David challenges Goliath : Vini’s 18+ vs HUL’s Axe

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.

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.