Battle of Health drinks in India

  Indian consumers now are more conscious than ever about their health and dietary requirements. Various

reasons behind this growing inclination of Indian consumers towards healthier food and beverages are as follows

• High level of consumerism backed by risingincome levels (~$400 in 2001 to ~$1100 currently (Health accounted for ~10% of household expense & is rising)
• Exposure to wide product offerings in developed markets
• Higher rate of urbanization (27% in 2001 to 31% in 2011)
• Rising health issues owing to changing lifestyles
• Aggressive marketing by health food and beverages brands
• Rising concerns among Indian consumers about the efficacy of traditional foods in terms of quality, purity and benefits
• Two faced nutritional problems – one due to excess of nutrition and other from deficiency of nutrition

Health-food drinks form a major part of the health food industry. Below are certain points with respect to the HFD (health-food drinks) industry in India.

• HFDs are divided into two categories – White powders (Horlicks, Complan etc) and Brown powders (Bournvita, Boost etc) with a share of 65% and 35% respectively. Some other facts are –
• Health drink powders consumed as milk substitute & nutrient boosters
• India’s Health-drinks market pegged at around 4000 crores (90000 tonnes) and expected to reach approximately 8000 crores by 2016
• India is world’s largest malt-based drinks market with a share of almost 22% in the world’s total retail volume(Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried in a process known as malting)

Major players in the HFD segment in India are as follows -

• GlaxoSmithKline
• Horlicks (With variants)
• Boost
• Maltova
• Viva
• Kraft-Cadbury (Mondelez International)
• Bournivita (With variants)
• Heinz
• Complan (With variants)
• Amul
• Nutramul
• Pro

Market Share in Indian HFDs Industry

Target Group and Positioning

Horlicks  - ‘The great family nourisher’ that offers pleasurable nourishment with a delicious range of flavors

All Health Food Drink’s generic TG : Middle income group and above, Metro/Urban/Semi-urban.

• Junior Horlicks 1-2-3
• Target Group : Toddlers (Consumption) Mothers (Communication)
• Positioning : An easy-to-digest drink for fussy toddlers providing them with essential nutrition value
• Junior Horlicks 4-5-6 with growth boosters
• Target Group : Preschoolers (Consumption) Mothers(Communication)
• Positioning – A nutrition packed health food for active preschoolers with who have a busy schedule and need to remain charged
• Mother’s Horlicks
• Tagline : Healthy mothers for healthy and smart babies!
• Target Group : Pregnant and Breast-feeding women
• Positioning : A superior nutritional supplement for pregnant and breast-feeding women to meet their daily nutritional requirements
• USP : DHA as ingredient and ability to provide 100% RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) for the TG
• Horlicks Lite
• Target Group :  Adults
• Positioning – Especially designed to provide nutrition to adults and provide them with strength and stamina to keep going
• USP : Only HFD to be endorsed and certified by Diabetes India
• Horlicks
• Tagline : Proven for making kids taller, stronger and sharper
• Target Group : Kids aged 5-15 years and Mothers (Communication)
• Positioning : A nutritional supplement that positively enhances      physical and mental growth of kids
• USP : Huge emphasis on the “proven” efficacy for child’s mental & physical growth on the basis of results from a series of researches
• Boost
• Tagline : Boost is the secret of winning energy
• Target Group :  Children and adults looking for  an energy drink
• Positioning : Always  positioned as an energy drink hence the tagline. It is promoted as being the only HFD proven to increase stamina by  three times
• USP : Strong Sportsmen endorsements(Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, MS Dhoni) leading to brand following by kids
• Bournvita
• Tagline : Tayyari  jeet ki (preparing to win)
• Target Group :  Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Help kids to grow faster and enhances goodness of milk(Calcium)
• USP : Strong advertising and taste appeals most in the category  to the TG
• Bournvita Li’l champs
• Target Group : Children aged 2-5 years & Mothers(For Communication)
• Positioning : Most effective for kids due to DHA and whey protein content
• USP : Packaging to attract kids and attached offers/gifts for kids
• o   Complan (COMplete PLANned)
• Tagline : Extra growing power with Complan
• Target Group :  Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Help kids to grow taller at twice the rate
• USP : Backs its ‘tall’ claims by multiple researches
• Complan with Memory Chargers
• Target Group : Children aged 5-15 years  & Mothers ( For Communication)
• Positioning : Improves memory and cognitive abilities in kids
• USP : First HFD to target memory and cognitive benefits. Backs claims by results of an independent research

