Twelve Countries, Twelve Brands
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Every entrepreneur wishes to create a brand of his product or service. A brand not only advertises the product but also increases the possibilities of its financial success. In this context, global brands which are popular in various countries are monitored with curiosity by one and all. This curiosity discovers the mystery behind the popularity of a brand. Everybody loves to understand the history and strengths of a brand. This column features the same with the secrets of various global brands.
While travelling the world and shopping in a mall, our feet naturally and unconsciously turn to well-known outlets probably recommended by someone. We choose these outlets for the assurance that the branded product we bought would be authentic. The term branded is so assuring to our ears. But from where did it come from? Who coined it? Why do people believe in that? We have no idea about the answers. A brand is a proper noun. It is the identity of the product. It is a symbol. It is a work of art that gives colour and shape to the product, which makes it stand out from the plethora of brands for the customer.
It can be said that branding started in Egypt in 2700 BC. Certain Egyptian citizens unwittingly initiated it. Their objective was as simple as identifying the owners of the livestock. But their method was brutal and cruel. They used to mark the skin of the livestock with a hot iron. The markings would help them identify stolen livestock immediately.
In the last 4700 years, a lot of water has run under the bridge, and the concept of a brand is now well established. Typically, a brand includes the name of the product, its logo, a tagline that gives a brief introduction of the product, its shape and colour etc. There are so many examples of these features. I will talk about them when writing about their respective brands. This year I am thinking about introducing some of the most popular global brands.
There are so many countries in the world, but there are only a few who have conquered the global markets with their products. Hence I am going to introduce 12 brands from 12 countries that include the USA, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Korea, France, Mexico, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China, Australia and the UK. It’s not to say that there are no popular brands from countries other than these. We will learn more about them later on. Here we are only going to focus on the brands established in one country that went on to become popular in other countries.
It is nearly impossible to find a household in the world that is not familiar with Pampers. Pampers is the product by Procter and Gamble, an American company. It is a diaper for infants and toddlers. Victor Mills took the initiative to create Pampers. He disliked changing the cloth diapers of his newborn grandchild. With the help of Norma Lueders Baker, he finally created disposable diapers. He assigned fellow researchers in P&G’s Exploratory Division in Miami Valley, Ohio.
This occurred in 1961. The disposable diapers were ready, but they needed a cute name. Alfred Goldman did this job. He was Creative Director at Benton & Bowles, the first ad agency for the account. He named it Pampers. These early diapers were bulky, heavy products composed of fluff pulp with a top rayon sheet, and poly-ethylene back sheet. It was first modified in 1966 and then in 1969. It became a national brand in 8 years. With rising popularity and demand, Procter and Gamble redesigned their product. They replaced the pin-on design with tapes. Toddler and Premature Infant sizes were also introduced.
In 1973, there was yet another major reformation. They introduced elasticized single and double gussets around the leg and waist areas. It did an outstanding job. It aided in fitting and in containing urine or stool which had not been absorbed, reducing the risk of stains. Reformations were made continuously in the next few years. Meanwhile, the patent was acquired. In 1986, thin diapers were made with absorbent gelling material. This was a revolution. In 1990, gender-specific diapers were made for males and females.
Currently, there are five types of diapers available in the market in 9 different sizes. There are four kinds of toilet training pants, swim pants, and four kinds of diaper wipes. Procter and Gamble made a size six diaper which created a new controversy. This was part of the debate between Dr T. Berry Brazelton and John Rosemond. Rosemond said that parents are not idiots who do not know when to stop using diapers and potty train their kids. For paediatricians to interfere in their lives is as bad as ridiculing them in public. He then went on to the extent of saying that paediatricians should not be the puppet in the hands of advertisers.
Victor Mills lived a hundred years. He was born in 1897 and died in 1997. He was working as a chemical engineer with Procter and Gamble. He was well known as the best production technologist in the history of the company. His research not only helped the company make diapers but also in other products like ivory soap, cake mix and Pringles. To express their gratitude towards him, the company named their engineers’ society after him as ‘Victor Mills society’.
Mills was born in a very common family in Milford, Nebraska. He participated in World War I. He was aboard the battleship Missouri. He worked his way up from the black gang to being a welder. At the end of the war, he took discharge at Honolulu, Hawaii and happily lived there. There he met Grace Riggs, a Christian missionary from Iowa. Both fell in love, but she insisted that he return to the mainland and get an education. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1926 with a degree in chemical engineering.
