Launching Brand Videocon d2h

Brand launch of Videocon d2h was a wonderful experience. The launch was a staggered one from June 2009. It was launched in Greater Punjab markets (Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal, J& K). The brand was operational across North, West, South and finally in East. It was operational pan India by March 2010.

I joined brand d2h in October 2008, when the brand was still in its planning stages. Ours was a small team of 4 juniors plus our head of marketing. Together we started to work on, we were all young in mid 20s. None of us were from the prestigious Tier I, II, III institutes. We were all very naïve, with no experience of launching a new brand, new category. I had worked with them earlier in Sansui from where we were shifted to this brand.  We were all juniors with not more then 3 years of experience. With no baggage, no badge value of MBA graduates from tier I, II, III insitutes,  Our strength was that we were not afraid to take risks, to create history. We were all students, learning with experience, understood the game better as we progressed.  

MARKET STUDY

MARKET STUDY Every month at least one Saturday was spent on surveying the markets.  Interacting with trade outlets, especially the telecom outlets, their recharge counters. The pizza outlets were also studied as their key aspect of service was time bound service. Studying all aspects of every service industry including the brand identity elements like colours, font, personality, brand ambassadors, brand template. I also undertook a study on the banking institutions as they were using the technology in a big way.  Technology as a service brand differentiator was key USPs of private banks over public sector banks. I studied all these minutely.

The findings were shared in a free for all interactive session with the team. The competition Dish TV, TATA Sky were studied. A comprehensive analysis of their services was done, the aspects on which we can establish our supremacy was being clearly defined.  In 2009, Airtel and Big TV started their operations. This was an amazing time, as I learned the aspects of brand differentiating, brand USPs and how do we communicate them practically. These are important while planning for brand launch, any brand, any sector.

Initial Deliberations

The brand name initially was d2h+ which later changed to Videocon d2h as during our interactions with various strata of society, it was found that we can leverage our strong association with trade network as we operate in consumer durable segment.  The services were in built bundled with hardware like CTVs, DVDs, LCDs and also stand-alone services through a Set Top Box.  Ours was a mix of DTH service with consumer durable. The focus was to push for our subscriptions through the hardware like CTVs, LCDs leveraging the brand name of Videocon. This prompted us to add Videocon to d2h+ , finally after lot of deliberations we zeroed on to the brand name , it was launched as Videocon d2h.

Establishing Brand Identity

Establishing Brand Identity The connect of the category name direct to home was through d2h aided with the traditional strength of brand Videocon. The logo was also developed, we chose a bevel of purple with a fluid inside the same to describe the technology, the words d2h were synonymous with the category direct to home. A arc was added to separate Videocon and d2h symbolising happiness, reflector. The brand colour chosen was purple a clear differentiator from the other services who have taken orange, red, blue, yellow.  The tag line chosen was Direct Hai Correct Hai.  

The first task was to develop the brand identity manual so that rules were laid out. I have seen the brand manual of ICICI bank when I serviced their account. Videocon also made a change in their brand identity with help of Singaporean brand consultant Interbrand. It was distributed among the group companies as we have added Videocon  to our brand name, we were bound to use the name in the latest avatar and not deviate so as to reap advantage of the groups biggest name in consumer durable sector as partially we have operate in that sector.  The tag line chosen was Direct Hai Correct Hai once again establishing the connect with the category.

Identifying Brand Differentiators

The key differentiator that we wanted to have was not to go with the conventional primary colours of colour palette like blue, red, green, yellow. In my research of various sectors like Consumer Durables, Telecom, Banking, Food sectors like Pizza it was found that Purple was rarely used. I studied the colour purple, its persona and how it affects the cognitive of target consumer. Purple as a colour represents futuristic, technology, soothing, classy, royal but not aggressive like Red or warm like Blue. Every one agreed to this suggestion of mine, as it was considered an underdog but a winner in the long run.  A fluid was added as a design element to symbolise the dynamic aspect of the brand. Videocon d2h brand launch is a personal milestone for me.

Personal Achievement of Vaddadi Shyamal Kumar is launching this brand:

The brand logo was very appreciated by everyone. It was a very satisfying experience for me. The joy and euphoria that I had was tremendous. It was for a first time, I had a role in developing the brand identity, brand name and its key differentiators that too so early in my career. I felt that I am on cloud nine as the logo was finalised. This mean the beginning of a new chapter in my life. It was turning point in my professional career where I had learned on aspects of creating a brand. It was not just a simple brand name for me. The brand was our baby, the young and inexperienced team has done the unexpected.  

To convey the feeling in cricketing parlance, it was like a debutant scoring a triple century against a mighty opposition like Australia.  At the same time, it has created a lot of expectations, the bar has been set high with this achievement. The days ahead were not so easy or smooth as we started designing the elements at the same time working on nationalwide brand launch of Videocon d2h.

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