Heel-healers to the fore

Chennai: Did you know that by the age of 70 a normal person would have walked the equivalent of four times around the world? A pair of feet has 2.5 lakh sweat glands that can produce a cup of moisture every day? And that afternoon is the best time to buy footwear, as your feet tend to swell the most during that time of the day?

It will be news to many that our feet are made of 52 bones, 100 ligaments and 38 muscles to carry our weight. And nine out of 10 adults suffer from foot-related problems, with women being the majority.

Though everyone starts their life with trouble-free feet, they do not remain that way forever. Many are afraid to put their best foot forward because they want to hide their cracked heels, untreated corns or callous, bad odour, even while wearing premium footwear like Florshiem or Bata.

These ailments, if left unattended for long, result in serious health problems. For instance, the common cracked heels wear down the natural fat padding of your feet, making them vulnerable to added pain and pressure. This in turn determines the way we walk and which in turn results in joint or back problems.

"Here is where we step in with our world-famed Dr Scholls cracked heel cream," says SSL-TTK general manager Bipin M Vengsarkar. SSL-TTK is a 51:49 joint venture between SSL International, UK, and TTK-LIG, Chennai.

"The foot-care segment requires lots of consumer education before one can see the sales graph going up," says Vengsarkar. Within this category, it is the cracked heel cream segment that shows good growth and customer awareness. And the credit should go to Paras Pharmaceuticals for promoting its Krack cream aggressively.

Vengsarkar says the domestic crack heel cream market is pegged at around Rs 40 crore, half of which is made by Paras with others having to satisfy with smaller shares. The sway of Krack over the market has forced SSL-TTK to position its product as cracked heel cream, though Vengsarkar insists that the product is more than that.

December 2001 saw the launch of  new improved cracked heel cream in Bangalore. Two Maruti Omnis with the slogan Foot doctor to the world painted on its sides crisscrossed the city distributing the special price (Rs 10) trial coupons. The actual MRP was Rs 25.45 for a 25-gm pack as against Rs 25 of Krack from Paras Pharmacueticals and Rs 30 of Himalaya Drug Company/Ayurvedic Concepts Foot Care cream.

Each van had four lady promoters wearing bright yellow t-shirts and caps with the Dr Scholls yellow and blue colours and assuring the coupon purchasers with the punch line, If you dont see improvement in three days, you should see an optician. SSL-TTK also took care to stock the chemists with the cream products to meet the demand surge in the areas where the coupons were distributed. At the retailers end, big posters showing Foot before and after use of the range were displayed to reinforce the brand image.

"The campaign evoked tremendous response. Though we targeted people with cracked heels, even school students bought the trial coupons to present their mother or father having cracked heels. We distributed around 70,000 coupons, out of which 5, 000 were redeemed," says Vengsarkar. The company was expecting a 5-per cent redeeming of the coupons.

Satisfied with the campaign success Vengsarkar plans to replicate the Bangalore experience in cities like Hyderabad and Chennai. "Right now the media ad budget is small and most of our campaign will be localised, focusing mostly women," says he.

Before launching the national campaign, the company is planning to tie up its distribution arrangements. Paras Pharmaceuticals success is largely due to its distribution network, as a result that the cream is available even at paan shops. When asked about the companys competitive strengths Vengsarkar says: "We are now addressing this issue."

SSL-TTK will also focus more on its other foot-care products that are under Dr Scholls brand, like corn-removal plasters, callous removal pads, foot file, antifungal foot cream, ingrown toenail treatment, air pillo insoles, heel cushions and an odour-control range specifically for foot odour, consisting of a spray, a powder and an insole. The company will also introduce Seton Healthcare products.

Internationally, the latest launch has been the Scholl Flight Socks, which have met with good success in the UK. These flight socks were developed in response to the issue of deep vein thrombosis, which is a long-haul flight syndrome and in some cases has been found to be fatal. "The product will be launched soon in India," assures Vengsarkar.

In the footwear segment the company plans to add two more ranges to take the number of products to three.

The birth of SSL-TTK

SSL-TTK is a 51: 49 joint venture between SSL International, UK, and TTK-LIG, Chennai. And TTK-LIG is a joint venture between the TTK group and SSL International, formerly London International Group (LIG).

Dr Scholls, the worlds leading foot-care brand, has been in the country for over five years. And those who raise their eyebrows as to when the brand went to SSL-TTKs fold from Nicholas Piramal, here is a bit of corporate history local and global.

Dr Scholls brand foot-care products were first manufactured by Scholl Piramal India, a 49:51 joint venture between Nicholas Piramal and SSL International, formed in 1994. The products were marketed by Nicholas Piramals OTC marketing arm. "Two years later we had a separate sales team for Dr Scholls products," says Vengsarkar. In 1998 the company started exports of cracked heel cream to Scholl, UK, then an independent group as the Indian company was the only one to have that product in the Scholl group.

Scholl Piramal also signed a deal with Bata India whereby on the supply of specifications by the UK group the latter would manufacture ladies footwear. As people take their feet for granted, sales of Scholl Piramal products climbed up slowly.

In 1999 Scholl merged with Seton Healthcare to form Seton Scholl Healthcare in the UK. Four months after LIG, the global major in condoms and latex gloves, merged with Seton Scholl Healthcare to finally form SSL International. However, LIGs Indian joint venture TTK LIG decided stick to its old name.

For the Piramals Dr Scholls brand was a small segment in the groups overall plans and was looking for an exit route. "With major corporate restructuring happening abroad TTK-LIG thought Dr Scholls as a nice line to own and bought out Piramals holding in Scholl Piramal India," elaborates Vengsarkar.

At the time of equity changeover Scholl Piramal India had a turnover of around Rs 8 crore. While the ladies footwear range contributed the most Rs 7 crore the foot-care segment contributed less than Rs 1 crore.

After sorting out the initial acquisition blues, SSL-TTK is now entering the market with a renewed vigour to push its foot care and footwear products.