Dabur Vatika Case Study

Brand Management Strategy of Dabur Vatika

Until the early 1990s, Dabur, the lOO-year old ayurvedic products manufacturer, was looked upon as a rather staid company that marketed herbal and ayurvedic products. But the launch of Dabur Vatika in 1995 brought about a sea change in that perception. Within six years of its launch, Vatika had become the market leader in the value added hair oils segment. Its success pushed Dabur into the league of top FMCG product companies in India.

Dabur Vatika's success can be attributed to the company's differentiated product offering and meticulous brand building initiatives. The company concentrated on differentiating the brand in all aspects, right from positioning to packaging. At the time of its launch, Dabur positioned Vatika as value-added hair oil that contained pure coconut oil enriched with natural ingredients such as henna, amla (gooseberry), and lemon. Till then, the hair oil market had been dominated by plain coconut oil brands with Marico's flagship brand, Parachute, being the market leader. Vatika was promoted as hair oil that provided beautiful hair through the extra nourishment given by the natural ingredients added to it. Apart from positioning it on the 'natural' platform, Dabur also adopted a premium pricing strategy. Vatika was priced 50% higher than other branded coconut hair oils. Dabur also used innovative packaging to catch the attention of consumers. Its green and white bottle, topped by a green mushroom-shaped cap, was quite different from the blue bottles sold by the competing brands. These initiatives enabled the brand to register sales of Rs 100 mn in the first year.

However, in 1997, Dabur decided to launch a new communication campaign as it felt that the then Vatika campaign was not resulting in higher trials by consumers. The aim of the new campaign was to create a perception in the minds of the consumer that other hair oil (coconut oil) brands were unable to provide enough protection for hair from...