ITM,VASHI

Market Research
Indian Personal Hygiene Market
Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd.: Brand Dettol
Arun Balkrishna Khedwal
2nd August 2014
Ref No: VAS2012XMBA25P001

Dettol is the trade name for a line of hygiene products manufactured by Reckitt Benckise,
used since before the 1950s. Dettol: an iconic brand has stood for “trusted protection” in
India since 1933. Voted consistently as one of India’s Most Trusted Brands (ORG Marg
Brand Equity Survey) since 2002. Today multiple product offerings of the brand Dettol
touch the consumers in many more aspects of personal and home care in their daily lives.
Consumers use Dettol in multiple ways and the brand has grown with introductions in
synergistic segments like Bar Soaps, Liquid Hand Wash & Hand Sanitizer.
Chapter
Topic details Page No
No

1 Introduction - Market Research 3-13

o The Marketing research Process

o Nature and Scope of Marketing Research

o Types of Marketing Research

o Marketing Research Methods

2 Indian Personal Hygiene Market 14 -17

o Summary Indian Market

o Overview -Indian Personal Hygiene Market

o India Outlook

3 Reckitt Benckiser 18- 27

o RB (Reckitt Benckiser) Global Overview

o RB (Reckitt Benckiser) India Overview

o Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd : 81 years of Brand Dettol

o Key Statistics – Global Personal hygiene

4 Dettol Soap 28-

o Positioning & Repositioning- Dettol Soap

o Advertisement & Sales Promotion

o Segmentation & SWOT Analysis

o Generic Competition

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 Chapter 1: Introduction

1. Marketing Research

Marketing research is the systematic gathering, recording, and analysis of data

about issues relating to marketing products and services. The term is
commonly interchanged with market research; however, expert practitioners
may wish to draw a distinction, in that market research is concerned
specifically with markets, while marketing research is concerned specifically
about marketing processes.

Marketing research is often partitioned into two sets of categorical pairs, either
by target market:-

1. Consumer marketing research, and

2. Business-to-business (B2B) marketing research

Or, alternatively, by methodological approach:-

1. Qualitative marketing research, and

2. Quantitative marketing research

Consumer marketing research is a form of applied sociology that concentrates

on understanding the preferences, attitudes, and behaviors of consumers in a
market-based economy, and it aims to understand the effects and comparative
success of marketing campaigns. The field of consumer marketing research as
a statistical science was pioneered by Arthur Nielsen with the founding of the
ACNielsen Company in 1923.

Thus, marketing research may also be described as the systematic and

objective identification, collection, analysis, and dissemination of information
for the purpose of assisting management in decision making related to the
identification and solution of problems and opportunities in market ing. The goal
of marketing research is to identify and assess how changing elements of the
marketing mix impacts customer behavior.

The task of marketing research (MR) is to provide management with relevant,

accurate, reliable, valid, and current information. Competitive marketing
environment and the ever-increasing costs attributed to poor decision making
require that marketing research provide sound information. Sound decisions
are not based on gut feeling, intuition, or even pure judgment.

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 1. 1. The Marketing research Process

Marketing research is gathered using a systematic approach. An example of

one follows:-

1. Define the problem. Never conduct research for things that you would 'like'
to know. Make sure that you really 'need' to know something. The problem
then becomes the focus of the research. For example, why are sales falling in
New Zealand?

2. How will you collect the data that you will analyse to solve your problem?

Do we conduct a telephone survey, or do we arrange a focus group?

3. Select a sampling method. Do we us a random sample, stratified sample, or

cluster sample?

4. How will we analyse any data collected? What software will we use? What
degree of accuracy is required?

5. Decide upon a budget and a timeframe.

6. Go back and speak to the managers or clients requesting the research.

Make sure that you agree on the problem! If you gain approval, then move on
to step seven.

7. Go ahead and collect the data.

8. Conduct the analysis of the data.

9. Check for errors. It is not uncommon to find errors in sampling, data

collection method, or analytic mistakes.

10. Write your final report. This will contain charts, tables, and diagrams that
will communicate the results of the research, and hopefully lead to a solution to
your problem. Watch out for errors in interpretation.

Marketing research does not only occur in huge corporations with many
employees and a large budget. Marketing information can be derived by
observing the environment of their location and the competitions location.
Small scale surveys and focus groups are low cost ways to gather information
from potential and existing customers. Most secondary data (statistics,
demographics, etc.) is available to the public in libraries or on the internet and
can be easily accessed by a small business owner.

We have given a general introduction to marketing research. Marketing

research is a huge topic area and has many processes, procedures, and
terminologies that build upon the points above.

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 1.2. Nature and Scope of Marketing Research

The marketing Research is significantly playing an important role in the

decision making process of a marketing manager.

In order to take good marketing decision, the marketing manager is dependent

on the following three factors

 Market or Product Information

 Market or Product Knowledge
 Market or Product News

“Market or Product Information”, relates to all the relevant facts about a

product or market, which manager may or may not have.

Through research the marketer is able to become more “Knowledgeable”,

about the latent needs and tastes of the consumer. Thus, a well-designed
research project will provide ‘News or facts of facets of situations to the
decision makers, which may have been unknown to them before.

It has been rightly said that marketing decision makers will be able to make
effective decision only on the basis of continuous flow of Marketing Information
and Research.

In this age of discontinuities and seismic shifts in consumer loyalty, tastes and
expectations, the marketing decision maker through the development of good
MIS (Marketing Information System) can gain the opportunity to understand
better the way consumers behave.

It is seen that management decision are evolved around the existing problem
at that movement of time. In case of a marketing manager, he/she has to make
decision with regard to the marketing problems with the help of Market
Research.

Marketing managers make numerous strategic and tactical decisions in the

process of identifying and satisfying customer needs. They make decisions
about potential opportunities, target market selection, market segmentation,
planning and implementing marketing programs, marketing performance, and
control. These decisions are complicated by interactions between the
controllable marketing variables of product, pricing, promotion, and
distribution.

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 1.3. Types of Marketing Research

Marketing research techniques come in many forms, including:

 Ad Tracking – periodic or continuous in-market research to monitor a

brand’s performance using measures such as brand awareness, brand
preference, and product usage. (Young, 2005)
 Advertising Research – used to predict copy testing or track the
efficacy of advertisements for any medium, measured by the ad’s ability
to get attention, communicate the message, build the brand’s image, and
motivate the consumer to purchase the product or service.
 Brand equity research - how favourably do consumers view the brand?
 Brand association research - what do consumers associate with the
brand?
 Brand attributes research - what are the key traits that describe the
brand promise?
 Brand name testing - what do consumers feel about the names of the
products?
 Commercial eye tracking research - examine advertisements, package
designs, websites, etc. by analysing visual behavior of the consumer
 Concept testing - to test the acceptance of a concept by target
consumers
 Cool hunting - to make observations and predictions in changes of new
or existing cultural trends in areas such as fashion, music, films,
television, youth culture and lifestyle
 Buyer decision processes research - to determine what motivates
people to buy and what decision-making process they use
 Copy testing – predicts in-market performance of an ad before it airs by
analysing audience levels of attention, brand linkage, motivation,
entertainment, and communication, as well as breaking down the ad’s
flow of attention and flow of emotion.
 Customer satisfaction research - quantitative or qualitative studies
that yields an understanding of a customer's of satisfaction with a
transaction
 Demand estimation - to determine the approximate level of demand for
the product
 Distribution channel audits - to assess distributors’ and retailers’
attitudes toward a product, brand, or company
 Internet strategic intelligence - searching for customer opinions in the
Internet: chats, forums, web pages, blogs... where people express freely
about their experiences with products, becoming strong "opinion
formers"
 Marketing effectiveness and analytics - Building models and
measuring results to determine the effectiveness of individual marketing
activities.
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  Mystery Consumer or Mystery shopping - An employee or
representative of the market research firm anonymously contacts a
salesperson and indicates he or she is shopping for a product. The
shopper then records the entire experience. This method is often used
for quality control or for researching competitors' products.
 Positioning research - how does the target market see the brand
relative to competitors? - What does the brand stand for?
 Price elasticity testing - to determine how sensitive customers are to
price changes
 Sales forecasting - to determine the expected level of sales given the
level of demand. With respect to other factors like Advertising
expenditure, sales promotion etc.
 Segmentation research - to determine the demographic,
psychographic, and behavioural characteristics of potential buyers
 Online panel - a group of individual who accepted to respond to
marketing research online
 Store audit - to measure the sales of a product or product line at a
statistically selected store sample in order to determine market share, or
to determine whether a retail store provides adequate service
 Test marketing - a small-scale product launch used to determine the
likely acceptance of the product when it is introduced into a wider market
 Viral Marketing Research - refers to marketing research designed to
estimate the probability that specific communications will be transmitted
throughout an individual’s Social Network. Estimates of Social
Networking Potential (SNP) are combined with estimates of selling
effectiveness to estimate ROI on specific combinations of messages and
media.

All of these forms of marketing research can be classified as either problem -

identification research or as problem-solving research.

There are two main sources of data — primary and secondary. Primary
research is conducted from scratch. It is original and collected to solve the
problem in hand. Secondary research already exists since it has been
collected for other purposes. It is conducted on data published previously and
usually by someone else. Secondary research costs far less than primary
research, but seldom comes in a form that exactly meets the needs of the
researcher.

