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MARCH, 2002 |
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Marketing |
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Branding Your Business
-By Rabin Bajracharya Save on Remarketing There are many important things you must do to get your business started, and many others to keep it going. Branding, by definition, is an ongoing activity, that may morph to accommodate your growth strategy and business environment changes but can never stop because it has achieved some stated goals. This is where the metaphorical sentence "we live and breathe this stuff" is very appropriate. It starts with you from day one and continues with you for the life of the business. There are two major tasks in your branding activity. The first is the underlying business that you want your brand to communicate, and the second is communicating it. Your Underlying Business Your brand is not only associated with the product or service alone but also the price, quality, availability, and convenience factors. Convenience factors include the way the product gets delivered, and all associated activities such as your customer service, support and warranties. But if you happen to be in e-business side of the house, your website’s reachability, look and feel and even your navigation does matter. Your focus should be on the total bundle that is associated with your brand because it is how your customers will evaluate your brand. Customers, and specifically your existing customers, need to believe that they are getting the best total bundle of factors mentioned above. It is the perception that counts... your customers’ perception that is. The total bundle must take into consideration that different factors are weighed differently from one customer group to another. This is why it is critical to make sure that you have identified your customer group (niche) during the planning phase before attempting to create your business model. Not only do you need to identify the factors with the most weight in the customers’ minds, but also which ones need your attention. If you sell Music CD’s online or offline, for example, one of the most important factors in the minds of shoppers for the latest Nabin K. Bhattarai Music CD is the CD itself. Since branding the particular CD itself is something that both Nabin k Bhattarai and the recording company have already done, and continue to do, your job is to worry about the other factors critical for your customer as you build your brand. Focusing on the product in this case is not only fruitless but may be self-destructive as well. Note that the message you communicate cannot differ significantly from your underlying business. If it communicates a different total bundle not only will it negatively affect your brand forever, but depending on the magnitude of variance, it can be illegal as well. You will not be able to deliver to the people interested in your brand (who will end up abandoning you), and your message will not interest the customers who are looking for your business... A perfectly lose-lose situation !!!! Communicating Your Brand Communicating your brand will largely depend on what you are offering, your customer niche, and the way you want to position yourself in their minds. Success is achieved when your message is correctly communicated to the customer who cares about the bundle you offer. Words matter: Make sure the words you use fit your offer, the recipient, and the times. All demographic factors come into play from age and sex to ethnic background and geographic location. If you’re selling bikinis obviously your preferred media for advertisement will be some teen focused media over Gorkhapatra or The Rising Nepal. Again you may choose a message that provokes your customer group, and that is OK as long as you know what you are doing and the message fits your customer and your offer. All brand all the time: As mentioned above, you need to "live and breathe this stuff". From your business card and clothes, to your car license plates and chats in the elevator you should be working to brand your business. I was impressed when I saw DHUKUTI.com title in one of my partners license plate. I thought it was one of the best, economical ways to promote your branding campaign. Instead of wearing a free T-shirt with Microsoft’s logo, wear one with your logo and web address. You get the Microsoft T-shirt for free because you are paying them each time you wear it... Buy YOUR brand! Another opportunity to brand your business is the trivial chitchats we all have everyday. If you are excited about your business and believe in it, why not share it with your friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, neighbours and anyone else who will listen? If you are not that excited about it then why do you have it to begin with? If you know any new parents you will know exactly what I am talking about. They talk about all the cool things their babies do... including things like diapers, spit, screams, etc. I am not suggesting that you bore people to death but I am highlighting that people excited about what they do tend to share it with others. The only time they do not share is when they are not really excited, or they are inhibiting their excitement. If you are the former, get excited or get out of business, if you are the latter then you are missing out on a great opportunity. Talking to others help you sharpen your vision, increase your positive view of your business, and can possibly generate new ideas and acquire new customers. Again, don’t be obnoxious and start "cheap selling" to people, but don’t be shy to let people know about your business and the good things you offer. Testing: Finally there are some questions that you need to ask yourself to be able to decide on the best course of action and to test the effectiveness of your branding activities. Since we agreed that this is an ongoing process, you will need to ask yourself those questions repeatedly and adjust your strategy if there is any change in your responses. You will also need to change your strategy if it is not appropriately generating the desired branding effects. What would the customer do if I go out of business today? Will I be missed? While one may try to answer these questions objectively, often times our answers tend to be biased with what we want them to be, not what they really are. It is a very good idea to let a friend, spouse, or anyone close enough to you to answer those questions provided that they will not be intimidated by you if they give you honest responses. Also ask:
