It’s crucial for brands to innovate to engage: Kanika Kalra, Reckitt

Kanika Kalra, Regional Marketing Director - Health, South Asia at Reckitt, recently shared her insights on the evolving landscape of brand building in an increasingly distracted world. Drawing from her vast experience in consumer packaged goods (CPG), consulting, and digital commerce, Kalra emphasised the challenges and opportunities brands face in capturing consumer attention.

"My attention span is now that of a goldfish," Kalra remarked, highlighting the modern-day struggle of brands to sustain engagement. She underscored the need for interactive conversations rather than one-way communication. "If you have any questions, please raise your hand and ask because that would be possibly the best use of this time. I hate one-way conversations."

With over two decades of experience spanning McKinsey & Company, Snapdeal, and Freecharge, Kalra now leads Reckitt’s health portfolio in India, managing brands like Dettol, Durex, Moov, Veet, Gaviscon, and Strepsils. "That's about 65% of my business in India," she noted, adding that the segment primarily deals with preventive and curative health solutions.

Kalra focused on a pressing issue that has significantly reshaped marketing: how to capture consumer attention in a hyper-distracted digital world. "This is a problem we grapple with across categories," she admitted. "But where I think we have the most headway in trying to solve this problem—or looking at it as an opportunity—is actually a brand that is very interesting.

She pointed out that Indian consumers spend an average of eight hours on social media, making it crucial for brands to innovate in their approach to engagement. "I have decided that I will use the topic of most interest to most people to try and get your attention for the duration of this presentation. However, the learnings, I'm hoping, are widely applicable."

Among the brands in Reckitt’s portfolio, Durex has emerged as a standout performer, growing at a 25-30% rate annually and retailing at four times the market average. "We are now the number one brand in the top 52 cities," Kalra stated.

Unlike legacy brands with deep-rooted heritage, Durex has been built for a new generation of Indian consumers. "It is truly built for the younger, aspiring Indian consumer, opening up to a much wider landscape," she said. "We've distilled our philosophy into five key principles."

One of the biggest challenges, Kalra noted, is the cultural sensitivity surrounding the category. "Talking about sex continues to be a big issue. However, we believe that protection and passion go together for the young consumer." Instead of positioning Durex purely as a protection-oriented product, the team at Reckitt chose to elevate it into a lifestyle brand. "We decided not to build it the trade way. Instead, we went premium and positioned it as a product of aspiration."

Kalra emphasised that Durex’s success lies in its ability to challenge category norms. "This is a hidden category. We will not be hidden. We chose to be insightful, premium, and well-distributed."

Recognising the evolving needs of modern consumers, Durex expanded beyond condoms into a broader intimate lifestyle space. "We are not just about condoms. We are a lifestyle brand," Kalra explained. The brand now offers products like lubricants, intimate devices, and performance enhancers. "We've gone from being a single-category product to a multi-category lifestyle brand."

This expansion has allowed Durex to maximise its addressable market. "If you're building a brand in a cluttered world, how do you create one that gives you the maximum addressable market?" she posed. "The advantage of today’s digital world is that we can flex our offerings across different channels—Amazon, D2C sites, modern trade, and general trade—all while maintaining premium positioning."

Kalra also highlighted the role of quick commerce in brand building. "Quick commerce is a mega trend changing behaviors. How do we ensure that we use every opportunity to open the doors of the consumer and build our penetration?" she asked. Durex has leveraged quick commerce to meet consumers at the point of consideration. "We have done things that bring us closer to the time of actual need—whether it's nighttime stores, lifetime discounts, or timely advertising."

A prime example of this strategy is Durex’s "6 to 9 Sale," which offers 69% off on select products every month from the 6th to the 9th. "This has doubled our D2C business in the last three months," Kalra revealed.

Kalra concluded by stressing the importance of deep consumer insights. "Whenever we have decided to play a me-too strategy like introducing generic strawberry-flavored products we have not won. But when we play differently, with a unique tone of voice and deep insight, we win."

She pointed to Durex’s recent campaign highlighting the orgasm gap in India. "The surprising fact was not that there is a gap, but that most men don’t know it exists."

With Durex’s strategic approach, premiumisation, category expansion, quick commerce, and consumer insight, the brand has successfully disrupted a traditionally conservative market, proving that attention and engagement can be earned in even the most challenging categories.

Summing up the brand's strategy, she likened social media to a house party. "You need to be able to attract people. People don’t come because you compel them. You need to figure out where the coolest parties are happening, trigger conversations, and start getting invited." This consumer-first, engagement-driven approach underscores Durex’s efforts to redefine marketing in a way that is intelligent, witty, and culturally resonant.