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Tag: N. Chandramouli

  • OLX India named most trusted internet classified brand in TRA report 2025

    OLX India named most trusted internet classified brand in TRA report 2025

    MUMBAI: OLX India has been named the Most Trusted Internet Classified Brand in the TRA (Trust Research Advisory) Brand Trust Report 2025. This recognition reflects OLX India’s ongoing commitment to offering a secure, transparent, and user-friendly experience for millions of buyers and sellers nationwide.

    With India’s annual shoppers expected to reach 425 million by 2027, according to a statista report, trust in online marketplaces is more crucial than ever in shaping the digital economy.

    TRA Research, has been conducting this study for over two decades in partnership with a renowned Indian statistical institute. The report evaluates brands across industries based on a nationwide consumer buying intention survey.

    As a key player in the online classifieds sector, OLX India prioritises customer trust by implementing stringent safety measures, seamless transactions, and a tech-driven platform designed for ease of use.

    To bolster platform security, OLX employs a multi-layered approach that includes buyer and seller verification, real-time monitoring of user activity, and active feedback mechanisms. Collaborating closely with law enforcement agencies, OLX ensures a safe and reliable experience for all users.

    “Trust is paramount for OLX India, and being recognised as the Most Trusted Internet Classified Brand by TRA Research is an honour. This achievement will reaffirm our commitment to being a safe, seamless, and transparent platform for millions of buyers and sellers across the country,” said OLX India CBO (Autos) Siddharth Agrawal.

    TRA Research CEO N. Chandramouli stated, “OLX India’s recognition as the Most Trusted Internet Classified Brand highlights the platform’s strong credibility among users. Trust is built over time through consistent reliability and user-centricity, and OLX India has successfully established itself as a dependable marketplace for millions.”

    OLX India’s inclusion in TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2025 reinforces its strong presence in the online classifieds market. As the platform continues to evolve, it remains focused on strengthening user trust, enhancing safety standards, and delivering a seamless experience for buyers and sellers across India. 

  • Dell is India’s most trusted brand: TRA report

    Dell is India’s most trusted brand: TRA report

    NEW DELHI: Dell has achieved top spot as India’s most trusted brand, for the second year in a row, in TRA’s Brand Trust Report (BTR) 2020. In the second place is Mi Mobiles, which also led the mobile phone category for the first time this year. Samsung Mobiles secured the third place, followed by Apple iPhone and LG Televisions taking fourth and fifth ranks, respectively.

    Oppo took the sixth spot on the trust ranks this year. Hindi GEC Sony Entertainment Television came in seventh, featuring among the top ten for the first time in ten years. Maruti Suzuki was in eighth place, and also the leader in the automobile super-category. The ninth most trusted brand rank went to Samsung Televisions, with Vivo mobile phones finishing tenth. Five mobile phone brands made it to the top-ten list from among the twenty listed, making it the largest category in the report.

    TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2020 is the result of comprehensive primary research conducted on its proprietary 10-brand-behaviours which make up the brand trust matrix. This year’s study had 1,711 consumer-influencers across 16 cities as respondents and over 8,000 unique brands were analysed, from which the top 1,000 brands have been listed in this year’s report. The report lists 323 categories and 41 super-categories and F&B and FMCGs.

    The categories with the largest number of brands are F&B (151 brands) and FMCG (144 brands) contributing to 29.5 per cent of the total brands. LG secures a grand slam with leadership in televisions (all-India rank 5), refrigerators (All-India Rank 14), washing machines (all-India rank 26). Some other category leaders in TRA’s Brand Trust Report 2020 are Patanjali Dant Kanti (all-India rank 15) from toothpaste category which has broken the nine-year winning streak of Colgate, and Airtel (all-India rank 20) from mobile service providers.

