L'Oreal, Future, Spencer's catch scent of deo market

The deodorant market is set to see more competition. Consider this: After CavinKare, more deo brands have been lined up by L’Oreal and Spencer’s, while Future Group has already rolled out its deodorant range for men under its private label, John Miller.

L’Oreal is slated to launch deodorants under the Garnier brand within a week.

Spencer’s, however, has not yet finalised the name but will launch its own deodorant within two months. L’Oreal India Chief Operating Officer Dinesh Dayal confirmed the development but did not provide details.

This will be L’Oreal’s first foray into the deodorant market, the size of which is pegged at Rs 700-800 crore and is growing at 30 per cent. There are huge gaps in this segment in terms of price-points, which the new brands are looking to fill. For instance, Future’s John Miller is priced at Rs 99 — a tad below the market average of Rs 120-150. Spencer’s proposed product is likely to be priced at the same rate too. But L’Oreal’s Garnier will probably be in the premium range of Rs 150 or more.

Technopak Associate Vice-President Purnendu Kumar believes the category will be expanded by the entry of these players, especially by the two retailers. His reason being that John Miller (apparel) consumers will not mind picking up a deodorant of the same brand to go with the mood of their dressing.

Pantaloon Retail India Head (Private Labels – Food and FMCG) Devendra Chawla agrees with Kumar. “The popularity of the John Miller apparel brand will help us leverage the deodorant brand. We have designed the variants to go with the apparel style,” he said. The company has launched three variants — PowerPlay, Flirt and DarkNight. It plans to develop a complete men’s toiletry range under John Miller.

It is likely that Spencer’s will also launch its deodorant under one of its existing popular apparel brands. On the other hand, L’Oreal will leverage the brand equity of its Garnier range of men’s cream for its deodorant.

Existing players, like Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), believe the new companies will only benefit them. GCPL Managing Director Dalip Sehgal said: “Since the deodorant is a low-penetrated category, more players will only help the market grow. This, in return, will benefit existing players.”

However, existing companies would have to focus more on innovation and activation to remain in the market, he said. GCPL sells the Cinthol range of deodorants.

CavinKare launched its Hi 5 range a month ago. It already has other deodorants like Spinz, Adidas and Jovan.