Fogg and Engage emerge as top brands in India's men's deodorant market

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Dec 14, 2018

Fogg has emerged as the most popular men’s deodorant’s in India followed by Engage, Nivea, Wild Stone, and Axe, which slipped to fifth place from second place in 2016.

Fogg, a deodorant and fragrance brand by entrepreneur Darshan Patel’s Vini Cosmetics, retained its top spot in the Indian men’s deodorant market this year according to data from Nielsen as reported by ET Bureau. The data was taken from sales from January to September, 2018.

Fogg was followed by Engage by ITC. The business’ personal care products business divisional chief executive, Sameer Satpathy, reported that Engage, launched several year ago, is a leader in the women’s segment as well. Satpathy also reported that Engage’s constant innovation such as launching “pocket perfumes” has allowed for fast growth. Engage has a market share of 10.5 percent and reported sales of Rs 298 crore and 30.6% value growth over last year, according to Nielsen data.

Axe by Hindustan Unilever slipped from second position in 2016 to fifth this year. The product’s market share decreased from 8.9 percent in the 2016 data to eight percent between January and February 2018. However, in September 2018, Hindustan Unilever’s value growth compared to the same time last year was 9.1 percent and the brand reported sales of Rs 226 crore.

A Hindustan Unilever told ET Bureau that the business does not comment on market shares but stated: “With our new launch Axe Ticket, we are delivering strong market-beating growth since it offers consumers the deodorant benefit in a portable pack, breaking the affordability barrier.”

The deodorant market in India is worth Rs 3,000 crore ($450.9 million) and is growing along with the entire male grooming market.