Bio Consumer seeks big market share

The company hopes to achieve 40-per-cent sales growth and take second place in all three deodorant sectors this year.

Marketing manager Sirisupa Yingcharoen yesterday said it was the first time the company had entered the stick-deodorant market, which accounted for 29 per cent of the female-deodorant market. It showed the highest growth last year, 93 per cent, compared with only 4 per cent for roll-on and flat growth for spray deodorant.

The total deodorant market was worth Bt1.38 billion last year, up 10 per cent from 2006. This year, the market is expected to grow 8.7 per cent to Bt1.5 billion, she said.

Bio Consumer also introduced a new formula yesterday called White-and-Dry 4-in-1 in its stick, roll-on and spray deodorant packages. It expects to spend Bt100 million on advertising and marketing.

The launch also tapped a strong change in consumer behaviour in purchasing smaller deodorant sizes, because of their cheaper prices and lighter weight. The new formula comes in 10-gram mini sticks and 12-millilitre glass roll-on dispensers. Standard sizes are 20-gram sticks, 25-millilitre and 45-millilitre roll-ons and 65-millilitre spray.

"Consumer behaviour has changed significantly, from buying standard sizes to smaller sizes. This is a direct influence from the current  situation in which inflation keeps rising steadily," Sirisupa said.

Many players in the deodorant market have also introduced smaller packages with cheap price.