Prashant Parameswaran was confounded by the behavior of consumers. On the one hand, there was a growing awareness on health foods and on the other hand, the diffusion of healthy snacks was not as fast as the indulgent snacks. The consumer mindscape, with respect to healthy snacking was cluttered with healthy cookies, bars, fruit juices, low-diet offerings, baked savories, milk additives and yoghurts (to name a few categories). Parameswaran had also found, that several of the healthy snacks had a sizable percentage of sugar and saturated fat that may make the claims on health benefits questionable. In addition to the claimed health benefits, there was glitz and glamor associated with the ads of most of these brands that featured attractive ultra-thin models, celebrities, and models. Such models used by the brand, portrayed unattainable fitness and looks that were stunningly aspirational in nature. Were consumers really interested in healthy snacking or was it just a passing fad? How were these offerings associated with healthy snacking judged by consumers? Do glamorous ads change the focus of the consumers, who may otherwise be inclined to prefer health to indulgence, when it comes to snacking? Were consumers aware of the labeling used by brands? Were there differences between consumer segments that were deeply interested, in healthy snacking and other segments that were interested in health but were unable to change their behavior? How do consumers consider different unrelated offerings that promise health? How should a new offering be launched? The case is about the usage of attitudinal aspects to understand the attitude of consumers towards the snacking domain and their impact on branding in the Indian context.
Parvesh Dabuka, Head of Marketing, Paper Boat brand of soft drink was thinking about the success of the niche brand that was positioned on nostalgia and ethnic taste. This thought had two aspects, one that was not uncommon and the other a different manner of looking at brand positioning. As a brand manager of a successful brand, like any other brand manager, he was concerned about sustaining the success of the brand: he had also thought that he should look at the brand positioning of Paper Boat through the lens of consumer behavior aspects. There were a number of questions in his mind: Was the success of Paper Boat because of its ethnic and nostalgic positioning or was it because of the novelty of picking up a different proposition. Both were different aspects. The novelty of brand positioning may wean off after sometime if consumers are not committed to the brand for what it stands for. Given the rapid strides made by the competitors of Paper Boat, would consumers be more interested in the functional benefits of the brand? Do consumers experience the brand (Paper Boat) based on its ingredients? Was Paper Boat associated with consumers at the level of their self-concept? Parvesh knew that he was getting at the positioning of Paper Boat through several aspects of how consumers expressed their behavior and at the same time wondered if a category such as soft drinks generally associated with fun and frolic may appeal to the consumers on anything other than nutritive benefits or fun? Further, if consumers wanted a new association with Paper Boat, how can the brand steer away from its existing associations toward a new set of associations? He seemed to have an endless array of thoughts linked to brand positioning and repositioning. The case study explores several contemporary aspects of consumer behavior in the backdrop of the usual brand positioning efforts.
"What are the nuances that link brand positioning, brand associations and brand equity related aspects of a brand performing successfully in the market?" especially in an emerging market such as India is a question that triggers many approaches among academics and practitioners. Head &Shoulders brand from Procter and Gamble is a multinational brand that had grown rapidly in the Indian context after displacing a well-entrenched brand of shampoo. The brand's effective positioning had struck a chord with consumers and had sustained its success over a period of time. With several competitive brands entering the well-advertised category of shampoos, the brand manager for Head &Shoulders felt that its positioning though effective cannot last forever and wanted to find out if the brand's positioning could be strengthened. Besides the analysis of thr regular brand positioning strategies, the company felt that a study on consumer behavior could provide useful pointers to the alternatives of brand positioning with respect to Head &Shoulders when studied with its competitive brands. The results of the study provided interesting but challenging results that made brand repositioning more complex than what the brand manager had assessed. The case study highlights the importance of consumer behavior when brands decide to reposition themselves in a dynamic environment. Furthermore, the case also draws on the implications of brand positioning and consumer behavior on the qualitative dimensions of brand equity.
