According to me, at least what I have learnt during the strategic marketing project, is that Brand Boroline has two main problems to take care on an emergency basis.
One is the Marketing Channel problem. Their distributors or CNFs (Clearing and Forwarding agencies) as they call these, are not so proactive. The number of CNFs pan India is also very less. Right now it is somewhat around 850-900 CNFs for Boroline, where as Boroplus enjoys roughly around 2200 distributors pan India. The lesser the number of distributors, the lesser will be the number of retailer, in this case druggist & chemists, retail shops and kirana shops. Which in turn will contribute to the lesser coverage of the larger geographical market.
If a customer somehow gets motivated by any type of marketing communication and goes to any retail shop and asks for a tube of Boroline, but the shop owner shays that they don't have any, this will make the customer turn away from the brand for a quite long time. Because there are so many similar competitor products available in the market. If I don't get a tube of Boroline, I won't bother much and rather happily come back buying a tube of Boroplus or Borosoft.
Buying Boroline is not a compulsion for the customers. It is an option. If I am a die hard loyal customer of Boroline (which happen mainly in north eastern Indian market) then only I might wait for another day or two for the retailer to get it or will search in another two three shops for a tube of Boroline. But this is unlikely to happen for a product priced INR 22/- and that too an OTC pharmaceuticals (antiseptic cream) product. Especially when the "liking" for the product in TOMA of the customer is not that delightful!
Most crucial is the fact that Boroline has not been able to create the same kind of brand image in the customers mind as Dettol or Burnol has made. If a person thinks antiseptic liquid he/she is thinking about a bottle of Dettol. Definitely Savlon is there, but I really doubt if the image of the Savlon bottle comes in the mind of a customer the moment he/she thinks about antiseptic liquid!
No body buys a bottle of Dettol or a tube of Burnol for luxury or as an option. It is a Compulsion. Because both the products are purely functional in nature. When you burn your hand while cooking you really don't go to a departmental store and run through the options available. You rush to the nearest drug store and blurt out asking for a tube of Burnol.
But Boroline being the same quality and standard of an antiseptic cream was not able to create that level and strength of TOMA in consumers mind. I think it is definitely a point to be taken seriously and worked upon!
Second issue is the approach taken up by the company for its IMC purpose.
They have gone for many OOH advertisements, Hoardings, Banners, metro glow signs, druggist glow signs, pamphlets, leaflets, other POP materials like, Wobblers, Danglers, Auto rickshaw Back Panel Ads, Bus Side Panel ads. But I feel that some of these actually have diluted their brand value. If you are providing high tech glow sign ads in metro stations and again giving the same ads at the back panel of auto rickshaws, it creates kind of a image confusion. One moment it looks like a premium brand, and in the next moment when you see an ad on an auto back panel, you feel like it is some cottage industry product, some Himalayan Ayurveda product, which have neither credibility nor premiumness.
It all depends on where the company wants to go with the Brand. If GD Pharma is happy with the fact that Boroline is a mass product, not a class product then probably the Auto back side ads are fine. In fact in that case those are helping the brand to reach both the urban and rural, lower middle class, middle class and poor class of people. But if they do not want that, then they definitely need to think beyond all these.
For me, I have issues with the national level brand ambassadors they chose as well. Sakhshi Tanwar and Raima Sen. I really doubt if those two actresses were a good choice. Because if it was, then why almost 87.5% students of our strategic marketing class didn't even know that such a brand exists!
Boroline Antiseptic Cream was the winner of the Super Brand tag for two consecutive years. But if they do not reap the benefit out of these things, then how else they can dream of reaching every household of India.
My take on Brand Boroline:
The Boroline people might rope in yesteryear actress Sharmila Tagore. The similarity between the brand essence of Boroline and Brand Sharmila are awesome. We all know that Sharmila Tagore is hailing from Kolkata (former Calcutta) and later became famous all over India because of her excellent and charming contribution in Bollywood movies. Though originally a Bengali, she is now the apple of crores of movie loving Indians. Likewise Boroline is a brand originated from Kolkata and now aspiring to completely win over whole Indian Antiseptic Cream market.
Again they have an excellent option to rope in Yuvraj Singh. As we know, he was diagnosed with cancer some time back. Though very unfortunate for a class of player that he is. But no one can predict the future. Anyway, the good news is that he has almost recovered from his ailment and started playing for Indian International Team once again. In general, a cancer patient (recovered or not) is not allowed to use any OTC pharmaceutical cream or ointment without a close supervision of his/her doctor.
So if GD Pharma can reconfirm from the Indian Medical Association, that, even a cancer patient can use Boroline Antiseptic Cream for external uses, then they can try to strike the deal with Yuvraj Singh. He is a strong player, both psychologically and physically. His association with the brand will give Brand Boroline the deadly combination of Dependability, Endurance, Strength, Trust, Quality, Regaining the lost reign (that's what exactly Boroline also aiming to do).
Along with roping in new brand ambassador, the GD Pharma need to seriously work on their advertisements. They need to give the work who does it the best. Why don't they go for Lowe Lintas or Ogilvy & Mather!
After all Marketing is all about knowing your customer's need better than the customer themselves and providing the same just the way they want. Marketing Managers should work out their strategies like a "Mother", who knows what her children (customers) want to have that day and makes the lunch and dinner menu plan accordingly!
As it is rightly said by Philip Kotler - "Authentic marketing is not the art of selling what you make but knowing what to make."
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