Main ‘Zandu balm’ hui...Err! I guess ‘pain reliever’ huin, darling tere liye!

So here’s what provoked this blog. I watched Dabaang last weekend and came out mesmerized with the ‘Main Zandu Balm hui, darling tere liye’ number. No, it wasn’t because of Malaika Arora Khan, rather it was ‘Zandu Balm’ that I realized is such an iconic brand for all pain relievers that it inspired even an item number in a mainstream Hindi movie. It’s almost as if Zandu balm is a generic name for all products that relieve pain.

And this isn’t the only Indian brand that has achieved this status. Amul Butter is another one. I still find paav bhaaji thelas that serve Amul Paav Bhaaji as a distinct item on their menu. They even display empty cartons of Amul Butter on their carts as if to prove that they indeed use this brand of butter. Even if they weren’t they would still use the brand association, because of its perceived generalization as a product rather than just one of the labels that offer this product.

Consider Volvo buses that symbolize the luxury bus category in India. From state transport companies to private travel firms, all of them have tagged their brands with Volvo. So you have a ‘Neeta Volvo’ that plies the Pune-Mumbai-Pune route as a ‘Volvo’, and you also have the state transport run Shivneris and the private Metrolinks that also ferry on the same route as ‘Volvos’. Bear in mind that they do not claim to offer ‘luxury / comfortable road travel from Pune to Mumbai and back’, they simply offer a ‘Volvo’! And what’s more, I have even heard travelers demand Metrolink’s ‘Neeta Volvo’ versus any other ‘Volvo’! I am sure the Neeta Volvo proprietor would be mighty pleased at having created such a cult brand.

Surely there isn’t any other ego boost needed for a marketer when his consumers start demanding its brand name for the product category. And what better a testimony to this than the LIC Chairman’s recent interview, wherein he proudly states that his customers often ask each other, “Car ka LIC kiya kya?” (Have you LICed your car?) to imply buying an insurance for their cars – from a brand that’s actually known for ‘life’ insurance, and not as much for ‘general / vehicle’ insurance.

It’s the same case with Band Aid – I didn’t even know what its product category called, until I researched for this blog (btw, its website calls it ‘brand adhesive bandages’…Isn’t ‘Band Aid’ simpler?). Anyways, I simply ask the chemist for Band Aid and walk out with whichever brand of ‘Band Aid’ he offers. Ditto for Dettol’s ‘antiseptic liquids’. You would probably recall Bajaj as the only scooters or Kinetics as the only step-through, automatic-geared mopeds, even though LML also offered the former; and now of course Bajaj has discontinued its scooters completely. Then there is the legendary ‘Jeep’, that’s actually an SUV brand and not every Mahindra vehicle is a ‘Jeep'.

Some brands get so stuck to their categories that it’s difficult to give up their association even when you come across similar alternatives. For example, a visitor to our family store asked me for red colored Colgate toothpaste, while pointing towards Close-Up. While it could have to do with the person’s brand awareness or literacy levels, the confusion manifests itself even in the more urban populace. After moving to Bangalore, I inadvertently kept asking for directions to ‘Pune Central’, or reading ‘Pune Times’ for some time; in the process, being ridiculed for my Puneri hangover and often jeered for my (apparent) jingoism.

There are enough illustrations of international brands that became generic, Xerox being my favorite for photocopiers; however in the interest of blowing my marketing trumpet, I’d prefer recounting a tale of one that I created. This was for the services business of a company that I worked for. We created brands for some distinct service packages, with the most comprehensive one termed, ‘Service 360°’. The high point was when one of our customers demanded a ‘Service 360°’ from our competition; I was supremely elated. The experience comes a close second to one where a pretty girl riding pillion on someone else’s bike steals a glance at you. So much to flatter the male ego (in this case) and the professional one in the former :)

But what is it that creates such strong brands that achieve generic status? Amongst others, here are some critical ones:

• First Movers: Distinct advantage. Period. Amul Butter was definitely the first to brand butter on a national scale, long before the Britannias and Nestles dished out theirs
• Protectionist Policies: Not anymore, in this day and age of globalization. However, this was one ace up the brand sleeve of the license era when Bajajs and Marutis dominated Indian roads
• Consistent Messaging: This one merits a separate blog; in the interest of brevity, I can simply add that butter wouldn’t have been ‘Amul Butter’ if it weren’t for the utterly, butterly billboard campaigns that consistently associated it with contemporary issues. Like this one that incidentally links paav bhaaji with the Harbhajan Singh slapping S Sreesanth episode with Amul Butter. Truly delicious!

So here’s to these iconic generic brands (the oxymoron surely flatters)! It won’t be long before Malaika endorses Zandu Balm. After all she is also pretty well down the path as ‘the’ item number girl, not to mention her dance moves that indeed relieve all pain and suffering from this inhuman world. Try it yourself; watch this video – Munni badnaam hui, darling tere liye!