REVITALIZING BRANDS

Expanding Brand Awareness

(Enhancing the breadth & depth of
awareness),
Entering New Markets & Increasing usage
&
Improving Brand Image
(Changing Brand Elements or
repositioning)
 REVITALIZING THE BRAND

 In virtually every product category, there are

examples of once prominent brands that have
fallen on hard times and in some cases even
completely disappeared.
 Some of these Brands manage to turnaround
and come back – --- Readers Digest,
Kelvinator, Cuticura
 Brands sometime have to return to their roots
to recapture its lost source of brand equity.
 REVITALIZING THE BRAND
 Reversing a fading brand’s fortunes require either
recapturing the lost sources of brand equity or bringing
in new sources of brand equity.

 Brand on the comeback trail needs revolutionary

changes rather than evolutionary changes.

 Brands most likely to respond to revitalization efforts

are those that have clear and relevant values that have
been left dormant for a long time.
 They still have lot of Brand equity left in them.
 REVITALIZING THE BRAND
 Revitalizing - deals with such brands which are old but if redirected may
have plenty of life.
 This can be substantially less costly and risky than introducing a new
brand.
 Seven Avenues for Brand Revitalization.
1. Increasing Usage
2. Finding new uses
3. Entering new markets
Brand 4. Repositioning
Revitalization
5. Augmenting the Product/services

6. Obsoleting Existing Products

7. Extending the Brand
 1. Increasing the Frequency of Use
 Reminder Communications
 Position for frequent / regular use (clinic shampoo)
 Make the use easier (Araldite)
 Provide Incentives (frequent flier plans)
 Address any undesirable consequences attached
with frequent use.
 (PH value of soft drinks, radiation hazards related to Microwave oven –
Marketing tactics deviating from the normal brand activities will have to
be taken up here)
 Use at Different Occasions / Locations (Coffee,
Cola instead of Coffee/tea; soft drinks at home)
 Increasing The Quantity Used
 Insurance customer reminded to cover more
items (household).
 Positive associations with use (Frito-Lay “You
just can’t eat one”).
 Incentives can be used to increase the quantity
used / bought (quantity discounts)
 Communication efforts to change attitudes
related to usage quantity.

 2.FindingNew Uses: Milkmaid. Arm & Hammer

Baking Soda (to deodorizer).
 3. Entering New Markets:
 The target market for a particular brand may
not comprise of all the market segments.
 If firm may not have other Brands for these
target segments, then they become potential
areas for the brand to expand.

 Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo promoted on

gentleness plank, taken to adults as a shampoo
that can be used every day.
 P&G’s Ivory soap was revived by promoting it
as a pure and simple product for adults than
just babies.
 Van Heusen gained the edge over Arrow in the
US markets by targeting 50% of its ad budget
to women.
 Women buy an estimated 60% to 70% of
men’s shirts.
 Arrow followed by retracing their strategy to
brand its shirts especially with women. (Selling
bolder colors and busier patterns at higher prices)
4. Repositioning
 One strategic option for revitalizing a fading
brand is simply to abandon the consumer
group that supported the brand in the past to
target a completely new segment.

 Brylcream – slicked-back look of 1960’s, saw its sales go

limp in the 1970’s, when the Beatles popularized “mop-
top” look
 To revive – Brylcream Gel was launched, a clear gel with
newer packaging enlisting soccer stars (now Beckham) to
endorse --- younger audience.
 Changing Associations
 A Positioning Strategy can become in-appropriate
as the target market ages, the association becomes
less appealing as tastes and fashions change.
(Horlicks, Milkmaid, Rasna, Levis, Mercedes, Omni)
 A positioning strategy can simply wear out as the
target segment becomes saturated
 (sales start to stagnate/decline – Scissors, Esteem).
 New associations and associated segments are
needed to generate growth.
 (Rexona, Maruti Omni van)
 New Associations – Add Value by Differentiation
 Sometimes, as it matures a product becomes a
commodity and the price pressure makes the
product unprofitable.
 One approach is to attempt to reposition the
commodity.
 1960’s saw Frank Perdue, tired of being in the
commodity business, completely repositioned it as a
high quality branded product ----
 “It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken”.
 5. AUGMENTING THE PRODUCT
 As product categories mature

 Once strong brand associations which

differentiated your product are now
matched by most of competition.
 Customers seem more and more
concerned about price and most are not
willing to pay premium price for a brand.
 The temptation is to become resigned to a
very competitive environment.
 Augmenting The Product

