Leader brands should play to their strengths. They enjoy legacy, scale, trust. They need to play to their Strengths rather than get sucked into a fight where the Right To Win is with the Challenger.

They need to employ a Narrative that exhorts consumer to reassess cheaper offerings. They need to ride on the belief system that higher price may equal higher quality, and vice versa.

They need to be brave and Honest enough to reflect consumer curiosity in/consideration of cheaper offerings, competitor brands. To address the issue head on and offer an alternate, Expert endorsed Leader Narrative.

An example.

Dabur Honey in 2016 faced a strong price warrior attack. It employed a multi pronged response. On the Communication side, it employed 3 Narratives.

Narrative 1 brought alive its product advantage of FSSAI endorsement through a slice of life, conversational single minded- FSSAI nahin toh Phasse- construct.

To see the ad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piRcHg43kEg&feature=youtu.behttps://lnkd.in/dznZhcDa

Narrative 2 with a conversational Expert Endorsed slice of life construct seeded doubt on the possibility of moisture/sugar adulteration in cheaper offerings. It also was Honest and Brave with a reference to Cheaper Honey Trial consideration in the construct.

To see the ad:
https://lnkd.in/dqBf5ERXhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmVye19CtVE

Narrative 3 employed a Shopper slice of life setting and Honesty and Bravery again with a reference to Cheaper Honey Trial consideration.

To see the ad:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDOv0W2K920&feature=youtu.be

On the Value proposition side, a 20% extra promo was offered to moderate Price Premium.

On the Range extension side, Functional Honey variants, with Ginger/Tulsi goodness to ride on the consumer Habit of adding these natural ingredients for addressing Cough Cold issues and added Immunity were rolled out to demonstrate Leader Brand behaviour of innovating ahead of competition and stay ahead of the curve.

Agility and Quality of Response helps defend Hard earned Leader Turf.

Creative leap credit to Mullen Lintas Delhi and credit to the Leadership team at Dabur for approving Strategy and enabling Execution.

#marketing #team #leadership #communication #strategy #brand #creative #leader #delhi #Rangeextension

By Ajay Motwani – (Marketing and Brand Management consultant with IndusGuru Network Partners – a curated platform of independent management consultants)

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of IndusGuru Network Partners