The brand opens wider

MARKETING: Marico's Parachute has been extended to new products.

Marico, owner of Parachute "" the world's largest packaged coconut oil brand "" has been extending it to other related products like value-added hair oils (Advansed) and hair creams (After Shower), to entice the younger user in the 18-24 age-group. This strategy seems to be working well.

Introduced over the last two years, the extensions are aimed at extending brand Parachute's presence in the pre- and post- (hair) wash segments, explains Milind Sarwate, chief financial officer, Marico.

"Today people believe in the brand, which is why we are going ahead with new prototypes," says Sarwate.

There are four Parachute prototypes being tested in different parts of the country currently "" Therapie, a hair fall solution, and Advansed Hair Perfect, a leave-on conditioner, both of which are being tested in Mumbai; Sparsh, a baby oil being tested in the southern states and Parachute Jasmine, a jasmine and coconut milk soap in east India.

While the soap has been in its test market for about two months, Sparsh is almost ready for a national rollout at the fag end of the prototype stage.

The company has also launched an anti-dandruff cream under the After Shower sub-brand recently. While Sampoorna, one of the extensions, did not work too well in India, it is still among the more popular products in the overseas markets.

A consumer analyst points out that more often than not, brand extensions do not work too well as it isn't easy to transfer the core properties identified with a particular brand and product onto another product.

However, it seems to have worked for Parachute, as it has stayed close to its core association with hair care.

"All the products the company has introduced or is prototyping are to be used either directly before or right after a hair wash, which to a large extent makes it easier to transfer the Parachute association to these extensions," he points out.

While soap may seem unrelated to hair care, this is not something the company worries about.

The other key reason why these extensions have worked for the brand is that there haven't been too many competing products which cater to the same set of needs. Marico tends to work at niches, and it works for it.