Marketing review

Dhoni to endorse Reliance Communications products
Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni will endorse the products and services of Reliance Communications Ventures in advertising campaigns and other promotional programmes. Dhoni will also endorse products and services of Reliance Energy, another Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises company. Reliance Communications is looking to sign up more brand ambassadors from the field of music, films and cricket said company officials.

The company says it will use Dhoni's mass appeal to herald an enhanced customer experience across its existing products; and a new and exciting product range in future.

Araldite launches wood adhesive
Mumbai: Huntsman Advanced Materials, which makes the legendary adhesive brand Araldite, is launching a new product, Araldite Karpenter, designed for wood bonding. The product directly competes with Pidilites' brand Fevicol, which has a market share of above 60 per cent.

The company says that while Araldite serves the needs of a gamut of industries with its superior bonding qualities, with this launch, the company offers a basket of adhesive products to the Indian consumers. While the product would be made available at more than one lakh retail outlets across the country, the company also plans to invest heavily in advertising and marketing and has Bollywood actor Rajpal Yadav to endorse the product.

Though the company would eventually launch a series of TV and print campaigns, it would initially reach its target audience through below-the-line activities such as organising dealer meets and educating end-users. It plans to get Rajpal Yadav to talk about the advantages of the product to carpenters. The company hopes to capture 40 per cent market share in the PVA segment.

Besides Araldite Karpenter, the company has launched Klad-X, an adhesive for marble and tiles.

Anchor enters the soap segment
Mumbai: The Mumbai-based Anchor Health and Beauty Care has entered the soap segment with the soap brand Dyna. The company has roped in actress and model Katrina Kaif to endorse its brand. The soap will be available in two variants. Dyna is expected to have a higher total fatty matter content and is positioned as popular grade-one soap.

The company has decided to distribute the soap through a new marketing network. At the same time, it has decided to split its company into two divisions — personal and oral care. Currently, its toothpaste brand reaches out to 12 lakh outlets across the country and has a distribution reach of 30 per cent of the total number of outlets. Dyna will be distributed through an additional 12-13 lakh outlets. The company has decided to have a more focussed distribution setup for its soap brand to give added emphasis to its new brand.

Currently, Anchor has a share of 7 per cent in the toothpaste category. Its plain white toothpaste variant has Rahul Dravid endorsing the brand, which was positioned on the `complete vegetarian' platform.

Reckitt Benckiser to launch global brands in India
Reckitt Benckiser is considering launching some more of its international brands in India. Recently the company introduced a few of its global products, like dishwasher tablets Finish, depilatory cream Veet, fabric stain remover Vanish and floor cleaner Bang off to the Indian market. The company is also looking to introduce newer variants of its flagship brand Dettol this year, with an aim to capture 25 per cent of the Rs1,500 crore health-soap market.

Currently the company has an 18 per cent market share of the health soap market, with the Dettol brand contributing to about one-third of the share.

Globally the company has six variants of Dettol soap, though in India only three — Sensitive, Deo and Fresh have been launched.

The company has now launched — Surakshit Parivar, an awareness campaign on hygiene and has set aside a budget of about Rs5 crore for the programme. The company is planning to reach out to about 12 lakh new mothers, three lakh students under its handwash programme in schools and 250 hospitals in the six metros, including Bangalore and Hyderabad this year.

Carbon launches 'Face of the Day' contest
Carbon Accessories, the official jewellery accessories partner of the Lakme Fashion Week to be held in Mumbai from March 28 to April 1 this year, has launched the 'Face of the Day' contest.

An invitation is open to all at the event to click photographs of women who, according to them, epitomizes the ideals that Carbon stands for. The winner of the event will get a chance to be the face of Carbon for the next one year across its media campaigns and there are assured rewards for the photographer as well.

These pictures need to be taken in front of Carbon's branded `walls' where at the end of the event, a jury comprising one Carbon representative, one IMG official and one celebrity will adjudge the winner based on whether the face is a fit with the Carbon brand personality.

Showcause notices sent to TV channels for showing surrogate ads
Thirty one television channels have received notices from the The Information and Broadcasting Ministry for airing surrogate advertisements on 13 categories of liquor and tobacco brand extensions. The ministry says this is in violation of the advertising code under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, which states `no advertisement shall be permitted which promotes directly or indirectly production, sale or consumption of cigarette, tobacco production, wine, alcohol, liquor or other intoxicant'.

The Ministry has also sent warnings to seven music TV channels such as ETC, Channel V, B4U Music, Balle Balle Music, MTV Music, iTV Music and MH1 for telecasting objectionable remix Hindi filmy songs in violation of Programme code prescribed under Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995. It has directed these music TV channels not to telecast these songs henceforth and to run a scroll on their TV channels round the clock for a period of three days that they have violated Programme Code and they will be more careful in future.

Godrej introduces Evita the `age control' soap
Godrej Consumer Products has launched a new soap `EVITA Age Control Soap.' The company claims that the soap after regular usage for five weeks helps in reducing fine lines. According to the company there is an increasing demand among Indian women for convenient and inexpensive solutions for skin care and a need to look good naturally. This is the result of our continuous efforts to offer improved and innovative products to our consumers.

Coke's summer campaign to star Aishwarya Rai
Coca-Cola is launching a new brand campaign called Thande Ka Tadka for the summer, which will have include a TV commercial starring Aishwarya Rai. Conceptualised by Prasoon Joshi of McCann Erickson and shot by Abhijit Chaudhuri of Black Magic Productions the new ads would hit TV screens in different variants. The entire campaign will go full steam ahead across all leading channels from March 26.

Vikas Gupta, vice-president (marketing), said: "The youth of today is raring to take on the world. They are smart, energetic, focused, and confident enough to transform their aspirations into reality. The Thande Ka Tadka campaign connects instantly with this evolved persona. It features Aishwarya in a totally new avatar. She uses wit and humour and encourages us all to take control of one's life without being intimidated."

Amul launches sports drink `Stamina'
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul), has launched 'Stamina', claimed to be its first-ever instant energy sports drink. At present, only imported energy drinks are available.

Amul said Stamina is scientifically formulated and endorsed by Apollo Hospitals. Stamina would be available in refreshing Lime & Lemon flavour at a price of Rs12 per pack of 200 ml in tetra pak packages.

While imported energy drinks are carbonated sugar drinks and priced high, Amul's Stamina is a whey-based, protein drink containing electrolytes, vitamins and minerals in easy to digest form. It is targeted at sport persons and the highly active groups, especially youngsters.