1.

Introduction:
The Indian deodorant market is worth Rs 2300 crores as of 201314 and is expected to grow to Rs 3000 crore by 2017. The following
graph gives us a glimpse about the growth story of deodorant market
in India. The deodorant market is growing at 17-18% year-over-year
for the past three years. While male deodorants contribute 69% to
total sales, women's categories are driving the market with faster
growth. Deodorant is the largest category in the male grooming
space. The number of sub-brands and variants is 986 as of April 2014,
with more than 100 new launches or re- launches over the past year,
Nielsen's reports show. Urban market contributes 90% of the sales.

2. Industry Analysis:
The objective of Industry analysis is to gauge the strengths and
weaknesses of potential competitors so that the firm can contend
competitively in various markets. It also helps to identify
opportunities for and threats to the firm from the industrial
environment. While formulating a firms strategy, managers have to
consider the strategies of the firms competitors. Industry analysis is
the driver of an organizations strategy and affects how firms act or
react to changes in their sectors. The company does industry analysis
to measure and assess its standing amongst the competitors. The
objectives of industry analysis can be grouped under the following
broad headings:

1. Competitors

- Industry analysis starts with identifying

present as well as potential competitors. It signifies an

essential appendage to conduct an industry analysis, which
gives information about probable sources of competition.
Potential competitors for ITCs Engage Deo are Vini
Cosmetics' Fogg, Hindustan Unilever's Axe, McNROE
Consumer Products' Wildstone & J.K. Helene Curtis
Limiteds Park Avenue.

2. Evaluating Competitors

This includes evaluating the

marketing strategies, revenues, products, market

penetration of the competing firms. As per market tracker
Nielsen India, 12.5% volume share is held by market leader
Vini Cosmetics' Fogg and 6.9% share each held by Hindustan
Unilever's Axe and McNROE Consumer Products' Wildstone.
ITC's Engage deo stands in the second position with 8.1%
volume share across Indian urban markets - which accounts
for 90% of the overall deodorant market in India. By value,
2

Fogg is has market share at 17.8%, followed by three brands

closely sharing the next slots- Wildstone at second place
with 6.7%, Engage at third with 6.6% and Axe at 6.5%, as
per Nielsen data.

3. Customer vs Competitor Orientation

Among all

the brands, FOGG has emerged as the leader in the Indian

deodorant market. The positioning statement of FOGG
focuses on the concept that its body spray contains only
perfumed liquid and no gas in it and the company is
guaranteeing 800 sprays for a bottle containing 100 gm of
container. AXE also has a substantial share in the market
because of the brand equity and brand loyalty that it has
built and is leveraging the same. AXE has a wide acceptance
among the youth which forms the major
chunk of perfume & deodorant users.
3

On the other hand, ITCs Engage has positioned itself

uniquely in the market. While most brands portray
deodorant as a male phenomenon, Engage has focused on
engagement and playful chemistry between two partners
who are equals, thereby lending credence to its positioning
as a deodorant for couples. ITC has also scaled up its
variants from 6 to 14 in less than a year.

Porters Five forces:

Threat of New Entrants:

Emami has entered the

already overcrowded personal care space with the launch

of its men's deodorant brand, 'HE'. It has roped in Hrithik
Roshan as brand ambassador. HE deo wants to position
different from the usual deo positioning of seduction which
is a key differentiator. The ad tries to convey the message of
the HE deo user as a self assured confident and more
importantly interesting personality. The target group is the
youth. The pricing and positioning is not starkly different
from others. The brand comes in Citrus, Oriental, Marine,
Fougere, Woody and Musk fragrances and has managed to
create a difference in its packaging which will help it boost
trial at retailer end.

Bargaining power of buyers:

Supermarkets and

hypermarkets are the main buyers in the global deodorants

market and often occupy a strong position in the supply
chain, which allows them to negotiate favorable contracts
with manufacturers, thereby enhancing buyer power. A lack
4

of differentiation between products increases buyer power

even further.Bargaining power of suppliers: The deodorant
industry has a low bargaining power of suppliers. This is due
to the high number of market players and large supply of
diverse products to the market. There are many
cosmetic products which are developed by both large and
small scale manufacturers. Due to the huge
supply,consumers have the power to influence the market
prices as opposed to the suppliers.

Substitutes:

Deodorant soaps: Provides body cleanliness

alongwith the goodness of a deodorant Perfumes: Used

primarily to provide sweet fragrance Body lotion: Body
lotion with considerable alcohol content acts as an
antiperspirant Competition in Industry: Rivalry in the
deodorants market is increased by the presence of large
consumer product manufacturers and lack of differentiation
within the market.

