MOSQUITO REPELLENT INDUSTRY- OVERVIEW Its sole reason for existence in the market is the omnipresent mosquito, which makes life excruciatingly difficult for the average Indian during summer and monsoon months. In many ways the primary factor fuelling the explosive growth of this market – characterized by low brand loyalty and low product involvement –has been the availability of cost-effective, mosquito repellents. The night-long noisy drone of mosquitoes that disturbs our sleep is music to the ears of the Rs1, 100-crore mosquito repellent industry. The various segments in this industry are coils, mats, vaporizers, aerosols and creams.
The two new segments are personal sprays and gels. The category-wise market shares: Coils command nearly 50 per cent of the market share, vaporizer refills at 20 per cent, with mats at 10 per cent followed by aerosols at 9 per cent and the rest shared by creams, heating devices and other products. Segment Wise Market Share The market for insecticides and repellents has grown by 20 per cent in 2003-04 and is estimated to grow at about 20%. The rural market for mosquito repellents is reckoned at around Rs 173 million against a mere Rs 79 million in urban centers.
The market leader of the industry is Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. with brands like Good Knight, Jet and Hit enjoying a market share of 40% THE EVOLUTION: Coils were the first mosquito repellants to be introduced in the Indian market. The first brand of coils was Tortoise, launched by Bombay Chemicals Ltd. (BCL) in the 1970s. In the 1980s Good Knight was launched and mats used with electronic mosquito destroyers became extremely effective. In the mid 1990s Karamchand Appliances created a new segment of vaporizers with the launch of All Out. .This segment was almost completely dominated by KAPL.
GSLL (Godrej Sara Lee Limited) could no longer ignore this growing segment and launched its own vaporizer under the Good Knight brand in 1996-97. In the latter half of the 1990s, the market became much more competitive, with the entry of GSLL, Reckitt Benckiser and HLL. GSLL launched an array of brands (all coils) like Jet Fighter (1997), GoodKnight Jumbo (1999) and GoodKnight Instant one after the other The company’s other brands included Banish (mats), Hit (aerosols), Hit Lines (chalks), Mosfree (lotion) and Hexit (spray). while Reckitt also launched its range of mats and coils.
These new entrants resorted to heavy advertising and aggressive sales promotion tactics. Recently two new categories of personal sprays and gels have emerged. MAJOR Players KARAMCHAND APPLIANCES PRIVATE LTD. – ALL OUT GODREJ SARA LEE LTD- GOOD NIGHT, JET, BANISH, HIT RECKITT BENCKISER- MORTEIN JYOTHY LABORATORIES- MAXO TAINWALA PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS- CASPER BOMBAY CHEMICALS- TORTOISE Company’s Share segment Wise ? Mosquito coil market: Market leader: Mortein (35%) from Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd Market Challenger: Good Knight with a share of 30%
Market Follower: Maxo from Jyothy Laboratories’ is rapidly increasing its share. ? Vaporizer refill market: Market leader: All Out brand from Karamchand Appliances Pvt Ltd. (65%) Market Challenger: Good Knight and Jet from Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. together account for 24% of the vaporizer segment. Market Follower: Mortein Vaporizer by Reckitt Benckiser has a market share of about 5-7%. ? Mats and aerosol categories: Market leader: Godrej Sara Lee leads the market with its brands Good Knight Silver mat (68%) in mats and Hit (aerosol). Market Follower: Mortein’s share in mats is estimated at roughly 15%.
KARAMCHAND APPLIANCES PRIVATE LTD. ALLOUT The name All Out is almost a generic name for Liquid Vaporizers (vaporizers), a segment of Rs. 22O crores in the mosquito repellant industry in India. All out is the market leader in this segment with a 70 percent market share in 2001. KAPL was almost solely responsible for creating this segment. Within a decade of its launch, All Out had converted a large number of customers into vaporizer users. Allout’s sales reached Rs 253 million in 1996-97. GSLL could no longer ignore this growing segment and launched its own vaporizer under the GoodKnight brand in 1996-97.
