IMT HYDERABAD

BATCH 2019-21

Case Study on:

Reckitt Benckiser: Developing A New Laundry-Care
Category In India
Summary
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) was founded in 1819 in England as Reckitt & Sons and later on in
1999 it merged with Netherland based Benckiser NV. Reckitt Benckiser is a major player in
household products as well as health-care and personal-care products. The company had 3700
employees worldwide and was an established name in around 60 countries.
The company started its operations in India in the year 1910, and the sales in Indian market
were growing much faster as compared to other countries. In India, the major revenue for the
company came from the various brands which were leaders in their categories along much
some portion of revenue coming from RB’s core strategies innovation.
Dettol antiseptic liquid was introduced in 1913 and soon it became RB’s flagship product. It
became a household name as was positioned as the invisible shield against germs to its
consumers. Dettol was a part of most Indians first Aid box and had established an emotional
connect with them. Dettol was under price control by the government which restricted the
company to increase its price, also it was found that Dettol was not used that often by the
consumers. To overcome these, RB launched a range of products under Dettol Brand name to
penetrate in to the FMCG market like Dettol soap, Shaving cream, hand wash, bandages,
dishwashing gel etc.
As the consumers now were much more health conscious and wanted to buy more
antibacterial products, the company was presented with the opportunity to launch
antibacterial laundry detergent in India and this is the main dilemma for this case.

Q1. Identify the key drivers of laundry detergent industry in India.

A1. The key drivers of laundry detergent industry in India are:

1. Automatic detergents and high-quality hand-wash laundry soaps which improved the
growth in the laundry-care industry.
2. Powder detergents was the biggest product segment in the market which made 98% of
the hand-wash segment and had a 68% share in the machine was segment. The sale
grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5% in the machine-wash
segment whereas 8.8 percent in the hand-wash from 2005-2012.
3. Increase in Disposable Income changed lifestyle in both rural and urban India.
Consumer was more focused on personal health and hygiene.
4. There were changes in consumer preferences. An increase in the demand of washing
machines and for better quality premium products. Product benefits such as stain
removal, shine and softness also supported market growth. In 2005, fabric softeners
grew at a rate of 23 percent.
5. There were new detergents for automatic washing machine, such as Surf Excel and
Ariel Matic which resulted in a fast growth in the urban areas.

Q2. Analyze the Dettol brand and the reason for its success over the years

A2. Reckitt Benckiser's flagship product Dettol was introduced under individual branding. It
positioned Dettol as an expert antiseptic that acted as a protection against germs. They
advertised Dettol using a mother-child relationship to create an emotional touch that showed
a mother and a hurt child relationship.
1. SENSORY MARKETING - The differentiating smell, color created an impression of
quality among consumer's subconscious minds. They started associating Dettol as they
are using the same antiseptic used in hospitals and nursing homes. Due to this sense of
trust with Dettol, it gave them a competitive advantage as now consumer's preferences
were biased, based on points of difference.

2. EMOTIONAL MARKETING – Dettol’s marketing created an emotional connect

between the consumers and the brand. The tingling sensation upon applying Dettol
convinced customers that Dettol was successful in killing germs and effectively healing
the wound. It created a sense of trust by using mother child relationship that Dettol cared
for families’ protection .These factors differentiated Dettol from its competition.

3. ALLOPATHIC PERSPECTIVE – Previously there was a notion that diseases were

caused by body imbalances but with the arrival of Dettol, it represented a new allopathic
perspective that diseases were caused by germs. And then it became common that Dettol
was started being used while bathing (Dettol dissolved water), cleaning toilets and
household surfaces. Medicated plasters.

4. ATTRACTIVE PACKAGING– The packaging of Dettol was done in a slim bottle with
a large-cap that made it easier to be opened. The white and green colored wrapping was
done to give it a medicinal bottle look .Even the logo on the bottle Aesculapius was
shown to put forth a sword of trust. The clouding effect was used as an advertisement
when Dettol was added to water as Dettol turned white upon contact

5. INNOVATION- Even after facing stagnation Dettol continued to launch its other
products like Dettol soap, Dettol liquid hand wash, Dettol liquid body wash, Dettol
shaving cream and kitchen gel.

