Case 1

Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

C A S E

Which Direction Should The Brand Take?*

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*This case is intended to stimulate discussion in a class situation. It neither represents the actual company concerns nor passes a judgement on the working of the company.

Case 1

Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Case - I
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Case 1

Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Which Direction Should the Brand Take?

Liril made a big splash in the toilet soaps category in the late 'seventies. The market then was not very competitive. The mixed economy model did not yet fulfil the dream of prosperity and affluence. The 'licence raj' tightly controlled industrial activity. Like most of the industry sectors, the toilet soap industry was dominated by only a handful of players like Hindustan Lever, Calcutta Chemicals and Tomco. These three players marketed a complete portfolio with brands aimed at different segments and offering different benefits. The other players catered to small niches, as did Johnson &Johnson, which limited its range to infant and kids, with appropriate product offerings including mild soaps and shampoos. Other local players included the likes of Chandrika, Swastik, Keshnikhar, Mysore Sandal and Cont. Medimix, besides a host of small players that operated locally.

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

This was during the 'seventies, when marketing as we know it today had not come into its own; it had yet to harden into a serious discipline. Firms still followed traditional practices in conducting business, and marketing personnel could not be said to command high esteem; their job was to hunt out fresh avenues for enhancing sales opportunities. Very few companies differentiated between sales and marketing functions, preferring to club them under a single department, and few indeed were the ones who adopted a seriously technical approach to the activity. Demand still chased supply and, it being a supplier's market, things were easier to sell, whatever their quality. Advertising did not use sophisticated tools both to explore consumer motivation and create executions. Like many other categories, brands used rational appeals to woo consumers. The problem solution themes dominated the marketing arena. Soap fragrance, size, colour, name, etc., were seen to be major bait for hooking customers. The brand communication focused on product and ingredients as means to influence buying. The markets were still clubbed into large masses of customers with little express differentiation. Cont.

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Liril arrived on the soap space with the promise to transform bathing from problem coping to providing experience. With its 'freshness' platform, the brand sought to add a psychological dimension of feeling good. The brand uniquely communicated and connected with its prospects through a bold advertisement by then prevalent values. In 1975, the brand communications showed a beautiful model in a bikini under a natural waterfall. The excitement and freshness so conveyed by the advertisement struck an emotional connect with the people. The sound track of the TV (then, alas, only black and white) commercial used a 'La..la..la..' tune that concretized the delivery promised by the brand. In no time, the brand became hugely successful. The brand headline invited the potential uses as 'come alive with Liril freshness'. The brand advertising showed floating juicy sliced lemon to back up its freshness claim. It was the first brand that sought to play on inherent freshness associated with lime.
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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Brand communication Potential customer: young women Background: natural high energy waterfall Theme: young, vivacious, attractive girl having bath Promised benefit- freshness experience Promise support: floating juicy slices of lemon Voice over: Come alive with Liril freshness

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Liril cornered 14 percent market share, good enough to give it a slot in first three positions. It established the premium segment in soaps category. The brand was a top performer in the toilet soaps category until 1995, when it began to lose market share. During this period, the brand lost big volumeover 35 percent - and its market share slid to below five percent. The excitement and innovation created by the brand could not be sustained. The later brand communication deviated from the original brand positioning. Further, the brand benefits of lime and freshness responsible for its success lost novelty. Many other brands began to focus on lime as ingredient and the claimed benefits of freshness. What was once a unique, pioneering benefit was becoming generic. Further, the brand's original customers who grew up with it, were aging. Over time, the need structure of this group was shifting from experience and emotional delivery to functionality. This way, the brand began to lose its grip over the market.
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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

The net result of loyal customers migrating to functionality, and the brand's unique positioning getting cluttered, were typical challenges associated with the life cycle. Lack of differentiation and resonance with the potential customers began to take its toll on the brand. The brand persona, that centred on lime and freshness no longer offered the uniqueness that the brand now required to revitalize itself. The issue facing Liril was how to resurrect the once very strong brand and regain its former glory. Many thought of launching variations and re-doing the brand's communication in order to make it more attuned with the times, so that young customers could be included in the brand's fold. Challenged as the brand was, Lever did make a heroic attempt to inject fresh blood into the brand. The period of change and experimentation began in 1995. the brand first rode on the extension mode. First, the brand saw the launch of a shower gel in 1994, followed by a cologne variant in 1996. Later, in 1999, another variation saw the light of the day by the name of Rainfresh. Then came icy blue Liril. The brand was hooked into a number of variants, all of them trying to play around with the theme of freshness in different contexts. Cont.