    Other category leaders include, Tanishq (all-India rank 48) in jewellery, Euro Kids (all-India rank 52) in pre-school, American Express (all-India rank 59) in credit cards, Muthoot Finance (all-India rank 60) in financial services, Jeep (all-India rank 64) in SUV manufacturer, Zee5 (all-India rank 108) leads in OTT, Okaya (all-India rank 140) in inverter batteries, and Livpure (all-India rank 141) in water purifiers.

    TRA CEO N Chandramouli said “The Covid times have been harrowing for brands, and even consumers have been in an extended state of anxiety for multiple reasons. The impact of the pandemic is visible on the trust placed in brands, leading to a dethroning of many erstwhile category leaders.”

  • How brand Dhoni will fare post-retirement?

    How brand Dhoni will fare post-retirement?

    NEW DELHI: Former Indian cricket team captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, announced his retirement from international cricket last week via an emotional video on Instagram.  

    As soon as the news broke out, social media was abuzz with his name trending on top, not only netizens but brands also paid tribute to the iconic cricketers in their style. 

    Brands bid farewell to MS Dhoni for making India proud

    The ‘Captain Cool’ has always been a darling of brands and been able to attract audiences. He has endorsed brands across all categories. These include soap, insurance, two-wheeler, engine oil, used cars, and others. However, his brand value has taken a slight dip in the last few years. The announcement of Dhoni’s retirement brings us to the next big question – What will be the impact on the equity of brand Dhoni? Will this be the end of an era, or brands will continue to invest in Dhoni? 

    As per reports, between January 2019 to November 2019, Dhoni associated with 44 brands. If going by this year trend from January to March, Virat Kohli regained the top spot, while Mahi bagged the second spot in the list.

    Several experts believe that his brand value might not be affected as he will continue to play IPL. The former captain also has plans to associate himself with the international leagues, which may increase the brand value, depending on the situation.

    Dhoni was excluded from the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI’s) annual contract list for October 2019 to September 2020.

    Even though he retired from Test cricket in 2014, but it never impacted his brand value.

    Let us closely look at how brand Dhoni has fared in the advertising world. In 2010, he topped the chart for celebrity endorsements on television during the first six months. According to the Adex survey of TAM Media Research, during the January to June period of 2010, Dhoni endorsed 24 brands on TV. As per Forbes data, Dhoni made $26.5 million (about Rs 200 crore) in 2010, and only a small portion of that payout, about $3.5 million (about Rs 26.4 crore), came directly from Dhoni's on-field play.

    In 2016, his net worth was at $31 million, and brand endorsements comprised a large part of this value. His total annual earnings from brand endorsements were between Rs 120 crore to Rs 150 crore at that time. 

    In 2018, the Duff & Phelps’ Celebrity brand value ranking valued Dhoni at $26.9 million placing him at 12th spot in terms of celebrity brand value.

    According to the same report, Dhoni was at the 9th spot with a brand value of $41.2 million in 2019. In the same year, he managed to retain the 5th spot on the Forbes India celebrity 100 lists.

    TRA Research CEO N. Chandramouli feels that whenever a sportsperson retires, their brand equity does fall as they have a limited shelf-life, both on and off the field. “This will not be very different for MS Dhoni also, but he still has a successful IPL career, which will give him a continued presence on the sporting field. His endorsement value started seeing a dip about six months ago, but he will still command a strong value till his IPL days.”

    Dhoni, earlier reportedly used to charge between Rs 8 – 12 crore for each endorsement. However, now experts feel this may come down to Rs 3.5 – 4 crore. 

    Chandramouli states, “As his visibility reduces on the field, with lesser engagements, a brand will calculate the ROI of his field presence, and associate if the ROI is justified. It is a cut-throat business and a difficult market. The endorsement value of a player is correlated to his success and presence.”

    There will be brands that would want to associate with the cricketer because of the trust he has built on and off the field, and this will pay off with more extended brand associations. 

    According to a report by ESP Properties, sports sponsorship in India grew a healthy 17 percent to Rs 9,000 crore in 2019. As per the last year's report, there were 70 new brand endorsement deals, of which cricketers clinched 50 deals. Dhoni pulled 63 per cent of the total brand endorsements. 

