FOGO ALERT

THERE IS SOMETHING about story narration that interests all of us. It is the way characters are visualised, the interplay between them, and the incredible twists and turns. Of course, the element of unpredictability is the perfect icing on the cake. In many ways, Darshan Patel’s tryst with Fogg is no different. The episode goes back to mid-2011 when a round of focus-group discussions (FGDs as marketers call them or just in-depth interviews conducted in groups) was under way. Earlier that year, Patel’s Vini Cosmetics had launched 18+—a deodorant—but with little success. Sensing he had missed out on a key insight, he went back to doing what he knew best: consumer research. For weeks, the exercise was conducted in the top eight cities, but the insight remained elusive and Patel’s patience ran thin. Finally, he got the feedback that the deodorant got over very soon. Looking for a solution, he turned to non-aerosol pumps acronym for ‘Friend of Good Guys/Girls’), with the tag line “bina gas wala spray (a spray devoid of gases)”, and hasn’t looked back since. In fact, it pipped market leader Axe—owned by fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) giant HUL—to the top spot within a year. Today, Fogg commands 20 per cent of the ₹4,000-crore deodorants market, with Axe garnering only 5-6 per cent.

This kind of a growth story rarely