BRAND

REVIVAL
By
Srijan saxena
Aditi verma
Vineeth vijayan

Students of Shaheed Sukhdev College of business

studies
Delhi University
 BBS 1st YEARSS
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHALLENGES WHILE REVIVING A BRAND..........................................................12

Managing the design process......................................................................................13
A marketer maybe having the most brilliantly designed product in the world, but if he
has a poor understanding of the target audience, a poor business plan, or both; it
would fail. For good design to be good business it must be pursued as an integral part
of a wider set of activities...........................................................................................13
For example, while a company may have invested in a successful industrial design
and engineering process it may have failed to consider the total customer
experience. This includes how the customer becomes aware of the product - will it
be, for example, through TV advertising, product promotion or product
placement? And how will the customer take ownership of the product? Will this be
by ordering from a catalogue, purchasing online or in store?.................................13
Considering all these areas and more leads to a significantly improved total
customer experience and the likelihood of success is dramatically improved.......13
Off late, reviving a brand has become more of a business. There are companies
whose main job is to buy old and forgotten, but once strong brands and revive them
so as to restore their old status and position. Given below are the profiles of
companies like Himmel group, Lornamead, River West Brands and SatchInvest who
are into the business of brand revival.........................................................................21
INTRODUCTION

Conventional marketing wisdom says that for every 100 brands that are
born upto 90 could perish. In fact the life expectancy of many brands in
countries like Japan is an average 18 months.

The stronger brands, the ones that become heritage brands and
occasionally become larger than the companies that gave birth to them,
they last longer sometimes longer than the company itself.

However old age can take a toll on brands. At times seemingly invincible
brands age too often and too soon. Dalda vanaspati, Weston televisions,
Kelvinator refrigerators, Murphy radios, Polsen butter and Campa Cola
are just some names that no longer have the visibility in most Indian
shops. However, about two- three decades back shopkeepers could not
do without these brands.

Can these brands that were snowed under in changing circumstances be

revived? Can a new proposition be built on the old legacy? That’s were
the business of brand revival comes in. Today it is the buzz word among
the corporations who are scrambling in carrying out those old fashioned
yet still effective cost revenue analysis in seeing if they can bring back
the old! To get the heritage brands back to the market.

The reason for this is not too difficult to see. Simply because businesses
are realizing that brands have a tremendous asset value or resale value.
Also companies in a passive thought are also revitalizing brands so that
they can realize more value from these before getting rid of these.And
today if companies want to sell off brands that make no strategic sense
for them, there isn’t a shortage of buyers for defunct brands either.

Sometimes, however, even if brands get a second chance to prove them

at the altar of consumerism it will not be a cakewalk. That’s because a
reborn brand has a much difficult task at hand than a new brand-- new
brands take off from ground zero but in the case of a dead brand the,
company relaunching it has to first clean up the negative baggage
associated with the brand’s earlier failure before it lands on the same
level as the new brand. At the conceptual level, it is an uphill task.
E.g. -- When Dalda was introduced; it successfully entered most
customer homes as Indian households were looking for a cheaper
alternative for ghee. However, Dalda came with 2 negative labels stuck
to its neck-- it was a cheaper alternative and it was not the real thing.
 As customers started preferring healthier alternatives like cooking oils,
Dalda lost popularity. Now even though Dalda is on its comeback trail in
Indian markets, not many consultants are impressed.
In short, they do what Lakshmi Mittal did in the steel industry, which is
to say he picks up the sick steel plants and has turned them around.

Generally a reviving of brand is made when

It is apparent to the marketer that the brand in question is losing
share because its physical qualities need a change.
It is also possible that, in comparison to competition, the brand is
looking tired and old-fashioned, so that this could be a reason to
strengthen the brand communication.
In addition to making changes to the product, there are many
instances of brands of products being re-launched in the market.
The key factors that marketers review in order to decide whether a
brand needs a revival are a decline in its market share and the
brand's strength showing a decline.
Very often, an expensive revive fails to be successful because it
was done in a hurry or the management actually did not take into
account market research evidence that the marketing mix was not
fully satisfactory
it could be the revive of an existing brand in order to make the
consumer look at the product in a different light
BRANDS THAT NEED REVIVAL

- Heritage Brands
These are the brands that were the first ones to come in the
markets. They could be referred to as the pioneers of the markets.
These products are generally in the last stage or sometimes in the
second last stage of their product life cycle. However, just as Sir
Hector Laing, Chief Executive Officer, United Biscuits plc.
remarked, “Buildings age and become dilapidated. Machines wear
out. People die. But what live on are the brands”; these brands too
lived on. However, their image among customers changes from
that of a brand to a special brand. E.g. - Hindustan Motors’ car
Ambassador. It has become a heritage car with the memories of its
yesteryears.

- Orphan Brands
Orphan brands are the neglected ones. These are the brands that
despite their high recognition factors may suffer from poor market
positioning, a lackluster business environment, or just plain
neglect from the parent.
Orphan brands also include those brands that after being
neglected, have also been disowned from their parent
manufacturers. A major example that could be cited in this regard
is that of the ointment Burnol. Burnol was originally a brand of
Boots Company plc. It was bought over by Knoll AG of Germany in
1995 and was then bought by Reckitt Piramal in 1998. It re-
launched Burnol as " Antiseptic Burnol plus" in 1994, which
widened its usage from minor burns category to an antiseptic
cream. Now recently, Morepen labs ltd. acquired of the brand
Burnol from Reckitt Piramal ltd. for Rs. 8.95 crores.