    On the other hand, Samsika Marketing Consultants chairman and managing director Jagdeep Kapoor has a distinct view as he believes Dhoni as a brand goes beyond cricket. His core values reflect life. “He is a unique brand property. The attributes, the passion, the zest for life are traits that good brands would like to associate with,” adds Kapoor.

    However, the audiences will miss the long-haired cricketer on the ground who can hit helicopter sixes and entertain them.

  • News networks’ COVID-19 campaigns seek engagement, brand image

    News networks’ COVID-19 campaigns seek engagement, brand image

    MUMBAI: It’s been almost a month since lockdown and news channels have launched dozens of campaigns on both television and digital platforms to talk about COVID-19. Though the preliminary objective of these campaigns is to create awareness and educate the audience, they also help channels create engagement and that eventually may result in getting more advertisers.

    Havas Media Group India and South East Asia chief executive officer Anita Nayyar says, “Marketing campaigns, irrespective of the genre, are meant to improve the brand image or to address any other marketing objective of the channel and that also applies to news channels. Hence, it is a given that campaigns being run by news channels will help to promote them.”

    Network18 was the first to launch a campaign called #IndiaGives, wherein each employee of the network donated one day's salary to daily-wage workers and all those severely impacted due to this unprecedented crisis.

    The network is also running a full-fledged television and digital awareness and self-help campaign – #MakeYourOwnMask, which aims to create awareness about the most basic infection prevention and control measure – wearing masks outdoors. In addition, each news channel of the network has its own special programming.

    “Our campaigns are aligned with the issues of the day,” says Network18 chief executive officer – television news Avinash Kaul. “A key differentiator of most of our campaigns is that they are editorial-led, with our journalists championing them and our programming also reflects that. This adds a great deal of credibility to the campaigns. As a company, we always take the long view.”

    Stating that it has always been involved with causes that are aligned with nation-building, Kaul says, “We believe that institutions and great brands are built by being operationally nimble, caring and having a long term vision that aligns with national and societal concerns and aspirations.”

    News channels are always aligned to causes more than anybody else, says TRA Research CEO N Chandramouli. “Cause marketing is a very old tool used by news agencies and currently, they have taken the cause of COVID-19 scenario." He also adds the this is due to a lack of advertisers despite the exponential viewership growth in the recent past.

    Times Network has launched an umbrella campaign called ‘Fighting Fear with Facts’ that focusses on delivering fact-based reportage and defuse panic and fear while offering uninterrupted news to its viewers. The network’s news brands have also come up with special programming along with campaign initiatives like Factoids, Safety Tips, Do’s and Don’ts, Myth busters, among others.

    In the same line as its peers, Times Network has also launched the campaign ‘India Cares’ across its network channels to mobilise support from the viewers to raise funds to PM CARES Fund, to support the migrants and daily labourers, whose livelihoods have been challenged by the epidemic.

    “We believe in creating one campaign as the face of the brand rather coming up with various campaigns and confusing viewers,” says a source.

    “At this time of crisis, the communication shouldn’t be pushy about your product through campaigns. Rather, it should focus on asserting some motivation and inspiration to the viewers,” says DigitalKites senior vice-president Amit Lall.

    Unlike the other two, ABP News Network has launched different campaigns on its channels covering region-specific COVID-19 stories. The network’s Hindi news channel ABP News has initiated a campaign called #CoronakoDhona to strengthen the consciousness of the virus and ensure the safety of the people.

    The network’s Marathi news channel — ABP Majha along with a campaign has curated a special show called ‘Corona Parishad’ to impart the COVID-19 knowledge to the viewers. Similarly, an initiative on ABP Ganga called ‘Corona Ke Karam Yodha’ was telecast to throw light on the unsung heroes of COVID-19, whether they are policemen, doctors, or any other individuals.

