Fast And Furious: How Fastrack managed to play sex card in advertisings

Brand Equity, Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

Remember the character of Akira Rai played by the ebullient Anushka Sharma in the 2012 release Jab Tak Hain Jaan? Many of the films viewers conclude she was the brightest spark in an otherwise morose caper. A girl who believed in breaking up over the phone without shedding any tears, was looking for no strings attached sex while also being the wholesome girl next door. Sort of like the young women and men of Fastrack.

With racy ads and a product range that's very sharply youth focused, expanding from timepieces to sunglasses, bags and belts, it's built itself as an Indian youth icon of sorts, no 4 in Brand Equity's survey of Most Exciting Brands. And that in a relatively short time frame, even as former youth favourites with a bigger heritage like Flying Machine grapple with where they belong and how they need to get there.

Fastrack was known for bold product design but the audacious imagery is of a slightly more recent vintage. It was launched in 1998 as a sub-brand of Titan and was later spun off as an independent entity targeting the urban youth in 2005.

Ever since, the brand has added accessories like eye gear, bags, belts, wallets and wristbands and is betting big on the youth fashion space. "Very few new brands have succeeded in India — Fastrack is one of them. It has been the first to identify the 'Move On' generation and position to them," views Alpana Parida, president, DY Works, a marketing consultancy.

Edginess has been the key factor, according to Arun Iyer, national creative director, Lowe Lintas. He adds "one can't build an irreverent brand and be safe in the communication." Accordingly the tone of voice has been kept bold. Its advertising initially had Virat Kohli and Genelia D'Souza making mischief in various locations ranging from the elevator to the ATM to the airport counter.

Then they moved the action to the bedroom, and the parking area and explained 'why the world moved on' to typewriters and handbrakes. After a commercial ran into problems with TV channels, Fastrack quickly went online to drum up hype about this 'forbidden' film.

The final clip was rather innocuous: a girl taking her bra off while still wearing her t-shirt with the cheeky line '20% off can mean a lot'. And though it had a lot less skin on show than the average deo commercial, it made several people who would otherwise have watched the ad without batting an eyelid, eager voyeurs charged up to catch a glimpse of the 'film the channels didn't want us to see'.

The tone of the ads over the last few years has been mischievous, just the right side of risque. In early 2012, the brand used digital as the lead medium for the first time to launch an entire collection called TEES. It had a combination of provocative visuals and girls admonishing people for staring at their T..s.

The hostel campaign for bags also created a furore as it showed a girl sneaking out of a boys' hostel after a night with her lover. A sequel to the ad had the same girl groping hot male passengers in a metro train. The use of young stars and a reversal of roles (and rules) made for a counter-culture offering in an otherwise polite and frequently dreary Indian brand universe.

Says Gupta, "Whatever Fastrack has put out there has always been aspirational and young. But above all it's always been believable. This makes it easy for the youth to relate." Adds Iyer, "For a brand like this we have to be thinking ahead of the curve rather than going by what the youth may feel as being currently cool."

An insight learnt in this journey has been that while it talks to the youth, many people who are not necessarily in that age bracket are using Fastrack too. It's a sign that the country is getting younger not just in age but mindset. Realising the propensity of its core target audience for the digital medium, Fastrack has been present extensively on it and is spending way above the industry average. Elaborates Vineet Gupta, managing partner of 22feet, digital agency on the brand, "Over the years, we have used the medium to influence every aspect of the marketing funnel — from engaging with our audience on a daily basis to generating conversations and awareness, to even launching new collections and activations with digital playing the lead role."

While the synchronicity between communication, packaging and product design has created an amazingly robust brand in Parida's view, what can be heightened is the in-store experience. It was in 2009 that Fastrack had opened its own stores positioned as a complete accessories destination. Currently it has over 125 showrooms, along with a presence in multibrand outlets. According to Vinay Bhatia, customer care associate and senior vice president - marketing and loyalty, Shoppers , "We are its top retailer in the country.

