28-07-2012, 12:50 PM
Brand & Product Management - Case Study on Harpic
CASE HARPIC.docx (Size: 2.02 MB / Downloads: 160)
CASE INTRODUCTION
Harpic, the leading brand for toilet cleaning (also known as lav care) in India had witnessed phenomenonal growth in recent years beginning early 2000’s. Launched in India in 1984, Harpic created the product category 25 years ago. Being the pioneer in the Toilet cleaner market commanding a share of about 80%, the brand growth has paralleled the growth of the toilet cleaner product category in India.
The heady growth seen by this product category during five years of 2002 to 2007 had attracted the attention of the competition which had started to become very active and gave much more focus to their products and marketing efforts. Fresh competition from international players in recent times has also made its entry in the promising Indian home cleaning care market. On the other hand, the growth of the product category had considerably slowed down in the last couple of years.
COMPANY PROFILE
Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd (RBIL) is a fully owned subsidiary of Reckitt Benckiser Plc, world's No.l Company in household cleaning. Reckitt Benckiser Plc came into being with the merger of Reckitt & Colman Plc with Benckiser NV in 1999. The company has operations in 60 countries, sales in 180 countries and has had net revenues in excess of $6.5 billion last year.
The year 2008 saw the company achieve very strong financial results despite increasingly turbulent economic conditions globally. Net revenues grew by 13% to £6,563m and adjusted operating profit was up by 15% to £l, 535m. This performance, following a number of years of strong growth, was testament to the global strength of the Company's strategy and execution, and the quality of its employees and their leadership.
The Indian subsidiary RBIL manufactures and markets a wide range of products in Personal care, Pest control, Shoe care, Antiseptics, Surface care, Fabric care and other categories. Amongst its many well-known brands are Dettol, Mortein, Harpic, Cherry Blossom, Lizol, Disprin, Robin powder, Colin, etc. Most of these brands are either number 1 or number 2 in their respective categories in India.
BRAND HARPIC
Harpic’s origin dates back to 1920, when a British gentleman named Harry Pickup found that surplus explosive bye products, once refined, had an equally devastating effect on germs and stains. Thus, post World War 1, it was this act of serendipity that led to the invention of "Harpic", a brand name derived from the inventor's name Harry Pickup. In 1932, Reckitt and Sons took over the company and soon Harpic became a household name in Britain. By the Sixties, more than 50% of the housewives in Britain had bought this brand.
The brand has made a long journey since its humble beginnings. Harpic is now sold in over 47 countries worldwide on the platform of "Powerful Cleaning". It is positioned as the expert in Lavatory Care and offers a complete range of lavatory care products such as liquid toilet bowl cleaners, toilet bowl blocks, cistern blocks, wipes and tablets. In liquid cleaner segment, the brand offers Harpic Power and Harpic Fresh. In automatics segment, it offers Harpic Flushmatic and Harpic Hygienic.
HARPIC IN INDIAN MARKET
Harpic is the brand which changed the way toilets were cleaned in India. Launched in India in 1984, the brand experienced a slow acceptance by consumers in the initial years. Consumers were using a range of substitute products such as plain water, phenyl, acids, detergents, bleach and whole lot of other proxy products. Many consumers were habituated to pouring residual detergent water, after washing clothes or mopping floor, into their toilet to clean the same. They believed that reusing the detergents was an economical way to clean the toilets. They had also resigned themselves to the sub-standard cleaning achieved through these methods as they thought that they couldn't get cleaner toilets any other way. In such a backdrop where under-performance of toilet cleaner proxy products was widely accepted, Harpic was perceived to be a very expensive product (when Harpic was launched, same amount of Harpic liquid cost the consumer at least double that of phenyl and about five times that of acid).
SURFACE CLEANING MARKET IN INDIA
The Indian surface cleaners market comprises of three main segments: toilet cleaners, floor cleaners and specialist surface cleaners for glass etc. The toilet cleaners market is the largest and had a sale of Rs 180 crores in 2008, floor cleaners is the next biggest market with sales of Rs 75 crore, and the specialist surface cleaners is the smallest with sales revenues of Rs. 35 crores in 2008. Each of these segments has multiple players, some present in various segments with the same brand, while other players have different brands in different segments. Reckitt Benckiser which is the market leader in Lav care has Harpic brand in this segment while Lizol in the floor cleaning segment. In specialist surface cleaners it has a brand called Colin, a liquid spray product used for cleaning glass. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) entered this market with the brand Domex which was an APDC (all purpose disinfectant cleaner) that can be used on the floors, in the kitchen sink, for wash basins and in the toilet. HUL has recently launched Cif (a specialist surface cleaner) which has been positioned as a cream with micro particles which does tough cleaning with minimum effort.