    ABP News Network chief executive officer Avinash Pandey says: “We measure the success of our organisation through the kind of influence we have on our viewers. For us, nothing comes above the support and aid to people and communities in the time of need. COVID-19 has emanated a sense of disruption and despair worldwide. Through these initiatives and campaigns, our aim was to safeguard the health of the people, spread maximum awareness, create a positive societal impact and most importantly, fulfill our long-standing commitment to deliver the best at all times.”

    “The reason channels are coming up with a lot of campaigns is because they are seeing the sentiments of viewers are low and currently there are fewer advertisers buying ad space and inventories," adds Lall.

    “The campaigns run by news channels are being seen as public service and disseminating information to help build awareness of the unforeseen situation the country is in,” says Nayyar.

    Recently, the News Broadcasters Federation showed its resistance to media agencies trying to cut down ad rates by 50 per cent despite news being the most-watched genre.

    Even the News Broadcasters Association spoke about the fact that even top channels are seeing less than 50 per cent ad bookings even as agencies are trying to defer payments to channels.

    Even though news channels are doing their bit of social service, they will also need revenue to keep the business running. Under normal circumstances, channels may have roped in sponsors for various campaigns as well. But right now, the market looks bleak.

  • Experts fear huge revenue loss in sports due to Covid19

    Experts fear huge revenue loss in sports due to Covid19

    MUMBAI: Be it domestic or international sports, the segment has been hit hard by the pandemic caused by the corona outbreak. Though experts predict a heavy revenue loss, it is difficult to predict and understand the extent of damage at this stage.

    With the World Health Organisation urging each nation to take this virus seriously, countries across the globe, as a very first step, have cancelled all those events, including sporting tournaments to stop the spread of the virus. As on March 20, 10,048 people across the world have succumbed to the virus infection.

    From minister to common man and sportsperson to coach, over 1.8 lakh cases have been detected positive across the globe. “Despite the pandemic, the mortality rate due to this virus is quite low; it’s 3.2 per cent as per WHO. People are scared the way it’s being spread and they have been over-cautious. Brands exist only if the people running the brand exist," says brand expert N Chandramouli.

    Since early last week, a majority of international sporting events are either being cancelled, postponed or changed to the shorter format. The latest tournament that was deferred by a year is UEFA’s Euro Cup 2020. The once-in-four-year soccer event was scheduled to happen from 12 June 2020. Now, all eyes are on another marquee event this year, Olympics 2020, scheduled between 24 July – 9 August.

    According to Forbes, “The NBA became the first major US sports league to suspend games ‘until further notice’. A loss of over $500 million is expected as it was on the verge of completion before getting suspended. The loss expected in only one-fifth of the total game.”

    Similarly, the World Economic Forum is of the view: “Postponed or cancelled events could lead to a decline in revenues for the event organisers as well as for media that broadcast them. Cable television companies are partly dependent upon advertising, meaning that any decline in revenue will impact profitability.”

    An industry source, who didn’t want to be named during this testing time, says: “Not just sports, every other sector has been massively hit by this pandemic. The world economy along with India is seeing new lows every other day. Next one-two weeks are important and at this moment we are unable to make any comment on the revenue loss, be it sports, media and entertainment or any other sector.”

    On the back of IPL and major cricketing tournaments, Indian sporting sponsorship industry saw a rise of 17 per cent to Rs 9000 crore in 2019, a report released by GroupM’s ESP Properties said. There is a sense that the growth story of Indian sports sponsorship this year may see a drastic fall, experts say.

  • ZEE5 is India’s ‘most desired video streaming brand’ as per TRA

    ZEE5 is India’s ‘most desired video streaming brand’ as per TRA

    MUMBAI: ZEE5 has emerged as ‘India’s Most Desired Video Streaming Brand’ as per TRA’s recently-released Most Desired Brands 2020 report. In today’s world, with mobile phones and connected devices driving the majority of digital content consumption, leisure binge-watching has become a norm and, ZEE5 is leading the category in its debut year as India’s Most Desired Video Streaming Brand.

    The award showcases ZEE5’s leadership position in content, reach, and distribution, as well as the enormous popularity of the variety of shows and movies available for viewing on the platform. It surpasses all the other OTT platforms who are the well-known veterans of the industry.

    ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial said: “It is a very proud moment for us. A young start-up at heart and being in the business for over two years, we have managed to engage with India’s ever-growing appetite for entertainment and serve them with their favourite content in 14 Indian languages. We are extremely delighted and honored to be adjudged as India’s Most Desired Video Streaming brand by TRA. ZEE5 today has become ‘Super App’ of India with a depth of offering across content types, genres and languages that is hard to beat. We believe that with our unrelenting focus on producing quality content, building a robust distribution network and technology advancements, we will endure to entertain our audience and continue being the top streaming platform in India on any device at any time.”

    TRA Research CEO N. Chandramouli said: “Desire is a longing for a brand irrespective of its need, and the success of a brand is highly dependent on the desire quotient it emanates. The brands which feature in this list have been able to exude a deep magnetic pull that impacts the consumer at a subliminal level. TRA’s syndicated research is based on our proprietary Brand Desire Matrix which measures consumers’ expressions of desire on 36 intangible attributes of a brand”. MDB 2020 lists 1000 brands across 326 Categories and 39 Super-Categories.

  • Samsung is India’s most desired brand; Sony TV fourth in the list

    Samsung is India’s most desired brand; Sony TV fourth in the list

    MUMBAI: South Korean mobile brand Samsung has topped the list of TRA’s Most Desired Brands 2020. The next spot is followed by Apple which has moved one rank up as compared to last year. Apple steadily climbed rank from 290 in the year 2015 to now being second.

    Samsung has secured its place in the list in 2018, 2015 and 2013 as well, making it a significant leader. Samsung features again at third and seventh rank in the consumer electronics category.

    While speaking to indiantelevision.com on what makes Samsung the constant leader TRA Research CEO N Chandramouli said: “Rational, emotional, aspirational and communication appeal are the four most important appeals. Rational is does it fit in a price range, does it have the complex feature that I need. I buy something because there is a logic behind it. Does it have an emotional appeal, does it communicate to you emotionally. Is it giving me a positive flavour. When a brand covers all this aspect in its highest ends only then the consumer sees it. Samsung has been consistent in its service. In a state of tough competition it has reinvented itself. These are the key reasons why Samsung is famous.”

    For the first time in history Sony TV, the GEC channel made it to the top 20 list. It made a significant jump from 594 ranks to now securing fourth rank followed by Maruti Suzuki at fifth spot.

    Dell, an Austin-based technology company is at sixth position followed by Amul in the seventh spot, Honda Activa accelerated its way to the ninth position and Hyundai in tenth rank. Spanish apparel brand Zara becomes a first-time entrant in the top 20.

    Contrary to what people assume that Chinese and Korean brands will dominate the list but the top 100 of the list is dominated by 42 Indian brands followed by 15 American, 12 Japanese, 11 South Korean, six British brands, four German and three Chinese mobile brands.

    The top ten highest rank jumpers list includes Godrej Consumer Care at first position followed by Hindustan pencil’s Apsara, sewing machine brand Singer, Reliance Trends, Nirma, Chennai-based apparel brand Pothy’s, Pantaloons, Pizza Hut, Chennai-based soft drink brand Bovonto and Mumbai based real estate brand K Raheja respectively.

    F&B category with 159 brands and FMCG with 129 brands makes 28.8 percent of the listing. From salt to software and now fashion to finance, Tata group features 29 brands with ten being category leaders. For starters Tata also owns 49 per cent stake in Zara.

    Godrej Group features 11 brands, three category leaders and Amul has nine brands listed with eight brands as category leaders.

