Mumbai, Nov 1: Faced with a dwindling marketshare in a category that hasbeen slow on the offtake, the Rs 600-crore health care major, Johnson &Johnson (J&J) has relaunched its Johnson's Kids Soap in a star-shaped format.Launched in 1997, the product garnered a satisfactory 1.1 per cent of acluttered soaps market during its first year on the shop shelves. In thelast two years, however, the marketshare has been exhibiting a steadydecline. This has been on account of fewer product trials and repeatpurchases. The brand has also been facing competition from `Doy', yetanother kids soap manu- factured and marketed by VVF Limited. Where themarket share of J&J Kids dipped to an all-time low of .4 per cent of thetotal soaps market in September this year, Doy enjoyed a relatively highermarket share of .7 per cent. Company sources, however, attribute the recenterosion in marketshare to the relaunch activity which has been on for thepast few months.Relaunched in a star-shaped format, Kids is available in a new Grape variantnow besides the existing Mango, Orange and Apple. The product continues tobe priced at Rs 15 for a 75 gram pack. ``The star shape of the soap makes iteasier to hold and use by children,'' says Aman Bhasin, marketing manager,consumer products division, J&J Ltd.
Interestingly, the animal shaped soaps of the competing brand Doy waspreferred by consumers over the plain J&J Kids Soap bar, say retailers inMumbai. J&J is not taking any chances this time around. The relaunchedJohnson's Kids Soap is being supported by consumer offers and mass mediacampaign which position the product on the `star germ fighter' plank.
Besides this the company has invested in a series of in-school activitiesand joint promotions with Walt Disney and Discovery Channel. As part ofschool promotions, J&J Limited has distributed over one million leafletscontaining product information about Johnson's Kids Soap among selectschools in the metros and other major towns. ``We intend to keep thecategory alive with constant action and excitement,'' says Bhasin. In linewith the strategy, newer product variants will be launched in the first halfof next year, besides promotions and mass media advertising.
The company which has a wide range of products in the infant care segment,has been attempting to create the `only for kids' category for over threeyears now. The company's product portfolio in the segment includes J&J KidsTalc and the recently launched Detangling Shampoo.
"Where the market has products targeted at infants and adults, there wasnothing for children specifically. With the Kids range of products we arehoping to plug that gap," says Bhasin. Although the latent need had beenidentified a few years ago, educating the consumers about the same andgetting the target audience to use its products has proven to be a greaterchallenge. Although the exact size of the market is not known, the companyis looking at a potential consumer base of 58.8 million urban childrenacross the country. Moreover, given the low level of market penetrationcurrently, opportunities are one too many, adds Bhasin.``The potential ofthe Kids segment in India is three times that of the infant care segment.''J&J plans to launch more products targeted at children in the Indian marketover the next few years. The company has a wide smogarsboard of itsinternational products to choose from. This includes products like lotionsand sunscreens for kids among others.
Brand communication for the products in the Kids segment addresses both thepotential users and their mothers. Advertising seeks to draw on J&J's equityin the infant care segment.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.