Dettol vs. Vim:
Return of Ad Wars
Reckitt Benckiser and HUL have
been battling fiercely on the germ-protection platform for their respective
brands Dettol and Lifebuoy soaps for past three decades. Now the war is back
again and this time it’s between liquid dish wash market leader Vim and new
entrant Dettol.
Dettol Kitchen is positioned as a multi-purpose cleaner
and germ killer.
In my take the consumers are going to benefit the
most. Two leading brands are competing and it may result into falling prices or
product enhancement. Dettol has its established antiseptic image. And, with
this image it is stepping into the dishwashing industry will bring a drastic
change.
The reason behind the extension is simple. According to ET, the dishwash
category is worth Rs 2000 crore and the category is dominated by HUL with its
Vim brand.The liquid soaps category is
incrementally outpacing growth of bars as consumers evolve. With aggressive
distribution, Dettol can capture share of a category that's evolving and also
to capitalize on a growing trend of kitchen products increasingly turning up
market.
But the sales of Dettol bathing soap can suffer. As
the same brand selling bathing soap and dish washing soap is somewhere
unacceptable. The battle is on but, our mummies would surely be happy to see a
cleaner kitchen.