    On being asked how researches like these helps brands Chandramouli said: “Researches like these tell you about consumer’s mindset. The age of selling is gone, consumers have more information, more knowledge, awareness, money and access as compared to 50 years ago. 60 per cent of the population is now below 30. Brands now have to understand their mindset. When I speak to 90 per cent of the brands they say they cannot understand the consumer. Then what they do is repeat the same old thing which means some of it will work and some of it won’t work. The current market is highly competitive and consumer expectations are changing every minute. Brands need to build better relationship with consumers to understand them and this is where research helps.”

    TRA has partnered with Indian Statistical Institute to curate this report. TRA’s most desired brands 2020 lists the top 1000 brands based on the detailed research conducted with nearly 1500 consumer influencers across 14 Indian cities. However, the list includes only urban India to understand brand trust and brand desire among consumers.

  • TRA ranks Amitabh Bachchan as India’s most desired personality 2020

    TRA ranks Amitabh Bachchan as India’s most desired personality 2020

    MUMBAI: TRA’s most desired personalities list has ranked Amitabh Bachchan as India’s most desired personality 2020. Salman Khan is ranked second followed by Akshay Kumar at third position among the top 25 desired personalities listed in the report. Indian National Cricket team captain, Virat Kohli, is ranked fourth in the list to become the most desired cricketer this year.  Aamir Khan is India’s fifth most desired personality in 2020 as per TRA’s report. TRA's most desired personalities 2020 is the sixth in its series, and the list is arrived at through a primary research-based on TRA’s proprietary 36-attribute based desire matrix through face-to-face interviews with 1454 viewer-influencers across 14 Indian cites.

    TRA Research CEO N. Chandramouli observed, “TRA’s Desire Matrix measures 36 attributes of Desire that get deeply embedded into the subconscious of the audiences over time.  It measures the aspirational, emotional, rational and communication aspects of desire that audiences most relate with. In this year’s list of the top 25, nineteen male and six female personalities are the audiences’ choices. Old proves to be gold when it comes to India’s most desired personalities.”

    The CEO of the brand insights and research company further added, “Desire is the most fundamental of human expressions and is generated due to subliminally embedded psycho-socio-cultural inputs that audiences receive overtime. This list of personalities is a precursor to the soon-to-be-released TRA’s most desired brands 2020 which lists India’s 1000 top brands measured on TRA’s proprietary desire matrix”.

    The research company also publishes TRA’s brand trust report currently in its tenth edition.

    South Indian superstars, Rajnikant ranked 15 all-India, Ram Charan ranked 19 all-India and Ravi Teja ranked 22 all-India are also listed among the top 25 Desired Personalities this year.

  • Three Tata Brands in top 20 list of India’s Most Consumer-Focused Brands

    Three Tata Brands in top 20 list of India’s Most Consumer-Focused Brands

    MUMBAI: TRA Research has launched the second edition of ‘India’s Most Consumer-Focused Brands 2019’ (CFB), a study measuring the brands’ increase in Buying Propensity, the keenness-to-buy among Indian consumers.

    Samsung, the South Korean multinational major leads the TRA’s most consumer-focused brands 2019 report this year. It is followed by Tata Motors at scond place and Apple has secured third position with the latter having climbed two ranks over last year. Hero Motocorp has secured fourth slot while Nike is at fifth rank for consumer-focus.

    CFB 2019 reports the list of brands that increased their buying propensity over last year. This year’s report lists 500 brands based on the buying propensity comparison of two successive years’ data.

    Commenting on the launch of CFB Report 2019, TRA Research CEO N Chandramouli said, “TRA‘s Most Consumer-focused brands 2019 report in its second edition exhibits substantial shift. The biggest find is that of the seven new brands that made it to the list as compared to last year all have made it into the Top 20 Most Consumer-Focused Brands list. Three Tata Brands – Tata Motors (ranked 2nd), Tata Salt (ranked 15th) and Tata Tea (ranked 20th), which were not a part of the list last year, also made it to the Top 20.  Some other new entrants to the Top 20 list include Bajaj Pulsar (ranked 9th), Reliance Jio (ranked 18th) and Sony (ranked 19th). A few brands made significant strides over last year to make it to the Top 20 Most Consumer-Focused Brands. These include LIC (ranked 6th, with a jump of 82 ranks), State Bank of India (ranked 12th with a climb of 74 ranks) and Lakme (ranked 17th with a jump of 92 ranks). Of the 11,000 brands studied, only 541 brands showed an increase in buying propensity over last year, with 95 per cent brands registering a fall in buying propensity in the same period.”