He was hired by Procter & Gamble right out of college and moved to the Cincinnati, Ohio headquarters of the company. His first significant innovation was that of the ivory soap. He discovered ways which cut production time for Ivory soap from seven days to just a few hours. He was probably resolved to settle there as the job gave him stability. He built a large home on Hilltop Lane in Cincinnati where he and Grace raised their only daughter. This was during the 1930s.
Even after job stability, he was not content as the research bug had bitten him. He then applied ideas from soap chemistry to improve the production of cake mixes and peanut butter, among other products. During World War II he was involved with the creation of synthetic rubber with Waldo Semon, who was the brilliant inventor of vinyl. After the war, Mills headed up the Exploratory Development Department of P&G, responsible for finding new lines of product for the company. After this, Mills never looked back. In that capacity, he conceived and led the development of disposable diapers during the 1950s. It was the world’s first widely marketed disposable diaper, and currently P&G’s most significant brand by sales revenue. And then came Pringles.
He retired to Tucson, Arizona in 1961 and spent his time on his hobbies. He had an extensive garden of cactus and other plants of his adopted Sonoran Desert region. He travelled the world, both on cruise ships with his wife, and on hiking expeditions. At one time he was the oldest man on record to have climbed Mount Rainier, and likewise Point Lenana on Mount Kenya. He died at the age of 100.
Today Procter and Gamble is a giant company. It sponsors various TV serials and programs. But at a time, it produced shows such as ‘Bold and the Beautiful’, ‘Young and the Restless’ to advertise their products. They went on to paying $50000 to place their baby diapers in the show called ‘Three Men and a Baby’. Procter and Gamble was founded in 1837. It is now 180 years old. They have 95000 employees all over the world, with a revenue income of $ 65.29 billion. Today, the company’s products have created a name in the baby care, fabric care, family care, feminine care, hair care, home care, oral care, grooming, personal health care, skin and personal care sector.
There are nearly 21 products known as the brands of Procter and Gamble. It has an annual budget allocation of $ 4.5 lakh for advertising. The company has plants in 25 countries in the world. But it has found itself in various controversies such as price-fixing, toxic shock syndrome, animal testing, human rights violations etc. Their logo, which was designed in 1851, also became controversial. Controversies are inevitable. Any progressive person or organization has to overcome them. Procter and Gamble have successfully managed to overcome them.
Pampers didn’t have a smooth journey toward success. A company like Procter and Gamble had to resort to marketing to reach their customers. They had to build their brand. For that, they had to work very hard. Any business, big or small, needs to convey information to their customers effectively about their products, services or company. Small businessmen precisely ignore this fact. To promote their business, small business people should use effective marketing gimmicks. They must understand branding. They must learn that to survive changing times, and one has to change themselves. Businesses like Hero Honda, Saraswat Bank, CEAT tyres understood this. They modified their brand image, which proved beneficial to them.
There are so many such examples. There is a Branding mantra “what gets seen, gets sold”. The customer needs to experience the product. Let’s take a day to day life example. If one is asked which toothpaste you use, one might answer Colgate or Dant Kanti. If you ask someone what they use on burn injuries, they may answer Burnol. If you ask someone which product they use to disinfect wounds, they may answer Dettol. If we want chocolate, we go to the shop and ask for a Cadbury or a Ravanlgaon. What is branding other than this? To know a product by their brand name is what it is. We are going to understand different parts of the brands through these articles while knowing more about 12 brands from 12 countries.
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Janhavi Raul from Mumbai and Ashwini Deshpande from Pune are branding experts. They have guided many businesses to success. Raul advised a Poli Bhaji centre. Firstly, they changed their logo, then modified their outlet image and then changed their name. This is how Godwa Poli Bhaji Kendra transformed into Godwa Food Joint. Their popularity increased. They opened four branches. One of their clients used to sell homemade flour in exhibitions. Raul designed packaging boxes for him. They kept these dummy boxes in shops and markets. Surprisingly, a mall gave an order after looking at this attractive box design.
Originally Published in Yashashwi Udyojak. Subscribe Today.