- Ghost Brands
Ghost Brands are brands that are shadows of their former selves.
They may be existing in the market or even sometimes phased
out, but they continue to haunt the minds of the consumers. These
are the brands were once the top brands in their market, but have
now been overshadowed due to any of the various reasons, such
as launch of new improved products, or change in the consumer
needs or preferences, etc. They walk the fine line between life and
death, and are often demoted to the bottom shelf, which is the
death row in many stores.
The companies, which own these brands, have four options:
1) Revive them,
2) Milk them,
3) Sell them, or
4) Kill them.

Reviving, in such cases, could be the best option as milking them

won’t yield much and eventually it would have to be killed. Also,
selling would give the producer a much lower price as compared to
the profits that the buyer could make if he revives it. Hence,
though revival involves considerable costs to the companies, but it
could yield them profits more than their investments.
THE PROCESS

Identify potential products

It is Important to identify and select the right brand to revive and
choosing the right as not all brands can be revived.
While reviving a brand many different considerations have to be
taken into the mind like the market in which the brand is to be
revived, the targeted market, and the advertising strategies. Thus
in the brand revival process the first step is by far the most
important step as all other steps are directly dependent on the
efficiency of the first step.

- Listen to your consumers

They are the best source for information about products and
needs. The Himmel Group has effectively utilized the following
consumer research tools to gather critical information: (1) Brand
Research Cards (BRC) questionnaires and on-line surveys used to
collect consumer feedback on every product, (2) Concept test
research, (3) Focus groups, (4) Product use research, (5) Toll free
consumer hotline and consumer mail and emails. Management
read all consumer correspondence.

- Create compelling creative messages that strike a chord

with target consumers
Focus attention on consumer needs and wants with single-minded,
believable messages. Create an advertising "hook" (in the case of
medicines, a proprietary name for a medical condition, and then
create the solution through the Himmel brand) and have strong
brand registration. Control the creative process and cost by
utilizing In-house creative development and production resources
and contract out manufacturing of products and utilize outside
consultants for research and development, medical expert advice,
etc., to keep fixed costs low.

- Differentiate your product from the competition

Discover and exploit the unique selling proposition (USP) of the
brand. Motivate consumers to choose the Himmel brand over the
competition by promoting brands 52 weeks a year. Create an
emotional connection with consumers and treat brands like
children — they must be "nurtured."
- Advertise, Advertise, and Advertise. Maintain a heavy
investment in advertising
There is a direct correlation between investment in advertising and
consumer awareness, brand loyalty, market share, ability to resist
price competition, and leverage with the retailer. Maintained the
frequency of advertising — advertising frequency creates
awareness and awareness creates sales by deliver advertising
messages on television, radio, etc.Control cost and maintained
efficiency by utilize in-house media buying service.
SOME STRATEGIES FOR BRAND REVIVAL
To make a brand comeback, successful, the first thing is to create
a new economic value for the customer, identify alternate
distribution channels. For instance, brands can go online, get into
new organized retail format and so on. Today, channels are market
makers. One must find alternative ways of doing the 4Ps of
marketing which may even require a modification of packaging in
certain cases.

- The companies need to trace the ailments that led to the brand
becoming defunct. Brands become defunct for many reasons.
Sometimes not enough effort is put behind them when they were
first launched. Otherwise they could have been ahead of time or
not as relevant as it was conceived for. For e.g.- If a product like a
fabric softener was relaunched at present, it could find more
takers than the comeback of a “neel” (the blue fabric after wash).

- Repositioning strategy
Sometimes global product portfolio rationalization could affect
local brands. A case in point is Kelvinator refrigerators which were
put on a slow burner after it was taken over. But Kelvinator’s
strong brand proposition--“it’s the coolest one”-is timeless and
would be equally relevant to the customers at present.
In another instance, Dabur repackaged its Real fruit juice; the
company’s flagship product; as a natural, great tasting fruit juice
for kids. They aligned the packaging, communication and all
elements of the marketing mix to communicate the brand’s
benefit (i.e., “REAL-tastes like eating a fruit”).

- Following the rules & doing the basics right

This is the case with Lifebuoy, a brand that although did not
disappear from shop shelves, but nevertheless made a successful
comeback. From just being a carbolic soap which would be used in
office toilets and dhabas, Lifebuoy has come to be a ‘family bathe
soap’. They played by the rules to win. For instance, the carbolic
soap form of Lifebuoy had reached a state of maturity. As the
strong brand started to plateau, the company started to revamp
and reposition it. Importantly the relaunch of Lifebuoy was backed
by consumer insights and significant marketing spends, both of
which are completely essential.
- Having new applications
Brands can also be revived by the marketers by developing or
inventing some new and innovative uses of their product. This
worked wonders for the US based Arm & Hammer, a baking soda
company. For years the company stuck to its core business baking
soda and marketing it as it is; but then customers frequently
baked at home. As lifestyles became hectic, baking became a
hobby and sales suffered. The company took its core product
baking soda and put it into new applications. At present it
marketed it as it could not only be used for baking but it is also a
treat cleanser and odour killer and can kill odour in refrigerators.
All this exercise helped the brand to remain contemporary.