Prospects of Indian HFD market

o   Indian HFD market is a growth market with 

tremendous opportunities (Check graph)

o   India has one of the youngest population in the 

world making it a long-term HFD market (TG)

o   Still considered as one of the growth markets in 

terms of rising income reinforcing the long-term 

prospects

o   Rising awareness among consumers due to 

exposure to developed markets (More people than 

ever travelling abroad, foreign TV channels, global

offerings) adds to TG everyday

o   Due to foreign origin of most of the HFD products

(mostly developed markets) which have stricter

laws related to food safety, the products don’t need much

tweaking(& expenses) in that aspect

Consumer Behaviour(HFD purchase)

• Consumers attitudes regarding HFD purchase is largely influenced by quality attributes of the product
• 
  

• No direct relation between brands and their sensory perception

• 
  
• Price, quality attributes and sensory perceptions are three major factors that makes a brand in the eyes of consumer better than other         

• 
  
• Value for money(Nourishment vs price), price and packaging are ranked in the same order for influencing purchase decision         

• Brand loyalty stands out as a very significant factor in HFD purchase

Age segment

• Biggest TG is the age group of 5-15 years in terms of products offered to each TG 
• Other segments have exactly same number of products offered for them (Of the  brands considered in this analysis).
• Horlicks is present in four out of five segments while Bournivita covers three segments by its offering. 
• Complan, Boost and Maltova covers one segment each.

Brand Benefits Segments

• HFD as Energy drinks and source of essential nutrients (specific to TG, eg. Toddlers, Mothers etc) is most common positioning adopted by brands(25%). 
• Equal number of products offer benefits related to physical and mental growth (19% each).
• Recently Horlciks and Bournivita in particular have also adopted a new proposition where they promise to enrich and strengthen the nutrient value of milk. With only 12% of considered brands adopting this positioning it holds the last position.

Key Success Factors in HFD Market

• Strong market and consumer behaviour understanding to gauge consumer expectations and market offerings ( Gap Analysis)
• Unique, clear and relevant brand proposition to the consumers
• Sensory appeal is very significant since end-consumers are kids who are fussy about taste and flavours
• Clear distinction between communication for kids and mothers since both are significant players in purchase decision and require different satisfaction points to finalize on a product and purchase
• Competitive pricing since price and value for money are important attributes in purchase decision for HFDs and it is very important to remain affordable yet attractive to consumers
• Backed by strong distributions system and feedback mechanism to ensure availability and a connect between brand and consumers

Cheers,

PS : For details regarding each brand's claims and their tryst with reality, TVC analysis and some more informaiton on this topic, you  can have a look at the presentation on slide share.- Link

Cadbury's Perk - The energy run gone wrong?

Cadbury’s India(Mondelez International) recently aired its latest commercial on perk which is being called – ‘ Bhag ke shadi’. The ad is in continuation with the other ads offering the same brand promise. The ad is supposed to reinforce the benefit of high energy as is showcased by its previous commercials and how it makes life fun. But have they been able to do that successfully this time around?

No doubt that this ad is probably the most interesting, funny and eye-catching among the series of ads aired with the same brand promise of perk being a quick source of glucose energy and creating fun moments. This has made the ‘shadi’ ad one of the more talked about ads in the industry circles and has also generated quite a few positive responses on the theme and execution of the ad and how it has attracted and made its audience laugh.

My personal take is that the ‘shadi’ ad is a diversion in the theme from its earlier ads, doesn’t manifest the brand promise as succinctly and most importantly, which we fail to recognize – is too funny for a message to piggyback.

The two most significant reasons why emotions like humour and fear are incorporated in an advertisement are –

• Get the audience’s attention on the go
• Allow the brand message/communication/promise to piggyback on this emotion

Unfortunately, the ‘Shadi’ ad does a wonderful job on the first point but fails miserably on the second account. This is because the ad is too funny for the audience to give notice to the message tried to be communicated by the brand and a surprising irrelevance between the message and the theme chosen.

Some might argue that the idea of running while getting married reinforces the idea of high energy due to consumption of glucose rich perk and well, it’s a fun way of living life. Really?  

The other ads on the ‘glucose energy’ platform were interesting as well as funny and did demonstrate the ‘energy’ and ‘fun’ aspect quite clearly.

Jogging Ad (Click to watch video)– Very clearly the ad shows that the man is up for another set of workout (jogging) after having the glucose rich perk and the lighter moment of daughter tricking her father to meet her friend makes the ad naughty and funny.

Chase Ad (Click to watch video) – A college chase of a boy by three girls to tie rakhi on his hand and how he outruns them easily, thanks to the glucose rich perk, puts the message in broad daylight for its audience. The theme of the advertisement also emphasize on the “life ke mazey lo” aspect.

Doors Ad (Click to watch video)- A boy who is too tired to fight a burglar in his building due to a tiring 'collection day', finds the energy to fight him with the help of perk. The ad clearly shows how perk with its rich glucose ingredients makes it a quick and effective source of energy.

 Shadi Ad (Click to watch video) - This ad is all about a fun theme but with no relevant context. How could a running-wedding ever be fun to anyone? The idea of characters in the ad to think of having a running-wedding because they just ate perk is even more absurd. Unlike the other two ads, this ad through its execution doesn’t tell its audience that perk is a rich of glucose and there can be real-life fun moments by consuming it.

To add, the advertisement without a strong and clear message is too funny for people to remember if it was an ad for perk or jogging shoes or a matrimony site.

In the opening scene, the female actor says that her father started crying on hearing about wedding and the next thing she come up with is to run away and get married. A little insensitive, isn’t it?

This ad sure must have given laughs to its audience but I’m not sure if perk can expect any perks from this one.

Cheers,

Local brands at 'Fair' advertising - Literally fair !

India’s obsession with white skin doesn’t seem to be fading any sooner. Watching foreign models and actors dominating the beauty segment ads and promotions for products being offered to Indian consumers (who have a very different skin complexion and skin type) has always been a little perplexing to me. Perplexing not due to ‘exploitation’ of this trend by the cosmetics companies but because I wonder for how many more decades we will be coaxed by the myth- more fair is more beautiful. Nevertheless, as far as beauty products are concerned the white-skin obsession was always a legitimate excuse for empowering this trend, but do the same “rationale” works for segments outside beauty and cosmetics? Looks like it does!

It is hard to miss the wave of home-grown Indian companies in segments like automobile, apparel, consumer durable using foreign models as part of their brand communication through advertisements.

Which companies' use of foreign models and location is baffling

Before we go any further we must distinguish between the companies on the basis of whether or not they are home-grown and where do they ‘extensively’ generate their revenues from, Indian market or foreign market (where is the major consumer base?). 

We must also differentiate between the use of foreign models (not-known to the audience to whom ads are exposed) and foreign celebrities (Hollywood actors & actresses, sportsmen & sportswomen and other famous personalities).

How having a celebrity in the ad a different ballgame than
having just a 'foreign' face and exotic location instead?

