And the brand played on!

INDEPENDENCE SPECIAL/ BRANDS AND MARKETING

Nurturing a core focus, evolving to meet changing needs "" experts tell us what it takes for brands to survive.

Most old brands in India were never built as one. They were early movers into categories that eventually became generic names for the entire category," says Sajan Raj Kurup, founder, Creativeland Asia and former creative head, Grey India.

Kurup, 31, is talking of brands at least twice his age, but he seems to be on the mark. His mentor and ad guru, A G Krishnamurthy, agrees: "Brand building is new to this country. We used to live in an era of short supplies where it was a question of fulfilling the demand situation by supplying products."

Nevertheless, there were some exceptions to that rule. There were oil majors like the Standard Vacuum Oil Company of America, Caltex and Burmah Shell. In consumer electronics, there was Murphy. In toothpowder, the Monkey brand was India's favourite. In textiles, there was Binny's. In beverages there was Ovaltine. And ad veterans point to the laxative brand, Phillips Milk of Magnesia. Many of these have vanished without a trace.

Among those that survived, a dipstick survey of advertising professionals shows Lux as the top-most recalled brand. Other top-of-mind brands are business houses Tata and Godrej.

That's not to say that no other brands have survived in the last six decades. There's Cadbury, India's largest-selling chocolate brand; Lifebuoy, the one time carbolic soap (now a delicate bar and even a handwash liquid). There are other smaller, yet memorable ones like Nivea, Woodward's Gripe Water and so on.

"Long lasting brands need to evolve with time to stay relevant to the current set of consumers," says Madhukar Kamath, MD and CEO, Mudra. "Brands like Tata and Godrej have evolved in a contemporary way, at the same time staying true to their basics," says Shaziya Khan, vice president and regional planning director, JWT.

For instance, the Tata group was the first to get into IT and take TCS international. Even other businesses like Telco, that primarily made trucks, have transformed into Tata Motors with an equal emphasis on passenger cars.

At the same time, Godrej has transformed from a lock maker to a multi-business enterprise across consumer goods, durables, poultry and real estate. Lux, the iconic toilet soap brand of Hindustan Unilever, has stayed in touch with its film star connection since the days of Bollywood star Leela Chitnis up to Aishwarya Rai. While Lux has graduated to more modern formats like body wash and even shampoos for a brief while, it's stayed true to its core, say brand consultants.

Similarly, after facing a declining user base for its brick-red offering, Lifebuoy became a softer brand in the 21st century.

While evolution helped certain categories of fast moving consumer goods, others faded into oblivion. As consumers evolved, Dalda, the vanaspati (hydrogenated vegetable oil) brand that was sold in India since the 1930s, failed to capture the transition from hydrogenated fat to healthier cooking oils.

At present the brand is on a comeback trail through its new owners, Bunge India, but it faces the challenge of creating appeal among a new set of consumers.

In consumer durables too, there are several examples. While Murphy, the popular radio brand, failed to catch the tune of new swish music systems, Weston failed to transit from the black and white era to colour televisions.

For others who have stayed on like multi-national electronics brand Philips, its market presence is largely a shadow of its past. In the early days, Philips was the gold standard in audio systems.

But as the market graduated to televisions and to durables like washing machines and refrigerators, multi-product companies led by newer players, like the Korean companies LG and Samsung, took the Indian market by storm.

Arvind Sharma, chairman, South Asia, Leo Burnett, a global ad agency, says, "Brands are like a bank deposit. If the management does not keep investing in them, they don't last forever." Krishnamurthy seconds that.

He says, "Nurturing a brand is the responsibility of the management." And one that goes beyond quarterly plans at that.