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

The brand communication that once created history of sorts - with sexy, bikini-clad Karen Lunel splashing about gleefully under a natural waterfall changed radically. The original Karen Lunel ads ran for twelve years, firmly establishing the brand's associations with lime freshness. The girl in the waterfall theme was finally abandoned in favour of something called an 'unusual water experience'. Instead of 'the girl under the waterfall' theme, the girl came out to bathe in the open, whether in a car wash or by dancing

in front of a fire tanker hose. In a bid to lure youth, a set of commercials were launched on MTV. Then came the pissing boy, the girl in the desert, and the Liril Icy commercial. The brand communication began to take many routes, as if the idea was to shoot off arrows in all direction in the hope that one would hit the target. But that did not seem to happen. The advertising initiatives and line extensions failed to infuse any energy into brand's Cont. performance.

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Like the brand communication, even the product looks and forms deviated from its unique green, streaked appearance. Icy blue gave way to a blue variant that contained menthol. With line extensions, the brand sought to deliver a different bathing experience. The brand's bold commercial of the green bikini clad model, made way for a model in a green swimsuit. Later, the swimsuit of the Liril model moved on to become a pair of hot pants. The brand faced intense competitive pressures in nineties, from other lime soaps

aiming to copy the freshness platform.

Experts feel differently about the fall of Liril from its prima donna status. One expert ascribes the fall of the brand to the confusion between the brand idea and its execution. Many believe that the central brand idea was never really

clear. It appeared that the 'girl in the waterfall' was the central brand idea and it should not have been touched. But is it this creative expression of the Cont. central idea of freshness - or the ideas itself - that was sacrosanct?

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Others believe that Liril drew its success from the brand personality created by the first model, Karen Lunel. She epitomised not only youth but also other traits like exuberance, vivacity, innocence and fun. The models that replaced Karen were only, young pretty things. They were lacking across all the other personality aspects of the first model that launched the brand. Lever was never been able to find another Karen Lunel to so uniquely capture and reflect the brand essence. The managers at the company believed that the brand's creative expression of 'girl in the waterfall' had become outdated. It had lived its life. But actually, the hangover persists to this very day. To give them credit, they have not altogether deviated from it. Be it Liril calendar or advertisements, the symbols of the waterfall and the girl would always be visible. Beyond communication, the brand has also seemed to have suffered on account of Lever's inability to come up with the right product line in the case of Liril, as they did for Lux and Lifebuoy. It is suggested that the brand has to discover new, audacious paradigms and reach out to new horizons. It must transcend its current expression, only then is there some hope for revival.
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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

Many believe that the brand failed to progress with time. The rapid changes executed in the communications amount to influencing the superficial. The fundamental problems plaguing the brand were never unearthed. The tactics to correct immediate problems began to drive the strategy. New variations and communications made the picture rosy for some time, but once the excitement period passes, the sales tumble to their previous levels. Alyque Padamsee, who initially created the brand, believes that Liril's problems lie in the fact that its original bathing experience has been replaced with unusual water experience. The later ads like the pissing boy and the desert ad use the theme of water, but he questions, 'where is the bathing experience in these? Is it central to the idea of freshness?' The brand seems to have withered (and meandered) too far beyond its original core idea. All the commercials are good to view, but they fail to touch the heart. Many industry people believe that bringing back those original Cont. commercials may be a good idea.

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Which Direction Should The Brand Take?

But how would that help? A majority of the brand's current customers do not have any idea or recollections of those magical advertisements from the 'seventies. Over thirty years have passed, and few are the nostalgic feelings that have survived. The customers to today are fundamentally different from those of the past; they have a more actively experiential outlook on life. They seek more active participation in everything. They don't expect a brand to passively deliver a benefit. Rather, they want to create an experience by active participation. Presently, Liril has three variants: Liril Aloe Vera, Icy Cool and Liril Orange.