 Theodore Levitt: When the product is close to

becoming a commodity, consider augmenting it
by providing services or features not expected
by the customer as they go beyond anything
being offered.
 Two ways – Do something better or
do something extra / different.
 With a mature product it is more feasible to do
something extra than better.
 Improving or innovations in packaging is a way
to provide this differentiating extra.
 Improving package -- Nestle packaged its
chocolates in tiny tubs, so that children can use it
to make chocolate fudge or sundaes in a
microwave oven.
 Clinic shampoo’s special packaging for children
which provided the right quantity per squeeze
(meant for five rinses).
 A new package can solve a customer problem.
Eg: sachets enabled packing of shampoos, tooth
paste, coconut oil to be packed for the use of
traveling lot and also for rural population.
 McKesson Inc., in drug wholesaling or
Baxter in Hospital supplies built computer
based information system for their retail /
customers ---
 Virtually taking over inventory management ,
reorder decisions.
 McKesson could reduce its sales force
engaged in store level sales by a small force
which serviced the systems(1975)
 McKesson grew from $1 billion in 1978 to $5
billion in 10 years.
 Customer Involvement:
 Involving customer can be key to the process of
finding ways to augment the product or service.
 Customer involvement not only helps to identify
the most appropriate areas to work on but also
makes the effort visible to the consumer.
 The US textile firm Millikin, using Customer
Action Teams (CAT’s), ---------- started making
creative solutions to both current customers (in
better serving them) and to new customers (in
developing them).
A series of CAT’s launched every year has
turned Millikin’s industrial towel business from a
commodity to a value added service business.
 Millikin now virtually runs the business of their
client’s industrial laundries.
 They provide computerized ordering and logic
systems, market research assistance , leads
from trade shows, audio visual sales aids etc.
 6. OBSOLETING EXISTING PRODUCT WITH
NEW-GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES
 Sometimes a sleepy industry segment can be
revitalized by a product which obsoletes the
existing installed base and accelerates the
replacement cycle.
 Yamaha Disklavier, FM-radio are eg.’s.

 Introduction of CD’s virtually saw a rebirth for

the audio and video entertainment industry
with the sales of audio & video systems
surging.
 Market leader who has vested interest in the
old technology, faces competitive threat and
will opt for a delay strategy.
 Gillette (1960’s) resisted the stainless steel
technology knowing the durability of the new
material will reduce the volumes and also the
cost to change over its manufacturing.
 Small players such as Wilkinson(UK) and
Schick (US) made permanent inroads into the
market. Gillette’s share fell from 70% to 55%
and ROI from 40% to 30%.
Brand Rejuvenation
 Brand Rejuvenation is very similar to brand
reinforcement.
 This happens because of lack of clear focus
for the Brand, which may arise out of :
 1. Unrelated Diversifications

 2. Innovation Dearth

 3. Lack of Brand Evolution

 Activities to bring back supremacy
 1. Regain Focus: operating a number of
business can be justified on the basis or logic
of scale or scope of operations, but from a
brand perspective this can be detrimental ….
as it diverts the focus from the core of the
brand.
 2. Elevate Marketing / Branding To The
Board Room: Elevate Marketing / Branding
from a tactical level to more priority oriented
strategic level.
 3. Brand oriented Leadership: In the
competitive environment other brands are constantly
questioning your supremacy. This where the CEO and Top
Management should enable the brand to innovate and lead in
their respective segments.
 4. Develop Design, Features & Relevance: Regain
relevance among the loyal customer base (“Cool
Customers”) by bringing in superior designs and features.
ALTERNATIVES TO REVITALIZATION: END GAME

 In a declining industry there are substantial

risks in investing especially if your brand starts
to show weakness.
 At this point it may not be possible to provide
equal access to resources for all the brands in
any multi brand organization.
 Options are:

 1. Milking the brand

 2. Exit the market.

ALTERNATIVES TO REVITALIZATION-END GAME
 The Milking Option
 Avoiding investment in the brand, attempting instead to
generate additional cash flow from it.
 Milking strategy will accept a decline in sales and profits
and the risk that the brand will eventually go under.
 A variant to milking strategy is ‘hold’ or ‘maintain’, where
enough investment to maintain the brand.---No growth.
 A fast milking: sharp reductions in operating expenses,
increase in price to maximize short term cash flow.
 Milking (contd.)
 Situational characteristics that lead to milking
strategy rather than exit:
 1. Industry decline rate is not exceedingly
steep. Pockets of demand exist.
 2. Price structure will be stable allowing efficient
firms to make profits.
 3. Brand has enough customer loyalty in certain
pockets, to generate enough sales /profits. Risk
of losing relative position due to milking is low.
 4. Milking strategy can be successfully
managed.
 Difficultiesin Implementing strategy
 Suspicion that milking strategy is implemented
can upset the plan.
 Customers may lose faith in the brand.

 Competitors may attack more vigorously

 Most managers will not be experience or

orientation to handle the situation.
 To minimize such effects it is better to keep the
milking route inconspicuous.
 2. Divestment or Liquidation
 When prospects for the brand are bad and a
milking strategy doe not seem feasible, the
final alternative – divestment or liquidation is
considered.
 Conditions that suggest an exit than a milking
decision are:
 1. Decline rate is rapid and accelerating. (no
pockets of enduring demand).
 2. Price pressures are anticipated to be
extreme. (lack of B. loyalty, differentiation and
competitive pressures from those who have
exit barriers).
 3. The brand position is weak and there are
more than one competitor who hold dominant
position.
 4. Firm’s mission has changed and the
business is becoming non related.
 5. Exit barriers if any can be overcome, such
as specialized machines, long term contracts
with suppliers etc.