According to CavinKare managing director CK Ranganathan, this will not only be an entry level pricing to get incremental volumes, but also a ``recruitment brand'' for the industry. The shampoo market size, in terms of volume, is estimated at 30,000 tonne. The sachet is currently being test-marketed across Andhra Pradesh and will be launched by October-end.

The flagship brand of the company since 1983, Chik was available in a Re 1 sachet since 1989. However, the company now feels that for the rural consumer, the price-to-value equation is not favourable for the shampoo market. An average shampoo sachet is priced at Rs 2, which with a minimum of four washes would translate to a monthly expense of Rs 8 for therural consumer.

Soaps on the other hand cost upto Rs 8 and can be used for a longer time and for washing the body as well. With its 50 paise Chik, the company hopes to break the price barrier in the rural market and nearly double the rural penetration from 12 per cent to 20 per cent.

As the growth rate in the urban shampoo market has slowed down to five per cent in the first quarter ended June 1999 against 15 per cent in the corresponding period in 1998, the company plans to concentrate on the rural shampoo market which is growing at a healthy 12 per cent.

Wall paintings and video-on-wheels will form a major chunk of the company's advertising campaign in rural areas. The video-on-wheels plans to show popular film songs interspersed with the Chik commercials aimed at increasing shampoo awareness among villagers and wean them away from soap and traditionally-used items for washing hair. CavinKare will also give away free samples initially and sell the sachets once they are formally launched. This will besupplemented by door-to-door sampling.

The focus will also be on sandais (village marketplaces) where a large number of villagers gather and the per capita spend is much higher than in urban areas. The stock will be moved on cycles from village to village, wherever there are sandais. The company plans to use more of radio for the Chik brand, than television.

All these strategies will be tested out in Andhra and Uttar Pradesh, where Chik enjoys 45 per cent of the 4,000 tonne rural market. The company plans to expand its retail base by adding two lakh outlets, mainly in the rural areas and smaller towns, by March 2000. The push comes just in time for enhancing the penetration of the Chik brand. The company in fact plans to rope in market research agency MODE for specialised work in rural marketing.

The Chik initiative is one of the slew of strategies from CavinKare which is attempting to identify gaps in beauty care products and filling them, company officials say. Its R&D division works on improvingexisting brands, developing new brands and finding cost-effective substitutes. This, Ranganathan says, has enabled the company to come out with such a low-priced shampoo sachet without compromising on quality.