Ami Shah who works with social media promotions associated with Bollywood movies was interested in obtaining behavioral insights with a comparison between '`Gulaab Gang" and '`Queen'' (both these movies are based on themes associated with women). '`Gulaab Gang'' was a box office failure while '`Queen'' was a major hit. An attitudinal survey among the viewers of each of these films forms the behavioral input to the case study. Amidst the high visibility campaigns of films in Bollywood, Shah believed that behavioral aspects of movies is something that has not been explored much with respect to branding of films. How can these behavioral inputs on movies enable lessons to be learnt on branding? Can a framework for branding be suggested from the analysis based on the behavioral analysis?
In an initiative to develop its herbal soap offering and create a repositioning strategy for its soap products, one of the front-runners in the Indian skincare market explored the perception of the brand image, using survey data to compare its own image with those of two of its strongest competitors. The challenge for this brand was to reposition itself and build its equity after taking into consideration the perceptual results of the study and the existing positioning of soap brands.
In an initiative to develop its herbal soap offering and create a repositioning strategy for its soap products, one of the front-runners in the Indian skincare market explored the perception of the brand image, using survey data to compare its own image with those of two of its strongest competitors. The challenge for this brand was to reposition itself and build its equity after taking into consideration the perceptual results of the study and the existing positioning of soap brands.
Abstract (Maximum of 2,000 Characters): Briefly describes content of case. There is an emergence of a new segment in the Indian context - Young women in urban India, who are educated, independent, driven towards professional goals adopting a modern lifestyle, even while retaining their ethnic cultural values. This segment is enthusiastic about using brands whose symbolic meanings are aligned with their self-concepts, as it would enhance their very unique self-expression. Raga was the first ever watch brand in the world that was exclusively launched for women, by Titan Industries Limited. Raga was positioned as an ethnic watch for the sophisticated Indian woman, embellished with striking symbolism from the culture of India. Beauty, Sensuality and Feminity were the core values of Raga that were reflected in the brand's positioning .Tanishq was another pioneering brand from the same company that entered as a branded player in a context where the Indian jewelry market was highly unorganized. Tanishq offered professional work-wear jewelry as well as traditional jewellery that women wore for Indian rituals, capturing the evolving women who wore professional as well as traditional jewelry based on the context. Women associated appropriate as well as beautiful looks with Tanishq jewelry. The case explores if the application of psychographics to brands could be taken to the next level - how can a company with similar symbolic brands (Raga watches and Tanishq jewelry) in different categories appeal to the target segment that may have a similar psychographic profile. Some of these challenges include - Should similar appeals be sustained and strengthened? Would such an appeal be favorable to both the brands? Should the positioning of either brand be modified? How do the appeals impact the formation of groups (reference groups) involved with these brands? Can behavioral theories be useful for such challenges of synergizing the appeals of Raga and Tanishq?
In recent years, the Indian shampoo market had been growing at an exponential rate, with several categories and brands of personal care products showing significant growth. Like consumers in several emerging markets, Indians had begun to place a heightened degree of importance on physical appearance, perhaps as an outcome of Westernization and exposure to media. Traditionally, Indians were known to use herbs to nurture and enhance their hair. Now, however, Indian consumers were caught between the propositions of "synthetic" hair-care brands versus the "natural benefits of the herbal" brands, despite the fact that some degree of processing was required for both types. Amid this dichotomous culture of hair-care products, how could the Himalaya brand establish itself as a differentiated herbal offering?
In recent years, the Indian shampoo market had been growing at an exponential rate, with several categories and brands of personal care products showing significant growth. Like consumers in several emerging markets, Indians had begun to place a heightened degree of importance on physical appearance, perhaps as an outcome of Westernization and exposure to media. Traditionally, Indians were known to use herbs to nurture and enhance their hair. Now, however, Indian consumers were caught between the propositions of “synthetic” hair-care brands versus the “natural benefits of the herbal” brands, despite the fact that some degree of processing was required for both types. Amid this dichotomous culture of hair-care products, how could the Himalaya brand establish itself as a differentiated herbal offering?
