Psychographic
Blogger and entrepreneur Velda Tan acts as the brand ambassador of Kotex. This aspirational role attracts women who want to be independent, smart and are active in their lifestyles.
Demographic
Kotex organizes talks in Primary and Secondary schools in Singapore to educate young girls about puberty. This identifies girls aged 12 and above as the target group Kotex reaches out to.
segmentation
positioning
Kotex stands for empowering young women with knowledge about their bodies. It is made for those active, independent and young women. Kotex pioneered the iKnowMovement, which promotes education about the female body. With the new, innovative ProActive Guards Technology, it is also positioned as a scientifically advanced brand.
market size
Market size in Singapore: S$44.4 Million
Expected growth: 1% in constant value sales terms from 2012-2017
Brand share in Singapore (2013): 17.4% (in 3rd place, behind Laurier and Whisper)
Kotex has been losing brand share against Laurier since 2008, as are the other players in the industry.
Points of Parity
Caters to Feminine Hygiene Needs
Kotex offers a large range of feminine hygiene products to cater to the needs of its customers. Kotex products are generally similar in design to other competing brands in terms of the thickness (ultra thin/slim/maxi), length (28cm to 38 cm) and the usage type (day or overnight).
Distribution Channels
Kotex products are usually displayed side by side with its competing brands in supermarkets, health and beauty retail shops, mom and pop stores, and convenience stores. Sometimes, promotions are run concurrently for both Kotex and its competing brands to aggressively attract consumers towards their brands.
For a More Comfortable Fit
Kotex has recently developed the ProActive Guards Technology which causes the sanitary pad to rise gently to fit closer to the body upon contact with fluids, thereby preventing leakage and ensuring a more comfortable fit. This has negated competitor Sofy’s point-of-difference for its Sofy Body Fit series that has similar effect as Kotex’s ProActive Guards Technology.
Points of Difference
Category POP
Competitive POP
Greater interaction with customers
Kotex strives to be different from its competitors by focusing more on educating its customers about their bodies and menstrual cycles that is beyond promotion of their products. Kotex places these relevant information on their websites and holds various events such as the “IKnowMovement” and workshops aimed to increase awareness among females about the need to understand their bodies. Kotex is also the only sanitary pad brand that has a membership club. This proves that Kotex engages in a more interactive relationship with its customers, which sets it apart from its competitors.
However, competitors Laurier and Whisper have made similar moves by placing such information on their website. Hence, this point-of-difference might change to become a point-of-parity over time.
Bold Packaging
Kotex also stands out from other brands because they use the color black for the packaging the Kotex Luxe series. This is in contrast with the other brands which mainly use blue, pink or purple for their packagings. Kotex also revamped its sanitary pads to include elaborated flowery designs compared to the plain and simple design of its competitors.
