Savlon: Heals Without HurtingProduct Information (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savlon http://www.mims.com/India/drug/info/SAVLON/SAVLON%20liqd ) Savlon is a brand of antiseptic liquid (Solution) marketed by Johnson & Johnson. It contains I.P. 1.5% v/v Chlorhexidine Gluconate Solution and B.P. Strong cetrimide solution eq. to Cetrimide I.P. 3.0% w/v. (Supplier: http://www.vitabiopharma.com/products.htm ) What went wrong? (Source: http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2009/01/savlon-heals-without-hurting.html ) Brand: Savlon Company: Johnson & Johnson Agency: Lowe Lintas Brand Analysis Count: 369 Can a brand ,which was proved by laboratory tests as better than its competitor, backed by one of the most reputed business houses in the world, having many product advantages over its competitor, have any chance of failing in the market ? If your answer is no , then think again .... Savlon which was clinically proven to be a better antiseptic than Dettol, backed by Johnson & Johnson, having advantages like better scent and non-stinging properties miserably failed in the Indian market. Why? Frankly I am also clueless. That is why marketing as a subject is so intriguing... it is full of Dettol confronted the frontal attack from Savlon in a different manner. But the story did not continue like that. Savlon suffered heavily because it lost the support interms of investment in brand building. Dettol plasters had the potential to attract consumers because of the brand equity commanded by Dettol Antiseptic. In doing so. J&J scrambled to protect Band-Aid by launching a series of variants in the medicated plaster segment. It tried to attack one of the most valuable brand of J&J . only 5 succeed? Is Savlon an unlucky brand? Or Did Johnson & Johnson failed in building this brand? Savlon was a brand owned by a pharmaceutical MNC ICI ltd. Dettol still rules the antiseptic lotion market. According to media reports. The main differentiator for the brand was its no-sting property and better smell. Savlon never re-emerged. The brand was expected to give the market leader Dettol. J&J spent heavily on promoting the brand. The relaunch was a success and consumers tried out the new product. Savlon went into a direct attack on Dettol .Band -Aid by launching Dettol plasters. I wonder whether the success of a brand is depended on sheer luck. Philip Kotler once said " Marketing is a subject that is easy to (pretend to) understand but difficult to practice ".. But even after millions of rupees spent. Savlon is effective against both Gram Positive and Gram Negative germs. Another advantage about Savlon was that it does not sting while being applied on wounds. Armed with these properties.. Savlon also had a better scent compared to the more clinical smell of Dettol. a run for its money. The product was positioned as an antiseptic that does not hurt while healing. Is luck the only reason why out of 100 brands launched. It needed painful long term sustained investment. Later ICI's OTC brands were acquired by Johnson &Johnson. . Dettol had a brand equity built over more than 50 years (at that period of time) and it is not an easy task to break into that equity. Looking at Savlon. during the relaunch. Savlon had lot of advantages over Dettol. Savlon was relaunched in Indian market in 1993. some lab tests indicated that Savlon is an effective germ killer than Dettol. This move got J&J defensive. How ever Savlon was pushed to a back burner after Dettol introduced the plaster. According to media reports. Dettol used to give a stinging sensation while applied on wounds.surprises. resources were spent on defending Band-Aid rather than in advancing Savlon. It never expected Dettol to attack another brand in retaliation. With much fanfare. HLL was worried at the success of Dettol soaps. Armed with a strong association with antiseptic property. What they look for is effectiveness. consumers tend to believe that the stinging sensation is a side-effect of the effectiveness of the antiseptic. It is a popular brand in the institutional market but in the consumer market.The marketing alliance lasted only for 4 years. While the rights for antiseptic lotion remained with J&J. Dettol soap became a huge success and cornered a significant chunk of the premium medicated soap category. No-stinging and sweet scent is not important for a consumer looking for an antiseptic lotion. wanted to arrest the rise of Dettol soap. HLL looked for an easy solution. it is not