The Hindu Business Line : `Innovation is all about small changes'

FOR a brand, innovation is all about making "small implemental changes" - in products, pack sizes, the way the media is handled and the distribution system - that help make that "one giant leap." These were precisely the "small steps" that aided the Brylcreem brand to turn around, after being "caught napping," said Mr Shiv Sahgal, Vice-President (Marketing), South Asia, Sara Lee Household and Body Care India.

He was addressing the students of business administration of M.O.P. Vaishnav College for Women in the city on `innovation marketing,' as part of the BL Club lecture series. Mr Sahgal traced the story of Brylcreem, the haircare product from the Sara Lee stable, from the time it was the undisputed market leader to the sudden threat from the Set Wet brand, and how it overcame this challenge through innovation.

As of January 2005, Brylcreem, with its cream and gel variants, had a near monopoly on the haircare market with a 78 per cent share. "It was a lovely scene. In fact, we took life so easy that for a style brand, we had only one commercial on air ... running the same message for four years," said Mr Sahgal.

But the brand was woken up from this reverie with the launch of Set Wet by Paras Pharmaceuticals, with its slick advertising and heavy adspend.

Brylcreem was forced to introspect and come up with a gameplan.

It began to engage in tactical moves by blocking retail space and improving distribution and display at shops. It also played the price game by introducing smaller packs at lower prices, creating demand in Class IV towns too.

But it still had to overcome the media onslaught; the brand's market share had by then dropped 11 per cent, said Mr Sahgal.

Market research revealed Brylcreem was seen as a mature brand for older people. "The first step was to make the brand young and dynamic. Since the `wet look' was in, we launched a variant that would give the wet look and also glow under UV light. We went on air with this first `new news' from Brylcreem after four years."

And as the brand couldn't afford too many commercials, it reinvented the way it looked at media. It entered into tie-ups with shows on youth channels, such as Channel-V, MTV and AXN, and a co-sponsorship for the Bollywood movie Garam Masala — the promos of which helped Brylcreem gain better visibility, said Mr Sahgal.

"The results too were stunning. The category growth leapfrogged; the small packs contributed a big part of this. The UV variant had its rub-off effect on the entire product range. Now, Brylcreem is back in the 70 per cent region, primarily due to innovation in product, distribution and media strategy."

"But we have to continue innovating to keep ahead of competition. We were caught napping once, but we won't let that happen again," said Mr Sahgal confidently.

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