- Finding New segments

Sometimes just finding a new segment of users for the same
brand can help in a successful revival of the brand. For instance,
the largest users of are actually adults as opposed to children.
That’s because customers who grew up with video games are
continuing to play and their tribe is increasing. In another
instance, companies in US have revitalised the orange juice
industry from being only on the breakfast table to a juice for all
occassions. It’s also being touted as a healthy alternative since it
has vitamin C. With bulk of population in US being elders has
broadened the product scope and has helped it make a comeback.

- Geographical segmentation
Even without new applications or new customer segments, a
dwindling brand in one country can find solace in another.
Companies are increasingly putting their brands into a new
country or geography where they never existed. As there is no
prior image of the brand in the new geography, the company can
market the brand in a way so as to create the image they want
customers to remember the brand as. Relevant example in this
case could be that of General Motors, who managed to make its
passenger car Buick a hit in China when the sales of the brand
were not good in the US.

- Clever positioning
Clever positioning and promotions can be deciding factors in brand
comebacks. A creative approach to communications can revitalize
the brand. E.g. -- Chewing gum brand Chiclets. Previously a pack
of Chiclets had eight pieces in a box. Naturally the unit price was
 high. But price was not the problem for the brand. No consumer
would eat eight gums at a go and when consumers put the rest
into their pockets, Chiclets would melt if the climatic conditions
were unfavorable. The recommendation was that if Chiclets had
only 2 pieces in a packet it would also bring the unit price down.
After implementing these changes, the company came with a ‘two
of you’ campaign targeted at young couples. The Chiclets case
had all the must haves for the brand revitalization: a new
economic value, new packaging and a new promise.

- New strategies being followed

Some firms offer an outsourcing service to parent firms for the
marketing and management of old brands. The parent retains a
stake in the business, so it shares in the profit when the brands
are revived.

 Saatchinvest, for example, holds a 51% majority stake in

Complan globally, but Heinz has retained a 34% share.
 Charteredbrands started out with a full acquisition strategy for
orphan brands, but now takes only minority stakes in them.
They, in their words, ‘take risks, inject cash, manage the
process and share the benefits with the owners’.
Outsourcing marketing can make sense for both parties. First, the
small firm does not need to worry about the seller refocusing on a
category. Second, the multinational does not sire a new
competitor.

In nutshell, consumers will buy a brand only if they find value and
trust (which could be in the form of past goodwill) in it. It does not
matter if it has gone out of public view for a while. In fact marketing
consultants add that as long as consumers can be convinced about
the value and as long as they connect with a brand, sales will
happen. But conditions apply. No strong negatives must exist to be
associated with a brand that’s awaiting revival.
CHALLENGES WHILE REVIVING A BRAND
- Understanding the market
If your product is aimed at a very specific target market then there
is a good chance that this product will require only basic
modification from country to country. If your product is aimed at a
larger, more general market, there is a higher chance that wider-
reaching changes will have to be implemented in order to make
the product suitable for mass marketing.

- Gathering intelligence
In order to achieve international success, a business must
understand its target customers, not only in measurable ways
such as education levels and income, but on more intangible
levels. While customers may not be aware of their depth of
response to design they do respond strongly to form, detail, colour
and balance. Design relates to every aspect of the experience,
visual, tactile, and emotional. While your customer may not easily
be able to articulate their feelings about these aspects of your
product, they are nevertheless extremely important.
When carrying out customer research it is essential that you
formulate an approach that allows you and your design team to
understand what your customers actually need, rather than what
they say they need.
Over the past decade there has been an increasing interest from
business in non-quantitative customer research. Using techniques
such as ethnography will not provide a clear set of answers that
can be presented in graphs. It is open-ended, holistic and
discovery-orientated and if used correctly will give incredible
insight and knowledge into their customers’ needs and desires
that can then be used to inform and guide the subsequent design
process.

- Understanding what you are selling

To understand what exactly a company is selling, many companies
use the strategy called 'value exporters'. These companies have
strong values that are often linked to national characteristics. They
use design as a tool to emphasize either their national origin or
the set of values that differentiate them from other products.
Then, some companies use a strategy called 'value collectors'.
These companies may well have a strong internal culture, but their
 outward style is less identifiable. They have to invest more time
and money in researching their potential markets and then use
design in order to create products to connect with their
international customers. Understanding which of these approaches
is most applicable to your product is central to your approach to
design for international markets.

- Managing the design process

A marketer maybe having the most brilliantly designed product in
the world, but if he has a poor understanding of the target
audience, a poor business plan, or both; it would fail. For good
design to be good business it must be pursued as an integral part
of a wider set of activities.
For example, while a company may have invested in a successful
industrial design and engineering process it may have failed to
consider the total customer experience. This includes how the
customer becomes aware of the product - will it be, for example,
through TV advertising, product promotion or product placement?
And how will the customer take ownership of the product? Will this
be by ordering from a catalogue, purchasing online or in store?
Considering all these areas and more leads to a significantly
improved total customer experience and the likelihood of success
is dramatically improved.
CASES OF BRAND REVIVAL

In the span of the last decade or so many companies over the world
has taken to the route of brand revival of its either popular brands or
brands that didn’t click in its first place. These companies have used
different tactics, style, and methods to win over the customers.
In the following pages an attempt has been made in this direction to
find out these companies, the product its relaunched and the general
perception of the people towards it.

