World of small things

First Scene – Me with empty trolley

Location- Food Bazaar, HUB Mall, Goregaon

Scene opens with wife having monthly grocery list and a pen, She said “Let’s start with kitchen items first “& the warrior was ready to put items in the trolley and move as per directions given by her.

Sugar 2 kg, Besan 500 g, Pulses 500 g, 10 Shampoo sachets, 50 g Face wash, 2 kg Surf Excel…..

I tried my best to put my point across “Why are you buying such a small qty of each and everything, but not large packs and we can survive for longer time”?

After repeated efforts, I got an answer “15 din ke baad phir aa jaayenge” and this happened months after months and I decided to understand this psyche and started observing a normal shopper behavior across modern as well as traditional retail.

Thought Came: When shopping, why we intend to buy smaller packs, less qty of items?

Possible reasons I could found:

Less Money Shell out at one go ( Less Risk)

As Indians, we are taught to save money (save, save, save) leading to point that money in hand is more important if required in contingency. Its life savior, due to this, we tend to hold money with us more than we can spend. So now

10 Sachet of shampoo of Rs 2 each, Money spent= Rs 20 vs Rs 35 bottle of more qty at one go.

So Risk is less, a Psychological savings.

Trial

Buying smaller packs gives a consumer opportunity to try that product, if it suits you, then you can buy bigger packet later. Largely it is there in personal care products.

A small 100 g Masala will convey its message whether it is good or bad, so no buying the same next time.

Unitization

This is very interesting Point, during my visit to Vapi with my Head of Marketing, Mr Alok Kapoor, he taught me one interesting concept.

Commodity--------Product……….Brand

Companies charge premium when a commodity moves to product and then to a brand.

He gave one example, Sugar is essentially a commodity, when one buys the same in its loose form from a grocery store, and he will get it at say Rs 40/kg.

When a company packs the sugar in good plastic bags and changes the form to sugar cubes, it can now be unitized, 1 packet- 2 cubes, 2 packets-40 cubes, company charges the premium from a customer as a price of changing the form (cubes) now same 1 kg sugar is now Rs 45 / kg,( Liquid drops to be more costly as Rs 60/kg)

When it moves from product to a brand (Company has created its imagery of quality, trust, endorsed through brand ambassadors), perceived benefit is very high , customer is ready to pay more premium of branded sugar Rs 80/ kg.

A customer will always pay premium to a brand if his perceived price that he needs to pay is lesser than product’s price (That is separate point, will write about it later)

So unitization (smaller packs) has made customer believe that they are paying for a unit than whole pack.

When asked about price, vegetable sellers always say price of lesser qty,

8 rupaiye pao ( 250 g) than Rs 32 per kg, if he says Rs 32 per kg, customer will say, Mehnga hai and will walk away, but with Rs 8 per 250 g, vegetable seller has made sure that customer can buy less also.

(Smart tactics but with logic to it)

No Brand loyalties

Gone are the days when people use to stick to one brand, with hundreds of options available in each and every category, people tend to switch brand loyalties, if they buy larger packs, they will have to stick to that product for a longer time binding him not to use other products.

Last scene- I was seen standing in long queue to pay the bill and I was getting ready to lift 4 heavy bags of grocery…..

Vikas Sachdeva

God as Brand

The thought of writing this blog came when I went to Shirdi in July 2012, when I reached Shirdi, I saw huge following in queues dying to meet Sai Baba, Also when I went to Mallikarjun ( one of the Jyotirlinga of Shiva near Hyderabad), I saw tons of crowd, it made me think people really follow Gods.

GODS ARE BRANDS, different gods serve different purpose/needs in people’s lives. I started looking at Gods as brands as under

Shiva

I find him a very strong brand when it comes to specific needs of a consumer, he is like Amitabh Bachchan in real world, that stature, persona, connect with people. He is a national brand, if you observe in temples, all Gods are given due pampering by flowers, shingar, aarti but when it comes to Shiva, he stands apart, he is not pampered n the same proportion yet he stands apart.  Shiva brand is exclusive too, people travel all kinds of mountains to meet him (see locations of all 12 Jyotirlinga, except Somanth and Vishwanath, he is not easily accessible, maybe that’s the reason he is respected more.

You will find a strong sub brand in Nandi who is always connected to main core.

Key attributes of Shiva brand: Exclusivity yet approachability, non interfering, commands a premium, strength in distribution, perceived assurance in fulfillment of promise made to him.

 Hanuman

As a brand promise, he is a problem solver, no matter whatever comes; he will find a solution, so for customers he is most loved. A total solution provider, his strength lies in go getter attitude, he is friendly, and if you see you will find him in all temples accompanying almost all Gods like Ganesh, Ram, Shani, Sherawali mata. He is playful. His major markets are northern and western India.

