Destined for Failure: Brand Launch Failure Study in the OTC Healthcare Category
Master Sun Consulting has carried out a study of the “Brand Launch Failures in the OTC Healthcare Category”. OTC products in the health sector can be defined as products that help to cure any day-to-day therapeutic ailment such as cough, cold, fever, headache or body ache, weakness, tiredness.
Some of the brand launches that were studied were the launch of Savlon, Disprin Plus (later Disprin Paracetamol), Chawan Junior, Duractin, Crocin Pain Relief, Crocin Syrup for Children, Dettol Plaster, Dettol Extra (almost a beauty soap), Vicks Cough Syrup, Gacidity (an antacid), Pediasure (an adult nutrition brand).
Some of the top reasons for failure noted by Jasravee Kaur Chandra, Healthcare Brand Specialist were “Failure to understand consumer use of the product, consumer attitudes and beliefs, consumer relationship with a brand and positioning of the brand against the competition. “.
One of the most notable failures was the Savlon launch campaign. Savlon, a Johnson & Johnson brand, was unable to succeed because it went against consumer beliefs about the category. It was widely believed that for an antiseptic to be effective, it must be perceived as an effect: Dettol’s sting. Thus, Savlon’s sweet, non-stinging odor ran counter to basic consumer attitudes toward the antiseptic category. According to Sarvajeet Chandra. Managing Partner, Master Sun Consulting, “Dettol’s clinical scent enhanced the perception that the antiseptic was working. Consumers didn’t expect to spray perfume on their wounds; they wanted an antiseptic lotion that looked like it was waging war.”
The other notable example was the failure of Reckitt Benckiser’s Disprin Plus. Marketers expanded the Disprin brand into the acetaminophen category to launch Disprin Plus. As aspirin is subject to price controls, Disprin’s profitability was very low. Even today, the brand sells for less than one rupee per tablet. To get around this problem, the company launched Disprin Plus in 2001. It only had acetaminophen as an active ingredient (instead of aspirin). The idea was to leverage the value of the Disprin brand and also maximize the profitability of the brand (since paracetamol is out of price control).
Once again we see that marketers dug their own graves without paying much attention to customers’ beliefs and attitudes. Jasravee observes: “The core benefit of the brand was altered in order to take advantage of the value of the parent brand Disprin. What was ignored was the fact that the ‘ingredient’ was part of the value. Repositioning efforts like Disprin Acetaminophen I don’t work either. By 2005, the writing was on the wall.” Once again, the results were similar to the Savlon disaster. Sarvajeet gleefully comments that “it was like introducing a brand of Bacardi beer. A similar mistake was made initially when Crocin branched out into pain relief to tap into the pain reliever market.”
A similar example of vendors not doing their homework correctly was the launch of Chawan Junior by Dabur. Consumers could not connect with the product as one of the key ingredients in Chawan junior was Amla, which does not mix well with milk, a common knowledge that was overlooked by Dabur’s marketers. Jasravee observes, “This is a failure at the product formulation stage and again stems from an inadequate understanding of consumer use of the product.” Certain beliefs that are deeply embedded in the psyche will serve well if adhered to.
In some cases, companies did not demonstrate a proper understanding of consumer buying behavior. An example of this was the launch of the Crocin pediatric range. Crocin syrup containing 125mg paracetamol per 5ml was introduced for children to cure cold, cough and mild fever. The syrup was directly introduced as an OTC product. Crocin syrup was not very well accepted by the parenting community as they did not trust the product. Jasravee notes that “As with all pediatric medications given to children, parents always want to take any medication only after consulting the doctor. Even parents who tend to ask pharmacists for an appropriate medication for common ailments They won’t risk buying anything without a doctor’s advice.” The company had to remedy its strategy and ensure that GSK classified crocin syrup as a prescription drug and doctors began prescribing crocin syrup for children.
The study also looks at other launch cases of Dettol plaster, Dettol shaving cream and Dettol Extra soap (with moisturizer and a glycerin variant launched as a beauty soap). Sarvajeet observes, “I’m surprised they haven’t launched a Dettol toothpaste to fight germs in the mouth. Imagine using the pungent-tasting, clinical-smelling toothpaste early in the morning. It makes you think you’ve woken up in a hospital. bed”.