Although the initial success of All Out was largely due to technological innovation and first-mover advantages, it was widely believed that what had kept the brand going was strong marketing. KAPL decided to handle the advertising for All Out on its own, surprising many industry watchers and drawing criticism from some ad agencies. However, the company surprised everybody with the launch of a campaign featuring an animated, jumping frog (actually an All Out vaporizer) eating mosquitoes, which proved to be immensely successful. In 1998, KAPL came out with a Rs 99 pack consisting of the Pluggy and a refill.
The deal, called the ‘deadly offer’ was backed by heavy advertising. . After KAPL’s ‘deadly exchange scheme,’ GoodKnight’s share decreased by 9. 3% in volume terms between September 1999 and February 2000. KAPL’s distribution network consisted of around 120 distributors across the country. Of the 900,000 outlets across the country, that sold repellants, KAPL was available in only 18%. As this was significantly lower than the 55% figure for R and 54% for GSSL, KAPL is working towards increasing its presence. GODREJ SARA LEE LTD GOOD KNIGHT Godrej Sara Lee Ltd. s a 450 crore turnover company with brands like Good Knight, Jet and Hit. It is the market leader in the mats segment with a share of 68% in May 2000. Good Knight has become the most preferred mosquito repellent solution in the country. The Good Knight brand was launched by Transelektra Domestic Products Ltd (TDPL) in 1984. The product was innovative and perfectly priced. Good Knight worked on a long term strategy that would capitalize on its long-established equity. In the mid 1990s, Good Knight faced growing competition from new coil and vaporizer products.
To counter this thrust, Good Knight re-launched its mat first as Super mat and finally as Good Knight Silver mat in 2003, with contemporary packing, superior technology and using a high decibel campaign. Today Good Knight Silver mat is a market leader with 62% market share. By 1999, Good Knight also joined the battle for the coils by launching its red coil variant. Since Good Knight was seen to be a hi-tech brand and coils were regarded as an entry-level product, the company made sure that it did not suffer a downgrade in consumer perception.
It branded its version as a value-added product, which lasted ten hours (compared to eight hours in the case of most others). The color red was meant to convey power. . The red coil category created by Good Knight is growing and has cornered 50% of the coil market. Good Knight entered the vaporizer segment in 1995 by launching Good Knight liquidator and Liquid Mosquito Destroyer (LMD) machine, together as a combo-pack. In a short span of three years, Good Knight liquidator managed a share of 24% of the vaporizer market and 32% of LMD market based on the strength of the Good Knight equity.
The Good Knight Vaporizer lasted 30-45 days and just had to be plugged in. Good Knight Turbo refill, a technologically superior product, was launched in 2004. It was the right time for Good Knight to take the plunge and gun for market leadership. The most important USP for Good Knight is its brand equity, built over a decade by its products and brand communication. RECKITT BENCKISER MORTEIN Rs 585-crore Reckitt Benckiser in India is high profile particularly because it has a range of popular products. Reckitt launched mosquito repellent coils and mats under the brand name Mortein in 1994.
Mortein is also available in liquid and aerosol spray forms. Mortein is the number two pest-control brand in the country Mortein sales grew by 9. 2% in F12/01, as against market growth of 9%. Mortein Coil sales grew by 14. 5% despite stiff competition in the category. For Mortein the strategy is to increase penetration of coils, enhance brand salience of other variants and tap niche segments through a stream of innovations. Another target for 2001 is to gather a legitimate share among vaporizers — from 1. 5 per cent to a double digit figure.
Mortein’s share in mats is estimated at roughly 15 per cent. WHY WE CHOSE TO LAUNCH A VAPORIZER? 1) Market Growing: The market for vaporizers has grown from 5% in 1999 to 20% in 2004. It is expected to grow even further since vaporizers are becoming economical and people are realizing the disadvantages of using coils and mats. 2) Safer And Convenient: Vaporizers are safer than coils since they just have to be switched on. They are far more convenient as well. Many people complain of breathing problems with coils which is eliminated through vaporizers. ) Economical: Vaporizer is considered to be a premium product but if you compare the prices of the coils and vaporizers today than there is not much difference. Consumers have to bear the initial cost of a machine which is a one time cost and the per day cost of the refill is even lower than the coils. PORTERS 5 FORCE MODEL 1) Threat of competitors The threat of competitors is high because there are a lot of players in the market and two new segments that is personal sprays and gels have come in which will increase the existing competition.
