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Sunfill : RIP (2001-2005)

Brand : Sunfill
Company: Coca Cola

Brand Count : 191

Sunfill was Coca Cola's foray into the Soft Drink Concentrate market in India. Globally it
was the company's first foray into the powder concentrate segment. This good product
died after 4 years primarily because the company did not consider worthwhile to focus

on marketing this product.

Sunfill was introduced in 2001 and Coca Cola intended to take on Rasna in the Rs 180
crore soft drinks concentrate market in India. Rasna was dominating the market with a
share of over 85%.
Sunfill was a powder soft drink concentrate . Powder concentrate occupy85% of the total
soft drinks concentrate market. Sunfill came in three variants : Regular,Anand and
Tarang.

Sunfill differentiated from Rasna by taking the convenience route. The concentrate had
added sugar in it so to make the drink was easy for the consumer. While other
concentrates, sugar need to be added hence was cumbersome for the consumer. The
taste of Sunfill was also better compared to other brands ( personal opinion). The brand
also innovated in packaging by coming out with single serve packs and also multi serve
pillow packs.
The biggest challenge for any FMCG/SDC products was distribution. Sunfill found an
innovative method to reach the market. It had alliances with other FMCG firms in
reaching the market. The brand had its own channel + third party alliance (Hybrid
network) to ensure that the brand is available in all stores.
But somehow the product failed in the market. The issue was with regard to
distribution, product and the promotion.
The product had some quality issues. In my personal experience, some of the packs had
very bad quality concentrate . At one point of time, the product was not available in the
stores. The issue in promotion was regarding the positioning. When Sunfill came into
the market, Rasna countered Sunfill with its own range of powder concentrate with
added sugar.Hence the differentiation became negated for Sunfill. The promotion
investment for Sunfill was not adequate to counter the huge brand equity that Rasna
enjoyed. I have a feeling that Sunfill was a half hearted effort from the company.That
was reflected in the promotions for the product which ultimately lead to the death of a
high potential brand

I still feel that the company did not do justice to the brand which had a potential to
make it big in the SDC market but the plug was pulled on Sunfill in 2005.

Related brands

Rasna

Source: Agencyfaqs,businessline,magindia

Labels: beverages, failed brands, marketing myopia

P O S T E D B Y H A R I S H B AT 9 : 5 2 A M 0 C O M M E N T S

F R I D A Y, D E C E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 0 6

Maruti Gypsy : RIP

Brand : Gypsy
Company: Maruti Suzuki

Brand Count : 182

Gypsy was one of India's first sports utility vehicles. The vehicle created a breakaway
category of SUV offroader from the existing jeep category which was dominated by
 Mahindra. Born in 1985, the brand was considered as an
aspirational one by many young at hearts.The brand was positioned on the basis of its
ruggedness. The brand was promoted as a pure offroader. The ads used to say that
Gypsy could even climb trees. The positioning was reinforced by the success of the
brand in rally and offroad events. Maruti also promoted such events to boost the brand
as the ultimate offroader. The brand had the tagline of " There is a Gypsy in Everyone".

