ITC visits homes to promote Vivel

The campaign, Palichunu Oru Matram, launched in Tamil Nadu, aims to reach half a million households, meeting women

ITC has launched an on ground initiative for its personal care brand, Vivel, to charm homemakers and give them the brand experience. The objective of the home to home campaign, called Palichunu Oru Matram, is to promote Vivel shampoos and soaps in Tamil Nadu.

The campaign, which is being conducted by Xpanse Asia, the specialist small town and rural marketing network of Publicis Groupe, aims at giving women an opportunity to experience Vivel's products without leaving the comfort and convenience of their homes. As part of the campaign, Vivel's team is visiting households, carrying audio messages of the company's brand ambassador, Trisha Krishnan, giving a personal brand message to consumers.

Vivel caters to the mid segment of soaps and shampoos and through the campaign, ITC targets the women in the segment. "The brand promises to bring a radiant change in the lives of women with its array of products. The objective of the home to home initiative is to give women an opportunity to experience Vivel's total care without leaving the comfort and convenience of their homes," says Atul Joshi, head, marketing, personal care products business, ITC Limited.

Through the campaign, the brand plans to reach out to half a million households in Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Vellore and engage consumers by inviting them to experience the brand.

Taking about the success of the initiative, Joshi says "We believe that the initiative is a perfect platform to engage with our consumers, increase brand awareness and inform the audience about our brand offerings." He adds that the initiative of personally delivering the brand message has so far met with positive responses from consumers.

ITC has interests in a number of segments, ranging from tobacco and FMCG to the hospitality industry. The multi-business conglomerate entered the highly competitive personal care business in July 2005 and has since introduced products in three segments. The Essenza Di Wills brand targets the prestige segment of the market, while Fiama Di Wills is the premium range and Vivel targets the mid segment.

The Vivel range of products offers a premium range of soaps under the brand name Vivel Di Wills. Vivel Ultra Pro caters to the anti-dandruff segment in the shampoo market, while Superia brand targets the popular segment.

Vivel soaps is available in three variants in Tamil Nadu - Vivel Young Glow, Vivel Satin Soft, and Vivel Sandal Sparkle.

With a turnover of Rs 28,109 crore, the company is a relatively new entrant in the personal care segment. As per The Nielsen Company, the market leaders in the shampoo market are HUL, P&G, CavinKare, Dabur and L'Oreal India, while the soap segment is dominated by HUL, Godrej, Wipro, Reckitt Benckiser and Nirma.

According to the data provided by Nielsen, quoting the all India (urban and rural) figures from June 2010, the industry size of the shampoo segment is about Rs 3,011 crore, which is growing at more than 9 per cent year on year. The toilet soap segment is worth Rs 8,896 crore and is growing at about 8 per cent year on year.