The Hindu Business Line : Brands can outlive product life cycles Page 1

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Thursday, Aug 22, 2002

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Yesterday In the vast sea of numerous consumer products, today even Cell calling
Datewise if it's a major consumer brand (in the case of an existing
Resources brand) in India enjoying a great market share in its Clean vessels
category, can the marketer take a deep breath and believe
Group Sites that his product can complete the PLC without any fear? (In
Malabar delight
the mean time he can enjoy the fruit).
The Hindu
Business Line As I learnt from the market the percentage of brand loyal Real Lichi
The Sportstar
customers is decreasing. They switch over to the next best
Frontline
alternative. In this scenario, is simply relaunching the Highly charged
product or making a brand extension enough for an old
brand when sales are affected? Also, is advertising on
television after a relaunch and other media enough? It may
get some absorption in some parts of the country. But what
about rest of the area?

- Santhosh.B, on e.mail

I certainly hope that young Santhosh, who works as a

manager in an advertising agency in Kerala, is clearer in his
communication with his clients/customers than he is in his
letter to me. It took me a visit to www.dictionary.com to
decipher the meaning of `PLC'. Did you know that this
abbreviation has over 30 explanations? However, I decided
that I would decipher the words PLC to mean Product Life
Cycle and try and answer his question, on the basis of this
definition.

First, may I say, that I really do not believe in the category

of a product life cycle; certainly, not in the context of a
brand. A product category could have a life cycle because
either technology makes the product category old-fashioned
(such as a transistor radio) or the consumer outgrows or
develops into not needing a particular category any more.
An example of this could be the Japanese `Kimono', which is
no longer worn as an everyday dress but only on ceremonial
occasions (This is, to some extent, happening with the Sari
with the younger generation). However, a brand does not
need to follow the rules of a life cycle. Philips has been a
brand name for a radio receiving set since 1931. The coming
of transistor technology was adopted by the Philips brand,

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The Hindu Business Line : Brands can outlive product life cycles Page 2

which then transferred itself to television and DVDs; and

extended itself to cellular phones. The brand is stronger
today than it was 50-years ago when it first became a
market leader in its native Holland.

Philips is an example of a brand that has successfully

continued its dominance through the life cycle of several
product categories and has also extended itself to a line of
different products over time.

To enjoy the `fruits' of a successful brand, the brand owner

cannot relax his efforts in brand building nor reduce his
investments over time if he is to continue having a strong
brand, which can transcend time and the confines of a single
product category. In addition, he has to have the skill of a
surgeon, the patience of Job (the Biblical character who was
the very picture of patience) and the aggression of a tiger to
dominate competition. In brief, brand building and
maintenance is a set of activities that are continuous over
time, and need resources, both in terms of quality
management and significant monetary investment. If I may
now move onto Santhosh's second question, I'm surprised
that he finds that brand loyalty is decreasing because
evidence indicates that strong brands are becoming bigger,
whether they are mainstream or niche.

It is true that the consumer has far greater choice in many

product categories than in the past, but if one reviews the
list of the Top Ten brands in the world, we see them
increasing in preference, and becoming, with greater
regularity, the brand of choice. This is so whether we look at
consumer products such as Coke and Pepsi, software such
as Microsoft Office and Windows, retailers such as Wal-Mart,
Home Depot or Gap or luxury motor cars such as BMW and
Mercedes. All these brands, as many others, are becoming
stronger over time and are eliminating competition which, in
some cases, is growing in numbers but are losing market
share. However, in categories where brands are more
nondescript, have become weak because of lack of support
investments. This is true worldwide, (and in India) with
FMCG products in particular, for various reasons, advertising
budgets have been diverted to provide short-term below-
the-line promotions and other activities to meet the
quarterly sales targets.

Finally, is marketing theory of help in real life? Yes, of

course, it is, but the skill with which it is applied depends
very much on the person who is responsible for brand
building. I might draw a parallel with a man in a maze.
Marketing theory are the signposts within the maze but the
person has to find his own way; with the help of the signs
but, more so with his own initiative and skill. It is the
application of theory to `real life' that a successful
marketing person must make to do well in today's
competitive environment.

(The author is CEO, Quadra Advisory, a strategic marketing

consultancy. Readers can send their questions on marketing
issues to The Editor, The Hindu Business Line, 859, Anna
Salai, Chennai, 600 002, or e-mail bleditor@thehindu.co.in)

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