 Apple Computer Inc

In 1997, after reporting losses of $1billion, it was widely assumed
that Apple Computer was about to go out of business. The
company had lost its way. Its core market of creatives and
students had become alienated and were switching over to
cheaper PC products.

However later that

year, the return of Steve Jobs as CEO changed all this. He gave the
company back its vision, and, working with the design team
headed by British designer Jonathan Ive, he created a product
driven identity for Apple which is based around a high quality total
product experience. With the iMac, Apple redefined the home
computer as a friendly domestic object. With the iPod and iTunes
music management software, it defined the digital music market
and currently holds about 80% of the hard drive-based portable
music player market in the USA and approximately 50%
worldwide. At the end of 2005 Apple reported the highest revenue
and earnings in the Company’s history, and international sales
accounted for 40 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
 Harley-Davidson, USA
When the USA motorcycle market shrank due to the 1981-82
recession Harley Davidson found itself facing a surge of Japanese
imports, which caused a glut of unsold bikes that artificially
depressed the market and threatened Harley's viability.
The US International Trade Commission found that increased
imports of heavyweight motorcycles threatened serious injury to the
domestic industry, and the President imposed temporary import
relief to allow the industry time to adjust.
Harley-Davidson used this time to use design to improve
manufacturing efficiency and product quality. As a result the
company was able to significantly improve its market share -
currently it is the clear market leader with 47% of the large
motorcycle market in the USA (2002).
Although more expensive than local competitors, Harley-Davidson
motorcycles are in demand around the world. 22% of the
motorcycles produced in the York, Pennsylvania final-assembly plant
are produced for export. Much of Harley-Davidson's growth in recent
years has been due to growth in exports, for example in the
Japanese market the market for Harleys has been growing at an
annual rate of approximately 43% since 1996. In 2005 Harley
Davidson’s international sales grew 15% year on year.

 Electrolux
When CEO Hans Straberg joined Electrolux in 2002 he took the helm
of a company in crisis. He faced spiralling costs while its middle
market products were gradually loosing out to cheaper goods from
Asia and Eastern Europe. Straberg knew that the only way that the
company could hope to survive amidst this ferocious competition
was through innovation and design to create products with good
looks and clever features which people could understand without
having to pore through a thick users’ manual.

To do this he broke down the traditional barriers between

departments, forcing marketing, designers and engineers to work
together in cross-disciplinary teams. These teams brainstorm and
develop new product ideas – the most successful are fast tracked
into production.
To support this drive for innovation spending in R&D has been
bumped from 0.8% of sales to 1.2% with the eventual goal of raising
 to 2%. This investment is now beginning to show returns, after
dropping for two straight years annual sales rose 8% to $16.5
billion, in 2005. The number of product launches that result in
outsized unit sales is currently running at over 50% of all
introductions up from around 25% previously. The award winning
Electrolux Pronto commands 50% of the USA stick vacuum cleaner
market despite being double the cost of comparable models.

 Cadillac
Tired. Old. Way behind the times.
That was Cadillac, the brand that epitomized General Motors Corp.’s
decades-long dive in U.S. market share. The “standard to the
world” in the 1950s and ’60s became the creaky antique of the ’90s,
left in the dust by German and Japanese luxury brands.
BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Lexus were hip. Cadillac’s buyers were
getting hip replacements. But something funny happened on the
way to the automotive graveyard. Cadillac found rock ’n’ roll — and
a faded icon was reborn. No brand is changing faster and more
successfully than Cadillac. With an edgy new lineup of cars and
sport utility vehicles, and Led Zeppelin’s baby-boomer anthem as its
sound track, Cadillac is back.

Sales have soared more than

20 percent in the past two
years, and there is more to
come. “We are three-fourths of
the way through the first
generation of new products,”
said Mark LaNeve, general
manager of the Cadillac
division. “We have definitely turned the corner.” And GM took the
corner fast, pumping billions into new models, a new assembly
plant, and a new attitude. Where a few years back Cadillac was
defined by a hulking, black Deville at the country club, today’s
brand image is of a sleek XLR roadster tearing down the highway.
Consumers who never would have considered a “Caddy” before are
amazed at the transformation. Where Cadillac was once the
cushiony ride of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra, now it is rap stars
and hip-hop moguls who strut its in-your-face Escalades and XLRs. It
has been a five-year revival, an astonishing turnaround time for any
automotive brand, let alone one that carried the baggage of
Cadillac.
GM’s previous attempts to rebuild the brand were the stuff of bad
jokes in Detroit auto circles. In the early 1980s, the automaker tried
 to pass off a trimmed-up Chevrolet Cavalier compact as a Cadillac
and fooled nobody. Then in 1996, GM took an Opel Omega midsize
sedan and called it a Cadillac Catera. In one of the most disastrous
ad campaigns in automotive history, GM served up a cartoon duck
to promote Catera and put slinky supermodel Cindy Crawford in a
leather miniskirt in its Super Bowl ads.
The moves trivialized and tarnished the brand, embarrassed GM’s
top brass, and left division executives desperate for a new strategy.
It began to unfold at the 1999 North American International Show in
Detroit, when anxious Cadillac executives unveiled the radical Evoq
concept roadster. With a design ethic that GM likened to “creased
paper,” the Evoq set the tone for a startlingly quick shift in
Cadillac’s direction. “There were two big decisions,” LaNeve said.
“First was, we were going to have a whole new design language.
The second was to bring a new architecture that will give us the
best performance and handling in its class.” Skeptics abounded
when the first production model, the Catera-replacement CTS
sedan, hit the market. But its striking look set CTS apart from more
subdued Benzes and Lexuses, and its performance impressed even
die-hard Cadillac critics. The next volley, a brash remake of the
Escalade full-size SUV, restored the cachet that Cadillac seemed to
have lost forever. Suddenly, Caddy had buzz in Hollywood and the
record industry, popping up in music videos and star-drenched
movie premieres. The smaller SRX sport-ute and hot, little XLR
debuted last year, giving Cadillac dealers a lineup they could only
dream of selling before.
Cadillac passed the 200,000 sales mark in 2004, closing the gap on
luxury-market leaders Lexus, BMW and Mercedes. Even GM’s
keenest rivals admit the brand’s revitalization has been impressive.