Finally, the biggest and dumbest marketing expense is remarketing. While it is inevitable that you repeat your branding message, each message should build on the one that preceded it as opposed to starting from square one. The only possible way to do this is to be consistent, tenacious, and believe in your brand. You will save a lot of time and money by creating and nurturing a brand with the utmost focus and dedication. Once your brand means something in the minds of customers, you can add to the message with minimal burden on the customers’ minds. That will give you the stability and distinctability of your brand in your target customers’ minds. Don’t save on marketing... Save on remarketing!!! (Bajracharya is a Business Management Student in Minnesota, USA and works for Minnesota Corn Processors, LLC as SAP consultant and also operates DHUKUTI.COM INC. as its CTO - Chief Technology Officer) Ads of the Month January-February saw a number of new ads. Here is how the marketing experts evaluate them: Fair & Lovely’s new ad campaign with new model (Yashaswi) on print, TV radio and outdoor has crated good interest from the people. The release was well timed to coincide with Close-up Hits FM Music Awards (sponsored by Nepal Lever Ltd. the manufacturer of Fair & Lovely) of which the company made a very good use. The contest it ran offering diamond rings and free passes to the music awards ceremony effectively established the new ad in the minds of the target groups. Newly launched Lekali white noodles from Himalayan Snax and Noodles (P) Ltd. are being associated with the challenge of adventure and the pleasure of reunion with friends. The ad simultaneously running on print, TV, radio and outdoor tries to give a good message but lacks clarity. Meanwhile, Himalayan Snax is also running another ad campaign called "Gold N Car Offer" as a consumer scheme for its flagship brand Mayos with focus on the fact that the winners under the scheme are selected in a transparent way leaving no chance at all for cheating the consumer. The message of the ad is clear to the target group and it also presents the campaign as something different from any previous such campaigns from Himalayan Snax itself or any other company. The market watchers also point out that with the noise created in the ad, Mayos campaign has clearly won over rival Wai Wai’s "houseful offer" though the content of the houseful offer was more fabulous. Perhaps this indicates to another round of more aggressive campaign from Wai Wai. One salvo of aggressive retaliation has already been fired from Asian Thai Foods, the makers of rival brand Rum Pum, which claims in its ad that its campaign has nothing to cheat the customers. To prove the point it printed pictures of customers receiving the prizes of its Rum Pum Bingo Hungama. In that same ad, Asian Thai Foods also attacked Chaudhary Group twisting the name of the Group’s product Gol Mol into Gol Mal meaning hanky-panky. Then there is another noodles brand, U-Key, which sounds like competing brand Ru-Chee, though it is not easy to say which one is the copy and which is the original. The major comment about the ad is for its emphasis on hygienic aspect which is not likely to impress the consumers because of the reports in all media against noodles. Moreover, the use of doctors in the ad may also call wrath of the medical council as it is doing about one mustard oil ad (NBA, February 2002). It is a very good idea to use teasers before the launch of a new product or campaign. And this technique has been used frequently in a very effective manner by the Nepali marketers on various occasions, some latest examples being the one with the launch of Yamaha Crux R motorcycles. But the example of the worst form of using this technique was provided lately in the relaunching of Tokala tea. Twenty-five hoardings, 300 banners plus print ads with same color codes and same design were used to tease the consumers asking them, "Do you know that kala is coming back?" The consumers were rather irritated when they later found out that the missing letters were nothing other than To and thus forming the word that represented a tea brand that was long ago vanished from the market. Perhaps the new owners of Tokala tea garden should have come up with a new brand name, or they could also have come up with more explanatory ad clarifying the prospects about the circumstances that led to the discontinuation of the brand in the past and what were the backgrounds for the resurrection now. How much can you litter your ad with too many messages crowded in a small space? Perhaps, one good example is given by the print ad of Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant. Then there is one more ad exhorting the consumers to take bills for every purchase. Created by Adlink for the Inland Revenue Department, this ad in colour resembles that of a spirit brand (no prize for guessing it). Moreover, the same ad over the radio can be said to be "meaningless", to put it very mildly. However advanced your radio receiver may be, it is impossible for