"The ideal platform for the brand would be pioneerhood, emphasising the never-before experience, but ensuring that it is not totally alien" Anil Bhandari, Managing Director, International Travel House

When it's a foods product, the key to success is the taste. And if it is a new snack, there has to be novel way of describing it to the consumer. Remember, the consumer is always looking for change, but not necessarily replacement. The taste must be clearly defined. For instance, crisp, crunchy, salty, sweet and so on. And with it, the new experience of it. There is little doubt that health is a very important factor, and if the product has nutritious value, that could be driven nicely into consumer consciousness for the brand to prosper. The other element that is important to be clear about is whether it is an all-time snack or for a special moment. The diversity of the product's consumption needs to be thought about. Is it only for breakfast? Or could it have multiple functions? The consumer must get a complete feel of the product.

Then comes the issue of communication. The market must first be defined. This includes the target consumer; whether it is a product for the young or the middle aged, or is it an universal product. This will determine market size and spend, and the advertising. Television is, of course, the most effective medium, given the visual impact and scope to emphasise the core values of the product. Above all, the communication strategy must be exciting and convincing. In this, it is important to remember while snack items are to some extent driven by the ambience they create, the ultimate test is the taste and packaging. The packaging, for example, has to be of international quality, and must give the impression of novelty.

In terms of creating the brand, the stress should be on defining the core value of the brand, and then building associations. Of course, somewhere down the line, the values must be dovetailed with the values of the corporation, and must capture the essence of the consumer value system. The consumer must not feel shortchanged. This is not a staple product, which makes winning consumer confidence of even greater importance. While the process may be simple initially, given the novelty of the product, the real test will come with time. This calls for the striking of a clear 'position' in consumer mindspace as a pioneer.

That, though, might lead to the temptation of creating a generic brand. This is best avoided because it might expose it to threats later. To conclude, the ideal platform would be pioneerhood, emphasising the 'never felt before' consumption experience, while underpinning the fact that while the taste of the innovative new product is unique, it is not completely 'alien', nor being thrust down people's throats.

"Every brand needs to be clear about what it wants to be. The annals of marketing are full of failed brands who wanted to be all things to all people" Noni Chawla, Management Advisor & CEO, Omniconsult Management Advisory

Brands have one core identity (and may have an extended identity as well), but the core identity has to be clear, not fuzzy. Moreover, strong brands are built on authenticity. Also, strong brands are not built on the deficiencies of other brands, they are built on their own inherent strengths.

In the case of Aye-Aye Captain, Sudheer Sharma & Co will have to decide what is going to be the core identity of the brand. Remember Snapple? The core identity was fun, cool, irreverent, idiosyncratic. Incidentally, all Snapple flavours were also 100 per cent natural. But that was not the platform on which the drink was marketed.

While the idea of positioning a brand in the "intersection space" is tempting, it is akin to having one foot each in two different boats. And those who do that, more often than not, end up falling between two stools.

What is the size of the "intersection space"? By and large, "intersection spaces" for products tend to be very small. I cannot think of one single food or drink that straddles the two spaces: fun and health. In fact, the two are almost mutually exclusive.

Every brand needs to answer the question, "What do I want to be?" The annals of marketing are full of examples of failed products and brands that wanted to be all things to all people. To my mind "funky and cool" and "healthy" are almost polar-opposite concepts.

The fact that in a blind test the consumer cannot identify whether it is a biscuit or a chip can be a disadvantage. If we are aiming for the funky, cool dudes, they must think they are eating chips and not biscuits. Any food that reeks of health is almost anathema to the youth. Volumes have been written on the "unhealthiness" of colas and burgers, but they go on. Try and make them healthy, and I don't know what will happen.

I don't know of any brand that started out with the objective of becoming the generic for the category. Apart from the fact that that would not be good marketing. Neither Xerox, nor Dalda, nor Jeep started with that objective. In fact, becoming generic was the problem. The ambition to start a new category is admirable. But a good marketer has to stop fantasising.

The RJN team would be well-advised not to pussyfoot around and be clear about what it wants. If it wants to play in funky food space, it should go ahead and do that (and having baked food that sells at funky prices cannot be a disadvantage). Or decide that it wants a chunk of the "healthy" food market, and stay the course for that. It may be longer, and more arduous, but then, strong brands are not built in a day. Nor are they built by the faint-hearted. Incidentally, I might add, Aye-Aye Captain is not exactly my idea of a funky name.

"A good analytical look reveals that the real opportunity for Aye-Aye Captain bischips lies in positioning itself as an adult snack" Swapan Seth, Co-Chief Executive Officer, Equus Red Cell

I do not think product categories can be created by the mere elimination of the ailments of a category (the absence of health in chips or the absence of fun in biscuits). That, in my estimation, is a rather simplistic perspective to category creation and brand launches. It is not how the real world works. So I think that even before Sudheer Sharma sets about to create a position for the bischips brand Aye-Aye Captain, he must first examine in very fine detail the ultimate consumer need that the brand wishes to meet. And thus, the broader consumption opportunity.

Yes, chips are hardly healthy, and yes, biscuits are hardly fun. But using these primary observations to go ahead and base the new brand on "health can be fun" would be hazardous in my estimation.

More so, when the broader question is: who is seeking health? And who is seeking fun?

Simple though the questions sound, there are no easy answers, at least from a strategic perspective of the market. First of all, what are the broad trends? An evaluation of life around us will reveal that snacking is unarguably on the rise, and this is so across categories and consumers. The scarcities of time and paucities of attentive meals are, to a large measure, contributing to this rise.

Of course, fun-seeking kids are into snacking for reasons that have little to do with the abovementioned. Yet, in my estimation, the real opportunity for bischips lies in actually staying away from the kids' category of snacking. History is ripe with examples of brands that have fallen by the wayside on account of injecting goodness into grazing products. Children do not seek the sanity of health in chips. Neither do parents who see categories like chips and sweets as currency to purchase peace with the kids.

On the other hand, a good analytical look reveals that the real opportunity for Aye-Aye Captain bischips lies in positioning itself as an adult snack. Adults in the Indian market do not really have good snacking options. Even if we accept the traditionalist argument that they do, they are mostly in the domain of traditional Indian snacks such as bhujiya, chana-jor-garam and dal moth. Increasingly, as the Indian adult palate is coming to terms with the pennes of the world, perhaps success lies in positioning bischips as the 'snack for adults'.

There are glaring virtues in this. Children will not warm up to the nomenclature contradiction: bischips. On the other hand, adults will understand the virtues behind it. The flavours that the brand offers are far more amenable to adults than they would be to kids.

If you look at the snack market and if you look at third place patronage, you will concur that adults are grazing more often and have fewer and fewer food products that belong to them.

A classic example is how Cadbury's Temptation was steadfast in its position, and clearly occupied the adult highground. There is no reason why it could not have been a chocolate for kids, but I think the gentlemen at Cadbury House would have seen a consumption opportunity with adults and run the risk of occupying that position. Sharma has a tricky product. But I think, he has a wonderful consumption opportunity. The adult market, in this case, may well bite.