Thinking about the best marketing touch points in India

They say that Fabric Conditioners as a market is yet to take off in India. They say that the penetration for this category is very minuscule. Though I do not know the exact numbers for this, I know that this could be for real. The problem is trial – how do we drive greater levels of trial among consumers so that they can sample, test and see its utility over some period of time.

Now let’s not speak about the bottom of the pyramid in India. I understand that for them, having the means to wash clothes properly with even the most basic detergent is a luxury. For them having a basic level of cleanliness in the clothes is in fact aspirational. With Fabric Conditioners we are looking at a segment which is far different and which is relatively very small in proportion. Even this segment of the consumers – most of whom own a washing machine, are happy with a clean load of clothes after a wash. And that’s about it. So what could be a good driver for trial?

Just to give you an intuitive idea, we are talking about the upper middle class and the uper class in India. Let’s say SEC A1,A2 and B1 (Socio Economic Class). Washing clothes is naturally an unavoidable chore for them – mostly a low involvement, automated, time bound job unless the clothes are meant for a very special occassion or unless they are very expensive and delicate.

In some cases, they are not even directly involved in the laundry process. Hence chances are that they really don’t care as long as their clothes come to their wardrobe clean and pressed. Hence they are almost deaf to ads or promotions about Fabric Conditioners or even Detergents.
In the other cases, basic cleanliness is again what most of this class of consumers look for and that’s about it. So attributes like having the clothes fragrant and soft are not extremely relevant for them.

Now that means we really have a genuine problem. How do we increase the trial rate and possibly thereby the penetration for this category of products in a market like India? By cool Ads with cute kids and glamorous Moms? By offers and price reductions? Unlikely. I would say that it could be achieved by reaching out to the target group in a very relevant and an interesting way.

Clue: Think about some of the best touch points for a consumer with clean laundry – touch points where the consumer is assured to spend quite some time and with the greatest probability that she would even have the willingness to interact with your effort to reach her. Touch points that are extremely relevant and meaningful.

I have an idea and I shall post it tomorrow. Should you have any, feel free to post your ideas. And yeah needless to say, do mercilessly dissect and criticize my post tomorrow. See you soon!

In the meanwhile check out this interesting Print Ad for a South Korean brand of Fabric Conditioner called as Pigeon (Courtesy: Ads of the world)