Brand Stories

How Fogg became the king of fragrances?

The Fogg Story - How Mr. Darshan Patel built India's largest deo brand?

(A Thread)

Darshan Patel, a young Ahmedabad based businessman, joined his family business, Paras Pharmaceuticals, in the year 1985.

Paras Pharmaceuticals was involved in the fast moving consumer goods (fmcg) business and over-the-counter drugs business.

Darshan Patel gained tremendous experience in the consumer goods industry with Paras Pharmaceuticals.

He had worked for more than two decades in his family business and mastered the art of marketing and creating brands.

Over the years, he created brands like Krack, Itch Guard, Ring Guard, Dermi Cool, D-Cold, Livon and Set Wet at Paras Pharmaceuticals.

However, in the year 2006, following differences with his brothers, Patel sold his stake in Paras Pharmaceuticals to Actis Capital.

He thought of putting his experience in marketing and branding to good use by launching his own company Vini Cosmetics in 2010.

He felt that there was an opportunity in the Indian deodorant market and began to study it.

He launched a deo brand called "The Genesis 18+" later that year.

The Genesis 18+" proved to be a total failure. Hence, Patel decided to conduct a consumer research exercise to know what went wrong?

He found out that consumers were satisfied with the fragrances of the deodorants they were using.

However, most consumers had a common problem- that the deodorant was getting over very quickly.

Patel decided to solve this problem and make it his brands USP: "A deodorant without gas."

In almost no time, he located a manufacturer whose area of expertise was non-aerosol pumps that regulated the flow. This way there was no wastage.

The non-aerosol pump ensured that the deo lasted for 40 days, in comparison to 20 days for other deo brands.

And within a month, Patel launched his new deodorant brand "FOGG" in 2011.

At a time when most deodorants positioned their product as the one that women find attractive, Patel ran an ad campaign around Fogg's "no gas, only perfume" and value for money proposition.

Also, Patel understood that most Indian households have a single TV set.

He wanted his brand's advertising to be watched by a family, instead of making someone look away when the commercial was playing.

The ad campaign was a big hit and consumers started asking for Fogg in stores all across India.

The value for money proposition and the concept of a differentiated product appealed to Indian consumers.

And within just 2 years of its launch Fogg dethroned Hindustan Unilever's Axe to become the market leader.

Back to 2020, Fogg is still the market leader and continues to come up with its amazing marketing campaigns.

Fogg is significantly ahead of its competitors and not willing to give up its crown anytime soon!

[The End]

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