Vini Group of Companies : Success engineered on Market Research?

A new pharmaceutical kid is on the blocks these days, coming up with new products, and of course, new commercials for them. This is the Vini Group of Companies, owned by Darshan Patel, ex co-founder of Paras Pharmaceuticals (Paras boasts of many well known brands such as Livon, Borosoft, Recova and Set Wet in personal care and D’Cold, ItchGuard, Dermicool, Moov, Krack etc in healthcare. The company has since been acquired by Reckitt Benckiser)

With the kind of products and commercials launched, this company also seems inclined to go the Paras way, with new product categories being created, off-track from existing ones, and challenging the ‘set’ players in the market. Let us take up a few of these launches:

1. Sundeo Summer Powder:

Taking on regular talcum powders, as well as the ones touted to work against ‘prickly heat’, Sundeo has been presented as a standard summer talc. Its positioning has two facets: (a) freshness in the hot summer months, (b) non-medicated – effectively challenging the need of medicated powders.

The current set of talcum powders, lead by Pond’s are positioned around fragrance-oriented freshness. The niche segment catering to prickly heat, lead by DermiCool talks mainly in terms of ‘treating prickly heat’. There was a gap existing in the market, about summer talcum powders which would prevent prickly heat, and gives freshness based on a cooling sensation instead of a fragrance. This gap has been exploited by the makers.

Watch the ad below:

An agency-style review, worth a read:

http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m/news/fullstory.asp?news_id=38212&section_id=1&tag=3888

2. 18+ Deodorants

IMO this is a true master move, and is already seeing a lot of success in the market, with a growing demand amongst the youth. The market research showed the makers that the youth find it clumsy to use both deodorant and perfume at the same time, and also very expensive, given the cost of perfumes. So, Vini has turned up with a product that combines the features of both deodorants and perfumes, countering bad odor as well as inculcating a fragrance. Of course, the product is more expensive compared to the ‘only deodorants‘. In general, the Axe, Reebok, Garnier etc deos sell at around Rs 150 for 150 ml (with minor variations), while a corresponding cost for 18+ is Rs 250. But given that it saves the expense of a perfume, it might just prove itself worth it.

This was another example of finding a gap and plugging it with own products.

Watch the commercial here:

3. Whitetone Face Powder

Customer Need: Fair Skin

Existing Solution: Fairness cream

Problems with the existing solution: Needs regular usage, effects take time to materialize and might not be upto expectations = Identified Gap

So, Vini comes up with a fairness product which is: (a) a different form, a powder instead of a cream, and (b) interestingly, it DOES NOT challenge the existing market leaders. With this product, which is to be used after fairness cream is applied, the competitors producing fairness creams might not feel threatened enough to counteract (at least not initially)

Of course, the effectiveness of the product is a critical success factor in this case. So, if it works, it can work wonders.

This is the ad they have launched for the same (honestly, leaves much to be desired):

In general, about the launch of this range of products, the one most noticeable aspect is the emphasis which has been laid down on thorough market research to unearth latent consumer needs. All the above products are serving needs which aren’t directly served by existing products and packaging formats. Need-driven innovation is always likely to garner demand. Hopefully for Vini, the consumers will realize this latent need and integrate the products into their shopping baskets.

It is to this front that the company has been a bit lackadaisical. The advertising styles and methods being used, especially the TV commercials, seem a bit drab and boring, and do not really work in capturing attention. They do however, succeed in conveying the message clearly. If you recall, there wasn’t anything particularly remarkable about ItchGuard or Moov ads either, but they did the one thing most required of them: convince the consumer of the existence of this need. Let’s see if Vini commercials are able to do the same. Given that they are taking on companies as big as HUL, P&G and L’Oreal with this  series of products, it is an interesting campaign to watch for.