PINCH OF NAMAK

12th March 1930. Most of us might not even remember the day. It was the first act of organized opposition to British rule When the Mahatma broke salt laws in Dandi at the conclusion of the march on April 6, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians. Well, if not British Raj, this day might have surely inspired a lot of companies to venture into the most basic of all products. To begin with, I remember our eco faculty talking about price inelasticity of demand - Salt is a cheap but an essential good. As the price of salt increases, people do not tend decrease their consumption of salt. And possibly in the marketing sense of it, salt is one product which is mass product. Across segmentation the “customer needs” are the same. Talking of stats, did you know India is the third largest salt producing country in the world with an average annual production of about 148 lakh tones?
These days, there is a TVC run by NIRMA SHUDH NAMAK. Ahh remember that oversmart kid a few years ago, educating the baniyaa? “Shudh nahi samajhte kya?” A much better TVC this time, with positioning efforts not pretty evident. Lets dwell deeper into the case.
NIRMA- a name which is synonymous with the detergent offering, I still remember an hour long discussion in our branding lectures on why they should have used Multiple Branding strategy instead of Brand Extension. But thats another story. Now that the Brand managers at NIRMA decided to play it safe, they have NIRMA SHUDH NAMAK.
Lets see what they have done here. They have shown the raw vegetables in a salad running away from the bombardment of ordinary namak(I like using this word instead of salt). And when they jump out of the window, they see the same NIRMA girl emerging from the sunlight and the vegetables are happy again.
Come to think of it, a very naive campaign. Thanks to the brand managers at TATA Chem (TATA NAMAK), HUL (Annapurna Namak) etc using a bit of rationality in a low involvement product like salt by launching Line Extensions like TATA Salt Lite or the Annapurna Namak’s brilliant Iodised Positioning, the marketing efforts of NIRMA are very lousy. Why?
a. You don’t have a clear differentiation. Why should a habitual buyer of a TATA Salt go for your salt. TATA Salt also has refined free flow technology. What you are showing is grounded ordinary khara namak.
b. No rational factor – Is it good for my or my family’s health? If not is only daana daana ek samaan the reason for purchasing? Thanks but no thanks!

Also a humble request to the professors of BSchools to not glamorise this case by pointing out that the failure of this product is because of the name. I disagree, lack of value positioning is the key for any failure of this product. When NIRMA might have calculated the market size and thought of venturing into its only edible product, they should have totally got their product and positioning of the product correct.
A request to NIRMA, you created magic with your detergent kitty, one way of possible being an ambitious FMCG basket is by launching a few more SKUs in Food segment. Then the acceptability would also be evident. But for the time being, as my guru Jack Trout and Al Reis plead “DIFFERENTIATE OR DIE”

FAIR ENOUGH?

Kill me, curse me or arrest me. Dashboard was on a break for Diwali, and indeed a big one! Well after hogging like an abandoned kid from a third world country, I have accumulated the energy to write back. Also thanks to the regular followers of Dashboard who kicked me not for writing off late!

If you were to be an avid TV freak, there would be 2 vintage brands which have redefined their ad spends, surprisingly. Both were household cosmetic names for decades when the Indian women weren’t acquainted to the slew of variants that one can now see stocking on the shelves. Well, if you haven’t guessed it yet, I’m talking about Lacto Calamine and Vicco Turmeric. Let us first see the life cycles of the Lacto Calamine brand and then analyse if there could be better relaunch?


To begin with, Lacto Calamine was the name every upper middle household woman had in her kitty. Facing a stiff competition with Ponds & Lakme, the brand had a USP of also being the foundation base for makeup. We are talking about 70’s-80’s when the men felt using cosmetics was undoubtedly feminine, the reason not so trivial, the professions at that time were more industrious. Brands those days only spoke of POP (Points of Parity) which was obviously - fairness. LACTO CALAMINE shifted hands from a lot of parents- introduced by Duphar Interfran in 70’s to NPIL in 1996 or so. The brand currently comes under Piramal Healthcare, which has a host of OTCs and FMCG products. I’d only say one thing about the brand- I’m sad...because the brand deserved a makeover. The TVC(click here) although shows the model moving through a construction site, below the ever-shining sun, etc the brand is confusing the people. How, well here:-

1. The 20-30 TG in 1980s and 2000s are 2 varied psychographics in terms of options, awareness, perception and evaluations. Unlike the yesteryears, this TG today has a skin consultant at any local beauty parlour. With L’Oreal, Ponds, Lakme working on BTL activities and promoting products in local beauty parlours, Lacto Calamine has a long way to go.

2. The then users are now possibly using OLAY or Ponds Age Miracle. They don’t even have the referent power since the brand actually disappeared in between only to be back (without any bang)

3. Also, as I said earlier, you are saying a lot of things in those 30 seconds – anti pollution, protection from sun-rays, fairness...phew. This is confusing the TG. We are in the cosmetic world of specialising and not generalising, a world where oily skin and dry skins are having different lotions by the same company!

4. However, the worst of all setbacks is the lousy re-entry in packaging. How come you adopt a child and refuse to dress him/her properly? The packaging looks like 20 years old. With international brands redefining packaging in the cosmetic segment,
Lacto Calamine is looking like a vintage collection.

All in all, as a kid I used to see a paternal aunt use this product when it came in a glass bottle. But one request to Piramal Healthcare- If you are buying a brand, make sure you can afford its makeover too. Not that I’m a genius but here are a few things you could do :-
1. Define the positioning –Fairness is an age old tried and tested formula. For that matter of fact, you still have a vacant place in the FOUNDATION-BEFORE-MAKEUP category. How about telling the ladies, any makeup you wear, use Lacto Calamine for that ever-lasting beauty.

2. Launch atleast 2 more variants. India can’t think of winning Wimbledon just because you have Tendulkar with you (Ya I typed correctly...please read between the lines).

3. Packaging Packaging Packaging...The incentive for the urban woman to purchase your tiny-miny SKU deserves this investment friends.

4. A brand ambassador? Well maybe it could work. Dont kill me but think of Hema Malini recommending it to her 2 girls just like she recommends them the Kent Water purifier. The scene might say “The 2 girls are pestering Hema aunty asking her how she was the dream girl and she says that her friend in the journey was Lacto Calamine.” Might work right?

Dashboard Verdict- a legacy brand that Piramal have in their kitty, lest you waste it.
PS: Sorry Piramal HC for being harsh, but I can’t blindfold my thought process, what is wrong, is wrong...Hope to see some change!