The business world-over, and especially in emerging markets, is undergoing a radical transformation with respect to markets, consumers, suppliers, and technology. While multinational organizations can benefit through cumulative knowledge expertise of managers who had worked in emerging markets, the planning of survival and competition strategies of small-scale businesses run by entrepreneurs, offers tremendous knowledge potential. The case looks at the antecedents and process of transformation of a small-scale Indian firm, VNFPP Ltd., into a marketing-oriented organization, through the lens of holistic marketing. VNFPP Ltd. was in the process of shifting its focus from exporting pickled and processed agro-products to select customers abroad, to domestic markets with an entirely new product/product line. The managing director, P S Madhusudhan (Madhu), was concerned about the process of transformation of the organization with a predominant sales-orientation to a customer-focused marketing company. Preliminary research suggested that an opportunity existed for one of VNFPP's products in the Indian market among the burgeoning class of Indian IT professionals. The real concern for VNFPP would be in designing an appropriate marketing organization. Until then, all employees had a product orientation, with a marked absence of any kind of marketing concept. Holistic marketing and internal marketing were concepts that were formulated for large companies. Incorporating them in a small-scale industry was full of complexities and challenges. The case is about how VNFPP could come to grips with such challenges.
The Himalaya Drug Company is interested in obtaining insights into how the lifestyle of consumers is associated with the use of face washes, especially of its own brand. As the population of India, which is primarily under the age of 35, becomes more affluent and self-conscious, personal grooming has become more important. Several brands have positioned themselves in the market according to various attributes and benefits. Himalaya wants to understand the impact of values and lifestyles both on the category of face washes and on the brands in this category. The case makes use of a consumer survey conducted in December 2011 that investigated the lifestyle of consumers and connected it to various face wash brands through the concept of laddering. Were the attributes and benefits of the brands associated with the lifestyles of the consumers? How were values associated with brand association? Himalaya hopes to obtain insights through these questions to discover how it can effectively compete with its competitors through branding association.
The Himalaya Drug Company is interested in obtaining insights into how the lifestyle of consumers is associated with the use of face washes, especially of its own brand. As the population of India, which is primarily under the age of 35, becomes more affluent and self-conscious, personal grooming has become more important. Several brands have positioned themselves in the market according to various attributes and benefits. Himalaya wants to understand the impact of values and lifestyles both on the category of face washes and on the brands in this category. The case makes use of a consumer survey conducted in December 2011 that investigated the lifestyle of consumers and connected it to various face wash brands through the concept of laddering. Were the attributes and benefits of the brands associated with the lifestyles of the consumers? How were values associated with brand association? Himalaya hopes to obtain insights through these questions to discover how it can effectively compete with its competitors through branding association.
With several brands in the premium shirt market, the Arrow brand faced the challenge of balancing its premium associations that had been nurtured in the past to make the brand contemporary. The concept of "premiumness" with regard to the category had undergone a shift, with equally strong brands (comparable to the Arrow brand) strengthening their positioning on premiumness. Arrow faced several challenging decisions that involved its original positioning. The fundamental decision on revitalizing and reinforcing the brand would depend on the analysis of the changing environment, competitive offerings from competing brands and the perception of consumers on Arrow and its competitors. The premium shirt market had brands that offered comparable functional attributes; and the differentiation of brands was built by both functional attribute positioning and symbolic positioning. Balancing the two aspects and alternating between these two aspects in a dynamic category and environment required an approach that would bring several aspects of consumer behavior towards a brand's strategy. As the competition intensified, there was need for any brand to delve into the finer aspects of consumer behavior rather than depend on the basic positioning strategies. There was a need to analyze how consumer behavior strategies could contribute to the brand's positioning strategies. Should Arrow retain its category expertise? Should the brand retain its "country of origin" associations? Should the brand focus on the self-concept associated with the consumer segment? A medley of concepts that can trigger Arrow's next level of brand strategy is the context posed by this case in an emerging market such as India.