you to understand what the words of the jingle mean. Selecting Ad Agencies The CRS Way Perhaps a new trend is heralded in selection of ad agencies in Nepal. In what may be regarded as a significant break from the past, Nepal CRS Company, a business firm that looks more like an NGO, selected three ad agencies for its different marketing purposes through a somewhat complicated three-tier selection process. In fray in the initial round of the selection process were some 13 ad agencies operating in Nepal. Five of them were screened out in the first phase leaving only eight in the competition, which were asked to make presentations about what they plan for CRS. After this round was over there were only four of them selected, which were asked to submit financial bids. Three of them were selected finally for the business. What is surprising about all the process is that those screened out included some reputed international brands - for example, Thompson Nepal. It may be recalled that Thompson Nepal has repeatedly bagged some premium social marketing jobs, such as those related to promoting iodised salt, family health service and labour relations. But CRS sources indicate that the selection criteria were such that deliberately put the foreign brands in some disadvantage over the Nepali brands. McCann-Ericsson, another foreign ad agency operating in Nepal, was also rejected for similar reasons. Who were those selected then? Prisma Ad for female contraceptives and Echo Ad for male contraceptives, while New Shristi has been selected for campaigns called Behavioural Change Communication (BCC) targeted to bring about behavioural change among the communities. Among those rejected was Prismark, the agency that spun off after the promoters of Prisma decided last year to separate. Among the other companies vying for the CRS business were Crayons, Synchro Media, Business Advantage, Classic, Boost Up, Option Ad and National. The advertising agencies in Nepal are so far largely dependent on the private sector businesses of which only a few use a proper communication plan to communicate with the customers. Not much of strategic planning goes into the development of the communication package. Nor are the selection criteria for the communication agency too stringent. Most of it happens on the basis of "He recommends the agency…" or, "I know someone who knows someone in that agency". And a deal is sealed with mutually convenient arrangement to carry out a mostly short-term advertising program. The demands of the advertisers are few, and fewer are the efforts of agencies to justify the rational of money spent on communication with customers. The second category of advertisers are multi-national corporates with their international range of products, either locally manufactured or imported from overseas manufacturing facilities. Now, these sets of global brands go by entrusting their communication package to their global communication agency affiliates. These mega brands generally support high advertising spends, rationalizing a professional and comparatively larger establishment of these multi-national advertising agencies. Now, there is a third area of qualitative advertising requirement emerging with the involvement of social marketing agencies, INGOs and NGOs. Nepal being one of the poorest nations in the world, it receives a sizeable amount of aid and development support from various international agencies, which are routed through many NGOs and INGOs. Communication support to enable these programs take effect become inevitable and consequently the requirement for communication planning and action of professional advertising agencies become relevant. The selection strategy used by Nepal CRS Company, a USAID supported initiative in social marketing of contraceptives, seems to have brought in the arrival of this new trend. Communication program for Nepal CRS Company is not a new happening. For years the company had elaborately embarked on comprehensive communication plans. With a change of guard in corporate management this year, the company reviewed the diverse and specific needs of communication applications and the requirement for a fresh strategic approach to augment brand confidence and enlarge user base of the brands. Monica Chand is out and Yashaswi Shah is in as the model in the ad campaign for Fair & Lovely fairness cream from Nepal Level Ltd. (NLL). But why the change? Because Monica looked more like a foreign model both for her appearance as well as pronunciation, guess the observers though the officials in NLL and their ad agency Thompson Nepal decline to make any specific comment except that ads and models keep on changing. Fare War His Majesty’s Government has allowed the airlines to increase the airfare on various routes upto 40% effective February 15. The step was as expected because the airline operators association had been pressing for the same for some time and the pressure had been intensified after the September 11 incidence in USA. And it was way back in September 1999 that the airfare had been revised the latest. But what is surprising that the decision comes at a time when some airlines were also offering substantial discounts on certain routes. For example, Buddha Air had reduced the airfare on Biratnagar-Kathmandu sector to Rs. 1500 (against the normal fare of Rs. 1820). The fare now allowed to be fixed on this sector is Rs.2180. And Buddha Air’s concession had come when competitor Cosmic Air’s similar offer in force for the last several months was coming to an end in mid-February. Meanwhile, Mountain Air also had been announcing reductions on certain routes. And besides these three, there are only four or five airlines that are practically in serious business at present. All the rest of the 30 plus licenced airlines are only squatting on the licence. One