When you think about Vicco Vajradanti, what comes to your mind? You might think of a simpler time or if you are young then you might think of a brand that probably your mother or grandmother may have used. How does a brand that is considered old and obsolete by the younger generation changed and made appealing and attractive to them?
K.V. Pendharkar started Vishnu Industrial Chemical Company or VICCO as we better know it in the year 1952. The company was backed by the revolutionary idea of bringing Ayurveda in the world of beauty products. The company intended to build a cosmetic brand that was indigenous and had everything that India loved – right from having Ayurvedic properties in its products (which ensured no chemcial usage) to affordability and using traditions to promote the product. The product which headlined the business was “Vicco Cream” and it was launched in India in the year 1956.
VICCO made a name for itself by targeting youngsters and especially women. Its aim was to get ‘haldi’ (turmeric) cream into young Indian women who were about to get married. Back in 1960s and the 1970s, in middle class families women married early and cosmetics were used mainly by them. VICCO group came up with different variants of creams and toothpastes which they sold with clarity of no side-effects and genuine use of herbals, plants and minerals in their products.
VICCO group as a result of its launch is known as one of the oldest Indian brands and one of those few that brought revolution in the Indian private sector. Its contribution in building an indigenous cosmetics brand took place during its founder’s time – K.V. Pendharkar. But, the company really made a name for itself under the founder’s son – Gajanan Pendharkar.
Gajanan Pendharkar took over the chairmanship of the company in the year 1971, after his father died. It is his idea that helped the company to make revenue worth Rs. 350 crores then earlier Rs. 1 lakh. Over the next couple of years, his marketing strategy led the company to next heights and making it even bigger success then it was earlier.
His work led to India building it’s own marketing strategies for FMCG products – brand was advertised in cinema halls, and after major TV serials such as Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi which the brand sponsored. It is after much success in the following two decades, the brand decided to go international. The brand went on to become a success in various countries with a sizable Indian population – United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Australia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Soon, the brand lost its ground. In the 1990s, India started the liberalisation process which began to change the psyche of the Indian women from focusing on marriage and traditional Indian roles to becoming more independent and self-reliant. During this time, Vicco carried out the same marketing strategy it did pre-liberalisation making it hard to maintain it’s name in the market.
Another reason is consumer choice. The liberalisation process brought in many international companies having brands such as Lux, Fair ‘n’ Lovely, Colgate selling toothpaste and face cream to youngsters and women. Their branding and marketing strategy lived up to post-liberalised India and captured the market.
Vicco group, for some reason, fell asleep to all these changes and did not try to reinvent itself for 20 years. It now accounts only 4 percent of the market share with a turnover of Rs. 400 crores on a yearly basis. So, what does a brand that has been sleeping for 20 years and has not lived up to the changing times going to do next in order to keep itself alive in the mind of the Indian consumer?
In 2019, Alia Bhatt was introduced as Vicco groups new brand ambassador with a re-invented new theme song. The brand now has an ambition of raising its revenue to Rs. 5 billion. The advertising and marketing strategy has changed with change in time. Alia Bhatt’s recent filmography and success has made her a youth icon and the brand’s advertising and marketing team thinks she might help the brand come up again in the eyes of youngsters.
The brands new advertisements aims to capture the eyes of millennials with a remix version of the old jingle with Alia Bhatt in a flower dress dancing around a bar or a restaurant in the song. The brand aims to re-invent itself and aims to give up its old image where it focused on women and marriages. The brand was supposed to put itself in re-invention mode in the second quarter of 2020. But, since the lockdown has taken place – the brand might push itself further.
By Shreya Fotedar
Sources: Social Samosa, Brand equity, Tale Town, Passionate In Marketing