In a bid to grow the Savlon brand which it had acquired in 2015, ITC has embarked on a multi-pronged strategy of innovation, promotion and campaign among school students and street vendors, linking well-being with hygiene.
“We are trying to grow the brand and rejuvenate it through promotion, innovation and different types of brand campaign,” B. Sumant, President FMCG Business ITC, told The Hindu .
New variants
In 2016-17, ITC’s personal care business strengthened its presence in the health and hygiene space, leveraging the Savlon and Shower to Shower brands. During the year, the company introduced new variants in the hand wash and antiseptic liquid categories under the Savlon brand, thereby expanding the product portfolio, while gaining access to new consumer segments and markets, according to the company.
“The brand which has a heritage of over 50 years has great equity. We have repositioned the brand to build on its core strengths, innovated to launch new categories and leveraged institutional strengths including expansion of distribution into unconventional outlets. We have grown the brand around two and a half times since our acquisition in 2015 ,” Mr. Sumant said.
Acquisition in 2015
ITC acquired Savlon in 2015, marking an entry into the health and hygiene segment. It purchased the Savlon and Shower to Shower trademarks from Johnson & Johnson Ltd., India and Johnson & Johnson Pte Ltd., Singapore.
Resting on the tenet that hand hygiene is a critical issue and trying to catalyse a behavioural change, ITC recently rolled out Savlon’s first-ever ‘handwash in a multi-use sachet’ format to make it accessible, affordable and convenient.”
“We have done some path-breaking campaigns for Savlon and used multiple channels of communication. ITC spearheaded the Savlon Swasth India Mission, in November 2016 to enhance awareness about the significance of ensuring health and hygiene through clean hands,” Mr. Sumant said. In line with the campaign proposition of ‘Healthier Kids, Stronger India’, the programme introduced interactive activities including storytelling and visual engagement that educate and encourage children to adopt good hand hygiene practices.
The ongoing programme to encourage washing hands especially before meals has reached out to more than 11 lakh children. Earlier this year, the firm also collaborated with Indian Railways to introduce handwash sachets in select trains.
It recently introduced an initiative in collaboration with select street food vendors in India. Under this, ITC promoted a campaign to spread awareness on hand hygiene and the need to ‘Ask for Clean Hands’ among street vendors.
