Financial Express - 18 Nov, 2006
The Cholayil group has relaunched Medimix in a new packaging and with new variants
Even as Cuticura, the talcum powder brand of Chennai-based Cholayil, is being refurbished to attract new consumers, the company has initiated a few changes in its bread-and-butter brand Medimix. The trademark red and black pack of the 36-year-old brand has given way to a hep green and brown packaging, which adorns its two new variants-Glycerine Medimix and Sandalwood Medimix. The glycerine option is targeted at consumers with dry skin, while the sandalwood version claims to reduce blemishes and helps your skin glow.
The basic 18-ingredient formulation of the Ayurvedic soap, says MC Anand Kumar, senior vice-president, sales & marketing at Cholayil, remains intact. The new variants have additional elements-for instance, the dry skin soap has lakshadi oil besides glycerine. This helps in moisturising and healing. The sandalwood soap has eladi oil that helps erase marks.
The launch of the variants coincides with the company’s attempts to take Medimix to markets where it has not been able to make its presence felt-namely, the north, east and western regions of the country. A similar strategy will be followed for Cuticura too, which will have a nationwide rollout around February-March next year.
Medimix, which has a turnover of Rs 140 crore, is strong in south India and some parts of Maharashtra. It is second only to Hindustan Lever’s Hamam in the herbal/Aurvedic segment of soaps, which is around Rs 644 crore in size. The third player after these two is Margo from Henkel Spic. The overall soaps market in India is about Rs 5,150 crore. It is growing at about 10% every year, according to analysts.
Cholayil, in recent months, has felt the need to ramp up sales of its key brand by pushing it into new areas. “The dry skin variant, for instance,” says Anand Kumar, “should help us pick up volumes in the north and east of the country.”
Having a more contemporary product in its portfolio has also been a major trigger for the revamp. “Our research showed that our consumer base was ageing,” says Anand Kumar. “It was time we acquired new users. At the same time, we wanted to get younger consumers; which is why the changes in brand architecture.”
These changes are likely to pave way for further experimentation in terms of product extensions, more variants etc-something that Cholayil is doing with Cuticura as well, where it is contemplating youth fragrances for the talc apart from roll-ons and sprays. A range of deodorants, DeO2, has already been launched.
All these efforts have a larger objective-to help the company achieve a turnover of Rs 500 crore by 2009-10 from Rs 160 crore in 2005-06 (The break-up now: Medimix Rs 140 cr; Cuticura Rs 10 crore; other offerings including Cholayil Sanjeevanam Rs 10 crore).
This it hopes to do not only on the back of Cuticura and Medimix, but also new categories and brands, which Cholayil is looking to enter by the next financial year. “Our mission is to straddle the natural/herbal space with relevant products and services,” says Anand Kumar.