Lever To Launch Lux Range Of Shampoos

Hindustan Lever is launching a new range of Lux beauty shampoos in India soon. The Rs 6,600-crore (1996 net turnover), fast-moving consumer goods multinational, announced its intentions to launch such a shampoo recently in a sales conference in Hyderabad. The launch will be made in the next couple of days.

The move, a major brand extension exercise by the company, is likely to give a new turn to the ongoing war with Procter & Gamble (P&G) for the over Rs 350-crore hair care market. At present, Lever is the leader with over 45 per cent market share, but has been facing a determined onslaught since November 1995, when P&G launched Pantene (global market share: 18 per cent).

 

Market sources say Lever could be moving to fortify its position further before P&G makes more inroads by launching its other global brands like Head & Shoulders, Rejoice and Vidal Sasoon.

Pantene already has a 10.6 per cent market share as per retail audit figures and is third behind Levers Sunsilk (17-18 per cent) and Clinic (around 25 per cent).

The exact details of Lux shampoo are not known, but trade sources say it will be positioned as a beauty product along with Sunsilk. While Clinic is an anti-dandruff shampoo, Organics has two variants, anti-dandruff and root nourishment.

Market sources say Lever is trying to achieve two objectives: expand its portfolio with a brand name, whose equity is well-established, and shore up the weaknesses of its beauty shampoo, Sunsilk.

Sunsilk, one of Levers strong brands, started slipping in the share war last year from over to 20 per cent to 16-17 per cent.

Then late last year, Lever made a determined bid to wrest back presence by offering huge discounts and free gifts with the brand.

After three months the tactic clicked and Sunsilk worked its way back to 20 per cent. But, once the discounts stopped, shares slid back to 16-17 per cent levels, where they are currently holding steady. In the meantime, Pantene worked its way up slowly to 10.6 per cent.

Luxs association with beauty is very strong and Lever may be trying to take advantage of that by launching a shampoo with a brand name thats linked to beauty, says a market expert.

It is not known how P&G would react to the move. There have been speculations for a long time the company is going to launch its world-famous Head and Shoulders shampoo.

Officially, the company remains mum, but sources say its first priority is to push Pantene to achieve a 20 per cent share in the market. This would make it the number two shampoo behind Clinic and provide a launching pad for future P&G products.