Good Knight trumps AllOut

Its been a close fight, but the Godrej Consumer brand has edged ahead of S C Johnsons product in recent months both in terms of volume and value

VIVEAT SUSAN PINTO

Mumbai, 23 February

he rotund husband when asked what he would do if his wife accidentally left the window open letting in mosquitoes, says: No problem, switch to active mode. The husband, in a commercial currently running on national television, is referring to Good Knights Advanced Activ+ liquid vaporiser. The product has helped Brand Good Knight from Godrej Consumer (GCPL) steal a march over archrival S C Johnsons AllOut, both in terms of market share and moving average total (MAT). This is for the first time that AllOut has been trounced in a category that it created over two decades ago. Data from Nielsen from June 2011 to January 2012 shows that Good Knight has been the clear leader in liquid vaporisers, a category where it has traditionally lagged, with value market share in the region of 43 to 45 per cent (Check Chart). AllOuts share, in contrast, has been a shade over 39 per cent during the period under review. Prior to this, for the months of April and May 2011, AllOut was the leader with value shares of 43.4 per cent and 42 per cent to Good Knights 38.8 per cent and 41.2 per cent respectively. While the month-on-month moving average total (MAT), which is the average share per month, in this case, average value share, shows AllOut to be the leader between April and October 2011, how tough the fight between the two brands is can be gauged from this: In November 2011,

both AllOut and Good Knight are tied at 41.7 per cent respectively. But in December 2011 and January 2012, Good Knight leads with a MAT share of 42.2 per cent and 42.6 per cent over AllOut's 41.2 per cent and 40.9 per cent respectively. (Check Chart) If volume market share is taken into account, then Good Knight begins to lead AllOut from May 2011 itself with a share of 42.8 per cent to AllOuts 40.4 per cent. Good Knight sustains this volume leadership right through to January 2012. If MAT volume figures for April to January 2012 are taken into account then Good Knight has taken the lead over AllOut from September 2011 with a share of 42 per cent to the latters 40.9 per cent. (Check Chart) Clearly on all fronts, be it volume, value or MAT, Good Knight has trumped AllOut. Tarun Arora, execu-

tive vice-president, marketing, GCPL, says that besides products such as Activ+, which helped strengthen Good Knights liquid vaporiser portfolio, the company has also beefed up distribution and increased consumer promotions in the last few years in the segment. While overall reach of GCPL in household insecticides is 1.5 million outlets, the company has specifically worked on improving direct distribution in liquid vaporisers, which is a product that sells more in urban markets, Arora says. Of the ~3,000-crore household insecticides category in India, almost 28 per cent constitutes liquid vaporisers. Coils makes up the bulk at 55 per cent, while aerosols is about 15 per cent and mosquito repellent creams stands at 2 per cent respectively. Market experts say that what counts in household insecticides is

GOOD KNIGHT: THE NEW LEADER

Liquid Vaporisers Value Market Share Good AllOut Knight MAT Value Share Good AllOut Knight Volume Market Share Good AllOut Knight MAT Volume Share Good AllOut Knight

11-Apr 11-May 11-Jun 11-Jul 11-Aug 11-Sep 11-Oct 11-Nov 11-Dec 12-Jan

38.8 41.2 43.3 43.5 43.6 44 44.6 45.1 44.3 45.7

43.4 42 39.7 39.5 39.5 39.4 39.3 39.4 39.2 39

38 38.3 38.7 39.1 39.6 40.2 40.9 41.7 42.2 42.6

44.3 44.1 43.9 43.5 43.1 42.6 42.2 41.7 41.2 40.9

40.8 42.8 44.7 45 45.2 45.8 46.2 46.3 45.9 47.5

41.6 40.4 38.2 37.9 37.8 37.5 37.5 37.8 37.6 37.1

39.4 39.8 40.3 40.8 41.3 42 42.7 43.5 44 44.4

43.1 42.8 42.5 42 41.5 40.9 40.4 39.9 39.4 39.1

Data is for All India (urban+rural); Figures are in percentage

Source: Nielsen

efficacy of the product. In recent years, GCPL has invested heavily in household insecticides, which is one of its three core categories besides personal wash, that is, soaps, and hair colour. While GCPL is the leader in coils and aerosols, liquid vaporisers has been a segment it never quite cracked thanks to the first-mover advantage that AllOut had. But that appears to be a thing of the past now as Good Knight emerges the new leader in liquid vaporisers. In response to a mail, seeking replies to what the company proposed to do to address loss of market share, Subhash Chand, director, marketing, S C Johnson said, As a privately held company, we do not comment on our strategies or discuss our numbers. However specifically to your question, during the stated period, AllOut grew at a healthy rate and is the most trusted household care brand. But the company in August 2011 did undertake a brand makeover, dropping its mascot, the animated frog, as well as the tagline Maccharon Ka Yamraaj to make way for Maccharon Pe Vaar, Surakshit Aapka Parivaar. This was done with the objective of infusing new life into the brand. S C Johnson also launched a competitive product to Good Knights Advanced Activ+ called the AllOut Power Slider. Both products are priced at ~ 54 for a refill pack. The base or regular range of Good Knight and AllOut are also more or less evenly priced. A 45-night Silver Wick Good Knight refill, for instance, is priced at ~ 49, while AllOuts 45-night refill pack is priced at ~ 48.15.