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THE NINTH BRAND DERBY-II

Part two of the ninth Brand Derby takes a deeper look at why some brand relaunches worked, and some didn't. The conclusion: product upgradation and communication are important, but nothing succeeds like success.

Just because it didn't work the first time round doesn't mean it won't click this time. That seems to be the reasoning most marketers followed when they set out to relaunch their brands.

Naïve and touching though their optimism is, it is also sadly misplaced. Some of these are brands are more in need of the services of a good mortician, not an advertising agency.

On the other hand, if the brand was already doing well, there's a decent chance that it will succeed in a new avatar. At least, that's what the findings of the ninth Business Standard Brand Derby suggest.

The Business Standard Brand Derby is an annual feature that studies the reaction of senior marketing professionals to brand launches in the past 12 to 15 months. (The first part of the Derby appeared in The Strategist on January 11, 2005.)

As new element of this survey this year, the Derby quizzed respondents on relaunches over the past two years.

The 88 senior marketing professionals who participated in the Derby "" all with over 10 years of experience, general managers and above in designation, representing all industries (from FMCG, durables and advertising to banking and financial services) "" shortlisted 15 brand relaunches and rated them as successful and unsuccessful.

So whose resurrection was successful and who would have been better left buried?

As we pointed out last week, both the winner and loser in this category were from the automobile industry. Honda City's new avatar and the return of Hyundai's Santro as the Xing came in for kudos all round. Over 74 per cent of the respondents in the Brand Derby felt the City was a successful relaunch; almost an equal proportion (73 per cent) felt the same way about the Santro.

But Derby respondents were just as emphatic when it came to expressing dissatisfaction with the Fiat Petra. The new form of the Siena was given a decided thumbs-down, with 74 per cent saying it was not successful and 41 per cent declaring it the "least successful" brand relaunch.

Interestingly, the same factors that drove the City and the Santro to the top put the Petra in reverse gear. Derby respondents cited the newness of the Honda City "" in its features as well as the technology "" and the updated Santro Xing as the reasons for the success of the brands.

But equally, the problem with the Petra was the perception that the relaunch was not accompanied by changes in the product. Why launch the same car again under another name? ask Derby participants. Clearly, if you have something new to offer, make sure the customer gets the message loud and clear.

So much for automobiles. How did the FMCG sector, which is legendary for bringing brands back from the dead, fare? Nine of the 15 brands surveyed in the Brand Derby relaunch segment were from the FMCG sector.

(Compare this with just 10 FMCG brands out of a total 34 surveyed in the new brands segment.) The brands that emerged winners here were oldies but goodies: Lifebuoy and Horlicks.

In fact, Lifebuoy was overall the third-most successful relaunch of the Derby, getting the vote of 80 per cent of interviewees for shedding its harsh, carbolic soap image in preference of a more trendy, fragrant incarnation.

The new Horlicks, too, won favour with almost the same number of Derby respondents "" 79 per cent "" with only 13 per cent considering it an unsuccessful brand relaunch.

The loser in the FMCG category was Promise toothpaste: 64 per cent of all those interviewed believed it was an unsuccessful relaunch, although only 13 per cent went so far as to call it the "least successful" relaunch.

There's a clear lesson to be learnt from the relaunch stories. Consider automobiles: parent brands Honda and Hyundai are strong, well-accepted players in the Indian car market.

And the earlier brands, too, whether it was the old City or the Santro as the zipDrive and zipPlus, were no laggards, either.

In stark contrast, the Siena was a non-starter and thanks to its awesome debt burden and troubles overseas, Fiat India's reputation is none too strong.

And other offerings from the company "" be it the Uno or the Palio "" don't have strong track records. All of which adds up to trouble for the Petra.

The same theory holds good for the FMCG sector. Where the parent brand is established, the relaunch of the brand or even a variant has succeeded.

Witness the performance of Lifebuoy, Horlicks, Dabur Real juices or Cadbury's Temptations. But where the mother brand isn't as strong, the brand relaunch has faltered: Mediker and Promise being cases in point.

What does this mean for marketers preparing to make old brands new? It's a simple, but pointed lesson. Brushing the dust off just any old brand and reintroducing it to the market won't work anymore.

A proven track record and demonstrated product upgradation are what increasingly demanding consumers want.