Q3. Should Reckitt Benckiser launch the detergent as brand extension of Dettol or
launch new brand for detergents?
A3. In our opinion, Reckitt Benckiser should launch the detergent as a brand extension of
Dettol. Dettol has always been able to diminish the fears of consumers with respect to the
cleanliness and hygiene it offers. As they were planning to launch an Antibacterial detergent,
it would be beneficial for RB to introduce it under the “Dettol” brand name as Dettol has
always been associated with Anti-Bacterial products and is always the first preference of
consumers when health and hygiene is concerned.
With rapid increase in disposable incomes of people and economic growth due to
urbanization, the aspirations and expectations of people rose for better things. The increase in
ability to pay increased the demand for washing machines in urban as well as rural India.
Their change in lifestyle also enhanced their awareness for health and hygiene resulting in
comparatively greater demand for toiletries and cleaning products.
Dettol has been the biggest brand under RB since launch covering a large market share in
India with various products. RB positioned Dettol as the invisible protector against germs.
 Dettol gradually gained trust of the people of India as being the first preference of every
mother in case their child gets hurt.
In 2005, RB entered the Laundry-care market by launching India’s first stain remover brand
“Vanish” as being an additive to detergent but failed to live up to expectations as most of the
customers thought that the brand damaged the cloth and was little expensive. Product
launched under the brand named Dettol succeeded and gathered a reasonable market share in
India be it Antiseptic liquid(their Flagship product), Gold Bar Soap, Shaving cream, Hand
Wash, Liquid Body Wash, Hand Sanitizer, etc. , but the market penetration of Vanish was
only 1.1%.
RB has already launched Dettol Antibacterial Laundry Cleanser in Europe, so they good
amount of experience in this segment. Also, there are other brands like P&G who are selling
Ariel Professional Antibacterial Washing Powder outside India. So, to enjoy first mover
advantage in this segment, RB should introduce Antibacterial detergent under Dettol’s brand
in India.

Q4 What should be the segmentation, targeting, and positioning be for the new detergent?
Reckitt Benckiser, with brands like Dettol is already enjoying popularity and huge market share
in Indian market. STP analysis can be used to launch the new product, detergent -

Segmentation
It refers to bifurcating the consumer based on their needs and their wants. It answers who buys
and why the consumer buys the product.

Geographic Segmentation: For new product (detergent) it required to available across the
region as reach of Reckitt Benckiser is widespread because of its distribution channels and it
caters to rural and urban areas as well throughout the country.

Demographic Segmentation: For new product its required to be economically feasible to

major section of the society. It’s needed to work upon “Value for money” criterion in the
country like India.

Psychographic Segmentation: Reckitt Benckiser need to make it new product (detergent) to

relate to people in comparison to already established brands. It can use its other products like
Dettol to establish a sense of connectivity to its product.

Targeting
Targeting refers to the selection of potential customers based on various parameters and study
with whom the business wishes to sell its product or services.
Mass marketing: Reckitt Benckiser products are well spread across a huge market. It already
has a lot of loyal customers with its product it needs to provide the same marketing process for
the new product to establish the same treatment.

Concentrated marketing: For new Product it needs to segregate its market properly with
required information available to Interpret the magnitude of concentrated marketing required
whether to introduce the new product as premium product or normal product.

Pricing Perceptive: To introduce new product (Detergent) Reckitt Benckiser needs to set its
price strategically lower to its competitors without compromising quality.

Positioning
Positioning refers to concentrating the areas or potential aspect of product, market or consumers
which it can excel in order to compete and to have an effective position in the market.
 To position itself as powerful stain remover which is low on cost.
 To introduce unique features to make it consumer friendly thus building loyalty
 To position the product strategically in such way that it led to highest penetration in the
market
 To position itself as “Value for Money” Product aspect to Indian consumers.
 To Connect the new product (Detergent) to its already established products to gain
popularity

Q5 Develop the Brand positioning bull’s eye for Reckitt Benckiser detergent.

A4.

The Brand Positioning Bull’s Eye for RB’s Detergent

Q6 Discuss the possible obstacles to Reckitt Benckiser’s success in the laundry detergent
market.
The major obstacles in the success of the Reckitt Benckiser’s laundry detergent market in India
are:
1 - The presence of major competitors like Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), Procter &
Gamble (P&G), Rohit Surfactants Private Limited (RSPL) would make it hard for Reckitt
Benckiser’s new detergent to make its place in the Indian market.
HUL has brands like Wheel, Rin and Surf which has 37.6% of market share,
P&G has brands like Ariel and Tide which has market share of 18%,
Ghari detergent from Rohit surfactants which has the share of 22.8%.
2 -. Similar sort of experiment was done in Europe by Reckitt Benckiser when it launched
Dettol antibacterial laundry cleanser in Europe, but P&G already had similar product in this
category. If they launch a product in India the P&G will also go ahead and compete with the
same product line.
3 – The product should not be very costly as it should be affordable to the buyers also, there
should not be any compromise on the quality.
4 – Dettol is the flagship brand of RB, if company launches a new product with Dettol name in
it and the product fails, it will impact overall brand image of Dettol.