There are multiple reasons for foreign MNCs with target market as India as well as Indian MNCs with target markets in foreign countries to employ foreign models and locations in their brand communication and promotion through advertisements. Also using foreign celebrities as the face of certain brands in India is also backed with some sound and logical arguments. Very briefly put, these could be -

• When an international brand creates a single ad for multiple markets and hence saves on the cost of creating multiple ads for multiple markets
• When an international brand aims at a globalized marketing strategy which has to ensure the right and exact communication spread into multiple markets across the globe
• A foreign brand specifically wanting its genesis to be exposed, portrayed and made to be talked about in the target market, thus helping its cause. Example – ‘German engineering’ for automobiles, ‘From the coffee bowl of the world’,"Premium English chocolates" etc.
• Signing one very famous celebrity helps the company to cut costs on signing multiple celebrities from target markets thus saving cost and adding credibility and brand following to the brand and the product
• Legal reasons to avoid controversies in target markets. Eg. Ads from Jockey and Triumph in India

There are many other reasons which can be looked into detail to understand how using foreign models or celebrities by international brands help them build a credible image in a market like India. 

However, what is to be seen is why are home-grown companies who mostly sell their products in India and hence have to largely communicate with Indian audience are giving more importance than ever to foreign models and locations in their ads.

Apparel segment –

Madura Textile and Raymonds are two major homegrown companies that have built their apparel brand around relevant communication and effective advertisements that are based largely around foreign models and exotic lines. Some of Madura’s famous brands are – Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England etc. On the other hand, Raymond created Park Avenue, Parx and Color Plus etc. Have a look at the flyers of these brands which boasts foreign models showcasing the desi brands. Interestingly, even the locations picked are alien to the Indian consumers.

Van Heusen by Madura Garments

 Allen Solly by Madura Garments

Peter Englnd by Madura Garments

Parx by Raymonds

Mobile segment –

Some home-grown mobile phone players are Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Spice etc

When we look at some of the recent advertisements by these companies for promoting their products and brand as a whole, it’s difficult to miss an overall exotic and foreign feel that is tried to be served to the audience watching these ads. It starts from the actors in the ads who are mostly foreign models, the locations which look exotic and even the central theme which tries hard to seal it as an exotic affair. Below are links to some video ads for these companies which are peculiar with their foreign cast and locations.

Micromax Canvas 2 

Micromax Canvas HD

Karbonn Titanium

Spice Cappuccino 

Spice Pinnacle Series 

Why this trend?

There are many arguments to justify this ever-growing trend. Indians are considered to be having a chronic hang-up with the white skin syndrome which many blame on the British colonial rule. Britishers ruled India for more than 200 years and that did something more than just nurturing servitude as an acceptable behaviour evident in our political and bureaucratic mechanism. India grew older under the sense of how the white-skin was always more smart, more successful and dominating over the dark-skin.

White is Might?

This ill-gotten belief automatically brewed some more erratic behavioural changes in Indians who started to believe that everything that has a white-skin endorser is a quality proposition. However, it might not be completely inaccurate to say that local products due to substandard production techniques and lack of consumer-focused marketing have let down Indian consumers over and over again and hence strengthened their belief about the superiority of foreign products over their national counterparts.

Hence, international brands and products promoted by foreign models became aspirational and soon consumers wanted to be associated with these products and brands, not necessarily due to functional (& technical) but emotional attributes.

How is this consumer behavior trait utilized by marketers? 

With these starting points, it has become an easy approach for local companies to add an international touch in their communication which in turn heightens the brand image in eyes of its consumers, as the product will be seen accepted and endorsed by ‘smarter’ and ‘better-looking’ brigade of foreign models. Behaviourally, a consumer starts looking himself or herself in place of the model of the ad who is shown to be the center of attraction, and is ‘coincidentally’, also white-skinned.

What does it actually do for the brand or the product?

Is the color prejudice typical with Indians only?

