I am about to launch a brand of tea. I would like to understand the history of tea advertising.
Deepak M Mahantesh, Pune
Deepak, that is a tall order. The history of tea advertising in 200 words. Nevertheless, I will attempt it.
Tea is a fundamental category in India. In many ways it is the foundation category that started the marketing and branding game in India. Brooke Bond and Lipton led the pioneering efforts of tea marketing in India. Their evangelical efforts took the category, and most certainly epochal old brands of tea, to the remotest corners of the country. Brands such as A1 Dust Tea, Gulaab, Special Hotel Blend, Super Dust, Top Star and more were category-maker brands in the gut of the rural market.
Communication in the category has changed over the decades as per need. In the very old days it remained functional communication. The tasty tea. The tea that had strength. The tea with aroma. These were the days of basic appeal making big impact. Advertising tone, tenor and decibel stuck to the basics with integrity. The idea was to promise the functionals, occupy a specific high ground on the functionals and enjoy leadership, brand recall and consumer franchise on that count.
And then things morphed. The category penetrated markets deep and wide, and competition grew. Tea, therefore, started moving from the functional to the emotional. In came brands that incorporated all functional attributes together as well. Everyone literally spoke of ‘taste, aroma and strength.’ And having done that they morphed to promise the sun, moon and the sky. In came the tea that promised a lighter feeling after you drank it. The relaxant tea that showed your entire sofa floating up like a flying carpet. Levitation was its mantra.
And then came the tea that became a work-mate. The tea that got you energetic. Helped you work hard. In came the functional tea that helped you drive 500 km without asking for another recharge. The hard working truck driver’s tea even. And then came more. The tea that helped you fall in love. The tea that was the connoisseur’s tea. The maestro’s tea. The tea for society people. And today is the day and age of the tea that is socially conscious. The tea that wants you to wake up in more ways than one. Wake up to social causes. The tea that brings out bold topics out of a closet to discuss even.
Things have certainly morphed. And you can morph it further Deepak.
Flipkart has a new logo. Why so soon, and why this?
Parimal Pant, Lucknow
Parimal, why so soon? And why this? Only Flipkart can answer. Yes, Flipkart started its branding stance wanting to stand out from the rest, but as of now, I do believe their entire stance seems to be to belong and look like the rest. I find that strange.
Remember those kids with adult voices? That defined Flipkart once upon a time. But then, times change, and imperatives change. Once having established a salient share of voice (SOV) in the minds of people, Flipkart today wants to be contemporary and classy and all that, it seems. The logo change is one such move.
To me, the logo wants to “belong” rather than “un-belong”. That stance worries me, as Flipkart is moving away from what it started out as stated policy of brand standout value. The new logo is a speedy 'f' on a dog tag to me. It might as well be Facebook. To me the old Flipkart logo was a shopping basket on very fast .com wheels. Yes, it possibly looked a bit dated and jaded, but there was no need to move so far and fast. I think Flipkart needs to search out its Mojo and hold to it hard and fast. It needs to define its brand-character and weave everything around that.
Harish Bijoor is a brand strategy expert and CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. Mail your queries to cat.a.lyst @thehindu.co.in