CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1 Introduction
1.1 Absurdity in Advertising
In 1988, Camel cigarette was losing its hold in the market to the rival brand Marbolo. Besides, they had to face huge challenges, such as, they had to sell an unattractive product that stained teeth, caused bad breath and killed people. Using television and radio to advertise cigarettes was illegal in the U.S. since 1971. In order to maintain their current level of sales the company had to replace the 400,000 customers their product killed every year in the U.S.
The executives of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company had to come up with an innovative marketing communication plan that attracted children because research suggested that if people don’t begin to smoke by age eighteen, there is only a one in five chance of ever beginning. It was indeed illegal to sell cigarettes to young people. In the face of these overwhelming obstacles, they launched their new campaign. It was centered around a cartoon character, a dromedary, named ‘Joe Camel’. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, participating in sports and wearing fashion clothing. Joe showed up on billboards, shirts, posters, and the sides of buses and trains. It was hard to miss him in magazines and all sorts of other displays. After the launch of the mascot Joe Camel on the scene the sale of Camel cigarettes to youth under eighteen and the brand generated $6 million in revenue per year. Even the six-year-old children were able to identify Joe Camel just as the ubiquitous Disney character Mickey Mouse.
This case study is an example of how the use of an absurd concept in an advertisement campaign increases the sales and the brand recall (Camel cigarette). Absurd ads are ads with incongruity in ideas and concepts that are unsound, unreasonable and incongruous to the viewer’s expectations but they are on the tangent of reality. An Absurd ad has no rational relationship to the human life, but it is something which viewers can connect to even though it is bizarre.
In case of the Joe Camel ads, Camel wearing fashionable cloths and smoking cigarette is incongruous to viewer’s expectation. However fashion and cigarettes are something viewers could relate to.
Absurdity frequently appears in most of the television commercials we see today. Some of the absurdities are humorous while others are simply intriguing. In this paper we are studying the use of absurdity in television commercials and their contribution in increasing the brand recall and the effectiveness of the ads. We are taking low involvement product like confectionery because these are things we buy out of habit, without much thought. A consumer goes to the stall and asks for the first product that comes to his mind. The purpose of our study is to find out what is the role of absurdities in advertisements of these products in placing the product on the top of their mind. The low involvement product market is too crowded. Here absurd ads can also play a role in getting favorable attitude towards the brand.
In the current we study will first discuss the construct of absurdity. After defining absurdity, the paper will link the construct to previous theoretical work in psychology and marketing. We will see how marketing communication experts discuss the role of absurdities helps in increasing effectiveness of the ads. We will then analyze 8 television commercials of four confectionery brands in India. These ads will be analyzed for their absurdity based on the definition of absurd ads in the previous studies.
Keywords
Confectioneries: Sugar candies, chewing gum and chewies (between chewing gums and candies) that are sold in the market for Rs 1 or less.
Top-of-the-mind-recall: The percentage of respondents who, without prompting, name a specific brand or product instantly when asked to recall a brand in a product category.
Creative recall: Ability of the people to recall the advertisement when a hinted about it.
Brand recall: Ability of the people to recall the brand when advertisement is or a part of the ad is shown.
Plot: Refers to the story line of the advertisement
Tagline: Refers to the short advertisements slogans. These slogans are meant to be memorable and catchy and functions as a device for brand positioning.
Creative: refers to the ad film, slogan, taglines, dialogues, visual elements of the film and the music.
Liking towards the brand: favorability towards the brand.
Mint confectionery: Mint flavored chewing gum, sugar candy or chewy.
Chewy: candy that is to be chewed and swallowed.
Caramel candy: caramel flavored milk candies.
1.2 Advertising confectioneries
Like most low involvement products even in the confectionery industry there isn’t a lot of difference between the brands. There are different types of confectioneries like chewing gum, chocolates, éclairs, chewies, sugar candies. Various brands in each category weigh the same because taste alike and serve the same purpose. Such situations are like a ‘beam balance’ with one brand on each side. (Sutherland 2008). It takes only a feather to on one side of the balance to tip us in favor of the brand on that side. The brands advertisement can act the feather. The catchy jingle, or slogan, repetitive exposure to the ad, liking of the ad, humor or witty concept employed in the advertisement, help in registering the advertisement in the minds and we remember the brand.