    “TRA’s Buying Propensity Matrix is a scientific brand measurement model that gets to the root of consumer buying behaviour to understand and measure the customer’s buying keenness. It attempts to understand this through the overt, covert and contextual buying drivers of consumer influences. By increasing buying propensity a brand creates a natural pull for the consumer towards the brand measured as a consumer’s trust (the transactional drives to buy) and attractiveness (the psycho-socio-cultural desire drives to buy). These two combine to make the fundamental substrate on which all buying decisions are made,” Chandramouli added.

    Among India’s 500 Most Consumer-Focused Brands, 37 super-categories and 236 categories were listed. The categories with the maximum brands were F&B, FMCG and automobile contributing to 28 per cent of the total brands in the listings.

    Some of the important category leaders in Consumer-Focused Brands are Panasonic (rank 57) in Consumer Electronics; Liberty (rank 64) in Footwear; Kenstar (rank 163) in Durables, L’Oreal (rank 66) in FMCG; Sun Pharma (rank 76) in Pharmaceuticals;  Tata Sky (rank 72) in DTH;  DMart (rank 111) in Retail, Fastrack (rank 31) in Branded Fashion, JW Mariott (rank 155) in Premium Hotels, Google (rank 16) in Internet Search, and Kit Kat (rank 135) in Food & Beverage.

  • Toilet, floor cleaner brands piggyback on the Swacch Bharat Mission

    Toilet, floor cleaner brands piggyback on the Swacch Bharat Mission

    MUMBAI: Ever since the government launched its ‘Swacch Bharat Mission’, brands have left no stone unturned to make hay while the sun shines.

    As per a recent TAM Adex report, the toilet and floor cleaners’ brands have made an incredible spike of 244 per cent in their ad volumes on TV from 2014 to 2018.

     

    Commenting on the trend, TRA Research CEO N Chandramouli says, “This increase in TAM Adex is a direct reflection of the toilet and floor cleaning brands' smart piggybacking on Swachh Bharat campaign. Incidentally, it has also been used significantly by disinfectant liquid soap brands.”

    However, he cautions such brands to tread carefully with their campaigns, “Brands wait eagerly for such initiatives which will give them a wave to ride on. However, if a brand uses such waves too blatantly, it can also backfire on them as it can seem pushy thereby reducing the buying propensity, the important mix of brand trust and brand desire, of the brand.”

    Bijoor Consults Inc founder and brand guru Harish Bijoor notes, “Swacch Bharat has actually upped the sensitivity to toilets, hygiene, toilet cleaning and more. If you look at the government sector buying more products in this segment as well, you will see a blip!”

    Brand-nomics managing director Viren Razdan believes that the huge multi-level activation campaign of Swacch Bharat Mission has got the new-age Indian and his civic sense and national pride a never-before significance. He says, “It has also sparked off the renewed idea of hygiene which has been used fairly well by these categories. So, while in the past these brands did make their presence felt – it’s just that the new environment has created a fairly receptive mindset and brands are muscling their way  for this new-found attention.”

    He continues, “While earlier brands created their own space to a narrow focussed TG – suddenly the idea has been magnified in scale and width reaching a social issue, the category would obviously respond to the heat.”

    Not just that, toilet soaps, toothpaste, shampoos, and washing powder/liquids also saw a huge spike in their ad volumes on TV, all of them increasing by more than 100 per cent. In fact, the report also showed that in the top 10 sectors to advertise on TV, personal healthcare improved its position by two spots; it was ranked sixth in 2014 and fourth in 2018.