Sitting in BWC (Bru World Café) on street (HUL

HO Andheri, ground floor), Aneet (Who is

marketing manager for fabric wash category)
was still thinking about the problem at hand
when he noticed Reshma (Brand manager –
Knorr) passing by with Vaneeta (Brand
Manager – Kissan). They joined for coffee and
during conversation point of brand extensions
came up.
Aneet: Hey, how is Kajol doing now? (Kajol is
brand ambassador for Knorr Soupy Noodles).
Reshma: Coming around well, already up to 7%
value market share but long way off the target
for the year at 10%. Maggie’s come back on air
with new “mom” campaign. Things aren’t
helped by Ciggi and Horlicks either. (ITC is
referred as Ciggi and Horlicks for GSK, both are
now aggressively into Noodles market). How is
it going on for Juhi? (Juhi Chawla is brand
ambassador for Kissan spreads and Juices)
Vaneeta: It’s ok types, in any case it is not
national like Kajol. But so far so good. Not sure
when do we go national. In any case backend
(MR team) is not giving very rosy picture for
spreads market in India for another 3-4 years.
In juices we haven’t made much mark like Kajol
has done in Noodles. In markets where we have
gone ahead, our shares are still dominated by
MT (Modern Trade – supermarkets) with GT
(General trade – local Kirana stores) lagging
very heavily. Hey whats up with Madhuri?
(Madhuri Dixit is brand ambassador for
Comfort)
Aneet: I can’t quote reference of market share
numbers as we are developing this new
category of fabric conditioners. You remember
how long it took us along with P&G and Garnier
to develop hair conditioner market in India. We
should hit 100Cr mark by next year end. And
that to me is great achievement.
Reshma: Agreed. But I am still not clear on why
you did not go ahead with fabric conditioner as
extension of either Rin or Surf. Why get into it
with complete new brand – Comfort. I mean,
with comfort you need to explain the consumer
what it stands for. My mom still can’t figure out
what category that brand belongs to. As
extension of either Rin or Surf, it would have
been clear to consumer that it something to do
with fabric wash.
Aneet: Well, you can say that. It, for sure,
would have made it easy on communication
front as consumer would relate it to fabric
wash. Then only communication challenge
would have been to communicate benefits of
fabric conditioners… But look the other way
round, Either of them (Rin or Surf) don’t
command significantly large market share over
competition… It’s a dog fight in that category
with international as well as national players
fighting for every basis point! As an extension
of any one of them, we would have alienated
the non users of that brand! Then I would have
been trying to recruit users of either Rin or Surf
for FC category. That’s like choosing apples
from three trees in apple garden. Today, I can
recruit consumers from any fabric wash brand,
including P&G’s or Nirma or Ghari!
Reshma: Thank god, I didn’t have to make that
big choice with Noodles. With proposition of
“Noodles with soup”, it was natural fit to go
with Knorr as umbrealla brand and extend it to
noodles category. But Vani, what Aneet says
makes sense for spreads as well. I mean, I can
understand extensions of Kissan in Juices but
why extend Kissan in spreads which is new
category for Indian consumer.
Vaneeta: Rey, you know foods. It’s not a
category where consumers believe any new
brand so easily like fabric wash or face wash.
The trials also demand a lot of conviction,
forget about switch. It’s not like I bought a new
soap this week becoz I liked the new ad or
something like that and I’ll switch back to my
old soap next week. As Kissan extension makes
sense in juices due to its strong equity in jams
and ketchup, we also wanted to use that strong
equity for spreads.
Aneet: I agree with you on brand equity part.
But don’t you think you have increased your
marketing challenge by going ahead with
Kissan extension in both categories at same
time. If I’m housewife in Chennai looking at
Kissan, which communication will register with
me? In first ad you talk about Kissan juice
followed by another with Kissan spread. Isn’t
that a case of confusion in communication! To
top it all, you use Juhi as umbrella brand
ambassador…
Vaneeta: Sirji, I don’t have cash pile like you to
have separate brand ambassadors for each
brand, sometime for same brands for different
regions! Who was it for Wheel for only UP +
Bihar last year… ya, Mallika Sherawat. Gosh,
how can you have someone like that as BA!
That too, when other side you have Salaman
and Prachi for it.
Aneet: Hey chill, you are not anyways TG for
wheel. Have your coffee and lets go for Marc’s
meeting, we are getting late.
This coffee conversation gives glimpse of what
happened with brand extensions in Noodles,
Juices, Spreads and Fabric conditioners
categories. Questions are:
1. For the selected brand, If you were
brand / category manager, will you use
these brands for extending in those
categories?
2. What would be your communication
mix for the chosen brand’s extension, if you
agree with brand extension as given in
case? (Here budget available to you is – FC
cat – 4% of gross turnover of parent brand,
 Noodles – 8% of gross turnover of parent
brand, Spreads – 3% of parent brand and
Juices – 6% of parent brand)
3. What would have been your alternate
strategy for the category, if you do not
agree with the brand extension?