• Automatically induces a ‘quality product’ belief in the consumer
• Make the product look being accepted by higher evolved markets and more informed consumers hence rendering credibility to the product and brand promise
• Increases the acceptability of the brand and the product due to an international touch
• Makes the brand aspirational by strengthening brand image
• Place the brand above some other local brands helping it climb the value ladder without much real technical innovation
• Such communications add a premium-ness to the product allowing the manufacturers to command higher price which can be invested to product improvement leading to actual ascent in the segment against competitors (instead of difference in communication level only)
• Changing fence-sitters into consumers
• Reducing cognitive dissonance

The last point mentioned is important in many senses. A marketing tactic for promotion can only take the product so far. Beyond a point a product should speak for itself. Such a strategy if systematically implemented may give a higher end to the brand at the start but eventually a superior product is what is needed to take the brand further. An ordinary product will soon be recognized and the gross mismatch between the appeal created through brand promise for the product and actual product will leave no option for revival. Koutons’ debacle is an example of such a mistake though there were other major loopholes in its marketing strategy as well.

How long – Can & Will marketers use this erratic and stereotypical behaviour of Indian consumers, answer to that question lies in another question - How long the whit-skin syndrome will keep its hold on Indian consumers?

Cheers,

IndusInd Bank - Hitting lucky number just right!

Riding on its central theme of “Responsive Innovation” and superior customer-centric approach, IndusInd Bank has been unveiling a string of services for its existing customers. These services reinforce its commitment to identify and bridge need-gaps for its customers.

 Latest feather in its ‘responsive innovation’ service-cap is the – ‘My Account, My Number’ scheme. Just like other services introduces earlier this year like – ‘Direct connect’, ‘Quick redeem’ and ‘Cash on Mobile”, MAMN too is a result of extensive consumer and market research undertaken by the bank and it seems that the bank has gotten it right this time too.

My Account, My Number – This service allows a customer to choose 10 of the 12 digits of his or her bank account number. The other 2 digits are fixed to identify the type of bank account. The move is a unique one and will benefit the bank in multiple ways.

This proposition specifically aligns with the preference and sometimes obsession Indians have with numbers due to emotional, rational and even superstitious reasons. Preferred vehicles registration numbers and mobile phones number commanding exorbitant premium in this country justifies the assumption and research results.

A well-planned (Business approach), extensively researched (Consumer preference), efficiently implemented (Operationally) and effectively communicated (Business proposition or offering) marketing approach has given the IndusInd bank the credibility in the eyes of its customers (existing and prospective) in terms of it customer-centric culture. This will help IndusInd bank in attracting new customers not just due to existing unique services but also because it will keep the customers anticipating further propositions due to a well-managed marketing offering and communication plan in the past. It also helps in retaining existing customers by reducing the cognitive dissonance as the customers feel that the bank care about their needs and comes out with consumer-centric propositions regularly.

The bank’s earlier service offerings were also based upon extensive research and were meant to solve some specific pain points which customers pointed out during the research. Direct connect is one service which is longed by almost all the consumers. It is a well-known fact that in the era of ‘customer-service’, reaching actually to a customer service executive through your phone is nothing less than solving a jigsaw puzzle. This maze of selections on phone before reaching to the executive was cut short by ‘Direct connect’.

Other services like Quick Redeem and Cash on Mobile too were launched in response to pain points, ‘must-haves’ and ‘good-to-haves’ identified through consumer research.

The campaigns to communicate these services adopted a 360-degree integrated marketing approach to propagate the service message. Print, Television, OOH, Radio and  Digital mediums have been brought to use.

The ad campaigns have a subtle humor which manages to draw in customers’ attention and ensure higher brand recall. Message clarity is the key in all the campaigns as the service message is the central character of all the ads. Be it the ‘calling web or kabaddi’ for Direct connect or the number-obsession for the MAMN offering. An intelligent choice of the celebrity does the trick as well. The celebrities (Sharman Joshi, Jimmy Shergil and Neetu Singh) though are well-known but not that big of stars which may risk taking the attention away from the central message and the value offering. Also, you don’t see these celebrities endorsing too many products which avoid the risk of the product and message getting lost in too many endorsements undertaken by the celebrity hence diluting the credibility.

