With Sense & Plenty of Sensitivity: GSK Cosumer Health Care’s G Venkataramani & Rahul Bibuthi Made Sensodyne a Brand to Be Reckoned with

With Sense & Plenty of Sensitivity: GSK Cosumer Health Care’s G Venkataramani & Rahul Bibuthi Made Sensodyne a Brand to Be Reckoned with

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Understanding the concept of product categories and discuss on how new product categories can be nurtured
• Understanding Sensodyne’s distinct strategies to introduce and popularize a new category within oral care market, i.e., sensitive oral care
• Comprehending the concept of category killers and to debate on how category killers can be grown with specific reference to their points of differentiation

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Product Category in Sensitive Oral Care Market

1. What do you mean by a product category? Can you cite few examples from the Indian oral care market?
2. When do you think a new product category can be created? Do you think ANSOFF’s product market matrix would be relevant to make/take an appropriate decision?
3. Recounting your experiences of buying toothpaste, can you highlight what were the key buying motivators – whiteness, gum’s related problem, sensitive tooth, etc.?
4. ...............

Exhibits

Exhibit I: ANSOFF Product Market Matrix

Exhibit II: Oral Care Market in India

Exhibit III: Posters at a Reputed Dental Hospital in Hyderabad

With Sense & Plenty of Sensitivity: GSK Cosumer Health Care’s G Venkataramani & Rahul Bibuthi Made Sensodyne a Brand to Be Reckoned with

Synopsis

The case flyer assists in analysing product categories, how the categories are created, sustained and extended? It specifically assists in analysing the entry of Sensodyne toothpaste into the sensitive oral care product category. While Colgate occupies more than half of the market share in the oral care segment in India, players like Dabur, GSKCH looked at innovative product opportunities to extend/enter, thus creating new categories.

About one-tenth of the oral care market was comprised of the sensitive toothpaste category. Oral care market was one of the fastest growing markets and the sensitive toothpaste category was growing at about double the rate within it. Given the growth rate and the market share, what marketing strategies can accelerate the growth of the product to reach a category leadership position? Will advertising alone be a major contributor towards the growth rate results? If the product’s success was attributed to a large extent to advertising and ‘advocates’ of the product, in this case the dentists, will the product continue to sell on the older prescriptions of the (family) dentists?

Expected Learning Outcomes

• • Understanding the concept of product categories and discuss on how new product categories can be nurtured
• • Understanding Sensodyne’s distinct strategies to introduce and popularise a new category within oral care market, i.e., sensitive oral care
• • Comprehending the concept of category killers and to debate on how category killers can be grown with specific reference to their points of differentiation

Positioning and Setting

This case flyer can be ideally positioned for:

• a) General Marketing Course – for discussing one of the 4Ps, i.e., Place – Sales and Distribution
• b) Retailing/Retail Management Course – Category Management Module

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Exhibits

Exhibit (TN)-I: FMCG Industry – Categories & Sub-categories

Exhibit (TN)-II: ANSOFF – Product Market Matrix

Exhibit (TN)-III: Oral Care Market in India

Exhibit (TN)-IV: Posters from a Reputed Dental Hospital based at Hyderabad