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  Dettol Vs. Vim: Return of Ad Wars” showing the various angles by which we can see the two brands indulged in war with various product

DETTOL Vs VIM (Liquid dish wash)

Reckitt Benckiser’s  Dettol which is the “most trusted brand”(tagline-be 100% sure) in India is as fearless as before to launch its “dettol kitchen”. Dettol took TV ads and directly attacked on Vim, with no attempt to hide the latter’s brand name.

The new dettol kitchen is positioned as “germ killer plus multipurpose cleaner”. The sword on the bottle depicts its power to fight against germs. Its distinct smell itself is a point of differentiation for brand dettol. Dettol in 2008 came up with a tagline “aapka dettol kya kya karta hai” which is proven now as dettol enters in the segment of dish washing.
Vim was initially positioned on the lemon content in the bar.The brand using its ingredients to position itself on its stain removing benefit.later it positioned itself on "stain cutter" feature to show its power in dish cleaning.It came up with technological advancement for sloppy soaps poly coating.

 Tagline-“ghar ghar ka muh tod jawab”which shows the aggressive nature of brand.

They compete closely as dettol is primarily a germ killer but it launches it’s healthy kitchen gel in two lime flavors. On the other side vim constantly claims its lemon content.

However the pricing differs.  
Dettol priced its healthy kitchen gel ranging Rs20-Rs150.   
if seen its distribution.In northern region it has 603245 outlets.The most selling region in northern parts of India are Punjab and Delhi.

As per CII ,the overall market size of dishwashers including bars and powders account for Rs2000 crore. Excluding that the market size stands at 400 croresince liquid dish wash is a new concept and is slowly growing especially in metro cities where hygiene plays a significant role in day to day life.

Reason for Dettol to enter in the dish wash market-

Dish wash bar category -It's more than Rs 300-crore market churning out more than 1.2 lakh tones a year and growing at a CAGR of 20 per cent in the last five years. The product format transition from powder to bar and from bar to liquid.It grows annually at a rate of 40%.

 Due to its positioning as a germ-killer, it has extended into categories such as hand wash, hand sanitizers, body wash, shaving creams and hand plasters and now it is all set to extract its turnover by barging into the liquid dish wash category. Also the growing concern for hygiene so the germ kill proposition in dish wash might pave way for dettol in this segment.

Its move to get into kitchen and utensil cleaning while logical since germs are found everywhere is still its riskiest extension so far. That’s because the movement into home could confuse it’s its brand equity in personal care

 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.

Kitchen cleaning as a segment is not as cluttered as personal care is as a category.So how would Dettol ignore it!! It made sense then for Dettol to take its germ kill proposition as 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 Dettol’s protection to the kitchen by providing a single solution for a truly healthy kitchen. Also to come in liquid dish wash dettol has to do aggressive distribution as it is competing against the king of “intensive distribution” HUL.

While RB has been expanding its home care portfolio in India.Dettol wins advantage over other international brands such as Vanish, Easy off Bang, Harpic, Lizol and Colin, these products are not as huge as Dettol is for the company. Globally, RB is big in household care and using Dettol to strengthen this portfolio in India is a clever move.

RB’s India revenues are in excess of Rs 2,000 crore. Dettol is the largest brand in the company’s 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

War begins…

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is a true competitor and it should be. After a week’s silence, it has finally hit back at Reckitt Benckiser’s TV ad comparing its utensil cleaner Vim with the latter’s latest launch – Dettol Kitchen Cleaning Gel.

 HUL released a huge print ad 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?

 HUL has posed a simple question: Which one would you choose to clean your child’s Tiffin?

But dettol has answers if it goes back to question HUL on its “power of 100 lemons” {ASCI}

The dish wash powders market-is shrinking — it has fallen by 50 per cent from 3 lakh tones five years ago (2003 data)

The market share acquisition by branded dishwashers which overall accounts to 400-450 crore.Vim is the market leader with 90% market share.Pril accounts for 44% of market share while others 66%(nirma, exo, odopic, spencer’s). Vim has a turnover of 300 crore,pril and other players account for a turnover of 250 crore.