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 1.4. Marketing Research Methods

Methodologically, marketing research uses the following types of research

designs:-

Based on questioning: -

Qualitative marketing research - generally used for exploratory purposes -

small number of respondents - not generalizable to the whole population -
statistical significance and confidence not calculated - examples include focus
groups, in-depth interviews, and projective techniques

Quantitative marketing research - generally used to draw conclusions - tests

a specific hypothesis - uses random sampling techniques so as to infer from
the sample to the population - involves a large number of respondents -
examples include surveys and questionnaires. Techniques include choice
modelling, maximum difference preference scaling, and covariance analysis.

Based on observations: -

Ethnographic studies - by nature qualitative, the researcher observes social

phenomena in their natural setting - observations can occur cross-sectionally
(observations made at one time) or longitudinally (observations occur over
several time-periods) - examples include product-use analysis and computer
cookie traces. See also Ethnography and Observational techniques. S

Experimental techniques - by nature quantitative, the researcher creates a

quasi-artificial environment to try to control spurious factors, then manipulates
at least one of the variables - examples include purchase laboratories and test
markets

Researchers often use more than one research design. They may start with
secondary research to get background information, then conduct a focus group
(qualitative research design) to explore the issues. Finally they might do a full
nation-wide survey (quantitative research design) in order to devise specific
recommendations for the client.

Business to business market research

Business to business (B2B) research is inevitably more complicated than

consumer research. The researchers need to know what type of multi-faceted
approach will answer the objectives, since seldom is it possible to find the
answers using just one method. Finding the right respondents is crucial in B2B
research since they are often busy, and may not want to participate.
Encouraging them to “open up” is yet another skill required of the B2B
researcher.

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1.5. Marketing Research in Small businesses and non-profit organizations

Marketing research does not only occur in huge corporations with many
employees and a large budget. Marketing information can be derived by
observing the environment of their location and the competitions location.
Small scale surveys and focus groups are low cost ways to gather information
from potential and existing customers. Most secondary data (statistics,
demographics, etc.) is available to the public in libraries or on the internet and
can be easily accessed by a small business owner.

Below some steps that could do by SME (Small Medium Enterprise) to analyze
the market.

1. Provide secondary and or primary data (if necessary);

2. Analyze Macro & Micro Economic data (e.g. Supply & Demand, GDP,Price
change, Economic growth, Sales by sector/industries, interest rate, number of
investment/ divestment, I/O, CPI, Social anlysis,etc);

3. Implement the marketing mix concept, which is consist of: Place, Price,
Product, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence and also Political &
social situation to analyze global market situation);

4. Analyze market trends, growth, market size, market share, market

competition (e.g. SWOT analysis, B/C Analysis, channel mapping identities of
key channels, drivers of customers loyalty and satisfaction, brand perception,
satisfaction levels, current competitor-channel relationship analysis, etc.),etc.;

5. Determine market segment, market target, market forecast and market

position;

6. Formulating market strategy & also investigating the possibility of

partnership/ collaboration (e.g. Profiling & SWOT analysis of potential partners,
evaluating business partnership.)

7. Combine those analysis with the SME's business plan/ business model
analysis (e.g. Business description, Business process, Business strategy,
Revenue model, Business expansion, Return of Investment, Financial analysis
(Company History, Financial assumption, Cost/Benefit Analysis, Projected
profit & Loss, Cash flow, Balance sheet & business Ratio,etc).

Note as important: Overall analysis is should be based on 6W+1H (What,

When, Where, Which, Who, Why and How) question.

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 Figure1.5.1: 6W+1H Model

Market research is a very important step for all start-ups as, amongst other
things, it helps you understand whether your offering is likely to generate
demand. Once you have a clear sense of who your customers are, the
following represent some additional things to think about:

Where are these customers?

How many customers are there?

What do they require from your product or service?

How you intend to reach them?

In looking to answer these questions focus on these overall understanding you

are trying to develop with relation to your clientele and market:

Understand where your customers are. If you are planning on opening a coffee
shop in Dublin, it is important to recognize that the primary market you’ll serve
will largely be a function of the footfall in that area. Given the intense
competition, for what is essentially a commodity offering, people do not travel
far, so your addressable market will largely be a local one. Hence, in this
instance the proposed physical location will be a significant determinant of
success. While coffee is a high margin product, the importance of locating in
high footfall areas means rental rates per square foot tend to also be very
high, so you need to factor this into your plans. Finally, you need to be very
clear on your basis for competing as it is likely there will be many other co ffee
shops where you plan on opening. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Opening
in an area with no coffee shops could be a signal that there is insufficient
footfall in the area. Looking at a different example; in the context of software
development (or simply Internet websites), product managers will often create

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detailed personas of typical customers which then help inform subsequent
decisions made when developing the application.

For Irish developers it is important to have a global outlook from day 1. The
domestic market is small and does not offer the scale software companies
need. Hence you’ll see examples with Irish start-ups targeting non Irish
customers from the start i.e. the social recruitment software player, Zartis.com
prices in $’s (despite being based in Cork) so as to market effectively to their
largest customer base.

Estimate the size of the market you can serve. Once you obtain an assessment
of the size of the market that you can realistically target, you can then ensure
that you have commensurate resources in place. Similarly, if you do intend to
seek external investment, the size of the market will be of significant interest to
prospective investors and the level of investment they will consider. With a
coffee shop, the market size will be a combination of people residing within say
a square KM of the premises, married to the footfall or passing traffic. One
easy way to get some plausible estimates for the market size is to do some
primary market research. For example, you can call in to an existing coffee
shop, order a coffee and count the numbers of customers passing through in
an hour. You can come back at different times to account for the cyclicality of
the business (customer numbers typically peak around rush hour commutes).
This data can then extrapolated out to help you assess a range for the likely
customer demand on a particular street. With software developers, the market
size will clearly depend on the actual product and feature set. Given customers
do not need to be locally based, the reach can be far wider (and largely a
function of the inherent demand for the offering, the language on the site and
the placement in Google’s’ search engine). Again there are a number of tools
that can be used to assess likely demand ranges i.e. analysis of keyword
competition, number of competitors etc.

Be clear on what your customers require. It is important to recognise the

different requirements of different customer groups. Customers of coffee shops
at a busy train station may simply want a fast service as a key element of the
offering. They will probably consume ‘on the go’ so a simple kiosk may offer
the best return. Customers in a coffee shop in the suburbs may want
somewhere to spend some time. Some will place a high value on wifi access ,
others on the ability to fit a buggy in the door. While the core product is the
same, the service offering can vary greatly. Having a clear sense of your
different customer groups and their requirements will help you meet the needs
of the different niches profitably. For software developers, it is best to meet the
requirements of the largest niche with a main offering. Once the application is
available the key will be to solicit feedback from all early users and to then
decide if their varying requirements can be merged into new features which

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may take the shape of a different product versions. So ‘power users’ may opt
for a premium offering with an enhanced feature set over the main version.

Create a marketing plan to target them effectively. Location is everything for

coffee shops, so this will be a key element of your business plan. Once that
has been decided, external branding and signage will help you communicate
the offering to the market. The internal set up of the store will also signal the
markets catered for. Listing in local business directories, handing out flyers
and placing local newspaper adverts will also help create brand awareness.
Social media will also increasingly play a role as the adoption of smart phones
continues apace, and users increasingly rely on geo-targeting applications to
find services they need while on the move. For software developers it is
important to identify the 5-10 keywords that are likely to generate traffic and to
optimise the site for those. PPC advertising will also represent a cost effective
means to market to prospects. After that, a whole mix of marketing activities
can be considered for your marketing plan ranging from print advertising to
trade show attendance to social media marketing (blogs, Twitter, LinkedI n and
Facebook activity).

In summary, having a clear sense of who your customers are from day 1 will
help ensure you can define your market accurately. You can then market to
these customers effectively while also helping you ensure that your cost base
is not out of kilter with the likely demand levels. The more you know about your
customers the easier it is to meet their needs and to target them with
appropriate messaging. Finally, it will also help you understand the wider
landscape i.e. who you do not intend to target and also who the main
substitute and competitive offerings are.

Market research is a systematic, objective collection and analysis of data

about your target market, competition, and/or environment and your goal
should be to increase your understanding of them. What most people forget is
this: market research is not an activity conducted only once. It is an ongoing
cycle, or at least it should be if you are really going to benefit.

The power of information is outstanding when it comes to market research.

The information you find can guide your most important strategic business
decisions and usually, if done properly, the findings and conclusions you reach
have a value that exceeds the cost of the research itself.

So here are my top 10 benefits of market research:

1. Market research guides your communication with current and potential

customers.

Once you have your research results, you should have enough ammunition to
formulate the most effective way to communicate to your customers. You

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should know what they like/don’t like to hear/see/do. Then you can tailor what
you say to them to make them take action.

2. Market research helps you identify opportunities in the marketplace.

Research might make it obvious that a new product you have planned may not
be what your market wants or needs. You may then decide to make
modifications on what you are going to offer to suit your audience.

3. Market research helps you minimize risks.

Through market research, you may find all the information you need to deci de
whether to take action on a particular subject. For example, you may find that
the particular location where you wanted to open a shop already has a
saturated market in your line of business, which should make you refrain from
making that decision and look for a more appropriate spot.

4. Market research measures your reputation.

It’s always good to know how you measure against your competitors. Market
research finds out just where you are and then, according to the results, you
can take action to change perception.