 Ovaltine
Resuscitated dying brand through heavy investment in advertising
promoting product’s unique selling proposition - “tastes great and
great for you.”
Ovaltine’s incredible heritage and brand equity as an All-American,
nutritious beverage has lasted for over 100 years. But by 1990, the
brand had been so under-marketed; most people assumed it was no
longer produced.
In August 1992, Himmel Nutrition licensed the rights to Ovaltine in
the U.S. and Puerto Rico from Sandoz Nutrition Corporation.
Creative advertising strategy for the first three years drew former
users into the Ovaltine franchise. "When was the last time you tried
Ovaltine?" The campaign then evolved over time to include multiple
targets and usage occasions, as well as
competitive claims against the market leader, in
order to drive continuous growth. For the twelve
years Himmel Nutrition has been marketing
Ovaltine, it has been the largest advertiser in the
category. From 1992 through 2006, Ovaltine’s
market share grew from 12% to 31% +/-.
Consumer sales have grown from $15 million to $46 million. And
once again, the Ovaltine name has returned to the family shelf as
America’s most nutritional milk powder flavoring.
On May 15, 2007, Himmel Nutrition sold its Ovaltine license to
Novartis.
Joe Jimenez, the Chief Executive Officer of the Novartis Consumer
Health Division, said,
"Himmel Nutrition Inc. has been our partner for almost 15 years and
has demonstrated its skill in building small brands. They have taken
Ovaltine from the inception of the license from a small, struggling
brand into an important brand in its category."
Ovaltine in the USA is currently owned by Nestle.
CORRELATION BETWEEN REPOSITIONING AND
REVIVAL

A company must position its brand in the minds of consumers. A brand

manager must find something new and different about that brand, get
into the minds of consumers, and stake out a bit of territory. A
company would like to gain a tiny amount of brain space so that he
thinks of the brand while consuming a product in that category.

Over time, brand managers will have to reposition a brand.

Repositioning a brand requires changing either the target market or
the value proposition of the brand. To change the value, we can try to
change the core offering itself—that is, the products or the technology
that underlines them, or the brand’s reputation for quality. Or try
changing the experience around the brand.
Sometimes, people use the terms brand repositioning and rejuvenation
synonymously, but there is a difference between the two terms.

BRAND REJUVENATION

Brand rejuvenation is when the brand attributes and overall strategy is

still sound, i.e., given the competitive set, customers, industry
dynamics that the brand values still are valid, marketable and
meaningful (ROI)—but there is a need to re-launch the brand
messaging strategy.

If only some excitement and reminders about the presence of the

brand is required, while the basic positioning is still relevant and
sound, then "rejuvenation" is the right word. Updating the packaging,
perhaps a change in the logo, advertising, etc. could be the solutions.

On the other hand, if we have a new and different target audience, or

benefits that were never part of the original package, then the brand
has to be re-positioned. The brand image has to be changed. Brand
repositioning is when we need to reset the brand in terms of values
and attributes—and then launch a brand messaging strategy.

Brand Rejuvenation has a more holistic perspective than repositioning.

It creates wider space in terms of market communication that includes
escalated advertising and/or repositioning.
CASE OF UNITED AIRLINES
The relation between rejuvenation and repositioning can be understood
with the example of United Airlines:
Their brand positioning once way "solid, industry leader, serious,
you pay more but you receive higher quality, targeted at
professional travelers".
If United wanted to revive that brand strategy, they would likely launch
communications such as interviews, PR, advertising, promotions that
would emphasize that brand.
On the other hand, if United felt that the next high growth customer
demographic is vacation travel and they want to serve that demographic with
appropriate brand value, then they would need to "shift" their brand identity
though not too drastic so as to isolate the old customers and confuse new
targets, but to the extent that they take some of the current valid brand
attributes and characteristics and augment them with "flexible, key
partnerships" or whatever to reposition it with values that are appropriate for
the new target market.
BRAND REVIVAL: AN EMERGING BUSINESS

Off late, reviving a brand has become more of a business. There are
companies whose main job is to buy old and forgotten, but once strong
brands and revive them so as to restore their old status and position.
Given below are the profiles of companies like Himmel group,
Lornamead, River West Brands and SatchInvest who are into the
business of brand revival.

