MAM
WOW Design rebrands Complan
MUMBAI: In today’s competitive world, brands need to re-invent themselves time and again.
Complan which is a known name in the health drinks category on its golden jubilee has decided to do the same. As the brand widens its offering to the entire family – “Taakat Ka Naya Plan – Naya Complan”, it has now got a new look with its new positioning.
After a multi-agency pitch, WOW Design, a brand design consultancy, recently gave a new look to Complan. The challenge in front of the consultancy was to communicate the brand’s reposition through an apt look for the new Complan. The key thought for them was to ensure that “Strength for the whole family” is the promise of new Complan.
WOW Design endeavoured to ensure that the new brand identity took into consideration every aspect of the new positioning and communicated it upfront. Beginning from the logo unit, which is a compact bold unit using a strong red that spells power and strength and strong yellow background. The background colour is a very essential part, making it ownable to the brand, a part of the identity. The yellow colour stands for happiness, intellect and energy, hence ideal to be associated with the new positioning of Complan i.e. Overall Strength. Even the font used for the new brand logo is a closely bound unit, chosen specifically to depict ‘strength’. The power action emanating from the logo itself, saying that “Complan gives you the strength to do multi-tasking, successfully in your day-to-day life.”
The brand identity also features mnemonics that depict everyday activities that children and adults engage in, conveying the 4A advantages, the brand delivers. These units created specifically as a part of the identity that can be carried across media, to emphasise on the advantages in every communication.
The drool factor ideally infused through the food shot, has also been reworked to depict not just the tempt value but also the strength (remaining true to the brand promise). Even the cup being replaced with a glass, in line with the wider target audience.
The key reason to believe the new Complan promise i.e. ’34 Vital Nutrients’, interestingly re-created and connected with the ingredients, for the consumer to know ‘what are the 34 nutrients’. Each of them being segregated to convey which of the ingredients deliver each of the 4As (advantages) respectively.
The 4As – Appearance, Activity, Armour and Alertness. This particular aspect of the brand has also been communicated in an interesting manner. A wholesome circular unit on the back of pack, specifying the 4As details:
- Appearance – Physical Stature,
- Activity – Strength to cope with life,
- Armour – Immunity,
- Alertness – Brain Development & Cognition
The exceptional effort of connecting every element with “overall strength” was to ensure that there is no doubt in the mind of the consumer with respect to the brand promise.
WOW Design ensures that the new look delivered to the new Complan, had to be maintained across the entire range, considering the multiple variants in the Complan family. Hence the brand architecture strictly rigid in the top half with the logo unit, background and the brand 4As mnemonics and the bottom being used for the variants.
In case of the variants each of the variant has been given its individual personality, which comes across prominently. It was also a task to give a more premium and rich look to the ‘Kesar Badam’ and ‘Pista Badam’ variants, in view of these being the high end variants in the family with rich ingredients
Brands
Kwality Wall’s reports standalone losses following strategic HUL demerger
Ice cream major faces Rs 64 crore Ebitda loss amid commodity inflation and muted Q3 sales
MUMBAI: Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited (KWIL) has released its first set of financial results as a standalone entity, revealing a challenging start to its independent journey. Following its successful demerger from Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on 1st December 2025 and its subsequent listing on 16th February 2026, the company is navigating a transition period marked by structural changes and high input costs.
For the quarter ended 31st December 2025, the company reported revenue of Rs 222 crores. Despite the revenue base, the bottom line was impacted by several factors, resulting in an Ebitda loss of Rs 64.2 crores. When calculated on a Pre-IND AS 116 basis, the Ebitda loss stood at Rs 83.8 crores.
Organic Sales Growth (OSG) declined by 6.5 per cent year-on-year during the quarter. Volume growth, however, saw a marginal increase of 1.2 per cent. The company reported a gross margin of 41.5 per cent. Additionally, exceptional expenses amounting to Rs 94 crores were recorded, primarily linked to non-recurring costs during the transition phase.
Performance across portfolios and channels was mixed. Within the impulse portfolio, brands such as Magnum and Cornetto recorded mid-single digit volume growth, indicating steady demand in on-the-go consumption. However, the in-home portfolio, which includes take-home packs, experienced muted consumption. The company is planning a relaunch of this category with improved offerings ahead of the 2026 season.
Quick commerce (Q-Com) continued to emerge as a strong growth driver, delivering robust double-digit growth during the quarter. Meanwhile, the company also expanded its physical distribution network by increasing the number of company-owned cabinets across markets.
Margin pressure during the quarter was driven by a combination of one-off factors and broader cost inflation. Gross margins were impacted by around 600 basis points due to trade investments made for stock liquidation. Additionally, cocoa price inflation contributed to another 400 basis points of pressure on margins.
Deputy managing director Chitrank Goel attributed the muted performance partly to prolonged monsoons and transitional challenges linked to the GST framework. Operating expenses also increased as the company invested in establishing its standalone supply chain, operational systems and corporate infrastructure following the demerger.
Looking ahead, the management remains focused on a volume-driven growth strategy. To restore profitability, the company has initiated a cost productivity programme aimed at reducing non-consumer-facing costs. It is also working on building regional manufacturing networks to optimise logistics expenses and improve operational efficiency.
The commodity outlook for the near term remains mixed. Dairy prices are expected to remain firm due to tight supply conditions and rising fodder costs. Sugar prices may also move higher following increases in the Minimum Selling Price (MSP). While cocoa prices have moderated recently, currency depreciation has offset some of the potential cost relief for the company.
