And now condom sampling unit, thanks to SKYN!

Experience is the key when it comes to shopper connect and brands are increasingly going all out creating an engaging experience at retail to connect with their shoppers.  J.K. Ansell Ltd. (JKAL) recently launched their new range of condoms'SKYN' and to promote it at retail, the brand provided a sampling unit in the form of an FSU with details on the leaflet to connect with the shopper. Now, this is one product category where merchandising has not been anything much to write home about. But breaking this is SKYN, which has invested in quality and engaging unit.

Ranju Mohan, Director - Sales, JK Ansell, says on the shopper insights based on which they launched the product, "The product available in India is made up of latex, and we knew that the consumer was waiting for a new revolution and that they will prefer a new product. We came up with a new material, Polyisoprene, which is softer than the regular brands that are generally using latex. The use of the different raw material is the innovation in the category which has helped in our product.”

"The FSU unit is made up of Acrylic as it is known to be premium. Of course, there was a little hesitation about using Acrylic since it can be easily breakable, but since the product is premium we decided to go ahead with it,” says Krishnarajan Nedungadi, Deputy President -- RAMMS India Pvt Ltd.

The parasites for the product were created from acrylic and wood with metal hooks for support. The global guideline for design has been used for the black and gold merchandising unit.

The communication is crisp and bold and is visible from across a distance. It was a conscious decision by the brand to keep it minimal in order to lend a premium feel and connect with the target shopper.

On the reasons for not changing the design as per the Indian demographics, Ranju Mohan says, "It was a conscious decision not to add any changes to the design as the target audience is the well traveled Indian. The connotation of the SKYN as the brand is relevant for any demographic, as it is a premium product and the target premium customer travels around the world and they are aware of the brands available in the international market.”

On the merchandising challenges he adds, "We had to first convince the category managers about the innovation - that is the use of the material Polyisoprene. We had to explain to them the difference from the regular latex brand and then we had to tell them about the consumer's brand experience and purchase intent across the globe. Once they understood the concept of our ideas, they were more than ready with us on releasing the product.”

On working with Ramms, he adds, "When we decided to launch our product in retail we had a talk with RAMMS where we talked about what the product is all about. And we were very specific about the category of the outlets where we were going to place -- premium modern trade outlets -- and we also told them about the necessity to look very different from the market place.”

RAMMS delivered the solutions, given all these factors. Totally, 400 parasites units and around 20 FSU units were manufactured and they were found across all modern trade formats in major metropolitan cities. The investment on merchandising at retail stood at around Rs 50 lakh.
The FSU has been designed more as a communication FSU rather than a selling unit as it communicates on what the brand is all about and on the difference between the latex version and the Polyisoprene.

The FSU unit also works as a sampling unit as the brand felt that the shopper should have the opportunity to have a close look at the brand. The idea was to engage with the shopper before they bought the product. Ranju Mohan says talking about the whole experience of creating an engaging unit at retail, "It is a complete 360 degree effort we have put in so that the consumer can first feel the product, read the product and then buy the product. This is the first time in the category that such a presentation has taken place and a lot of emphasis given on communication. Nobody has done something like this before.”

Speaking further on the response, he adds, "In four months of the launch, we have already got 10% of the category space in MORE, which is huge.” Well, that certainly speaks about the success of the merchandising initiative.