Fogg Body Spray – Beating Incumbents at Their Own Game

Brand Description and Genesis

Fogg body spray is a deodorant brand launched in December 2011 by Vini Cosmetics. It
currently has several variants specifically designed for both men and women. This was the
second attempt by Vini at launching a deodorant brand. First attempt, 18+ brand, failed to
make a dent in market dominated by big and established companies like HUL, Nivea, and
J.K. Helene Curtis Limited. This led to extensive consumer research in top 8 cities to find a
pain point in existing deodorant offerings. What emerged from it was soon to be market
leader – Fogg body spray.
Why Fogg?
There are several reasons which attracted our group to analyse Fogg. All of us are daily users
of deodorisers hence analysing the game changer of this industry is something we could
relate to. The key reasons for choosing Fogg as our brand of choice are:
1. Zero to Market Leader in Two Years
When Fogg was launched in December 2011, market leader was HUL’s Axe. Axe
was backed by mammoth distribution network of HUL, state of the art R&D
capabilities of Unilever and extensive consumer understanding developed by being in
the market for 12 years[1].
2. Consumer at heart of Product Development
Vini partnered with Ormax to survey more than 1000 respondents in 35-40 focussed
groups across 8 cities[2] to understand consumer behaviour and unmet need from
existing offerings. Consumers didn’t show any dissatisfaction with current brands but
also didn’t have any reason to have brand loyalty. One of the common pattern that
came out was that the deodorant gets over very quickly. Vini came up with the idea of
having no gas body spray with metered dose which led to 2x[2] increase in deodorant
longevity. This was a completely new product for Indian consumers
3. Use of communication channel to educate consumers
“Most advertising is 90 percent entertainment and 10 percent knowledge; I have
always done the opposite with my advertising,”[3] Darshan Patel, founder and CEO
of Vini Cosmetics. To tap onto the unique consumer insight of existing deodorisers
not lasting long Fogg came out with an advertisement doing comparative analysis of
Fogg versus other gas based deodorants. The advert showed glass with Fogg getting
filled up, whereas the other barely did. This clicked consumer’s imagination and
product became an overnight success.
4. Continuously reinventing itself
Fogg not only established itself as the market leader but has also held that post for
almost 5 years now. It has been able to do that by continuously reinventing itself to
remain relevant. Initial proposition of ‘No Gas, Only Perfume’[4] played on flaws of
other deodorants which gave them foot in the door. Then it started communicating
with larger audience through ‘Kya Chal Rha Hai?’[4] advertisement which featured
youngsters to parents to army officer. To stay clear of ‘me-too’ deo commercials of
attracting girls, they launched much more subtle ads through ‘Pata nhin kyun, kuch
log bas pasand aa jate hain’[4]
5. Same consumer set, different proposition
 Deodorants were marketed in India with the idea of it being able to attract the
opposite sex. Fogg with its deep understanding of Indian consumers talked about
value, more bang for same buck. Even though it was priced at par with other players it
promised more perfume in each can leading to higher value perception.
6. Exciting market to be in
The deodorant market is INR 3,300[5] crore and is growing rapidly at 8% Y-O-Y
since 2003.[5] Being a dominant player with 23.2%[5] market share in a growing
market not only ensures growth for Fogg but also gives opportunity to bring in
products that will fuel this growth. The deodorant category is heavily under-
penetrated 7-8[3] which gives enough opportunity for the brand to continue its growth
trajectory
References

1. https://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing/14138-fogg-deodorants-
capturing-the-market.html
2. https://www.outlookbusiness.com/specials/the-power-of-i_2017/fragrance-king-3619
3. http://www.forbesindia.com/article/hidden-gems-2016/vini-cosmetics-smelling-
good/44253/1
4. https://www.pressreader.com/india/business-standard/20170126/282265255146167
5. Passport Euromonitor
6.