Sunday, 29 September 2013

Branding and Brand Management


Branding:

The FMCG Industry does not have any measures which can control the entry of new firms. The resistance is very low and the structure of the industry is so complex that new firms can easily enterand also offer tough competition due to cost effectiveness. Hence potential entry of new firms is highly viable.  
What makes your product/service stand out from the crowd of competitors is the identity that you provide it with, it is the brand that speaks for the product.

Surf Excel is one brand that has established itself in the minds of people by creating their famous tag line “Daag aache hain” . This has driven away the fear of stains from the Mom’s as well the kids. This factor links the stain removal process to surf excel, as they say; “Surf Excel hai na” which gives you that extra confidence to not worry over the muck. This is the way they position surf in the minds of people.


Brand Philosophy:


Surf Excel believes that stains are good. This is because when children go out and play and get dirty, they don't just collect stains. They experience life, make friends, share with each other and learn from each other. This helps them get stronger and get ready for the world outside. Along with dirt being an obstacle towards play = experience = learning, what are the other reasons for kids not playing enough in today’s world?
In 2005 & 2006 Surf launched Paint and Games Masti where children were invited to participate in various activities designed to communicate that “Dirt is Good”.
This year however, Surf has taken the concept of “Dirt is good because Dirt = Play & Play is
Good” to a deeper level and addresses the issues surrounding children’s play: the idea of learning through play, the obstacles towards play, the impact of not enough play for our children. As a socially responsible company and brand, it believes that they can create a platform on which they can take this message forward to showcase how playing helps children mentally and physically.


Brand Management:


Surf Excel easy wash comes with the benefit of 10 hands that ease the process of washing. These are strategies used to denote the power of the micro granules which are used in the detergent. These phrases set an image to the product which when heard in everyday conversation links your thoughts immediately to the product.

At a time when Surf Excel was in a battle with new bie Nirma (with its own emblematic twirling girl), this ad sought to position Surf Excel as a value for-money buy, with the woman telling audiences that 'Surf Ki Kharidari Mein Hi Samajdari Hain;' which loosely translates into 'it's sensible to buy only Surf '.
The line struck a chord with the value conscious Indian housewife, the campaign went on to become one of the most recognised of the time, and Surf Excel became a household name.

Since 2004, the detergent brand's focus has changed tack, with a series of commercials, beginning with the 'dirt is good' ad, and most recently with the badappan (dignity) campaign, which used the theme of non-violence to settle scores (set in a slushy football field, with an older team prematurely ending a younger outfit's game).

The campaign works because brand managers at Surf Excel are confident enough of their product to project, indirectly in this case, of its dirt-busting qualities. Freed up from this onerous task, they have since 2005, when the first of this series aired, taken an unconventional route.
"We have worked with a set of human values, including forgiveness, with a sack race, and empathy, with a mud-soaked young student mimicking his favourite teacher's dog that has just died," says Arun Iyer, national creative director with Lowe Lintas.
"These are the values that parents (a key constituent for Surf) like to see in their children." In an area of 24/7 television and violence all around, the latest badappan campaign also drags viewers back to a simpler time of playing outdoors and frolicking with friends. Despite being a seven year old campaign in essence, Iyer thinks this has the legs to run for a while longer.


"The idea of finding different values and projecting them seems to be working well with people... there is rich territory yet left to explore," he says. The other reason this ad — and indeed the entire series — works well, is the connect it builds between a detergent powder and a sense of freedom.

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