An average person is exposed to over 2500 advertisements per day.* There are a more than a hundred brands introduced every year[1]. Advertisers of confectioneries use fantasy based concepts to advertise their brands. While most of the advertisers target only children, many companies have lately recognized the sweet tooth of the adult consumers[1].. While the cartoons and fantasy based ads position the brands as children’s product advertisers now employ absurdities wit and humor to appeal to both the target audience.
Our study on use of absurdities in the television commercials of confectioneries is keeping the adult consumers in mind: we are restricting our study to confectionery advertising to the youth.
*(http://www.alumbo.com/article/43565-Impact-of-Advertising-of-Unhealthy-Products-on-public-health-how-much-justifiable.html)
1.3 Indian confectionary market
According to a business survey (Datamonitor 2010), globally, India ranked 17 in terms of the number of new products launched in the confectionery market in the year 2009. Sugar confectionery contributed 47 per cent to all new product launches in the Indian confectionery market that year, followed by chocolate, which accounted for 29 per cent. Cereal bars contributed 8per cent to the overall new product launches in the confectionery market.
According to a Nielsen survey the per capita consumption of sugar confectionery for every Indian is close to 200 grams per year that is about 50 pieces of candies and gums per Indian, per year. For a country of a billion, consuming 50 pieces of confectioneries like candies and gums seems small. However, the confectionery industry in India is the largest among the food processing industries with the annual turnover being around Rs 3,700.
The organized confectionary industry only is worth Rs 1400 (2009), growing at the rate of 9 per cent per year. The prominent players in the Indian confectionary market are
· Cadbury’s India Ltd.
· Lotte India Co. Ltd.
· Candico India Ltd.
· Hindustan Lever Ltd.
· Nestle India Ltd.
· Lotus Chocolates Company Ltd.
· Campco Ltd.
· Parle Products Pvt. Ltd.
· Britannia Industries Ltd.
· Wrigle’s India Ltd.
· ITC Foods ltd.
· Nutrine Confectionary Company Pvt. Ltd.
· Perfetti Van Melle India Ltd.
According to the same survey, the confectionary industry in India gained momentum only in the last decade. Today it is the favorite investment destination for foreign investors. A large part of the confectionery industry in India comprises of the local subsidiaries of global confectionery majors like Perfetti, Lotte, Wrigley's and Cadbury. They produce and market four categories of confectioneries - chocolate confectionery, sugar confectionery, gum and cereal bars.
Cadbury India Ltd.(CIL) dominates the cocoa confectionary market (70 per cent market share) with its flagship brand Dairy Milk. The other confectionary products of the company are Gems, Eclairs, Halls, etc. CIL is also has the largest share in the Eclairs market.
Parle Products Pvt. Ltd. is one of the largest Indian companies in the confectionary industry. Some of its popular brands include Kisme Bar, Poppins, Mango Bite, Melody, Magix, Parle Cream, Prange candy, Rol a Cola, Milk Shakti, Mint, etc. Parle has been in the sector for more than eighty years. It has a strong presence and reach even to the remotest parts of rural India.
Lotus Chocolates Company Ltd. a Andhra Pradesh based company, produces and distributed a variety of confectionary products like – Chuckles, Super carr, Milky Punch, Maltys, Tango, Eclairs, Kajoos, Gobble, etc. It was established in the year 1992 dominates mainly in the southern parts of India.
ITC Ltd lately entered the industry with two brands namely Candy man and Mint-o (2002). Mint-o was acquired initially by ITC from Candigo Ltd. However ITC improved the product and packaging before re-launching it. Mint-o variants available in the market include Mint-o fresh, Mint-o eucalyptus, Mint-o cool blue, Mint-o gol, etc. Candy man variants include Candy man fruitee fun, Candy man eclairs, Candy man natkhat mango, Candy man maha mango, Candy man toffichoo, Candy man lacto cream centre, etc. Both the brands are advertised in the children’s television channels such as POGO Hangama, Cartoon Network and are famous in the category.
