Product:

The product Whisper Sanitary napkins are associated with the biggest taboo in India i.e., 

'menstruation'.

Menstruation is a subject that has culturally been considered a taboo and is entrenched with misconceptions and disregard, with little cognizance of the hazards of inadequate menstrual protection. There have been several surveys across India to find out the sanitary napkins penetration among the Indian citizens and it is a subject of deep concern on how the topic of female heath and hygiene is neglected at all the levels.

Whisper Sanitary napkins, launched in the year 1989 in India is the first brand to help spread the awareness about the basic health and hygiene associated with menstruation. 

The main objective of a sanitary napkin should be to provide high and prompt absorbency during menstruation period and this is the strategy followed by Whisper. It clearly compares itself with other ordinary sanitary napkins and proves its efficiency.

Marketing Mix Elements:

The Whisper product range does not differs across India. It almost sells the same set of products across the country. The only parameter in which it varies is the type of sanitary napkins that it offers for its consumers. Apart from the basic Whisper Regular Sanitary Napkins, it offers a huge assortment of sanitary napkins such as, Whisper Ultra Clean, Whisper Ultra Soft, Whisper Ultra Nights and Whisper Maxi fit. Amongst all these product variations Whisper launched two new products, Whisper Ultra Clean – “Kadam Badhaye Jaa” and New Whisper Ultra Soft – “Gentle on Skin”. With the added benefits of being able to use them for a longer period of time and without any discomfort were the bonus points of these two new products.

PLC and ILC:

Product Life Cycle:

Whisper as a product is high in cost and therefore may not be the first choice among the majority of middle class consumers. Since its introduction in India by all means it is making an effort to target the consumers at the entry level that is when a girl first starts using sanitary napkins. And with the variation in its packaging and product type, Whisper is now able to penetrate into the middle class masses of the Indian society as well and hence is sustaining its growth though the Indian market.

Industry Life Cycle:

Though the concept of sanitary napkins may not sound alien to the majority of urban masses but it is still in its introductory phase if the whole of India is to be considered. Merely 20% of Indian women use sanitary napkins. 70% of the Indian women cannot even afford a sanitary napkin. And since Whisper Sanitary Napkins fall under the premium quality product the chances of it crossing over to the growth phase is a little far in the future.

Buying Decision Making Process:

Competition:

The Indian sanitary napkins business has the following dominant players apart from Whisper Sanitary Napkins:

Though the main competitor of Whisper Sanitary Napkins is Stayfree, there are other new players in the market that can give a competition to Whisper for a short span of time. Amongst all the competitors such as Carefree, Kotex, Sofy, Stayfree, She and Don’t Worry sanitary napkins Kotex is emerging as a great challenge. Lower in cost as compared to Whisper and Stayfree and almost average performance is the prime reason behind its popularity among young consumers.

Interestingly, Kotex is also a Johnson & Johnson product same as Stayfree, which means that these two products if combined will have a higher share than Whisper alone.

Creating and Delivering Customer Value:

Basically customer values are the values perceived by the customers is nothing but the difference between the evaluations made by the customer about the products or services compared to the cost that the customer will incur in order to obtain the same. Whisper Sanitary Napkins as a product may cost a little extra to its customers but the perceived benefits associated with the brand makes it a high value proposition in the minds and hearts of its customers. Whisper Sanitary Napkins creates and delivers the following values for its various sets of customers:

•      Customer:

o   P&G is running a below-the-line campaign called Whisper School Health and Hygiene Education. It is a teen awareness program that teaches the teens about basic hygiene tips and distributes Whisper as a sample.

o   The whole idea behind the campaign is to target customers at the Market Entry Stage.

•      Consumer:

o   Educated women about the product using a social message

o   To spread more and more awareness and build a community around the brand, Whisper has launched a website (www.beinggirls.com) specifically for this brand, which encourages customers to talk about the brand.

•      Channel partner/retailer:

o   First brand to come out of the closet and air a bold campaign “Have a happy period” for the first time in the history of Indian market.