3. Revenue Model:
Deodorants is a low involvement consumer good. There is
not much brand loyalty in the market and there are
numerous brands who share the market. In a market with
intense competition like this, it is very important to make
sure that your product is available at as many places as
possible. The revenue models used in Deodorants market is
based on these factors. There are majorly three channels
through which FMCG sales are conducted, namely:
Modern Retailers, General Retailers and online.
5

Online retail is not yet significant enough for FMCG

products like deodorants even though most of the brands
are now available at major e-commerce sites. Modern
retailers account for around 8% of total market in FMCG,
while we couldnt find any data specific to deodorant
market, it should be a little higher but not much higher for
the deodorants as the customer base is mostly urban youth
which is more internet savvy then other segments. Most of
the revenue is generated through general retailers. With
ITCs extensive distribution network, it helps them to take
advantage through this channel due to high trust between
company and traders.

4. Environment Analysis:
Political:

Advertisements of deodorants are regularly

subjected to criticism from the government. Many a time in

the past, the government of India has cracked the whip on
deodorant advertisements because of being, apparently,
too suggestive and the content and theme were found
"indecent, vulgar and repulsive" by the I&B ministry.

Economic: The state of the economy plays a major role in

any industry. Consumer spending dwindles as growth slows.

Social:

Rapid increase in the middle class population,

change in lifestyle, increase in purchasing power and

urbanization- all these factors lead to more focus on
hygiene and hence the usage of deodorants increases.

Technological:

The research and development cost of

deodorants is not very high which provides ease of entry to

new players. Currently there are almost 200 deodorant
brands operating in India.

Environmental:

One of the key components in

deodorants is aluminium, and many a research paper has

suggested that it causes both breast cancer and Alzheimer's
disease. Recent studies have raised concerns that the
antibacterial chemical triclosan may affect human hormone
regulation and be contributing to antibiotic resistance.
When triclosan washes off our bodies and down the drain,
some of it ends up in surface water. There's evidence to
suggest that, at current levels, it may be toxic to some
aquatic organisms or have impacts on their endocrine
systems. Also reports suggests that these products are likely
to have the highest amount of volatile organic compounds,
which contribute to the formation of ground-level ozone, a
key component in smog.

Legal: Many a time I&B Ministry has taken action against

obscene deodorant commercials.

5. Marketing Mix of Engage:

Engage Deo was launched by ITC in 2013. In just over a

year, it is already number two in the deodorant market.
Deodorant industry was crowded with similar products with
similar advertising (man attracts women). Fogg changed
the market by focussing on its effectiveness and
performance. Engage also tried to differentiate itself by
being a product for both men and women. While deodorant
market is mostly dominated by male customers (69%),
Engage tried to cater to the needs of other 31 % too. They
also try to focus on urban youth. Marketing strategy of
Engage deo is as following:

4P Analysis
Product
Continuing their theme of a deo for couples, they have
variants in pair. Engage was launched with three pair of
deodorants, namely:
Rush (Male) & Blush (Female)
Mate (male) and Spell (Female)
Urge (male) and Tease (Female)
Now they have 7 pairs of offering, namely (other than
earlier three):
Frost (M) and Drizzle (F)
Jump (M) and Trail (F)
Intensity (M) and OWhiff (F)
Fuzz (M) and Tempt (F)
Also, they try to differentiate with their packaging.
Deodorant is a highly competitive market with numerous
brands competing for shelf space. In this, a differentiated
packaging helps in catching the eye of the customer.
Packaging is made to appeal to the target group that is
youth. Packaging is mostly in peculiarly shaped cans and
uses silhouettes as its key design component.
The brand proposition Playful Chemistry, is well
complemented with this innovative and fashionable
packaging design which helps in making some eye catching
billboard advertising as well. Engage for men has a bold,
modern look and has been designed in classical black with a
tinge of effervescent colours. Black represent masculinity
9

and bottle being mostly black helps in distinguishing the

specific product as the male one
The range for women are in bright hues of Pink, Blue,
Yellow and Green on a can shape designed with
contemporary feminine patterns. Bright colours are
generally more attractive to women and this kind of
packaging distinguishes the male and female products
properly thus making it easy for customers to pick the
product. Also, colour codes show which specific variant it is
from Engage and having a colour code will ease purchase
for customers.

Price
Price of different brands of Deodorants is as follows:

10

From this table we can see that the Engage deo is priced
toward the lower side of the market. It is focussed on urban
youth and tried to provide service at a price well within
their means. Perceived value of the deo is almost the same
as for other products in the same price range. This can also
be seen by the fact that the market share of engage deo is
increasing which can only be because the customer is
finding value more than the price being charged.

