Fem : Beauty With Care

Brand : Fem
Company: Femcare
Brand count :175

Fem is a small player in the FMCG market. This 50 crore pharmaceutical company has a significant share in some of the niche segments in the FMCG market in India. The company has followed the principle of concentrating on niche products rather than fighting a bloody war with the heavy weights .
Fem came into existence in 1982. The brand is famous for its range of liquid hand wash soap segment. In this Rs 20 crore market, Fem occupies a major market share of over 60%. Fem is positioned on the platform of beauty with health. The tagline of the Mother brand is “Beauty with Care”. The liquid soap segment of late has been witnessing intense competition from the likes of Dettol and Lifebuoy. Fem comes with fragrances like Lemon,Blossom,Peach,Bouquet etc.

Another niche product from FEM is the new brand Oxybleach. Oxybleach is the facial bleach from Fem boast of having the world’s first pre bleach cream. The brand is positioned on the unique attribute of “ Oxygenation”. The ad speaks about the problem faced by skin when exposed to sun, dust etc. The brand when used gives more oxygen to the skin making it refreshing and healthy.

Fem is a brand that also has significant presence in the female hair removing market. The brand has launched a new hair removing cream in a squeeze pack which acts as a differentiator.
Fem has introduced another brand in the cloth conditioner segment (entirely new category) named Bambi, which is a fabric softener.

Fem has been successful in finding niche areas in Feminine care and with good products and distribution network, the brand has created positive word of mouth for its products. The brands like Oxybleach and hair removers are being promoted aggressively by the company. But the company faces competition from established brands, which try to enter into these niches. Most of the personal care brands are trying to give all solutions to the customer rather than focusing on any one product. That has been the strategy of mega brands like Ponds, Lakme and Loreal. These brands, which have significant brand equity, will always post a threat to the niche brands like Fem. For Example, brands like Lifebuoy venturing seriously into liquid soap business will threaten the position of the cash cow of Fem.

The major issue with niche brands is the lack of resources to sustain the growth and fight competition. The lack of resources often forces the niche brands to either sell off or die in the face of competition from large brands. This problem becomes too dangerous when the company try to have too many brands . Too many brands sometimes creates resource allocation for brand building.

source: femcareindia.com,businessline

Brand Update : Sprite & Thums Up

The Economic Times on 7/12/2006 carried a front page news on Sprite becoming the second bestselling drink from the Coca Cola India operations edging out Coke to the third place. The report says that this phenomenon is seen in the Indian market only where the flagship brand Coca Cola trails the other brands. I had severely criticized the new positioning of Sprite " Clear Hai" and the endorsement from Sania Mirza in my earlier post. But I was proved wrong. Sprite campaign seems to do wonders for the brand. Consumers think that the brand is Clear.....

India's Macho drink Thums Up is now the No1 selling Cola from Coca Cola.In the earlier post, I wrote about the brand being made to play second fiddle to Coke. Coca Cola had rejuvenated the brand and the results seems to be terrific. The latest commercial features the current Bollywood poster boy Kunal Kapoor endorsing the brand in a well made commercial.

The Thunder is Back


source: economictimes
Kunal's image:smashhits.com

Rin : Whiteness Strikes

Brand : Rin
Company: HLL
Agency: JWT

Brand Count : 174

Indian fabric wash industry is worth Rs 5100 crore and Rin is one of the super brands in the detergent bar segment. Rin was launched in 1969. The brand came into existence when there was severe quota restrictions from the government in the Laundry bar segment. Rin was launched as a detergent bar.

For 37 years ,this brand has been the market leader in the segment. The brand faced all the issues of competition , customer preference changes and price warriors.But it withstood all the challenges.
Rin is positioned on the whiteness platform. For years the brand is associated with whiteness. This positioning is reinforced by the famous Mnemonic of Lightning. Initially the brand was facing competition from laundry bars. Hence the task for the brand was to educate the customers about the new category of detergent bars. The campaign positioned the brand as the better way to wash indicating the category supremacy over laundry category. Later when the category evolved the positioning based on whiteness was communicated.
The success of Rin prompted lot of competitor activity in the segment. Many products came into the market with lesser price. Rin countered the competition by the famous " Zara Sa Rin " claiming the brand to be more powerful than the less priced brands ( source: superbrands.com/india).
Rin had its fair share of extensions. The brand had variants Rin Supreme, Rin Shakthi and Rin Advanced . The brand later extended to detergent powders to bridge the gap between Wheel and Surf.
Rin is facing its toughest competition in the form of Tide from P&G. The brand which came to India as a detergent powder brand has extended to bar category. Tide is positioned on the same whiteness platform with similar communication.

