#Think2Engage

“Wake up! Rohan! You are getting late to Office!” shouted Rohan’s Mother as the clock ticked
nine. Rohan had been working till late last night and had slept around 3AM. As he woke up,
he could not believe he had gulped nine cups of coffee to stay awake and trigger his grey cells.
There was a big task in hand and Rohan looked forward for an exciting day ahead.

Rohan was a fresh graduate from college and had joined ITC Limited in the FMCG Marketing
function. ITC was amongst the largest organizations in India and was known for its approach
and success in marketing. Rohan had aspired from day one to join ITC and it was a dream come
true, thanks to his innovative approach to marketing which appealed to the selectors. Rohan
joined the Engage Brand team which was responsible for marketing of its flagship deodorant
range, specially targeted towards youth in India.

Engage has been a great success story. With its unique brand proposition, Engage had appealed
to young consumers and had risen in very short time to become No. 2 deodorant brand in the
market. An in-depth study had revealed that deodorant consumers were very flirtatious and
always looked out for new news. Consumer base would often switch between brands depending
on new/ unique offerings coming in the market. Hence, Innovation in this category was
imperative. Looking at his skills, Rohan was given a task to come up with possible innovation
ideas for Engage Deo which will help the brand to break the clutter and fuel its growth to
become No. 1 brand in the category. Rohan knew that innovation could not be limited to
product or packaging and in order to achieve these objectives, he first had to answer below
questions for ‘Engage’:

a. How is the deodorant category in India? Who are the competitors and how have they
innovated and created a space for themselves? Who are the consumers?
b. How has Brand Engage and its products developed and evolved since its inception?
c. What are the different areas which can be explored for innovative ideas? Viz. Product,
Consumer experience, communication.

Being his first project after joining the organization, Rohan wanted to prove himself and sat
down with a bunch of papers, pencil, a cup of coffee and his innovative thoughts.

Industry Overview: Deo Category is Rs 2500 Cr category with more than 100 brands available
in the market. It includes deodorants, fragrances and colognes. Current penetration of Deo
category among the TG of 15-28 Yrs M/F SEC A, B+ (students and young urban professionals/
early jobbers) is approx. 20% and exhibits less brand loyalty compared to other categories like
Skin care. Deodorant category evolution has been primarily based on fragrances, product
innovation and communication. Engage entered the market with its unique psychographic
based targeting approach. Innovating at regular intervals has become a source of incremental
revenue for brands and has helped increase category penetration. Below competitive landscape
shows how different brands have distinctly carved a niche for itself and have changed the
course of category growth.

BRANDS INNOVATION INSIGHT

Rexona Roll-Ons New category in India market
Axe, Wildstone, Park Avenue, Product Format – Gas-based Roll ons are sticky & not
Nivea, Old Spice Deo, Fragrance options suitable for tropical climate

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 Fogg “No Gas” format, Mass
Engage Communication – Unique
psychographic based targeting
approach for men & women
in their early days of romance
Engage Cologne Launched Cologne –
Premium Carton Packaging
Layerr Clear Fragrance – Transparent
Bottle format
Value for money, No Gas
only liquid, More no of spray
Most brands spoke about
‘One way unabashed
attraction’
Introduced “Cologne” in India
– a fragrance format
originated in Germany
No Gas, but visible
consumption, Value for
money

About Engage: The personal care products business at ITC wanted to create a differential mix
to enter the market. Post an extensive research conducted amongst youth across the country as
well as key trend setting markets like Singapore and London, it was evident that a
psychographic based targeting approach can work well in order to create a new proposition.
A distinctive target group was identified, defined as- young men and women (23-28, SEC A,
urban) looking around for a partner/on the verge of intimacy, a stage when they are conscious
of their bodies and need to be ready for romance all the time. A relevant product proposition
with the brand name ‘Engage’ was developed for the target group. ‘Engage’ as a brand stood
for Playful Chemistry that exists between a man and a woman in the early days of a relationship.
All the elements of the marketing mix was established around this proposition. With the shape
of the cans, to the name of the variants to the communication strategy; everything revolved
around the Playful Chemistry platform. The advertising exemplified the proposition by
depicting the serendipitous romance using romantic settings & choreographed dance forms.
The packaging used silhouettes depicting Engaging moments between a man and a woman.
The brand commenced its launch in April 2013 with 6 variants (3 for Men and 3 for Women).
Consumers displayed very high level of traction with the proposition. Consumer activations
were done in colleges, multiplexes, malls, food-courts and hypermarkets.
Initial launch was followed by launch of 4 new variants (2 for Men and 2 for Women) to
continue with the excitement and buzz. Looking at the success of presenting fragrance options
to consumers, additional 4 new variants (2 for Men and 2 for Women) were launched in
March’14. With launch of more new fragrance variants at regular intervals, today Engage has
a total 16 variants of Deo (8 for Men and 8 for Women). Further, Engage launched its range of
Colognes (3 for Men and 3 for Women) with premium packaging, re-invoking the cologne
category which originated in Germany. Deodorant category was replete with Brand
Propositions which spoke about ‘One way unabashed attraction’. ‘Engage’ with its proposition
of equality of relationship in serendipitous romance was like a breath of fresh air.

With his homework done at night and mind full of ideas, Rohan left his home and was confident
to crack this trivia for ITC Engage. He had only one thing running in his head, what is the next
big thing in the journey of Brand Engage to reach No. 1 Position in Deodorant market? A strong
and innovative idea is all what he required. Can you help Rohan with it?

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 INSTRUCTIONS
1. This contest is for individual participation only.
2. Please read the case carefully and understand the business problem.
3. Solutions/ Ideas can be around packaging, product material, mode of usage,
dispensing, merchandising, communication etc.
4. No specific format required for entries, however, adequate illustration and articulation
of the idea is encouraged.
5. Entries can be sent on Whatsapp, SMS or by EMAIL.
a. Mobile Number for Whatsapp and SMS - +919007290596
b. Email id – engage@itc.in
6. Multiple entries are not allowed. Only one entry per participant.
7. Subject Line of e-mail or First Line of Whatsapp/ SMS message must mention
“#Think2Engage Idea / <Participant Name>/<College Name>”.
8. Participants must mention below details in all the entries.
a. Full Name of the Participant
b. Name of the College
c. Class/ Year with roll number
d. Phone number and Email ID
9. Winner will be chosen based on evaluation done by ITC Officials and results will be
final.
10. Please read the Terms and Conditions of this contest before participation.
11. Last date of receiving entries – 31st August 2015, 11:59 PM
12. For any queries and T&C, please contact your Campus POC.

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