1. The Himmel Group

The Himmel group is a marketer of consumer products specializing in
over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, health and beauty aids, and
nutritional foods. The Himmel Group is known for acquiring old but
well-known trademarks that were mistaken for dead and building them
into successful brands.
- Over the last seven decades Himmel has developed a unique brand
building strategy that when applied diligently has led to our most
outstanding successes. They had been the marketers of Ovaltine in
the United States from August 1, 1992 until May 15, 2007, and
were, up until 1996, the owners of Gold Bond Medicated Powder.
Our passion is to build brand equity.
The key, as they believe, has always been their belief in the role of
advertising to build brand equity, either to revitalize old trademarks
or by creating new ones.

2. Lornamead
Lornamead is a leading privately held global marketer of personal care
brands. Their main business focus is on acquiring and investing in
heritage brands in order to maximise their growth potential. They bring
together a portfolio of 40 brands serving four personal care categories:
 Hair care
 Cosmetics and skin care
 Fragrance and bath luxuries
 Oral care.
Lornamead has pursued a strategy of creating and acquiring a well-
diversified portfolio of personal care brands that now encompasses
some of the world’s best-known names. Lornamead’s ability to make
these acquisitions is unrivalled and future acquisitions are likely to be
on a larger scale with focus remaining on high margin and high-growth
businesses throughout their four key product categories.
We having global scale, excellent relationships with key vendors, an
established and proven track record and an ability to integrate new
brands seamlessly provide Lornamead with significant competitive
advantage.
Their portfolio of heritage brands has been very carefully selected.
Their target brands have a history of strong investment, high consumer
recognition, proven product efficacy, quality distribution established
with key retailers and significant market share.
They identify opportunities where brands have lost focus under
previous owners but can be revitalised through increasing discipline
and focus, development of their heritage and product ranges, margin
improvements and international growth. In addition, they see
opportunities to add further value to their existing brand portfolio,
focusing on growing their core brands with powerful heritage in their
respective markets.
They have already been building strong operating platforms globally,
underpinned by their corporate headquarters in the UK. They currently
have dedicated business units in the UK, Germany, Dubai, the USA,
India, Thailand, Africa and Russia, with others under development.
Their international sales and marketing network is developing at a
measured pace to mirror the growth of their brand portfolio. Their
ongoing focus is to listen and respond to the needs of their consumers.
Together with their distributors and retailers, they are always on a look
out for new ways to respond to the changing needs of the consumers
and develop their growing number of brands to ensure they are
desirable, effective and value for money.

3. River West Brands

River West Brands was the first company ever to systematically focus
on the acquisition and re-commercialisation of dormant brands. They
pioneered a number of strategies and tactics out of both necessity and
opportunity. It is thus a highly specialised company that acquires rights
to dormant consumer brands, revitalises/ revives them for modern
relevance, reconstructs the business model for today’s market-place,
and ultimately returns these brands to the consumers.
Since the inception of the river west brands, they have acquired and
revived many brands in a wide range of product categories, within a
wide range of structures. Some of the examples of their current
projects include Brim coffee, Bonvit Teller apparels and accessories,
and Nuprin pain relief products.
CONCLUSION

Brands must make the product relevant and meaningful for the target
customers. It must enhance the product over and above the basic
generic level. A product that comes off the assembly line tends to be
merely a physical object. Branding pushes the product into a
perpetual realm by integrating what it is. Branding gives the
customers reasons to buy and use the products. Brand rejuvenation
gives a second life for a brand.

More than 80% of the brands that are launched die off, a mere 8% of
these brands, which are retiring, try to rejuvenate/ revive the brand.
Today Brand Revival is in very high demand as companies realize that
building a brand would take ten times more money than reviving an
existing brand. New product development tries to create brand equity
from a blank sheet of paper. But it can frequently be more rewarding
to start with a sheet already written on, with a hidden message we
can decode for a relatively small investment.

Many companies have identified the necessity of Brand Revival and

entrepreneurs have brought in “Brand Spas” to rejuvenate, indulge
and refresh the brands. While understanding the importance of brand
revival

Most dead brands died not with a bang but a whimper. This paper has
examined the revitalization of established brands; a topic that has
been overlooked for too many years. Brand managers have numerous
options for revitalizing the sales of an established brand in a mature
category. The strategies suggested here present opportunities for
many managers to salvage and leverage the equity that has been
built over the lifetime of the brand. Brands die because of neglect
and consumer indifference.