5. Market research uncovers and identifies potential problems.

You can get consumers’ reactions to a new product or service when it is still
being developed. This should enlighten any further development so it suits its
intended market.

6. Market research helps you plan ahead.

Research can estimate the likely sales of a new product/service and also the
advertising expenditure required to achieve maximum profits.

7. Market research can help you establish trends.

If you treat your market research as an ongoing exercise that you do

periodically, you’ll find that you’ll have a lot of data to be able to analyse your
customers and establish any particular trends.

8. Market research helps you establish your market positioning.

It’s important to know the position of your business at particular moments in

time. Information from market research helps you benchmark and monitor your
progress, which can be useful to make decisions and take action.

9. Market research can determine the most persuasive ‘promise’.

Every brand needs to make a promise. If you think of the most known brands,
they all make a promise to you and you usually know what is by just looking at

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their logo. It can be security, a fast and tasty meal or the assurance of top
technology. It needs to be simple and market research can help you define
what your brand’s promise is.

10. Market research can find that compromise.

The team involved in the launch of a new product/service all have their
individual perceptions and gut feelings. These certainly should not be ignored,
but by going straight to the target audience, you will gain thoughts and
opinions from people who may be less biased or less emotionally attached to a
new development or service. It helps gain a new angle, hopefully a
compromise in just how you are going to go about a new launch, a new brand
or a brand repositioning.

In a nutshell, market research is an invaluable tool that, at first, might seem

expensive and slow, but it’s nothing more than an investment. As one of our
very good clients always says, “Best to measure twice and cut once to
maximise your returns”.

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 Chapter 2: Indian Personal Hygiene Market

2.1 Summary Indian Market

The second most populous country in the world, India’s population is expected
to exceed China by 2035. The GDP growth rate of the country for fiscal year
2013-2014 was 5%, and is projected to between 6-7% in 2014-2015. Currently,
India’s economic growth rate ranks second among the world’s large
economies, just after China. For years, the world has held a positive outlook
for India’s market-oriented economy and its domestic consumption potential.
The hygiene products market here has shown an explosive growth in recent
years.

Meanwhile, the new economic policies launched by the Indian government,

which are designed to deepen economic reform, will shift its priority to develop
underdeveloped areas, increase support to industries, especially to
manufacturing industries, and the enhanced efforts to attract foreign
investment. All these examples demonstrate India’s determination to continue
its opening up of its domestic market. In addition, as English is one of the
official languages used in India, the popularity of English enables India to
access the most cutting-edge information technology promptly. Today, India
continues to draw more and more attention from the outside world. Attractive
prospects In India, the middle class is expanding, the number of women and
infants are increasing, public health consciousness continuous strengthening,
and purchasing power is gradually improving, which in turn will help the
country to achieve a relatively high level of economic development. When the
time comes, household paper and hygiene products will transform from being
“luxury” items in the home into “necessities”, and as a result India’s huge
market potential will be released, with immeasurable space for development.

Despite these difficulties, considering the average 26 million newborns in India

every year, which is 1.6 times that in China, the personal hygiene industry
observers and foreign investors agree that the market potential is enormous.
The leading global players’ aggressive contest here will heat up the
competition in the coming years.

Small brands can only compete in low-priced regional markets. Currently, as

India’s logistics network is underdeveloped, international brand manufacturers
are joining hands with local regional manufacturers by commissioning these
small plants to produce hygiene products with the same quality and packaging
appearance, to meet the fast growing market demand.

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 2.2 Overview -Indian Personal Hygiene Market

Historically, personal hygiene has implied and was confined to just bathing and
cleaning oneself. However, this perception has been fast changing in the wake
of increasing literacy levels, robust economic growth, increasing concerns over
health, beauty and grooming, and evolving lifestyles.

Moreover, steady increase in disposable incomes, coupled with an enhanced

willingness to spend, has driven consumers’ demand for higher priced, better
quality products.

The Indian personal hygiene sector is dominated by multinational companies

(MNCs) which have been operating in the country for a number of years. With
the liberalization of foreign direct investment (FDI) policies, more such
companies are expected to enter the sector, resulting in increased competition
from many new foreign players. Besides, major Indian companies are on an
expansion drive and are seeking opportunities in other emerging countries.

The personal hygiene segment in India is witnessing a trend of

premiumization, primarily in the urban market segment. Consumers are more
inclined towards buying the best available products. This up-trading in
personal care was a predicted phenomenon given the contemporary reach of
media and emphasis on grooming.

There is a general perception that Indians do not take serious care of their oral
health. The bleak scenario indicates that about one-third of the Indian
population does not have access to modern

Oral Care: - The per capita consumption of toothpaste in India, which is about
146 gm – one of the lowest in the world.

Almost one-third of the Indian population does not have access to modern oral
care.

Dental cavities (tooth decay) are prevalent in sixty-three percent of fifteen-

year-olds and in approximately eighty percent of adults in the age group of 35-
44 years old.

One out of three Indians suffers from gum problems. Particularly, periodontal
diseases (gum diseases) are prevalent in sixty-eight percent of fifteen-year-
olds and in ninety percent of adults in the age group of 35-44 years old.

One in every six consumers suffers from dental sensitivity.

Soaps and Shower gels segment:-The soaps and shower gels segment is
observing an uptrend towards shower gel & face wash products. These are
premium products and offer better margins. This is the primary reason that

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companies are pushing these products to improve their sliding profit margins in
traditional soaps.

Antiperspirant and Deodorant: - Though the antiperspirant and deodorant

market is dominated by the male segment, this category has immense
possibilities of expanding into the female segment. Further, the industry
believes that some male products are also used by females as they considered
being stronger deodorants.

Feminine hygiene: - The Indian feminine health care market has been
growing rapidly. However, the penetration levels of feminine health products
are very low. The rural population needs to be educated to increase awareness
about feminine hygiene. Consequently, this sector has immense untapped
potential for the companies who want to diversify into this category as well as
for new entrants.

An ever-increasing middle class – the key target - along with increasing

demand from the rural areas offers a massive opportunity for the Indian
personal hygiene sector. The sector was estimated at in 2012; the personal
care market in India is about $6.3 billion and is growing at over 13 percent per
year. The growth is driven by increasing per capita income, by rapid
urbanization, and by aspirations among young Indian to look as good as local
and global celebrities.

The industry is dominated by MNCs such as Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL),

Procter & Gamble India Ltd (P&G), and Johnson & Johnson. These companies
have a well-organized distribution network.

The country is a favourable destination offering as it does cheap and skilled

workforce with easy raw material availability. Further, the major players are
constantly under pressure from the unorganized sector to keep operational
costs low so as to remain competitive in this price-sensitive market.

Tapping the rural market has been the priority for most of the companies in this
sector and they have expanded their distribution reach mostly in rural India.
For example, HUL has tripled its rural penetration in the last two years.

There is always a trade-off between value-growth and volume-growth.

Interestingly, over the years, these companies have managed to balance these
two factors well. However, in the near future, consumer demand will be
inclined toward up-trading.

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 2.3 India Outlook

With over 70% percent of the population of India living in the villages, the base
of the Pyramid seems to be the focus area for personal hygiene companies. An
increasing per capita income coupled with rising literacy rates in rural areas is
expected to spur the consumption of personal hygiene products.

Given the inherently essential nature of personal hygiene products,

recessionary pressures are unlikely to affect the industry at large. The
phenomenal growth of the industry in the last decade in consonance with
growing urbanization, changing lifestyles and buying behaviours of consumers
are indicators of the industry’s bright future.
A Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) study suggests that countries like India,
China, Indonesia, the North African countries and Latin America represent a
new consumer base termed as the Global Emerging Markets (GEM).

Further, changing demographics of consumers will place emphasis on beauty,

health, and wellness. This will lead to increased requirements for more
customized and relevant products. Government initiatives such as the
implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) and opening up of the
retail market to FDIs will also give the industry a much required bo ost. Finally,
the government is considering modernizing labour laws, which will improve the
efficiency of services.

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 Chapter 3: About Reckitt Benckiser

3.1 Reckitt Benckiser Global

Reckitt Benckiser plc (LSE: RB) is a multinational consumer goods company

headquartered in Slough, Berkshire, England. It is a major producer of healt h,
hygiene and home products. It was formed in 1999 by the merger of the UK-
based Reckitt & Colman plc and the Netherlands-based Benckiser NV.

RB is the world's No.1 consumer health & hygiene company. High impact,
consumer-led research is the heart of the company's success and our mission
is to promote healthier lives & happier homes.

Reckitt Benckiser is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituen t

of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalisation of approximately £34.75
billion as of 12 February 2014.

Figure 3.1.1 Reckitt Benckiser Vision and Purpose

18
Reckitt Benckiser's brands include Dettol (the world's largest -selling
antiseptic), Strepsils (the world's largest-selling sore throat medicine), Veet
(the world's largest-selling depilatory brand), Air Wick (the world's second -
largest-selling air freshener), Calgon, Clearasil, Cillit Bang, Durex, Lysol, and
Vanish. It has operations in around 60 countries and its products are sold in
almost 200 countries.

RB's 19 Power brands are globally leading brands in high growth categories.
These high-performing categories are Health, Home, Hygiene, Portfolio
Brands, Food and Pharmaceuticals.

