All lathered up

It’s the latest marketing slugfest. When Reckitt Benckiser stepped into the dishwashing liquid market last month with the launch of Dettol Kitchen, it was with a bang. TV commercials openly compared the product with market leader Vim, claiming the newcomer is 100 times more effective in killing germs. Hindustan Unilever, which owns the Vim brand, reacted predictably — it first moved the Kolkata high court, which ordered removal of those portions of the ad film that show Vim. Then, HUL struck back with full-page print ads, asking users to choose between a ‘harsh antiseptic’ and the ‘power of 100 lemons’ when it came to cleaning their child’s tiffin box.  

Ad and marketing wars between big brands are all too common, whether it’s for cola, shampoo or detergent. But those are huge categories where the stakes are exceptionally high. Dishwashing liquid, by contrast, seems so insignifcant. Is it really worth getting all lathered up over dirty dishes? Industry observers certainly think so. It’s a market estimated at Rs 300 crore, growing at 40% a year. “The increasing dearth of domestic help makes this segment promising for the launch of relatively premium products. There are low entry barriers and any FMCG company with some product differentiation stands a chance,” says Anand Ramanathan, associate director at KPMG. 

For Reckitt, then, it was a natural progression from the personal care segment into home care and, at the same time, extend its brand positioning to the new products. “The kitchen is a germ hotspot. It made complete sense to extend Dettol’s germ protection promise to the kitchen,” agrees Chander Mohan Sethi, senior VP, South East Asia, Reckitt Benckiser.

But how will knocking copy — as such openly comparative advertising is called in the parlance — play out? “All advertising is fundamentally comparative,” says Kiran Khalap, co-founder of brand consultancy Chlorophyll. “For many years Surf compared itself with Nirma in ads, albeit without taking names, and succeeded in convincing users.” He adds that this is a common practice for new brands to position themselves at par with established products. Sethi’s comment: “Our campaign is based on scientific study and is aimed at creating consumer awareness.”

The fight between Dettol Kitchen and Vim will be a relatively equal one: Reckitt has a wide distribution reach and its inaugural pricing is similar to Vim’s. A Delhi-based cleaning products contract manufacturer says market leadership is a function of marketing muscle and ad spend, not product virtues. “Both are detergents. Add disinfectant and it becomes Dettol; add lemon and you get Vim. It’s not rocket science,” he adds dismissively. Well, the cola war, too, is fought over what is essentially sweetened water, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting.