My last post dealt with how different RB has been in marketing its brands compared to other FMCGs. Through this post I would try to put in words what it has been like interning, in marketing, in Delhi and in summers.

I landed up in Delhi on 28th March. Still reeling under back to back night outs for the end term examination, it felt great that I had around 7 days before my first day of internship which was scheduled to run from 5th April.



The day arrived in no time. The first two days were supposed to be orientation and ice-breaking sessions at corporate office of Reckitt Benckiser (RB) in Gurgaon.

Of the 17 interns, my work-ex of two years somewhere belonged to a minority. As expected most of my colleagues for these eight weeks are freshers. A stark difference between a fresher and a work-ex guy is heightened enthusiasm of first work experience and expectations from it by former.

Work-ex guys on the other hand chose to play cool. B-)

For the first two days we met the people from the leadership team in India viz. marketing manager, brand managers, supply director, media manager etc. We got to know how are power-brands of RB produced and packaged. We were briefed about our project in few lines and we were given contact numbers of our guide, the person under whose guidance an intern is supposed to carry out the project.

The effort put in by interns is directly proportional to the relevance of the project to the company and subsequent interest and involvement showed by the guide. I consider myself fortunate enough in this regard, that despite having leading a tough life among sales numbers and benchmarking targets, my guide took necessary time to elaborate on what was desired from my project and what should be the plan of action.

My project deals with Shopper's study about what parameters do affect shopper's buying decision when they come to an over the counter retail store. I was sent in the field straightaway on the first day to understand RB ways of distribution network. I personally am more comfortable with my pair of jeans and t-shirt but roamed in Formals during these visits, which I considered a bit uncomfortable considering the 43+ temperature that Delhi was reeling under.

But the experience was enriching. It let me understand the market dynamics which are mostly missing in the marketing text books. e.g. we are taught about product visibility being best at chest level shelves. But in reality in OTC stores, the shopkeeper decides where he keeps your product, until and unless you make some 'special' agreements with him.




One forgettable incident happened when I was almost thrown out of a store in Defense colony. The store owner simply didn't like the idea of a B-school graduate, who wasn't given a company i-card, "troubling" his customers in or outside his shop. :(

Moreover the informal interactions shared between sales representative and the store owner is vital. Cracking jokes, sharing life's little nothings can get you enhance the numbers on the order book. The sales guy I was accompanied with, transformed a Rs 1500 order into Rs 2800.

I also found that most of the business that these stores are doing is OTP (over the phone) and home delivery. Of the stores I visited the percentage of total sales through this channel ranges from 30% to 80%.

The second stage of my project required me to create a questionnaire to gauge the factors affecting purchasing decisions by the Shoppers.

Now it is not a child's play to get a questionnaire getting filled by a mother in summer sun with her kiddies giving him all the trouble they can handle. I had to walk with some people to the parking lot to get the questions answered.

Being from IIM, life is a little less tough, with people tending to listen more often than not.



The days on which I have to go to office as well as Shoppers's survey, I carry my jeans and T-shirt in my car and get changed, once I am finished at the office and head for the field. :)



Once on the field I usually gulp a lot of Nimbooz and Minute maid lemon, as without it I can't survive this Delhi heat.

Let's see how it develops further. :)

I am currently interning with Reckitt Benckiser.


For those who are wondering what is that, it is an FMCG company that bears brands like Dettol, Mortein, Easy off Bang, Harpic, Lizol, Colin, Cherry Blossom, Vanish, Air Wick, Veet, Finish, Disprin, Strepsils to name a few. All of these brands are either first or second in the category they are present. Interestingly RB is second largest media spender in FMCG category after Unilever. While typing in this post till now I have already watched more than six advertisements of RB products. :)



So the question pops up, why still people don’t know about it. Most of the brands mentioned above have their own websites.
Why does the advertisements for above brands don’t display Reckitt Benckiser logo at the the end as done by other FMCG majors viz. Unilever, ITC, P&G, Colgate-Palmolive etc.
The media manager has a very interesting explanation to this question and roots its reason to the corporate strategy of the company. They say that a one second airtime of flashing the company logo in a 10 second commercial accounts to 10% of the advertising budget. Now considering the amount of advertisement airtime bought by RB that is a considerable amount and company is unwilling to spend until convinced it does any good to the sales.
The company feels people chose to buy dettol, mortein or cherry blossom for the brands they are and attributes they possess. The company believes Brands and People are its pillar of strengths.
A counter argument that can be given usually is the parent company’s logo if known to people, it becomes easier to launch new products. However a counter-counter argument could be look at the product launches done by RB. Veet that was launched in 2006 moved from nothing to market leader in less than three years, brushing past Fem and Anne French (this would make more sense to our female counterparts). Vanish-relaunch and Easy off bang have been hugely successful too. The 10% saved on creating parent company brand is used aggressively at the time of brand launches.
Moreover the company believes that until they are sure of having exploited full potential of their products, they don’t want to do any further product launches.
But there are some fall-backs which even RB acknowledges. eg. lack of pre-awareness about RB in B-schools sometimes may have made them pseudo-lesser attractive destination compared to Unilever or ITC. At one occasion they needed to introduce themselves as “company that makes dettol”.
In a nutshell that explains the company’s believe in creating Power Brands, as they call them, instead of an Umbrella brand of RB. A strategy that can surely represent Lateral side of FMCG marketing. :)