VWash : Creating Intimate Hygiene category

Brand : VWash

Company : Glenmark

Brand Analysis Count : # 541

After making the face and under-arms of the Indian consumers fairer, marketers are moving to uncharted territory. Indian market is witnessing the development of Intimate wash category in the Rs 1500 crore female hygiene market. This category came into public domain with the brand " Clean & Dry " from Midas Care. 

Clean & Dry with its very explicit campaign raged lot of criticisms owing to the way the brand message was executed. 

Watch the ad : Clean & Dry

The controversies helped the market to notice this category but I have a negative opinion about the way the brand executed its communication message. 

VWash is the competing brand in this category from the pharmaceutical major Glenmark.Unlike Clean& Dry, the brand has took the positoning in a much more subtle way.

Watch the ad here : VWash ad

While Clean & Dry focused on the fairness which repulsed many opinion ( also opinionated) leaders, VWash chose to take the less controversial hygiene route. VWash is positioned as a hygiene product and talks about common issues like irritation and itchiness. 

So VWash in my opinion was able to take the category out in the public domain in a much more civilized fashion than the category innovator.The health pitch would also prompt the Indian consumers to buy these products without any inhibition. 

 And interestingly the company was able to put the product displayed in prominent places in the chemists shop owing to the brand's relationship with that channel.  

Increasingly Indian market is seeing lot of new products and pitches which raises the question whether marketers are testing the " Line of Control " . Similar question marks were raised when Nivea launched the Under-arm fairness deo. But now many brands including the likes of Dove has a variant for that purpose. 

May be this category of intimate wash products may become a part of the female hygiene market in India too.