Advertising Management Assignment

Case Analysis
Mortein Vaporizer: What lies beneath Brand Positioning?
By Prof. Debasis Pradhan, XLRI and Divya Agarwal, Boston Consulting Group

A Presentation by

SUBHASHIS DUTT
NA13052
Post Graduate Programme for Certification in
Entrepreneurship Management 2013-14
Date of Submission: 30-01-2014

Contents:
Important Note: Page 4 contains a
Comparative Analysis of the three
major Brands

1|Page

Basic Situation Analysis

Page 2 to Page 4

Positioning Statement

Page 5

Communication Objectives

Page 5 to Page 6

Basic Situation Analysis

1. 1993-Mortein saw opportunity in Coil market due to supply constraints and inefficiencies in products
offered by local player Tortoise and thus launched its mosquito repellents
2. Brand Association: Indian buyers associated Morteins brand in Coils with Power
3. 1999: However, this association was not benefitting the Vaporiser market for Mortein.
4. Advertisement features: used Negative Motivation like fear, showcased efficacy and power
5. Sales: the compounded annual growth rate 1999-2000 was 66%
6. Competition Faced: Mortein faced stiff competition from new brands like Good Knight and Maxo
launched in 2000.
7. Reaction to Competition: Heavy Promotional spending for the COIL format.
8. Negative Conditions:
Lack of suitable marketing plans for other formats like mats, aerosols and vaporisers, in which it
had a large market, worsened the situation
Failure of Triple-Coil in 2002 and subsequent withdrawal of the product worsened the situation
9. Remedial Measure: From fourth quarter 2002, aggressive share gain strategy of Reckitt Benckiser with its
changed approach towards media and trade led to improvements in its share.
10. Brand Attitude Makeover: There was a need to change the Brand Attitude:
Meaning: Brand attitude is the opinion of consumers toward a product determined
through market research. It will tell what people think about a product or service,
whether the product answers a consumer need, and just how much the product is
wanted by the consumer.
11. 2011 Mosquito Repellent Market:
16.40% used mosquito repellent in urban areas
22.60% used mosquito repellent in metropolitan cities
06.90% used mosquito repellent in rural areas
Estimated market Size: Rs. 8.25 billion.
Growth: Expected to grow to Rs. 39 billion by end of 2012-13
Urban markets constituted 70% of the market
Scope of expansion potential due to low per capita consumption
Major Products: Coils, Mats, Aerosols, vaporisers
Insignificant Product: creams (insignificant as it was meant for personal consumption.)
Major Brands: Mortein, Maxo, GoodKnight, All Out
Other Brands: Odomos cream, Baygon, Casper

2|Page

Mats, Coils, Vaporisers, aerosols and other new form as separate product categories have market
share of 10, 50, 20, 5 and 10 percent respectively. Mats, Coils and Vaporisers were priced between Rs.
18 to Rs. 30 per ten pieces, while the prices for aerosols were between Rs. 36 and Rs. 60.

12. The Market shares for three SKUs under Vaporiser Format is shown below.

13. Rationale for Focus on Mortein Vaporiser in 1999

Growth in market for vaps from 5% in 1999 to 20% in 2004 and further expectation of growth:
Forecast Sales of Insecticides by Subsector (Percentage Value Growth 2008-2013
Percentage Constant Value Growth
2008-13 CAGR
2008-13 Total
Spray/Aerosol Insecticides
8.4
49.4
Electric Insecticides
5.4
30.1
Insecticide Coils
1.6
08.5
Other Insecticides
1.3
06.5
Insecticides
3.4
18.0

Source: Internal Record of Reckitt Benckiser (RB)

3|Page

Safety and Convenience: As per an exploratory study, vaps were considered safer and more
convenient in urban location like Pune
Economical than coil: 66% Respondents to a survey perceived vaps to be economical as it is a
one-time cost and the daily cost of using refill is lower than that of coils.

14. A Comparative Analysis of three Major Brands as per 2008 records

Company/
Communications and
Target Segments
Brand
Voice Share

Value
Share

Brand Attitude

Used Celebrity Advertisements; used Rani

GSSL/Good
Knight, Jet, Mukherjee and Vidya Balan representing
dynamism, warmth and care in a family
Hit, Banish
setting; thus humanizing the brand values.

Benefit Segmentation: 30%

GK
Advanced
(technologically
advanced solutions),
GK
Naturals
Media: National and Regional TV directed
(addressed consumer
towards the urban markets
safety issues- active
natural
Taglines: Great Nights begin with Good and
ingredients),
Knight/ Protecting Happy Moments
GK base range (Care
Voice Share: 05% in 2000
imagery of the brand)

Family
oriented,
caring,
jolly;
mosquitoes
are
nuisance that need to
be handled

Ads showed efficacy and power. Ads

leveraged on fear factor in the mind of
consumer to generate the desire to ward off
diseases. Used Louie as the animated rogue
mosquito.