It has been consistently doing a double digit growth rate (CAGR) for us in last few years." Across the Tier I and Tier II cities, the brand is faring well and affordable entry price points have helped. In Bhatia's view, Fastrack is way ahead of category competition within the areas it operates in.

While it is good to have a footprint in all the spaces that the youth are excited about, the marketing head of a fashion brand, on condition of anonymity, points that it may actually be playing on a sticky wicket. Since it is competing in multiple segments and with many players, Fastrack could define the competition as coming from the various players in each of these categories or it could choose to believe there is no single challenger. The tipping point, many feel, could come from its overtly sexy positioning, which has got it noticed and has created ample anticipation but may pose a limitation in the long run. Explains Anup Vishwanthan, executive vice president, Leo Burnett, "The brand's aspirational value, creates a non-serious and frivolous image, which could corner it into a box when it gets ready to take the next leap." Going forward they will have to bring in certain values that would give them the stature, he adds, since the flip side of the entire 'move on' imagery could position Fastrack as lacking in depth and being irresponsible.

For now Fastrack seems to be having a free run with its target segment eating out of its palms. Who knows where the next extension could be coming from: a diverse set of possibilities ranging from funky helmets to equally funky condoms. 


AlpanaParida is President of DY Works , a leading brand strategy and design firm.

How far is too far?

The Business Standard - Monday, December 10, 2012

It  is difficult and expensive to build a brand. High media clutter, high shelf-clutter and high mind-space clutter (coupled with ever shortening attention span by consumers) makes for very few successful new brands in the country. It can be argued that apart from a very select handful that includes Fastrack, Café Coffee Day and Big Bazaar, there are no truly successful new brands out there. The lure of brand extensions is understandable as it utilises the current equity of a brand and leverages it for brands to foray in other categories.

Brand extensions fail, sometimes, disastrously. Nirma, a brand synonymous with detergent powder (every time we hear Nirma, the next line “washing powder Nirma” follows tunefully in our minds) launched Nirma Shudh Salt. Does that mean Titan — known for watches – should not enter eyewear?

Titan Eye is, after all, struggling to be profitable. Or that Wipro should be only ‘applying thought’ to their IT business and not to diapers and soaps? Ponds stretched the brand from its iconic Dreamflower Talc to the new age Age Miracle/Perfect Radiance range. The brand has not as much as stretched, but has snapped into two – the two Ponds stand for different things.

So, what are the principles of successful brand architecture? The answer lies at the core of the brand. Tata, for decades, has stood for trust. Since that is at the core, the brand extends anywhere where trust is important. Trust, however, is basic. It works for generic products such as salt but does not work where the consumer seeks more than trust. Tanishq stands for design but the Tata Gold Plus brand stands for trust. As for Rolls Royce, it is the ultimate super luxury car. Does that equity help in the space of aircraft engines? If Rolls Royce had stood for technology or innovation, it could traverse the course to not just aircraft engines but perhaps any high-end equipment; but luxury makes the stretch not so successful.

The closer the new product connects with the existing core value proposition of the brand, the more likely it will be able to diversify. For instance, Kingfisher (its current troubles notwithstanding) as the King of Good Times, can expand into different categories such as liquor, airline, calendars and Formula 1; as against Jet Airways that only stands for a ‘world-class flying experience’, and can only extend into air-related businesses.

Over-extending the brand or using it indiscriminately is potentially prone to failure. Take Lifebuoy’s first attempt at launching a talcum power under the same brand. The product was positioned on the family health platform in clear dissonance with the core proposition of the talcum powder category — beauty. The variant was discontinued and re-launched as prickly heat powder, which supposedly resonates better with the core values of the Lifebuoy. Even where the brand name seamlessly extends across categories, it is important to not fall into a ‘click and extend’ trap such as the one Himalaya has fallen into. Himalaya sells a range of herbal/ayurveda product across hair, skin and oral care under one umbrella brand. While it is a great brand extension strategy, there was needed a visual demarcation as the sea of sameness makes it difficult for the consumer to navigate across a shop shelf and new variants invariably vanish without a trace. In such cases design solutions are required to maximise opportunity for the brand.