HDFC Life Insurance (HDFC Life) was competing in a changing environment as established banks began entering the insurance business. Even though several brands in the category advertised with different positioning strategies, consumers were not receptive. HDFC Life commissioned a survey that seemed to lead the senior manager of digital marketing to a dead end. The challenge was to introduce a differentiation that could be associated with the HDFC brand despite the limitations of the category and the unreceptive mindset of the target segment. The case also takes into consideration the changing lifestyles of potential insurance buyers in India, their new interest in purchasing insurance online and the complexities of developing a services brand in an emerging market.
HDFC Life Insurance (HDFC Life) was competing in a changing environment as established banks began entering the insurance business. Even though several brands in the category advertised with different positioning strategies, consumers were not receptive. HDFC Life commissioned a survey that seemed to lead the senior manager of digital marketing to a dead end. The challenge was to introduce a differentiation that could be associated with the HDFC brand despite the limitations of the category and the unreceptive mindset of the target segment. The case also takes into consideration the changing lifestyles of potential insurance buyers in India, their new interest in purchasing insurance online and the complexities of developing a services brand in an emerging market.
Ramesh Kumar was curious to determine whether consumers were loyal to toothpaste brands. Himalaya Herbal Toothpaste had herbal offerings in the retail and prescription segments, affording him the opportunity to conduct research. Were consumers loyal to a particular brand of toothpaste? Did they remember the functional brand benefits? Were consumers buying brands due to the social benefits reflected in ads? Did consumers continue to buy particular brands without switching? Were consumers interested in herbal toothpastes? How should Himalaya be perceived by consumers? This series of issues presented an opportunity to conceptualize consumer behaviour in the Indian context. <br><br>The concept of product involvement differentiates consumer segments based on the degrees of personal interest expressed by consumers with regard to products and services. High-involvement categories require consumers to be involved in extensive buying behaviour that leads to one or more of the following: risk reduction, enhancement of self-image, and gratification in having achieved an optimal choice after examining the alternatives. Low-involvement categories are those that are bought in a routine manner by consumers, with a lower degree of personal interest. Marketers always face competitive challenges in enhancing the degree of involvement even in low-involvement categories through appropriate branding initiatives, including in the toothpaste category.
Kumar was curious to find out whether consumers were really loyal to the brands in the toothpaste category. He was interested in the toothpaste category, and Himalaya had herbal offerings in the retail and prescriptive segments. Were consumers loyal to a particular brand of toothpaste? Did they remember the functional brand benefits? Were consumers buying brands due to the social benefits reflected in the ads? Did consumers continue to buy particular brands without switching, due to inertia? Were consumers interested in herbal offerings? How should Himalaya be perceived by consumers? This medley of issues presented yet another opportunity to an academic to conceptualize consumer behaviour, one that was perhaps unique to the Indian context.<br><br>The concept of product involvement differentiated consumer segments based on the degrees of personal interest expressed by consumers with regard to specific products and services. High-involvement categories required consumers to be involved in extensive buying behavior that led to one or more of the following aspects: risk reduction, enhancement of self-image, and a greater degree of gratification in having achieved an optimal choice after examining the various alternatives in the category. Low-involvement categories were those that were bought in a routine manner by the consumer, with a degree of personal interest that was lower than that associated with the high-involvement categories. Marketers always had to face competitive challenges in enhancing the degree of involvement even in low-involvement categories through appropriate branding initiatives. The toothpaste category was one such category in the Indian context.
Nitya was preparing for a meeting with an Indian company that manufactured hair oil and fairness cream. She wanted to make use of past research in order to offer her client insights on consumer values. Were emerging markets significantly different from developed markets in terms of consumer values? Were existing brands connecting with Indian consumers? Could values become associated with different socio-economic classes of consumers? With radical changes in the lifestyles of consumers and the proliferation of categories and brands, the Indian context offers unique marketing challenges to marketers.