Place
ITC has a very extensive distribution network reaching
out to far corners of India. Also, its available now on major
online retailers like flipkart, snapdeal etc. ITC can do Direct
servicing of 1,00,000 markets & 2 million retail outlets. ITC
has been doing many innovations in the field of distribution
management, one of the recent example of that would be
the e-choupal initiative which links farmers directly to the
company in a mutually beneficial relationship. Its also
gearing up to roll out their products through paanwallahs
and feriwalahs. ITCs distribution for cigarettes over the
years meant that there is a high amount of trust between
the company and paanwallahs. ITC is planning to use them
to distribute their product, thus shaking up its distribution.
This advantage in channels have meant that Engage
have been available at every place in India. Especially the
target group of urban youth is easily covered. Brand name
of ITC means that they tend to get better shelf space then
other brands in different retail outlets. This reach has
certainly been one of the major factors of them being able
11

to leapfrog brands such as Axe, Wild Stone etc. to number

two position in deodorants market.

Promotion
Engage is being positioned as India's first 'couple
deodorant'. In addition to being sold as separate pieces, it is
also being sold in couple combo packs which offers some
monetary benefit over purchasing separately. This is to
enhance the positioning as a brand for couples.
Ad is based on the Chemistry between the couples Its
tag line is Love has an all new language.
While Axe and a few other deo were focussed on ads
which showed men being desirable after using their
product, and while Fogg showed itself to be a brand which
gives high value, Engage was trying to position itself as
something which celebrates young love. Its attractive
packaging design is meant to attract this urban youth
population. It shows deodorant as a product which is used
by both men and women. While, the market is actually male
dominated with 69% of volumes being consumed by male
consumers.
With such high competition and so many brands
competing, a differentiated product is very important. A
unique positioning coupled with ITCs extensive distribution
network has led to the success of Engage. One of the
promotion technique which used the packaging design was
executed in Mumbai and Bangalore. The strategy was to
promote the brand among youth while also bringing alive
special couple moments engaging in a new language of
12

love. This is what the positioning of Engage is all about. In

rainy season ITC created umbrellas with the silhouette of a
couple. These were then handed out to couples seated in
parks, gardens, college campuses and popular streets. They
created branding around benches in these areas with placed
standees. Large units were created in the shape of the
deodorants as they are sold and placed at famous
destinations like the romance rocks at Bandstand, Carter
Road and Marine Drive. This campaign helped define
Engage as a brand for young couples.

13

6. Competitor Analysis:

6.1. Fogg
Company Vini Cosmetics
Segment: Outdoor oriented, Fashion oriental, trendy
TARGETING:
Concentrate on customers seeking products which give value in
excess of its price or for sophisticated customer. It focusses on youth
(15-30) in Urban and Semi-urban areas, who are value oriented and
will be attracted by the longevity and quality offered by Fogg

Occupation: Students, bachelors, young professionals

Income: middle income group
POSITIONING:
The company started an aggressive TV campaign with a high number
of ads being broadcasted at prime time and high viewer segments
such as cricket matches. The brand tried to differentiate itself from
other products which were only focussing on advertising which
shows the same concept of boy attracting girl. They have positioned
the brand based on a very logical appeal where they focus on the
positive qualities of the product and how much better its
performance is in comparison to other products which they say only
consist of gas while FOGG is without gas and full of product.
The positioning statement of FOGG body spray focuses on the
fact that it contains only perfumed liquid and no gas in it unlike other
14

products and the company is guaranteeing 800 sprays for a bottle

containing 100 gm of container. This have created a differentiation
for FOGG in terms of quality of product. The tagline is- "Bina Gas
wala body Spray"- in English it means -"A body Spray without gas"

PRODUCT
The USP of the product is that it is perfume based deodorant unlike
its competitors which are gas based. It promises long lasting
fragrance and 800 sprays per bottle of Fogg deodorant. It comes in
various fragrances targeted for men and women, and in various
fragrances like Marco, Napolean, Royale, emperor, Fresh,
Black, Majestic, etc.

Price:
Fogg is priced at Rs. 179 per 150 ml bottle, and its Black range of
deodorants as priced at Rs.199 per 150 ml SKU. With promise of no
15

gas and only perfume, and 800 sprays pr bottle it is priced as a value
for money product.

Place:
Vini Cosmetics, the parent company which manufactures and
markets Fogg range of deodorants has a wide and deep distribution
network in India. It is available in modern trade as well as rtail trade
stores all oveurban and rural India.

