In Conversation With Kartik Johari, VP-Marketing & Commerce, Nobel Hygiene

Q1. How has the pandemic affected diaper buying behaviour?

It has not. This is mostly because we are an essential product. We saw the same during demonetization earlier. Families across the country can modify their bathing habits or switch from Bourbon to Marie, but a baby will continue to pee and an elderly person suffering from diabetes will require a product that helps get a good night's sleep. So, we can certainly call ourselves COVID proof.

Q2. What does your research on the segment state for 2022?

I think what awaits us in 2022 is the further propagation of the category and the product. We hope to see more and more sufferers of incontinence-related comorbidities, such as prostate issues or diabetes, waking up to the fact that adult diapers are an excellent insurance/bridge product. Especially all consumers who are at home using catheters must try diapers as there is really no need for an invasive solution.

Very strongly and strangely playing out in the adult diaper sector is a strong tug on both sides of the price spectrum. Of course, being the largest adult diaper brand in the country, we already have balance on both ends of the price spectrum. But this can get better.

In research we conducted a few months back we learnt that several doctors are not aware about the types, costs and availability of adult diapers, or the science behind their usage as a result of which they do not recommend the product to patients. We are trying to fill this gap.

A final dream ask would be for celebrities to come out and speak about their incontinence.

Q3. Why has this been a tough battle in terms of customer education?

It’s very tough for people to get into the category. According to another research we found that it takes nearly 1-1.5 years for those suffering from incontinence to accept their situation, get a diagnosis and finally try a diaper. This is an extraordinarily long adoption period and remains so because incontinence remains a taboo itself.

Incontinence is taboo for a myriad of reasons.

·        First, because traditionally, you do not wish to discuss your debilitating age-related physiological issues.

·        Second, because it is a “toilet ka problem” it is deeply linked to social cultural taboos. How can an aging parent go back to his adult child and discuss about something as vulnerable as this?

·        Thirdly it is deeply linked to feelings of masculinity. And a lot of males feel very emasculated when they start leaking urine. After all, ‘Teri pant geeli ho gaye hai’ is the worst abuse of them all!

·        Incontinence is also very deeply psychologically linked to sanity or purity which is one of the core pillars of the psychological values that every person is born with.

Thus, you have a myriad of stories and confusing issues regarding adult diaper usage and going to the temple, or a grandmother refusing to attend a wedding because she is wearing diapers. Suddenly life crosses over to very weird zones which people are not familiar with. So, it is a tough battle.

Further, there are many types of incontinence depending on the situation that causes it. Some may squirt out a little urine while laughing or coughing. Or a person may have no control and may urinate large amounts every day. It is important that the sufferer use the correct incontinence product. For example, if it is just a few drops, then insert pads. But if it is huge, then a diaper.

Thankfully, with more campaigns and awareness we are seeing more and more light through the tunnel and hopefully that comes through for everyone.

Q4. With your recent investments, how are you looking at creating more awareness about incontinence?

A major part of marketing for us is simply about educating people about incontinence. Through our Azadi Mubarak TVC campaign, our Audio stories about sufferers of incontinence or our recent ad featuring a cricket loving elderly couple we try to normalise incontinence and show the benefits of early adoption. Our salespersons across India are also shining examples of normalisation - each of them wear the dry pant and go out on field to sell the product. Nothing sells better than actually seeing a person in a dry pant. Going ahead, too, we have projects that are both exciting, as we hope will make great impact.

Q5. Consumer behaviour is difficult to predict in the essential segment, have you seen a noticeable change at your end in terms of buying patterns and consumer preferences?

We haven't seen any changes in buying patterns as such. The obvious thing that always happens is that, whenever there's a lockdown people tend to stock up. The buying pattern remains consistent—especially that a caretaker is usually the purchaser in our category while the actual user of the product is mostly uninvolved in the buying decision.

Q6. What is one Product/thing about adult diapers that you wish all consumers would know about?

We have seen tremendous uptake for Overnight Dry Pants because of their superior quality. These are our most premium product and can hold urine leakage for up to 16 hours. This product was designed from the insight that the most invaluable thing for sufferers of incontinence (or anyone for that matter) is their sleep. Sleep is crucial in the healing process. Not being able to sleep makes sufferers, especially the elderly, irritable and cranky. It takes a huge toll on the lives of caretakers. Our solve for this—overnight diapers. These also help prevent falls during the night, which is extremely common with 25% seniors falling on the way to the toilet at night. The product is designed with meticulous attention to detail, very soft and very strongly absorbent.

Q7. Friends brought the dry pant concept to the country - can you speak about it?

The dry pant is one of those products that should help us greatly unlock the category very quickly. Its ease of use, the comfort it affords, the fact that it cannot get noticed, does not make noise, is very sleek and fluffy makes it a superior product. Further because it is designed like underwear it is more palatable to consumer minds as compared to the traditional diaper. As more and more people get to experience it, they can realize how azadi is within their grasp.

Q8. There are many new diaper brands cropping up, especially recyclable ones, what gives Friends an edge?

This is not the place to rant about the deceit of recyclable diapers and products. Just simply by adding bamboo varicose one does not become environmentally sustainable. Bamboo, for example, comes from a very water intensive harvesting process, and is usually grown in China by highly exploited farmers. This really raises the ecological cost of making pads or diapers out of bamboo.

What gives us an edge? All our marketing in consumer outreach programs have only begun in the past two years. So, the same thing—impeccable quality—that has allowed us to survive 24 years will take us ahead even now.