Pathfinding study to revive a legacy tobacco brand
THE CHALLENGE
Create a sharper growth plan and design a marketing, communication and engagement strategy to revive the brand
The Ask
- Arrive at a set of modern, futuristic values using which the brand can be kept relevant for years to come
- Understand how to modernize the brand and make it more relevant to the present-day smoker in its core space
- Gain an in depth understanding of the modern UP man of today – thereby deriving modern cues/values he lives by – what is the present-day value system he operates in
MOMENTS OF TRUTH
- A deeply rooted brand – has traditional moorings and consistent imagery as a solid, no-frills and impactful cigarette brand
- Is a simple brand that has always been reliable and dependable – nothing fancy or overtly glamorous about it
- Low price and a simple product/pack imbibes a strong middle-class, proletarian ethic that is honest and down-to-earth
- Any attempts at re-renditioning the brand needs a gradual, measured move towards modernization – just like the UP Man.
- Any sudden or drastic move towards modernization may end up upsetting the brand core – drastic design (pack) changes, communication changes or product changes would be fatal to the brand core.
The Approach
We adopted a two-pronged approach
- Building a base via understanding modernity cues of the UP man
- Mapping brand values – what kind of spaces are these values operating in
Thereby, arrive at a path on how to marry both for modernizing the brand & keep it relevant for the present-day consumer