Lotte India Co. Ltd. mainly sells milk and cocoa based candies and mints. Perfetti Van Melle India Ltd. is another dominant player in the Indian confectionary market. It is the third largest producer in the industry. Its product portfolio includes various chewing gums and candies like – Centre fresh, Big Babol, Mentos, Alpenliebe, Centre Fruit, Centre Shock, Chloro mint, Happy dent White, etc.
Wrigley’s India Ltd. operates two brands named Wrigley’s and Joyco. Under Wrigley’s, it sells chewing gums and under Joyco, it sells candies. Nestle India Ltd. is another established player in this sector selling a wide variety of chocolates, malted products and candies. Another the leading player in the Indian confectionery market is the Rs 125 crore Candico.
In April, 2007, The Hershey Company, North America's leading chocolate and confectionery manufacturer tied up Godrej Beverages and Foods Ltd to manufacture and distribute confectionery, snacks and beverages across India. The joint venture is called Godrej Hershey Foods & Beverages Ltd.
Adult confectionery
According to the survey, adult confectionery is an emerging trend in India. Wrigley’s, Perfetti have launched sugar free chewing gums that prevent tooth decay. Most of the mint products are targeted towards adults as mouth fresheners.
Health claims
The survey also states that manufacturers are cautious of the increasing health consciousness among Indian adults and have launched few products specifically targeted at the health conscious adult consumer segment. Most of the claims on the new products launched in 2009 reflected health and nutrition. Datamonitor notes that in the last year 2009 ‘kids’ as a claim on new products had declined.
‘Vegetarian’ was the top claim among all the new confectionery products launched in the country in 2009, while claims such as 'no sugar', 'no gluten', 'high in fiber' and 'high in vitamins' have witnessed healthy growth over 2008, notes the report.
Flavours
The survey also states that ‘despite the fact that Indians have started embracing foreign brands, the preference for local flavours remained unaltered’. In 2009, majority of the top ten flavours of all the new confectionery products launched were fruit-based. Some of the top flavours that saw a significant increase over 2008–09 were: orange, raspberry and caramel however,
Summary:
There is a lot of potential in the Indian Confectionary Industry. More than Sixty per cent of the industry is dominated by the unorganized small time candy producers. Vast area of adult confectionery is still unexplored. The big players use television as a medium to advertise their products through. The competition between the brands is too high. The advertisers are always coming out with exiting creative to make their product stand out in the clutter.
References:
- http://www.mastbusiness.com/bizguides/bg165/
- http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/Industry-drivers/Sugar-confectionery-booming-in-India
- http://www.indianfoodindustry.net/
4. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/kitsugar-boiled-confectionery-candy-market/393583/
1.3 Perfetti Van Malle India
Company Profile:
According to the official website Perfetti Van Melle India, the company was established in March 2001 through the merger of Perfetti S.p.A. and Van Melle NV. Presently, PVM is engaged in production and distribution of confectioneries in more than 130 countries. In July 2006, the group acquired the Spanish company Chupa Chups to become the third largest confectionary+ gum company worldwide and the number one player in sugar confectionary industry. The corporate headquarters are located in Lainate (Italy) and in Breda (the Netherlands). Some of its brands are Mentos, Fruitella, Alpenliebe, Golia, Happydent, Vivident, Big Babol, Airheads, Chupa Chups and Smint. These brands that are sold in five continents.
Perfetti Van Melle entered the India market in the year 1994. The Company’s official website claims that company today enjoys close to 30 percent market share in India. It is the only company in India to manufacture and market all the types of confectioneries: chewing gums, chewies, toffees and sugar candy.
Perfetti Van Melle entered the India market in the year 1994. The Company’s official website claims that company today enjoys close to 30 percent market share in India. It is the only company in India to manufacture and market all the types of confectioneries: chewing gums, chewies, toffees and sugar candy.
Center Fresh was the first brand launched in India in 1994, followed by Big Babol and Alpenliebe in 1995. The other brands like Chlormint, Mentos, Fruittella, Cofitos, Happydent and Marbles followed subsequently. There are more than 15 brands under its umbrella, all of which have been launched after considerable market research and insight so as to adapt to the likes and preferences of the consumers.
