Give me red!

I heard of give me red when it related just to eveready batteries...but there is more to red!

For Red seems to be the in thing now. The poor pug changed its colors from orange to pink, and now to red; after losing its master to the UK telecom giant. So while hutch has been suitably rechristened Vodafone effective 21^st September 2007; the company is now spending some 250 crores in its brand recognition exercise. The hoardings of Vodafone (and the red color) are as ubiquitous as the ongoing real estate projects at Rajarhat. Its competitor, Airtel was always in red (though its P&L statement is not). What differentiates the two telecom players now? Only the strength of the brand will tell; for telecom services are now commoditized.

Remember Red FM and Radio Mirchi…are both pretty reddish!

A wave of consolidation is hitting the airline industry as well. Captain Gopinath gave India its first low cost no-frills airline (I shouldn’t have used the hyphen!); the Air Deccan. But after years of being in blue and yellow (its logo), and its P&L deep in red; the airline is in for a major revamp. The blues would soon change to reds; if Vijay Mallya has his way. Yet it did not seem likely that a full service flyer (Kingfisher) could be associated with a low cost (and less reliable) Air Deccan. The latter has a presence in the B category cities, so Kingfisher would now have a slice of the pie as well. This acquisition is possibly good for both Deccan as well as Kingfisher, for it will help them leverage on each other’s competencies. But what about the brand image? While Kingfisher is elitist, Air Deccan (with its flaws) is for the common man. Being able to manage both the brands will be a tough job for the UB group.

Another forgotten airline has just got light-er. The acquisition of Air Sahara, and its amalgamation with Jet airways, has resulted in Jetlite, the low cost airline. In fact, a cursory comparison of the prices reveals that jetlite is a bit cheaper than most of the low cost airlines. Call it a consolidation; or competition; the consumers are laughing their way to the airport (giving airport authorities nightmares)