How to build an enduring brand: 5 lessons from Boroline

Since its launch in 1929, Boroline has steadily grown to become one of India's most enduring brands.  That brand awareness is high is evident from the fact that many of the students in my class all born post 1994 are aware of the tagline "khushbudaar antiseptic cream Boroline", which translates into fragrant antiseptic cream Boroline.  While Boroline enjoys recognition by Indians all over the country, it has strong penetration in East Indian markets. How has GD Pharma, the manufacturer of Boroline built such an enduring brand?

Here are 5 lessons I have taken from the Boroline story-

1.    1.   Keep it simple- as marketers we have learned that the product is the core of our offering to the market.  Boroline exemplifies this important tenet, the formula is simple and unchanged.  A blend of essential oils, paraffin, boric powder and zinc oxide, the formula is no secret, yet it has been difficult to replicate it's success.  The cream accounts for about 60% of the company's revenue and has remained it's flagship brand.  While venturing into brand extension is the path to organic growth for most companies, GD Pharma has kept the boroline brand limited to skin cream. A sensible and practical decision.

Source: https://www.boroline.com/products/boroline.html

2. Stay relevant - as a solution to a common problem faced by people - dryness and skin problems, cuts and bruises, Boroline, is relevant as a healing cream.

3. Clever positioning- a tagline or slogan helps you create brand awareness and enhance recall value while positioning your brand.  In this respect, Boroline has adopted a clever approach.  The following is a summary of a timeline, changing slogans and positioning strategy-

50's -Tender face cream- a cosmetic face cream

60's- Boroline for the skin. The skin needs Boroline. - from a face cream to a multi-purpose cream , cure for dryness

70's- Boroline has no substitute. - an aggressive approach sending a strong message to competitors and wanna be brands

Early 80's- the hardworking cream that protects your skin- going beyond a cosmetic purpose

Late 80's- In a world full of surprises, thank goodness you can count on Boroline - a reliable brand

Early 90's- the original- a bid to counter me-too products

Late 90's- Boroline skin. Healthy skin.- skin care cream (repositioning)

Early 2000- Boroline works wonders- highlighting therapeutic and healing properties

Now- wake up to happy skin with Boroline- building an identity as a night cream

4. Consistency- the brand has been consistent with its packaging.  Its green and white packaging and logo (the elephant signifying steadiness, strength and its quintessential connection with the deity, Ganesha) have largely remained unchanged, making brand recognition quick and easy.  The only major change perhaps is the introduction of a small 10 gram container, a travel / convenience pack. Another respect in which it has been consistent is retaining it's form as a thick skin cream, a concerted move and deliberate attempt not to turn into a skin lotion or hair oil.

5. Sensible diversification - GD Pharma has undertaken diversification and introduced the following products -

Eleen hair oil in the late 90's, suthol antiseptic liquid in 2003 and Penorub pain relieving ointment have all been added to the basket of offerings by the company.  Preceded by “Boroline” the attempt is to associate but not overshadow each of these brands with the Boroline name. 

Why Study Influential Advertisers and Influential Advertising Campaigns?

Why Study Influential Advertisers and Influential Advertising Campaigns? A question that must have definitely come to the mind of my students when I decided that was what we would be doing in class through December, 2016. 

Why Not? Was my way of answering that question.  

The syllabus we have for the Advertising Management paper lacks depth and content not to forget a contemporary twist.  As my students would probably enter the work force after graduation or choose to study further, I felt that no employer will ask them things like- what is the definition of advertising or what are the advantages and disadvantages of print/audio/audio-visual media?  

Too basic and trivial in my opinion.  But that is exactly what the third year syllabus comprises of and I want to empower my students to know a thing or two about the nitty-gritty of advertising.  I want to sensitize them to advertising in such a way that no matter what they see be it a hoarding, print ad or TVC that they look at it critically, examine it, learn from it, appreciate it/criticize it and remain students of advertising for a long time.

With this end in mind I zeroed in on studying Influential Advertisers and Influential Advertising Campaigns.  Which campaigns were known to be high impact and memorable? Who were the creative geniuses who masterminded these campaigns? As an advertising student, definitely some things I would really like to know. 

So here’s what I devised:

I would share Influential Advertising Campaigns and my students would share information on Influential Advertisers.

