What Factors Have Contributed To The Growth of Fogg In India; Whether It’s Campaign Or Its Price Or Quality Or What?

It is more difficult to stay on top than to get there. For Ahmedabad-based Vini Cosmetics, the company best known for launching deodorant Fogg, this adage holds true. Kya Chal Raha hai, Fogg Chal Raha Hai’, the battle cry of Fogg deodorant in the world of advertising took the country by storm. The jingle went viral and it certainly helped the cause of Vini Cosmetics, in moving up the ladder to become one of the most popular deodorant brands in India.
By the end of 2010, The Indian perfume market was flooded by first-mover Axe followed by Yardley. The Indian tobacco giant ITC has identified opportunities in the growing deodorant market by launching the flagship brand Engage. The attractiveness of the market has invited other players to get into it and many of them got successful to have a few chunks of the market. Though the market was lead by HUL`s Axe and ITC’s Engage prior to the entry of Vini cosmetic`s Fogg. So entering into the deodorant market required an outstanding product or clever marketing. Vini cosmetics understood that it is entering into a difficult playground and required innovative strategy.
Darshan Patel launched Vini Cosmetics in 2010 with an initial capital of Rs.70 crore. The first product by the company was “18+” and “Jinjola” (cooling talcum powder) brand but didn’t come up. They took more than a year to launch Fogg in the mean they identified the gap and took a risk by launching liquid-based deodorant as others were busy launching gas-based deodorants. The company promoted Fogg as a product high on fragrance minus gas (used in deodorant spray bottles) signifying that the product will not vapourize easily and linger when sprayed. Finally, the efforts paid off and Fogg launched at the end of 2011 with the tagline ‘Bina gas wala spray’. Fogg was an acronym for Friends of Good Guys/ Good Girls. At the time of Fogg’s launch, the Indian Fragrance market was around 2300 crores.
Price-wise, A 100 gm bottle of Fogg costs Rs 180, about 7-to-10 percent higher than other products in the market but the number of sprays per pack would be significantly higher than the competition. In its first month, Fogg sold 150,000 cans and 260,000 cans the following month. The approach has paid off in the case of Fogg, which sells two million cans a month (cost: Rs.180 for the smallest size) and makes up 75% of sales at Vini Cosmetics, which earned revenue of Rs.350 crore in the year ended 31 March. Fogg is sold through modern trade, general trade, online sites, and chemist channels. Moreover, the company had outsourced all of its manufacturing so they were free from the operations front and can focus on marketing and sales front.
The company’s dosage strategy (promised number of sprays) worked well with consumers looking for value offerings. Where the Axe was mainly concentrated on Men’s grooming products Fogg tapped additional markets like women deodorant and gave competition to Yardley, Eva, Fa, etc. It has been observed that Vini takes feedback seriously, by consumer`s feedback they have worked on packaging as consumers were looking for deodorants which should last longer. The value?for?money proposition caught immediate consumer attention and Fogg garnered a significant pie of the deodorant market.
They did not stop by offering deodorants; they had an eye on the unorganized perfume market and launched perfume spray. They are urging people to shift from gifting usual items such as shirt, ties, wallets, watches, cakes, bouquets, and start gifting perfumes. In the year 2013-14, the Indian perfume market was more than INR 2000 crores and it was forecasted to grow at 18% CAGR till 2022. Fogg took a smart step and introduced Fogg scent as a premium category at a higher price. Price changed from INR 180 to INR 1200 for premium perfumes.
Fogg also advertised this proposition heavily in its early days, comparing the number of sprays of average does versus its own ability to do so. The brand is doing this by talking to different people. The mother, husband, wife, grandpa, and army officer have all figured in Fogg’s advertising in the last two years in addition to youth, the core target group. All together Fogg is the market leader not with one factor but with all the factors, properly taken care of.
Even Fogg’s Scent branding is also unique and forcing customers that for special occasions use Fogg scent. Fogg chose to be different, and in doing so, in October 2015, had released a set of commercials ‘Aur Kya Chal Raha hai, Fogg Chal Raha hai’ across different markets (in different languages), which have actually gone viral to an extent that they are a part of the people’s lingo. The company is actively exploring international markets, having already established its presence in Dubai. Vini is trying to extend its brands to the Latin American market of Brazil. Further, the company is on the lookout for suitable players in the personal care category that will bring in new portfolios under Vini and expand its product range. Apart from existing brand Fogg, Vini is planning to build on the Delicca brand slowly; the company will start investing in television commercials on the brand in some time.