Magazine: Hungarian women are faithful to intimate hygiene products

Ildikó Kardos, marketing manager of Libresse distributor SCA Hygiene Products Kft. told Trade magazin that the Hungarian sanitary napkin, tampon and pantyliner market is stable, in terms of both segment size and total market size. This indicates that high-level product and brand loyalty characterises consumers. Mária Horváth, marketing and product manager of Bella-Hungária Kft. told us that the prices of manufacturer brands and private label products are getting closer to each other.

Mariann Varga, product manager with Alveola Kft. informed us about her company’s presence in several segments of the intimate hygiene category: they sell X-Epil intimo intimate wipes and wash gels, plus X-Epil pregnancy tests. Different versions of Libresse’s Tena incontinence pad are performing really well in retail units. Tena Lady pads can be used for many purposes and in addition to being discreet and comfortable, they have a special odour neutralising system as well. Bella-Hungária Kft.‘s standard thick sanitary napkins are safe, comfortable and offer natural protection for women during menstruation; both wingless and winged versions are available. Sales of the company’s Bella Normal and Nova brands have been growing recently. Bella does not forget about girls who are about to have their first menstrual cycle: they launched an educative campaign in nearly 500 schools with courses and free samples, in order to introduce their Bella for Teen product line (sanitary napkin, pantyliner, tampon, intimate wash gel, shower gel, body lotion and face wash gel). In the summer months tampon and sanitary napkin sales increase a bit, while in the intimate wipe segment smaller packaging units become more popular. We learned from Adrienne Mayer, trade marketing coordinator of SCA Hygiene Products Kft. that shopper behaviour falls into the ‘grab and go’ category, which means that women automatically put the same intimate hygiene products into their basket. It is needless to say that favourable prices can deepen this loyalty further, therefore this year Libresse concentrates on promotions and good prices in its communication. As for in-store communication, the focus is on the decoration of secondary placements, e.g. pallet skirt, tent-type solutions, displays. Bella-Hungária Kft. also pays great attention to attractive in-store presence. New products: the company gives priority to the incontinence pad segment by strengthening the market presence of the Bella Lady product line – for the next couple of years they forecast a 5-7 percent sales growth from the base period. Alveola Kft.’s experience is that the proportion of conscious shoppers is growing. They often see parents buying intimate products for their teenage daughters. Price promotions and promotional packages generate extra sales, for instance their 2+1 X-Epil intimo intimate wipe promotion was a great success. They developed a 5-piece/box version of this product, which is very popular in the summer months when women travel a lot. The company plans to expand the X-Epil intimo range in the future. This year they are going to advertise the X-Epil brand individually, according to categories, so hair removal, pregnancy tests and intimate hygiene will all get their place in the limelight.