The dynamic growth of ITC

Till 2005, we never knew that ITC could be anything but cigarettes. They had ventured into Greeting cards through their "Impressions" brand again as Gold Flake impressions. Everyone was aware they had paper business. But a dynamic and aggressive move from this company has now made them spread their wings across a diverse set of categories. In almost all categories ITC has taken on the leader and in some cases gained shares. What i personally liked is even in overlapping categories they did not go for brand extensions, they launched unique brands. They are now into

1. Bingo : As a snack brand it took on the might of Pepsi's Fritto Lay's. Today they are on par with them if not better. Look at the no. of flavours they have and the kind of pathbreaking advertising they did, i could recollect the "Vaango Pongo" and the "why is this chips not round" etc., They went one step ahead in getting scripts with local flavour to connect better. I still remember Ogilvy Dakshin had done some work on the Tamil versions.

2. Sunfeast : Biscuits is now a large brand that challenges the leader "Britannia". Marie, Cream, Cookies, Salted and so on. Very high brand visibility through strong media presence they managed and almost suppressed competition.

3. Candyman : Confectionery is supposed to be a difficult nut to crack and they did succeed. Eclairs, orange candy, kaccha aam, Coffee and so on.

4.Vivel : Range of products that includes soaps, fairness cream, body wash etc., targetted at the middle segment was launched using Trisha as the brand ambassador is highly visible, however i am not sure about the product offtake and market shares.

Advertising during IPL 2017

We could witness some interesting ads during this IPL, personally i am happy that marketers are looking at this window for some good communication. Here we go with some very good and not so good advertising during 2017:
Vodafone: This brand from Ogilvy has always lured the audience, made them talk about their TVCs. Zoo Zoos were exclusively created for this way back in 2006. This year’s advertising features the product story on 4G through Padma Bhushan Shanta Dhananjayan and V.P Dhananjayan from Chennai. The brand has engaged the audience so effectively that one is looking forward to the next spot. The brand has managed to maintain the interest on the communication.
Vodafone did use the popular Zoo Zoos to celebrate 10 years of IPL during the initial phase of IPL 2017.
Amazon: Another Ogilvy campaign that took forward the idea of “Sapno ki apna dukhan” through a series of TVCs exclusively created around cricket and IPL. As this one also has a cricket team, Some of the spots were good as they brought a few smiles. But the engagement and empathy factor wasn’t growing nor there was any intrigue.
Polycab wires : Considering the strong national footprint the IPL will offer these commercials are made in multiple languages with one common anchor “ Paresh Rawal”. Models from the respective regions have been used. I felt the whole idea was a refreshing one, as they avoided dubbing. Strategically impressive but creatively not scoring.
Ceat Tyres: Fresh set of commercials centered around “There are idiots on the road” impresses with its execution. The performance of the cast is excellent and we could easily emphathise with every situation captured. Another Ogilvy contribution.
Havells : Multiples TVCs on different products were rolled out. The one that stands out is the “Tuh fire hai tho mein wire hai” commercial on the TN popular art form “ Puli aattam”.
Set of ads featuring Bomman Irani for MCB switches simply irritates and goes overboard, doesn’t have the finesse of the earlier set.
The dust resistant fan commercial featuring a couple comes good
Parle has come out a set of commercials with each one bringing forward atleast two of their biscuit brands. These are interesting as they just attempt towards driving one point “Parle Range”.
Kingfisher commercial using different IPL teams for its “ Mannequin Challenge” looks fresh
Frooti with Aliabhatt just concentrates on execution
Voltas Inverter AC doesn’t cut enough ice
Oppo camera phone irritates you inspite of having an excellent product feature
Maruti has focussed on Brezza with 2-3 spots, fail to impress
Jupiter from TVS has rolled out some fresh commercial on the thought of “ Impresses by its looks”. Usage of languages in the song makes it different for better recall
Durex with Ranveer Singh lacks the required punch
Yamaha Fascino, Reliance Jio, Sporto underwear, Standard Fans, Surya bulbs, Crompton, Fair & Handsome, Airtel, Ajay Devgn for some pan masala, Taj were some of the other brands that get affected in the clutter.