The freshness soap brand Liril explores a way to growth in a shrinking marketWhat does a young woman parked in a rugged terrain "" with only a dog and her book for company "" long for? Scenic glaciers in the pictorial book make her imagination run riot. The nymphet begins to yearn for a cold shower "" an ice-cold one. Out comes a translucent blue cake of soap. She is only too happy to let the soap caress her body. And from the parched surroundings, she gets carried away to the glacial heights of Iceland. As she immerses herself in her bathing fantasy "" amidst chunks of ice and frozen peaks "" the bark of the dog breaks her reverie. "Ice try karoge? (want to try ice?)," enquires the voice-over. A blue pack of Liril Icy Cool Mint fills the screen. It's the 40-second television commercial of the soap brand Liril for the launch of its menthol soap variant, Icy Cool Mint in May 2002. The latest action behind the Liril brand is significant for a variety of reasons. According to Mukul Deoras, category head, personal wash, Hindustan Lever Limited (HLL), "Liril has been associated with lime "" which is the generic for freshness. The launch of Icy Cool Mint is to take the dimension of freshness beyond lime."To be sure, this is not the first attempt by Liril to deliver the freshness proposition in variants other than lime "" a fragrance that gave the brand an entry into the limelight after its launch in 1976. For instance, Liril had extended itself into variants like Liril Cologne in the mid-1990s and Liril Rain Fresh in 1999-2000, neither of which worked up much of a lather in the market. But Deoras says these attempts helped HLL climb the learning curve and understand the market better. For instance, HLL discovered that consumers were not interested in a perfumed variant that was not very different from the original, in terms of looks and sensation.According to a senior advertising professional, "After a period of time, the brand got arrested in the waterfall and was never compelling enough for the consumer to get involved with the communication. This is similar to the devil's affair with Onida." The recent campaigns of Liril, over the last two years, have shown Rajasthani women using pots of water to soak the Liril girl, to the more recent "Statue" commercial which will soon complete its three-month run on television and make way for the Icy Cool campaign. Balki says that for the Icy Cool campaign, the agency played around with concepts around ice from the very beginning. "To find a new way to deliver the cool mint proposition, there was nothing like ice." He adds, "Bathing with ice is so desirable. During the early years of Liril, the imagery of standing under the waterfall became a rage. Similarly, bathing with ice will soon catch on."There is no denying that Liril which retails at Rs 15 for a 75 gm cake is fighting hard to grow in a category that is shrinking by the day. According to Deoras, ORG Marg figures show a value decline of 10 per cent in the soap category worth Rs 4,000-odd crore as of 2001. For the freshness soap segment in which soaps like Liril and Godrej's Cinthol belong to, the story has been no different. The freshness segment, which contributes 8 to 10 per cent of total soap sales in value, has also declined from the 12 per cent value contribution a year ago. Naturally, Liril has seen an erosion of market share from 3.5 per cent in 2000 to the present 3 per cent. Volume shares are lower because the freshness segment contributes to just 6 per cent of the total soap category and Liril's share is just 2 per cent.Moreover, the association with lime is no longer exclusive preserve for Liril. A clutch of players like Cinthol "" its popular and premium variants "" Mumbai-based VVF Limited's Jo soaps and even HLL's super seller in the sub-popular segment Breeze, are some of the brands that have lime variants. To stand out in the clutter, Liril had no option but to look beyond the existing set of considerations. To get options that would excite consumers, HLL took to research. It began with group discussions with its core group of 20 years and below across SECs (socio-economic categories). This was because the purchase patterns of Liril was across markets and socio-economic classifications. These groups were asked to come up with various options that attributes like freshness, exhilaration and invigoration could stand for. Nearly 100 options were received from which suggestions as far-fetched as water melon and black currant were shortlisted. Then, HLL went to consumers with the options to find out what would they like or dislike about the options, and the possible add-ons that could be attached to make the product acceptable. This was followed up by product testing. HLL officials say the final product delivery of the Icy Cool Mint was appreciated even more than at the product level research.The recent activity also marks Liril's re-entry in the body wash segment. In 1993, Liril introduced body wash under the Active Shower Gel brand, but the concept never took off. Deoras says that it was a case of the market not being ready for body wash at that time. But grooming categories having undergone a sea change in recent times (categories like deodorants have become as big as Rs 150 crore at the turn of the century from a paltry Rs 2 crore in the 1990s). Today, HLL has introduced 250 ml bottles of both the variants, Lime Fresh and Icy Cool Mint, at Rs 90 along with the Lux body wash in a move to create the category. The company says that while it would rely on television to promote the soap variants across the country, print and outdoor campaigns will be used to advertise the body wash introductions "" but only in large towns. Will Liril's young consumer set consider freshness to be cool?
