Savvy marketers have added one more hot selling proposition to their list--health. The health wave seems to be sweeping the market place, be it food products, water, consumer durables and even mattresses.
Industry experts feel this trend is due to increasing numbers of young people falling prey to stress-related diseases such as hyper tension, acidity and cardiac problems.
Heightened health consciousness among teenagers and particularly the 20-30 years old urban population which denotes the maximum purchasing power today have brought about this new trend.
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Consumer electronics major LG has been using the health plank for all its products for quite sometime now particularly its Golden Eye television campaign. Ganesh Mahalingam, general manager, marketing--LG Electronics India said, "In the context of the domestic market, we were the first to introduce health centered advertising campaigns for our products."
While its Korean peer Samsung is marketing its refrigerators and microwaves on the bio-fresh and bio-ceramic platform. A senior official from Samsung India Electronics said, "After a point of time companies have to differentiate their offerings against other products. Samsung has targetted that home appliances would contribute around 44 per cent to the projected total turnover of Rs 1,520 crore for the year ended December 2002. Compared with a contribution of home appliances (41 per cent) to Rs 1,350 crore last year.
Nusli Wadia group company Britannia Industries has positioned its products with a tagline of "Eat healthy think better".
Ravi Prakash Gupta, general manager-marketing, Godrej and Boyce Manufacturing Co, said, "We have been creating health awareness through our campaign for Godrej chairs. We hope to create brand awareness over a longer period of time by emphasising upon the correct seating posture for people spending long working hours behind their desk. Studies have indicated that two thirds of such professionals are afflicted by back problems."
Today, it is the health issue through which companies are attempting to touch the consumer in the most personal way, whether it is to preserve the softness of hand to sell a detergent or the health of clothes to give them a longer life.
In fact manufacturers are now thinking beyond merely using the health angle for their product's commercials and are busy creating whole new products centered around the health theme. Delhi-based Morepen Laboratories has launched health products such as Dab for indigestion, C-sip an orange drink, Gol Goli etc.
A new category--fast moving health goods has come about which is a growing in size.
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Federation (Amul) has launched fat-free ice cream having 0.2 per cent fat content and is targetted at the health conscious consumers across all age groups.
Bisleri, Aquafina and Kinley have also exploited the health theme.