ThinkNoLimit Marketing Coaching

What does it mean by Da咩"火羅" ? Da咩 is Japanese meaning No/Stop. "火羅" is Cantonese slang meaning embarrassment. So the ad is trying to say you are smart drinking Fanta and there is no more embarrassment. Yes yes yes you are clever enough to understand what Da咩"火羅" means and there is no need for me to explain. This was exactly what I had in mind when I heard the radio ad of Fanta explaining what Da咩"火羅" means ! The ad is intended to create some kind of new buzzword for the young in the hope that it will be a 潮語 among them. Yet it is feared that this new buzzword is not understood. So an radio ad is produced to explain. Who planned all these ? The adult marketers. Buzz is not created by advertising. It tells in your face. It's not quite the way of communications to the young.

Received a mailer from a company called "樓上". If you have never heard of 樓上燕窩莊, you just wouldn't be able to figure out what company it is. 樓上燕窩莊, as the name implies, used to be specialized in bird nest. All its shops are located within commercial buildings and supposedly it can save on rents and offer consumers better prices, hence the name. Originally, it would be good to be small and focused on a specific speciality with a name to establish a perception in the mind of the consumers. The trouble comes from the intention of expansion. It now has 20 stores around town selling more than bird nest, ranging from Japanese imported food to ox sauce, like a mini supermarket. The result is a pretty odd name, 樓上, to tell consumers they are no longer selling bird nest only while keeping some association with 樓上燕窩莊 ...

I was wondering how Coke wants to manage the Minute Maid brand when I see this launch of grape juice + aloe bits variant. When it launched the brand with major investment, it launched 果粒橙 and later on, 西柚橙. I thought it was intended to stand for pulpy juice. Now it launched grape juice + aloe bits. Does it want the brand to stand for juice with fruit bits or something else ? What a brand stands for would depend on the products launched under it. Let's keep track of what Coke will do to manage this brand which is still at the early stage. It could be a learning example of brand management.

It helps you sell better if you have the right brand name. EyeQPlus is quite a good name for communicating the product benefits : for the developments of the eyes and brains of the kids, plus more. Like shampoos, milk powders often come up with new formulae with new ingredients in order to lengthen the product life cycle and stay competitive. FOS, Taurine, Probiotics, just to name a few. Ingredient branding is also often used as a way to increase credibility, memorability and innovativeness in the eyes of the consumers. PhD, it's quite interesting to see Abbott to make up such a fancy name. Who doesn't want her kids to be smart like a PhD ? Yet I feel it's a bit overdone to be credible to the conssumers.

If I'm not wrong, Virjoy is a brand that appeared in the market during or after SARS in 2003. When the economy was not so good at that time, it was sold a an economy alternative to Kleenex and Scott's. Added with the fact that it's an exclusive brand in Park'n Shop, it has been receiving store level supports for it to take off, from an unknown brand to a known brand that can afford to advertise. It also manages to convey a positioning that hit the right button : hygienic with 450-degree steamed treatment. It's definitely good marketing. Now who says we should start a brand in the premium segment ? Here is an example to show us we don't have to. We can start low and build high over time.

In a class of media planning, one student brought up this ad for discussion. I would call it an image ad as it doesn't send any specific benefit message while making use of the mood and tone to connect consumers emotionally. The message is kind of generic : "Vita Distilled Water is in the lives of HK people." Well, distilled water is distilled water and there is nothing much about it to sell. Image ad is something worth considering. Yet the student has pointed out that it's confusing to see the green bottle in the ad and people may mistaken it's Watson's Distilled Water. That must be a variant of Vita and I would agree it's confusing to feature it in the ad. It's a learning about proper branding. Consumers recall a brand by the colour. If you want to differentiate from your competitors, use a different colour.

This is a good practice in branding that we can learn from. Venus Breeze is quite a feminine brand name and a pretty good one for Razor for women. If you didn't pay attention, you would almost miss that it's produced by Gillette. Gillette is known for razors, razors for men to be exact. That' why when it goes into razors for women, it comes with another brand name. The Gillette brand name is downplayed on purpose in the branding execution. It's still there as an endorsement to remind consumers that it's a quality product produced by Gillette.

