As Eno carries on its humorous take on acidity…

…the 50-year-old brand’s marketing head spills the beans on the brand’s marketing strategy to maintain category lead.

Haleon’s over-the-counter antacid brand, Eno, has launched a new campaign to push its anti-acidity onslaught. Titled ‘Ab Acidity Kyu Sehna Jab ENO hain na’, the new TVC carries Eno’s signature humorous take on acidity and its quick fix. 

The commercial is one of a family setting, with a young man struggling to savour the food because of acidity. Eno is the quick fix, the commercial points out. In six seconds the mythical powder starts doing its job and relieves the man of his misery. 

The 50-year-old brand has had a strong foothold in the antacid category of consumer healthcare. Last year, the reports suggested that the brand holds a 50 per cent share in the antacid category. A lot of it has to do with the brand’s unique ‘6 second main kaam shuru’ proposition, which many consumers have taken positive note of.

Anurita Chopra, head of marketing, India sub-continent, Haleon, points out that the brand has been hinged on blurring the lines between food and acidity. “We’ve always had a humorous take on the situation and that itself is the ethos of the brand. We've recognized that acidity has always been interruptive (and needs an instant fix),” she says.

Speaking on the new campaign, Chopra highlights that while the new ad film pegs Eno as a better solution to acidity than homemade alternatives, the brand has decisively still kept the ambience of a family, food, and enjoyment within the plot.

As per Chopra, the commercial will be aired across TV, and digital, and will expand to other formats of media including print. “You’ll find it very hard to miss the campaign. The campaign will be placed across all regions of the country, in all languages.”

The consumer healthcare category of the country is often riddled with caution and strict standards. Eno as an antacid has also garnered some consumer concerns, particularly about the side effects of the product. This, in light of the comical delivery of the brand’s campaigning, makes us wonder, what are the steps that the brand has taken to squash any consumer worries?

For starters, Eno’s official website offers a dedicated FAQs page, that answers all the necessary questions about the safe consumption of the product, and potential risks, among other queries.

“We are very clear about the products and brands that we put out in the market for the consumers. It goes through humongous amount of research, r&d, and, you know, safety tests, when we put it out. So, we are very confident about the fact that your problem is resolved and safely.”

The brand typically caters to the entire range of age groups within a conventional Indian household, but the core target group for Eno remains the age group 25-44. “It’s really the mid-segment which we focus on. That is because Eno is a mass brand, therefore, from a footprint perspective, it’s a mass plan.”

On distribution and sales, Chopra reveals that the brand’s legacy is founded upon offline presence and continues to be so. But with Digital picking up, the brand is seeing a lot of traction on e-commerce platforms. “We’ve had a 50-year heritage in India, therefore, clearly our offline presence is huge. Having said that, we’re seeing digital commerce picking up, especially quick commerce.”

Consumer healthcare brands, especially a brand like Eno, are often faced with the challenge of identifying a problem, and providing the solution for consumers. To drive performance, the key for the brands remains to build awareness and consumer confidence. For Eno, the focus is on consistently educating the consumers, as per Chopra.

Speaking about the consumer behaviour within the category, Chopra points out that over the years, people have become more adopting of the brand. "As consumers look for newer solutions, we are very fast in providing that. We have met the consumer demands with different flavors. We've got lemon Cola, orange, even 'Jaljeera' and 'Nimbu Masala', because that's that's pretty much playing up to the Indian consumers tastes palette at the moment."