Tuesday, August 25, 2009

MOOV--Brand Analysis


Moov was launched by the Ahmedabad based Paras Pharmaceuticals Ltd.(PPL) in 1986 to establish a national presence for the company.PPL is renowned for launching innovative products & establishing power brands.It is currently the third largest Indian FMCG company in the country after Nirma & Dabur.Paras is renowned for making a killing in the OTC segment & believes in making it big where there is a strong number 1 but no number 2.In 1984 PPL had launched the moderately successful Stopache,thus Moov turned out to be the first successful venture for the company.


In 1986,the time when Moov was launched,the market was dominated by rubs & balms like Iodex,Amrutanjan,Zandu & Relaxyl.These brands were positioned as Multipurpose pain relievers & thus did not have any definite target audience.PPL was quick to realize the hole in the market.It was estimated that 50-80% of the world's total population suffers from backache.Also,women were found to be most vulnerable to backache.Thus PPL decided to target women in the SEC B & C segment specifically for lower back pain through Moov.Enough brand awareness was created to make people understand that backache could become chronic if left untreated.Thus Moov became the 'backache specialist'.

Two years after its launch Moov could command only 0.3% of the market share.This was partcularly because of the niche positioning of the product.However,in 2004 Moov was able to command 13% of the Rs 4700 million Indian rubifacient market.Almost all the 4Ps of marketing viz:Product,Price,Place,Promotion played a pivotal role in bringing about this turnaround.

Product:PPL introduced numerous innovative product attributes for Moov.The product was sold as a stain-free ointment quite contray to the black gooey apperance of Iodex.Also,the product was sold in the contemporary pack--tube with carton--which made it easy to use.In 2002 Moov Spray was launched which targetted Men & had a catchy tagline 'Jab koi Na ho Saath' which exploited the occasion-based usage positioning for the product.Recently,Moov underwent line extension & launched Moov Neck & Shoulder which targets the Younger Working Class.

Price:Moov initially targetted the middle-income housewives & thus was a mass-market product.However,in 2000 Moov was launched in 5gm economy tube to make the product more affordable.Also,it increased the household penetration of the product significantly.

Place:Moov has excellent Market Penetration & is avaliable in the remotest of places.It touted a chemists presence of around 95%.Later the channels were expanded to include the grocery shops & Malls.Separate salesmen were recruited to take orders from grocery stores.

Promotion:Moov is widely recognized for its excellent communication strategy.The messages are very crisp & clear with definite impact on the target audience.Also,it communicated its USPs through separate ads---non-staining attribute of Moov was communicated though separate TVCs.

Future sucess of the brand depends upon how well the brand is able to transit its stance from Relief to Prevention.Thus the usage should be more on the preventive platform than on the curative platform.Also,suitable product innovation should be done to give the required spur so that the product is able to ride on the maturity phase of the product life cycle for long.

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