This ad has been making rounds of the TV since some days.
The first three times I heard it in the background, I couldn’t understand what it was trying to convey by saying ‘sadha wire load nahi lega, lekin standard wire lega.’ Then I realised Standard is actually the brand name of the wire. I wonder whether Standard is a right word to choose as a brand name. It’s got a meaning of its own, does not convey superiority or inferiority. In Hinglish, it has actually come to mean normal or sadha. Two of its meanings in the Oxford dictionary are indeed average and normal. Should the company have chosen another brand name?
Note that Standard is coming from Havells, which has already created a positioning as ‘wires that don’t catch fire’. I feel this ad also tries to convey the same thing by showing the burnt switchboard. How do wires catch fire otherwise? So in a way, oversteps into the Havells territory.
Standard brand existed for sometime before Havells acquired the company that owned it. But now that it is advertising the brand on TV for the first time, should the company have killed the brand name and gone for something else? Other brands of Havells are neutral words and don’t carry a dictionary meaning, except for one whose meaning is related to its field; Crabtree, Sylvania, Concord, Luminance and Linolite.
Sridhar V
Probably Havells is trying to become a diversified player in electric and electronic appliance space. They may have a mix of brands and offerings across various segments, price points, designs/formats, etc.
If you observe Hindustan Unilever they still have dozens of brands of soaps. We might think why not just have ponds, lux and hamam instead of dozen brands ? But they are capturing various tastes, preferences, budgets (price points), etc. so thats why you have Lifebuoy, Rexona, Pears, and more. This does not stop with soaps but also extends in to other product. Probably the Standard brand name will be used for entry level electric products or accessories.
Havells will have a strong portfolio of such products or service offerings and maintain a leadership position. This requires them to operate with different brands and offerings to tap various customer segments to maintain consistent growth…..a single brand may not work in certain industries and you need to innovate and come up with new designs, products, etc to keep customers excited and come back for more.
Rahul Ramchandani
Sometimes familiarity is what the consumer is looking for. Standard provides that perfectly…
Consider the name for Hotmail branding..Outlook! Familiar to users. It works rather than recreating a new brand.