qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty

uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasd
fghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzx
cvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq
wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
Brand Management
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg
Brand Mascot- Fido Dido

hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
Joyeeta Ghosal (99 B)

vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq
wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg
hjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxc
vbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq
wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui
opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfg
hjklzxcvbnmrtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn
mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert
yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopas
Brand Mascot versus Celebrity Endorsement

A brand ambassador can be in the form of either a mascot or a celebrity endorser. A mascot
can be a symbol, a character, a cartoon or an animal. It is supposed to bring luck to the brand.
The strength of a mascot lies in its uniqueness and its power of effectively communicating
the ethos of the brand like, Chintamani of ICICI Prudential who solves all our ‘chintas’
(worries) related to tax savings and the Air-India Maharaja who welcomes passengers all
across the world, symbolizing a Maharaja like treatment to its travellers. A mascot stands for
only one brand that it personifies, for example Pillsbury Doughman, Vodafone’s zoozoo, 7
Up’s Fido Dido, or Ronald McDonald, etc. A celebrity endorser on the other hand “belongs”
to more than one brand. For example, Shah Rukh Khan has a brand portfolio of more than 30
brands in his kitty.

Brand mascots are loyal associative elements that stick with the brand throughout. Celebrity
endorsers can be promiscuous and can often flit from one brand to another, having the
potential to cause confusion just like in the case of an Amitabh Bachchan Ad, where one may
not be sure if he is Parker, a Zandu or an ICICI persona. This problem of confusion becomes
more pronounced in the case of the illiterate and semi illiterate population of India who may
not have the required brand recall looking at the celebrity endorser but may immediately
recognize the brand in case of a mascot. Not only do the mascots bring instant recognition for
the brand but they also help advertisers to cut through the clutter. In a diverse market like
India where mass brands have not less than 16 language translations for their ads, mascots are
a very powerful means to create a stronger connect with the consumers.

The advantage of a mascot over a celebrity endorsement is that it is cost-effective. Also, the
endorsements make a brand dependent on the popularity of a celebrity which may not be
consistent over a period of time. A mascot, on the other hand will always signify what the
brand stands for.

However, celebrity endorsements fetch an instant brand acceptance, add credibility to the
brand, and ensure excellent brand recall, making it the best formula for enhancing the brand
image. Celebrity endorsements are particularly more effective in the case of a new product
where the approval by a celebrity builds a sense of trust leading to a “genuine” perception of
the brand. The Shah Rukh – Santro campaign, for instance, successfully built exceptionally
fast brand recognition for an unknown Korean Brand in India. All that Hyundai required to
drive the masses was a celebrity like Shah Rukh Khan as its brand ambassador.

In a demographic segment like India, the mass appeal of celebrities has been demonstrated
time and again where actors, sportspersons are almost given god-like status. The Parker pen
brand used Amitabh Bachchan to revitalize the brand in India, after which its sales increased
by about 30 percent. Celebrities have also proved instrumental in damage control to restore
the consumer confidence for companies like Cadbury India, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo after the
worms and pesticides controversies. A celebrity of high calibre has the potential to drive the
masses to “believe” in the brand they endorse.
Brand Mascot for PepsiCo’s 7UP: Fido Dido

PepsiCo India's expansive beverages portfolio includes iconic refreshment beverages such as
Pepsi, 7UP, Nimbooz, Mirinda, Slice and Mountain Dew; in addition to low calorie options
such as Diet Pepsi, hydrating and nutritional beverages such as Aquafina drinking water,
isotonic sports drinks - Gatorade, Tropicana 100%, Tropicana Twister fruit juices.

7UP, the refreshing clear drink with natural lemon and lime flavour was created in 1929. 7UP
was launched in India in 1990 and its international mascot Fido Dido was used for
advertising in 1992 to position the brand as a cool drink for youngsters. Fido became an
instant hit with his trendy look, laid back attitude and refreshing take on life. During the
brand’s early years in India, 7UP gained market leader status in the lemon lime category by
being one of the first to be nationally distributed as well as being marketed as a healthier
alternative to other soft drinks.

In 1987, Joanna Ferrone and Susan Jones - both advertising professionals - sat at a roadside
cafe in New York’s Greenwich Village and, on a creative impulse, doodled on a napkin. This
was the birth of Fido Dido — in India, better recognised as the scrawny, no-holds-barred,
ultra-cool 7-Up mascot.  Circa 1992, when Pepsi launched 7-Up in India, the campaign
relived the Greenwich Village episode — model Sheri Meher Homji sits in a cafe and, while
sipping on 7-Up, doodles on a napkin. Only this time, Fido doesn’t wait to be created: in his
half-drawn state, he darts out of the napkin, snatches the pencil from the model’s hand and
completes himself. Then, he goes on to pour himself a drink of 7-Up. This campaign ran for
two years after which it took a break. Fido became the mascot in the US in 1988, a year after
he was born. The Indian communication started in 1992, at the time of the brand’s launch
here. The Fido campaign was taken off the air in the mid-nineties — worldwide.

The official story behind taking the campaign off was “constant innovation” as the
company’s philosophy and that none of PepsiCo’s taglines have ever remained constant. The
character Fido Dido was resurrected in 2003 and the campaign was a frame-by-frame copy of
the previous one, only that it featured a different model. The reasoning given by the company
for bringing back Fido Dido was that it was the “most visible and enduring face of 7Up; it
straddled generations and wasn’t a time-bound entity”. For example, the kids of the nineties
could again associate with the “King of Cool” in 2003, as grown-ups. The campaign was
again pulled out consequently. Today, 7Up has established itself as the “the lemon drink”
building further on the theme of mood upliftment with its new tagline “Mood ko do Lemon
ka Lift”.

