"People have started associating Dr Morepen with health, but not the other way round."

At 50, the ruddy Kartik Raina is bustling with life. He prefers hot tomato soup to coffee or tea. For him, the mantra of living is leading a life packed with health. He joined Dr Morepen as managing director on October 22, 2001, when Dr Morepen was as good as a non-entity. Today, Dr Morepen has successfully captured mindspace as a brand concerned with health. In this interview with Sumita Vaid Dixit of agencyfaqs!, Kartik Raina talks about how innovation and non-traditional marketing strategies helped create a powerful brand out of Dr Morepen. Excerpts from the interview...

Edited Excerpts

We took the umbrella branding route essentially because we think that every brand has some core values that are specific to the particular brand and along with that there are some values associated with the organisation that manufactures and markets the brand. Thus we created Dr Morepen, embodying the core values of lifestyle and health. So the moment you say this brand is from Dr Morepen you automatically translate those core values of Dr Morepen to that brand. The second reason is when you plan to launch a slew of brands a sense of familiarity has to be built for the consumer and the trade. The moment you have the Dr Morepen branding the task becomes easier. The entry in the consumers' mind and the trade is faster because you have already created equity around the mother brand.

The long-term benefit of umbrella branding is it that it actually reduces the marketing spends on the sub-brands because the values of the umbrella brand can be lent to three, four, or five sub-brands. Therefore, over a period time, advertising costs are cut down considerably.

We have defined our positioning in a four-word statement 'Redefining lifestyle through health'. The two key words here are lifestyle and health. What we are saying is that there is a clear awareness in the consumers' mind about how health is impacting their lifestyles. Lifestyles - both in terms of work style and fun style. Today people are conscious about their lifestyle and they want to live life in a certain manner. However, there are certain things that stop you from living life in the way you wish to. You get up in the morning, excited about going to the office, but you wake up with a cold. Now that cold is inhibiting you from your lifestyle. Again, you may wish to improve on your lifestyle. For example, some decide to become vegetarian or eat a certain type of food because it is healthy.

Thus there are two issues that face us. The first is about what prevents us from living our current lifestyle. And the second is about giving a direction to lead a better lifestyle. While the first is called lifestyle inhibitors, the second is called lifestyle enhancers. So we are either going to give products that will restore your lifestyle or make it better.

Both these require different methods of communication. For example, in the case of cold, the advertising usually begins with a definition of the problem, and then the solution to the problem through the use of the brand and finally the relief. This is pretty much the classic way of advertising where the need is brought upfront because there is a problem. It is more of a problem-solution kind of advertising.

This sets it apart from the advertising in the lifestyle enhancer category, or the concerns of an FMCG product, where do you not necessarily have a problem-solution approach. For example, the advertising of C-Sip or 2 Kool come close to common FMCG advertising. In this case, you are creating a demand, a need and not giving a solution to a problem.

Our consumers are young at heart. Most of our advertising is aimed at those who are young at heart and not necessarily in terms of age. The whole idea is to give a young, dynamic, breezy look to the advertising because that's the kind of lifestyle one would like to have. We are not looking at the demographic age of the consumer but his/her psychograpic profile. When I talk about candy, I do not address the kid but the kid in the adult and the adult in the kid. So, in many ways, the entire positioning is psychograpic in nature. And the target audience is clearly very young.

Coming to the second part of the question about expanding the market, yes, there are certain product categories that are aimed at the young upwardly mobile lot. For example, Isabgol has been traditionally associated with old age. But the fact of life is that the product is very relevant to today's modern world. People are leading a hectic life and usually have tummy upsets and constipation. So rather than going for traditional laxatives, it makes more sense to use Isabgol. In fact, the new Isbagol commercial, that will be released soon, will have a woman designer and a young executive (male) who are recommended Isabgol by a slightly older person.

Or, take the case of Y-Sugar. We are saying 'hundred per cent pleasure and zero per cent guilt'. The entire approach is that you can live a life of pleasure. If you really need to take sugar, take Y-Sugar. The objective is to get the youngsters, typically teenagers, involved. At the same time, we want to get the young-at-heart too. We want them to feel nice and healthy.

If you see Dr Morepen's advertising they are not fuddy duddy or traditional they are about having a modern life and a modern outlook.