Also existing players are entering new segments which increase the competition like Casper entering the vaporizer segment and Good Knight the personal spray and gel segment. 2) Threat of New Entrants New entrants to an industry can raise the level of competition, which depends mainly on the barriers to entry. In case of mosquito repellent industry the entry barriers are low since the costs to set up the plant is not very high. The exit barriers are low and thereby firms can enter and exit easily. 3) Threat of Substitute Products The presence of substitutes can dilute the attractiveness of a particular industry.
The threat of substitute products is low. The substitutes for mosquito repellent would be agarbattis and dhoop that are used in villages. There are not many substitutes available. 4) Threat of Buyers Bargaining Power The buyer’s bargaining power is low since they cannot influence the prices to such a great deal. They have to purchase the product at whatever prices available. 5) Threat of Supplier’s Bargaining Power The cost of items bought from suppliers can have a significant impact on the company’s profitability. The threat of supplier’s bargaining is moderate.
We can get our raw materials since they are herbal and can be easily available. But certain oils are not available everywhere which increases the supplier’s bargaining power. FUTURE According to industry reports, the Indian mosquito repellant market was expected to grow rapidly. Analysts said that with improvement in literacy and health consciousness in rural areas, the use of mosquito repellants was expected to increase substantially in these areas. As the per capita usage of repellants was very low in the country, there was considerable scope for the market to expand.
LAUNCH OF A MOSQUITO REPELLENT- FIGHTER ABOUT FIGHTER Our product is a mosquito repellent vaporizer machine and its refill. The machine has an added feature of being operated with AA battery. This battery if used everyday will work for about 45 days. So it can be used even without electricity and can be used outdoors as well; for example tents, cars, etc. The refill will be available in 25ml pack which will last 30 nights, 35ml which will last about 45 nights and 45ml lasting 60 nights subject it is used for 8 hours every night. The liquid is light green in color.
The vaporizer liquid is herbal. It is very economical. Some of the benefits of our product are: 1) Effective evacuation of mosquitoes 2) No irritation of eyes 3) No hoarseness of throat, 4) No headaches and 5) No allergies. Due to complex structure of herbal extracts in our vaporizer liquid, mosquito do not develop immunity/resistance towards it like synthetic toxicants. USP: The USP of our product is that it is the most effective herbal vaporizer which has an added feature of being operated with a battery. INGREDIENTS: The ingredients of our product are:
Eucalyptus extract containing 50% p-methane-3 and 8-diol(PMD) Lemongrass oil Citronella oil Tulasi oil Clove extract Palmarosa oil MANUFACTURING PLANT: Our manufacturing plant will be set up in Daman because we will be exempted for sales tax for a period of 15 yrs as well as it is in the centre which will save our transportation costs. MARKETING MIX 1) PRODUCT: SEGMENTATION Geographic: Initially using the geographic variable Fighter has segmented the market into the western belt that is the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and the union territories of Goa and Daman, Diu.
Psychographic: It has also segmented on the lifestyle variable, for people who have an adventurous lifestyle who can carry our vaporizer at their outings. Socio-economic Classification: SEC A, SEC B and SEC C. We have also included SEC C because vaporizer is considered to be a premium product but we want FIGHTER to be used by SEC C as well since it is economical compared to the other vaporizers in the market. Behavioral: Fighter has segmented on the benefit variable by providing the benefit of being protected from mosquitoes.
