Product details

Since the beginning of the 21st century, the personal care business in India grew rapidly owing to a growing GDP, increased earning capacity, rapid urbanisation and heightened interest of people in personal grooming. ITC Limited (ITC), the tobacco behemoth of India was diversifying into more sustainable businesses and FMCG was one of them. ITC entered the personal care product segment in 2005 by launching the up-market Essenza Di Wills body care products. In 2007 and 2008, the company increased the depth of its product offerings by launching new products under its premium brand Fiama Di Wills (Fiama) and mid-market brand Vivel respectively. In 2009, the company launched its mass-market brand Superia. As of 2011, the company gained 3% market share in the shampoos category and 6% market share in toilet soaps which was considered quite impressive by the analysts considering the hyper competition in these segments. Moreover, in 2011, the company entered another high growth sub-segment, the fairness creams. Industry experts felt that the persistent rollout of new products was a crucial reason behind the company’s initial success. Nonetheless, accomplishment of a sizeable market share was still an uphill task considering the tough competition and the already established positions of the competitors. The market leader Hindustan Unilever Limited topped most of the segments and ITC’s share was negligible compared to it. The company insiders, however, were optimistic as they felt the company’s century old knowledge of Indian consumers, strong retail network and familiarity to the rural customers through e-choupal would provide an added advantage. Also, being a late entrant the company received more time to study the market. It remained to be seen whether ITC would get the late-mover advantage in the Indian personal care products market or not.