Overall, IndusInd bank has used extensive consumer research and put across its innovative service offerings effectively to its customers. How this approximately 20 crores marketing expenditure pays back in terms of top-line and bottom-line addition? We have to wait to see that. 

My Account, My Number - video

Call Kabaddi - Direct Connect Service - video

Cash on Mobile - video

Guerrilla Marketing by Renault - The Va Va Voom campaign

Guerrilla marketing has always been a subject of great interest. Not always because how catchy or even relevant they are but due to the sheer amount of strategic thinking and object-drive approach applied in a seemingly random act.

Wikipedia defines Guerrilla marketing as an advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional means are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large network of individual cells,to convey or promote a product or an idea.

 Everything about the definition looks fairly simple and seems like basic common sense. But the tricky part is to achieve that. How does one create an advertising strategy that is - Amazingly relevant, reasonably cheap and craftily result oriented.

One such campaign was launched by the French auto-maker, Renault for its car Clio 4.

The campaign was conceived and created by Scorch London’s Director, Steve Jay together with Unruly Media’s Creative Solutions team.

There are three major factors that a marketing campaign like this is based on.
- The context or what
- The objective or why
- The theme or how

The Renault Va Va Voom campaign scored well in all the three aspects and was justly rewarded with more than 3 million views and 78000 shares in the first week of its launching.

Context - Renault was showcasing its Clio 4 car which it claims, is made keeping Va Va Voom in mind. Va Va Voom can be loosely associated with a feeling filled with inspiration, excitement and energy.

Objective - Renault wanted to demonstrate the Va Va Voom attribute of its car through a story that would induce the same feeling in its customers.

Theme - Renault chose a story where it subjected its unsuspecting test-drivers(2 males and 2 females) to a situation which had all the characteristics to instill in them, the Va Va Voom feeling.

Renault invited 2 men and 2 women separately to test drive the new Clio 4. At a stop during the test-drive the car agent asks the customer to press the specially fitted "Va Va Voom" button. The moment the button is pressed the place is transformed into a classical french set-up with aroma of coffee, a kissing couple, motor cycles and the audible french conversations on the st
reet. But the final stroke is yet to come. A few seconds later there appears a group of  women dancers for the male test-drivers
and a group of shirtless men for female test-drivers. Each one trying to get attention of the driver in his or her own way. Needless to mention the test-drivers are spellbound and

keep asking for more!

The story does two things in particular.
One, It invigorates the customers with the Va Va Voom intensity which the car is claimed to bring to its driver/owner. The campaign shows how does the car makes its driver feel and takes the driving pleasure and owners pride to an all new level.

Two, Renault puts across its authentic French car-maker credentials in a very subtle manner. In the process it show case the french attributes of romance and pleasure associated with itself and its cars.

Link to the Girls video (Male test-driver)
Link to the Boys video (Female test-driver)

Indian used-car industry - Challenges and Opportunities

Used-car industry has flourished in India in past few years in an extraordinary way. This sister-industry of the new-car industry has came a long way from selling a few thousand cars every year to the current situation when it is selling cars almost one and a half times more than that of the new car industry.

Both these industries have grown leaps and bounds in the past years with the core reasons being multi-faceted. Right economic environment has enabled a large chunk to earn more, consume more and hence, spend more. Specific to the used-car segment, the growth has been contributed by the rising urban population, a large part of which is the young and ambitious workforce. A change in lifestyle in tier-II and tier-III cities have played its part too in taking the once a luxury, four-wheeler, to great stretch.

Apart from the factors from the consumer side, the industry has greatly benefited by the regulations and policy support from the government in last few years. The Industry has responded as enthusiastically as the consumers have by bringing a flood of new cars models spoiling its customers for choice.