Fighter has also segmented on the basis of occasion where it can used on occasions like camps, outings provided used in a closed area. TARGETING Our target market is SEC A, SEC B and SEC C. Income: Rs. 60,000+ p. a. We would aim to target our customer which will be a woman because Fighter is a household product and usually the woman buys it. POSITIONING STATEMENT Fighter is primarily positioned as “A battery operated herbal vaporizer which is the most effective to repel mosquitoes, absolutely safe, convenient and economical which protects you always. ”
PRODUCT DIFFERENTIATION Our product is one of its kinds. Most of the other vaporizers are chemical based, whereas we are the first movers to have a complete herbal vaporizer. We have an added feature of a battery as well. Most of the other vaporizers become ineffective if there are power cuts but FIGHTER overcomes this problem. POSITIOINING STRATEGY Our positioning strategy is benefit positioning since we want to be known as the most effective herbal vaporizer. 2) PRICE The price of our combi-pack is Rs. 67/-. The price of the 25ml refill is Rs. 32/- 35ml refill is Rs. 2/- and 45ml refill is Rs. 52/-. Our pricing strategy is Penetration Pricing because we want to sell high volumes which will result in high long-run profits. The price of our product is low as compared to our competitors mainly because we are using herbal products and thereby our manufacturing costs are low. We want to penetrate into the market and want to be known as the a product which is value for money. 3) PLACE We have a three-tier distribution system which includes MANUFACTURER- DISTRIBUTOR- STOCKIST-WHOLESALER-RETAILER The margins are as follows: Distributor |2% | |Stockist |3% | |Wholesaler |5% | |Retailer |12% | We will appoint distributors as per the density of population in the states and the estimated demand.
Maharashtra and Goa together being the most populated will have 4 distributors. One for Mumbai, one for northern Maharastra, one for central and one for southern Maharashtra and Goa. Gujarat will have three distributors one each for north, central and south. Karnataka will have two distributors and even Kerala will have two distributors. These distributors will appoint their stockists who in turn would appoint the wholesalers. 4) PROMOTION The means that we have used for promoting our product are as follows: 1) Print Ads 2) Hoardings 3) TV Commercial 4) Press Conference
We have two print ads for promoting our product and creating awareness among the public. These will be published in the leading newspapers. The hoarding will be will be shown in all the major cities. We have one TV commercial which will be aired for about six months. The message appeal of the ad is that of benefits and uniqueness of product. On the day of the launch of the product we will call upon a press conference for creating awareness about our product through the media. The following are our print ads and storyboard: This is our first print ad wherein we want to show that our product is a herbal product.
This is our second print ad which shows that Fighter is battery operated and can be used outdoors. Storyboard Frame1: Sadhu is trying to meditate in a hunt in a jungle. Frame 2: The mosquito are disturbing him and destroying his concentration. He says “ Hey Hanuman! Ye macchaar Mera dhyan Bhang Kar Rahe Hain! ” Frame 3: He says “Inse Chutkara Kaise Payoon? ” He wants to get rid of them as soon as possible. Frame 4: He says “Yahaan toh bijlee bhi nahin hain…” As he is in a jungle, then is no electricity and he has no other option as he is a Sadhu and doesn’t use chemicals that are harmful to the environment either. Frame 5:
He uses our product “FIGHTER” AS IT IS MOBILE AND HERBAL. He gets rid of the mosquitoes. He is extremely overjoyed and in his excitement he says “TUSSI GREAT HO FIGHTER” Frame 6: He continues meditation peacefully…! Our product is shown on the screen. SALES PROMOTION The three vehicles which we have used for promoting our sales are: 1) DISCOUNT SALES This is to generate trials. We will have stalls outside about 150 retail stores including departmental stores, supermarkets in major cities like Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad , Cochin, Panaji, Surat, Vadodra and Bangalore. The customer buying the product for first time will get a discount offer.