Fido Dido was a highly evolved and fleshed-out character. The brand properties of 7Up
matched upto Fido’s persona: 7Up is natural, clear, refreshing and sparkling; all these found
brand extensions in Fido who was true to himself, simple, chilled out, and quick-witted. In
2003, the clear lemon category in carbonated soft drinks market was approximately 6-7% of
the industry. The category was experiencing a strong double digit growth with 7Up holding
54% share in the category against its main competitor Sprite, a brand owned by Coca-Cola.
The new thrust on the lemon segment was made by PepsiCo by promoting dormant Fido as
“sharpening his wits”, while he was lying low.

The phasing out of Fido Dido

The 7Up brand failed to make its mark in India although it has been in the market for close to
19 years. The fault lay in the confused marketing strategy adopted by PepsiCo with this
brand. PepsiCo is one of the world's best marketers. But when we look at individual brands
like Mirinda and 7Up, we see a confused product mix strategy from the company.

When launched, 7 Up was positioned as a cool drink. The brand used Fido Dido and certain
imported commercial to position the brand as a cool drink for the youngsters. But the mascot
and its international style failed to impress the audience. Everyone liked Fido Dido but there
was no connect with the mascot and the Indian audience. The company was in a dilemma
because 7Up had a strong association with Fido Dido but Fido Dido did not connect with the
Indian audience. Here, we see that a brand mascot did not work very well for a brand and
contrary to the company’s prediction; it was “time-bound” and “audience specific”. Another
interesting fact is that Fido Dido trademark does not belong to Pepsi but belongs to the
founder Joanna. Hence the mascot is highly controlled by the owner and not the brand. This
lack of control has prevented Pepsi from Adapting Fido to Indian audience. It does not have
the freedom to change the mascot's personality. This is an absolutely awkward situation for
the brand where it had a wonderful mascot but could not change anything about the mascot.

Another factor that aided for the failure of 7Up was the thinking among Pepsi marketers that
taglines and positioning statements should not remain constant. So they keep on changing
taglines and statements. One of the highly popular taglines for 7Up was "Keep it Cool ". But
the marketers at Pepsi wanted to change it for the sake of changing it. It then changed to the
tagline “Bheja Fry, 7Up try” in 2007-2008. The tagline was again changed in 2009 to “Mood
ko do Lemon ka Lift” positioning the brand as a lemon drink more than a cool, refreshing
drink, giving rise to inconsistency and confusion in the minds of the consumers.

PepsiCo tried many marketing gimmicks in reviving the brand by doing away with the Fido
Dido character for the Indian audience and roping in Mallika Sherawat as a celebrity endorser
where in the new shape of the 7Up bottle was likened to that of the actress’s curvaceous
body. There was an initial hype about this launch but it later died a slow death as PepsiCo
could not break the clutter and create a niche positioning for the brand.

Another reason why both brand mascot and celebrity endorser did not work for 7Up was
because the brand faced competition internally from Mountain Dew. PepsiCo launched its
iconic brand Mountain Dew and put lot of investment behind the brand. As a consumer, it
was difficult to perceive Mountain Dew, Sprite and 7Up as different from each other.
PepsiCo too appeared confused on its positioning for Mountain Dew and 7Up when the
consumers perceived them as similar. As a result, 7Up was sidelined from the Brand portfolio
of Beverages offered by PepsiCo and they diverted their focus and investments to other
brands until the company started pitching the drink as “the lemon drink” after realising that
the lime juice category was the most favourite flavour among Indians.
However, with the recent launch of another brand called Nimbooz which is positioned as a
lemon juice which is “Ek Dum Asli Indian”, it is going to become more problematic for 7Up.
It is as if PepsiCo is trying say that one brand is an original lemon drink and the other is
artificial. As a result the confusion still lingers on for the consumers. The micro segmentation
or having a huge Brand portfolio with very little distinction between the brands attributes
confuses the consumers and makes them choose the simplest solution. Sprite became the
largest selling beverage brand because it was simple for consumers to understand what the
brand did.

Conclusion

In the case of 7Up, neither a brand mascot nor a celebrity endorser worked for a very long
time because the there was lack of consistency in the marketing of the brand itself. Fido Dido
worked very well in the international market but failed in the Indian audience and thus the
belief that a mascot remains consistent and personifies the brand in all respects is not always
true. Mallika Sherawat too did not work as the brand ambassador because there was no
connect between her and the drink except for the shape of the new bottle and her “curvy
bottom”. Her personality had absolutely no sink with the personality of 7Up as a brand. In
fact, her image created more dissonance between the erstwhile image of 7Up and the new
image that PepsiCo was trying to create.

Fido Dido, though an innovative and creative character, couldn’t be a real mascot for the
company because it never belonged to the company. This is also the reason why I cannot
think which other brand Fido Dido could endorse as its trademark lies with its creators
Joanna Ferrone and Susan Jones. Probably PepsiCo could buy the trademark from them and
try revamping Fido Dido in a newer way to make it work in the Indian context not only for
7Up but for the other brands in its portfolio like Nimbooz or Mountain Dew. However, the
question is why they haven’t done it already. Maybe having a huge brand portfolio has
diverted PepsiCo’s focus to other brands which already have a strong positioning and distinct
identity and are doing well and they do not want to spend any more time or money in a failed
brand. 7Up is in its maturity stage in the product life cycle and needs a serious decision from
the company whether to continue manufacturing it or slowly phasing it out so that the other
brands in its portfolio do better. Therefore, Fido Dido, in spite of being a youth icon in the
nineties died out eventually because of the brand it endorsed and not because of itself.
However, it worked quite effectively as long as it was alive.