Figure 3.1.2 Globally Leading Brands

* % net revenue. Figures based on Full Year Results for 2013.

Figure 3.1.3 Globally Division wise performance

19
 3.2 Reckitt Benckiser India

Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd (RBIL) is a fully owned subsidiary of Rec kitt
Benckiser Plc, world's No.1 Company in household cleaning. Reckitt Benckiser
Plc came into being with the merger of Reckitt & Colman Plc with Benckiser
NV in 1999. The company has operations in 60 countries, sales in 180
countries and has had net revenues in excess of $6.5 billion last year.

The year 2008 saw the company achieve very strong financial results despite
increasingly turbulent economic conditions globally. Net revenues grew by 13%
to £6,563m and adjusted operating profit was up by 15% to £l, 535 m. This
performance, following a number of years of strong growth, was testament to
the global strength of the Company's strategy and execution, and the quality of
its employees and their leadership.

The Indian subsidiary RBIL manufactures and markets a wide range of

products in Personal care, Pest control, Shoe care, Antiseptics, Surface care,
Fabric care and other categories. Amongst its many well-known brands are
Dettol, Mortein, Harpic, Cherry Blossom, Lizol, Disprin, Robin powder, Colin,
etc. Most of these brands are either number 1 or number 2 in their respective
categories in India.

RBIL distributes all its products through its common distribution channel, which
has a wide and deep reach in the Indian market and is a key strength of the
company. The channel is managed by a well-structured sales force,
responsible for achieving sales for the entire product portfolio of more than 150
Stock Keeping Units (SKUs).

Figure 3.2.1 Reckitt Benckiser India- Brands

20
 3.3 Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd.: 81 years of Brand Dettol

Dettol, the brand synonymous with protection from germs, had for long been
voted as India’s most trusted brand. In April 2014, the marketing team of Dettol
was reviewing the brand’s performance in its 81st year of existence to
formulate a three-year plan. Dettol’s growth trend had been slow but steady
over the years and a number of initiatives taken in the recent years had started
yielding results.

Dettol continues to be one of Reckitt's key growth drivers, contributing close to

Rs 300 crore to its revenues in 2013-14. "Contribution to the exceptional
growth that we expect to post this year will be led by the Dettol franchise".
Over 40 per cent of the company's growth will come from Dettol. Reckitt is
spending around Rs 20 crore on media campaigns for Dettol this year.

Dettol antiseptic has been extended to almost every new product that could
lend itself well to the brand's core value proposition: soap, medicated plasters,
cream, liquid soap, talc have yielded varying results. Soap (both bar and liquid)
account for as much as 70 per cent of the Dettol brand value, with the
antiseptic liquid bringing in the rest.

In 2013-14 Dettol antiseptic enjoys more than 80 per cent market share. It's
the No 4 player in soap with an approximate 8 per cent market share and the
leader in liquid handwash with over 50 per cent. Even the kitchen gel launched
in February this year, has managed to usurp a share of 10.2 per cent
according to Nielsen, in spite of aggressive advertising from competition like
Hindustan Unilever. The brand's undisputed equity has helped in growing the
portfolio aggressively.

The brand started its journey in 1933 as antiseptic liquid, but over the years, it
has been extended to a number of product categories like toilet soaps, liquid
handwash, liquid bodywash, shaving cream and plaster strips. The growth
trend in the last few years had been encouraging with shares showing an
accelerated upward growth in most categories, but the team felt share gain
could be much faster. The brand team decided to further build on the growth
trajectory and set itself a visionary target that of doubling Dettol’s overall share
in next three years in the combined market of the product categories it is
present in (Antiseptic Liquid, Bar soaps, Liquid Handwash, Bodywash).

The team knew that it had to address various challenges to achieve its
ambitious target viz. consumers saw the need for germ kill only in specific
situations, resulting in irregular usage and seasonality. The brand had to fight
in a competing environment in which new variants and re -launches were used
for driving growth, it was critical to determine what & where should be the
business thrust to optimize the marketing spend and further accelerate the
brand growth.

21
 Figure 3.3.1 Reckitt Benckiser India- Brand Dettol Innovation

The brand Dettol was launched in India in 1933 in the Antiseptic liquid form as
a treatment for cuts and wounds. For almost the first 50 years, Dettol was
present only as an antiseptic liquid. Although it was being used in hospitals
and nursing homes for first aid and disinfectant uses like cleaning wards,
washing linen, etc. Consumers were also using it for bathing, mopping,
shaving and other secondary purposes. While it started its journey as the ‘cuts
and wounds’ brand in the country, over the years it had taken over the role of
‘protector from germs’ in every situation.

Dettol Antiseptic Liquid has some strong, distinct associations -first and
foremost is its trademark smell. Who can miss the characteristic Dettol smell
that has been the reassurance to many a child’s scraped knee! Consumers
recognize the smell enough to refer to a medicinally clean room as ‘Dettol like
smell’. In the book, ‘Planning of Power Advertising’, Anand Halve me ntions, “It
is a safe bet that you will be able to tell the smell of Dettol liquid on a cut with
the reassuring tingling sensation which tells you it has begun to work. Savlon
on the other does not have the same burning sensation, (and is) very often
seen by consumers as ‘ineffective’ ”.

The second characteristic is its amber gold color. The third is the ‘clouding’
effect that appears when it is added to water.

Dettol’s packaging is distinct in its very own way. The green & white colours
are associated with hospitals. All Dettol products have a sword on the pack,
which is a symbol for fighting germs and infection. Over the years, the clouding
action and the sword have become synonymous with the brand and have been
creatively used in Dettol advertising.
22
Consumers see Dettol as an ‘expert’, as something which is effective and
versatile and guarantees protection from germs. It has been likened to a
bodyguard who protects them from the unclean and unhygienic outside world.
The brand’s versatility stems from multiple uses of the antiseptic liquid which
offers protection in so many different forms market growth, in other markets
Usage of the brand gives rise to many emotions in the consumers’ minds.
From making them feel safe and secure about the well-being of their family to
making the mother feel that she has done the best for her family, the brand
evokes positive imageries and emotions. Thus, it is only fitting that the brand’s
tagline says - Be 100% sure.

Over the years brand Dettol has been extended and has made its presence felt
in a number of product categories. While Antiseptic Liquid was the category
where the brand was born and where it continues to command a dominant
market share of 85%, its revenue growth is significantly driven by its presence
in the other product categories of toilet soaps(or bar soaps), Liquid handwash,
Body wash, Shaving Cream and Plasters too. Each of these markets are at
varying stages of evolution, so while in one market the brand - as the leader -
had the responsibility of driving overall, the brand strategy had been to garner
share.

Fundamental to all the categories was existence/creation of a consumer need

for germ protection satiated by Dettol’s trusted promise.

Figure 3.3.2 Reckitt Benckiser India- Brand Dettol

23
 3.4 Markets for various categories - The Antiseptic liquid market

According to industry experts, the antiseptic liquids market in India is pegged

at Rs 200 crore. Dettol is the leader in the antiseptic liquids market in India
with a share of 86%, followed by Savlon from Johnson & Johnson at 8%.

Communication: Dettol’s communication in the initial years was via medical

detailing material, print advertisement in popular press and medical journals.
This was followed by TV advertisements centered on first aid application for
many years.

Antiseptic liquids market in India 2013-14

Product Market Share in Rs. crore % Share
Dettol 172 86%
Savlon 16 8%
Others 12 6%
Total 200 100%

Table: 3.4.1 Antiseptic liquids market in India

Other Players in the antiseptic liquid market:-

Savlon:- It is the key direct competitor in the Antiseptic Liquid market. It was
launched with ‘no sting with Savlon’ campaign. It attempted to pull the
consumer base towards its product promise of non-sting. In Feb 2005, it
started with a new ‘70% doctors prefer Savlon’ advertisement with heavy
media support. However, brand’s share has more or less remained stagnant
over the years. Since beginning of 2007, Savlon has been off air.

Suthol: - G.D. Pharma launched Suthol antiseptic liquid in April 2006 in their
stronghold state of West Bengal, which was positioned on soothing sensation,
from irritation due to prickly heat, mosquito bites, after-shave, etc. Both TV and
print media were used to promote the brand in West Bengal during the launch
phase. The brand has shown strong share gain mainly in the East. In 2007, the
brand was rolled out to other states, with heavy print support in Delhi & West
Bengal, but with little success beyond East.

