Godrej' s GoodKnight - How a simple innovation helped in gaining the market share over 'All Out'

Back in 90's, I remember enjoying the Ad which shows a frog like machine gobbling up the mosquitoes and a man mimicking the action (Pop..Pop..Pop). I think, all the kids born in 80's did. The message was "Replace  the mosquito mats and embrace the liquid repellents" which is easier to use and more effective (Jyada aasaan aur jyada asardaar).

'All Out' launched in early 90s by Karamchand Appliances became the household name and was later acquired by US company SC Johnson in early 2000s. The brand enjoyed the success and leadership position for almost two decades until the game changer product launched by Godrej - Goodknight Advanced Active+. Within three years of its launch in 2008, Goodknight became the leader in terms of market share and left 'All Out' behind.

It is not like Goodknight was not there earlier in the market. The liquid vaporizers were launched under Good Knight brand in late 90s after the success of 'All Out'. What changed the fortune was understanding the unmet need and introducing a simple solution. 'All Out' offered a fixed rate of diffusing the anti-mosquito repellent. However, the number of mosquitoes are not always the same, like in evening time or during rainy season, the number is on a higher side. Some people live in areas where water storing bodies exist (like near the naalaas and a river) where number of mosquitoes is higher than average. Introduction of option of choosing between two modes (higher and lower rate of diffusion) was a simple and very effective solution that the Goodknight Advanced product provided to the consumer. The results are for everyone to see.

For around a decade, Goodknight liquid repellent was behind 'All Out'. It is good example of how introducing a simple incremental innovation based on unmet needs can change the fortune of the business. Their marketing was also of higher quality with a cogent message across to the consumers.

SC Johnson India has also responded and launched a competing product 'All Out - Power Slider' and provided a sliding option (essentially multiple options) compared to the dual mode option provided by GoodKnight. As a consumer, while I switched from 'All Out' to GoodKnight Advanced; I have not yet bought Power Slider. However, it will be interesting to see how a larger set of consumers respond to this.

Presentation on Innovation to students

I shared my thoughts with the students of MD University, Rohtak, India. I enjoyed giving it, hope the reader enjoys the presentation as well....

Urinary Catheters - $2 billion problem waiting to be solved

Patients may be recommended to use Urinary Catheters if they are suffering from Urinary incontinence (leaking urine or being unable to control when they urinate) or Urinary retention (being unable to empty their bladder when they need to).

If we look at the big picture, and try to see this from a problem (urinary incontinence & retention) and solution (urinary catheters) perspective, we should strongly ask this question - Is this solution (Urinary Catheters in current form) a good solution? Are the patients completely satisfied? At the end of the day, a business is created and sustained as long as a better solution is provided to the customers.

There are mainly two types of urinary catheters – Indwelling and Intermittent. An indwelling catheter is the one that is left in the bladder and is for long term use (4-6 weeks). The catheter has a small balloon inflated on the end of it. This prevents the catheter from sliding out of the patient’s body. When the catheter needs to be removed, the balloon is deflated. First prototype of an Indwelling catheter was designed by a US based surgeon, Fredrick Foley, in 1930s and the catheter was named in his honour – Foley Catheter (see image of the basic design below). 

Foley catheters have been in use from last EIGHT decades now. According to a data, around 90 million Foley catheters are being used worldwide. It would have been fine if these catheters were a good solution and patients were happy and comfortable using it, which is not the case. Patients using these catheters report many problems the worst being urinary tract infections (UTI). Some of the additional ones are following –

•          Higher rate of stones
•          significantly increased risk of bladder cancer
•          odour, leakage
•          urethral damage

One could see a major attempt to solve this problem with a complete new solution in 1997, when a multidisciplinary partnership between academia and industry was set up to design and develop suprapubic catheters. The product however, is not prevalently used and it can be safely said that this solution failed to impress the patients/caregivers.

Intermittent catheters on the other hand are used when one needs to use a catheter sometimes. These catheters are removed after the flow of urine has stopped. Although, these catheters do offer a better solution compared to indwelling, it is still not a very comfortable solution as patients

•          have to monitor fluid intake
•          have to remember to catherize on time and adjust to fluid intake
•          may have to wake up at night to catherize
•          problems for those with limited hand function (elderly patients)

Despite of such problems, over 100 million intermittent catheters are used each year and they have been eating market share of indwelling catheters (which will still be used by the patients who cannot self catherize themselves).

If we look back in last eight decades, this space has seen very few innovations most of them are incremental (improvement in material, adding anti-infective agents, coating etc.). It seems that these are not enough. The patients have still lot of issues as they are still unhappy or uncomfortable with the current solutions (products). The big players should bring either breakthrough or disruptive innovations (What I mean by this) otherwise they are leaving a door open for small players & new entrants and the open door is unsolved problem and unsatisfied patients.

Urinary catheter market is around $2 billion. Small players/new entrants must have in their minds that it will be hard to capture a significant market share with “me too” products. If they can develop a good solution (probably a non-invasive one) then the opportunity is HUGE.