Brand Management

Assignment

Successful and Failed Brands In Pakistan

Soft Swirl
Soft Swirl was introduced in Pakistan in 2020. The brand started expansion rapidly. It is
currently operating in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Mardan. The
brand offers premium quality ice-cream. Their speciality is the soft serve and a variety of
options including sundaes, cones, shakes etc. The toppings can be customised which a huge
range of options available.
The brand has been in market for about two years and has been expanding ever since it came
into being. Although Soft Swirl does not pursue aggressive marketing strategies and does not
advertise on television or print media it has conquered the market through word of mouth.
Huge crowds of customers can be witnessed outside the branches at night including families
and friends who come to enjoy their soft serves.
It uses social media marketing mainly. Every now and then posts can be seen on food groups,
praising Soft Swirl, and asking people to go try it out for themselves. Instagram is a very big
tool for Soft Swirl as the promotions through this platform reach the masses, the use of
captivating pictures tempts the customers into actually buying the product.
The reason for success is the identification of target market which mainly comprises of the
youngsters and targeting them through appropriate and relevant marketing channels.
Moreover, the brand provides value for money to the customers which is why it has gained
popularity so quickly, the quality is top notch whereas the prices are very affordable.

Gun Smoke
Gun Smoke steakhouse was very popular when it first opened up its branches in Lahore and
Karachi. It offered a wide range of burgers, steaks, pizzas, sandwiches etc.
The restaurant however was shut down in 2020.
At first the restaurant delivered quality food and provided a catchy and enjoyable ambiance to
the customers. In Karachi, the restaurant opened up a branch at Dolmen Mall and Galleria
Mall, Gulberg in Lahore. The restaurant had opened up at Dolmen Mall with a completely
new look and a revamped menu back in 2012.
Slowly and gradually the brand started losing customers who claimed that the price increases
were unjustified and significant which eroded the purchase capacity of most customers.
Social media is filled with infuriating customer reviews, the quality of food being served was
declining every day and the prices had almost doubled in a couple of months. The restaurant
was first closed temporarily amid COVID-19 restrictions, but it never bounced back and was
therefore permanently shut down from both the cities.
 Viral Branding Strategies Globally

1. e.l.f. #eyeslipsface on TikTok

Nowadays, TikTok is one of the most popular channels for marketers, especially if
they want to reach Gen Z members. The affordable makeup brand e.l.f., which stands
for eyes, lips, and face, has essentially invented the field of successful viral TikTok
marketing.
With the help of the same record company that Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande deal
with, they crafted a song especially for the campaign, and they also came up with a
hashtag that prompted users to share videos of their faces, lips, and eyes moving to the
tune. With more than 2.8 million user-generated videos, the viral campaign became
the most successful TikTok campaign ever.

e.l.f. cosmetics TikTok Campaign Case Study - Movers+Shakers #eyeslipsface - YouTube

2. Popeye’s: Chicken Sandwich Insanity

For brands, viral marketing may seem like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but Popeye's
proven that lightning can strike twice. Popeye's, a fast-food chicken restaurant, unveiled
their new chicken sandwich in August of 2019 and essentially destroyed the internet.
Even Chick-fil-A itself couldn't help but draw comparisons to their well-known
sandwich. They jokingly claimed to be the original creators of the chicken sandwich in a
tweet, and Popeye's reposted it with a snarky retort.

A fter that, it was officially on.

 The chaos eventually caused the sandwich to go out of stock for more than two months. But
when Popeye's announced their relaunch for the first Sunday of November, they turned what
could have been a disaster into a success. The fact that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays
should be noted. According to this graph from Bloomberg Business, their announcement
demonstrated that interest in the sandwich wasn't yet waning and that they were able to spark
just as much discussion about the relaunch as they had done during the initial debut.

Best Content
Dove: #Showus
Dove is a company that has a reputation for producing excellent branded content. Over the
years, Dove has maintained a very strong and distinct brand voice that centres on challenging
conventional notions of beauty. They continuously use that brand voice in both their
advertising and all of their branded content. The brand voice of their most recent #showus
campaign was also present. The brand invited women who feel different but are proud of it to
share their tales as part of this campaign. They received thousands of images and videos of
women sharing the things that set them apart and make them special. The business afterwards
produced YouTube videos that collected a number of these accounts of women from various
backgrounds. The business posted images of these women along with their biographies on
Instagram. This particular video had an extremely high rate of engagement.
Many women can identify with this subject since we all want to be loved and accepted for
who we are. Because of this and the utilisation of user-generated content, it has a unique aura
of authenticity and relatability. It is one of the best branded content examples of 2019 thus far
because of this.
Dove | Project #ShowUs | Shattering Beauty Stereotypes - YouTube