The company entered the Indian market in 1994, when the domestic non branded players dominated the sugar confectionary industry in India with low quality undifferentiated products selling for less than a rupee. To give tough competition to the other players in the market, both domestic and even after a decade and half PVM India has retained its selling rates per product i.e. Rs.0.50/ Re. 1.0 only despite inflationary trends and price rises of other products in the market.
Product plan
There are about 200 brands in the Indian market. One of the biggest reasons for the success of Perfetti brands are the products themselves. Each of the products has a salient feature of its own.
Perfetti entered Indian market with the chewing brands Big Babol and Center Fresh. Both the chewing gums have liquid in the center of the gums. Subsequently, the company introduced Center Fruit, Center Shock, and Happydent a functional gum. Today, Perfetti is the market leader and has a share of 55 per cent in the gum market [2] .
Alpenliebe was launched in India in December 1995. It was the first deposited candy in the Indian market. The creamy milk toffee was accepted immediately by the Indian crowd[1] . Other than the Caramel flavour, Alpenliebe is currently available in Cream Strawberry, Chocolate, Coffee and Cream Banana flavours. These were candies with a swirl inside. It then followed with Alpenliebe Lollipop and Alpenliebe Creamfills. Today, Alpenliebe is one of the highest sold caramel candy in India fetches about 22 per cent of the company’s revenue[2] .
In the mint category, Perfetti launched Chlor-mint as against the competitor’s products such as Polo (Nestle) and Minto (ITC). This is a unique category where the consumers are not children but adults who consume it to freshen up their breath after, say, a smoke or a drink. The product was made a house hold name thanks to its campaign – “doobara math pooch na.”[1] The company lately launched the Chlor-mint chewing gum with Salman Khan as its brand ambassador.
Happydent chewing gum is Perfetti Van Melle's functional gums. Happydent White contains baking Soda which helps in maintaining natural whiteness. Therefore it was positioned as “good for teeth” gum. Like the other Perfetti brands Happydent is also launched in its liquid-filled variant called Wave.[1]
To created space between candies and gums the company launched Mentos in 1999 and it was re-launched in 2002 as cult brand for youth.
Four of its brands Alpenliebe, Chlormint, Big Babol and Center Fresh earn Rs 100 revenue for the company per annum.*
Marketing communication
Perfetti has a large portfolio of 16 brands. Of these, it actively promotes ten: Center Fresh, Center Fruit, Big Babol, Happydent, Alpenliebe, Creamfills, Chlormint, Chocoliebe, Mentos and Marbles. These ten fetch the company almost 80 per cent of its sale revenue.
The company’s advertising budget is about 12 to 13 per cent of their sales revenue. Which is more than Rs 100 Crores? Most of it is spent on television advertisements [2].
Given the clutter in the confectionary market the company has employed innovative advertising to create brand salience. Advertisements were aimed to appeal to consumers across age brackets and socio-economic groups [1].
Perfetti has been playing with humor, emotions, and absurdities in all its commercials to make advertisements that are not only most noticed but are also positioned as fun brands.
One way to create a difference in the mind of consumers’ is the use of taglines for all its flagship products. In the official site the company claims that these expressions are borrowed from everyday usage of the youth as the confectionery buyers are aged between four and 24 years.
Some of the most famous tag lines
- Zubaan par rakhe lagaam (reins in the tongue) for Center Fresh,
- Dobara mat puchna (Dare not ask again) for Chlor-Mint and
- Dimag ki batti jala de (Lights up your brain) for Mentos.
Communication:
Alpenliebe:
The first ever depositary creamy caramel candy, Alpenliebe was launched as a platform of ‘irresistibility’ because it unique product experience. The milky toffee was targeted to children as well as the adults.
Laalach (irresistible greed) was connected with the brand in most of its ads. The campaigns centered around the concept of “Laalach” : Jee lalchaaye rahana Jaaye” and the latest one “Laalach aham laplap” are the slogan in the ads. Kajol, Bollywood actor, was chosen brand ambassador in 2006.
