MTR Foods - New Look

DY Works, VP - Strategy comments on the new look of MTR Food and MTR packaging redesign.

Sustainability & INDIA INC

Publication: The Economic Times Mumbai;

Date: Apr 25, 2012;

Section: Business Of Brands;

Page: 4

HUL Bets on Innovations to Reach Sustainable Goal Unilever can achieve some of its audacious sustainability targets only if it relies more on product innovation & research, and perhaps less on the mercurial ways of consumers NAREN KARUNAKARAN NEW DELH

The dry shampoo that Unilever, the € 46 billion FMCG giant, is currently introducing in various markets is a significant step in the company’s commitment to halve the water associated with the consumer use of its products by 2020. It also drives home another critical aspect in its sustainability agenda: that it can achieve some of its audacious targets only if it relies more on product innovation and research, and perhaps less on the mercurial ways of unpredictable consumers.

So, giving consumers a dry shampoo that doesn’t need water is a far easier way of reducing water consumption in the bathroom than pleading with them to use less water. The dry shampoo is spray on, absorbs oil from hair, and also lends volume.

Nitin Paranjpe, CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever, unveiling the first year’s progress on the Unilever sustainable living plan (USLP) on Tuesday, as part of a simultaneous global release, admits reducing greenhouse gases, water and waste associated with the consumer use of its products has been rather challenging. It’s a matter of concern and may jeopardise the ambitious sustainability goals the company has set for itself (see table).

Unilever has not only committed to reduce emissions from its manufacturing plants, but has taken upon itself the responsibility of the entire value chain, from suppliers, distributors to its consumers. Around 68% of the company’s carbon emission is directly related to consumer use, while the manufacturing process contributes only 3%.

The company has progressed well in what it controls directly: sustainable sourcing, improving livelihoods of farmers, converting used plastic sachets waste to fuel, through a ‘breakthrough’ pyrolysis process.

Its sourcing record, barring sunflower oil, is commendable. “We may meet 100% sustainable sourcing of palm oil by 2012, three years before our 2015 commitment,” Paranjpe told ET. Today, it’s around 64%. Unilever is now working on a traceability plan to make the process more robust and credible. Under the circumstances, the success of the USLP hinges on the responsible conduct of its consumers, which is a daunting proposition. Therefore, the focus on the innovation bit of the strategy where consumers turn responsible by default. For example, the Comfort One Rinse introduced in Vietnam that reduces the use of water from three buckets to one; a leave-on hair conditioner that doesn’t need to be washed away; detergents that clean at room temperatures, doing away with the need for hot water at 70 degree Celsius in washing machines.

Unilever has great expectations from the dry shampoo. “It’s an incredible consumer proposition,” says Paranjpe. “A large number of women cannot wash hair every day because it’s not convenient.” He, however, refuses to discuss pricing or its launch in India.

“We need more, we need innovations,” he asserts. “The entire issue of consumers is not only about behaviour change; much of the challenges can be addressed through new products.” This is in line with the proposition made recently by John Elkington, the sustainability guru, that good choices by consumers ought to be default choices. Over two billion consumers use a Unilever product every day.

But there is only so much an inhouse R&D infrastructure can do in terms of product innovation. Moreover, the progress would be slow if only in-house expertise was tapped.

Unilever, therefore, last month, unveiled its online open innovation initiative. Open innovation involves negotiating and integrating externally developed intellectual property into a business, and opening company R&D labs to outside individuals or institutions for collaborative work. “The world is full of brilliant people with brilliant ideas, and we want to tap into that,” says Roger Leech, Unilever’s open innovation scouting director. Within a couple of weeks of launch, the platform has received over a 100 credible submissions from across the globe, and surprisingly about 5% are from its staff.

Unilever, as in the USLP, has put out a list of clear ‘wants’, all focused on sustainability—fighting viruses, reduction of salt in food products, preserving food naturally, storing renewable energy, sustainable showering, and of course, ways and means of altering consumer behaviour.

