Dettol's new gamble

This is the first time that the brand, strong in the personal care space, has moved
into kitchen and utensil cleaning.

The comparison has set tongues wagging. Taking a leaf out of rival Hindustan Unilevers
marketing manual, British consumer goods major Reckitt Benckiser (RB) launched an ad last
week that compared its latest Dettol extension a product for kitchen and utensil cleaningwith market leader Vim.
HUL was quick to respond to RB with an ad and a court order (See Lemons vs antiseptic). But
RB officials informally say the attempt was to create a stir in a low involvement category
such as kitchen and utensil cleaning. This category is estimated to be approximately Rs 500600 crore in size. HULs Vim has a turnover of Rs 300 crore, according to market estimates.
Jyothy Laboratories Exo and Pril, meanwhile, are some of the other players in the space
together clocking a turnover of Rs 250 crore.
With players such as HUL and Jyothy already well-entrenched in the segment, RB quite
literally had to make consumers sit up and take notice of it. Thats why the hardhitting ad
shows more germs on the plate washed with Vim in comparison to the one where Dettol
was used.
The question is: Are consumers really impressed?
Dettol is the fourth largest soap brand in the country after HULs Lifebuoy, Lux and Wipro
Consumers Santoor with a share of around 8 per cent. It clocks a turnover of around Rs
1,500 crore, and is growing at a clip of around 20-25 per cent per annum. This is largely due
to its positioning as a germ-killer, which it has extended into categories such as handwash,
hand sanitizers, body wash, shaving creams and hand plasters.
Its move to get into kitchen and utensil cleaning while logical since germs are found
everywhere, is still its riskiest extension so far. Thats because the movement into home
care could quite simply erode its brand equity in personal care. This extension could drive
consumers away from the core category of personal care. That could be dangerous.
But Chander Mohan Sethi, senior vice-president, Reckitt Benckiser, South East Asia, says,
Dettol is a trusted name and has been adapted worldwide into diverse formats. The
extension into the kitchen doesnt compromise in any way its promise of germ protection in
personal care. It further reiterates the brands commitment to our purpose of delivering
innovative solutions for healthier lives and happier homes.

Incidentally, India and Korea are the first two markets where the new extension has been
rolled out indicating the British majors seriousness of making a success of the product.
Health & hygiene have been issues that emerging markets such as India have been looking
to address thanks to epidemics such as swine flu that have plagued people in the last few
years. Kitch encleaning as a segment is not as cluttered as personal care is as a category. It
made sense then for Dettol to take its germ kill proposition to this space, since that would
give it scope to grow.
Sethi says, Kitchen is one of the germ hotspots in the house with invisible germs present on
dishes and other food contact surfaces. It made complete sense to extend this promise of
Dettols protection to the kitchen by providing a single solution for a truly healthy kitchen.
While RB has been expanding its home care portfolio in India with a string of international
brands such as Vanish, Easy off Bang, Harpic, Lizol and Colin,these products are not as huge
as Dettol is for the company.
RBs India revenues are in excess of Rs 2,000 crore. Dettol is the largest brand in the
companys portfolio here. According to market sources, RB proposes to look at more areas
in home care where Dettol can be taken, one such being floor cleaning.
Lemons vs antiseptic: HUL hits back
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is a fierce combatant. After a weeks silence, it has finally hit back
at Reckitt Benckisers TV ad comparing its utensil cleaner Vim with the latters latest launch
Dettol Kitchen Cleaning Gel. The maker of Dove and Lux released a huge print ad on
Sunday 24th March,2013 saying this: A Harsh Antiseptic or The Power of 100 Lemons. The
body copy says: An antiseptic is for cleaning wounds and floors. Would you use it to clean
the utensils your family eats from? Reminding readers of Dettols roots it was launched in
India in 1933 as an antiseptic liquid and remains the largest player in that space HUL has
posed a simple question: Which one would you choose to clean your childs tiffin?
Interestingly, HUL has steered clear of taking the name of Dettol in the ad. That is because,
say persons in the know, it does not want to land itself in a controversy after having pushed
RB to modify the Dettol commercial by moving the Kolkata High Court. In its petition to the
court, HUL had said the TV ad lowered the goodwill of Vim. Consequently, the Kolkata High
Court passed an order on February 22, 2013 asking RB to remove the portion where the two
brands were blatantly compared.
Questions:
1) Despite Reckitt Benckisers traditional strengths in the area, will the latest extension
work?
2) I am not sure how successful this product will be because it is bound to create some
confusion in peoples minds. Here is a brand that you use for your body and also for
cleaning utensils and kitchen surfaces. Now how sensible is that?
3) Globally, RB is big in household care but using Dettol to strengthen this portfolio in India
is it a clever move?
(This has been compiled by Prof Rajiv Taneja and is to be used for class room discussions)