Godrej Consumer Products-owned Goodknight, the largest selling household insecticide brand, plans to build its distribution in the northern markets since the region faced slow growth due to a prolonged harsh winter.
While the southern and western markets have made up for the lack of demand in the northern region, the brand lacks leadership position in certain pockets and intends making up for its market share compared to its competitors.
Ajay Dang, Vice-President, Marketing (Home Care), GCPL, said, “We have certain weaknesses in the northern States and are challenged by competitors in certain pockets despite being a market leader in the category. Besides, growth has been slower last winter and fell to single digits in this region, as mosquitoes do not thrive during extreme temperatures.”
Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have certain pockets where competitors such as SC Johnson (All Out) have an edge, in terms of market share in the liquid category. GCPL has added 4.5 lakh outlets in these markets last year.
“Hit is already a strong brand in the north unlike Goodknight, which is the dominant household insecticide brand in the southern states. We have been adding new outlets in the northern markets,” added Dang.
Besides, both Goodknight and Hit are being extended to underleveraged segments within the household insecticide category in new formats. “Household pests form 8-9 per cent of the total household insecticide category. We have introduced a gel format for Hit,” he said.
While Hit, an all-pest approach brand, is meant more for the non-mosquito category, Goodknight is for the mosquito segment. Both brands have also been taken to markets such as Africa and Indonesia where the Godrej Group has been acquiring companies.
The Rs 3,500-crore household insecticide market is growing between 12 and 15 per cent.
New products are also being developed for the rural markets. “Since rural houses have more open spaces, we are looking at developing formats in a ‘burst’ attempt to address these markets. We would be modifying some of the existing formats to address the rural markets,” added Dang.
GCPL’s household pesticide also has brands such as Jet and Banish. While Jet has been restricted as a regional brand in certain markets such as AP and MP, Banish has negligible presence in the category today.