In this context what we basically identified as the reason why brand

revival is a big hot topic on the mind of the corporate world now and
not 10 years back has been the mental block of “taking out from the
dustbin concept”.
Several companies particularly the big MNCs, FMCG haven’t even
thought of giving many of their failed brands a second chance which
if they had would have catapulted their brands into world class
brands

In this paper we have examined and discussed many cases where in

the brands that were once written off have been successfully revived
and now they are hugely successful in the market

As part of our effort in getting the material, reading and

understanding the matters concerning the brand revival process we
have in this process identified and extracted a basic check list or the
points that the marketer has to keep in mind while reviving a brand
THE CHECKLIST

A shrewd marketer will leverage the strength of the brand name

and use it to revive the product. It can be said that reviving a
brand is just another marketing exercise that is to be performed
routinely but the implications of this are far reaching; on the brand
as well as the company. Reviving a brand is a strategic decision.
Its implications must be studied carefully; whether the brand will
retain its relevance in the present scenario or whether the brand
still pushes prospects to buy it. These questions can only be
answered by studying the brand. This paper does not give a magic
formula but only a framework on which taking such decisions will
be easier. Finally, here is our opinion on brand revival, if done well,
in terms of content and execution, they can serve the purpose of
strengthening the brand, increase brand sales, brand shares,
brand salience and, of course, brand profit. However, a successful
relaunch takes management time, good marketing research, skill,
significant resources in terms of money and time; and, as always,
a bit of luck.

The business of brand revival albeit risky is a very rewarding business

and several companies have made it their business model and are
today highly successful.
Burma Shave, Brylcreem, Pepsodent, Ovaltine, kelvinator, cadiliac are
just some of the brands that have been brought back from the ‘dead’

Now we know why the brand revival business is such an important

business both for the consumers and the business alike.
APPENDIX

 Product Life Cycle-- The stages through which individual

products develop over time is called commonly known as the
"Product Life Cycle".
Businesses should manage their products carefully over time to
ensure that they deliver products that continue to meet customer
wants. The process of managing groups of brands and product lines is
called portfolio planning.
The classic product life cycle has four stages (illustrated in the
diagram below): introduction; growth; maturity and decline.

• Introduction Stage
At the Introduction (or development) Stage market size and
growth is slight. It is possible that substantial research and
development costs have been incurred in getting the product
to this stage. In addition, marketing costs may be high in
order to test the market, undergo launch promotion and set
up distribution channels. It is highly unlikely that companies
will make profits on products at the Introduction Stage.
Products at this stage have to be carefully monitored to
ensure that they start to grow. Otherwise, the best option may
be to withdraw or end the product.
• Growth Stage
 The Growth Stage is characterised by rapid growth in sales
and profits. Profits arise due to an increase in output
(economies of scale)and possibly better prices. At this stage,
it is cheaper for businesses to invest in increasing their
market share as well as enjoying the overall growth of the
market. Accordingly, significant promotional resources are
traditionally invested in products that are firmly in the Growth
Stage.
• Maturity Stage
The Maturity Stage is, perhaps, the most common stage for all
markets. It is in this stage that competition is most intense as
companies fight to maintain their market share. Here, both
marketing and finance become key activities. Marketing spend
has to be monitored carefully, since any significant moves are
likely to be copied by competitors. The Maturity Stage is the
time when most profit is earned by the market as a whole.
Any expenditure on research and development is likely to be
restricted to product modification and improvement and
perhaps to improve production efficiency and quality.
• Decline Stage
In the Decline Stage, the market is shrinking, reducing the
overall amount of profit that can be shared amongst the
remaining competitors. At this stage, great care has to be
taken to manage the product carefully. It may be possible to
take out some production cost, to transfer production to a
cheaper facility, sell the product into other, cheaper markets.
Care should be taken to control the amount of stocks of the
product. Ultimately, depending on whether the product
remains profitable; a company may decide to end the product.

 4 P’s of Marketing-- The four P’s of the marketing mix refer to:
• Product - An object or a service that is mass produced or
manufactured on a large scale with a specific volume of units.
A typical example of a mass produced service is the hotel
industry. A less obvious but ubiquitous mass produced service
is a computer operating system. Typical examples of a mass
produced objects are the motor car and the disposable razor.

• Price – The price is the amount a customer pays for a

product. It is determined by a number of factors including
market share, competition, material costs, product identity
and the customer's perceived value of the product. The
business may increase or decrease the price of product if
other stores have the same product.

• Place – Place represents the location where a product can be

purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It
can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the
Internet.

• Promotion – Promotion represents all of the communications

that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has
four distinct elements - advertising, public relations, word of
mouth and point of sale. A certain amount of crossover occurs
when promotion uses the four principle elements together,
which is common in film promotion. Advertising covers any
communication that is paid for, from television and cinema
commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media
and billboards. One of the most notable means of promotion
today is the Promotional Product, as in useful items
 distributed to targeted audiences with no obligation attached.
It is the only form of advertising that targets all five senses
and has the recipient thanking the giver. Public relations are
where the communication is not directly paid for and includes
press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences,
seminars or trade fairs and events. Word of mouth is any
apparently informal communication about the product by
ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically
engaged to create word of mouth momentum. Sales staff
often plays an important role in word of mouth and Public
Relations (see Product above).

Broadly defined, optimizing the marketing mix is the primary

responsibility of marketing. By offering the product with the right
combination of the four Ps marketers can improve their results and
marketing effectiveness. Making small changes in the marketing mix
is typically considered to be a tactical change while large changes in
any of the four Ps can be considered strategic.
From brand revival point of view, the marketer may have to make
some drastic changes in the combination of the four Ps for the
reviving product. He may even have to go in for a complete
overhauling of its marketing strategy. This is because as the product
is relaunched/ reintroduced after the revival, there shouldn’t be any
shortfall in the four Ps or the product may not revive fully and could
again become an underdog product.

