BAR ONE

Nestl re-launches Bar One after six years

By Ashwini Gangal, afaqs!, Mumbai, September 10, 2010 Section: News Category: Advertising

The product, packaging and communication have been revamped. The re-launch campaign, which has the tagline, 'Kaafi Hai', targets college-goers
After a lengthy hiatus of six years, Nestl has re-launched its chocolate brand, Bar One. During this period, Nestl Bar One has been available in the market, but was not advertised at all.

B Kannan, general manager, chocolates and confectionery, Nestl India, informs, "Rigorous work with the technology centres has enabled us to develop taste superiority in Bar One, which is supported by consumer research. We have, therefore, re-launched it as the companion for the confident young Indian. This re-launch campaign goes beyond the product benefit and strengthens the emotional experience of the consumer." Nestl Bar One is available at price points of Rs 5 and Rs 10, and this new thrust is further strengthened by revamped packaging which is fresh, youthful and premium. Regarding the chocolate and confectionery category, Kannan continues, "This category is an evolving one. Nestl India has grown steadily and has created new segments that are more relevant to emerging consumer needs and wellness preferences. It is now the leader in the chocolaty wafer segment for 'lighter eating' and 'whites'. It continued to innovate and renovate for portion control in its brands, including KitKat, Munch, Milky Bar and Bar One." Bar One has now returned from the back-burner with a campaign titled 'Kaafi Hai'. The catch-phrase bears a double meaning. At the surface level, the message is that the chocolate is loaded with caramel and nougat, and is, hence, filling enough. At a deeper level, the brand encourages youngsters to be themselves, as that would be enough (kaafi hai) to impress the opposite gender. The target group thus comprises young, college-going boys and girls. There are three TVCs in all, two of which focus on a guy impressing girls; and one where guys are at the receiving end of female attention. The common thread in all is the product that urges attention-seekers to be themselves, instead of desperately donning the wannabe hat. The creative duties for the brand lie with JWT, Delhi. Anuja Chauhan, former executive creative director and vice-president, JWT Delhi, who has worked on the campaign, elucidates, "It was like working on a clean slate; pretty much like launching the brand than re-launching it." In the first TVC, which is currently on-air, a young boy tries to impress a couple of trendily dressed girls by riding past them on his fast bike. The VO states that at that speed, he would not be able to see their faces clearly; nor will the girls be able to catch a glimpse of his. A calm, composed guy, munching a Bar One, then opens the back door of a truck, into which the guy on the bike crashes. The girls gravitate towards the boy eating the chocolate.

The execution is noteworthy, with its splash of colours, comic-book style static images, and styled text superimposed on the images. This 'Use the product; get the girl' positioning is usually seen in ads for deodorants, bikes or cars. About its use in a chocolate brand, Chauhan reasons, "This is a high-involvement category and the youth believe in being themselves; in fact, they admire people who are always themselves. Thus, this kind of positioning works." Internationally, over time, the brand has been positioned as a product that makes the consumer develop a hard-to-miss aura of 'The Bar One Man'. "No special efforts were taken to maintain sync with this global positioning of Bar One; this campaign is very India-centric," Chauhan states. She goes on to inform that the chocolate is very popular down South, especially in Kerala. Kannan concurs, telling afaqs! that the brand position could be similar across countries; but the positioning is kept in sync with local consumer insights.

The campaign will be primarily TV, outdoor and digital-led and will not be continuous; it will be rolled out in bursts. More specifically, the second TVC for the brand will be aired after a few weeks, and the third one will be released in November. Following that, the plan is to air all three films simultaneously for a while. Besides TV, below-the-line activation in colleges and point of sales branding is on the cards. Campaign kaafi hai? The positioning doesn't seem to have gone down too well with industry experts.

