The Hindu Business Line : Elder Health to promote Tiger Balm aggressively

Mumbai May 5 After managing to keep similar sounding products like "Sleeping Tiger" and "Flying Tiger" at bay, Elder Health Care Ltd (EHCL) is putting its marketing might behind in-licensed product Tiger Balm to capitalise on the brand-name.

Convenient packages like the little red "tinlet" of Tiger Balm (a 3 gm tin in a size little larger than a tablet) and other formulations of the product will be available in the local market shortly, said Dr Anuj Saxena, EHCL's Managing Director.

EHCL in-licenses the product from Singapore's Haw Par Healthcare Ltd and the product has been in the Indian market through legal channels for the last 10 years. In the past, there has not been "over-the-top" activity around Tiger Balm in the local market because of the several similar sounding products waiting in the wings to leverage Tiger Balm's brand-equity.

Trademark cases

EHCL did not spend too much in promoting Tiger Balm, as someone else would have benefited, Dr Saxena told Business Line.

Tiger Balm is a Rs 18-crore brand and hopes to do about Rs 25 crore in sales this year. Commenting on the sales erosion caused by similar sounding products, he said, Tiger Balm could have well been a Rs 50-crore brand.

The several trademark cases fought successfully by EHCL against similar sounding products and the protection provided by the product patent regime has encouraged the company to go full-throttle on promotions this year, he said.

Competitive markets

Red and white formulations of Tiger Balm are used largely for body and headaches. But the Mumbai-based company seeks to explore the potential of the time-tested brand. So on the anvil are brand-extensions such as muscle and joint rubs, he indicated, unwilling to give more details, as the market was competitive.

The tinlets would be priced economically, "not more than Rs 5" and are expected to be in the market in July.

Balms are usually sold twice in a year, in the June/July monsoon period and December to February, wintertime, he observed. Brand-extensions are to keep the product in use through the year, he said.

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