 2012
Akshay Kumar, Cold-drinks, hot-markets and the Hindi heartland of India
Cold Drinks
and Hot Markets
By Harish
Bijoor
Q: After years, Thums Up has changed its brand-endorser. Akshay Kumar
is out. What’s your take on this? Why the change?
-Smiju N Thomas, Kottayam
A: Smiju, every brand of a fizzy drink needs fizz in its advertising.
Just as it’s advertising needs fizz and action, its endorsers need to remain
fizzy. In many ways Akshay Kumar had completed the task on the brand, and his
personal fizz-quotient to fit the brand was albeit missing. To that extent, the
new campaign moves a step forward. After all, how long can you keep asking the
same star, "Tumne apne Thums Up ke liya, kya kya kiya hai?"
Brand endorsers age. Brand endorsers go through cycles of achievement and non-achievement. Brand endorsers have hits and misses. Brand endorsers are human beings with limited life cycles of appeal. And brand-endorsers age. Brands don't. Brands have two choices then. They can either age with their brand endorsers, or they could change their brand endorsers. Thums Up chose.
As of now, Thums Up has many brand endorsers. In many ways, having 4 brand endorsers versus one, is hedging. Each endorser appeals to a different class of consumer. Every endorser has an appeal that could even be region specific. Having 4 brand endorsers in many ways is the ultimate brand revenge on the brand endorser of yore. Brand endorsers, particularly film stars are very promiscuous in their brand endorsements. Some endorse as many as 14 brands simultaneously, changing their clothes, their hairstyles and at times even their accents, tone, tenor and decibel of talk and walk.
Cheekily speaking, the idea is a simple one: if a brand endorser can endorse so many brands simultaneously, why can't a brand take on more than one brand ambassador? After all this is the best hedge against bets that could go wrong with solus stars. This is a hedge on the popularity of stars, hits, flops, region of appeal and more.
With this change, I do believe the brand is looking peppier by the day. This piece of advertising adds zing to the brand. As Pepsi ages in the Indian market, Coke and Thums Up are looking refreshingly younger and younger in their brand profiles. “Aaj Kucch Toofani Karte hain” resonates with the young of this country and their current mood as of now. To “toofani “ then.
Q: Is the Hindi heartland of India
becoming an area of focus for the marketer today? Is this a trend? Why?
-Kiran Gaonkar, Itarsi
Kiran, absolutely yes.
The Hindi heartland is the new market that is just about emerging.
What was derogatorily called the "cow belt" and the "Bimaru
states" in the past, is a market that is coming to roost in the present
and most certainly the future. These states have become very progressive in
their development indices. These states boast of a GDP growth rate that is at
times even more robust than the national numbers. This means that these markets
will see faster consumer growth in terms of demand in terms of volumes, value
and innovation.
India is a very young nation. These states have a solid representation of the young. These states are therefore excellent markets for young-oriented products and services. The robust growth numbers in the education sector is proof enough. Add to it the entertainment market, the market for mobile phones, gadgets of every kind, clothes and accessories, cosmetics, shoes, physical exercise-oriented products, and you have a solid market of the future emerging.
The youth in these States are real, rustic and aspiring. Every one of
them wants to create a better life for themselves. The first effort is at
education. Private schools, colleges, centers of higher education such as MBA
Institutes, Professional degree institutions, and coaching centers alike, are
magnet points for the young. Then there is the aspiration to dress better, look
better and eat and drink better as well. This is spurring consumption of not
only functional products, but products of cosmetic value as well. Products that
relate to health, well-being and proactive health care rather than just
reactive care, are being craved for as well. The young in these towns have a
far bigger hunger quotient than the privileged young in the bigger cities of
India. Here again, I would segment this territory into urban, rurban and rural.
The hunger deepens as you go from urban to rurban to rural. The opportunity for
marketers therefore deepens as one penetrates down this strata.
Marketers need to be careful and cautious though. Marketers need to stay humble, talk the language of the people, and offer solutions that are relevant, original and innovative. Marketers need to tailor-make themselves to the market, rather than take their tailor-made solutions to the market. Bottom-up marketing is the mantra to adopt. Not pompous top-down marketing norms that we have imported, imbibed and practiced with lack of success in the past.
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Harish Bijoor is a business
strategy specialist and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.
Email:
harishbijoor@hotmail.com
Labels: ADVERTISING, branding, Brands, Celebrity endorsement, Hindi
# posted by Harish Bijoor @ 7:07 PM 
