Sure : No Sweat

Brand : Sure

Company : HUL

Brand Analysis Count : #456

HUL has launched a new brand in the Indian market - Sure . Sure is an antiperspirant brand from Unilever's global product portfolio. The brand is claiming to be the largest selling antiperspirant brand in the world. Sure is sold extensively in UK and Europe.

Sure is an interesting brand for a variety of reasons. The launch of Sure brand marks another era in the deodorant market in India. The deo market is divided into categories like Body Spray, Deo with germ fighting properties and Antiperspirants. The Rs 700 crore Indian deo market is dominated by the body spray categories. The launch of a global brand like Sure is going to develop the antiperspirant market in India.

For the promotion of Sure, HUL has roped in the actress Asin. The brand is currently running the launch campaign across South India featuring the celebrity.

Watch the launch ad here : Sure

Since the antiperspirant category is new to the Indian market, the brand has tried to educate the customer about the product category in the launch phase. The launch ad essentially talks about what the product is and the comparison between ordinary deo spray and antiperspirant.

Another interesting aspect of Sure brand launch is the question mark over the fate of Rexona. The fact is that Sure is Rexona !!!

While Sure is marketed across England and Europe, the same product is marketed as Rexona in other global markets including India. There are rumors that with the launch of Sure in India, HUL may kill Rexona deo brand in near future.

According to newspaper reports , Rexona which created the deo market in India is now a marginal player in the market with hardly 5% share. HUL virtually messed up the Rexona brand (soap) with lot of experiments like migrating to Hamam. Even in the deo category, Rexona was virtually neglected in terms of promotional spend.

Sure is marketed with the same tagline and brand elements as Rexona. Both Rexona and Sure carries the same logo - the Tick mark and the same tagline " It won't Let You Down". Sure is also using the slogan " No Sweat " in the launch campaign to reinforce the product benefit.

It is unlikely event where you see two different brands using the same logo and tagline. It does not make any marketing sense unless there is an underlying thought of migrating one brand to another. It can be assumed that Sure will launch its full range of deos and Rexona will be slowly taken off the shelves.

The deo market is witnessing intense competition these days with n number of launches happening. The trend these days seems that get a good fragrance, outsource production and do high profile marketing.

Even the antiperspirant market has seen new launches with Garnier launching its product in the category recently. By launching Sure , HUL is making sure that it does not leave any part of the category to the competitors.

Rexona : Won't Let You Down.

Brand : Rexona
Company: HLL
Agency: JWT

Rexona soap was launched in India in 1947. It is one of the well known brand in the 4500 crore soap market. Although the brand does not have any significant market share, it has a loyal customer base. Rexona soap was positioned as natural skin care soap for a silky glowing skin. With its excellent quality and good communication, initially the brand was well received by Indian consumer. In 1989, the brand came out with Coconut based ingredient which was one of its kinds at that period.

But over the period this product lost its way and was competing with HLL’s own brand Hamam. In 2003 HLL as a part of the “ Power Brand “ strategy decided to merge this brand with Lux. Thus came the variant “ Rexona with Lux cream”. In 2005 HLL again decided to make Rexona independent. All these measures ensured that a good product like Rexona be battered to pulp in the Indian market. Rexona is an indigenous brand created by HLL to market in India.

Rexona deodorant is a different story altogether. Rexona was originally created in Australia in 1900. Rexona is the largest deo brand in the world and the brand is estimated to be worth around Rs2000 crore and is available in 90 countries. Rexona is the brand that created the deodorant market in India. This brand is a classic case that proves the marketing ability of HLL. Deodorant market was virtually non existent in India till 1995. Some international brands were available but the market was virtually non existent. Indian consumers were not bothered by their own odor. Infact we believed that body odor was the other person’s problem. So HLL had the task of build awareness of the need of the consumers to smell good. For that Rexona ads educated the customers the main source of odor is armpits which generate 90% of odor and only 1% sweat. When the other brands like Baccarose talked in terms of aspirational features, Rexona talked about the rational benefits of the product. It was positioned along the baseline “ har pal sath nibhaye” . Rexona was introduced initially in the form of Roll On and Stick and later to aerosols. The sticks were priced smartly to induce the customers to try the products.The effective campaigns and smart pricing created a category of Deo in India. The deo market zoomed from 0 to 70 crore in less than 3 year’s time.

Rexona faced competition basically from grey market international brands like brut. Rexona was perceived by Indian consumers as an Indian brand because of its presence in the soap category. Ironically, the Rexona soap is available only in India. Because of the low pricing and its local association, Rexona could not be positioned as a premium deo.

There are three type of deos
1. Body spray
2. Alcohol based germ fighters
3. Antiperspirant
Rexona falls into the third category.

Rexona deo introduced lot of variants in order to block competition from entering the category it has created. HLL also introduced AXE and Denim to further consolidate the position.
Rexona Deo is now positioned as a unisex brand with the baseline “ Won’t let you down”. It is highlighting the brand as world’s largest selling deo and the rational benefit of 24 hr protection.

While Rexona deo is enjoying its leadership in the deo, the soap is wandering around in the market like an orphan. Since the soap brand is now disassociated with Lux, I hope that it will get some oxygen.

I personally feel that Rexona should be positioned as a natural soap and variants like cucumber etc will create a niche for it.