 The Real Reason Brand Revival Works

-- by Paul Earle

Everywhere consumers turn, it seems, a marketer is waxing nostalgic

about yesteryear. From beverages, to sneakers, to detergent, to cars,
to television sets, to baseball uniforms, much of today’s brandscape
is being retrofitted — figuratively and sometimes literally.
“Old” has become “classic,” and classic has become cool. Unless
hundreds of different marketers are all wrong, the conclusion must be
that brand revival works. The question therefore becomes, why?
A number of amateur psychologists posit that brand revival works as
metaphorical “comfort food.” Others suggest that revival works
primarily because it is such a different and refreshing tack: the “hook
du jour.”
While both theories have merit, both miss the main point. Brand
revival is most valuable as a mechanism to help the marketer reduce
risk and achieve a “head start” over newer branding concepts.
Whether the marketer dusts off an old advertising slogan or brings
back a brand name from dormancy, the essence of revival’s
effectiveness is this: if it worked once, it can work again.
New brands and even new marketing campaigns can take years and
megabucks to seed, and still fail more often than they succeed. The
fundamental brand character and consumer proposition that helped a
brand endure for fifty years, however, might help it endure for
another fifty. Certain truths about consumer behavior remain just as
evident in 2003 as they were in 1953.
Consider brand revival in the context of the theatrical production
industry. While musicals don’t comprise a traditional consumer
“category” like toothpaste or pet food, much can be learned by
studying the way producers look to the future by looking at the past
Broadway revivals expose one of the great fallacies of mainstream
brand revival: that a brand coming back for its second run must be
targeted at the same folks who purchased the brand the first time
around. Of course not! Rogers and Hammerstein’s Showboat, for
instance, first opened in 1927; does that mean that the production is
only relevant to the “age 95 and older” demographic? Some
storylines simply strike timeless chords. Producers may update the
wardrobe and the set, and the score may be played with modern
instruments, but the core “brand” of the show remains the same.
Now apply the Broadway framework to consumer products. Say that
you’re a new product manager. Your R&D team can deliver a state-of-
the-art product, so the challenge becomes one of naming and
branding. You realistically have one chance to find a name and a
narrative that works in the marketplace, and we all know how fallible
focus groups and other concept testing measures can be. And ask
yourself this: how much time and money would it take to build a mere
25 percent level of national awareness, and at least some credibility?
Existing awareness isn’t the only component by which the value of a
dormant brand can be measured. A brand’s heritage can also serve
as a proxy for experience, which can be compelling in a retail
environment that is swamped by thousands of new product launches
every year. A brand with a history can trump one that was dreamed
up last week — even if consumers haven’t heard of either. As is the
case with personal relationships, trust and legitimacy are key
foundations of a consumer’s existing relationship with a brand.
Gravitas counts.
Consider the value of a brand’s “experience” in the context of a real
world hiring challenge, which has a lot in common with the choices a
consumer faces when evaluating products. Say you’re considering
two candidates for a job position you need to fill. You hadn’t met
either before the hiring process started. Both candidates are equally
as bright, hard working, and seemingly capable. Subsequent
research, however, indicated that one candidate had a lengthy and
relevant track record, and the second candidate had no track record.
The experienced candidate has the advantage. What’s more, he or
she might also be able to command a higher salary. Translated back
to the brand world: better turns, higher price point.
The notion of brand revival raises interesting questions about
innovation. Certainly, it is vitally important that marketers always
thrive to develop product components that are newer and better. Real
winners can be found on the curve that plots the new and the old;
innovative product component, proven brand name. Consider a
particularly successful revival case: the beverage Ovaltine. The
Himmel Group reformulated Ovaltine for modern relevance,
immediately countering perceptions that the brand was “old” (which,
technically, it was). The negative stigma of “old” evolved into a
positive label of “proven” in a heartbeat. The end result was an
Ovaltine line that performed as well if not better than its competitors,
with the added advantage of a deep reservoir of past consumer
experiences.
A team of scholars at Northwestern University argued recently that
practitioners of the discipline called “new product development”
should also consider “old product redevelopment.” (see John F. Sherry
et al., “Teaching Old Brands New Tricks,” Journal of Marketing, July
2003) Sherry challenges the long-held belief that brands have a “life
cycle” with a clear beginning and an end, suggesting that certain
kinds of brands may follow a “life circle” instead. Perhaps a good
brand may hibernate, but it never really dies.
What’s next? A Number 1 single from Chuck Berry? Probably not, but
we did see a “new” Beatles album not too long ago, which of course
was merely a re-release of old songs. Classic branding is here to
stay… and in fact may have never left.

P.S. - Paul Earle is president of River West Brands LLC, a Chicago-based company
that acquires and redevelops dormant consumer product brands.
REFRENCES

Websites:
- www.brandrepublic.com
- www.brandchannel.com
- Wikipedia.org
- www.designcouncil.org
- cnn.com
- www.himmelgroup.com
- www.lornamead.com
-
Articles:
- Venkatesh Babu; “Issues in brand revival”
- “Nurturing brands back to health”; Indian Management- Journal of
AIMA
- www.findarticles.com
- www.yahooanswers.com
- www.rediff.com
- icmr.icfai.org