3.5 Key Statistics - Global

Personal hygiene

 Overall 54% of people surveyed reported good personal hygiene

(washing hands with soap five or more times a day)
 Good personal hygiene was higher among women (59.5%) than men
(44.5%) and increased with age, income and education level

24
  Hygiene habits vary according to profession with homemakers reporting
the highest level of personal hygiene (64.5% good personal hygiene)
and students reporting the worst (44.5%)
 The strongest predictor of personal hygiene was the automaticity of
hand washing, followed by contamination sensitivity and personal
hygiene routine

- People for whom hygiene practices are innate or automatic are over ten times
more hygienic than those for whom it is not

 Having the infrastructure and equipment for hand washing made no

difference to reported hand washing frequencies
 Messy people are less hygienic than tidy people
 Brazil and Germany reported the highest rates of good personal hygiene
of the countries surveyed, while China, Malaysia and South Africa
ranked lowest

Household hygiene

 Overall, half of peopled surveyed had a high household hygiene

behaviour score (score 24/30 or higher on the index)
 High household hygiene scores were more common among women than
men (58.7% vs. 43.0%)
 As with personal hygiene, good household hygiene practice was also
more common with increasing age and income
 Hygiene habits vary according to profession, with homemakers reporting
the highest level of household hygiene (63.7%) and students the lowest
(38.5%)
 Again, as with personal hygiene, the automaticity of the behaviour and
contamination sensitivity (responding to visible dirt) determined the
likelihood of frequent surface cleaning. However some people did not
clean as a matter of routine, but responded to seeing visible dirt
- People for whom hygiene practices are innate or automatic are twice
as hygienic than those for whom it is not
 Regular use of antibacterial cleaning products is associated with
tidiness, having children, strong household hygiene routines, higher
income, education and automatic cleaning
 Messy people are less hygienic than tidy people
 The UK and Australia reported the highest household hygiene levels,
and China, Malaysia and Middle East the worst

Infectious health (prevalence of colds and diarrhoea)

 The odds of being healthy were 1.4 times higher among those who
hand-wash with soap more than six times a day than those who did not
hand-wash with soap at all

25
  Good personal hygiene scores were associated with lower levels of
colds and diarrhoea. In particular, having a hand washing routine and
perceiving hand washing to be a social norm were highly associated with
reported low levels of these infections
 Having good manners was also protective of infectious health, the odds
of good infectious health were almost two and a half times higher among
those who reported embarrassment at sneezing on others
 Those living in a dirty environment reported twice as much infection
 Better personal hygiene norms, routine and peer influence all had a
significant impact on improved infectious health

Use of antibacterial soap

 30% of respondents reported always using antibacterial soap, the odds

of using antibacterial soap were higher among younger people
 The odds of reporting good personal hygiene are lower among those
who have not heard of antibacterial soap (30.8%) than those who
sometimes (53.9%) and always (60.7%) use antibacterial soap
 Having children and being tidy were also significantly associated with
usage

Use of antibacterial cleaning products

 Overall 94% of respondents had heard of antibacterial cleaning

products. Always using antibacterial products was more common among
those in higher income brackets and increased with increasing ed ucation
level
 Regular use of antibacterial cleaning products was also associated with
automatic cleaning, having a strong household cleaning routine, age,
having children, tidiness and living in a dirty environment

Personal hygiene

 In India, gender has no bearing on personal hygiene with men and

women equally as likely to engage in good hygiene practices
 Social norms are associated with hand washing; the odds of practising
good personal hygiene are more than two times higher among those
believing hand washing is common practice – this is the strongest
determinant of good personal hygiene in India

26
Household hygiene

 In India, gender has no bearing on household hygiene with men and

women equally as likely to engage in good household hygiene practices
 The strongest determinant of good household hygiene in India is the
preference for antibacterial products; the odds of having good household
hygiene are two times higher among those using antibacterial cleaning
products than those not using such products
 Tidiness is related to household hygiene behaviour; the odds of
reporting good household hygiene are 1.7 times higher among tidy
people
 Good household hygiene is associated with having children; the odds of
good household hygiene are two times higher among those with children
than those who do not

Infectious health

 The odds of good health are four times higher among older people (55 -
64) than younger people (16-24) in India
 Manners has a positive association with infectious health; the odds of
reporting good infectious health are three times higher among those with
good manners

Use of antibacterial soap

 The strongest determinant of antibacterial soap usage in India is

education; the odds of using antibacterial soap are three times higher
among more educated people
 Tidiness is related to preference for antibacterial soaps; the odds of
using antibacterial soap are one and a half times higher among tidy
people
 Social norms are associated with preference for antibacterial soap; the
odds of using antibacterial soap are three times higher among those who
believe it is common practice

Use of antibacterial cleaning products

 The strongest determinant of antibacterial product usage in India is

education; the odds of using antibacterial products are ove r two and a
half times higher among more highly educated people
 Tidiness is related to preference for antibacterial products; the odds of
using antibacterial cleaning products are one and a half times higher
among tidy people than untidy people

27
 Chapter 4: Dettol Soap

4.1 Positioning & Repositioning- Dettol Soap

Dettol Soap was launched in India in the early 80s. The launch was based on
consumer feedback on Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, where secondary usage of the
product always came up. Since many consumers used Dettol in their bathing
water, the company thought of offering Dettol in a more convenient form of
soap. So Dettol Original was launched. It was launched on the platform of ‘Mild
and Gentle Skin Care’ with the selling proposition as – “Give your family the
loving care of Dettol Soap”.

However, even after two years of launch Dettol soap could not make its
presence. Then in mid 80s an exhaustive consumer research was undertaken
with the objective of finding reasons for dissatisfaction among consumer and
the result revealed that a consumer platform has to be built for a special
bathing soap based on Dettol’s core strengths and not on the mild and gentle
skincare platform. It was also seen that consumers were open to the idea of
using Dettol Soap when they faced extreme dirt conditions. These could be
based on exposure to dirt and germs, pollution, heat, sweat etc.

Another challenge was to create a positioning that manages a fine balance

between a cosmetic and therapeutic medicated position. The final positioning
that was decided was “Dettol protection comes to you and your family in the
form of soap for those daily occasions when an especially clean germicidal
bath is necessary. “When No Ordinary Bath Will Do – Dettol Soap – The 100%
Bath”.

The advertising was thus developed along these lines and Dettol Soap was re -
launched. The advertising clicked with the consumer. Dettol soap sales
reacted very positively to this new communication. Dettol sales grew year after
year, with communication being renewed periodically to keep consumer
interest in the brand promise alive. Over the years, the communication was
moved along this gradient of educating consumers, on how they pick up germs
throughout the day and only Dettol soap can give the required protection every
day.

Figure 4.1.1 Dettol Soap all variants

28
Again by 2000, it saw limited success and its market share had started
stagnating. Research on brand equity revealed that while Dettol’s equity
remained very strong on ‘germ protection’, the product’s relevance in the
consumer’s choice for a bathing soap was getting limited. It was also gathered
in the consumer research that while loyalists loved Dettol soap for its
trademark fragrance, it was being rejected by a big chunk of consumers as a
regular bathing soap bar. The brand team felt a need to launch variants in
Dettol Soap given that sensorial measures like fragrance moisturized soft skin
etc were key drivers when it came to consumers choosing their soap brands.

Figure 4.1.2 Market Share of Indian Soap Market in 2013

Dettol Skincare soap was thus launched in January 2004 - A white colored
soap, offering Dettol’s protection with moisturizers to nourish the skin. This
was followed by the third variant – Dettol Cool in February 2014, which offered
trusted Dettol protection with menthol to help feel refreshed and revitalized. As
a result Dettol's share increased from 6.6% in June '08 to 7.7% in June '09,
placing it ahead of Wipro's beauty soap Santoor as the country's third -largest
soap brand by value. Analysts attribute multiple reasons for Dettol's growth like
consistent positioning on the germ-protection platform, stable pricing and
smaller packs. As a result Dettol soap’s share has grown to 7.7% — this is a
rare feat in a mature category like soaps where penetration is close to 100%.

29
 4.2 Advertisement

Dettol brand of Reckitt and Benckiser was launched in 1936 as an antiseptic

liquid; the brand became a generic name for antiseptic liquid and then
extended into soaps. From its launch to 1980's the brand had a dream run with
virtually no competitors.

Target Market: - The target market for Dettol soaps is mainly mothers and
housewives as they mainly run the household and buying all household items
and keeping the household germ free and hygienic is in their hands.

Promotional Strategies: - The Dettol advertising starting in 1960s has

centered on educating consumers on the need for protection from germs, while
offering solutions to manage the problem of germs wherever and whenever
they may occur. Starting then and till now Dettol advertising has celebrated the
role of a mother in protecting her family.

Promotion Tools: - The various promotion tools it has used are –

Television Advertisements: - In the television advertisement it has focused

on the mothers and their children everywhere they air the advertisement. They
main idea of their each advertisement rests upon 100% germ protection.

Print Advertisements: - These advertisement also focused upon the core

value i.e. germ protection displaying its variants and extensions.

Internet Advertisements: - Here advertisement focuses on the variety on

products which are offered. Dettol through its website is helping to educate
people how to improve hygiene practice and provide training and education
material on good hygiene. They also advertise the different variety of products
offered.

Figure 4.2.1 Dettol Website (http://www.dettol.co.in/)

30
Recently Dettol has come out with a campaign – “Aap ka Dettol kya kya karta
hai?” The campaign harps over the communication strategy of re-inforcing the
relationship between pride and performance.

Dettol also celebrated Mother's Day, by creating a special TV commercial with

children thanking their mothers for all the love and protection they get all
through the year. On a serious note, Dettol also donated Hygiene Packs to
'Save the Children' - a leading global NGO to flood affected states of West
Bengal, Assam, Orissa and Bihar. Apart from this, Dettol also has tie -ups with
numerous hospitals and medical care facilities.

Push And Pull Strategy: - Dettol mainly uses pull strategy through its various
advertisement campaigns and sometimes push strategy also by launching its
various combo packs.

Its various advertisements say that in every season, while taking bath, before
having meal, Dettol soap is a must. If we look upon the advertisements the
advertisement focused upon mothers and the children along with the
guidelines of the Indian medical association to the viewer’s instead of focusing
upon all of the family members.

