Brand Update : HUL acquires VWash

 In an interesting move, the FMCG giant HUL acquired the intimate wash brand VWash from Glenmark pharmaceuticals. VWash is the market leader in the Rs 50 crore female intimate hygiene market which is yet to gather penetration into the mainstream market and has remained a niche. 

VWash is credited with the creation and popularisation of this category through high profile marketing featuring celebrities. The brand is expected to grow fast under HUL owing to the deep market knowledge and distribution strength owned by the FMCG giant. 

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VWash

Brand Update : Dettol Claims No.1 Spot in Indian Soap Category

In an interesting development, Dettol soap has claimed to be the number one soap in the India soap market, beating the long-reigning market leader Lifebuoy. The claim to the throne is helped largely by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

What is interesting is that both Lifebuoy and Dettol share similar positioning centred around health. Dettol is more focused on the health platform concentrating on the germ-killing benefit derived from the parent Dettol Antiseptic lotion. If the claim of Dettol is true, it is largely because of two factors. First, in this fearful era of the pandemic, consumers chose the safe option of germ-killing soap rather than a more generic promise of health. The second factor aiding the Dettol's success is the large number of soap variants launched by the brand. Dettol in the recent past launched many variants like menthol, aloe vera, Dettol with moisturisers. These variants helped attract the consumers who didn't like the original, more clinical parent version. 

To be fair to Lifebuoy, the market leader too did put a fight promoting its soap as a germ-killer but the legacy of Dettol was too strong for Lifebuoy to beat.

 

Brand Update : Fogg extends to talcum powder

As for any successful brands, it has to happen to Fogg also- Brand Extension. Fogg has extended itself into talcum powder category. It is a surprise move since according to certain reports, talcum powder market in India, worth at Rs 1400 crore, is on a decline thanks to the growing reach of deodorants. How ever, this hasn't stopped Fogg from launching the talcum product under the brand Fogg Master. 

The launch ad carries the same setting of the Fogg deodorant ad featuring the retailers. The new product is positioned based on the perfume content. It is an interesting move especially when the category is declining. Maybe it is to get into the minds of existing talcum powder users who may move later into the deodorant category. 

Cadbury Chocobakes : Cadbury inside

Brand: Cadbury Chocobakes

Company: Mondolez

Brand Analysis Count: 596

Ever since Mondolez International took over Cadbury, the brand has been on a roll, coming out with variants and new products. From a corporate umbrella brand, Cadbury had become an umbrella brand for all chocolate related products under Mondolez.

For a confectionary brand, brand architecture can be tricky and often confusing. This is because, one has the tendency to leverage the equity of a powerful brand at the same time, give enough room for various sub-brands to grow. We have seen that in the case of Diary Milk, where this brand has now become a family brand endorsing sub-brand- Silk and an innovative co-branding product with Oreo.

Mondolez in 2019 forayed into the biscuit market using Cadbury. The new cookie brand was named Cadbury Chocobakes which in a way is a new journey for the Cadbury brand. The Chocobakes brand was launched in the chocolate-filled cookie category which was pioneered by Sunfeast's Dark Fantasy Chocofills brand. 

The success of Dark Fantasy may have motivated Mondolez to extend the Cadbury brand into cookies since the chocolate inside made a perfect case for the extension of the Cadbury brand into biscuits. 

In 2020, Mondolez made another surprising move to enter the Rs 2000 crore packaged cake category with the Chocobakes brand. The brand has launched a choco-layered cake in 2020. Thus from a single product brand, Chocobakes within one year became an umbrella brand and in line to come a category brand endorsing further products in the cookies and cakes category. 

Both the products are positioned using the proposition " Cadbury (chocolate) inside" where these products derive their equity from the parent brand Cadbury. It makes perfect sense since Cadbury has such strong equity and connection with chocolates. 

This brings into the concept of products as platforms. Gone are the days where products are treated as a standalone entity with limited extensions and variants. The rising costs and lesser product-lifecycles are forcing firms to look at faster ways to bring the products to the mind of the customers. When a brand becomes successful, marketers are trying to leverage the equity by extending it to multiple categories. Products and brands are becoming more like platforms that facilitate multiple product- launches. The downside of this is the confusing brand architecture and often forgetting to strengthen the parent brand whose equity is being milked by a number of products across various categories. 

Consumer expectation and Repurchase Intention : What firms must know

Brand Update : Neutrogena drops its fairness range

In an interesting move, Johnson&Johnson decided to drop the fairness product range from the Neutrogena brand line. Launched in 2005, Neutrogena wanted its share in the $450 mn fairness market in India but failed to catch up to the market leader HUL. The brand relied heavily on celebrity endorsements to gain traction in the market. 

According to news reports, J&J's decision to drop the fairness range is due to the growing pressure from the activist groups which consider fairness products as unethical products trying to exploit colour-based discrimination. The fairness product category has always been on the wrong side of marketing ethics. Activists feel that these products embed the seeds of colour-based discrimination and thus be banned. However, marketers feel that they are fulfilling a need of the consumers to look fairer and there is nothing unethical in that. This debate has become more prominent among the mainstream media with the recent racial discrimination issues that happened in the USA. The debate forced many marketers to relook their personal care portfolio through the lens of discrimination. 

Recently HUL also decided to remove the mention of fairness on their flagship brand Fair and Lovely. 

Marketers cannot be fully believed in what they say. The current actions can be another marketing move aimed to project the ethical side of these brands and owners. However, it is good to know that marketers are responding positively to the ethical issues raised by activists and reinforces the fact that the impact of society and activists group have a greater impact on marketing than ever before.