The Hindu Business Line : HLL decides on mass brand strategy for homecare products

HLL has decided to follow a mass brand strategy for its household care brands such as Vim and Domex. While it has decided to discard the more premium variant of Domex thick bleach, Vim drops - its liquid concentrate for dishwashing - has been limited to the modern trade comprising the more upmarket retail chains.

Mr Ashok Ganpathy, Marketing Manager, said: "In the case of Domex there was no need to have a premium variant, so we decided to upgrade the basic brand as a thick bleach disinfectant cleaner."

The previous thick bleach variant of Domex was pegged at Rs 40 for 500 ml, while the new Domex Thick brand is currently pegged at Rs 25 and there also exists a phenolic variant pegged at Rs 32.

"The thick bleach is the face of Domex today," said Mr Ganpathy.

Lowe, the agency handling the brand, recently unleashed new communication on the germ-kill platform.

Meanwhile, HLL has decided to put on hold its co-branded certification programme with top hospitals across the country for its Domex brand of cleaning disinfectant.

It had appointed its media planning and buying agency, Mindshare Fulcrum's division Local Area Marketing (LAM), to execute the project.

According to the company, Domex currently has a value share of 13-14 per cent in the disinfectant category and trails behind the market leader, Harpic.

Meanwhile, for its Vim brand, HLL has decided not to focus too much on its powder or drops variant.

Considering it is the Vim Bar which is dominant in its category, HLL has decided to focus on its bar which dominates in its category with a value share of 60-65 per cent.

HLL has been constantly relaunching its Vim Bar over the years, setting up new benchmarks for stain removal.

From offering a `Stain Cutter' formulation a couple of years ago, the Vim Bar has now been relaunched in a poly-coated avatar in the southern markets.

While the new Vim has yet to get launched nationally, the poly-coated Vim is expected to replace the old Vim with a new pricing at Rs 15 for 400 gm.

Besides, the company has decided to de-focus on its more premium variant of Vim Drops.

"We will decide when to invest behind this format. Currently, the Vim Drops variant is limited in its reach and is available at certain outlets," said Mr Ganpathy.

HLL is not too keen on promoting its Vim Powder.

"We have realised that the market for dishwash powders is smaller compared to bars. Powders is certainly not going to be the face for Vim we have decided."

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