SUHAS KINI.

B PGP BM(2013-15) BRU, a flagship coffee brand of the Hindustan Unilever Company has witnessed Ground breaking changes in its advertising in the last 5 !years"#t has moved on from being a predominantly $outh #ndian coffee brand to a national brand and hence the same could be seen reflected in its ads" %rom being the competitor for &escafe $unrise which focuses on the middle class BRU has evolved certain new variants of its coffee and its recent ads focusing on these variants which show that BRU is poised to compete with &escafe globally "'et us see how BRU has evolved through the ages" 2007

(his is one of those ads which was turning out to be Bilingual" #t had the tagline )*nanadam BRUvudan aarambham+ and )BRU se hoti hain ,hushiyaan $huru+ in Hindi" *t this -uncture in .//0 BRU did not have a 1an #ndia 1resence and wasmostly perceived as a $outh #ndian Brand" BRU was using lesser known actors and hence could not have had a higher impact in the &orthern parts of #ndia as the )connect )was missing" 2009

(his was followed in .//2 by BRU playing a guessing game by introducing new BRU and asking its viewers to guess the new change in BRU" $o clearly BRU was trying to renovate its image amongst its customers" 2011

(his was BRU3s answer to the &escafe Gold" #t promises 4//5 pure coffee e6perience with seeds of the Robusta and *rabica type being used" But e6plicitly using the same 1roduct line name )Gold+ as used by &escafe is like throwing an open challenge to &escafe" * notable point was here was getting Bollywood $tars like $hahid ,apoor and 1riyanka Chopra to widen their reach" 2012

BRU had introduced its 789(#C* line in ./4. wherein it promised that the best beans from Guatemala were imported and crushed in making the coffee" Here BRU tries to offer a premium Brand for those having an aspirational value attached to their coffee and enters the high price band" 2013

(he ad says it all" BRU wants to focus on the youth with its cold coffee" Here the former brand ambassadors 1riyanka Chopra and $hahid ,apoor are replaced by *nushka $harma and #mran ,han who tend click better these days with the younger generation than the former pair" Here BRU ventures into the une6plored territory of Cold coffee which was previously its competitor &escafe :s forte" Hence BRU leaves no stone unturned in showing its supremacy in the #ndian Coffee market catering to the uber cool Generation of today" Segment , Ta get an! P"#$t$"n$ng% BRU has been catering to the segment that re;uires coffee instantly but it has been now playing with its (arget and 1ositioning across its new variants" <ith BRU Gold it was targeting the upper middle class customers but with 789(#C* it was purely looking for upper class customers and the cold coffee was specifically targeted towards the youth" BRU had wanted to position itself as a coffee that provides moments of genuine warmth and happiness but with 789(#C* it went a step ahead and positioned itself as a 'u6ury Coffee Brand with its pricing too being e6orbitant" (hus BRU is progressing in a direction where it wishes to break the Geographic and =emographic Barrier by venturing into the &orth and catering to the youth and would thus try to emulate its competitor &escafe3s $uccess on a Global 'evel" &"m'et$t" Ben()ma *$ng% BRU has tried to widen its line of products but its *chilles heel would be that unlike &escafe it has not come in a big way to provide readymade coffee via vending machines and this would be a deterrent on BRU3s Global ambitions" (hus BRU has rightly embarked on e6panding its markets in #ndia and has been doling out new variants every year but how long it would last and give &escafe a run for its money is something for which only time can provide an answer"