History tells it all (Dettol Vs lifebuoy)!!

Dettol happens to be a leader in liquid hand wash (as per market survey).It slowly wants to acquire the liquids dish wash market which is growing at a rate of 40% annually.HUL has two brands lifebuoy which was already being targeted by dettol in liquid hand wash and soap category but now it is targeting vim as it stands as market leader in dish wash and 2^nd in liquid dishwashing. It is not the first time that dettol takes a dig at HUL brand. It’s like a circle. History tells how lifebuoy has targeted dettol in its ad’s. Which is now supposed to be the focus area of dettol. Already dettol hand wash (1994 launch) wins over lifebuoy hand wash (see below).    

                                        

But in soap category lifebuoy wins over dettol.

In terms of market share =

Lifebuoy-14% dettol-8.2%

Lifebuoy’s secret may lie in its history which was launched way back in 1894 while dettol just came in 1981.Dettol is nearly an 80 year old brand. Still it is the fourth largest soap brand in India making turnover of 1500 crore. Lifebuoy counters dettol by tagline of ”100% better germ

Protection”. It repositioned itself from “male victorious health” to “family health”.                                    

Beware Dettol

Vim faces lot of competition in the liquid dish wash segment from other brands. It endorsed Madhvan .

The bar dishwashing format, however, will not be easy to phase out for two reasons: one, middle- and lower-class households in tier-II and tier-III cities still look for value-for-money offerings while looking at a basic necessity such as dishwashing products.
Two middle- and higher-income households in tier-I and tier-II cities often employ domestic help for chores such as dishwashing. As such they are less concerned about product quality and hygiene as compared to housewives who perform the task themselves also they don’t want to buy liquid gel for them to waste. Their lies a lot of psychological hurdles as well.
Vim in a clever move endorses ram kappor who is a big name in TV soaps. Which is again is a way toward intensive distribution.
Why vim?
It is taking baby steps as it is new in the dishwashing segement.Henkels’ pril being the leader cannot be touched. So it attacks its oldest rival HUL’s vim.
Dettol says in its new release of kitchen dishwashing “are your dish clean for real” which further tells how dettol strengthens its positioning for germ killing.
War begins…

Dettol, the brand- a liquid antiseptic and disinfectant, a brand that has repeatedly being said as  India’s most trusted brands, had decided to launch, in India, a brand extension – Dettol Healthy Kitchen Gel. The association with Dettol, as we know it before today, is a liquid we dab over open cuts and wounds as an antiseptic. It’s an antiseptic we’ve poured a few cupfuls of into buckets of hot water after an outing that has been through grime and dust. We knew, on these occasions, that Dettol was the friend we needed.
HUL takes direct pot shots at Dettol  “A harsh antiseptic or the power of 100 lemons. Which one would you choose to clean your child’s Tiffin?”OI
The copy is even more direct. “An antiseptic is for cleaning wounds and floors. Would you use it to clean the utensils your family eats from??
 All Vim products have the power of 100 lemons…” what an irony!! You ask why??
Flashback…
In 1999, HUL was rapped on the knuckles for a Vim+lemon claim. ‘The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has asked multinational Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) to withdraw or modify its Vim bar advertisement campaign for violating advertising code.
ASCI said, “The visual depiction of the lemon juice (drops) was not true and was misleading.” However, HLL denied that they have received any order by ASCI for modification or withdrawal of Vim advertisement.

Comeback…

Today’s ad, visually, suggests clearly that lemon is an intrinsic and important ingredient in Vim’s Gel. It’s not lemon alone. “Whereas other products are only just beginning to realize the importance and power of natural ingredients (such as pril,godrej,spencer’s) Vim’s use of the power of lemons to provide its unbeatable degreasing power is well-established. We also use other natural products, such as lime, vinegar and green tea to maximize the results, and minimize the use of chemicals.
If dettol ever took ASCI’s move seriously then HUL hard days are not so far…