Promotion:
Fogg has positioned the brand based on a very rational appeal
where they have shown a customer who is using a normal brand and
gets fed up with it because the body spray consists of only gas, and
only gas comes out instead of the perfumed liquid. Then a
comparison is shown between a normal body spray and the FOGG
body spray where the normal body spray fills glass less than half with
liquid where as the rest evaporates as gas, where as the FOGG body
spray fills the glass more than half with almost none of the liquid
getting lost due to gas. The tagline is- "Bina Gas wala body Spray"Which in english means -"A body Spray without gas"

6.2. Axe

TARGETING:
Concentrate on single-segment (male 15-30) in Urban and semi
urban areas, who are lifestyle oriented, trendy, cosmopolitan with
regular and high usage of deodorant.

16

Occupation: Students, bachelors, young professionals

Income: middle income group
POSITIONING
The company extensively uses the TV ads and conducting many
Campaigns. Besides TV commercials the brand also uses internet
media and sponsoring some events.
The biggest strength of this brand is the underlying message that
the brand users are high on confidence and always go for the Axe. It
also ensures that consumers are mostly engaged with new
Fragrances. In 2014, Axe had a profile lunch of its new fragrance "Axe
Peace". The male models used in Axe advertisements are regular
guys, unlike those of its competitors, who use models with perfectly
chiselled bodies. This conveys the message that Axe is for everyone,
and your confidence and Axe Effect can cast a spell on girls.

17

PRODUCT:
Variety of AXE DEO's: Axe offers a wide range of fragrances in
their deodorants. Some variants of AXE are : peace, harmony,
anarchy, apollo, excite, dark temptation etc. Axe comes up with new
fragrances and range of deodorants every 4 months to keep the
freshness of brand alive. Quality: All the variants of AXE deos are
dermatologically tested and do not have any kind of side effects on
the skin, it offers good fragrance which has long lasting effect.The
bottle of Axe deodorant looks more sturdy and its twisting on top
which is better than older design.Unique bottle helps in brand
differentiation and better recall.

PRICE
AXE deodorant is priced to offer its customers good value for
money. The price of all variants of axe is same. They just have
different fragrances and flavours. Rs. 150 for 150 ml of deodorant.

PLACE
Placing and availability of product plays significant role in
determining the sales of product. Axe relies on location and
distribution channels. There is high availability of Axe deos in all
stores such as modern retail, traditional mom and pop stores, drug
stores of all sizes.

PROMOTION
Advertising: Primary tool used by AXE is TV commercials, print ads
and billboards which increase brand awareness.Interactive
18

Marketing: Engage customers and directly or indirectly raise

awareness through social media and online campaigns like
theaxeeffect.com. Various campaigns "Call me", "AXEfeather",
"AXELand" for an increased customer engagements.
Central Theme of Campaigns: Seduction where Girl makes the first
move. Brand assumed that Men like to be seduced.
Tagline: THE AXE EFFECT

6.3. Wildstone
The idea, is to create occasion specific offerings, such as mild
fragrances for office-goers; stronger ones for party-goers and so on.

TARGETING:
Concentrate on single-segment (male 15-30) in Urban and semi
urban areas, who are lifestyle oriented, trendy, cosmopolitan with
regular and high usage of deodorant.

Occupation: Students, bachelors, young professionals

Income: Middle income group Same as AXE, but high regional
concentration of sales in its home turf East India, with rising sales
and market share in southern and western markets.

POSITIONING
Product was positioned as a sexy or naughty product for
young males which transformed an uninspiring average Joe into the
jealousy-inducing Chick magnet. While sexy was the buzzword in
the segment, the communication was not personalized to the Indian
19

clientele. Axe and Set Wet propagated their message through

foreign models in foreign locations. While they did capture attention
and communicate, the characters werent relatable to the audience.
This is where Wild Stone differentiated. Adopting to the Indian
tastes, they communicated through Indian men and women, who
the audience can relate to, set in typically Indian scenes like Durga
Puja, Holi or Monsoon season. While others promised the user the
attention of hordes of girls, Wild Stone promised inciting deep
passion and frenzied fantasies in a single woman Indian,
traditional, mysterious and not overtly sexual. Unlike others who
were tagged as playful and youthful, Wild Stone became
associated with passion and mystery.

PRODUCT:
Wildstone too offers a wide range of fragrances in their
deodorants. Some variants of Wildstone are: Red, Aqua Fresh, Ultra
Sensual, Thunder, Smoke, Night Rider etc. keeping in view the
mystery element associated with the product.

