Page 158 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Sales and Promotions Management

Notes Another study by Hairong Li reported that, large, dynamic banners do not generate higher
click-through rates than small, static banners. Incentive banners though, do increase click-through
rates when compared to ads without incentives.

Case Study Sofio Soap

ahajan smiled wanly and clasped the soap in his hands, as if protecting it from
an unseen predator. He was wondering with quiet concern if the 30-year-old
Mbrand would last long. Zeni India, where Mahajan was marketing manager,
was taking a long, hard look at the soap, as it was proving to be a strain on resources.
There were varying stories about how Sofio was launched. Some said the brand was a 'gift'
from the departing English parent company. Others claimed that it was created for the
then chairman's British wife, as the Indian climate did not agree with her skin. They also
claimed that the lady also coined the copy "The honest soap that loves your skin" was also
coined by the lady. The line had stuck through three decades. Only the visuals had changed,
with newer models replacing the older ones.

Zeni was basically a specialty products company producing household hygiene, fabricare
and dental care products. Sofio was the only soap in its product mix, produced and marketed
by Zeni. Its reliable quality and value delivery had earned it a lot of respect in the market.
Sofio's equity was such that Zeni was known as the Sofio Company. Indeed, the brand
name Sofio denoted purity, reliability and gentle skincare.
In 1994, Zeni UK increased its stake in the Indian subsidiary to 51%. Within months, all of
Zeni's products were given a facelift, thanks to the inflow of foreign capital. New packaging,
new fragrances, new formulations and more variants were introduced.
Only Sofio was left untouched. For, although it had a growing skincare business following
some strategic acquisitions in Europe in the early eighties, Zeni UK was not a soap company.
The UK marketing team ran an audit of every brand and product in the company's portfolio.
But when it came to Sofio, it faltered. "We don't know this one," officials at the parent
company said.
"We don't want this one to be touched," Mahajan had said protectively, a sentiment that
was endorsed by the managing director, Rajan Sharma. "Sofio is too sacred, we will leave
it as it is," he said.
But the UK marketing team was confounded. What was a lone soap doing in the midst of
toilet cleaners and fabric protectors, they wondered. However, they somehow agreed that
their proposed revamp strategy would only look at up-gradation, not tinkering with
what wasn't broken.
Indeed, for 30 long years no one had tampered with the Sofio brand. And Mahajan felt
there was no reason to start now. Sofio, in his view, was a self-sustaining brand. That was
a bit of an understatement because advertising for the brand was moderate and Zeni India
had never used any promotional gimmick for it.
Now, after four years of nurturing the other categories, Zeni UK had decided to launch its
Vio range of skincare products in India. But Sofio's presence and profile were a major
roadblock to Vio's success. "It will create dissonance, confuse our skincare equity and

Contd...

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