4.3 Sales Promotion

Bundling Offer

The Dettol soaps offers operate on logic of “Buy more to save more”.
The offers help the companies to increase the trial of the new and upcoming
variants which are often bundled with their best sellers. It provides them more
shelf space and attracts eyeballs in the retail chain. Consumers may not buy
them immediately but at least will pick up the bundle, look at the price and may
decide to buy one in future.

Dettol has been in a constant use of a promotional offer where a bundle

of three Dettol soaps of 75 grams are packed together and on purchase of the
bundle the customer saves rupees 7 which is prominently visible in the pack.

Let’s look at how these offers work from the company’s perspective.
Because of the lower price point the total value perceived by the customer
goes up and customer is tempted to buy the bundle product. He would not
have bought the unbundled standalone product. Also these bundle offers
create one more price point for the customer. Some customers buy the product
at the new price point.

This strategy sometimes proves perilous for the company In the long run
as the customer may get used to lower price point and may not be willing to

31
shell extra money once the offer is withdrawn. This happens with Dettol Soaps
which can often bundled in a pack of three
and are price substantially lower.

From the customer’s perspective

these offers are often tempting. Great
packaging adds fuel to this temptation. In
case new flavours are bundled with
existing flavours bundling provides
customers the incentive to try the product.
It also provides the customer with the
incentive to buy more and pay less which the customer always strives for.

Freebies

Dettol comes up with many offers

where buying a product the customer gets
another product of the brand for free. One of
the recent offering was Buy a Dettol Sensitive
Liquid Handwash, and get Dettol soap free
with it, which is worth Rs.19. So your whole
body will stay clean. And it's a good habit too.
Dettol uses freebies for trial of new products
and create a customer base for the product.

This offer encourages the customer to

buy the product because it has a free product
attached to it. This creates a win-win situation
where the company’s revenue rises from
higher sales; it can introduce a new product
or an existing product and create demand for the product. From the customers
point of view it is a value for money deal as a free product is attached to it.

32
 4.4 Segmentation

Demographic Segmentation
Dettol has always targeted and believed in Family Protection. Everyone from a
child to the grandparents can use the Dettol soap as it protects against germs.
The brand promotes itself with taglines “Be 100% sure” and “Trusted
Protection”. Its target group are mainly mothers and housewives as they run
the household and are the decision maker of all household items purchased fo r
consumption. The responsibility of keeping the household germ free and
hygienic lies in their hands.

Figure 4.4.1 Dettol Product Promotion

33
 4.5 Psychographic Segmentation

Lifestyle: - Dettol has segmented our modern day lifestyle which is more
outdoor unhygienic and bacterial. So for the hygiene seeking consumer’s
Dettol soap is the best option.

Personality:-Dettol soaps have introduced new variants of soaps which try to

capture the personality for its customer there is the original soap which is germ
protective. The Dettol cool soap and Dettol re-energise target customers who
need freshness and those who live a very active lifestyle. Whereas Dettol skin
care soap is more of a soap which provides moisture and softness to the skin.

4.6 Behavioural Segmentation

Benefits: - It appeals to the customers who have a high hygiene standard.

Dettol soaps unique selling point is it kills germs and is recommended by
Indian medical association.

User Status:-It has targeted both the brand and category user with its “Aapka
Dettol kaya karat Hai” campaign that showcased how the brand users across
the country had formed their own special bonds with the brand.

Loyalty Status: - Dettol soap has a hard-core loyalty status therefore its loyal
customers are intact and are satisfied with what the product has to offer and
trust the brand.

Buyer’s Readiness: - Dettol products have a very high buyer readiness. Since
years it has been used in Indian households for various purposes. Therefore
customers have no hesitation in selecting a Dettol product.

Purchase Occasions: - It has no specific occasion for purchase although it

tries to promote its sales on occasions like mother’s day. Dettol soap has also
introduced different soap variants which cater to different weather conditions.
In summer there is Dettol cool soap and re-energize soap whereas in winter
there is skincare soap.

34
 4.7 ANALYSIS

Dettol is available in four variants across nation -

 Dettol Original,
 Dettol Skincare,
 Dettol Cool and
 Dettol Re-energize.

All the ranges of soaps from Dettol continue to bear recommendation

from IMA - India Medical Association.

Original Soap

Dettol Skincare products offer a New and

Improved Original Hand Soap, which is specially
formulated for everyday use. Dettol Original Soap
with pine fragrance provides trusted Dettol
protection from a wide range of unseen germs and is
10 times better at fighting germs compared to
ordinary hand soaps available in the market. It
protects and maintains your skin giving it natural
feel, leaving it healthy and smooth every day. Its
ingredients are so designed to deep cleanse, fight infection, as well as gently
exfoliate the skins surface.

It can be used as a trusted protection for the entire family. It is Available

in two sizes - 75g and 125g.

Skincare Soap

Dettol Skincare products offer a New Skincare

Hand Soap that provides perfect balance between
your beauty and protection needs. Dettol Skincare
Anti-Bacterial Bar Soap is enriched with added
moisturizers to prevent dryness and roughness while
providing trusted Dettol protection from a wide range
of unseen germs. It cares for and helps maintain
skin's natural moisture level leaving it feeling healthy
and smooth every day. This soap is very gentle on the skin and gives the
benefits of the beauty bathing bar and also ensures maximum hygiene and
freshness.

35
 The benefits of this Dettol Skincare soap can be enjoyed by both men
and women to ensure that the complete family enjoys good health and
freshness. It is available in two sizes - 75g and 125g.

Cool Soap

Dettol Cool Soap not only smells good but

also protects you from germs. This protecting soap
from Dettol breaks the common thoughts of people
that healthy soaps do not leave a nice fragrance.
This new and improved fragrance with menthol helps
to keep you refreshed and revitalized. Dettol does
not forget its main aim of letting people get rid of the
daily impurities from their skin. Thus, the Dettol Cool
Soap will not only invigorate and enliven people and their mood, but also
shield them from germs that cause multiple health issues.

This can be used for the whole family with the trust of Dettol. Available
in two sizes - 75g and 125g.

Re-Energize Soap

Dettol Skincare products offer new Hand soap

with the freshness of oranges & Dettol's trusted
protection from germs. Consumers are always
looking for a unique aspect within their daily regime,
some special freshness that brings a special energy
in everyday life. Dettol’s new Re-energize hand soap
leaves people feeling healthy, fresh & re-energized
every day.

Dettol Re-energize is an ideal soap for the entire family whose zesty
Orange fragrance leaves you feeling fresh and re-energized apart from its
unique formulation that gives superior protection against germs. Available in
two sizes - 70g & 120g.

36
 4.8 Swot Analysis

Strengths:

1. Strong Management :-

Strong management helps Dettol antibacterial soap reach its

potential by utilizing strengths and eliminating weaknesses.

2. Strong Supply Chain :-

A strong supply chain helps Dettol antibacterial soap obtain the

right resources from suppliers and delivery the right product to
customers in a timely manner.

3. Strong Brand Name :-

Dettol comes from a reputable (old) company and the brand’s

Germ-kill heritage (brown liquid) is seen as strong and adds on
trustworthiness (RTB).This gives Dettol antibacterial soap the ability to
charge higher prices for their products because consumers place
additional value in the brand.

4. Customer Loyalty:-

When given a choice, customers are loyal to following of

‘Original’. Instead of targeting all customers, dettol antibacterial
soap only needs to target new customers in order to grow their business.

5. Skin treatments and varieties of products :-

Dettol Soap is Excellent for treating skin irritations, cuts/bruises

and seasonal applications which Increases the popularity of Dettol soap
as a germ killer and hygienic soap. It has products like antiseptic liquid,
soaps, sanitizers, body wash etc.

37
Weakness:

1. Limited Penetration :-

Despite of being the excellent product, dettol has limited

penetration in rural markets.

2. Competition :-

Competition from other similar products means stagnant market

share and less chance to increase the cost and other factors.

Opportunities:-

1. Financial Leverage:-

Leveraging powerful brand equity associated with the Dettol Brand

will allow Dettol antibacterial soap to quickly expand into other markets
and products, especially in fragmented industries.

2. New Markets:-

New markets allow Dettol antibacterial soap to expand their

business and diversify their portfolio of products and services.

3. Penetration:-

Tie-ups with schools, hospitals, hotel chains etc will help in Better
penetration in rural markets and emerging economies.

THREATS:-

1. Substitute Products:-

Presence of other main players in the antibacterial category

prevents the Dettol antibacterial soap’s ability to raise prices as
customers can easily switch to another product.

2. Intense Competition:-

Other emerging players and alternatives available can lower dettol

antibacterial soap’s profits, because competitors can entice consumers
away with superior products.

38
 4.8 Generic Competition

The generic competition to the soap can be the body wash, shampoos,
Multani Mitti and other plant extracts which gives lather and the freshness.
Traditionally soapy plant extracts and the Multani Mitti were used for removing
dirt and oil from the skin. These were the natural sources which were used for
bathing to refresh self. As the commercial items started entering the market
soaps came into picture and so are the other products. Awareness of these
products led to the expansion of the soap market. Because of this, generic
competition of soap shifted from traditional method of usage to modern method
of usage.