Japanese companies like adopting corporate branding approach to branding their products. That is, their corporate brands are applied across different product categories. Like 岡本, we know this brand for condoms stressing on thinness. Over time we see it launch different variants of condoms like the latest 0.03 Aloe. Alongside with this launch of new condom, it launches a range of pain-relieving wraps as well. Condoms and pain-relieving wraps are rather unrelated and such branding approach is related to the Japanese culture where Japanese consumers trust companies rather than brands as the entities.

If you have a good brand name, you can win by far. Branding is about building associations about your brand in the minds of the consumers. I can't say this ad is a very impressive one but I bet everyone would remember the brand name. Nivea SOS, what a brand name for an intensive moisturiser. The ad is aired at the right time when the weather is so dry too. So the association is more closely linked with a need state as well.

A friend sent me the following piece of news. I can only say that there are stupid branding strategies everywhere. It is the stupidest thing on earth to move away from your brand franchise, what you stand for. Yes, consumers are getting more health conscious for sure. The simplest way out is to add more healthy options to the menu. Really want to diversify into pasta restaurant business ? You can always open restaurants in a different name. It is almost common sense ... (明報)10月8日 星期三 05:05【明報專訊】家喻戶曉的Pizza Hut一夜之間大變臉！為塑造健康形象，1973年在英國開業的英國Pizza Hut連鎖店，將會改名為Pasta Hut，由薄餅店變成麵條店。今後除了薄餅之外，該店將會更注重意粉等健康食物，老闆說，有信心兩星期內，意粉等銷量可大增，佔銷售額的一成。英國試行 旨吸引高消費客「我們一直想令我們的食物更多元健康，而不是只提供高卡路里食物」，Pizza Hut老闆默多克（Alasdair Murdoch）說：「我們要告訴消費者，我們不僅精於薄餅，還擅於做沙律和意粉。」過去意粉銷售份額只佔Pizza Hut全部銷售額的3%至4%，默多克稱有信心數字於兩周內就會升至10%。這次改名，是英國Pizza Hut耗資1800萬鎊（約2.4億港元）改頭換面行動的一部分，目的旨在吸引高消費階層及新顧客。Pasta Hut更新了菜單，提供多種的菜餚，例如番茄、大蝦、小龍蝦等，也會減少使用鹽和飽和脂肪，又為兒童準備了「內藏蔬菜」的特別餐；一向受歡迎的「沙律吧」則大升級。默多克說：「我相信人們會喜歡全新的店。」目前，英國的Pizza Hut連鎖店改名尚屬試驗階段，公司甚為期望得知消費者的意見，...

What is advertising ? Here is a textbook definition : "Advertising is paid persuasive communication. It uses nonpersonal mass media to reach broad audiences to connect an identified sponsor with a target audience". In other words, advertising is a waste of money if people do not know who the advertiser is. That points to the importance of branding in an ad. Look at this ad from Maxim's. It's a pretty good ad but the branding is so weak with a small logo at the top left-hand corner. What a waste...

Pocari is an isotonic drink like Gatorade and Powerade. In the past it had a head-on positioning with the other two brands with strong association with sports. Over the years, it has managed to retain its re-hydration benefit in the mind of the consumer and evolved into more like a lifestyle brand and it is now associated with funs under the sun rather than serious athletic sports. It has become one of its kind. But strange that Gatorade and Powerade are so quiet these days. Is sports drink market so small that it’s not worth the investment in promotion ? There may be room for rebuilding a brand in a niche market I think.

How about a sexy and modern ad for an old brand ? I find it quite interesting to see the rather old logo and packaging in such a modern setting. History and heritage are important in selling traditional Chinese medicines. Yet these brand elements need to be kept up-to-date so that the younger generation will not be felt alienated. As for the TVC, it's so similar to the Salonpas one below. It's almost a copycat. If the client really watched some TV, they should have killed it !