This new-found emphasis on product innovation doesn’t mean Unilever is giving up on influencing consumer behaviour, which revolves around how a message is communicated to them. HUL has garnered immense learnings from its years of experience in conducting the Lifebuoy handwashing programme.

For example, consumers have to be exposed at least three times in a period through television, movies, mobile vans, or whatever. It has to be then followed with a onetremely challenging is weaning consumers from high-salt food products. Unilever has been gradually reducing salt levels in its products without changing its taste, but this approach has limits. The 2011 USLP progress report highlights it: “The gradual reduction (of salt) over time is only really effective if the whole industry moves together. If it does not, people will desert our products for more highly salted ones.” on-one interaction where the efficacy of hand-washing is demonstrated. Only then is change seen. It’s bearing fruit. The Madhya Pradesh government, impressed by the fact that the incidence of diarrhoea has dipped by 25% in a recent study, now wants to implement this across five districts in 5,000 schools. “It’s cheaper than other government interventions,” says Paranjpe.

How Packaging communicates a Brand Refresh

I had a journalist from Business Standard call me to ask - why do you think they have done this hoarding - in a plaintive voice. She had already asked many marketers, brand strategists and other sundry thinkers; and no one seemed to be able to give her an answer.
I confessed to being stupefied myself! What I told her is that when Fair & Lovely radically changed their packaging, they needed to tell the consumer about the change.
When Rin changed to Surf,consumers needed to know of this seminal change. But when 5 Star changed to more-of-the-same-5 Star, there seems no need whatsoever. Indeed, if you put the old and the new packs side by side, you really have to play the "Find the Differences" game.

New packaging rejuvenates brands. Makes them fresher, younger and more relevant.They make the competition look old and not 'with it'.' It is also an opportunity to correct old flaws and build great brand assets.The new 5 Star packaging under-whelms - specifically on two counts.
The first:The logo covers only about half the pack. This is an impulse category - and it has to shout out to consumers. The entire real estate of the pack could have been used for the branding. And dwarfed other wannabes on the retail shelf

The second:The cross-section of the 5 Star bar has been dropped to show some drippy caramel. Consumers want to know what a product looks like when they are asked to put it in their mouths. Whether toothpaste, biscuits or chocolates. The cross-section is critical to cuing the unique 5 Star experience. Dropping it is dangerous.Brands - like people, grow old, atrophy and die - unless continually rejuvenated. A pack change is the most visible aspect of brand rejuvenation and is an opportunity to appeal to younger consumers entering the market. "New 5 Star packaging underwhelms "
Those readers of this column old enough to remember the launch of the ICICI bank will remember it as the challenger brand that shook up the bureaucratic world of banking. From long lines in a crowded sweltering branch, and endless waiting for a peon to carry your cheque from one cubicle to another before a withdrawal could be made, there came a banking experience so customer friendly and literally so much cooler, that an inertia-prone, low-priority decision of choosing your bank and going through the hassle of transferring your bank account, suddenly became top priority. That was some 20 plus years ago.The same bank has grown in size and done very well. But today, the service and ambience it offers is hygiene for the industry. And the same challenger brand appears old and fuddy duddy to the younger consumer. It is time for ICICI to rejuvenate the visible face of the brand. Otherwise, it could see its share eroded to challengers offering a fresher experience.

When Dabur embarked on a rejuvenation exercise close to a decade ago, it faced the same problem. How does a hundred-year-old brand become relevant to a younger India? And so, the old banyan tree was replaced with a younger fresher tree, the iconic Vatika packaging single handedly redefined hair oil as a category and over time a slew of old and new products made the brand relevant to the Gen X consumers. The rejuvenation helped Dabur stand up and be counted. And the rest as they say is history

Alpana Parida is currently President of DY Works (erstwhile DMA Branding) and was previously marketing and merchandising head for Tanishq. The author can be reached alpana@dyworks.in

Beyond logo

India Inc is finding compelling reasons to invest in corporate identity.
Arijit Barman / Business Standard Mumbai July 25, 2011, 0:49 IST

When the Burmans of Dabur approached DMA Yellow Works, now DY Works,  for a makeover of their corporate identity and brand, they wanted to actually drop the Banyan Tree from their logo. But DMA persuaded the promoters to rejuvenate the tree; tweaked the font and through a series of interventions that saw newer packaging, product extensions and communication, galvanised a more holistic change.