HLL is known for its obsession with market shares. It never compromises on the market share and is not stingy in investing in brands. 2005 saw one of the boldest marketing initiatives for Rin. None other than Amitabh Bachchan was roped in as brand ambassador ( model) for the brand. The ads were trying to reinforce the positioning of Rin as the premium detergent soap. I was surprised seeing Big B endorsing such a brand.
There are reports that Surf Excel is extending to bar soap category and will be replacing Rin Supreme at the premium end. The logic is that Rin has a firm image of whitening bar while Surf has the strength of being a stain remover. HLL is trying to have Surf Excel to extend its leadership in the entire detergent soap category.
Rin has always tried to create the brand excitement alive by launching new variants or new promotions or some innovations. For example in 2002 , the brand came out with a direct comparison with other laundry bars telling the customer that the soap is mud-free . The positioning was focused on Pure Clean Technology that makes the brand mud-free.

2006 was another innovation of launching a cover for the soap that will prevent wastage of the soap. Although this innovation may be trivial, the brand is kept alive in the mindspace.And that is the strength that has helped this brand to manage its product lifecycle.

source:businessline,agencyfaqs,superbrands

Brand Update : Lifebuoy

Lifebuoy has extended its positioning from " Protection from germs" to Continuous protection from germs even hours after bath. Like the earlier award winning campaign of Little Gandhi, this time also Hll rightly uses kids to the brand's advantage. The new concept take a cue from the Surf's campaign 'Dirt is good". The new campaign of Lifebuoy assure mothers that the child gets protection even hours after bath. Traditionally soap ads used the concept of washing away dirt and germs during bath.
But no one thought about protection after bath. Toothpaste ads showed protection after brushing but not bathing soaps. Lifebuoy effectively takes advantage of this twist. Great work from a Great brand.

Brand Update : Colgate

Colgate has launched the new gel variant Colgate Maxfresh Gel with Cooling crystals. The toothpaste have liquid cooling crystals that dissolve completely in the mouth while brushing releasing intense rush of freash breath.The brand is endorsed by Saif Ali Khan and the southern film Diva Asin. This variant has forced HLL to think about variants of Close Up to counter this new launch.

Source:sify,colgate.co.in

MTR : Pure and Perfect

Brand : MTR
Company : MTR Foods
Agency:O&M

Brand Count : 173

MTR has a history dated back from 1924. The company started of as a small restaurent in Bangalore named Mavalli Tiffin Room(MTR) is now rated as one of the largest players in the increasingly popular ready to eat foods market. The company first launched its packaged food product during 1976 and the company invented the Rava Idly mix which was the first product by the company in this segment.

It was in 2000 that the company seriously ventured into the ready to eat food segment. Although the reports suggest that the ready to eat food segment excluding snack foods and noodles is worth 50 crore and expected to touch Rs 200 crore with in three years time, I am quite sceptical about it. The report was dated 2002 and now in 2006 the market is still hovering in that range.
The reason for such optimistic projection is based on the changing lifestyle of Indians. With both husband and wife working , there is going to be increased need for such convenience foods that save time. Seeing this opprotunity many players like ITC, Satnam Overseas, Saaj food products etc are seriously into the fray . ITC has launched Kitchens of India brand with much fanfare followed by Aashirvaad range in this segment. Kitchens of India is premium and Aashirvaad is for the mass market.
The basic reason for this segment not taking off as expected is the lack of value proposition of the brands. All the brands operating in this segment is priced at a premium. For example a RTE pack typically costs Rs 35 for a serving of Three ( as the pack says ) but those who have used the packs know that only Two can use this because the quantity is very less. Although we can argue about the convenience and cost saving of cooking gas etc, at the outset, the price is a put off for a middleclass customer ( my experience). Another factor is the perception of quality and taste camparison of home made versus packaged foods.
Hence the use of these packs are limited to occassions and emergencies and not for daily consumption. This can be the reason behind the lack of momentum in the growth of the category. But like all new category , it takes time and investment to create this new category which holds immense potential.
Piggybacking on this category is another emerging category of curry pastes. The product offers curry pastes that added with the vegetables/meat and with little cooking can give your favorite curry. The market for this category is estimated to be around Rs 5 crore.

MTR is positioned based on the Purity platform. The product boasts about the rich heritage and the firms committment to quality. The brand is very strong in Karnataka and has a pan India presence. The brand is moving towards offering complete meal solutions to the time starved Indian consumers. The brand faces the typical issue of changing the perception of Indian consumers towards these convenience foods. Another issue is the scope for differentiation.The ready to eat category offers little scope for sustainable differentiation.The market is already crowded with local players and the heavy weights.

source: businessline,mtr.com,agencyfaqs,