Presently body wash and shampoos can be classified as the generic

competitors of the soap. Shampoo sachets are used as substitutes to soap for
bathing by people from poor section, taxi drivers, labours etc. The reason
being the shampoo sachet is cheaper and easily available and convenient to
carry. Body wash or liquid soap is another generic competitor to soap as the
usage of it is growing amongst the people from different sectors. Many
varieties of liquid soap are emerging in market trying to change the demand of
bathing bar to liquid bathing soap. Hence it is clearly visible that the generic
competition of the soap has undergone changes according to the public
demand.

39
 4.10 Prime Market Expansion

Today, Dettol Soap as a product needs no introduction

in India market. Dettol rips the fruits of smart establishment of
its products in the market. Dettol Soap was launched in India
in the early 80s. The launch was based on consumer
feedback on Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, where secondary usage
of the product always came up. Since many consumers used
Dettol in their bath water, the company thought of offering
Dettol in a more convenient form of soap. Hence, Dettol launched its first soap
with the name Dettol Original and created an image of strong association of its
products with the quality antiseptic in minds of Indian consumers.

The Soap Market Classified into about ten different

appeals such as Beauty, Health, Fairness, Freshness,
Herbal etc. Dettol initially faced problem in penetrating
the soap market as the competition was stiff. By the year
2000, it saw limited success but its market share had
started stagnating. Research on brand equity revealed
that while Dettol’s equity remained very strong on ‘germ
protection’, the product’s relevance in the consumer’s
choice for a bathing soap was getting limited. It was also gathered in the
consumer research that while loyalists loved Dettol soap for its trademark
fragrance, it was being rejected by a big chunk of consumers as a regular
bathing soap bar.

The brand team felt a need to launch variants in Dettol

Soap given that sensorial measures like fragrance,
moisturized soft skin, etc were key drivers when it came to
consumers choosing their soap brands. Dettol Skincare soap
was thus launched in January 2004 - A white colored soap,
offering Dettol’s protection with moisturizers to nourish the
skin. This was followed by the third variant – Dettol Cool in
February 2006, which offered trusted Dettol protection with
menthol to help feel refreshed and revitalized.

40
 Dettol strategically launched the two variants i.e. Skin Care and Dettol
Cool during January and February respectively keeping in mind its utility during
the climatic condition. Dettol then launched Re-Energize Soap in February
2012 again just before summer sets on in India.

The Bar Soap Market in India is worth Rs. 6550

Crores. Dettol occupies approximately 5% share in this
market. Dettol variants have contributed incrementally to
Dettol soap sales and now make up about 25% of total
Dettol soap sales. However, given its heritage and years
of existence, Dettol Original Soap continues to be the
lead variant, and top of mind when it came to Dettol
Soaps. To suit the needs of different consumers, Dettol and its competitors are
available in different pack sizes and combo-pack offers. Pricing also plays a
big role in this market that can be segmented as economy, mid-price and
premium. Each player is present in different sizes, and hence tries to straddle
different pick up prices. Dettol soap has a premium price versus other key
players in the market. This has limited Dettol penetration in the lower end of
the market. To overcome pricing barrier, small pack was launched in 2007,
priced at Rs. 6. This helped in gaining further share.

Dettol has also change its advertising strategy over this period
since inception. Earlier when Dettol Original
was then only variant its advertisement was
featured with the tag line “100% Bath”. To
expand the market and promote various
utility of all its variant Dettol started featuring
seasonal advertisements.

41
Figure 4.10.1 Summer Advertisement

Figure 4.10.2 Monsoon Advertisement

Figure 4.10.3 Winter Advertisement

42
 4.11 Distribution Strategy

Distribution Process:-

The Soap market today has a 98% penetration level. The market has
been volumetrically stagnant in the last few years. However, value wise, the
market has been growing owing primarily due to price increases and to some
extent a movement from economy brands to brands that are mid-priced or
premium priced. The Indian bar soap market has a large number of players
that use different appeals to connect with their consumers. Hence to stay
ahead in the long list of producers the distribution channel has to be really
strong.

Dettol distributes all its products through its common wholesale

distribution channel, which has a wide and deep reach in the markets and is a
key strength of the company. Dettol soap in the country is sold in about 5.5
million shops including paanwalas and mom-and-pop stores. Dettol soap is
distributed in 2.3 million stores. Dettol soap has a penetration of about 62% in
antiseptic soap category. The category penetration comes to about 70% in
urban India, and 40% in rural India. The pictorial description of distribution
channel of Dettol is as follows:

Manufacturing Stock Keeping Distributors Retailers Consumer

Unit
MANUFACTURER :

Manufacturer:-
The manufacturing plant of Dettol is located in Marwa road, Mumbai.
Dettol annually produces on an average 6000 – 8000 kilolitres for sales. After
manufacturing the company sends products to S.K.U and C&F agents all over
India to distribute it to the distributor.

Stock Keeping Unit or C&F Agents: -

Stock Keeping Unit act as moderator between distributor and
manufacturer. It keeps check of the market demand. It observes the market
and gives response about the demand of the distributor.

Distributor:-
It is the most essential link between retailer and manufacturer. They
enjoy a higher level of expertise, respond more quickly and have more local
geographical knowledge than manufacturer. They also act as an advisor for the
future growth of companies. They save the cost of logistics. They have
experienced handling manpower. They get a profit margin of 3 -5 %. Distributor
work according to ACP (area chart plan) decided by company and distributor
sales personnel.

43
Retailer: -
It is an important link as its effectiveness will only benefit the other links
above it to survive in the competitive market. It is the final link where
companies effective marketing strategy will decide the demand and will make
the public aware of its existing product as retailers are medium for product
display. They have a profit margin of 7-8% over Dettol.

4.12 Markets for various categories - The Bar Soap Market

The Bar Soap Market in India is worth Rs. 6550 Crores. With a 100%
penetration, the soap market has been volumetrically stagnant in the last few
years. However, value wise, the market has been growing owing primarily due
to price increases and to some extent a movement from economy brands to
brands that are mid-priced or premium priced. The Indian bar soap market has
a large number of players that use different appeals to connect with their
consumers. The market can be classified into about ten different appeals such
as Beauty, Health, Fairness, Freshness, Herbal etc. While the market is
dominated by beauty players 52% share, health platform constitutes
approximately 23% of the total market.

Dettol Soap was launched in India in the early 80s. The launch was based on
consumer feedback on Dettol Antiseptic Liquid, where secondary usage of the
product always came up. Since many consumers used Dettol in their bath
water, the company thought of offering Dettol in a more convenient form of
soap. Dettol Original was the launch soap, which initially found limited
acceptance from consumers. Its sales picked up after a changed positioning.
By 2000, it saw limited success but its market share had started stagnating.
Research on brand equity revealed that while Dettol’s equity remained very
strong on ‘germ protection’, the product’s relevance in the consumer’s choice
for a bathing soap was getting limited. It was also gathered in the consumer
research that while loyalists loved Dettol soap for its trademark fragrance, it
was being rejected by a big chunk of consumers as a regular bathing soap bar.

The brand team felt a need to launch variants in Dettol Soap given that
sensorial measures like fragrance, moisturized soft skin, etc were key drivers
when it came to consumers choosing their soap brands. Dettol Skincare soap
was thus launched in January 2004 - A white colored soap, offering Dettol’s
protection with moisturizers to nourish the skin. This was followed by the third
variant – Dettol Cool in February 2006, which offered trusted Dettol protection
with menthol to help feel refreshed and revitalized.

Dettol occupies a 4.9% share (Full year 2007) in this market. Its major
competitors are Lifebuoy, Lux, Santoor, Savlon, Godrej No 1, etc. The
stronghold and dominance of these brands and their distribution, varies across
regions and urban and rural markets. While some brands are strong across the

44
market, others have their strongholds in only some of the regions in the
country.

Dettol variants have contributed incrementally to Dettol soap sales and now
make up about 25% of total Dettol soap sales. However, given its heritage and
years of existence, Dettol Original Soap continues to be the lead variant, and
top of mind when it came to Dettol Soaps.

To suit the needs of different consumers, Dettol and its competitors are
available in different pack sizes and combo-pack offers. Pricing also plays a
big role in this market that can be segmented as economy, mid -price and
premium. Each player is present in different sizes, and hence tries to straddle
different pick up prices. Dettol soap has a premium price versus other key
players in the market. This has limited Dettol penetration in the lower end of
the market. To overcome pricing barrier, small pack was launched in 2007,
priced at Rs. 6. This helped in gaining further share.

Household penetration and consumer preferences towards Dettol vary across

regions and seasons (see Exhibits 3j,3k and 3l for Brand Dettol seasonality,
reasons for usage and dislike).

Key Players in the soap market:

Lifebuoy:- Post a major positioning change in 2002 from “male victorious

health” to “family health” in the bar soap market, Lifebuoy re-launched itself in
March 2004 with improved product and new claim of ‘100% better germ
protection*’, and since then has been trying to make strong its equity on germ
protection through various communication and new product launches. In
February 2005, Lifebuoy has launched a new campaign adding a layer of
social good in its communication with a tagline of “Have no Fear”. In November
2012 another new ad was launched comparing vs. beauty soaps in general.

Lux: - It re-launched itself in 2004, with better packaging graphics and

upgraded variants in line with the global range. It was highly visible on-air with
a range of Aishwarya Rai copies. Post decline of share in early 2005, Lux
launched a new campaign in Sep 2005 with Shahrukh Khan and four prominent
film actresses to commemorate 75 years of Lux, via special Promo packs &
new pack graphics. In Feb 2007, it again launched a new campaign, ‘Surat bhi,
Khoobsurat bhi’. It launched new variant copies in Q2, 2008 (Peach cream &
Strawberry cream) offering fruit based skin care.