It took a survey of 10,000 people across the country for Sanjeev Goenka to step out of his father’s shadow and create a legacy of his own. He also wanted his new group corporate identity — RP-Sanjiv Goenka — to reflect the clear demarcation of the business empire between him and elder brother Harsh. “I had been wondering whether staying together could lead to a potential confusion between my son and nephew,” he candidly explains with heir apparent Shashwat next to him.

Indian Wins at Innovation in Media 2011 !

Four Indian entries have won at the recently held Internationalist’s Award for Innovation in Media 2011.DY Works (erstwhile DMA Yellow Works), Media Direction, OMD India and Lintas Media Group were the Indian agencies in the winners list this year. Thethird edition of the awards ceremony was held on 25 May in New York.

DY Works bagged the only silver medal among Indian agencies at the awards for their entry for Hershey’s chocolate syrup titled ‘You can do more with milk’. Media Direction’s entry for Siemens titled ‘New Age Content Co-Creation’ won a bronze in the same category.OMD India won a bronze for their entry titled ‘Johnson’s Baby Lories (Lullabies)’in the category of ‘A Local Brand or Service in a Local Market with innovative media solutions worthy of international adaptation or of world class standards’.

In the same category, Lintas Media Group also bagged a bronze for their entry – ‘Unit Trust of India
(UTI) presents Financial Advisor Awards 2010’.

Anil Ambani group rebrands: stocks surge; ad gurus split

DNA, 1st January 2011, Arcopol Chaudhuri MUMBAI

Four years after embarking on a rebranding exercise, the Anil Ambani group has retweaked its masthead, emphasising on 'Reliance' and erasing 'ADAG'.

So, R-ADAG now is just the 'Reliance Group' very similar to the name of elder brother Mukesh's empire. That was enough grist for the stock market mill: talk was this could mean a bigger deal between the brothers, which lifted shares of the group.

"It's possible the market is reading the new branding as reconciliation between the brothers," Jayesh Shroff of SBI Funds Management told Bloomberg.

Sanjay Behl, group head of branding and marketing at the company told newswires it was an attempt to consolidate all companies of the group under a single 'iconic' brand.

Behl told Dow Jones while Reliance Mobile will be called just Reliance, its 3G service will be called Reliance 3G and its GSM service Reliance GSM. Among the bigger brands, BIG TV will become Reliance Digital TV and BIG Pictures will become Reliance Pictures.

But the redesign, by Bonsey Design of Singapore, has experts divided Anand Halve, co-founder, Chlorophyll Brand Consultancy said he is not sure how the logo change will pan out.

Referring to previous incidents of logo changes such as that of Airtel, Godrej, Videocon, he said that branding makeovers are 'very expensive non-exercises'.

"I'd like to know what the new logo means for Reliance, besides a change in visiting cards, office stationery and letterheads. The brand has to change, not the logo alone. For an average Joe buying a Reliance CDMA connection in, say, Kanpur, there is just one company. It's Reliance - he isn't sure and probably doesn't even take sides to choose if it's Anil's or Mukesh's. But it may get the investor community excited."

Halve said there are many family-owned corporate businesses which have strategically retained or changed their name, depending on how profitable group companies were. "Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Electricals, K Raheja Group, Aditya Birla Group are some examples where company nomenclature has been strategically decided."

He said it must have taken a great salesman to make Anil Ambani drop the ADAG from the title of his group.

