For years Marico has nurtured products which have become household names and presently the company is giving a makeover to one of its top brands - the Livon serum. Anuradha Aggarwal, the Chief Marketing Office at Marico Limited talks about Livon’s new avatar and why Kangana Ranaut is the perfect brand match
By NEETA NAIR
Q] What was the insight behind this ‘pretty girl swag’ campaign for Livon which has a fresh new look and an ultralightweight formulation?
When the Livon team met consumers, one of the things we realized is people want to be fabulous, they want to have great looking hair, they wanted all that without damage to the follicles. And then, to top all that they also wanted it in a don’t-have-to-try-too-hard sort of way. People want to feel free to be fabulous. And that’s really the fundamental insight behind the brand.
Q] Why did you rope in Kangana as the brand ambassador for Livon?
We realized that her personality is perfect for Livon, she is the ‘swag queen’, and can get away with playing roles across the spectrum of society. Also, she can speak in accented Hindi, in Haryanvi, and it all works, because she is genuinely free to be fabulous in whatever manner she chooses. And it’s the same thing with Livon. Livon gives the consumers the license to be free, to be fabulous. The idea is that once you have confidence in your hair, it gives you confidence to do whatever you like. In the film, Kangana goes to a party wearing pajamas because she didn’t have time to get ready. She is just happy to have fabulous hair and she has the confidence to be free. And I think that’s the fundamental confidence that we want consumers to have. We want consumers to have swag, and Livon gives them that swag.
Q] All these years Livon didn’t have a brand ambassador. Why did you decide to have one now?
I think fundamentally consumers associate themselves with the personalities of the celebrities and then in turn they attribute those very personalities to brands. We thought that Livon and Kangana had this amazing fit. Kangana brings to the table the personality of the brand the way we wanted it expressed. So, I think for the brand it’s a great partnership, between the ambassador and the brand as well as its personality. Also, brand ambassadors help you cut through the clutter, there is no question about it. But, you also need to be very careful while selecting one and we are happy and lucky to have a really great brand ambassador like Kangana.
Q] What is the marketing mix of this campaign and which medium would be the focus of your ad spends?
We are of course, on air with television advertising and we are going to be doing a full digital activity to connect with our consumers. We are also marketing a completely new packaging of Livon in the form of sachets which allow people to test them out before buying a bottle. Also the digital medium is becoming more and more relevant in our mix. As our consumers go there, so will we.
Q] Does your marketing strategy change from region to region or is it more like one-size fits all strategy?
Livon is a national brand. It doesn’t have any anchorage in any one part of the country. We use vernacular only as a medium to reach the people that we are talking to. So it’s not anchored in one part of the country to the extent that we can say are we going vernacular in a particular geography.
Q] Is there a threat in the serum space with more and more professional parlors launching their own serums?
Serums are a very new category in the country. Whether it’s L’Oreal or whether it’s Livon, we are all going to try and grow the category together. This is not about competition. So while we will compete for market share at some point of time, today our fundamental objective is to grow the category, to get more people to start using serum. Today penetration of serum is one tenth of what the penetration of hair oil is. So we have a very long way to go. And Livon is one of the most accessible brands. We are one of the most distributed serums in the country and have the most accessible sachets. We have the highest market share, more than 60%. So, we are the largest serum player in the country by far.
Q] Which product in Marico’s umbrella, do you bet on going ahead?
Marico is a multi-category brand, we are a multi-category company, and have strategies to grow on all our portfolios and categories. We are already anchored in oil and are the country’s largest oil company. And, but we are seeing a lot of success in foods through masala oats, in Livon and serums, and Silk n Shine, which is one of the largest serum players in the east. So we have strategies across different portfolios. But that apart, Parachute for us is the anchor product.
Q] Nestle came up with a brand campaign recently, Amul does it regularly. Do you think FMCG companies need an overall brand campaign from time to time?
I don’t know of too many FMCG companies who try and sell their products on the basis of their company names. It’s simple really - consumers anchor their trust, credibility and belief in products. And the companies that bring them those products are just great companies, but they are not the reasons why people buy. People buy because they like the products. So, most of the advertising here has to be brand focused, it cannot be on the company.
Q] Talking about Livon, what are the challenges while marketing the new serum?
We have only Livon serum now as the earlier silky potion has been re-created as serum. I think the biggest challenge for new categories is creating relevance for consumers. Once upon a time, people only used oil to apply in their hair and soap to wash it off. Over time, the soap became shampoo while the oiling stayed. Now people have begun to use little bit of conditioners and serums. If you take the laundry category, once upon a time people would just use soap bars to wash their clothes, then they became powders, now it’s liquids and fabric conditioners. So, the biggest growth challenge for any new category is to create penetration and relevance, and that continues to be Livon’s challenge. We have to get into the consumer’s bathroom cabinet.
Q] What is the biggest strength of Marico?
One of Marico’s biggest factors for growth is going to be innovation, and I think you are going to see it as we go along across the portfolio. We just launched the Hair Gain Tonic about three months ago. And that’s a big innovative product we have, and we are going to push it extensively. You will see more activity happening there.
ABOUT THE BRAND
Marico Limited is one of India’s leading consumer products companies operating in the beauty and wellness space. Currently present in 25 countries across emerging markets of Asia and Africa, Marico has nurtured multiple brands in the categories of hair care, skin care, health foods, male grooming, and fabric care. Marico’s India business markets household brands such as Parachute Advansed, Saffola, Hair & Care, Nihar, Mediker, Revive, Manjal, Set Wet, Zatak and Livon among others. The company has charted an annual turnover of Rs. 47 billion (Financial Year 2013 – 2014).
FACTS
CREATIVE AGENCY: DDB MUDRA
MEDIA AGENCY: MADISON
PR AGENCY: MSL GROUP
CMO FILE
Anuradha Aggarwal is the Chief Marketing Office at Marico Limited, leading the Marketing function globally. Prior to Marico, Aggarwal was working with Mondelez International as Director Innovations, Biscuits Category for Mondelez Asia Pacific, where she was responsible for leading innovation strategy, new product development and global brand deployment in China, India, Australia, South and South East Asia. Aggarwal has earlier worked for Hindustan Unilever for 12 years and was the Senior Vice President – Brand Communication and Consumer Insights, Vodafone India for 4 years.
MARKETING TIP
Know your category, know your consumer. It sounds trite, but it is true.
Feedback: neeta.nair@exchange4media.com