Amit Akali, national creative director, Grey, opines, "The ad seemed a bit confused. They say "Upari tashan kyon?" which is somehow like the Sprite positioning. Then, they show the guy getting the girls. So, what are they trying to say? If you eat Bar One, you'll get women? If so, it's an extremely done route. Chicklets did it fabulously 10 years ago with 'Chicklets - It works'." "Some great work has been released in this category recently, including Cadbury's Shubh Aarambh campaign and the Kit Kat Squirrel commercial. This one just doesn't match up," he adds. Shivanand Mohanty, aka Doc, national creative director, Dentsu Communications, enthuses, "It is great to see Bar One back in action. Visually, the film has a lot of energy and is striking; even the graphics feel fresh." He, however, adds that the idea could have been fresher as 'Use the product; get the girl' is a much used and abused formula for many categories. "When done well, with wit and style, this formula works. In this Bar One execution, though, it seems a bit forced," he concludes.

http://www.afaqs.com/news/story.html?sid=28220

THURSDAY, JUNE 09, 2011

Nestle Bar One : Kaafi Hai ? Not Enough !

Brand : Bar One Company : Nestle India Brand Analysis Count : # 484 Bar One is a brand which was languishing in the product portfolio of Nestle for around two decades. The brand recently got some attention from the owners and its future is being rewritten. Bar One was launched in India in 1991 ( in some sources its given as 1994). The brand when launched was positioned as an energy /snack bar- some thing that you can eat in between times. Bar One initially was well promoted by Nestle so much so that at one point in time, Bar One had a market share of around 5 %.But Nestle's attention soon shifted to non-confectionery items and Bar One was pushed aside interms of strategy Nestle For and investment. Bar those I One in still remember Ba between the Ba old Bar Bar times One jingle One ......

Later the brand had the tagline " Get More Out of Life " ( see the storyboard) Bar One is a caramel based chocolate which has naugat and chocolate similar to Cadbury's 5 Star. The brand was positioned as a high energy funky chocolate which is essentially a small snack. The brand was well ahead of its time especially in the Indian market with respect to positioning. Indian consumers were not familiar with the concept of chocolates as a snack when Bar One was launched. Second factor is the weak positioning of Bar One. Infact Bar One did not had a powerful positioning compared to the competitor . The focus on "energy bar" was too early for the Indian market. Later the company itself ditched the brand by stopping brand promotion. Bar One in terms of brand competition competed with Cadbury 5 Star. 5 Star had tremendous brand power during the nineties and Bar One could not hold out with the competition. How ever Nestle did not kill the brand but put it on the sidelines. The interesting part is that the brand was available in the retail outlets even when the brand was silent in the media.

The major reasons ( in my opinion) for the brand's lackluster performance are Packaging and Positioning. The earlier packaging was dull compared to the 5 Star's golden packaging. The package for confectionery is significant because this is a product that is bought impulsively and the packaging conveys a strong cue for the purchase.

In 2010, the brand was relaunched with a new packaging and price. The new packaging is bold and lot of golden color splashed across it. After a long while, the brand had a reasonably attractive packaging. The relaunch also saw a new positioning for the brand. The brand sadly messed up on the positioning in the relaunch also. The brand came out with very poorly executed campaign positioning Bar One as a chocolate that will attract girls !!! Watch the ad here : Bar One

The brand now has the tagline " Kaafi Hai " meaning " Its enough ". I really don't understand the connection between the brand and the tagline. One notion can be that Bar One is enough to satisfy your hunger ? Anyways the ad series with the new tagline may not be enough to lift the brand's fortunes. But the strong presence at the retail outlets coupled with the tendency of consumers to try out different brands will once again add more sales for this brand. Bar One desperately needs investment in serious brand building. The brand is capable of building a position in the market dominated by Cadbury's brands. Bar One also has strong recall among the consumers backed by better taste and reasonable pricing. It needs more focus on developing a meaningful positioning . 5 Star has already owned up the " Taste" platform . The current campaign of Bar One is below average and will only make matter worse for the brand. http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2011/06/nestle-bar-one-kaafi-hai-not-enough.html