Will slanging matches between

Kent RO & Eureka Forbes help or

harm the water purifier brands?


Published on:
January 8, 2014

HUL's Pureit took on the competition in 2009
inviting a reprisal from Eureka Forbes.
Hostilities were suspended only after HUL
threatened to sue Eureka Forbes for running a
commercial that denigrated its product.
Kent RO has sounded the bugle claiming it
will soon overtake Eureka Forbes to become
market leader.
It provoked Eureka Forbes into an all-out brawl by
alleging that its products are prone to leakage and
technical snags.
Kent is the second largest water purifier brand in the
country, and claims leadership of the RO (reverse
osmosis, a water purification technique) segment with
over 40% market share.
It will have you believe Eureka doesn't possess reliable
international certifications such as NSF and WQC.
"They did try to get certification, but their product
couldn't meet the parameters," says Mahesh Gupta,
managing director, Kent RO.
Besides, Kent claims Eureka Forbes with its focus on UV
based purifiers, is not future ready. Says Gupta, "Kent will be
an undisputed leader in next few years as the UV segment is
fast declining.
Eureka Forbes has hit back, claiming undisputed leadership of
RO and UV categories. "That Kent is a leader in RO is
absolute hogwash," says Marzin Shroff, CEO (direct sales) and
senior VP (marketing), Eureka Forbes.




Eureka Forbes in turn claims to sell water
purifiers in a more responsible manner, not
pushing the more expensive RO models on
consumers who don't need them. According to
Shroff, Eureka Forbes has a 44% share in RO
segment and 71% in UV segment. Overall its
market share is 53%.
"So, is their UV more effective or are they just minting
money by selling an obsolete technology?
The fight between Kent and Eureka Forbes is set to
intensify as the water purifiers become a Rs6,100 crore
category in the next four years, according to a recent
report by research firm Market Pulse. The report titled
'Opportunities in the Water Purifier Market in India'
said that the market for RO purifiers would grow to
more than 3 million units in 2017 from its present size
of 7,86,000.
Kent is clearly pursuing a challenger brand
strategy, according to marketing experts.
"Kent is the Pepsodent of the water purifier
market," says Harish Bijoor, who runs an
eponymous brand consultancy firm. "It's now
confident enough to fight Eureka Forbes on its
own turf."

There are two highgrounds to occupy in any
brand fight. One is advertising imagery, and
the other is in terms of distribution and service.
Both these brands have one high-ground each,
says Bijoor. "While Eureka Forbes is a
frontrunner on sales, distribution and service,
Kent is the fore-runner in the realm of
advertising blitz and imagery."

When Eureka Forbes created the category, its
model was built around direct contact. Kent
contested this conventional wisdom, say
experts. Sometimes knowledge and experience
that help create success turn out to be a big
weakness when market realities change.