The Hindu Business Line : In addition to the ads ...

JOHN Philip Jones, the world-renowned advertising/branding wizard, has established through research that almost 50 per cent of the money companies spent on advertising in recent times turned out to be a waste, as it failed to translate into consumer buying.

While the percentage indicated may vary from one context to another, there is a growing conviction among marketers that they would have to resort to several other forms of communications besides advertising, to appeal to consumers. This article attempts to highlight a few aspects that may make advertising work.

Does the product offer a strong benefit in comparison with competitive brands?

Around 40-50 per cent of new product offerings as well as several existing brand offerings fail to take off despite a heavy advertising blitzkrieg. Going back to the basics, most consumer product categories (impulsive products may sometimes be exceptions) compete with each other on brand differentiation, which is getting to be difficult. Gokul, a brand of sandalwood talc, has been a strong and dominant brand in the category and leads the market over a well-known MNC brand. Gokul advertises only in niche channels and through outdoor channels.

Nirma, which pioneered the low-cost detergent powder, succeeded with its high-visibility advertising campaign because consumers perceived value (at almost one-third the cost of a well-known competitor). In the present day context, Ghadi, a brand of detergent, is a threat to well-established brands in the category in some markets though the strong brands continue to heavily advertise themselves.

Close-Up is a leading toothpaste brand launched almost three decades ago. The gel category of toothpastes itself seems to be on the decline and the leading brands continue to advertise sometimes with several variants. The gel category when introduced during the mid '70s offered a change to consumers who were "over-used" to the functional benefits of brands like Forhans or Colgate. Close-Up used a lifestyle proposition to position itself in the psyche of consumers but today this may no longer be a viable brand proposition, given the situation in which several brands (across categories from apparel to banking) use lifestyle appeals.

In terms of benefit-based differentiation, what does a gel brand offer to trigger the purchase motives of the consumer? In fact, the Tingly Red variant of Close-Up currently uses an advertisement that is bold and emphasises the price-gram-age association.

Growth of the category

Bread, fast foods, frozen foods, antiseptic lotion, floor cleaners and branded kitchenware are categories in which growth has to be encouraged before secondary brand advertising could convey any brand proposition. A brand has to be careful to grow in its category and also ensure that it is "placed" on top of the consumer's mind when he/she thinks of the product category. Brylcreem (hair cream) carried several advertising campaigns in the past. Unless the consumer is convinced about the usage of hair cream, a brand in the category would not be able to trigger a purchase through high visibility advertising. The vacuumiser is one more brand (and an innovative product too) that advertised heavily without registering the expected success.

There are several other promotional tools that may be used with advertising to ensure category growth takes place. Sometimes, there may be a need to use other aspects of marketing mix elements to develop the market.

Rexona is a brand which has a strong equity. Hindustan Lever used it innovatively to develop the market for deodorant. While heavy advertising was used to promote the offering, there was strong support on the product aspect of the offering — affordable variants introduced for the mass market. This is an interesting example where the brand altered the very perception of consumers on the category — from that associated with a premium one to a category which masses could try out. The market has expanded significantly in the last eight years and this has kick-started the market.

Even in a category which is associated with impulsive buying, the category has to be developed before continuing with heavy advertising. But in a category associated with impulse buying, heavy advertising may trigger trials but other forms of promotion may be required later to sustain the purchase (for example, `Bistix' from Kissan).

In the case of durable categories too, development of the category is vital. Washing machines provide a good example of how the category has evolved over a period of time (though the annual volume is one million units only). Videocon's simple "washes, rinses and dries" TV campaign highlighted the concept of washing machines during the early '80s. Today, there is a niche market for fully automatic and even fuzzy logic machines. Product development geared towards the Indian context in terms of lesser consumption of power and water and the ability of a brand to demonstrate these benefits would drive the category and the brand faster than what constant advertising can do.

In certain categories which are new and where product usage is simple, advertising may be useful. Paras, the company which launched Krack and Livon brands, spends about 30 per cent of its sales of its sales volume on advertising.

The `category appeal'

The fit between the category and the brand's advertising appeal makes a difference with regard to how an advertising campaign works. The appeal has to create a better perception of a brand when it is considered in a competitive context. The brand would have to contain the `category appeal' which would make consumers take notice of it. The `category appeal' could be drawn from any of the marketing mix elements and may change from time to time. The advertising could highlight the low price of the brand (or high price to add to the offering if it is a symbolic one) or the exclusive distribution channel if shopping ambience matters (for a brand like Arrow, for example) or the attributes or benefits of the brand (non-stick cookware). It is important for the brand to research and find out what the target segment would be interested in a product category at a given point in time.

The `category appeal' for the re-launched Rin brand is that it is free from minerals and that it would not damage clothes like other detergent soaps, which contain a significant portion of minerals. The `category appeal' shifts over time, depending on how innovative brands are in bringing in differentiation. Usage of less water (lower consumption of water) could be another `category appeal' in some parts of the country for a detergent brand.

Sometimes, there are fast-paced developments in the market that neither the brands nor the consumers are clear about what the `category appeal' is all about. The cellular phone category is one such. With the proliferation of brands, with appeals ranging from hi-tech to emotional and symbolic and with airtime charges undergoing rapid shifts, it may be difficult to point out a `category appeal'. Brands keep running press advertisements on revised tariffs on service charges. Brands would do well to research several segments and the benefits expected by these segments before assuming that mass advertising on service charges or incoming calls would be of interest to all segments.

Advertising and brand confusion

Extending a brand to too many variants and categories (even related ones), especially if the brands across related categories are advertised heavily, may confuse the consumer. A shampoo or toothpaste extended to too many variants (too many "colours") and each variant carrying a specific message could confuse the consumer. What does the red variant of the toothpaste convey and is it totally different from the green variant or the lemon variant and if so does it have links with other variants? If each variant is distinctively different, is it believable? There may be some of the dimensions associated with variants. A fairness cream extended to soaps and anti-scaring (perhaps with herbal variants) may require frequent advertising on all categories but may confuse consumers. World-class brands like Levi's, Porsche and Miller (beer) have suffered from brand extension and related consumer confusion. This is not to suggest that brands should never be extended. A "middle-of-the-road" approach like having a few sub-brands may work (though an in-depth research on mother brand-sub-brand associations would have to be conducted). Having too many sub-brands may also create lack of differentiation if consumers are unable to perceive such differentiation even though brands may advertise heavily. Bajaj launched several sub-brands like Classic, FE, Priya, Bravo, and Chetak. With the exception of Chetak, other brand names do not seem to have made an impact on the psyche of consumers.

If sub-brands are used for symbolic purposes, there should be a close association between the mother brand and the sub-brands in terms of consumer perception, and imagery which would enhance consumers' perception should be reflected in the advertisements. Bajaj as a scooter is known for its "middle-class orientation, value for money and workaholic nature". Bajaj Classic was positioned as a scooter associated with riding pleasure in the "countryside" (like those for the executives). While the enjoyment experience was captured in the advertisement, consumers may perhaps not associate this with the original image of the mother brand.

Advertising could certainly work well even in today's context if it is conceptually associated with several marketing mix elements and brand associations.

(S. Ramesh Kumar is Professor of Marketing, Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

S. Swaminathan is Senior Vice-President, iContract, Mumbai.)

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