A TALE OF TWO SOAPS

Unlike the detergent market, the soap segment in Pakistan has two main sectors. Beauty and Antibacterial. LUX, CAPRI and Palmolive are the key brands in the beauty soap market. These brands are known for their quality and price. Share of imported brands is negligible.LUX intl and Dove are two key brands in this segment with a combined share of 4%. With a market size of Rs.17.4 b in 2012, share of beauty soap is around 50%.Rest of the market uses anti-bacterial soaps.LUX is the leading brand from Unilever, in the beauty soap segment, at 22%.Tibet from Kohinoor and Capri from Zil stands second with almost 6 % of this market each. Tibet however falls into the lower tier of the market with price tag of Rs.25 for its key SKU. LUX at gross sales of Rs.3.2 b last year is a successful brand building story. With only 3% annual growth in the market, the brand has maintained its leading position for decades. Using testimonial appeal right from the beginning from local stars, globalization of brands has seen it romancing with Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Madhuri even in Pakistan. Debating on several occasions to switch over to other appeals, apprehension of competition pirating the idea immediately, kept the brand glued to stars so far. And the gamble has paid off! LUX is the leading brand in Indo-Pakistan and several other countries with consistent growth and margins. Its the soap of the masses. The brand remained inflicted with the issue of being mushy for so many years. However it has overcome the problem through sustained efforts, marketing and glamorous positioning. Priced between Rs.30-60 for its 3 SKUs, the 115 gm size sell the most at Rs.40. Buoyed by it success, the Co spends mega bucks on TV and LSA(Lux style award) each year-a fine combination of ATL & Publicity.Rs.440 m were spent last year on a 360 degree campaign supported by very strong sales. The brand has repositioned itself frequently maintaining its essence of glamour, beauty and stardom. The 2009 campaign by Katrina for purple LUX couldnt generate anything significant for the new variant. However such brand building campaigns has turned it into the TOM brand with highest share at premium prices. Owing to 3 SKUs and their prices, Lux sells across the board covering LSM4-8+.The current re-launch of the brand with Shahrukh & Katrina for the Rose variant is on providing it further strength. Very interestingly there is no other brand in this segment, other than LUX, with a double digit share. Tibet is not treated as a premium brand and caters more to the lower tier of the market. With a heavy fragrance, it is available in 2 SKUs.For years there has not been any significant campaign-ATL or BTL. The

brand sells on its old heritage emanating from Tibet Snow.However, 2013 sees the brand on OOH all over the major cities highlighting its price and positioning based on beauty. Camay from P&G tried very hard with several positioning efforts but finally died mainly owing to being an under positioned brand. Palmolive from Colgate relaunched 2 years back has shown some activity acquiring a share of 4.5% so far. It has been on TV and engaged the target market in BTL activities. Its a promising future brand. The sad tale is of Capri. A soap better than Lux in quality couldnt challenge the leader as Engro has engaged Nestle` in the Food segment. Second oldest brand in the beauty soap market, it could only impact a market share of 6 %. While serious problems in sales and basic corporate structure may be attributed as the key issues of the poor growth of the brand, quality has never been the reason for its current fate. It was never strongly positioned against Lux. The brand seemingly has failed to coin an image in this segment with no consistent persona, promise and USPs. The company-Zulfiqar Industries- has also created two more siblings in the form of Opal & Palmytargeting Tibet.However,their market shares are less than 1% each. The anti-bacterial market has emerged very significantly in the last 5 years with Safeguard from P&G making a serious entry against Lifebuoy. Their successful positioning has brought it very close to LB (Rs.3.5 b)-a 50 year old brand. Main reason was the excellent positioning of Safeguard creating a category while LB couldnt maintain a single consistent idea.LB, however, is still the largest selling soap brand in the local market with 25% share. The other sad story is of Dettol from Reckitt Benckiser in this segment. The brand despite a fairly reasonable promo budget and strong sales presence could only dominate 9% market so far. In 2011, the company changed its CEO, bringing a new face from P&G.With other changes, Manhattan was replaced with Interflow. Dettol orange was launched. It was an immediate hit. But it was a slight digression from its brand essences of anti-bacterial soap. It trespassed into the beauty segment. Soon after, it made further progress into the bacterial segment by launching dettol ka tarana hai, Pakistan ko barhana hai.Again it helped the brand with increased SOV.Very lately Dettol has introduced Dettol-Radiance. The soap that provides glow to your face with Sonia Jahan as the celebrity. Company seems to be engaged in Vector positioning-making an effort to maintain its essence of being an anti-bacterial soap with simultaneously stepping into the beauty soap segment. The gamble may pay-off!

Detailed statistics and prices along with promo budgets are provided with the case. Ads available on CD. It is advised that current prices are re-checked at retail outlets. Ads may also be downloaded from Dailymotion.com. www.brandimage.com.pk

1. Whats wrong with Capri? Reposition the Brand. 2. Whats wrong with Dettol? Will the current repositioning can change its fate?

Prices (Rs)

70 gm

115

155

Promo Budget

LUX Capri Palmolive Tibet Palmy OPAL LB Safeguard Dettol

22 21 23 15 15 15 18 24(75 gm) 27

40 35 36 30 25(125 gm)

60

440m 110

55(160 gm)

67 -

32 38 43

360m 410m 290m