The result was a whole lot of reading and preparation on both sides, all of us were learning, students and me….it became our journey of discovery and sharing.

A Social Awareness Print Advertisement Campaign to Generate Awareness about the Declining Numbers of Cheetahs

We usually work around a theme for our advertising class.  This month we are focusing on art and advertising.  The challenge I have thrown to my students this month is to create a print advertisement campaign to highlight the declining number of the Cheetahs in the wild. 

It is a challenge because they have to come up with a print ad which is completely handmade.  The use of illustration, lettering and typography in the ad is a condition I have imposed on them.  While it may look like something really strange I am asking of them, I think it’s an effort to sensitize my class to the idea of working with their hands to convey an idea. 

I know that everyone cannot draw and paint but fine art is not really required to achieve good results in this task.  A little bit of imagination, ingenuity and conviction is really enough to create an advertisement on this topic. 

Here is my advice on this:

1.      Pay attention to color, lettering or a very good illustration to convey the idea. 

2.     Keep the message simple and clear.

3.     You don’t really need too much text to make an impact.

4.     Look up some facts about the Cheetah and weave them into the message. 

5.     Choose One Fact/Idea and create your ad.

Here are some pointers that I find interesting to work with:

·        The cheetah is the world's fastest land mammal and is vulnerable right now possibly sprinting towards extinction.

·        A cheetah can go from 0 to 60 miles (96 kilometers) an hour in only three seconds.

·        In 1900, there were over 100,000 cheetahs across their historic range. What are the numbers today?

A study published in Dec, 2016 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and wild cat conservation group Panthera reveals that just 7,100 cheetahs remain in the wild.

Cheetahs have been driven out of 91 percent of their historic range, according to the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Hardest hit are cheetah populations in Asia, where fewer than 50 individuals remain in one part of Iran.

·        Threats to cheetahs include overhunting, habitat loss, illegal trafficking of animal parts, and the trade in exotic pets.

·        Historically cheetahs were found throughout Africa and Asia from South Africa to India. They are now confined to parts of eastern, central and southwestern Africa and a small portion of Iran.

Art and Advertising- Exploring the Connection

Are art and advertising different?  Are they connected?  If so how?

One way of looking at advertising is the art of communication and persuasion, a means of using words, pictures, music and drama to get your message across to customers.  Art in advertising is sometimes glaringly obvious, at other times subtle. 

Let us look at how art is used in advertising:

Color: Color and psychology, color and marketing, color and brand identity, color and its connotations all have a role to play in marketing and advertising.  Color impacts people, advertising impacts people and that is the biggest connection between color and advertising.

Color and its connotations are well known: yellow stands for happiness and all things bright and sunny, blue stands for peace and calm, green for health, nature and the environment, red for excitement, boldness, danger, power, love, sacrifice, revolution, purple stands for luxury and royalty. 

Now make the connection between color and brand identity.  Brands have distinct color associations: Red-Levis, Cocoa Cola, Red, Blue and White-Colors of Pepsi, Green- Tropicana, Animal Planet, Blue-HP/Dell, etc.  In a way the colors they choose have a strong reason why, they bank on the power of color to communicate their core values.  Of course brand identity is much more than just color but color has a definite role to play. 

Illustrations: An illustration is much more than just a drawing.  It is a decoration or visual interpretation of text, concept or process.  It finds its place in, magazines, books, posters, flyers, animations, video games and films. Illustrations are significant in advertising for the print media because they add to the visual appeal of print advertisements.  Illustrations are used to create logos. 

Hand Lettering: is a form of illustration in which one draws letters.  In times when all signs are hoardings and posters used to be hand painted, illustrations and lettering was done by hand and had wide scope.  Even today artistic, neat lettering is used to paint signage and wall paintings for advertising.  Graffiti is an art form that comprises lettering and illustration. 

Typography: Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make the written word look appealing, legible and readable.  The arrangement of type involves choosing typefaces, determining spacing between words and lines.  Typography is practised by typesetters while typefaces are created by type designers.  Lettering and typography may be used in brand names and brand marks. 

Music- Music is an intrinsic part of radio, TV and film advertising.  Played in the background or in the form of a jingle, it makes the advertisement appealing and entertaining.  Jingles are a form of sound advertising.  They are short songs or tunes used in advertising.  

Drama- the element of drama in advertising is introduced through actors, music nad suspense in film and TV advertising.