may have his or her own opinion about this, but this scribe interprets the recent fare war among the airlines as indicating that they need better competitive environment, not higher tariff administered by a government fiat. If all the government controls on the airfare are lifted off, the actual fares should rather go down, not up, as a result of efficiency that will be enforced. It now remains to be seen how effective will be the new formula of crosssubsidising the fare to remote areas by setting up a fund by taxing every ticket sold on the more lucrative routes. One good thing the authorities have done regarding the aviation industry lately is the initiation to withdraw the license from some squatter companies. Ad Funda # 1 to 5 Minimise advertising waste". With this slogan, Space Time Network (P) Ltd. (STN) is running a print ad campaign soliciting ads on CT Cinema, a Hindi movie channel that STN distributes to its cable subscribers. To substantiate its claim that the waste is minimized by advertising on CT Cinema, STN puts forward, what it calls, Advertising Funda No. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. Fund #1: On average, 47% of product sale is from Kathmandu. Funda #2: 80% housewives (in Kathmandu?) watch CT Cinema. Funda #3: 50% of your advertising is a waste. Funda #4: If you are No. 1, defend Kathmandu market. Funda #5: If you are not no. 1, attack Kathmandu. Daily Competition It has been almost six months now since NBA printed a cover story on the business of daily newspapers (August 2001). And a number of developments in this sector during the interval have been noteworthy. First, the number of English broadsheet dailies has increased to four with the entry of the Himalayan Times, while that of Nepali ones remained the same. Though Naya Sadak closed down, it was not a broadsheet. Second, and more important perhaps, is the change that the dailies have been undergoing in the content as well as the layout. For example, in response to the Rising Nepal’s weekly page on tourism, The Kathmandu Post (TKP) too has started doing the same. Just a few weeks back, TKP also effected changes in the layout of its pages. Another latest development has been a supplement also from the Himalaya Times (Nepali). Though it was trying with colour pages also in the past, the quality of print then looked like dabbing of ink. Now it is far better, because of the new printer - SAMA Printers (P) Ltd. Liquor Channel This serves as an example of turning the negative forces into positive ones. Being denied the permission to operate from Nepal, the TV channel "Channel Nepal" (CN) is operating in a round about way sending the material physically from Nepal to Bangkok from where they are beamed to Nepali skies. It looks like that the channel is facing unnecessary difficulties in operation. But not much in fact. Because, being forced to broadcast from abroad, CN does not have to follow the rules of Nepali government. Hence, while other electronic media cannot accept liquor and tobacco product ads, Channel Nepal has no such restrictions, thus becoming the only medium available for liquor and tobacco companies to run their ads targeted to Nepali consumers and at rates reasonable from Nepali standards. And that is exactly what the channel is doing now. Though, the revenue aspect is still a secret of the company, one can safely conclude that it is growing. Till a few weeks ago, there was only Imperial Blue brand sponsoring one program on CN. Now "Gill Marry" brand also has joined in sponsoring another program. If two are already in, CN can reasonably expect that more will follow soon. Whirlpool Claims 40% Mkt Share In the year 2001, Whirlpool sold 13,000 units of home appliance in Nepal against the target of 10,000, says Navin Distributors (P) Ltd., the distributor of Whirlpool in Nepal. This translates to over 40% market share in home appliances such as fridge, washing machines and microwave oven, says the company in a press release issued at the conclusion of its third annual dealer’s meet early February. The target for 2002 is to sell 16,000 units, say the company sources. According to them the brand is achieving an impressive 60 to 70% growth in sales in Nepal in recent years. The company has been dealing in Whirlpool for the last six years (since 1997) importing the products from USA, India, Italy and Brazil. It says its strategy for 2002 is going to be to establish Whirlpool as a power brand. For this "we have to go forward from leadership to dominance", it further says. To make that happen, the company promises to expand the existing product range. From Nanglo to Ningalo Twenty five years ago when Nanglo opened as a restaurant, many had laughed it off for the use of the Nepali word as the brand. (Almost similar reaction was made perhaps also about Soaltee. But this scribe is not sure about that as 40 years ago is beyond the memory span). Though Nanglo flourished gradually (and often tremendously during some years), the trend of naming new eating outlets after some Indian or overseas name continued unabated. Hence, Mike’s Breakfast, Rum Doodle, Tansen, Aunt Jane’s Cabin, Sheesh Mahal, Taj Mahal and the like. Bhanchha Ghar or Bhojan Griha were more like exceptions rather than a rule. However, the recent times seem to be more in favour of Nepali names. And that is not limited in restaurants only. While Lazana, Bhoy Chhen and recently opened Ningalo (the latter at Thapatahli) serve as examples of growing popularity of Nepali names in restaurants, Dhukuti (at Kopundole) and recently opened Khurpeto at Pulchowk are the examples in handicrafts. More interesting is that the trend has been catching up also in fashion boutiques. Earlier the names used to be something like Chahat, Liwas and Ghunghat - all borrowed for free from perhaps similarly named boutiques in India. Now