But the brand failed to capitalise on the first mover advantage although it is still
considered to be one of the sportiest looking SUV in the Indian market. The brand is
now confined to certain niche markets like Police and Army vehicle segments.
Gypsy was the rebadged version of Suzuki Jimny. Although Jimny is still surviving,
Gypsy is in the last stage of its product life cycle. The brand which pioneered the
offroader category sadly is dying when the SUV category has started growing. The brand
failed because of the apathy of the company in investing in the brand. The product had
inherent problem that created negative word of mouth and the company didn't cared to
look at the negatives of the brand.
Gypsy although considered as a tough vehicle lacked many important attributes valued
by a customer. The driving quality and the mileage was awful. The product was priced at
a ridiculous premium which was not justified interms of the delivery of value.
The brand was priced at around Rs 5 lakh which is comparable with a entry level
sedan.The product although looked excellent outside was a mess inside. The vehicle
lacked space and comfort especially for the rear seat. It had all the qualities for an
offroader but failed to understand that Indian consumers use offroaders on roads
( cities).The mileage was awful and that ensured that only those who fall head over heals
over the looks only will buy this brand . Since MUL at that time was in the public sector,
the brand was sold to Police and army. For the ordinary consumers, the brand did not
made any sense.
Gypsy also did not change itself in tune with the changing industry requirements. The
vehicle initially was severely underpowered for an offroader. The company enhanced the
power from 975cc to 1300 cc only after 11 years. Gypsy King
was launched in 1996 sported the more powerful Esteem engine but was priced steeply.
The last four years has shown that SUV category is growing very fast fuelled by the
success of the likes of Mahindra Scorpio. Most of the global bigwigs in the SUV segment
is now there in India. Suzuki also has launched its brand Grand Vitara in this segment.
But in the current scheme of things, Gypsy was sadly not in the picture.

Compare the picture of the Suzuki Jimny (given in the blog) and Gypsy and see the
difference. Had this brand changed its looks and feel in tune with the emerging category
requirements, Gypsy could have been a major brand. But Alas.... the brand's fate is to be
cited as an example of Marketing Myopia or is it Marketing Laziness.

Source:marutigypsy.com,wikipedia

Related Brands

Tata sierra

Labels: automobile brands, branding, failed brands, marketing myopia

P O S T E D B Y H A R I S H B AT 9 : 4 8 A M 1 C O M M E N T S

M O N D A Y, D E C E M B E R 1 8 , 2 0 0 6

Vanilla Coke : Wakaw

Brand :Vanilla Coke
Company: Coca Cola
Agency: McCann Erickson

Brand Count : 178

Vanilla Coke was touted as the greatest innovation since Diet Coke in 1983. It also has
the distinction of the greatest flops after the New Coke. Vanilla Coke came with a bang
in the Indian market in April 2004. It went without much noise in 2005.

The history of this product variant dates back as early as 1950's. The mass marketing of
this variant began in 2002.The brand went global in 2004.
2004 saw the unusual scream " Wakaw" played across mass media. We all looked up in
awe : a brand new variant from Coca Cola : Vanilla Coke. The brand was targeted at the
metro youth was different. It was different in taste, promotion, package, price etc.
Vanilla Coke was promoted in retro style. The brand had Vivek Oberoi , the then
bollywood flame endorsing the brand in an unusual style. Vivek sported the retro look
with typical combination of Elvis style + Shammi Kapoor style in an Old Lamby Scooter
screaming Wakaw.

The ads were surely clutter breaking and backed by 360 degree branding efforts that
ensured good publicity. The creative done by the famed Prasoon Joshi was discussed in
all media and that ensured truck loads of free publicity. The brand also got into viral

marketing. The campaign along with Contenst2win asked the c

ustomers to SMS Wakaw to 8558 inorder to win goodies. According to media reports,
the campaign resulted in 440,000 SMS in just 4 weeks creating a record of sorts.

According to Indiatelevision.com report, the media brief given to the agency was to
create a clutter breaking campaign targeted at youth. The campaign should create a
dhamaka in the market. And rightly so all the client requirements was achieved with in a
short span of time.

But how come a product with such a good start failed so easily. With in one year, the
brand has been taken out from most of the Indian states. The brand is said to be
available in Gujarat,Kolkatta and Delhi.
As a marketing person, I am also perplexed. Frankly I liked the ad the feel and wanted to
try it out. But soon the product was not at all available. The failure of this product line
extension may have delighted Alries and Trout .

I am assuming that the following factors may have caused the failure of this brand.

a. The product may have been bad. The TG may not have liked the taste. Although Coke
has test marketed this product, there is always a chance that the customers may have
disliked the taste.
b.The campaign was not targeted at the right segment. This campaign had its fair
share of critics also. I liked the campaign because I have seen the old stars and the
lamby etc and could easily relate the old characters and the concept. But for a

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