An OLD product with the SAME feel in a NEW Package

Any marketing enthusiast would remember the Cinthol Ad featuring the 80's hero,Vinod Khanna Ad. The ad managed to position Cinthol as an exuberant youthful brand which showed the confidence of the young energetic male. The symbol of Vinod Khanna in a horse by the beach stayed on till the 90's and managed to help Cinthol ward of the onslaught of the MNC brands.

Cinthol heavily promoted the product using celebrities of the likes of Vinod Khanna and Imran Khan in 1986 . In 1989 Cinthol tried to catch the lime freshness trend using Cinthol Lime which was a big hit. During 1992 it came out with Cologne. The brand went for a major overhaul in 1993-1995 with a new pack. But there was a customer outcry for the old Cinthol. Eventually the company had to relaunch the original Cinthol and the new range was branded as Cinthol International. By 1993, the soap boasted of an 18 per cent share of the premium segment of toilet soaps.

Then, Cinthol’s fortunes took a turn for the worse. Between 1993 and 1996, it got in-and-out-of a joint venture with Procter & Gamble (P&G), the aftermath of which saw Godrej’s overall market share in soaps slip to a measly 5 per cent. Brand Cinthol today is a shadow of its former self.

Godrej Consumer Products is targeting an over 20 per cent topline growth in its Cinthol brand this year. And in line with this target they have increased their marketing spends for Cinthol by about 20 %. One such move in this direction is the new commercial featuring Hrithik Roshan on the TV screens performing DHOOM 2 Lik stunts bare chested in the new Cinthol ad. When Godrej Consumer decided to relaunch its flagship brand Cinthol last month, it decided to let Hindi film star Roshan do what he’s best at. Accompanying the new action-packed television commercial that’s currently on air, is an entirely repackaged offering from the Cinthol franchise.

On watching the ad you tend to get the feeling that Cinthol is trying to recreate the magic of the 80s and early nineties by making Cinthol contemporary with today's youth but keeping it's brand essence intact. The brand essentially is to offer freshness to the young confident male. Just like it used Macho stars of yester year, Vinod Khanna and Imran Khan for enhancing its sex appeal, it has gone on a similar path to rope in the definition of Macho in today's India - Hrithik.

Hrithik exemplifies energy, passion, and the attitude to achieve what he wants to precisely firring into the "Don't stop" campaign that Cinthol has launched. Whether Hrithik manages to pull consumers to the shelves as he does his fans to the theatres remains to be seen.

Rural Retail: The latest buzz

The New Entrant

Kishore Biyani-led Pantaloon Retail, which operates a number of retail format primarily catering to the urban India, is looking at expanding in the rural markets to enhance its presence. Reports exist of Pantaloon Retail's plans to pick up 70 per cent stake in the Godrej Group's rural initiative--Aadhaar. With its latest plans to focus on the rural side, the Future Group looks set to join the bandwagon along with ITC Group. ITC also has a considerable presence in the country's rural side with its e-choupal retail initiative, which is basically aimed at providing a support system to the farmers. Pantaloon Retail currently operates over 6 million square feet of retail space across 48 cities in India with multiple delivery formats covering areas like fashion, food, general merchandise, home, leisure and entertainment, financial services, communications and wellness.

The Biggie - Choupal Saagar

ITC has built a strong platform for its growth through e-Choupal and Choupal Sagars and is best placed compared to others in cashing-on from the growing rural demand. The e-Choupal network comprises of more then 6500 e-Choupals and covering 40000 villages and ~4 million farmers. Apart from the e-Choupal network, ITC also has 21 Choupal Sagars, a chain of retail malls that caters to the needs of rural community by offering FMCG products, farm equipments, medical facilities, banking operations and vehicles. The company has also entered in retailing of fruits and vegetables through three Choupal Fresh cash and carry stores and six Choupal Fresh retail stores.

Hariyali Kissan Bazaar

Another company that has seized upon the importance of reaching out to the rural market is the Rs 2000-crore DCM Shriram group that has launched a chain of rural business centres under the brand name Hariyali Kisaan Bazaar. The Bazaar sells consumer products like farm fuels like petrol and diesel, kerosene and gas, fertilisers, pesticides, seeds, farm implements, vet products, lubes, irrigation equipment, auto parts, consumer durables, drugs, financial services like farm credit, retail banking, insurance and integrated storage facilities. It also acts as a last mile agri-advise and customised agri-solutions on a 24x7 model, explains Chhabra. Each Bazaar is part of a three-four-acre campus, which can accommodate other facilities like farm output warehouses, fuel pumps, tractor service centres, warehouses, bank branches, ATMs etc. The company is planning to rapidly scale up the operations and create a national footprint with over 500 centres across the country.

Godrej Adhaar

The Godrej group is another industrial powerhouse that has walked into the hinterlands by opening its rural malls under the brand name Godrej Aadhaar Stores, which are a complete solution provider for the village folks. A complete solution provider, each Aadhaar facilitates rural credit, water management, agri-inputs supply, advisory services, marketing of rural produce, consumer goods, vet services etc. Aadhaar doesn’t sell its wares at lower price unlike in urban malls but retails only at MRP but only branded items.

Mahindra ShubhLabh Stores

The Rs 6,000-crore Mahindras, the largest farm equipment maker in the country is another key player, that is also into agri-extension services, contract farming. Its branded rural retailing foray is a chain of superstores called Mahindra ShubhLabh Stores, while the farm extension arm is called Mahndra Krishi Vihar. The company has already got into agreements with the governments of Punjab, Haryana, MP, Chattisgrah, Karnataka, AP and TN for contract farming, says an official.ShubhLabh Stores, began in 2002, are present in 11 states—AP, MP, TN, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Chattisgarh, Bengal and Delhi.Over the past three years, the company has pumped in Rs 20 crore into these stores. Now, it is planning to get into food retailing, following its reported loses in contract farming.

Goliath Vs Goliath: The upcoming Soap Wars

ITC to foray into soaps
The buzz about ITC plunging into the highly penetrated toilet soap market is getting louder by the day.It is learnt that the cigarette-to-hotels major is eyeing the mass segment of the soap category, which is why some existing players are said to be sitting on old stock and holding on to the price line.Sources said ITC plans to unveil its soap brand in the next two-three months. The name of the brand is being kept closely under wraps, and, it is not going to be the same brand, Superia, which the company was test marketing over a year ago in some rural areas, sources added.A senior industry official told TOI: "Companies are holding on to the price line for the moment, despite pressure building on the raw material price front. We don't want to get caught in a situation where we raise prices and ITC launches its soap brand at a lower price."Palm oil prices are currently ruling at around $650 per tonne. Industry analysts are skeptical whether I TC should enter the market at such high raw material prices.Dealers of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies said that the last price increase that took place in the soap segment was initiated by Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in July this year.HUL had taken a mid-year price increase on various products across categories. Prices of Pears soap and Lux were revised upwards. In the case of its popular soap brand Lifebuoy, HUL had reduced the grammage, keeping the price intact.HUL is the leading soap maker in the country, with a market share of 54%.As for Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), the second largest soap maker with a market share of 10%, the company had recently said that prices would be raised soon.Industry analysts said ITC's entry is bound to create excitement in the Rs 4,400 crore toilet soap category.Decible levels on the advertising and promotion front are set to soar in the next few months.

ITC, as we have seen during the BINGO launch is going to enter the market with all its might. HUL is expected to preempt the same and come up with its own defensive strategy in a market it has ruled till date. Expect severe casualties when these two giants fight it out!!!!!