Colgate, a household name in India for toothpaste, has all of a sudden lost its decades old category leader positions to ‘Dantkanti’ from Patanjali endorsed by Baba Ramdev. Though the exponential rise of Patanjali Empire is in itself a remarkable story, specially in FMCG sector where it has given tough fight and won against the likes of Unilever, P&G, Dabur and ITC. But in general, the wholehearted acceptance of Dantkanti toothpaste by Indian consumers is somewhat puzzling. It gives invaluable marketing lessons on how to win against well-established market leaders. I have written about……
Now, the competition is trying to seek revenge in ‘The Empires Strike Back’ mode. But, can they recover the lost market share or moreover mindshare in this seemingly uninteresting toothpaste category? This is where, I would turn my focus on two recent ads – one by Colgate and another by Dabur, an old Indian ‘herbal’ warrior.
First, let me discuss the positioning of Dantkanti. It is more about ayurvedic, problem prevention and clearly takes on chemical toothpastes (like Colgate). So, earlier Colgate responded with focus on cavity prevention plus new ad which showed mothers talking about the legacy of Colgate and their trust in the brand, so that why they should look for ‘other’ brands. Well, it had an inherent problem of assuming that customers don’t try or experiment with new brands. Once in a while, we all try something new specially in FMCG space, for example, soaps, shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste. However, to fight on ‘ayurvedic’ concept, it has introduce Colgate Cibabca Ved Shakti. Now, here is the problem. First, it is almost impossible to fight the market leader on same positioning! Can one fight with Coke and say it’s more refreshing than Coke? Or, in automobiles, Maruti is known for its super mileage. Even the other brands have better technology and mileage, but none succeeded in changing the perception of consumers that they offer better mileage than Maruti. It’s the leader’s position in the mind of consumers. So, there is no point in replacing that. The position is built in years and decades, and to think of changing in few months is foolish. So, it will fail miserably Mr Colgate. The second more deeper issue is that now consumer are confused. If ‘Colgate Cibaca ved Shakti’ is so good, herbal and ayurvedic and what not, what about parent brand Colgate? As a consumer, I see and hear ‘Colgate’ in two different products now, one is natural/ayurvedic and for second one, implicitly the mind puts the parent brand as ‘unnatural’. So, in a sense, it is actually cannibalizing the parent brand and diluting its value / equity. I think this is disastrous for Colgate and hopefully they will do something soon before it’s too late.
The second attempt is from Dabur, where it shows a product in blurred vision, which looks almost like Dantkanti, and the ad asks question that what is the proof that it is ayurvedic and natural? I am just shocked to see this theme in the ad! Can I launch an energy drink and hint to Red bull and ask for the proof whether it works or not? A similar attempt is in progress by 7UP about clarity against Sprite (more on this in future post). You don’t go and ask about proof from a market leader, specially the one which knocked out the completion within few years and is way miles ahead. I mean is Dabur really serious to think that consumers will buy what it is saying by asking Patanjali to give proof. The proof is itself in the product, which is by the way excellent and hence consumers are buying repeatedly, and spreading positive word of mouth. Baba Ramdev and Acharya Balkrishna, the people behind the Patanjali giant, are the living proof of natural and ayurvedic theme behind all products. Someone in a white doctor coat (another mistake by Dabur) asking looks quite stupid! It is something like I ask BMW to give proof of its quality and value proposition.
Yes, the rise of Patanjali has taken everyone by surprise. The top management who just ignored it earlier is experiencing a complete wipe-off of leading brands and products by Tsunami of Patanjali. But, it’s the reality of competition, there is always someone coming. Now, how to fight is something one can plan and strategize. A basic understanding of mind share, positioning and possibly pilot test before releasing ads should help in preventing such nonsense and useless efforts. One can imagine the boardroom meeting – ‘We are losing market share to Patanjali very fast. (panic) What to do?’ The so called expert replies (who lost touch with real consumers long time back) – we attack with our ayurvedic stuff – and yeah just put in that we are the genuine natural product because we are from Dabur and people know us from decades, and question this Baba / Patanjali’. All look him in awe and admiration. All said and done, the ad is live, and yeah, here is the reality. Take it or leave it! You failed (or will fail). Ah the basic, point of parity and point of differentiation check itself is not done! Probably, they matched POP but where is POD? Another example is of Indigo airlines. It has established itself for on time performance since many years of operations. Though, it lost its position (on data) few months back but the perception among consumers about its punctuality – has it changed? Spice jet tried to convince that they beat Indigo on performance, but how many consumers bought it or changed their beliefs even when the data was there to support. So, in short, fighting market leader on the dimensions where it built its position or questioning is, ‘not so natural’. So, back to drawing boards, read some core marketing stuff, talk to consumers and then plan your communications!
Here are the two ads below. Please share what you think about these, and whether the narrative convinces you enough / or others in their intentions.