'All Out' - Marketing a Mosquito Repellant

Details

Themes: Marketing Mix
Period : 1989-2003
Organization : Karamchand Appliances Private Limited
Pub Date : 2003
Countries : India
Industry : Home Appliances

Buy Now

Case Code : MKTG060
Case Length : 9 Pages
Price: Rs. 300;

Tools

<< Previous

The Growth of All Out

The Arya brothers belonged to a Maharashtra-based family that was involved in the business of importing books. Reluctant to join the family business, the brothers shifted to Rajkot, Gujarat and joined a relative in making diesel engines for agricultural purposes. Before long, they became interested in the fast moving consumer goods business. Impressed by the success of a small mosquito repellant company in Rajkot, the brothers decided to venture into the business and set up KAPL.

KAPL decided to get the technology they needed to enter the market from Japanese manufacturers. Their decision was prompted by the fact that most of the modern mosquito repellants were developed in Japan. Having decided to launch mats, the brothers short-listed five Japanese companies and eventually zeroed in on Earth Chemical Co. Ltd. (Earth).

Established in 1892, Earth was part of the $ 8 billion Otsuka Group of Japan. Earth manufactured and sold industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, agricultural chemicals and health foods.

After agreeing to a technical collaboration for mats, the Arya brothers happened to see a vaporizer being sold by Earth. The product consisted of a heating unit and a small container of chemicals, which had to be periodically replaced. It was reportedly doing extremely well in the Japanese market, as it was much more effective than mats. (The strength of mats reportedly weakened considerably after a few hours - vaporizers on the other hand could function consistently throughout the night).

However, Earth refused to transfer the technology for the manufacture of the vaporizer. After much lobbying and negotiations, a revenue sharing deal was finally signed, wherein KAPL agreed to invest in manufacturing the components of the product. KAPL began developing certain key components for the product at its factory at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh in 1989. Some items such as moulds were imported from Japan. KAPL then hired a research agency to come up with a brand name for their product.

The agency recommended the name 'Freedom.' 'Choo Mantar' (a Hindi phrase indicating the 'magical vanishing' of mosquitoes) was another possibility. However, KAPL rejected the agency's recommendations, and eventually settled on All Out, a name suggested by the youngest Arya brother, Naveen. Choo Mantar was dropped as it would not have made sense to non-Hindi speaking people and the brothers felt that All Out was better than Freedom.

To ensure that the packaging was of high quality, KAPL commissioned a well-known packaging unit in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. However, due to delays in the supply of packing material, KAPL was forced to delay the launch of All Out by about six months. The product was finally launched in April 1990 in Mumbai. Sales were slow to pick up, as April was a lean month for the sales of mosquito repellants - mosquitoes being far more numerous during the rainy season.

KAPL hired Avenues, reportedly one of the best creative agencies in India, to handle the advertising for All Out. However, the company was not satisfied with the advertisements created by the agency, which had the baseline, 'All Out for modern mosquitoes.' Bimal said, "Six months down the line, we had holes in our pockets. They kept telling us to have patience as it takes time, but we lost patience."

Next >>