Here again, I would ask you define the youth segment in psychograpic terms not in demographic terms. Our intention has been that in any product category we enter we must have something innovative. Let's go step by step. If you take Dab, antacid, we started with Dab Fizz, but we were the only ones who positioned this product on the platform of taste. There isn't an antacid in the market that talks about taste. Since it is something that you put into your mouth the taste factor is important. I know that my product is only as effective, but that does not worry me. I give my consumer a differentiation on the basis of taste. We have launched a taste in the market that did not exist, orange Dab Fizz. Today, it comprises 60 per cent of our sales.

We are going to launch Dab Gel (liquid) and a Dab chewable tablet. By doing so it will actually make us the only company in the antacid market to market all three types of a product. And each will appeal to a different part of the country. For example, gels are very strong in the south; chewable tablets are very strong both in the east and the south whereas 84 per cent of the sales in the fizz market happens in the north and the west. Launching variants of Dab gives not only a geographical reach but also the opportunity to experiment and innovate at the product level.

Take C-Sip, the vitamin C drink, for example. C-Sip nimbu-pani is a terrific product because it has a universal appeal. We have also launched C-Sip in another flavour aam-panna, a summer flavour, popular in parts of the north and the west. It has some great properties that protect you from the heat wave. That apart, it has a great taste. Today you don't have another powered drink like aam-panna. Everybody else has it in orange. So we got a lead there.

Again, we are the only ones to have launched candies with vitamin C. The kid would like to pop the candies, and the mother who is normally concerned about the kid having so many, would not mind it because these candies are taking care of the kid's vitamin C requirements. To make it a fun product we have actually used a process, wherein the vitamin C content is injected at the centre. When you bite into the candy, the vitamin C powder can be tasted.

Thus, at the product level, we always explore the opportunity to innovate and be different, and create an aura of curiosity and fun around that difference. So it a conscious attempt.

To both the questions the answer is yes. We definitely want to promote Dr Morepen. That's clear. Even the sub-brand advertisements end with the jingle, 'Dr Morepen, health in your hands'. We also want to make sure that the core values of Dr Morepen are applied to the sub-brands. Yes, you are absolutely right that we do run a risk. Now, the way to minimise that risk is by being innovative in the creative thought and the storyboard. That is how we make sure that the sub-brand does not lose its identity within the larger Dr Morepen branding. For example, in the Dab Fizz ad, the kid is shown being stuffed with food. This idea is relevant to the category. So the focus of the category motivator or driver, and the brand differentiator are important to capture the values of the sub-brand in its commercial. And that makes sure that we have got the consumer's attention. Dr Morepen acts as an add-on. I would say it is always a balancing act.

The bulk of the expenditure to date has been on Dr Morepen. Beyond Dab we have not yet promoted any other brand since we have not started distribution yet - though it will happen soon. I think what is interesting today is that when you introduce yourself as Dr Morepen the inevitable response is 'health in your hands'. So I think our desire to be part of the big space called health has already started happening. People have started associating Dr Morepen with health but they have yet to start associating health with Dr Morepen. We are at stage one. And we will continue to operate in the area of health and lifestyle. I think, at the moment there is no single brand in this space. There could be individual products though.

As far as the ad budget is concerned, strategically speaking, we will be doing less of Dr Morepen advertising this year and lots more of sub-brand advertising. But every sub-brand commercial will have a section at the end with the Dr Morepen logo and the 'Dr Morepen, health in your hands' refrain.

So far we have spent about Rs 5 crore on advertising. It is not a high spend. However, this fiscal we plan to spend between Rs 20 crore and Rs 25 crore across all brands.

There are three reasons. First, consumer behaviour in this country is such that the brands that are called ethical are also bought over the counter. So the consumer is already buying a lot of brands on the basis of an earlier experience. For example, when you have a sore throat, you visit the doctor. The doctor prescribes some medicine; you buy them and they eventually give relief. Next time when you have the same problem you would just walk up to the chemist and buy that drug. Since OTC buying habit is originally driven by ethical products the number of OTC products available are huge. In a category like cough and cold there are 112 brands available to consumers. They might be ethical in terms of legal status, but the reality is that consumers are buying them over the counter.

The second reason is that quite a few of the OTC markets are seasonal in nature. Thus even a small player can afford to invest on branding because the season will last a few months only. And this seasonal business of OTC attracts a lot of players.

The third reason is that the product is directly linked to the problem. So the number of occasions for use per person is limited. For example, if you have a sore throat, you will not use the medicine through the year. So if I have to generate business, I will have to reach more and more people all the time. Reach becomes a very critical factor. That means you are in a higher competitive mode because you have to reach more and more people.