there are Gunyo Choli and Pachyauri – both truly Nepali words. But what about the products that these indigenously named boutiques sell? Perhaps they are not that indigenous as the names of the firms suggest. While the other players are fighting for a space in brown noodles, Himalayan Snax & Noodles (P) Ltd. has entered into the white noodles segment of Nepal’s instant noodles market with "Lekali" brand. This comes about four months after of the announcement by the company’s CEO Rabindra Man Shrestha (NBA, October 2001) that the company was planning to enter this segment. The product is available is 80 gm packs priced at Rs. 9.00 per pack, thus positioning it below the brown noodles which are priced Rs. 10 and 11 for the same size packs. According to Shrestha, the white noodle segment’s attraction lies in its very "friendly" consumer profile and low competition. There is plenty of scope of marketing activities is this segment which has not been utilized by the existing players, he says. Gandaki Noodles (P) Ltd. is the only other player in this segment with its brands Rara and Phewa. Gillette’s New Products A new product has been launched in Nepal in February 2002 by Gillette, the world leader in male grooming products which has a reputation of always having a stock of several newly developed products lined up for launching in the coming months. Priced at Rs. 80, the newly launched Tube Shave Gel is claimed to offer excellent value for money as only one drop of it is required to build a thick creamy lather. During a recently held sales conference in Kathmandu, Gillette also launched a mega-promotion campaign with Rs. 100 off on its Sensor Excel razor making it now available for Rs. 175 for a limited period. At the same time, Gillette has also re-launched Gillette Presto ready shavers (disposable shavers) at an economical price of Rs. 20. Gillette’s aggressive promotional plan also includes an offer under which a user can get to witness the FIFA World Cup football final in Japan with a partner. Gillette is one of the sponsors of the World Cup. A lucky draw during the final could win a lucky consumer US$ 1 million. Nepal Overseas Marketing Company (P) Ltd., that markets the Gillette products in Nepal, claims that Gillette here has seen a 400% plus growth in sales over the past several years. Fusion Furniture Using pre-laminated particleboards as base material, Fusion Furniture Solution, a part of Golchha Organisation, has launched new type of knock-down furniture for office and general residence. "Fusion uses high quality pre-laminated particle boards (Nepal Boards) as the base material along with other hardware, fittings and accessories imported from Germany and Italy. The state of the art, European machines facilitates furniture of the highest quality", says the firm in a press release. Along with the standard range of Do-It-Yourself furniture selling under the brand FUSION, they also manufacture furniture customised to the clients’ needs. "High quality, quick deliveries, competitive price and high aesthetic value are the highlights of Fusion furniture", states the release. The DIY ready to use range of Fusion furniture is available from Royal Choice in Baneshwar and in Dilli Bazar. IFTEX Lubricants Pioneer Marketing, a Sharda Group firm has introduced in Nepali market three fuel additives of IFTEX brand – Iftex Clean System G, Iftex Clean System D and Iftex Clean System 23. Iftex is endorsed by major vehicle manufacturers of brands like Opel, Bajaj, Maruti, and Hyundai, says the company and claims that while the System G saves petrol five times more than what ordinary additives do, System D is used in diesel vehicles and saves diesel three times. System 23 is used in two-wheelers, and the company claims it is perhaps the first additive available in Nepal for two-wheelers. Bamboo Flooring Himalayan Bamboo Pvt. Ltd. has launched bamboo-flooring parquet in Kathmandu. Bamboo Flooring Parquet is newly developed superior flooring material, says the company describing it as an attractive alternative to wood or laminate flooring. In the case of cold places like Kathmandu it is an attractive alternative of marble flooring as well, it adds. Himalayan Bamboo Pvt. Ltd. is a company owned by Ajaya Mudbhary, who is one of the major shareholders in Nepal Ekarat Engineering (P) Ltd., the makers of Neek brand of transformers. The appearance of bamboo floor is very similar to wood flooring, according to the company. It retains the natural texture and color of bamboo, the surface looks bright and elegant, pure and simple. It comes in vertical and flat grain patterns and generally is offered in a light, honey, or natural color and a darker amber "carbonized" color. The product possess stronger intensity in pressing-resistance, stretching-resistance, curving-resistance and wearing-resistance and better property in anti-moth, anti-mildew, water-proof, heat resistance and deformity proof. Chaudhary’s Sarvottam Lito Instant Meal Pvt. Ltd., a unit of Chaudhary Group, has launched Sarvottam Lito, a cereal-based baby food of traditional Nepali style. The product can also be given to lactating mothers, growing children, pregnant women and sick and the old, but it is basically known as a weaning baby food. The company has been producing blended food for UN agencies for the last eight years, say Chaudhary Group sources. Priced at Rs. 50 for a pack of 500 grams, Sarvottam Lito saves almost Rs. 100 to the buyer who can switch over to it from imported similar products. Moreover, the domestic manufacture means more freshness in the products, claims the company. The product is now available in Kathmandu in wheat, apple and vanilla flavours. The company says it is planning to make it available also outside the valley and in additional varieties. |
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