MAGGI
We’ve grown up on the ubiquitous Maggi, but will the brand survive the ‘health’ onslaught?

“Just 2 minutes...” Of course, you’d never be able to forget something as tasty as this 2-minute treat! And it all started with Maggi Noodles! When someone asked your preference for noodles, pat came the answer – “I love it”, or “I don’t like it”! That’s the kind of power that this 2-minute punch, called Maggi, began to command. And Nestlé was shrewd enough to leverage the prowess of the brand name; it extended it to soups as well, which are selling well in the Indian market. But, where, as on one hand, Maggi may be a market leader, competition is coming in fast and furious from the likes of ‘Wai Wai’. No wonder Maggi has slumped 5 places to a lowly 33rd position. There’s a bigger reason for the fall and that is its unsatisfactory performance during the past year with extensions like atta noodles and Maggi Rice Noodles with three variants. These are efforts by Maggi to affix the health tag to its already tasty image, but the consumer still has to develop a taste for the new variants.

Naresh Gupta, National Head, Strategic Planning Department, Grey Worldwide, points out: “In today’s world, when everybody is becoming health-conscious, a brand can’t survive if it is not considered to be healthy...” How soon will Maggi’s image be overhauled is the question that the brand gurus are still waiting to answer?

BRITANNIA
From just a biscuit-baker to a legendary brand, Britannia has indeed come a long way...

And looking at the developments of the past year, the biscuit king seems to have set its sight on bigger targets! Since 2006, Britannia has innovated and introduced several new products in the market, revitalizing the brand, and making a conscious effort to bring youthful vigour into Britannia. It relaunched Tiger biscuits as Tiger Glucose, introduced new variants of Treat Duet, ‘Pepper Chakkar’ and renamed MarieGold Doubles as ‘50:50 Chutkule’. ‘Fruit Rollz’ was also introduced, besides the brand entering the ‘cake’ segment. If Britannia came up with a Greetings pack during the Diwali festive season, it also tied up with Walt Disney India for the innovative Jetix ‘Power Your Rangers’ contest, which had over 5 lakh kids participating across the country and witnessed its brand – Britannia Treat – record a 49% jump in sales. But even as the brand went all out to pump energy into itself, it plummeted 8 spots to occupy rank 35 this year in the 4Ps B&M rankings. So, what’s up? According to Tushar Bhattacharya, Senior Economist, FICCI, “The brand caters to regional needs and this is a definite weapon of theirs to fight competition. In the initial stages, the strategy might not be a hit, but then in the long term, undoubtedly it would be a winning one.” For now, we prescribe the brand as a glucose- laden high-energy diet!

TOYOTA
Being the global No.1 isn’t enough. Toyota must learn to handle the crown too!

Toyota is on a high. After becoming the world’s number one carmaker during the first quarter of 2007 (beating GM in global sales), and after launching their limitededition premium Corolla Sedan version in India during this year, Toyota has now outlined a number of strategies for developing markets. Few brands live up to consumer expectations and it comes as no surprise that despite entering India just half-a-decade back, brand Toyota has surpassed expectations. Speaking on Toyota’s brand positioning, KK Swami, Dy MD, revealed to 4Ps B&M, “We focus on the study of the consumer’s changing preferences, and therefore, getting the right cost price is important for us.” But there’s a problem here. Even though Toyota has been constantly evolving in India, it has witnessed a slump in sales, primarily due to heavy competition, not forgetting the launch of the Honda Civic and new Accord in 2006. Analysts believe that Toyota has to improve on ‘styling’ and radical designs if it wants to continue with this constant upward surge, unless, of course, it’s ready to face the winner’s curse syndrome.