But Alpana Parida, president of DMA, a strategic branding and design firm feels that the ADAG' tag had diluted the strength of Reliance.

"By dropping it now, Anil is going back to the basics. It makes his group look stronger. It doesn't look like ADAG is something under an umbrella of Reliance. It makes ADAG the umbrella itself. Hence, just the title, Reliance."

Parida also believes there must have been some communication between the two brothers before deriding on the title that was announced on Thursday "Rebranding can often help rejuvenate the group. We did it with Dabur; globally Johnny Walker has also benefited from it. In the case of Reliance, there will be some confusion but the advantage will be Anil Ambani's."

Meanwhile, the group's stocks had a field day: shares of Reliance Communications and Reliance Broadcast Network rose 4.99% each, while Reliance Infrastructure popped 4% on Friday Other listed entities of the group surged between 1.8% and 2.6%.

The group's market capitalisation was up Rs. 3,741 crore to Rs. 113,026 crore on Friday.

Advertising has ceased being as effective, and the costs have escalated: Alpana Parida, DMA Yellow Works

From Exchange4Media - Oct 07, 2010

Design and branding firm DMA Yellow Works, part of the Future brand network, has been focusing on creating business solutions through design and branding. The agency has created brand experiences that encompass packaging, retail solutions and communication leading to success at the purchase moment. Alpana Parida, President, DMA-Yellow Works, shares her views on the challenges in coping with the Indian market for design and its vision for DMA in India.

The agency has a roster of blue chip clients such as Dabur, HUL, Heinz India, Air India, Unilever, Godrej, Marico, ITC, Amul, GlaxosmithKlien, Diageo, and UB, among others, creating holistic brand solutions for all.

On tackling conflicting business interests, Parida said, “We have created watertight vertical silos with aligned strategy, creative and marketing teams, who do not work on competing businesses. Additionally, we have elaborate security systems in IT. Also, we typically work on short term projects and ensure that no direct conflict occur for that period.”

Sharing recent developments, Parida said, “We are the only international agency for General Mills US, and now we are starting an exchange programme for design talent with a US based design house. In that regard, we have already recruited an advertising talent from Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.”

According to Parida, to get clients to see design solutions as smart marketing solutions gave them the biggest bang for the buck and not just aesthetics. She said, “Advertising has ceased being as effective, and the costs have escalated. There are simple, but very effective design solutions that can create a disproportionate market impact, but still allocate 85 per cent of budgets to ATL and 15 per cent to BTL. Usually, this part of the budget is a footnote, with tactical interventions and no real strategy.”

However, Parida did agree that design industry in India was still seen as only being in packaging design and identity creation. But she asserted that design solutions could encompass everything – from advertising to organisation design.

She further noted that surprisingly, some of the largest and most sophisticated marketers were letting the digital design opportunity go. “Digital design is not just websites and e-mailers, it is also about creating social communities, online review systems and promotional activities that actually drive offline sales,” she stressed.

Commenting on several ad agencies starting their individual design cells within the agency, Parida said, “I am not sure if the best talent goes there. But as per my experience, best talent is still reserved for the 30-second ad film.”

Speaking on the vision for DMA-Yellow Works, Parida stated, “The vision is to become strategic brand partners for all our clients and become the biggest brand solutions firm in the country.”

Airtel: A brand's journey from India to Africa

By Sagar Malviya, March 31, 2010 (Mumbai) - NDTV Profit

For Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecom network provider, crossing boundaries was never that easy, especially in a market where global telecom giants are already spending millions of dollars to create their brand identity.

Bharti's latest acquisiton is not just about adding 42 million subscribers, but it also means transition from a home grown brand into a larger than life global brand. And similar to the Indian market the African continent will have its own challenges.

“There would be challenges which is why Airtel has to make sure it creates their campaign keeping the local touch in mind. It is actually Zain becoming Airtel, so in their rebranding exercise they will have to create a transition with proper connect,” said Ajay Chandwani, director of Percept.