散利痛 and 必理痛 are the first two branded pain-killers that appeared in the market at about the same time many years ago. They are the winners in brand naming as both are strongly associated with the product benefits consumers look for. However, 散利痛 has been losing out in term of brand salience. Usually a brand becomes weak due to two major reasons. First., lack of consistent and continuous investment in marketing communications. Second, no new news when it comes to product innovations. 散利痛 is an exact example when you compare it with 必理痛. Will it be easy to turn it around ? No. At least not just with a half-page ad like this.

It seems that many people have sensitive teeth problem. Somehow there are so many brands promoting their sensitive teeth toothpastes, Colgate, Oral B and Darlie. And here is a TVC of Sensodyne. There is nothing much to talk about in terms of creativity as it's just like any other dental care product ads playing on dentists' recommendations. I would like to take it as a branding strategy example instead. While brands like Colgate and Darlie are taking the brabnd extension route, i.e. "Colgate Sensitive Teeth", "Darlie Sensitive Teeth" and so on, Sensodyne is a brand name associated with sensitive teeth in itself. The brand is more focused on only one consumer need. The advantage is that it can achieve top of mind awareness for who have sensitive teeth. It's about occupying a specific niche. Is that a better way to go compared with the umbrella way of branding like Colagte ? It all depends on the market size of that niche.

Brand building takes two legs : consistent and continuous investment in marketing communications and a constant flow of new products that match the changing needs of the consumers. Dated, forgotten brands often fall short of these two important drivers. Trappist is a brand of locally produced fresh milk but it's losing its position in the mind of the consumer. Recently some new product launches are observed including new flavours and this soy milk range. It's all too late. Not only non-genetically modified soy milk is nothing new under the sun but also a mismatch with what the brand stands for.

Tao Ti is not a brand with long history. It was first launched in 1996. Compared with other FMCG brands, it's still a "youngster". Brands come and go. Sustaining a brand for 12 years is not easy . Making it stronger over time is an uphill battle. Why is Tao Ti so successful ? I can't be sure but as an observer, I appreciate it for two things. First, consistency in advertising : Andy Lau + his soothing songs + the natural setting. Second, a continuous flow of innovative products, tea products and nothing else. There are 500-page textbooks about brand building but consistency and focus are the two key success factors.

The major weakness that deters 雞精 from being more widely-accepted is its taste. The taste is so weird like water down soy sauce and oyster sauce combined. Good thinking to come up with a 雞精 that tastes better to challenge the leader, 白蘭氏. However I wouldn't have launched it under the brand name, 官燕棧. The name is too associative with 燕窩 and it doesn't give credibility for 雞精. I would either go for a new brand name or use endorsement branding, i.e. a new name endorsed by the mother brand. The mother brand become secondary and acts as a quality assurance to consumers.

Health foods like Lingzhi, Cordyceps and Birdnest are getting less popular nowadays. What will be the next health food that is able to create another hype ? Spirulina 螺旋藻 ? Maybe. How about Spirulina under the Lo Hong Ka brand name ? Lo Hong Ka is a well-known and recognized name. Using the same name would save some bugs in communications. However, in the minds of most consumers, Lo Hong Ka is a brand name known for birdnest and this is very deep-rooted. It could have been better if it goes for endorsement branding.

If you compare this Double Quarter TVC with the Spicy Chicken Burger TVC from my yesterday's post, you will find the styles of communication are very different. Apparently MCD is applying one brand identity to all stores and a different one to the specific 24-hours stores. is this the right thing to do ? It somehow violates the rule of consistency in brand building. Ok, you may say it has been that inconsistent for ages, why does it remain the most powerful brand in HK ? Well, while a brand takes decades to build, the brand value built up also takes ages to erode. Also, the erosion is not obvious if there is no consistent competitor in the market. In the past there was no MOS, Triple-O and so on. Now even Burger King has re-entered HK. Each of them has an unique and consistent positioning. Time will tell what will happen to MCD.