Santoor: - It comes up with regular renewal of its copies (one every year)
communicating ‘skin that looks younger than its age’ proposition. It launched a
new white variant in September 2007.

Savlon: In the soap category, it is positioned on the ‘Gentle Protection’

proposition. Its share has remained flat at 0.6% over the years.

45
Godrej No. 1:- It has had a very low key TV activity, relying mostly on regional
print in select states. It frequently airs advertisement featuring popular soap-
star ‘Jassi’.

4.12 Future of the Brand

Back in 1942 when Dettol started its manufacturing in India it only had
the iconic antiseptic liquid to promote. They have come a long way since then
in India and have nine products in its basket today. They have worked hard to
not just add product in their basket but also promote the various utilities of
their each product by featuring the advertisement like “Aap ka Dettol Kya Kya
Karta Hai”. Dettol has created an image of strong association of its products
with the quality antiseptic in minds of Indian consumers.

India being a developing nation turned out to be very advantageous for

future of Dettol. There has been a consistent rise in the literacy rate in Indian
population. Now the consumer has even more consciousness of living and
sustaining a health life. Dettol smartly identified the growing female literacy
rates who are their main target group. It knows these literate women are the
decision maker of product to be consumed by their family and shall make no
compromise with the living quality of their families. Hence, the new era home
makers, new mothers and working mothers are the new target customer for
their product. Dettol has left no stone unturned and is extensively promoting its
association with health and quality living.
Dettol has also been recently involved in many activities that educated
school students of the benefits of washing hands with Dettol Soap and Liquid
Handwash. Preaching student about the benefits of basic health and hygiene
has also been a part of this venture of Dettol. Dettol sta rted this venture in
October 2011 when more than 2 lakhs students from 700 schools participated
in the program across the nation. Dettol keeping in mind it future aspiration has
got into different level of marketing and publicity where it is inculcating an d
developing the habit of using Dettol soap among its future customers. This
program which Dettol had started currently covers 14 lakhs students across
3115 school of India clearly indicating the ambitions of Dettol as brand.
The company is relentlessly trying to expand the size of slice in the cake
as the penetration of soap is nearly saturated at 98%. Hence Dettol wants to
expand its number of consumer keeping in mind the future of brand. Dettol
currently marketing and promoting its product to attract customers and
consumers under three categories:

46
 Dettol under the above three categories i.e “My Family & First Aid”, “My
Family & Good Hygiene” and “My New Baby” is trying to generate awareness
among it’s consumers that they must observe to have a healthy living. By
doing these kind of advertisement Dettol is trying to be a part of individual
lifestyle. Dettol has recently added new mother in its target group. It also
publishes precautions against swine flu at its website.

The future of brand in India seems prominent and prosperous. The

brand understands it position in the market. It is working very hard to enhance
and create its image among existing and future consumes respectively.

U&A study showed that while First Aid use in the households had a
near 100% penetration, many homes were using it for secondary purposes. In
order to exploit this potential in 2005, the message strategy saw a shift to
communicating secondary usages like adding Dettol to bathing water,
disinfecting the floors, nappy rinsing etc. In early 2008, the brand’s
communication took another step forward with its “Aapka Dettol Kya Kya Karta
Hai” campaign – that showcased how brand users across the country had
formed their own special bond with the brand – using it whenever and
wherever they felt a need for disinfection.

Antiseptic Liquid is a well-penetrated market, given its use in first aid, and is
sold in over 16 lac outlets in the country. Over the years, the product has been
extended for other disinfection uses like adding to bathing water, disinfecting
baby nappies, adding to water while mopping etc. and at present secondary
usage contributes more volumes of Dettol Antiseptic liquid than the primary
first aid usage.

Dettol’s Communication:-

Dettol Original soap was launched on the platform of ‘Mild and gentle skin
care’ with the selling proposition as – “Give your family the loving care of
Dettol Soap”. However, the brand failed to take off since a mild soap from the
Dettol stable did not make sense. Even after two years of launch, Dettol soap
could not make its presence felt.

In mid 80s, an exhaustive consumer research was undertaken with the

objective of finding reasons for dissatisfaction among consumer and the result
was the understanding that a consumer need platform has to be built for a
special bathing soap based on Dettol’s core strengths and not on the mild and
gentle skincare platform.

After in-depth consumer research, it was seen that consumers were open to
the idea of using Dettol Soap when they faced extreme dirt conditions. Hence,
it was felt that Dettol Soap needs to be positioned for occasions that are

47
special, but not rare in everyday life. These could be based on exposure to dirt
and germs, pollution, heat, sweat etc.

Another challenge was to create a positioning that managed a fine balance

between a cosmetic and therapeutic medicated position. The final positioning
that was decided was:

“Dettol protection comes to you and your family in the form of a soap for those
daily occasions when a specially clean germicidal bath is necessary. WHEN
NO ORDINARY BATH WILL DO – DETTOL SOAP – THE 100% BATH”

The advertising was thus developed along these lines and Dettol Soap was re -
launched. The advertising clicked with the consumer. Dettol soap sales
reacted very positively to this new communication. Dettol sales grew year after
year, with communication being renewed periodically to keep consumer
interest in the brand promise alive.

Over the years, the communication was moved along this gradient of educating
consumers, on how they pick up germs throughout the day and only Dettol
soap can give the required protection every day. Research showed that there
was huge hand wash usage of the brand and moreover the usage was highly
seasonal with highest usage seen in peak summer and monsoon months when
consumers felt visibly dirty and hence associated the period with the presence
of germs. The result was that while a high number of consumers used Dettol
soaps during specific germy situations, they moved out of the brand to the
regular soaps in the market once the felt need for germ protection was over.
Moreover, while consumers accepted that germs might be presented, the
linkage of germs to the illnesses they cause was limited.

In order to address this, a new educative campaign, was launched in 2007 with
the objective of driving everyday relevance of Dettol soap. As part of this
campaign, seasonal hooks were used to establish germ relevance - summer,
monsoon, and winter. Consequences of germ pick up were more explicitly
voiced. Dettol soap witnessed a sharp surge in sales with the new
advertisement (see Exhibit 3m for soap communication).

Markets for various categories - The Liquid Handwash Market

Dettol introduced the Liquid Hand Wash in 1994. It was known that many
consumers use Dettol Soap for cleaning hands. Dettol Liquid Soap gave the
consumers a soap in a more modern and convenient format for handwash. In
hand washing, the need for germ protection is top most on consumer’s mind.
Due to its early and continued efforts in building the segment and given the
strength of the parent brand Dettol, this segment was historically dominated by
Dettol Liquid Hand wash.

48
The size of the liquid hand wash market is relatively small –Rs. 59 Crores by
end of 2007(see Exhibit 4a for market size in volume and value). Although
incidence of hand wash in a day is quite high, penetration of liquid handwash
is still low in India (estimated as 10% of all Urban House Holds in 2007), bar
soaps being typically used for washing hands. The key reasons for lo w
penetration of the category are ‘expensive/low value for money’. Amongst
users, the motivators are ‘protection from germs’ followed by ‘convenience of
use’. Given category building efforts, the penetration has been showing a
steady increase.

Dettol’s major competitors in this segment are Lifebuoy, Palmolive, Savlon,

Santoor, FEM, etc

The segment is broadly split in two formats:

i) Dispensing Format: Pump Packs

ii) Refilling Formats: Refill sizes (varying from 200ml to 5 ltr)

The category evolution has been based on the increasing penetration of the
Pump pack over a period of time. The dispensing pack dominated the market
with over 60% contribution (2005). Over the last three years, the refill segment
has flourished – as regular consumers re-purchase the refill pack after entering
into the segment via the Pump pack. However, the awareness for refill packs is
still low. A large base of consumers still re-purchases the Pump pack instead
of using a refill pack.

In building the segment, Dettol has played the role of the market leader and
the innovator. In 2005, it was the first player to launch the Pouch refill pack. As
the market evolved and the Pouch refill segment grew, all the other
competitors entered the pouch refill segment in 2007.

Similarly, the latest product innovation offering from Dettol has been the launch
of the small pump pack, at a lower pick up price, in the first quarter of 2007.

There are multiple product innovation opportunities from the international

stable of Dettol hand Wash – which the brand team is evaluating for future
launch.

As per consumer research, the number 1 category driver for hand washing has
been ‘need for protection from germs’. Additionally, consumers look for product
attributes like nice fragrance and softness. Another characteristic of the hand
wash market is its disproportional dependence on the Modern distribution
channel, ie. Self-service stores.

Close to 25% of the category business comes from this channel. The self-
select environment of the target consumer has multiple implications for the

49
brand. Variants become a key driver for widening the consumer choice set in
such a shopping pattern.

Dettol Liquid Hand wash currently has three variants, namely, Original,
Skincare and Sensitive.

Other players also have multiple variants with Lifebuoy having four and Fem
having eight.

The liquid hand wash portfolio is sold via all three distribution channels of the
company, namely: (a) Modern Trade – self-service channel (b) Direct
Distributors in large towns (c) Sub Stockist network for reach into smaller
towns.

The distribution for both category and Dettol Hand Wash has been on a rising
curve – with more than three lac outlets stocking the hand wash segment .

50