Big Babol:
Since its launch in India in 1994 it has become a favourite amongst the kids all over the country. The chewing gum is positioned as “Bade Kaam ki Cheez” because the company claims that one can an blow big bubbles out of the chewing gum and it will not explode.
Center Fresh:
The flagship brand of Perfetti Van Melle, launched in 1994. It was the first liquid filled chewing gum and is the largest selling gum brand in India [1].
In 1996 was positioned as a freshness source in 1996 and in the same year it associated itself with the prestigious Cricket world cup and was named the Official Chewing Gum of the World Cup.
In the year 2000 the company launched Center Shock, the sour chewing which was supposed to be shocking the consumers. The ad campaign of hilarious Barber shop resulted in consumers rushing to the nearest stores to try the really “Sour” gum. [1]
Not until lately did Perfetti launch a witty campaign for center fresh. Currently, Center Fresh is positioned on the platform of great taste which makes them prefer to chew than speak. The campaign runs with a catchy tag line “Rakhe Zubaan pe lagaam.”
The campaign runs with humors advertisements where center fresh is used to zip the lips of infuriating speakers.
Center fruit:
Launched in the year 2006, Center Fruit is India’s first ever fruit-flavored liquid-filled gum.
Center Fruit is positioned on irresistibility and that makes your tongue wag. The Chewing gum is mostly targeted both towards children and youth. The slogan “Kaisi jeebh laplapayee” is used achieve the desired positioning. The creative advertisements are witty and centered around how tongue goes lapping sequences.
Center Fruit is positioned on irresistibility and that makes your tongue wag. The Chewing gum is mostly targeted both towards children and youth. The slogan “Kaisi jeebh laplapayee” is used achieve the desired positioning. The creative advertisements are witty and centered around how tongue goes lapping sequences.
Chlor-mint:
The sugar candy was launched in the year 1997 as a mint which contained Herbasol that helped breath freshness. The company introduced variants of the brand like Chlor-mint Ice which was a strong mint and Freshfills, a unique liquid-filled mint offering. ‘Anytime freshness’ was the call of its campaigns, while, competitors stressed on relief from irritation in the throat or on masking bad breath. This positioning was reflected in the iconic “Dobara Mat Poochna” tagline in successive television commercials.
Happydent
Happydent chewing gum positioned as “good for teeth” gum. Since it contains Baking Soda which helps in maintaining natural whiteness, therefore it was. Happydent is currently positioned on the platform, that it whitens the teeth so much that they can be used as “source of light”. Happydent brand communication has played a significant role in success of the brand. Clutter breaking “Photographer” commercial followed by “Palace” commercial were well accepted by the audience. The “Palace” commercial swept all creative awards in India and bagged two awards at Cannes. Happydent is a “chewing gum for a sparkling smile” – Jagmaga le , Muskura Le is the tagline.
Mentos:
Mentos is positioned around the world as fresh mint. In India, Mentos started its journey in 1999. But the Mentos real story starts in 2002, when it was re-launched and got an Indianized positioning of “Dimaag ki Batti Jala de” pertaining to smart thinking. This line has almost become a part of local lingo. A large part of Mentos success is attributed to its advertising, which is intended humor, exaggeration, meant to be immensely memorable.
Two of the nation’s best agencies Mcann-Erison and Oglivy & Mather are responsible for the creative advertisements of these brands for 16 years.
PVMI brands have launched several innovative ad campaigns like Happydent White, Chlormint, Alpenliebe and Mentos which have won several awards for the company like the Abby for Protex Happydent & Centre Fresh, Cannes (Silver & Bronze) & Ad fest for Happydent White and Effie’s for Mentos.
Reference;
- www.perfettivanmelle.in/pvm_india.html.
- www.economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/brand-equity/how-perfetti-command-price-premium-through-brand-building/articleshow/7314800.cms
3. www.ap-foodtechnology.com/Industry-drivers/Sugar-confectionery-booming-in-India
4. /www.e-pspl.com/casestudy/PVML_XA_AG.pdf
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