The advent of foreign car makers not just raised the bar for the competition but also bestowed the population with cars which they had longed to own for long time. Not to mention, the technology and wealth they brought to India in terms of knowledge and assets.

However, last few months have not been great for the new-car industry. Fortunately, the same is not true about the used-car industry.While the new car market showed negative growth in the past few months, used-car market has been growing at a pace of 22% year by year. The current Indian used-cars market is pegged at around 2.5 million units a year. The Industry is said to be worth around Rs 52,000 crores. (Source: Crisil’s report on used car industry)

The used car market has always been dominated by traditional unorganized players in India. However, this changed a few years ago when Maruti True Value, Mahindra First Choice Wheels ltd etc set up their shops to sell used-cars in India.In few years organized sector has grabbed almost one-sixth of the market and the expansion plans make us believe that this is only going to rise further. Organized players have given a much needed stability to the used-industry and hence their entry is a welcome sign for the industry as well as for the customer.

Organized players have access to funds, technology, processes and man power to ensure that they are on track with their plans and hence there are more reasons to believe the crisil report which suggested that a quarter of the market will be under the organized sector in a couple of years from now.While the entry of OEMs like Maruti, Tata, Mahindra and Hyundai which have always been offering value for money products was a pleasant surprise, the debut from luxury car makers like BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi into this segment is really exciting. This will do many things in the market. It will start a culture where buying a used-car will no longer be looked down upon. Imagine someone buying a Mercedes which is pre-owned, it still is a Merc! The culture is very dominant in US where the ratio of old to new cars sold every year is as high as 3:1 while it is almost half in India at around 1.5:1.

Apart from the OEMs, entry of ventures like car nation and online format like cartrade, gaadi etc are also making the stage competitive making customer, the highest beneficiary.However, a lot needs to be done yet. The segment, especially in the organized format is especially nascent. This is clear from the steps car nation, which is promoted and run by Ex-Maruti MD Jagdish Khattar, has taken in the last few years. From a multi brand used-car retail outlet to service stations to financing, to accessorizing shop and what not. It is easy to recognize that there is a big gap between the services supplied by the existing players 

and consumer demand and hence after every step there is an opportunity that should be tapped.

Various challenges are there for the industry which needs to be faced in the coming years. The challenges are both, different as well as similar for the organized and unorganized format players. For example, the organized players have to break the market to take position which will make their presence worthwhile. The price point difference in an extremely price sensitive business like this is another threat to the organized used-car segment. However, credibility and trust due to the brand associated as well as the professionalism which they employ in their operations are most important strengths of these players.

On the other hand while the unorganized players mostly work in the personal relationship domain, they have challenges like diluting trust and hard-hit credibility and hence more professional and transparent approach is the way forward for this segment. However, due to tight focus on the costs these players are always able to make the price difference subtle for the customers. But going forward, this may not be the best strategy considering the changing customer lifestyle, attitudes and perceptions about used-car purchase.

Cheers,

Campaigns with plus-size models - Marketing gimmick or mind-set shift?

H&M's Beachwear Homepage with Jennie Runk

A recent campaign by Swedish retailer H&M became centre of attraction for fashion industry as well as consumers alike. It was for the first time that the retailer chose to represent its collection of Beachwear through Jennie Runk. There were two peculiarities in this campaign – Jennie Runk is a plus-size model and; the section is not called “Plus-size Beachwear” but only “Beachwear”, a brave digression from all such previous attempts by any other organization.

This can be a small aberration for some while for others it can be seen as a much needed refreshing change in the modelling industry where starved and wafer-thin models have managed to achieve prominence  over natural and original models with fuller and normal figures, which the industry choose to call plus-size models. Let me reiterate though, that being thin is not bad but what these models have to go through to be thin and what they end up representing by being size 0 or 00 is dangerous for themselves and for the ones who end up idolizing them.

