Vini‘s deodorant, 18+, has been trying to carve a niche for itself in the Rs 1000 crore Indian deodorant market. This market is being strongly lead by HUL’s Axe, although its market share and leadership margin have been dipping off late due to the entry of a lot of different players – Denver, Fuel, Garnier, Nivea, Reebok, Adidas, Park Avenue, and many others.
The Indian deodorant market is a typical example of Marketing Clutter, where Axe first introduced the concept of ”Deodorant transforming a guy into a chick-magnet’ and then the other players simply copied the concept and reapplied it into their own ad copies, releasing their products at almost the same price points, never bothering about a tiny little concept called differentiation !!
And in this cluttered market, Vini was among the few players who tried to do something different and make an attempt at clutter-breaking. They dared to price-up their deodorant from the prevalent Rs 150 price point. The priced it at Rs 250, and then presented a justification to back it up – they positioned their product as a deodorant + perfume. The added perfume ingredient helped both differentiate them with others, as well as aid in explaining the higher price point (look from the shopper’s perspective – he thinks he is getting both deodorant and perfume at Rs 250 – a true value for money bargain !)
And now Vini has come up with an ad challenging the very concept that deodorant advertising in India was borne out of – ‘chick-magnetism’. It breaks the barrier between reality and TV Ads, and directly points out the other ads as being fake claims ! Interestingly, they too have shown their product as a reason to attract girls, but they have used a different reasoning, and a more subtle approach. Also, the ad is a form of spoof on Axe wherein the protagonist is shown spraying on a deo in a fashion reminiscent of the Axe ads. And of course, the concept being attacked is the cornerstone of Axe advertising strategy.
Watch the ad below:
Some key points on the ad:
1) Takes on Axe and pulls a subtle spoof on it: Most viewers might not spot its connection to Axe, but the relevant people in the industry would take notice. And even the viewers will at least be able to connect it with the usual chick-magnetism themes of the deodorant ads.
2) Youth Connect: Creating an abbreviation, LKPD, pretty similar and obvious in its connection to the popular youth slang, KLPD, is an attempt to connect and relate with the youth. The youth would automatically listen to something which speaks their langugage
3) Clear message transmission: And amongst all this, the one message that does clearly stand out is that 18+ has a lot of perfume-components in it. The clarity of transmission here is pretty good.
So, it seems that David has challenge the Goliath here, and this slingshot too seems to be quite effective. Will Vini be able to subdue the Goliaths of the Indian Deodorant market? Maybe time will tell.
Marketing Brainstorm 
First, Nice post and super analysis.
Now my 2(kaudi) cents:
Though I agree this ad “breaks the clutter”, but I also feel they’ll not be able to challenge Axe, or eat up a share of their market. I may not apply a marketing concept but my explanation stems from a gut feel 😛 (purely my perspective). An axe ad always uses English as a medium of communication and also has a sophisticated naughtiness embedded in their ads. They are not outright cheesy like say a Denver(chick with huge assets in skimpy clothes) or Wild Stone(don’t even get me started on how corny they are).
In a country obsessed with Western Culture (Foreign Male models in these ads are a testimony to that) a majority of the consumer market feels that what is “Foreign ka product” is necessarily a better choice. Products like Axe/Garnier products etc have managed to grab hold of that market.
This ad with it’s use of Hindi language and rather course colloquial lingo like LKPD instantly disconnects itself from the Axe consumer and probably plays in the same space as a Denver/Wild Stone.
Pulling a spoof on Axe does invoke a chuckle or two but I think when you get back to the market, with an Axe@150 v/s this at 250 you still might pick up an Axe.
P.S: This is solely my perspective and holds not Marketing Logic. Feel free to rubbish it as a rant of a bored ex-marketing enthusiast 🙂
Brilliant Sir! I had not thought of the Blue Ocean angle on this. Vini is effectively carving out a small blue ocean sub-category in a huge red ocean – this is the perfect strategy to penetrate a Red Ocean
I read your presentation as well Sir. The connect between seed and ad dispersal is excellent. I have also left a comment there bringing in a perspective of Luxury Branding.
Keep Reading and Commenting,
Cheers!
Sushant Bahadur
Dear Sushant,
This is almost a perfect post. I like it. Again, it reminds me of the Blue Ocean Strategy. The four pillars of this strategy are 1( Raise it- they raised the price 2) decrease it by decreasing indirectly the offer of their competitors 3) eliminate and 4) create by creating an added value by combining the deodorant with perfume.
This is a great post. BTW, I published last week a presentation on SS entitled Ads Dispersal. It borrows ideas from seeds dispersal to ads dispersal. You may find some of your analytic fit very well. If interested, the link to my presentation is