VIVEAT SUSAN PINTOMumbai, 23 February

The rotund husband when askedwhat he would do if his wife acci-dentally left the window open let-

ting in mosquitoes, says: “No problem,switch to active mode.”

The husband, in a commercial cur-rently running on national television,is referring to Good Knight’sAdvanced Activ+ liquid vaporiser. Theproduct has helped Brand GoodKnight from Godrej Consumer (GCPL)steal a march over archrival S CJohnson’s AllOut, both in terms ofmarket share and moving averagetotal (MAT). This is for the first timethat AllOut has been trounced in acategory that it created over twodecades ago.

Data from Nielsen from June 2011to January 2012 shows that GoodKnight has been the clear leader inliquid vaporisers, a category where it has traditionally lagged, with valuemarket share in the region of 43 to 45 per cent (Check Chart). AllOut’sshare, in contrast, has been a shadeover 39 per cent during the periodunder review.

Prior to this, for the months of Apriland May 2011, AllOut was the leaderwith value shares of 43.4 per cent and42 per cent to Good Knight’s 38.8 percent and 41.2 per cent respectively.

While the month-on-month mov-ing average total (MAT), which is theaverage share per month, in this case,average value share, shows AllOut tobe the leader between April andOctober 2011, how tough the fightbetween the two brands is can begauged from this: In November 2011,

both AllOut andGood Knight are tied at 41.7 per centrespectively. But in December 2011and January 2012, Good Knight leadswith a MAT share of 42.2 per cent and42.6 per cent over AllOut's 41.2 percent and 40.9 per cent respectively.(Check Chart)

If volume market share is takeninto account, then Good Knightbegins to lead AllOut from May 2011itself with a share of 42.8 per cent toAllOut’s 40.4 per cent. Good Knightsustains this volume leadership rightthrough to January 2012. If MAT vol-ume figures for April to January 2012are taken into account then GoodKnight has taken the lead over AllOutfrom September 2011 with a share of42 per cent to the latter’s 40.9 percent. (Check Chart)

Clearly on all fronts, be it volume,value or MAT, Good Knight hastrumped AllOut. Tarun Arora, execu-

tive vice-president, mar-keting, GCPL, says that

besides products such as Activ+,which helped strengthen GoodKnight’s liquid vaporiser portfolio,the company has also beefed up dis-tribution and increased consumerpromotions in the last few years inthe segment.

While overall reach of GCPL inhousehold insecticides is 1.5 millionoutlets, the company has specificallyworked on improving direct distribu-tion in liquid vaporisers, which is aproduct that sells more in urban mar-kets, Arora says.

Of the ~3,000-crore householdinsecticides category in India, almost28 per cent constitutes liquid vaporis-ers. Coils makes up the bulk at 55 percent, while aerosols is about 15 percent and mosquito repellent creamsstands at 2 per cent respectively.

Market experts say that whatcounts in household insecticides is

efficacy of the product. In recentyears, GCPL has invested heavily inhousehold insecticides, which is oneof its three core categories besidespersonal wash, that is, soaps, and haircolour. While GCPL is the leader incoils and aerosols, liquid vaporisershas been a segment it never quitecracked thanks to the first-moveradvantage that AllOut had.

But that appears to be a thing ofthe past now as Good Knight emergesthe new leader in liquid vaporisers.

In response to a mail, seekingreplies to what the company proposedto do to address loss of market share,Subhash Chand, director, marketing,S C Johnson said, “As a privately heldcompany, we do not comment on ourstrategies or discuss our numbers.However specifically to your question,during the stated period, AllOut grewat a healthy rate and is the most trust-ed household care brand.”

But the company in August 2011did undertake a brand makeover,dropping its mascot, the animatedfrog, as well as the tagline ‘MaccharonKa Yamraaj’ to make way for‘Maccharon Pe Vaar, Surakshit AapkaParivaar.’ This was done with theobjective of infusing new life into the brand.

S C Johnson also launched a com-petitive product to Good Knight’sAdvanced Activ+ called the AllOutPower Slider. Both products are pricedat ~ 54 for a refill pack. The base or reg-ular range of Good Knight and AllOutare also more or less evenly priced. A45-night Silver Wick Good Knightrefill, for instance, is priced at ~ 49,while AllOut’s 45-night refill pack ispriced at ~ 48.15.

Good Knight trumps AllOutIt’s been a close fight, but the Godrej Consumer brand has edged ahead of S C Johnson’s product in recent months both in terms of volume and value

GOOD KNIGHT: THE NEW LEADERValue Market Share MAT Value Share Volume Market Share MAT Volume Share

Liquid Good AllOut Good AllOut Good AllOut Good AllOutVaporisers Knight Knight Knight Knight

11-Apr 38.8 43.4 38 44.3 40.8 41.6 39.4 43.111-May 41.2 42 38.3 44.1 42.8 40.4 39.8 42.811-Jun 43.3 39.7 38.7 43.9 44.7 38.2 40.3 42.511-Jul 43.5 39.5 39.1 43.5 45 37.9 40.8 4211-Aug 43.6 39.5 39.6 43.1 45.2 37.8 41.3 41.511-Sep 44 39.4 40.2 42.6 45.8 37.5 42 40.911-Oct 44.6 39.3 40.9 42.2 46.2 37.5 42.7 40.411-Nov 45.1 39.4 41.7 41.7 46.3 37.8 43.5 39.911-Dec 44.3 39.2 42.2 41.2 45.9 37.6 44 39.412-Jan 45.7 39 42.6 40.9 47.5 37.1 44.4 39.1Data is for All India (urban+rural); Figures are in percentage Source: Nielsen

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