Ralph Lauren campaign featuring Robyn Lawley

A lot of people dubbed the H&M’s move refreshing by calling it a welcome change in industry while many doubted its inherent motive as being purely a marketing tactic, not for the beachwear promotion but to come out as an ethical and moral brand, promoting what is right for the society and its consumers.

The campaign for H&M featuring plus-size model was definitely not the first time such a theme was promoted.  Ralph Lauren chose Australian model Robyn Lawley as its first ever plus-size model, but there was a difference between the two campaigns. Unlike Ralph Lauren, which went all-out announcing its “ethical” move to appoint a plus-size model to show case Ralph Lauren apparels, H&M went quiet and even refrained from mentioning the model as a plus-size model or the beachwear as plus-size beachwear. But not to forget, the same retailer came under scrutiny for its campaign where they used virtually designed body-parts and added real women’s heads to the ads to showcase its apparel line. Not so moral there!

Elle coverpage featuring plus-size model

A plus-size model leading the pack at  a runway for Mark Fest

Another welcome move came recently when three models were banned from a fashion show in Spain for being "too thin". The show in Cibeles bans models with a Body Mass index of less than 18, suggesting anything below this is an unhealthy vision to set upon young teenage girls. Vogue, first time ever in 2011had plus-sized models on its cover page while Elle, very recently in May,2013 adorned its cover page with a plus size model.

So can we assume that the plus-size modelling has arrived at the centre-stage of big brands and the above milestones represents a generic shift in the mindset of fashion and modelling industry alike? Unfortunately, No.

H&M's head-off campaign that was condemned for its 'fake' nature

A detailed observation into these milestones will suggest that more often than not these events were marketing tactics and by no means suggested an overall change in the outlook of the industry.

The H&M campaign was more of a damage control exercise for its head-off campaign disaster. The navigation through the beachwear finally leads the user to plus-size section(!). Finally, the page was taken off after few days from its website, when enough buzz was generated for the campaign. No points of guessing, the inherent motive was not to 

be all moral and put across a message, it was to be heard, known and talked about.

Vogue coverpage with three plus-size models

The vogue and elle magazines attached a slight amount of pun to the cover pages with plus-size models with taglines like “Thigs is the limit”, "booty-ful" models with "full-siz
e fannies” etc. These taglines then made rounds with further jokes and puns on the models, though earned great amount of spotlight for the magazines which was evident from the number of copies sold and inquiries, feedbacks and comments received.

Inspite of all the noise made by industry stalwarts about bringing in more original and natural models, models being fired for gaining weight is a regular phenomena and not much is being done by any party to ensure that the so called mind-set shift is actually implemented. Hence, the whole out-cry for change lacks moral intent and appears to be more of propaganda by the industry to gain mass-acceptance among society and its consumers for being a responsible industry.

Despite the public opinion condemning the use of "size 0" models, fashion gurus still give the girls the go ahead to walk at their shows. Guidelines set down last year advise the industry to go against using mega-thin girls. They claim that the brands are supposed to create an aspirational value for themselves and must also be able to suggest to consumers a better version of himself/herself when he/she acquire these brands.

There is another interesting aspect to the story. In March when H&M started to use size 12 mannequins in its store there were some critics which complained that such a move is promoting obesity among people.

With the arguments placed by the industry in favour and against of plus-size models at different occasions and sometimes by actions, it is clear that at the end of the day it’s the consumer which over-rides the decisions like these. Acceptance of the plus-size models and abandoning those who themselves undergo a torturous process and propagates the false imagination of “a perfect woman” through size 0 among consumers should be the first step in the direction.

As a new British study suggests that the cultural obsession with slim female figures could be overturned if advertising flaunted fuller-sized models, which in-turn are accepted and appreciated by the consumers. Industry must also rise above the petty marketing gimmicks to gain points for the campaign and instead place their belief in such ideology which is not just ‘right’ but also financially rewarding for them.

 Cheers,