Key attributes of Hanuman brand: problem solver, friendly

Ganesh

Though he is available in all parts of country but his major sales come from Western India (Lord Shiva divided the territories between Ganesh and Kartikeya (strong brand equity in south). He is a welcome brand in all Indian houses; he serves two purposes for consumers

1.       He fulfills wishes of people,

2.       He is a problem solver

If you see trunk on side where Ganesh‘s heart is he is the one who fulfills wishes, but if you see his trunk on his right side, he is a problem solver (Siddivinayak comes under this category)

Key attributes of Ganesh brand: friendly, no intrusive, brings smiles

Krishna

A mastermind, cheerful and a politically correct brand, he is preferred in all parts of country, his claims are tall that he is everything, he is perceived to play a role of a brand which guides people, a guiding brand, he suggests only and then moves on, with huge female brand loyalists, he is not cunning, he doesn’t speak his promises loud and clear. His strong markets are UP and Gujarat. He makes his consumers think, he installs questions in their minds and making them powerful.

Key attributes: Experiential brand, politically correct, adviser, cheerful

Ram

He is the most spoken brand name in entire country, huge top of the mind recall, he is known for sacrifices thus perceived to be old brand. He is generic name, thus not exclusive. One thing that comes to my mind is inspite of huge brand recall, he is not perceived to be big, a big preferred name. He is a majorly north India brand.

Key attributes: huge recall, known for sacrifice

The intent is not to hurt anybody’s sentiments, I just see God as a brand.

Vikas Sachdeva

Brand Amul- Connecting with people efforlessly

Brand Amul- Connecting with people’s effortlessly

  

It was 12^th July 2012, I just entered the Hotel Red Fox in Hyderabad at around 11.15 pm, after a day of making arrangements for our new outlet launch in Chandanagar, freshened up, was just about to close my eyes for a good sleep, my room phone rang, wondering who it will be at this hour, It was my boss Mr Alok Kapoor on the another line.

We were called in his room at 11. 30 pm to share some data!

Just as we were discussing some points, My boss stood up and there was one book “Amul‘s India” in his hand.

“This is a gift for you, he said!

I was astonished at his gesture, i had always considered books as most valuable gifts (last week only, my wife had gifted me Steve jobs biography) and a gift from boss, wonderful, i really felt happy!

I slept well that night!

The book is about brand Amul, not how it was made in detail, but how it grew strength to strength.

Few points it taught me-

How Amul system works

Milk Producer---------Village Dairy CO-OP----------District Milk CO-OP union--------State CO-Op Milk MKTG Fed------------Consumer

1.       Cartoon form: First and foremost thing i like about brand Amul is its form, Cartoon Amul girl, it has not tried to become real, had it become real life character, it would have lost the charm, brand Amul is not intimidating, not boasting about its products, this form is most engaging. The sketches are still hand coloured.

2.       Brand Amul: After observing the communication over the period of time, brand Amul is positioned in my mind as “ Priceless products with complete consumer trust” , this brand is so approachable, it’s never far, it tells me “ i have best products whatever milk can produce”

3.       Communication messages: They always are topical, let’s remember it’s really difficult to choose one subject to communicate on as topic need to have dramatic potential, of sufficient interest, they need to appear immediately otherwise impact of that topic will be lost and at the same time, there should be a way to connect with the brand. Amul has always chosen topics which have the maximum connect (Bollywood, Politics and Sports). The messages are thought provoking, lovable and charming.

4.       4-5 words of wittiness and humour and teasing - The best part about brand Amul is that it’s messages are of just 4-5 words and in some cases even lesser than that.

 It’s really difficult in 4-5 words to

           

  Connect with the topic/issue

                Putting humour

               Connect with Amul brand and its products

5.  Amul addressing everyday problems – With its journey from attacking politicians, connecting with Bollywood stars, it started addressing grievances of customers like power shortages, bad roads. Admissions ,Legal age for drinking and more, so customers felt brand Amul as their spokesperson, somebody who is highlighting their problems not as if brand Amul will solve the problems but at least addressing to large public through its hoardings.

6.Controversial nature of messages- Why it got connected to most people was that its controversial Nature, it was put people into thinking for few seconds and then smile, customer would nod in agreement, Yes, i have understood what you meant!

Journey of brand Amul

1970-1980- In this period, Amul billboard documents the disconnected concerns of small group

1985- Mid 1990s- Amul billboards covers beginning of liberalization and change of political discourse.

Post 1991- Political scandals and controversies

After 2000- Bollywood and television

Amul, Utterly Butterly delicious, a brand!

Vikas Sachdeva