1. Saturday, January 27, 2007
Boost : Is The Secret Of Our Energy
Brand : Boost
Company: Glaxo Smithkline Beecham
Agency:JWT
Brand Count : 192
Boost is one of the major players in the Rs 1400 crore Indian Health Food Drink ( HFD)
market. The brand was created in 1975 by the company R&D team and test marketed in
1976. The brand became national in in 1980's. Glaxo rules the Indian HFD
market with a share of around 64 %. The market is ruled by Horlicks and the leader is flanked
by flanker products Maltova and Viva.
Boost takes on Bournvita from Cadbury's which is the market leader in the brown powder
segment. The HFD market is having two segments : White powder segment and brown
segment. The market is dominated by white powders. Boost is a malt milk additive with the
flavour of chocolate.Boost has a share of around 12% in the HFD market.
HFD is targeted at children aged 5-18. The market is huge since this is the age group that
demands some kind of energy drink. The kids are active and playing during this age and the
pressure is on the home maker to keep the energy level of the kids high using some drinks.
Boost is positioned as an energy drink. The tagline " Boost is the secret of my energy" has
remained a blockbuster all through these years.The tagline has highest recall among the TG.
Boost is also the first HFD brand to be endorsed by a celebrity.
After the initial growth, the brand landed in the mature stage of PLC during 1980's with sales
plateauing. The brand repositioned itself through a careful planned strategy backed by
consumer insigh t. The brand realised that kids are strong
influencers of the purchase process for such products and once kids get hooked onto such
drinks, brand loyalty can be assured. GSK also identified cricket as the vehicle to Boost the
Sale of Boost.
During 1980's Kapil dev was roped in as the brand ambassador for Boost and as a cricketer,
Kapil was considered an Icon by many . Boost got the energy from Kapil and GSK had found
the success mantra.

2. During 1990's Kapil gave the baton to Sachin. Sachin endorsed this brand when he was in his
teens. During those times, the ads showed both Kapil and Sachin together endorsing the
brand and thus ensured that the transition is smooth. From 1990-present, Sachin has been
endorsing this brand. I think Boost and Sachin hold the record for longest association
between a brand and celebrity at least in India. (The kid who starred with Kapil for the ad
was Nikhil Chopra who later played for India0
in 2000, the brand also roped in Sewag to endorse the brand. At that time, Sewag and Sachin
was at fire as the opening pair.
Boost was innovative not only in the promotion front but also in product improvements. in
2002, as a part of its repositioning, the brand came out with Power Boosters : which contains
Copper and Biotin.It was first of its kind in this segment.Boost also innovated in packaging.
Over these years, the packaging became contemporary and stylish to reflect the changing
consumer preferences.
A brand will become successful only if the owner invests in the brand for the long term.
Boost is a testimony of that. Over these years, the brand has been positioned and repositioned
in tune with the consumer. During the late nineties, consumer insights showed that although
the kids liked the promos involving Sachin, they felt somewhat distant from the brand (
because Sachin was perceived to be extraordinary). Realising this the brand changed its
tagline to " Boost is the secret of my energy' to " Boost is the secret of OUR energy". The ads
increasingly gave importance to kids rather than the celebrity.
In 2005, the brand came with Choco Blast ( more chocolate) and Advanced Energy Boosters
to counter the threat from Bournvita who now has the Chocolate taste of "Five Star" in it.
watch the commercial here: Boost chocoblast
Boost is a super brand with lots of lessons for a marketer to learn.The brand continues to
invest in it and has remained the favorite of marketers and kids..
Source: Superbrands,agencyfaqs.
Imagesource; agencyfaqs,superbrands