GOOGLE
Brand Google is soaring globally, but its India strategy clearly needs more punch

Every one loves the $144.6 billion giant Google! And why not, thanks to them, you have the world at your finger tips! It might have slipped fifteen places to a seemingly unimpressive number 37, but surely, with 53.7% of the world search-engine market share, it undisputedly stands tall and worthy to be called a brand that garners a swashbuckling $10.6 billion in revenues during 2006 (at a growth rate of 121.6%, since 2002). The year 2006 also witnessed quite a few acquisitions, starting with Google’s acquisition of YouTube – a popular video sharing website, making it a huge rage among the youth. Then in October 2006, it cemented its hold even on the working population with its acquisition of Jot Spot, an enterprise social software. Despite its activities being on a global scale, India has not found itself out of action when it came to playing a role in this giant’s business development. The brand has given millions of Hindi-speakers a reason to rejoice with Google News in Hindi and has even come out with two venture capital funds, Seedfund and Erasmic. Shailesh Rao, MD, Google India told 4Ps B&M: “We want to be a catalyst for the India entrepreneurial spirit and create new services for the Indian market.” Google has also initiated its ‘click-to-call’ ads in India, a tie-up with Bharti Airtel to provide a mobile search option. Brand ‘Google’ has clearly left its competitors with no choice, but to ogle!

HCL
While other IT majors have begun to impress with flamboyant statements, HCL is stuck with a fuddy duddy image

This company virtually gave birth to the Indian computer industry, three loooong decades back. Cut to the present, HCL is still very much a proud Indian. Talk about low-end computers or high-end business solutions, the company practically has it all. The brand spans the entire infotech and digital spectrum today. Talking on the brand virtues, an HCL spokesperson told 4Ps B&M, “The single most important factor that has contributed to the success of the brand is differentiation.” Shiv Nadar, Founder, HCL, further adds, “What we have built across technologies, is the legitimacy and ability to be there.” Creativity, which too is an important facet of brand’s personality, reflects in its penetration across verticals such as aerospace and life sciences. HCL, as a brand, endeavours hard to not tread the beaten path, but do things differently. Now, it is focussing on a ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ of creating uncontested market spaces in unexplored territories, expecting 50% of its future business to come from technology areas that it has not entered yet. Though galloping ahead with its ‘FEARless’ campaign the brand needs to get rid of its fuddy duddy image. Brand HCL has gained enough stature to take on the world, this will help it to do the same, in style!

HONDA SIEL
With prices above the Koreans, but less than the American car-makers, Honda is going great guns!

The legendry Japanese car-maker, Honda, is known for high quality cars positioned in the A3, A4 and A5 segments. So much so that now the Indian consumer has come to expect luxury and flamboyance from the brand. Ironical too, because the Japanese carmaker is generally perceived as an entry-level/ mid-segment player in the West, while in India, the brand is comparatively up-market. The Japanese major finds itself in a situation where it is not comfortable in a backward integration exercise, where it will have to enter the B+ or other lower segments. However, the prospective entry of a small car like the Jazz, would be obligatory to the prevailing market trends, where the segment is witnessing high growth. Honda is still subscribing to a wait-and-watch policy while entering the segment because it is insecure about losing its carefully built ‘up market’ brand image. A Honda Siel spokesperson told 4Ps B&M: “Honda stands for quality, reliability and fuel efficiency. Customers have shown tremendous faith in our products that have made the brand Honda synonymous with trust and technology. Our increasing sales is a testimony to that.” If Honda ever jumps into the Indian compact-car segment, it may well walk away with the crown, as its brand power is simply – invincible!

McDONALD’S
Ronaldo has Rs.7 billion more lined-up for India. But, increasing health-consciousness threatens...

Thomas Friedman, a celebrated writer, once said, “No two countries, that both have McDonald’s, have ever fought a war against each other. People in McDonald’s countries don’t like to fight wars anymore, they prefer to wait in line for burgers.” Very true! So can we say – ‘that’s the power of brand McDonalds’? Maybe Yes, maybe no, but in India, the brand has had quite a roller-coaster journey. It all started with the ‘beef controversy’. But showing the nerve of a long-term player, McDonald’s in India has been growing for more than half a decade now. “The crucial factor that played a significant role in McDonald’s success and helped define Food Retailing in India was the understanding of the Indian consumer and Indian culture,” enthused Vikram Bakshi, MD, McDonald’s India (North and East). The fast food retailer under- stood the Indian consumers, which resulted in their strategy of Indi- anising the menu with vegetarian burgers like McAloo Tikki (their best selling burger yet), and value-for- money offerings. “The oil that we use is 100% vegetarian, palmolein oil and over 50% of the products on our menu are vegetarian in India,” says Bakshi. Brand campaigns like “hamare zamane ke daam” made market positioning simple and 57 new outlets were opened just in the past year. Sure enough, it’s Ronald’s magic being felt all around!