Showing competition is always a relative issue. Unless there is a clear demarcation on why a product is better than another or issued in ‘public interest’ (rather than in the interest of ‘RIN users’), I believe that this kind of brazen communication will only do damage. Almost all cars have done comparisons if not ATL at least on brochures and other BTL campaigns. Almost all financial services do the same. But to take it on national television over a long weekend with a hefty budget is actually stepping over the line. If Darryl Harper was around, he would have ‘no-balled’ RIN out of the playing field.

Comparative advertising has always remained and always will. Leaving professionalism aside, the brand manager’s job is also to find out (almost predict) whether the communication would result in a positive outcome or otherwise.

Not that I am a consumer of the category, but I am yet to figure out who will grow taller – a Horlicks kid OR a Complan Boy. Frankly, I believe in neither now. What happened in the detergents category is yet another saga of Tu Tu Mein Mein.

Having said that, living in these times leaves you with the strange feeling that this could be one more of these publicity stunts. Pretty much like the Shiv Sena Vs SRK types. However, to actually believe that this could be a collusion between HUL and P&G is asking for too much. Do you believe so?

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I am particularly impressed with Vodafone for their ability to adapt to the ‘eastern branding principles’ despite being a very ‘western brand’.

I can safely claim to belong to the Kapferer school of thought which hinges on the fact that every brand is available to be milked to the last drop of “blood”. As a pattern Kapferer observes that the brands (and brand managers) in the eastern (or the ‘occult’ world ) invest on a brand only to derive benefit out of it in every possible way. So you would tend to find line / brand extensions galore. While in the west, you typically tend to find more ‘one product brands’ than anywhere else.

Another typically eastern phenomenon is to have an umbrella brand and to have many ’sub-brands’. This doesn’t happen in the west much either. Consider these examples: HUL Vs NIIT.

Hindustan Unilever Limited (erstwhile HLL), is a stable that I have always admired. However, having ‘Hindustan’ as part of their name does not make it any Indian. They still have a lot of western principles of branding which govern them. Not that it is wrong, but that’s how they are! Suits them fine. They had more than 100 brands (correct me if I am wrong), which they wanted to prune down to ‘30 power brands’ a few years back. I was wondering if I am not going to get my ‘favorite’ brand of bathing soap up north because according to the HUL releases, there were 30 power brands across the country and then ‘regional brands’. Whoa! Here’s an organisation which still wants to put money into brands and relegate them to ‘regions’! So you will not be getting your Hamam if you live in Chandigarh and may not get Rin if living in Kolkata or something equivalent like that! I have reasons to believe that this failed! I now get my Hamam almost anywhere I go. Probably, they just don’t advertise Hamam up north, west or north-west. Period.

NIIT on the other hand is a desi brand. We believe in dropping a coin in the pot and taking out four! After all, we are the ‘occult’ kind. The mystic east! You would have NIIT, NIIT@school, NIIT K12 and almost NIIT@anywhere, making the brand owner the traditional milkman, who is out to get the best out of a 30 year old brand. Well, that I call is actual brand management. You have one name, with which you try to get the best benefits over a period of time. That my friends, is called business sense. Every brand goes through a life cycle and I think the ‘occult’ version helps get the best out of the brand because of its multitude uses. Another classic example in the FMCG space which does the same is ‘Dabur’. You will find the prefix ‘Dabur’ with almost all brand that they own. Very rarely do they not associate a brand with its mother! Familial ties do help.

Well, this is certainly not a concept that can be ‘commonized’ as such. But the root remains. The east depends on familial ties and you still tend to find ‘joint-families’ and ‘Hindu Unified Families’, while go-west the kid is kicked out (or kicks-out) of the home the moment they reach copulating age. More product brands as against a brand family.

Q.E.D.

See you soon!

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