78 SUPERBRANDS

MarketIts sole reasonfor existence in the market isthe omnipresent mosquito,which makes lifeexcruciatingly difficult for theaverage Indian during summerand monsoon months. Inmany ways the primary factorfuelling the explosive growth of thismarket – characterised by low brand loyaltyand low product involvement – has been theavailability of cost-effective, mosquito repellents.

In less than two decades, Good Knight hasbecome the most preferred mosquito repellentsolution in the country. Before its entry,mosquito repellents had low penetration in amarket ruled by herbal coils, creams andmosquito nets. What made Good Knightdifferent from the rest was its hardware add-on,the Electronic Mosquito Destroyer (EMD), adevice that came bundled with the mats.Not only did the product promise a bite-free,good night’s sleep, it also offered protectionfrom malaria, dengue and other mosquito-related afflictions.

Today, Good Knight is synonymous with matsand coils. But in the mid 1990s, the brandsuffered a minor jolt when mats – its primaryproduct – began losing their hold to coils from

rival brands. Good Knight worked on a long-term strategy that would capitalise on its long-established equity.The first answer to thechallenge came in the form of Supermat, whichwas more powerful than the earlier offering.Then in the late 1990s, Good Knight enteredthe coil segment, the biggest category in theHousehold Insecticide (HI) arena. It quicklycaptured a large part of the market thendominated by a brand called Tortoise. Itsvaporiser which was a response to the challenge posed by All Out, today, owns one-third of the market.

AchievementsGreat nights begin withGood Knight. Askconsumers around Indiaand they’ll vouch for it.That’s the promise thatGood Knight consistentlydelivers, night after night.Along with a good night’ssleep, a Good Knightconsumer is alsoprotected from manydangerous diseases. GoodKnight has grown into apowerful brand on thestrength of these benefits.

Ever since it waslaunched in 1984 GoodKnight mats have alteredthe HI market. Within twoyears of its entry Good

Knight became the largestelectronic mosquito repellent in

the country.The name Good Knight alsobecame synonymous with the mat category.

In the mid 1990s, Good Knight faced growingcompetition from new coil and vaporiserproducts.To counter this thrust, Good Knight re-launched its mat first as Supermat and finallyas Good Knight Silver mat in 2003, withcontemporary packing, superior technology andusing a high decibel campaign.Today GoodKnight Silver mat is a market leader with 62%market share (Source: ACNielsen ORG-MARG, March 2005).

The mats category, however, was losingshare in the HI market. So, it was imperativethat some long-term solution be found tocapitalise on the Good Knight equity.

Towards the late 1990s, Good Knight also

created a new product category – the ten-hourcoil – which till then was seen as a downmarket niche in the HI universe.The red coilcategory created by Good Knight is growing andhas cornered 50% of the coil market (Source:ACNielsen ORG-MARG, March 2005).

Good Knight entered the vaporiser segmentin 1995 by launching Good Knight liquidatorwith a Liquid Mosquito Destroyer (LMD)machine, together as a combi-pack. In a shortspan of three years, Good Knight liquidatormanaged a share of 24% of the vaporisermarket and 32% of LMD market (Source:ACNielsen ORG-MARG, 1998), based on the strength of the Good Knight equity.

HistoryThe Good Knight brandwas launched byTranselektra DomesticProducts Ltd (TDPL) in1984.The productwas innovative andperfectly priced.Mats, used with

electronic mosquito destroyers were extremelyeffective since they contained a chemical calledAllethrin (1%). In a sense, Good Knight struckthe market at the right time. It was a hugesuccess in small towns, big cities and metros, allof which had a common denominator ofreasonable electrification, growing per capitaincomes and high mosquitoincidence. In 1990, it also begantargeting the lower end ofthe market by introducinga low cost EMD calledStar, which was pricedat Rs. 36.

Godrej Hi Caretook over TDPL inAugust 1994 alongwith another brand,HIT Aerosol whichhad been launched in1990. Other brands likeJet and Banish were alsoacquired in 1995.This wasfollowed by the strategicalliance with Sara Lee, a Fortune500 consumer product giant.

The low price strategy helped Good Knightgrow and sustain its leadership till 1995. Fromthen on, two factors changed the complexion ofthe mosquito repellent market. In 1995, Morteinlaunched for the first time a coil containingAllethrin.The coil narrowed the efficacy gapwith Good Knight mats and worked outcheaper for a user since there was no hardwarecost to it. Mortein became a leader in the coilscategory. Users saw no reason for paying apremium for mats over coils and shifted loyaltiesto the latter. In spite of a toughening marketsituation, Good Knight did not lose its grip onthe HI market.

By 1999, Good Knight also joined the battlefor the coil honours by launching its red coilvariant. Since Good Knight was seen to be a hi-tech brand and coils were regarded as an entry-level product, the company made sure that itdid not suffer a downgrade in consumerperception. It branded its version as a value-added product, which lasted ten hours(compared to eight hours in the case of mostothers).The colour red was meant to conveypower. A new product category was born. It ledto a shift in the paradigm, as red now becamethe aspiration colour for the other coils.

