HLL dominates in the image game

FMCG companies aren't the hot property that they used to be.

According to Cirrus, a service from agencyfaqs! that monitors how media perceives over 1,100 corporates in India, the only company that receives consistent coverage in the press is Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL).

HLL so dominates media that between October 2001 and the last week of June 2002, the company received more than one and a half times the positive coverage as the remaining 26 personal care companies put together. This is an extraordinary achievement. And certainly one that should get the corporate communications departments in rival companies wondering. HLL's share of voice in the category is even greater than its share of market.

And mind you, it isn't as if HLL's rivals for media attention aren't well known. They are big names in their own right and include, among others, Colgate Palmolive and Dabur, Marico and Reckitt Benckiser, Nirma and Godrej Consumer Products.

In the Cirrus Image Index, which lists all the companies in India across industries (the basis for points being positive coverage minus negative coverage), HLL is currently ranked at a high No 5 (behind Maruti, Reliance, Infosys and Wipro). None of the other personal care marketers make it in even the Top 100 (the Cirrus Image Index changes on a daily basis).

Next comes Procter & Gamble at a distant No 151, followed closely by Dabur (No 168), Godrej Consumer Products (No 179) and Colgate Palmolive (No 184). In comparison, relative newcomer Amway performed remarkably well by getting as high as No 218.

For HLL, marketing and sales as well as product launches have been the route to the reams of positive mileage it has received. In most of the past six months, this has accounted for between 50-60 per cent of the positive coverage received.

There is one dark spot in HLL's corporate image however. To determine how positive press coverage is, Cirrus has developed a Quality of Exposure Index (QEI). This measure relates positive coverage to overall visibility and the highest a company can score on this is 200.

In most of the last six months this year, HLL's QEI has been low, ranging typically between 110-125. The QEI for both Procter & Gamble and Dabur has been inconsistent, reaching highs and plumbing lows.

In contrast, Godrej Consumer Consumer Products has scored higher than 150 in four out of the past six months. Colgate Palmolive has done in excess of 145 in four months. Amway's is a study in contrasts: in three months it scored below 115 but in the other three, it managed the maximum - 200 on the QEI.

To view the Cirrus Weekly 100 for June third week, click here . © 2002 agencyfaqs!