GCPL targets double-digit category growth with made-in-India mosquito repellent formula

Ashwin Moorthy, CMO GCPL speaks about Good Knight’s newest innovation and their strategic marketing plans.

More than three lakh cases of vector-borne diseases are detected each year in India. Many times, they can also be life-threatening and pose a bigger challenge to public health than assumed. According to a report by WHO, India accounted for 66% of malaria cases in the WHO South-East Asia region in 2023, making it a high-demand market for mosquito repellent products.

Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL), along with a group of scientist, has developed 'Renofluthrin' – India’s first indigenously developed and patented molecule, which creates the most efficacious liquid vaporiser formulation for mosquito control as per the company.

The formulations made with Renofluthrin are 2X more effective against mosquitoes compared to any other registered formulation in liquid vaporiser format currently available in India, says GCPL.

India’s mosquito repellent market is reportedly valued at around Rs 3,775 crore as of 2024 and is anticipated to grow with a CAGR at 6.87%. GCPL holds more than a 60% market share in the mosquito repellent market in the country. The brand aims to revolutionise this market with its new innovation.

Speaking about their plans for the same, Ashwin Moorthy, CMO of GCPL, says, “This has been about 10 years in the making. The last molecule in mosquito prevention at home was around in 2008. There are two parts to this: one is to ensure that it is effective and the other is to ensure that it is safe for people to have in their homes. You have to conduct clinical trials, work with government agencies, and finally get it registered by the Central Insecticide Board and the Registration Committee. Both of which take a lot of time and a lot of investment, but the outcome is that you have a molecule that helps protect consumers from harmful mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and malaria.”

Media and marketing plan

As per Moorthy, their marketing plan is quite reach-based, considering they are one of the biggest brands in the country. However, he admits that liquid vaporisers are still not as widely used in India as other repellents. “Liquid vaporisers still have very low penetration in India. There are still a lot of people who do not use liquid vaporisers because they are not aware of how the machine works.”

“Our first priority is to ensure that the new formulation is available across all our outlets and that consumers across the spectrum of GoodKnight users are aware of it,” he adds.

They also have a brand film, and Moorthy says the plan is to spend a lot of money on it to ensure there is more than adequate reach.

Moorthy states that along with advertising, they will also be investing widely in a very large door-to-door programme which will inform consumers about why to use liquid vaporisers, how they work, and why they are more efficacious than other formats.

He adds that another significant challenge in the mosquito repellent market is the entry of illegal and unregistered repellents and formulations, which pose a great threat to users. GCPL will also run an awareness programme to help consumers understand the harmful effects of using non-recognised mosquito preventions.

Speaking further about the brand’s media plan, he adds, “We advertise throughout the entire year, but we will advertise a little bit more during the season because that is when we need to reach even more consumers with the message.”

Challenges

According to Moorthy, one of the biggest challenges for the brand is to continually innovate to combat insects as resilient as mosquitoes.

“We were facing two challenges. Consumers found registered molecules to be ineffective as mosquitoes can develop immunity to them every few years. Secondly, consumers had begun relying on illegal molecules from China, which are hazardous to public health. Over 3 lakh cases of vector-borne diseases occur annually, and many people do not get tested for them or fully understand how to diagnose and treat these diseases accurately. Ultimately, our competition is the mosquito. It's crucial for us to innovate quickly enough to ensure consumers don't resort to harmful solutions.”

Distribution

While the new formulation has been released in the form of electronic liquid vaporisers, the brand will soon adapt it into its other available formats like coils to further assist people in defending themselves against mosquitoes.

Moorthy adds that while a bigger chunk of their revenue comes from traditional trade, quick commerce and e-commerce have been an absolute breakthrough for them. “What we are trying now is to increase our distribution directly to more and more outlets, even in rural India. We feel that with increased electrification, rural Indians will also find a solution like a liquid vaporiser both efficacious and convenient.”

According to Moorthy, the new GoodKnight Flash is economically priced at around Rs 100 for the complete pack (refill + vaporiser machine), with refills available at Rs 85 each.

Moorthy further adds that the mosquito repellent category is quite significant for GCPL, as a third of the company's top end comes from household insecticides. “It is significant for us in both size and potential to grow. We feel this is a category that should see double-digit growth in the medium term. It hasn't been at that level for the last couple of years. That's something we are quite keen to alter with this innovation coming through.”