Currently the red coil category has grown toown almost 50% of the total coil market, withGood Knight as an image leader in this category.(Brand Equity Survey, March 2005). In 2002, to

get a foothold inthe ‘non-red’territory, GoodKnight alsolaunchedChampion coil as a greenvariant.

Good Knight’sentry into thevaporisersegment came in1995.Thecommunicationwas generic and conveyedthe convenienceof the form.Good Knightlater moved to the higherorder emotionalbenefit of ‘TotalProtection’.

To improveon the producteven further,

Good KnightLiquidator Active

was modified toPrallethrin.The

upgraded offering waslaunched in February

2000, with a new marketingmix as Good Knight Expert

Vaporiser System.In 1997, Godrej Sara Lee Limited (GSLL)

launched an insect repellent lotion. It was notunder the Good Knight banner but was brandedas ‘Mosfree’, a literal translation of freedom frommosquitoes.The lotion was positioned as‘mobile protection’, inside and outside thehouse.The positioning was directly against themarket leader – Odomos.

In 2001, Mosfree was re-launched as GoodKnight lotion bringing it under the Good Knightumbrella. As safety seemed to be an importantconcern in the category – the brand equity ofGood Knight which stood for protection andsafety – fitted perfectly.

ProductEach of the product forms introduced were ableto plug specific consumer need gaps – theGood Knight mat was seen as a safe, convenientsolution differentiated by its pleasant fragrance.Even though the product was convenient touse, the need to change a mat daily was seen asa need gap.The other emerging product form –the vaporiser was perceived as a ‘premiumproduct’.The Good Knight Vaporiser lasted 30-45 days and just had to be plugged in. It was atechnologically superior, easy-to-use and safeproduct.The Good Knight coil, on the otherhand, was seen as a highly effective and good‘value-for-money’ product used in highinfestation regions.

The availability of a number of product formswith specific benefits has led to an increase inthe number of dual users – users who usemore than one mosquito repellent at a time.Good Knight has regularly up graded itstechnology and product formats based onconsumer input and feedback.

Recent DevelopmentsGood Knight mats were re-launched with a newtechnology, which was marketed as ‘SilverPower’.The new technology enabled thecompany to plug another need gap.This helpedthe brand to increase its share in the matmarket to almost 60% (Source: ACNielsenORG-MARG, March 2005).

The launch was also in tune with the new positioning of ‘Good Knight suraksha.Success hamesha’.

Good Knight Turbo refill, a technologicallysuperior product, was launched in 2004. It wasthe right time for Good Knight to take theplunge and gun for market leadership.Theproduct with the latest technology of a turbopump wick enabling better active release, led toa faster and better effect – a higher consumerbenefit.This was launched with state-of-the-artpackaging and design to communicate product

superiority anddifferentiation.

The beginning of theyear also saw GoodKnight announcing thearrival of Maha Jumbo –the biggest coil in theworld.The coil providedthe most value formoney and came in anattractive consumerpack.The coil stand wasalso modified to suitthe larger size of the product.

PromotionGood Knight has always chosen a slew ofpromotion options including outdooradvertising, radio, television and newspapers.

The products themselves remain the mosteffective promotional devices that the branddepends upon.The most important uniqueselling proposition for Good Knight is its brandequity, built over a decade by its products andbrand communication. It is the only brand in theHI category which has been able to transcendthe physical payoffs of coils, mats or vaporisersand has a higher order of emotional associationof ‘Nurturance’ and ‘Total Protection’.

Most of Good Knight’s productlaunches and innovations are driven bya strong sense of consumerperception.The brand has alwayspaid heed to user wants and needs.Qualitative consumer research, hasgiven the singularly most significantinsight that children are vulnerableto mosquitoes all the time andturn to their mothers forprotection.The mother, in turn, wants to ensure that she protects her children even when they are out of her sight. Much of thecommunication effortundertaken by Good Knight,since these findings, has revolved aroundthese facts.

Brand ValuesThe trust in Godrej as a name, availability at anaffordable price and lasting effect makes GoodKnight the preferred choice of the consumer.Good Knight has positioned itself as ‘a completemosquito repellent solution that offers totalprotection’.The Good Knight brand is embodiedby the caring, responsible and progressivemother who is in touch with her culturalheritage.The brand simply stands for a peaceful,undisturbed sleep and an assurance ofprotection from mosquitoes.

www.godrejsaralee.com

79SUPERBRANDS

THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

The first Good Knight advertisement onnational network television, Doordarshan,appeared in 1985, a year after its launch.

Within two years of its entry in the market,Good Knight became the largest sellingelectronic mosquito repellent in India.

By 1990, Good Knight had become the singlelargest selling brand of electronic mosquitorepellents in the world.

By 2002, Godrej Sara Lee became the largestcoil manufacturer in the country and a leader inthis product category.

Good Knight