The normal price of our product (machine +refill) is Rs. 67 but the product will be given to him at a price of Rs. 60 2) COUPONS Along with getting our product at a discounted price, the customer also gets coupons. These coupons will carry a discount scheme where the customer gets a refill of 45ml (which costs Rs. 52) at price of 35ml worth Rs. 42. 3) MULTIPACKS A multipack would contain 2 refill bottles of 45 ml and instead of Rs. 104 (price of both) it will actually cost Rs. 96. All these would boost our sales. New product development PROCESS 1) Idea generation And Screening:
Internal sources: through brainstorming we explored the opportunities of every genre and studied the advantages and disadvantages of every genre before deciding on one. External sources: studying our competitors and their strategies and through surveys conducted. The ideas that came up were: 1) Personal Body spray – We rejected this idea because when we took surveys not many people were not comfortable with spraying themselves with ingredients that were used to repel mosquitoes. 2) Candles: We rejected this idea because mosquito repellent candles have a lot of disadvantages. They can get blown off very easily and thereby are not convenient. ) Herbal Vaporizer: We considered this idea because none of the major players had a herbal vaporizer and we could replace chemicals with herbal products being as effective and much safer. 4) Vaporizer which could also be operated with battery: We even considered this idea because here we could provide an added feature of the vaporizer being operated with a battery. In small towns where electricity is not very constant, it could be used. Even on outdoors like camping it would be very useful. After a lot of discussion we decided we launch a herbal vaporizer which could be operated with a battery as well.
It was technically feasible to make such a product and it would provide dual benefit to people. 2) Concept development: We have made a product-positioning map to see whether our concept of “a herbal vaporizer” would compete against other alternatives already existing in market. After studying our positioning map we decided to come up with a vaporizer which would be economical, effective and herbal. We also decided to have an additional feature of a battery socket. This concept was put forward through some of target customers to get their reactions. And the response we got was good indicating strong customer appeal towards our roduct. The following is our product-positioning map. 3) Marketing strategies: Once the product was finalized, we designed our marketing strategies to launch our product, which are elaborated previously. 4) Business analysis: Once the product was finalized, we had to estimate our costs, project sales and profits for the future to find out whether the objective of our company could be achieved or not. This is further understood in the cost sheet and break-even analysis attached. COST SHEET Initial cost of plant: Rs. 20000000/- 1st Year (all figures in rupees) Direct Material |17625600 | | |Direct Labor |3264000 | | |Prime Cost | |20889600 | |Depreciation |2000000 | | |Administration Cost |7833600 | | |Cost of Production | |30723200 | |Advertisement & PR |16972800 | | |Selling & Distribution |15667200 | | |Cost of Sales | |63363200 | 2nd Year (all figures in rupees) Direct Material |19388160 | | |Direct Labor |3590400 | | |Prime Cost | |22978560 | |Depreciation |2000000 | | |Administration Cost |8616960 | | |Cost of Production | |33595520 | |Advertisement & PR |17233920 | | |Selling & Distribution |17233920 | | |Cost of Sales | |68063360 | 3rd Year (all figures in rupees) Direct Material |22296384 | | |Direct Labor |4128960 | | |Prime Cost | |26425344 | |Depreciation |2000000 | | |Administration Cost |9909504 | | |Cost of Production | |38334848 | |Advertisement & PR |15690048 | | |Selling & Distribution |19819008 | | |Cost of Sales | |73843904 | Sales Estimation:- Total Population of target market:- 2414. 52 lacs approx. Assuming only 2% of population approaches us for our product:- 24. 14 lacs Assuming each family to be of 4 members and some families may buy two or more units of our product and some may not buy so number of families who approach us for the product:- 12 lacs Assuming 40% of families approach us for our refill only and not for machines then number of machines sold would be 5 lacs appox. and then some of these families may again buy our products and some may not and also we can get new customers.
