Mumbai, Maharashtra Jan 23, 2022 (Issuewire.com) - India’s first pre-toilet spray brand Poo de cologne was featured recently on Shark Tank India. Founder Aditi Talwar Sodhi was seen seated on a toilet seat while giving her a pitch that was full of humorous puns and metaphors for pooping.
The names of the variants like Poops a lot, Pooparazzi and Poopsie Daisie had the sharks, Anupam Mittal, Peyush Bansal, Vineeta Singh, Ashneer Grover, and Aman Gupta, in splits and while they may not have funded her business - some not finding the opportunity big enough while others believing that the business was still very new to ask for an investment - sales have shot up by more than 800% across platforms and trade inquiries are coming in from all over India and beyond.
“It’s been crazy since my appearance on Shark Tank India. The phone won’t stop buzzing with business enquiries and social media platforms have come alive with constant likes, comments, shares, and DMs. Brand awareness has gone through the roof. These are exciting times for us and I have Sony TV and Shark Tank India to thank for it,” said Aditi, Founder, and MD of Essentially Happy Marketing, the makers of Poo de cologne. “People are calling me poop queen and I’m happy and hoping that the moniker sticks,” she adds jokingly.
Essentially Happy Marketing is geared to bring the best international concepts in personal care and hygiene to India with a focus on Indian sensibilities and preferences. “Breaking open a new category was never going to be easy and we were aware of that when we launched in February of 2021. To add to the already herculean task, we were immediately faced with issues like a countrywide lockdown, logistics shutdown, labour shortages, and supply chain disruption. Powering through the tough times, slowly but surely, we started gaining traction online. Repeat purchases started growing and the brand started establishing itself as a new player in the toilet freshener category.”
When asked about the competition she said, “We have no direct competition as the pre-toilet spray is a new category for India. But yes, all bathroom fresheners, in all formats, such as aerosol sprays, diffusers, pods, electric, automatic misting sprays, etc. are competition as they are pitched as a solution for the same consumer issue. Our key differentiator is that we are the only preventive solution to the problem of nasty toilet odours and that Poo de cologne is a Before U Do No.2 Toilet Spray. Added to that is the fact that we use 100% pure essential oils against synthetic allergy-causing fragrance compounds used by competing products. Also, Poo de cologne product range is pure, in the sense that the formulation is not diluted with harmful gases and other fillers.”
Today’s generation is a lot more attracted towards innovations available within a price bracket as compared to the previous generations who were either price-sensitive or very brand loyal. New drivers such as social impact, health and wellness, safety, and experience are emerging at the forefront. “While there are no magic formulae to understanding the pulse of the elusive consumer - price, quality, and brand image play a pivotal role in the success of a brand and we have tried to strike a balance. Millennials are a cohort of travel enthusiasts who are big on natural ingredients and are more willing to spend on hygiene than the earlier generations. With Poo de cologne we have delivered on these parameters and at Essentially Happy Marketing we intend to further leverage these and other trends by coming up with safe, natural, and quality products at affordable prices.”
Consumer habits are difficult to change, and the task is to make people use a toilet freshener “BEFORE” the big job, and that makes Poo de cologne’s biggest USP its biggest challenge as well, demanding a heavy investment in consumer education. However, the demonstration of how to use Poo de cologne on Shark Tank India has made the job easier. “Now everyone knows that Poo de cologne needs to be sprayed on the toilet bowl water before pooping. The automated solution, that shark Ashneer Grover touched upon, has also been fast-tracked and should be launched sometime mid-2022.”
Essentially Happy Marketing sees the next big boost come in when offices open up fully and travel restrictions are lifted. With a planned expansion to speciality retail and pharmacy chains, there is no doubt that Indian toilet habits are in for a big change.
It is rightly said that behind the success of a company is a passionate and determined founder. It was pure determination that made Aditi turn adversity into an advantage. Born with severe allergies to dust, pollution, strong smells, and aerosol sprays, Aditi was diagnosed with allergic rhinitis, more commonly known as hay fever. Exposure to these allergens would trigger an exaggerated immune response in the form of relentless sneezing, red itchy eyes, runny nose, headaches, and fatigue. As she spent most of her life avoiding these irritants, she also began researching her condition.
Aditi’s research led her to understand that aerosols were harmful to everyone, not just to people with her condition. Many aerosol sprays contain highly toxic chemicals like benzene, formaldehyde, toluene, p-xylene, phthalates - that are extremely hazardous for adults, children, and family pets. Air fresheners in particular can spray out formaldehyde (a known carcinogen) and other VOCs (volatile organic compounds) throughout the air in a home. Researchers have identified that air freshener chemicals are linked to cancer, neurotoxicity, and endocrine disruption. Not to mention a large portion of the population experiences headaches and respiratory difficulty from exposure to such sprays. Yet on store shelves, you’ll find them in numerous forms: electric, automatic misting sprays, pressurized cans, etc. And even more surprising is how many people will make use of them without giving it a second thought. Aditi realized that one doesn’t have to have obvious allergies like her to develop diseases like asthma and cancer from long-term exposure to aerosol sprays. Eventually, her need to find a safe solution to this problem led her to quit her well-paying job as a brand strategist and begin her search for a non-aerosol alternative to taking care of the problem of malodor.
“Poo de cologne is a product of a rigorous product development process, extensive consumer testing, and most of all a deep desire to provide safe products at affordable prices,” says Aditi.
With the best manufacturing, packaging, and raw material partners, Essentially Happy Marketing has developed a formulation that has created a new benchmark in product quality and delivery for dealing with toilet odour. Using 100% pure essential oils, the range has been developed to suit Indian consumers’ preferences and priced to suit their pockets. And it is all-natural and pure and does not use gas, alcohol, or toxic chemicals. “Going forward we are looking at other harmful products that can be replaced with safe and natural products, such as harsh cleaning agents, certain types of personal fragrances, etc. We want our consumers to have quality products without the harmful effects of chemicals at reasonable prices. Our mantra - if you can’t spell it don’t smell it,” she concludes.
Poo de cologne’s latest campaign is a series of hilarious videos in which stand-up comedian Atul Khatri describes his faux pas and his elaborate attempts to cover up his misdoings. He leaves the audience in splits with his puns and euphemisms. Comedian Atul Khatri advises us on how to save ourselves from the embarrassing ‘SHITUATION' of leaving behind a smelly loo. It is Atul's clarion call to all to become responsible SHITIZENS, up to our washroom game, and adopt Poo de cologne Before U Do No.2 toilet spray - the next level in personal hygiene and toilet etiquettes.
Several comments on Atul’s Instagram feed have described this as the best piece of Indian advertising - one that is entertaining and has created in them a desire to try this new and innovative toilet freshener product.
“Atul was a natural choice for the promotion of Poo de cologne, as we wanted to use humour to lessen the awkwardness around talking about washroom odour. His sense of comic timing and his charm were the very two ingredients that have made the campaign a roaring success,” says Aditi. “Poo de cologne is a natural alternative to harmful aerosols and the only preventive solution that stops the problem of bad toilet odour before it can even arise. There is nothing like this in the Indian market,” she concludes.
Poo de cologne is currently selling on amazon https://amazon.in/poodecologne and
Flipkart https://www.flipkart.com/poo-de-cologne-minty-spray/p/itme1c326fceb172?pid=AIRGFUSHPKQCURE7 and will soon be entering retail stores.
For bulk orders email: essentiallyhappymarketing@gmail.com
Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/poo_de_cologne/
Media Contact
Rani *****@gmail.com http://www.poodecologne.com
