Page 159 - DMGT507_SALES AND PROMOTIONS MANAGEMENT

Unit 8: Advertising Strategy: Creative Execution

deter the articulation of Vio's credo. It will stand out as a genetic flaw," argued the UK Notes
marketing head. "You need to do a rethink on Sofio. Ideally, we should just close it down."
Mahajan protested. "Why? It has such a strong equity and loyal following. So much has
been invested in it all these years. Why give up all that?"
Rajan, however, had another idea. "Let us then extend the Sofio brand." He said. It was the
simplest solution. Companies were now investing heavily in creating new equities for
their brands. But in Sofio's case, Zeni was already sitting on a brand with a terrific equity.
He felt that extending this equity to other categories, such as skincare products would be
successful.
But Sofio needed a new positioning before it could be extended. Till a few years ago, it had
been in premium category, priced at 15. Then new brands with specific positioning and
higher price tags entered the market. This created a level above 15 soaps and pushed
Sofio down to the mid-priced range. So Sofio's price was not commensurate with its
premium position and image.

Over the years, Sofio had become so sacred that Zeni India had been too scared to do
anything to it. As a result, the soap was left with niche category of loyal users. This
category neither shrank or increased, just kept getting older and older and with it the
brand also kept growing older. For example, when Mahajan's wife had her first baby at 25,
her mother had recommended Sofio for her dry skin and also for baby's tender skin
because it contained sesame oil. That was in 1979. Today, Mahajan's daughter had turned
21 and was being wooed by Dove, Camay, even Santoor and Lifebuoy Gold, with their
aggressive advertising. Sofio had begun to lose its image of being contemporary as newer
brands came in with newer values.
Today, at 46, Mahajan's wife still used Sofio, but when she recommended Sofio to her
daughter, she said, "But Sofio is a soap for mothers, for older people."

That was a major problem. The Sofio brand had aged and Zeni India hadn't even been
aware of it. While its equity had grown with its users, its personality had aged considerably
in the last 30 years. "I don't think you can keep the personality young, unless you keep
renewing the brand. The objective now is to widen your equity so that your image becomes
young," continued Rajan. "For instance, if today you were to personify a Sofio user now, it
would be a woman of 45 years using the same brand for many years, who is averse to
experimenting, very skincare conscious, very trusting and very one-dimensional. As you
can see, this is not a very competitive personality. These are the strengths of our Sofio, but
these are also its weaknesses," he analysed.
The context had changed. Today, youth demanded brands that stood for freedom and
fearlessness. They demanded bold brands that dared to cure, not just preserve. "Preservation
is for old people. Those are the attributes being presented in evolved markets," said Rajan.
To make Sofio contemporary, the attributes had to be re-framed, he felt. "You can't make
a young brand trusting, caring, loving, without adding other attributes to it. Today, youth
stands for freedom, for laughter, for frankness, for forthrightness. That's what Close Up,
Lifebuoy Gold, Vatika and other brands propagate. So, either come clean and say it is for
older skin which needs trust and kindness, or reposition the brand," said Rajan.

Repositioning was also necessary to address another anomaly in Sofio's image: its perceived
premium. Zeni India had been unable to do anything about Sofio slipping into the
mid-price range following the entry of more expensive brands. Now, as Rajan mulled
over the brand extension plan, Mahajan felt that Sofio's premium positioning was its core
equity and that had to be maintained.
Contd...

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 153