Alpana Parida is President (alpana@dyworks.in) and Priyanka Shah,  GM - Strategy,  of  DY Works, a leading brand strategy and design firm.

Rejuvenating brands through design

Brands, like people, grow old and risk becoming irrelevant or less desirable unless they rejuvenate themselves continuously.

Trends change, fashions change; and a brand that does not change with the times ends up looking as out of place in consumer’s lives as bell bottoms are in a world of skinny jeans!!

Consumers are defining their selves through brands and their aspirations; their self-images are formed by the set of brands they consume. So, Samsung and not Videocon, FastTrack not Titan, Peter England and not Double Bull are choices made, to become symbols of self-expression.  Brands, therefore, need to mirror the consumer’s aspirations and needs.

When we worked on the Dabur rejuvenation, we reinvented an over 125 year old brand to make Ayurveda relevant to a younger Indian and lift it from the ‘brown’ ingestible powders and pills to other contemporary categories in foods and skin care. Himalaya followed in creating a more contemporary face of Ayurveda. As the younger Indian is looking to negotiate with tradition – a conclusion born out by behaviour:  through the cocktails and dance in the evening and the traditional wedding in the morning or the touching of feet of elders in the family and being on first name basis with their international bosses; both these brands have made space for themselves in the Indian consumers’ lives and shelves as they themselves have negotiated tradition as brands.

Another powerful brand – Vicco – has missed the boat entirely. It appears old and dated and its fortunes are reflected in its low market shares. In 30 years, it hasn’t changed much and its traditional roots do not appeal today. Nonetheless, it has great brand equity (PE firms take note) and a good rejuvenation exercise can make it a powerhouse once more to take on Dabur and Himalaya head –on.

While logos play an important role in how a brand is perceived, packaging can be an equally powerful tool to make brands contemporary.

Packaging, much more than advertising, is what causes conversions. It is what consumers pay for, and dictates actual brand experience closely. Fastrack has broken the mould on classic, elegant watches and has a very strong and distinctive brand personality. The difference between a Titan and a Fastrack is not just in the design of the watches. It is in the attitude and personality of the wearer as well.

The packaging plays a very strong role in driving this brand experience further. Fastrack packaging is a tin – that is not the traditional flip top box. At the very outset – it challenges convention. Secondly, it evokes a rugged and raw world, which is also part of the brand’s personality. Thirdly it borrows from the world of liquor (it looks like a cut off container of a whiskey bottle) – lending an edgier aspect to the brand.

In category after category, particularly in the FMCG product categories; packaging can play a very important role in building the brand.

See the two images below of Fem Hand Soap and Santoor Hand Soap – a structure we created as far back as 2005.  The Santoor packaging caused a disruption in a low engagement category (as compared to skin care) to drive sales and market shares.

The rub off of such packaging also impacted the parent brand – Santoor Soap positively. In some categories, packaging can drive innovations. The zip lock bag for namkeens or rice/ dal/ atta; the easy squeeze tube for glue, the hand pump for shampoos/ moisturisers, liquid soaps – all add to the functionality of the product and can add significant value to consumers. They are willing to pay more for this.

Categories such as tooth brushes – which are generally very low engagement categories after purchase see a disproportionate engagement during purchase. Here the product and the packaging win the day. The colour, the brightness, the shape are all features that directly lead to conversion. The behaviour at the time of purchase is almost similar to one of buying a ‘dinky’ car.  The role of product design and packaging in winning market shares is very significant.

In an era of highly cluttered media spaces and pressures on cutting costs and advertising budgets, marketers need to discover the power of design in building brands. There are true market opportunities to be tapped. The rewards are just waiting to be reaped.

Alpana Parida
President, DY Works