PRICE:
Wildstone deodorant is priced to offer its customers good value
for money. The price of all variants of Wildstone is same and is priced
similarly as its competitors.

PLACE
Wide distribution network ensures high availability of Wildstone
deodorants in all stores such as modern retail, traditional mom and
pop stores, drug stores of all sizes pan India. Also available for sale
on ecommerce sites like Flipkart.com.

20

PROMOTION
Advertising: Primary tool is TV commercials, print ads and billboards
which increase brand awareness.
Central Theme of Campaigns: Seduction where Girl makes the first
move. Brand assumed that Men like to be seduced.

7. Perceptual Map
A perceptual map is created to identify how customers form a
mental picture of the various deodorant products, including Engage
and other brands. Two prominent attributes of deodorants are
chosen as dimensions over which the position of various products
were plotted. The perceptual map helps identify the degree of
likeness or differentiation among different products available in the
market. Thus is helps the marketers take decisions pertaining to the
following questions: how much to differentiate the product from
competitors products? ; and how to position a particular product on
the basis of prominent attributes to cater to the target consumer
segments.
Methodology: Deodorant users were asked to fill up a survey,
ranking the performance of each deodorant brand over different
pertinent attributes. The ranking table used for the survey is as
shown hereunder:

21

Questions on the survey used to determine the rank of deodorants

across different attributes were as follows:
1. What do you perceive about the PACKAGING of the following
brands?
2. What do you perceive about the FRAGRANCE of the following
brands?
3. What do you perceive about the PRICE of the following brands?
4. What do you perceive about the ANTI PERSPIRANT quality of the
following brands?
5. What do you perceive about the DRYING QUICKNESS of the
following brands?
6. What do you perceive about the STORE AVAILABILITY of the
following brands?

Survey outcomes
The respondents provided following ratings to different brands that
were surveyed:

22

Regression Analysis
To identify the correlation among different attributes that were used
to evaluate deodorant products, regression analysis was carried out
amongst the variables shown in the above table. The coefficient of
correlation (R) came out to be the highest for fragrance and
packaging of deodorants, and was equal to 0.98:
Regression Statistics
Multiple R - 0.97839047
R Square - 0.957247912
Adjusted R Square - 0.942997216
Standard Error - 0.094835502
Observations 5
Therefore, these two attributes were chosen as axes for the
perceptual map, which is shown in the figure:

23

8. Recommended Strategies:
Universal Approach
Till now the positioning of Engage have focussed only on a specific
target group. But they could try to have a universal approach to
positioning. Right now they only focus on playful chemistry for urban
youth. But they could instead shift to a positioning which caters to a
bigger customer base. One recommended strategy would be as a
symbol of love for all ages. This positioning would be similar to its
current positioning in the respect that they try to focus on romance
aspect of it. But now its positioning could be as a timeless symbol of
love which would increase its universal appeal.

24

Combo Offers
Right now they only have one kind of combo offer that is for a pair
of deodorants for couples. They could expand upon it and introduce
other combo offers like budget combo, family combo etc. Budget
combo could be an offering which offers lower prices when u buy in
bulk any combination of deodorants. While Family pack could offer
combos which includes products for all family members. These
combo offers with a universal approach can help differentiate
Engage while still making it appeal to a universal audience

Product
Right now they only focus on products for couples. They could
introduce more products which can be differentiated on some other
variety. For example, if we continue the above universal approach
then it can produce products which are named after different moods
related to love. A premium variant can also be introduced down the
line. They should continue with their differentiated packaging as it
helps them gain more eyeballs on shelf.

Price
Current pricing strategy gains them the access to a large customer
price. A premium priced product can help them gain more market
share from upper class people

Place
ITC should continue using its supply chain capabilities to drive the
growth of Engage Deo. They could use their superior supply chain to
develop and gain rural markets.

25

Promotion
A shift to a universal approach should be shown in advertising
campaign too. Ads should try to position Engage as a symbol of love
for all ages.

Suggested Tagline:
Spray love

26

Bibliography
Google.com
Wikipedia.com
http://marketingpractice.blogspot.in/2012/01/fogg-deo-nogas-only-deo.html
http://marketingpractice.blogspot.in/2013/06/engage-deocouple-deodorant.html
www.itcportal.com/about-itc/shareholder.../ITC-CorporatePresentation.pdf
www.scribd.com%2Fdoc%2F244780291%2FDeodorantIndustry-Analysis-ITCEngage&ei=XwBuVPueDYq3uQSj8IDoDA&usg=AFQjCNEDw5A7
EaiEjLW6FsKMTyQlOymPYQ&sig2=kyjjnZitihQR8vM2R9QyYQ

27