Negative emotion of
fear was in the mind
of the customer

SC Johnson/ Ads initially had low effect (agency HTA), later

internally handled: animated frog ad, Mat
All Out
Machine Exchange for discount on Vaporiser
ad.

Became a generic
name for vaporiser:

RB/Mortein

New Ad strategies 24%

targeted all mothers
(25-45 years) of
Socio-Economic Class
A, B and C, who are
concerned
about
Not Effectively Communicated
health and safety of
New strategies were contemplated as given the family
in point 15
Demographic
20%;
Segmentation:
Recorded
High
Income
a
one
Households initially;
percentag
later mass market
Media: TV, Video cassettes of Hindi movies,
e point
penetration
Radio evening news, sponsoring dance, song
increase
and fight sequences in movies.
in value
share
Tagline: Machharon ka Yamraj (killer of
during
mosquitoes);
2008

Reason to believe by using the term coined

as MMR ( Mosquito Mortality Rate)
Voice Share: 31% in 2000

4|Page

Attained a very high

mind-share among
customers

Positioning Statement
This statement is with regard to the newly contemplated strategies:
Mortein is an unbeatably powerful and protective pest repellent. While other products are less effective
due to outdated formulations, Mortein is strengthened with improved formulation, better fragrance,
instant effectiveness and efficiency and impersonates the mothers determination which is fearless when it
comes to handling the menace of pests to protect the family.

Communication Objectives
1. Establish new news: Consumers needed to perceive that there was something new in the product.
.That would hold the attention of the consumers and appeal to them and hence would encourage
consumers from other brands to switch to Mortein. To do this tools like creative could be used efficiently
2. Reiterate brand message: The brand message & central theme needed to be repeated so as to have the
maximum impact & imprint on the mind of the consumers. The right message should reach out o the
consumers and the used of creative should be such that they repeat the brand benefit & not overshadow
the brand.
3. Enhance TV reach & frequency: TV was a medium with widest reach & impact. Through effective
communication on TV it was possible to reach out to new target group which would increase the trial rate
and thus increase the frequency of communication with existing consumer base (to increase repeat
purchase & decrease consumer migration to other brands)To support the initiative on TV, various other
channels needed to be employed to enhance the reach & frequency.
4. Create buzz: Creating a buzz would help in making people talk about the product & thus to word-of
mouth publicity. This would improve the trial rate of the product. It would also ensure that the message
communicated through one channel did not slip off the consumers mind. It would help create a holistic
image of the product in the consumers mind
5. Generate PR: Effective PR was vital for the efficient communication of the brand message. It would help
educate the people about the pest control as a whole & thus help in establishing a relationship with the
TG. This would also increase the awareness level in the society & in turn increase the demand for the
product.
6. Build equity: A god reputations was critical for any business. Various measures taken to build equity
would help in establishing the brand in the consideration set of the consumers.

New Communication Strategies Contemplation (for Re-launch of PowerGrad)

Overall Strategies to capture larger Market share as perceived by Hari Panda, the Brand Manager
- Improved Product,
- Competitive Pricing,
- Improved Packaging,
- High Media Support with an awareness drive,
- Creation of buzz,
- Generation of PR,
- POS display
5|Page

Themes:
- Mothers offensive action against the pests: Moms determination and Morteins improved
formulation
- Power and protection: feature-based
- Added Fragrance: competitive advantage to brands having bad odor
- Health and Protection: Mothers feeling of satisfaction
- Instant Action: efficient and effective
- Better than competitors/Improved Formulation: Superior Benefit
- No Fear: homemaker is confident to drive away the menace of mosquitoes
Media-wise Activation Strategies
- Print: Armoured Guards vs. Sleeping Guards Gross Score: 4.3625
- Print, Radio: Kills any type of Mosquitoes Gross Score: 4.3
- Print: Seven Gunmen Gross Score:3.975
- Print: Hunt & Win Gross Score:3.825
- Print: Double Flap (mosquito trouble) Gross Score:3.8
- Print: Umbrella Gross Score: 3.75
- Print, Radio: Contest Series Gross Score: 3.625
- Print, Radio: Tips for Mothers Gross Score: 3.45
- High Hoardings Gross Score: 4.125
Improved Packaging:
- Metallised Pack: Premium, better appeal
- Background colour changed to more attractive Red
- New Fragrance Mnemonic: Pleasant Fragrance
- Content Display on pack
- 7x More Powerful Mnemonic
Persuasion Levers identified persuade the consumers to purchase
- Reward: physical, emotional, functional, psychological, experiential, social and/or combinational
- Threat: may be both Real and fictional
- Expertise: Product improvement and excellence in quality and features
- Liking: familiarity, positive regards, similarity, positive associations and aesthetic appeal
- Scarcity: related to the availability of superior product
- Social Proof: could be manifested as band-wagon effect
Channels of Communication:
- TV
- Newspapers
- Yellow Pages
- Online Channels
- Radio
- Sponsorships
- Direct Marketing
- In Store Display
- PR
- Government Tie-up
- Ads at High-Footfall Zones
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