Product Engineering

And who says that product engineering is all about making the products better! Instead its about increasing the per capita consumption, and hence the sales of the product and the revenue of the company. Himalaya seems to have adopted a unique technique too!

I tried Himalaya's neem (green) facewash way back in 2006, really liked it, and even propagated it to the others. And have pretty much been a brand loyalist since then! They have made minor modifications to their packaging, almost twice, and have even launched a liquid version of the facewash, with a handsome bottle (I presume that 'bottle' is masculine :D) but almost double the price!

A loyalist and a curious observer, Himalaya's latest experiment couldn't escape my observation. In my opinion, their R&D team seems to have increased the cohesive force amongst the molecules of the facewash, which in turn has the quantity per use of the facewash has increased. Let me explain how. (I hope it does make sense scientifically!)

There have been discernible changes to the texture of the face-wash, which now comes out of the tube with a considerable oozing noise. Firstly, it doesn't spread on the palm anymore, in the shape of a coin, as the facewashes, bodywashes and handwashes are supposed to. Instead, it requires holding more like a pearl for it is ALMOST solid. (I attribute this to an increase in the force of cohesion). So basically if you have your palm stretched straight, the face-wash could be a little hard to hold-on it and it would sure go down the drain ('poor' pun-intended). This, obviously, makes it more difficult to froth also as it does require some effort.

I could feel the difference particularly because I am such a zombie in the morning and I so want to go through my ablutions so effortlessly, while the facewash would just slip-off in the basin, from my palm, too often. I also noticed that when I wasn't applying a considerable effort to froth the facewash or rub it on my face, I actually needed re-apply or increase quantity of facewash.

What an amazing way to increase the consumption! More like altering the inherent qualities of the product, which is a factor that they can control. So, while their marketing team worries about increasing their customer base and increasing the per capita consumption per customer, the R&D guys have already implemented a fall-back option in the recessionary environment that would see them through for sometime.

Interestingly, Himalaya seems to have tried this only with their neem facewash. Probably it wants to monitor the effect of this change on the sales of this facewash, if any, before implementing it across their products.

Surprisingly, I don't feel like a consumer who has been fleeced-off some extra bills, I rather feel pleasantly surprised at their ingenuity :P

- Namrta R

Marketing Vs Sales

Philip Kotler asserts that ‘marketing’ focuses on consumers while ‘selling’ focuses on producers. So, in a ‘selling’ approach the producer pushes the products that he finds convenient to procure or manufacture. Whereas in a ‘marketing’ approach the producer gauges and takes into account both the needs and expectations of his consumer, which eventually act as a pull factor for the consumer. Hence, the latter type of approach also calls into play the factors such as innovation, optimum pricing, etc to address the concerns and suit the convenience of the king.. err, the consumer.

However, as described in the modern times, in terms of job roles, marketing and sales carry a different implication.A sales role is a more focused, relationship-based function. It is typically a one-to-one or one-to-few approach, and entails a personal interaction with the prospect or the customer, to understand his need. Huh, will someone care about my needs, please!!

On the contrary, marketing is a one-to-many, and a more intelligent function than sales. Ahem, spare me, I meant it to be more in terms of business intelligence! So you look at the industry trends and statistics; the target audience demographic and psychographic profiles; the pricing, the sales channel, positioning and the USP (Unique Selling Point) vis-à-vis your competitors.


The media used by marketing, it could Above the Line (or ATL) or in the face marketing promotion activities or it could be Below the Line (BTL) subtle marketing promotion activities! The typical ATL activities comprise advertising, mass-mailers, events, etc, while the BTL activities would include public relations activities, theme events, industry events, participation as a third-party, etc.

- Namrta Batra