What we see and what we observe are two entirely different things.
Sitting with my friend having a cup of chai tea latte
at starbucks... having a friendly chat about the drink in hand... got me thinking about the different brands and different
varieties of tea available in India... and how the companies target their
customer base. To pick a name, I choose Unilever, whose products are pretty much used in every household in the country (not an exaggerated statement…). They have a range of tea products
in their portfolio amongst others and I am not sure how many of you paid
attention to how they market their products, but its pretty interesting.
To give a brief introduction about the company, they operate in FMCG
sector. The company tries to appeal to the working class of the society,
selling products categorised as basic necessities. The idea associated with
product marketing, branding and advertisement is to fill in the gaps of evolving
standard of lifestyle with products whose usage will add to the users comfort and
satisfaction. (There are several other aspects
but I’m going to limit my word count)
Lets take the following labels,
Brook Bond 3 Roses
Brook Bond Taaza
Brook Bond Sehatmand
Brook Bond Taj Mahal
Red Label Tea
Brook Bond Taaza
Brook Bond Sehatmand
Brook Bond Taj Mahal
Red Label Tea
While there are different tea brands operating under the same company, (in my opinion) it seems the management
team controlling each of the division is different and they seem to have chosen the target market accordingly. Like wise;
Brook Bond 3 Roses has the tag line, ‘Playful
banter, a little mischief, serious conversation… They always emphasised on the romantic
nature of relationship. The advertising commercial stretching back to the past
10 years throughout the country including on a regional level has always
included film actors and advertisement actors working in a couple scenario
directly targeting the house hold couples. The strategy not only limits to the
commercial. The red colour used in the box for the rose doesn’t seem to look
like the actual colour of a rose. (It’s more like a triggering red!)
Brook Bond Taaza: Taaza means freshness (My Hindi is a bit rusty). The customary nature of most Indian
adults includes having a cup of tea or coffee in the morning. The marketing
strategy of using the term taaza and a commercial implying the freshness from
nature is quite a sensibly appealing ad (though
it’s a cliché). The face of the product has always been a young female with
a pretty, lively face, appealing to both men and women. (Past Example –
Bollywood actress Preity Zinta)
Brook Bond Sehatmand is unique! They target a more health conscious
market, focusing on RDA standard of intake of nutrition as their key selling
point. From the perspective of selling tea, this is the first company to
emphasis the nutritional contents in the beverage which predominantly has been
appealing towards freshness and taste (at
least to my knowledge...)
Brook Bond Taj Mahal, Sirf chai nahi yeh hai Taj ! Perhaps the most branded tea
product working on the majestic nature of Taj Mahal, and using ambassadors like
Ustad Zakir Hussain, the tabla
maestro and since 2006, Saif Ali Khan (Royalty!).
They were the first to include tea bags and now they use the quality terms to
pitch in their product value ‘smell’ ‘see’ ‘savour’(Seriously! Wah Taj).
Red Label on the other hand uses a more valuable moment scenario to
appeal on a context that has totally no relation with tea as such but it
reminds to the point cherishing something with tea alongside. Its heritage is
its presence, so most people know the brand name for most of their life, and
the subsequent generation follows the product usage on the simplest principle
of having accustomed to its usage over the years. While this helps in building
a standard line they seem to cherish the theme more than they cherish the
moment while having the theme.
If it were up to me, I would have added more but then my drink got over
by the time I came this far… and as rightly said by my friend, “Dude! Its tea…just
finish yours”
Just for the record, I don’t work in advertisement, its just a screen name! neither do I posses an
extended experience or understanding of living in India.
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