Rural Sensitivity - Talcum Powder...

In the words of Mr. Bijoor himself:

As I mentioned just now, 25% of rural women use a talcum powder. We studied how a rural woman uses this talcum powder. We found this:

She pours some of the talcum powder in a handkerchief. She then folds the handkerchief and puts a second layer of powder. She folds it again and pours the third layer of powder on the handkerchief. She then folds and keeps the handkerchief in her blouse. One side of her blouse houses the hankie and the other side hosts the purse.

On a typical Saturday morning she goes to the market to shop. After the heavy shopping, she applies the first layer of powder to freshen up. In the afternoon, after traveling back to her home, she applies the second layer. In the evening, before going for a movie, she applies the third layer of powder. In the process (to a marketers delight), nearly 33% of the powder is wasted. But that's her way of keeping fresh on the run. Smart woman!

So this company (I think he said Fair and Lovely or Ponds, but I am not sure) thought about this and introduced the compact talcum powder box, just like what we have for the urban woman. It was housed in a Nivea-like case made of steel. It had a mirror with extra padding (as a broken mirror meant bad luck) - they even thought about the superstitious aspect! Smart Marketers!

Well, in my view - too smart. The product failed. How come? Well, they didn't take into account where the rural woman used to place the original hankie - in her blouse. In north India (relatively cold), the metal box was cold too and in south India (warmer), the metal got a bit too hot for her use. Result: No one wanted to use the product, just because it was made of metal, which was prone to climate changes. So we need to be careful of all aspects of a product when it is introduced in the rural markets.