effective. the company disowned the brand. Instead of trying to develop its own brand of soap. One reason can be that antiseptic lotion is a small market that does not warrant such heavy investment. More over. the marketing alliance was for soaps. a funny incident happened. . But if that is so.During 1998. Dettol has taught them that way. Savlon now occupies a negligible part of the market. HLL. J&J was happy because it got some cashflow by giving the rights of Savlon. Somewhere along the way. who wanted to rule the entire soap category. I deliberately used the word funny because it is funny. Hence Savlon was trying to differentiate on attributes which are not considered to be important by the consumers. So where did Savlon went wrong? There are marketing experts who say that the positioning of Savlon was not correct. HLL put Savlon soap in dustbin in 2003 and repositioned its Lifebuoy brand to fight against Dettol. Thus came the idea of marketing alliance with Savlon. So if it does not hurt. it is a no-brand. According to reports. Savlon antiseptic soap was launched. the the company shouldn't have introduced a brand in such a category. I believe that Savlon did not achieve its desired success because J&J was not able to support it interms of investment. In 1998 HLL acquired the rights to launch Savlon Soaps from J&J. Dettol is Rs 300 crore brand of Reckitt and Benckiser formerly Reckitt and Coleman. Dettol saw over these years plenty of brand extentions. Is the brand protected? (Source: http://www. During 1980's Dettol found that the sales are remaining stagnant.com/India/drug/info/DETTOL/DETTOL%20liqd ) Brand :Dettol Company :Reckitt and Benckiser Agency: JWT The brand has been well known for years. Dettol is a 70 year old brand . Since the antiseptic lotion market was stagnant Reckitt wanted to leverage the brand to other categories . The initial launch was unsuccessful because the brand moved from core value of protection to love and care.Dettol : 100% protection. the reason being that the brand has its presence in most of the households but are seldom used . The soap was again relaunched with positioning as " 100 % protection" and now have a . Hence the repeat purchases are not there. Since the brand faltered in its positioning. Hence Reckitt and Coleman unleashed a campaign aiming to expand the usage of the brand to an all purpose antiseptic that can be used for shaving.rinsing. Launched in 1936 as an antiseptic lotion. The first launch was the soap in 1990's.From its launch to 1980's the brand had a dream run with virtually no competitors. the brand became a generic name for antiseptic lotion similar to Xerox in Photocopiers.mims. Dettol have always been positioned as a 100% germ fighter with germ fighting and protection as the core value. Dettol had to expand the usage beyond cuts and bruises. the growth will be stagnant. and as a general disinfectant. Having no competition is a problem. failure was imminent. reasonable market share of 12% in the premium category. I am not saying that you should not extend the brand. When an antiseptic brand tries to extend to a segment which is essentially cosmetic. Similarly Dettol wants to do some thing with the brand because it was successful . Some time success can be very disturbing. band aid. . Xerox wanted to extend to com puters but failed miserably. still Dettol is trying with variants forgetting the core brand. it cannot compete with the major players on the cosmetic platform . Now after all these failures. and shaving gel but failed miserably in those categories. Reckitt failed to strengthen the mother brand and faced competition in that category from Savlon.The liquid soap category is only 12 crore worth but the hand wash category is expected to grow to 100 crore. Now Dettol is trying to make a foothold in the soap market with the launch of Dettol with moisturizer and glycerin variants. Even as the brand is extending. But don't do it at the expense of the mother brand .We can see a brand struggling to find its place in the market. The brand also tried to extend to talc. This brand is a classic case for brand extention failures. It has also launched a body wash recently. The next extention was in the form of liquid soap. what at best can happen is that the brand can exist as a niche brand extending its core value and creating a niche . com/2011/09/exo-anti-bacterial-dishwashbar.pdf .blogspot.com/Case-Study/Dettol%20Case%20Study.html http://mdi-marquity.Other Topics http://marketingpractice.