Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Fevistik : Clean Sticking

Brand : Fevistik
Company : Pidilite
Agency : O & M

Brand Count : 274

Fevistik is a brand extension of Fevicol. But I feel that it is a good case of customer centric innovation. Fevistik is the market leader with over 90 % market share in the Rs 35 crore Glue stick market in India. The brand was the first one to introduce the glue stick product form in the country. This innovation has changed the entire segment.
Before the introduction of Fevistik, the glue was in the liquid form. The glue used in the office aswell as at school and home came in the ubiquitous blue glue- bottle. It was messy and non user friendly. Them came the glue in the tube form which was much more user friendly than the bottle version. The tube product form was an instant hit.
I was filled with Awe when during my student days ,I got the first glue stick gifted to me by a Gulf Returned relative. The brand was Pritt. I used it scarcely and wondered when an Indian brand will introduce it.
Although Fevistik was the brand that introduced this product form, the credit of innovating this product goes to the brand Pritt owned by the Henkel group. Pritt invented glue stick in 1969. Fevistik is the Indian version of Pritt. Globally Pritt is the market leader in the adhesives category.
Fevistik is targeting both the students aswellas the office segment. The brand ( extension ) has been promoting through separate campaigns aimed at both segment. Another innovation from Fevistik is the small pack named Fevistik Pocket priced at Rs 10. Fevistik is available at many SKU's of 8 gm, 15 gm and 22gm tapping the various user segment.
The brand has the following features :
Easy to use
Non Messy or Clean
Excellent quality
Good brand image and secondary association with Fevicol
Safe for Kids.
Although a small brand , Fevistik is an example of customer centric innovation. This brand has changed the dynamics of this product category and changed the way customers use this product. Fevistik has removed many issues that customers faced when using glue. Customers used to find their papers becoming messy when using liquid glue, the hands used to get dirty and most often the applicator fixed on the cap of the glue bottle used to fall inside the bottle . Now at one stroke, Fevistik made things easier for the consumer. The storage of this product also became easier. And I think even the shelf life became more with this product form. One innovation which I would like to see in Fevistik is Scented Stick. Still in India, the glues are not scented ( Although we seldom smell the glue . I still remember the Pritt was a scented one and was a surprise feature for a glue.
Another interesting fact I noticed on the Fevistik is that it is not manufactured in India . The pack which I have in my office right now is imported from Korea. That makes this small brand a global one....
It is not that Fevistik is riding on top of the world. Competition is intense with all major stationary marketers have their own brand in this category . An for a product like this, I feel that customers are not brand loyal . If Fevistik is not available, customers will chose either Camlin or any other familiar brand. Hence keeping a strong distribution and a healthy inventory at the retailer end is crucial for this brand.

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