Next, assuming major chunk of population go for 45ml refill then estimated sale of refills:- 45ml refills:- 360000 35ml refills:- 240000 25 ml refills:- 240000 Therefore, sale of 1st year:- |Product |Price of Product |No. of Units |Estimated Sales | |Combi Pack |Rs. 60/- |500000 |30000000 | |25ml Refill |Rs. 32/- |240000 |7680000 | |35ml Refill |Rs. 42/- |360000 |15120000 | |45ml Refill |Rs. 2/- |240000 |12480000 | | |Total |65280000 | Revenue Estimation:- 1st Year:- Estimated Sales: 65280000 Profit (6%) : 3916800 2nd Year:- Estimated Sales: 71808000 (sales increase by 10% as compared to last year) Profit (8%) : 5744640 (profit increases by reducing cost on advertisement) 3rd Year:- Estimated Sales: 82579200 (sales increase by 15% as compared to last year) Profit (13%) : 10735296 (profit increases by reducing cost on advertisement) Break Even Point: after 3 years Total expenditure for three years: 205270464 Total revenue for three years: 219667200 5) PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT:
In order to develop the concept into a physical product and to ensure that the product idea could be turned into a profitable product we decide to first produce 2000 units initially of which somewhere around 1500 units will be given to our target customers from all western states and remaining units will be given to our employees and their feedback will be taken. 7)COMMERCIALIZATION: We have decided to launch our product in first week of May and more awareness about the product will be created in the month of May to induce the customers to buy our product. the sole reason to launch the product in month of May is that the sales of mosquito repellents rise during monsoon. Branding BRAND NAME- FIGHTER • It is easy to remember. • It portrays what the product can do. • Consumers can relate to the name. • It is easy to pronounce. TAGLINE- Be protected…. Always!! Fighter has the ability to fight with all the mosquitoes that affect the consumer.
His sole aim is to protect the consumer. Moreover it is mobile and can be carried anywhere. So the tagline brings out the same. Consumers who use the fighter will be protected always. LOGO Our brand logo is a leaf. The leaf portrays the fact that our vaporizer is herbal. The leaf has the strength to drive away the mosquitoes and thereby protect you. Brand essence ? Core attribute-it is a vaporizer. ? Extended attribute-it is a herbal, mobile vaporizer and is effective. Brand identity Fighter is basically an effective herbal vaporizer. It has an added feature of being operated with a battery. It aims to identify itself as a unique product considering it is one of its kind.
It will protect your entire family from mosquitoes. Brand personality Our brand personality is a 24 yr old educated woman. For her, her family and their well being is very important. She loves nature. Likes adventure and loves traveling outdoors. She likes being one step ahead and always has a back-up. Branding strategy The branding strategy that our company is following is that of product branding as the company name is not associated with our product ‘Fighter’. It has an independent identity. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE The Introduction Stage: Product: Since we are in the introduction stage, we decided to concentrate only on one product. Thereby we launched a vaporizer.
Price: Being in the introduction stage, our price will be comparatively lower since we want the upcoming people to use out product. We would adopt penetration pricing in order to attract consumers. Place: Initially we plan to launch in the four states that is Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and Goa. This will help us to concentrated only on these four states and use all our resources here and become a strong brand. Promotion: Promotion will be done on a large scale which includes a promotional party, hoardings, print ads and a press conference. This will create awareness about our product which will stimulate our sales. We will having a lot of sales promotions such as discounts, coupons and multipacks. SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS: • A herbal product
It is strength of our company as we have the first mover advantage over an herbal vaporizer and also because people are shifting their loyalties to herbal products as they have realized the advantages of using herbal products. • Innovative- Battery operated Our products extra feature, that it can be operated with battery, making it mobile, is a strength as it provides convenience to customers. • Economical The price of our product is comparatively lower to the competitors though we provide the same quality. WEAKNESS: • It can turn out to be expensive if the vaporizer is extensively used on battery. OPPORTUNITY: • Market is growing at the rate of 21%
As the market is growing at a fairly good rate we have a great opportunity to capture the market share. • First Mover advantage-First battery operated herbal vaporizer We have the first mover advantage over being the first herbal vaporizer in the industry. Being battery operated gives us the advantage to attract different customers. THREATS : • Supply of raw materials The raw materials used by us may not be available at all times keeping in mind the natural calamity that may occur. • Competition from Existing brands having a large market share • Increase in competition because of upcoming segments such as personal sprays and gels. FUTURE PLANS
After concurring the western belt and Gujarat we would shift towards the south eastern belt then towards central India and consequently towards eastern Indian and finally towards north. Eventually our product would be available nation wide. We also plan to enter the rural market. We also plan to diversify into horizontal integration of mosquito repellent sprays and creams. Company plans to export its product to countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, etc. ……………….. After making a significant mark in the country we plan to enter into air freshener market where at present Ambipur is prevalent. Last but not the least company would like to make its product enter into the unaided segment i. e. , at top of the mind.