That's exactly how Orange Mumbai was at first rebranded to Hutch and then to Vodafone in the Indian market.

But this time it is a continent with over two dozen countries. And experts feel consumers in Africa might be rigid when it comes to rebranding of consumer products but technology could just pass the test.

“It will actually work for Airtel because Indian brand is considered as a foreign brand and African continent is very much like the Indian consumers with different tastes and preferences. So it will be welcome as Indian brands is looked upon by large number of Indian diaspora who are also influencing,” said Rekha Pamani Gulati, Director – International & New Business at DMA Yellow Works.

But the key issue for Bharti is to convince consumers that Zain will remain almost the same only a bit better now.

The company would also hope that Airtel as a brand manages to survive in this continent known to be the land for survivors.

Links

1. Original Story at NDTV Profit
2. DMA Yellow Works website

Pepsi to launch Pepsi Max in India

Softdrik brand Pepsi is planning to launch one of its global brands Pepsi Max to compete with its arch rival Coca-Cola's brand Thums Up.

Pepsi Max, is a low-calorie, sugar-free cola, marketed by Pepsi Co as an alternative to regular Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. However, Pepsi is tight-lipped about the launch.

“We have diet Pepsi but its share size is very small. We can't push the consumers towards it because consumers are not used to the diet concept here,” said Punita Lal, ED, marketing of Pepsi Co.

That's precisely the reason in India Thums Up continues to dominate the over Rs 8000 crore carbonated soft drink market.

While Pepsi is the second largest brand, Sprite from the Coca Cola stable is fast catching up while Coke itself is at the fourth position. Pepsi which has so far restricted itself as a youth brand now wants out to reach out to a wider consumer base.

Though experts feel if they do so its brand identity could be at stake. Pepsi has always been a peppy and youth oriented brand. If it tries to have a masculine image like Thums Up then it could confuse the brand identity,” said Snehasis Bose, VP Strategy at DMA Yellow Works.


Link

1. Read the original article at Info Indyan 
2. More on Brand Solutions at DMA Yellow Works 

Thums Up - Rebranding

DMA Yellow Works creates the new identity for India's most popular cola - Thums Up. The challenge was to improve on overtly masculine identity that was missing out on style and coherent message throw.

The new design retains the essence of this well recognized cola. The identity was create to exude power, yet make the brand more contemporary

The earlier tag line added too much clutter and dominated the brand.

This was remedied in the new design. The typography selected also makes the tagline more readable.

As for the results, the following news clip sums it up ...

From Media News Line - 20th Feb 2009 ...

According to Kashmira Chadha, Director Marketing, Coca-Cola India, “The latest ‘Thums Up communication for 2009 takes the whole idea of “I Will Do Anything For My Thunder” attitude of the Indian male to the next level by adding a layer of fun and playfulness to it. The Thums Up drinker indulges in adrenalin pumping action to get a bottle of his favourite soft drink Thums Up because he loves to do it and not because he has to. To bring out this thought to life, Akshay Kumar will be seen in a twin avatar, playing a game to get a bottle of his favorite Soft Drink – Thums Up. To further enhance the appeal and connect with consumers, the Thums Up logo too has been contemporized. The sharper edges are added to the ‘Thumb’ in the Thums Up sign to bring out the core masculine values of brand Thums Up more prominently.”

About The New Thums Up Logo

The new Thums Up logo unit has been contemporized in line with the latest global design trend of simplicity & clean look. The sharper edges are added to the ‘Thumb’ in the Thums Up sign to bring out the core masculine values of brand Thums Up more prominently. The new Logo has been designed by DMA Brand Consultants Pvt Ltd (Now DMA Yellow Works ) and takes its inspiration from the “Eagle’s Wings” to enhance the visibility and dynamism of the brand Thums Up.

Links -

1. Read the original story at - Media Newsline 
2. Thums Up Website 
3. Rebrand your cola at DMA Yellow Works