Who can forget a paper boat? Is there anybody who has not made a paper boat when it rains? These are moments everyone likes to cherish in their memories. But will the name ‘Paper Boat’ suit a soft drink per se? Any brand specialist will be sceptical about the success of the brand. However, one should agree that it had worked well for Hector Beverages for their soft drinks ‘Paper Boat’.
Paper Boat was launched in the market with a tag line ‘Drinks and Memories’. All their campaigns supplemented the theme of the drink. The magic of success of this brand is owing to the perfect match of the product with the brand promise. Thus product innovation coupled with branding enabled Hector to set apart competition.
The product innovation came by the way of choosing ethnic blended drinks in their portfolio. The socio – cultural under pinning of the consumer were well analysed while designing the product. While doing so they were particular in picking products that can elicit nostalgia in the consumer. The traditional drinks like panakam, Neer more (widely used in South India), Aamras, Anar, Jal Jeera Juice etc. are waning from our families. Paper Boat by reintroducing all these provided a novel sense no other soft drink can offer. Since all the traditional drinks are seasonal, the segmentation is primarily based on occasion. For example thandai, an almond-flavoured milk drink was sold in Delhi during Holi while sherbet during Ramzan and Kachi Lassi for Baisakhi. Panakam and neer more is sold widely during Ram Navami Pooja (read in summer). The reason behind such segmentation is the availability of raw materials. Naturally, all our festivals are linked with seasons and raw material availability is grounded on seasons. The taste they claim is close to “what mother makes at home”. To have a pan year presence Paper Boat have aamras, jaljeera and kokum, which are available through the year.
They have a wide variety of drinks catering to any part of India (albeit the markets are niche). Moreover, the package is endearing to our eyes and thus stood apart the competition. In my view, all the brand attributes such as name, logo, colour etc. coupled with the packaging have given the product a fresh guise while the product tasted nostalgic. This is what the modern Indian consumer (who are traditional occasionally) wants.
No comments:
Post a Comment