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It is very easy to kill a brand or weaken its positioning. Ignore it, reduce investment and within no time, the brand will fade away from consumer's mind. But to bring a brand from obscurity to stardom is a Herculean task.  Cinthol is one such iconic brand which now has the daunting task of bringing the old glory back. The neglected 60 year old brand from Godrej's stable saw some activity in 2008 when the brand was re-packaged and Hrithik Roshan was introduced to endorse the brand.  The brand also saw a new tagline " Don't Stop" . Some hope was restored about the brand's future. But alas, the enthusiasm was temporary and the campaign died down. For the last couple of years, the brand went again into slumber except for some sporadic campaigns. Now with much hope, the brand owners have decided  ONCE AGAIN to reposition Cinthol. The brand will be launching the new campaign soon . Watch the new ad here : Cinthol campaign The brand has hit upon a new idea " B...

Well…not as big as they used to be physically but my mental and emotional shoulders are definitely making up for that loss…lol.   What the heck does this have to do with fitness, my life, my health…I say everything! When you are in a position of internet personality, helping people from around the world, bravely putting yourself out there for all to see through images, videos, and opinions…well…the mental shoulders get well developed.    As you know, I am a say it like it is person, trainer, consultant, coach, expert and any other name that gets tagged onto “Darla” the fitness gal.   In this position, I MUST remain POSITIVE   and let things roll off my back like a duck sometimes.   The majority of the time, I am taken with appreciation, and thankfulness from so many for providing the hope they thought was never possible…touching to me as my purpose to help has been accomplished. The other side of the coin can be exactly the opposite and filled with stateme...

I always loved Tata Safari. Despite the bad reviews, nagging product issues, this brand was always an aspiration for me ( yet to be fulfilled). The brand which was one of the first SUVs in India had something in it which attracted people like me. And as reports validate, there are die-hard Safari fans who cling to their brand despite frequent visits to the workshop. Sometimes we look at certain products and say ' What a Potential Wasted'. Alas, looking at Safari, I am forced to think about a wasted potential.  This brand was launched full five years before the launch of Scorpio and see where these two brands are now . Scorpio redefined the SUV market but Safari is still on the sidelines. And till now the brand has not learned its lessons. When was the last time you saw a Tata Safari Advertisement and said WoW. When was the last time the product was upgraded ? It seems that Tata Motors suddenly lost its marketing acumen. More worrying is that the company has lost interest in inv...

Xylys,  the premium watch brand from Titan is on a repositioning mode again. The brand has been toying with many positioning platforms seems to have zeroed in on Design as its major USP. Having said that, Design was always the USP for Xylys but it took many positioning experiments for the brand to state the obvious. Xylys also has a new brand ambassador in Farhan Akthar- the famous bollywood director and actor. The brand is running a new television campaign featuring the celebrity and the new positioning theme. Xylys also has a new tagline " Design. it matters " emphasizing on the new positioning. The new tagline is far far better than the earlier one " It possesses You ". The brand in a way changed the focus from the user to the product. Watch the new ad here : Xylys The ad although nicely made does not have any WoW factor in it because the style of execution of a narrative has been used by many brands before.  The brand has hit upon a pretty decent positioning pla...

Maggi , which created the noodles category in India has now none other than Amitabh Bachchan as its brand ambassador. The brand is being endorsed by a celebrity for the first time in its history. And Big B is an intriguing choice for a brand which is most patronized by young children. Maggi holds a commanding position in the Noodles Segment with over 60% market share. Off late, the brand is facing competition from brands like Horlicks, TopRamen Sunfeast Yippie etc. And further the brand is feeling a disconnect with the new generation customers who now have more choices for indulgence other than noodles. Maggi now faces not only brand competition but also industry competition from similar products like Pizzas. Even fast food joints are taking away consumers from the brand. At this point , the brand needs to stay relevant to the consumers since consumers have a wider choice of indulgence. Maggi's choice of Big B as the brand ambassador is little puzzling. Amitabh Bachchan as a celebr...

FIT TO BE TIED YEP…I am FIT to be TIED…all in a very good way of course.   Since my wedding anniversary is this month, I thought it would be FITTING to talk about fitness, marriage and anything else that may pop into my head as I put these thoughts together.       First let me say that I consider my marriage to Don as one of the most defining successes in my life…it has taken half my life to get to this place, but the journey was worth the prize and I thank God every day for such a fabulous man to share my life.   I love that word…SHARE…and the beautiful part is that my journey in this life continues in a new way, as I grow daily as my own person, but also right alongside my partner, friend and husband.     Does that mean that everything is perfect, fairytale adventure, Cinderella land…well of course not…what it does mean is that through this journey of life, the challenges brought our way are now met with a fabulous combination of what two ...

Sparx, the shoe brand from Relaxo has replaced the brand ambassador Neil Nitin Mukesh with the Action Superstar Akshay Kumar.  Relaxo Footwear Ltd , the owner of the brand is on a roll these days. The company is seriously in to celebrity driven branding and has roped in stars like Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif to endorse its brands Hawaii and Flite respectively. For the sports shoe brand Sparx, the brand chose to rope in a new brand ambassador - Akshay Kumar. The brand is running its print campaign now featuring the new celebrity. As far as the brand's personality and positioning is concerned, Akshhay fits the bill perfectly. Akshay is the most atheletic Bollywood star and is the ideal pick for a sports brand. How ever, the celebrity is highly stereotyped by the ad campaigns and his stunt-oriented ad campaigns have lost the wow factor due to this stereotyping . Brands have failed to exploit his personal characteristics and is lured by the obvious athleticism and martial art stu...