I remember reading Philip Kotler while pursuing my management degree explaining marketing strategies for market leaders, challengers, followers, nichers. The strategies mentioned for market leaders included the expanding market share (but this may lead to unnecessary price wars), defending market share and expanding the total market (this is more preferred as it is observed that when the total market is expanded the market leader benefits the most). And I want to concentrate on this third strategy. Total market can be expanded in mainly two ways i.e. by getting more customers to buy your product or by increasing the usage of your product (theme of this post).
One of the companies that has used this strategy to its advantage over the years is Colgate which currently enjoys the market share of 51.2 % in toothpaste market (Source: Colgate analyst meet in May, 2010) It has been the leader in this particular market since the time one can remember but the interesting thing to be noted here is the fact that Colgate did the market a huge favor by increasing the usage of the toothpaste by coming out with ads showing the importance of brushing one’s teeth before going to sleep. And it connected with people so well that the number of people brushing their teeth twice a day is moving up with every passing day.
But one company which has consistently increased its scope of business over the years using the same strategy and in turn also helped the industry benefit in the process is my favorite Cadbury. They are a master at this. Let us see what it has done with Cadbury Dairy Milk. We all still remember the classic ad featuring one beautiful girl running on the ground and doing a free style dance (my all-time favorite) with the background song “asli swaad zindagi ka”. Even at that time the ad promoted Cadbury as something that makes you express yourself and something representing the test of life. There were never any efforts to position it as purely ‘chocolate’ as it actually it is. Then there is another brilliant ad of Cadbury celebrations shown during Raksha bandhan. I have personally seen my sister using Cadbury instead of sweets. The product is the same that is available throughout the year but what is different is presentation and suddenly it replaced sweets and made people buy more of it compared to normal! There was one ad i.e. “pappu pass ho gaya” which I did not like as much as other ads but otherwise Cadbury has been superb with its ads. Recent ads have also been quite brilliant. One ad features a girl waiting at a bus stop having a Cadbury when one guy approaches her asking for it saying “acha kaam karne se phele kuch meetha khana chahiye” And on being asked about that “acha kaam” he shows his willingness to drop her home. It was so brilliantly executed and conveyed the message so well that Cadbury is something that you can have or rather should have when you planning to start something new. The ad ends with the words “shubh aarambh”. The latest one features a cute girl refusing to part with her Dairy milk with the family members when they are discussing as to what they should have in dessert. Again the ad ends with words “Khane ke baad meethe mein kuch meetha ho jaaye”! And I am sure there many other ads doing the same thing.
So as it can be observed that it has always made efforts to increase the usage of Dairy milk with every new ad and it has done it successfully and as I mentioned, if this strategy of expanding the market by increasing the usage if executed well the one who benefits the most is the market leader itself i.e. Colgate as well as Cadbury!
One of the companies that has used this strategy to its advantage over the years is Colgate which currently enjoys the market share of 51.2 % in toothpaste market (Source: Colgate analyst meet in May, 2010) It has been the leader in this particular market since the time one can remember but the interesting thing to be noted here is the fact that Colgate did the market a huge favor by increasing the usage of the toothpaste by coming out with ads showing the importance of brushing one’s teeth before going to sleep. And it connected with people so well that the number of people brushing their teeth twice a day is moving up with every passing day.
But one company which has consistently increased its scope of business over the years using the same strategy and in turn also helped the industry benefit in the process is my favorite Cadbury. They are a master at this. Let us see what it has done with Cadbury Dairy Milk. We all still remember the classic ad featuring one beautiful girl running on the ground and doing a free style dance (my all-time favorite) with the background song “asli swaad zindagi ka”. Even at that time the ad promoted Cadbury as something that makes you express yourself and something representing the test of life. There were never any efforts to position it as purely ‘chocolate’ as it actually it is. Then there is another brilliant ad of Cadbury celebrations shown during Raksha bandhan. I have personally seen my sister using Cadbury instead of sweets. The product is the same that is available throughout the year but what is different is presentation and suddenly it replaced sweets and made people buy more of it compared to normal! There was one ad i.e. “pappu pass ho gaya” which I did not like as much as other ads but otherwise Cadbury has been superb with its ads. Recent ads have also been quite brilliant. One ad features a girl waiting at a bus stop having a Cadbury when one guy approaches her asking for it saying “acha kaam karne se phele kuch meetha khana chahiye” And on being asked about that “acha kaam” he shows his willingness to drop her home. It was so brilliantly executed and conveyed the message so well that Cadbury is something that you can have or rather should have when you planning to start something new. The ad ends with the words “shubh aarambh”. The latest one features a cute girl refusing to part with her Dairy milk with the family members when they are discussing as to what they should have in dessert. Again the ad ends with words “Khane ke baad meethe mein kuch meetha ho jaaye”! And I am sure there many other ads doing the same thing.
So as it can be observed that it has always made efforts to increase the usage of Dairy milk with every new ad and it has done it successfully and as I mentioned, if this strategy of expanding the market by increasing the usage if executed well the one who benefits the most is the market leader itself i.e. Colgate as well as Cadbury!
Nice Article Ronak... :)
ReplyDelete