In 1850, British physicist James Crossley Eno created a fruit salt mixture and began selling it from his small pharmacy in England’s Newcastle upon Tyne.
Legend has that Eno wanted his concoction to help sailors stay healthy on long journeys. But it wouldn’t be before 1868 that Eno would retail the salts as an eponymous brand. The brand, now a household name in India for acidity concerns, found its way into the country 50 years ago in 1972.
Anurita Chopra, marketing head, India Sub-Continent, Haleon (erstwhile GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare), reveals more about the brand’s journey:
What has been special about Eno over the past 50 years?
Every brand has a purpose and solves a consumer need. Eno’s is simple: It relieves people of their acidity problems and begins working in six seconds flat. It has stayed committed to its purpose but also moved with the times.
Two things have worked in its favour. One is efficacy: A brand had better deliver on its promise, especially in a space like this. The second is innovation — it connects deeply with each generation through innovative ways.
Eno has travelled a lot in 50 years. Back in the ’90s, we would communicate simple, memorable things like, “Eno on, acidity gone.” We’ve also always played up the effervescence by referring to the bubbles. There was “Eno bulbule, de azaadi jhat se,” [which was] also one of our early brand campaigns. It’s always been about liberation. The cultural nuances of food, families and friends having fun together have been important to us. We’ve always focused on what the consumer is going through.
Acidity hasn’t changed over generations. So how then, does your brand evolve?
India has an unabashedly food-loving culture, giving rise to several acidity occasions. Close to 40 per cent of Indians say that they suffer from acidity and many of them try home remedies like nimbu paani, ajwain, cola with a dash of lemon, etc, that can take a while to work. However, our flavours reflect the flavours the consumer associates acidity remedies with — lemons, ajwain, cola, etc — which are meant for the consumer to trigger the memory code.
To answer your question, iconic brands have something in common: They’re very clear about what should be constant and what must change. They don’t innovate for innovation’s sake. For instance, don’t change your taste profile for no reason. Or misread small trends and hold them true for the whole category. Look at things long-term.
We have humour packed into the brand’s personality. We use it to play on the innovative moments. What can change, however, is the definition of humour over the past 50 years — what was funny then may not be funny now.
What’s it like to have a brand with 50 per cent* market share that it’s almost synonymous with the category?
There are two things at play here: One, Eno is a very ubiquitous brand. A person can’t predict when acidity strikes but they know they can rush to a kirana store anywhere to buy a sachet. When it comes to competition, I look at a category and understand its universe and the consumer’s habits. If home remedies are consumers’ first port of call, then those are my competition, too.
Yes, there could be smaller brands coming in. But our strong consumer brand connect helps. We have always kept it [the tone of our communication] light, so consumers have given us that status of, ‘A friend in need is a friend indeed.’ We are ubiquitously available, so we will never disappoint. You earn consumer trust through these very simple codes today.
A burp is considered disgusting, but is one of your main devices. Was it a risk to take the burp as a creative device?
The burp is a creative magnifier for us. When you are a light, fun brand, you can get away with these things. Once you’ve had Eno and burped, it signifies that you’re on a path to recovery. Since we’ve ingrained this with humour, we get away with it. Because we’ve stuck with it, the memory triggers it.
A lot of recipes include Eno fruit salt as an ingredient. Is this a happy accident?
We are here to solve acidity as a problem. Our core message will always be that. However, trusting Eno enough to use in food for your family increases brand trust and the consumer connect.
Give us some fun trivia.
Every Eno shoot is interesting. For us, the burp has to be just right. “How well can this actor burp?” is a big question during our auditions. The sound of the burp is edited and mixed in the studio as well, but the facial expression to go along with it, carrying the discomfort and the natural sound are important. We own the burp. It’s a really critical part of the shoot.
*YTD June 2022 Nielsen
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