When I was a kid my Dadi used to give me Chayavanprash at the onset of winters. And I religiously used to take two spoons of Chayavanprash during the winters. As per my Dadi, Chayavanprash makes our body immune to various types of infections/ allergies and keeps us disease free in winters. Wikipedia confirms her wisdom.
As weather is changing and with swine flu hovering in India’s air, my Dadi again suggested to start having Chayavanprash. Like a good boy, I went to a chemist to buy Chayavanprash. I was looking for good old days product when we had a white jar with Blue or Red color top. Chemist showed me four-five variants of Chayavanprash except for the one that I was looking for. And every variant had a different name.
One was Chayavanshakti.
There was Chayavanprakash.
Then there was sugar-free Chayavanprash.
There was also one more variant whose name I do not remember anymore.
But they do not have Chayavanprash.
“Ooph! What is the difference between all of these” I asked. “Nothing much. Everything is same and the difference is only in packaging” replied chemist.
I personally feel that Chayavanprash had one of the best positioning and was one of few brands which were known for their simplicity. It never had any exuberance, never had an excitement attached and buzz was something which was never associated with it.
I think above were the reasons why my illiterate Dadi was able to identify with qualities attached with this brand.
But with these changing times, they have made this simple brand very complex. If I was so lost after seeing all these variants, my Dadi will surely be lost by miles and might say that the chemist does not sell genuine products!
I will adjust with time, to this complex world of Chayavanprash, but my Dadi will not be able to. Maybe they are trying to lure young customers and want to appeal to kids. But if nobody can differentiate between various brand extensions, it will be difficult to appeal to them as well.
As they say, it is always easy to make things complex and Chayavanprash makers has surely chosen an easy way out.
by Sid 'Ravan' Kabe , on July 30, 2009 9:39 AM
Heh heh heh...actually there are some brands which are the numbero uno, you really can't out-market them. Like chavanprash, crocin, detol...
by Ramesh , on July 31, 2009 7:17 PM
Absolutely true. Marketeers, looking for something to do, often bamboozle the consumer with complexity. Keep It Simple Stupid, can be a very nice mantra for over zealous marketeers.