Competition is a reality. We cannot be too fussy about where the competition is coming from. We also have to understand that organisations like Hamdard are getting more professional. Ranbaxy, which has traditionally been engrossed in research and pharmaceutical products, is actively getting into OTC. Dabur, has an excellent network, good R&D, a very good organisation. These are the realities. The question is: How do you work your way around?

There are three or four ways. The first is in the development of your products and concepts. Try to ensure that the product concept that you develop has a niche and uniqueness rather than being a me-too. The second is, having developed a product, make sure delivery systems like packaging, and formatting etc is as different or as better as possible so that you are not compared unfairly to others. The third is marketing and advertising. At some point you have to make a decision whether you are in the quantity game or the quality game and we are in the quality game.

Let me take a typical example. Dabur has a brand Hajmola, which is available in the form of 'churan ki goli' and a candy. Dr Morepen has Gol-Goli, which is also available as 'churan ki goli' and a candy. On the face of it, both the products are similar. Now let's look at the differences. The first difference lies in the taste. Both the churan ki goli and the candy from Dabur are very high on salt. We have purposely brought out Gol-Goli low on salt with a slightly sweeter profile. We have done it because there is a niche of consumers who are looking for a less salty option. The interesting bit is, since Gol-Goli is low on salt or spice it encourages higher consumption because it is mild. Since Dabur's 'churan ki goli' is high on salt, the maximum one can have at a time is two or three golis. Those are the ways we can differentiate our products from competition in a product sense.

Now, consider our strategy. Eno is very strong in the fizz segment. Now if we say that Dab Fizz will constantly fight Eno, it is going to be tough. So we use the word 'Dab'. To operate on a larger scale we will get into gels and tablets. Today when I say Eno you only think of fizz. If I say Dab you would think the same because currently, we only have Dab Fizz in the market. But six months down the line when I say Dab you would think of Dab Gel and the chewable tablet. So our portfolio range is being developed keeping in mind what competition has.

I will give you another example. Telephone, an Isbagol brand, is a big brand but it does not advertise. By the very fact that I will start advertising and create an image, I would be beginning a differentiation process. Dabur's Nature Care is not the normal Isbagol. It is a finely powered Isabgol with amla. So our product is positioned on the fact that it is pure. In our study of the Telephone brand, many have complained of the shoddy packaging because of which worms or insects start breeding. So we decided to go for an attractive packaging with a seal and a zip lock. Thus the problem of infestation is taken care. So our selling line is 'pure and secure'. By recognising competition, we have modified and planned our presentation in advance.

Any strategy - from the basic product, to advertising, to the overall communication, to distribution - gives you scope for innovation. We follow a concept, which we internally call 'Media Inversion'. The traditional ways of advertising is by making heavy ad spends. About 90 per cent of the money is spent on above-the-line advertising. What we have done from the very beginning is focus on direct consumer contact activities. And we would be spending anywhere between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of our total spends on the brand on such activities.

For C-Sip we have installed attractive dispensers at various outlets. Once the dispensers are plugged in, they will keep churning the product, visible in nice colours. The consumer can just walk up to the retailer for the drink. At this point I can achieve what is called sampling. In case the consumer wishes to buy the product, packets of C-Sip too are available with the retailer. The investment on the dispenser could be a couple of crores, but the intention is to get into an interactive situation with the consumers.

Packaging is also very important. We want to offer a smart looking product. I do not want to give consumers low calorie sugar tablets in a yellow box shaped like a woman's figure. So we have packaged Y-Sugar smartly. It is available in four colours - blue, green, pink and orange. The idea is: Buy according to your mood. We believe if you are entering this market traditional methods are not going to help.

We are looking at health food, vitaminised drinks and analgesics seriously. We plan to launch an analgesic brand rather than acquire it.

Our focus is going to be distribution. We have put our plans in high gear January onwards and by July we intent to cater to 2,00,000 outlets across 395 towns. Next, we would concentrate on visibility. It should be a blend of product visibility and range visibility. Typically, we will have a shelf with information on Dr Morepen along with the range.

Another area of thrust is sales. This would include training and development of people. Stress will be on product knowledge, selling skills and attitudinal training. Attitudinal training involves strengthening one to face rejection since a sales person is prone to losing temper or motivation when faced with rejection.

Of course, we will continue to innovative on media strategies, product development and newer concepts. Our future growth will come from lifestyle enhancers. Between the problem-solution and the lifestyle enhancers, the share of enhancers will increase in five years. The initial build up will be a blend of the two, OTC and lifestyle enhancers. Gradually it will move in favour of enhancers.