About Pidilite

Since its inception in 1959, Pidilite Industries Limited has been a pioneer in consumer and specialities chemicals
in India.
From adhesives, sealants, waterproofing solutions, construction chemicals to arts & crafts, industrial resins,
polymers and more, our product portfolio is as diverse as it is ever evolving. With a robust and growing network,
our products are accessible across demographics and geographies. Along with household brands such as Fevicol,
Fevikwik, M Seal, Fevicryl, we have been able to gain top-of-mind awareness among consumers with our growth
Drivers Dr Fixit, Roff, ICA Pidilite Cipy, Jowat.
Pidilite with focus on innovation continues to diversify its product portfolio and is creating categories to achieve
sustainable growth in revenue.

CASE STUDY – What next for Basic Integral Waterproofing?

Background
Pidilite have been on a mission to increase saliency for waterproofing in India by taking it to the retail consumer
and thereby creating a new category- Mass Waterproofing, with the brand Dr Fixit
Dr Fixit launched in 2001 and is today the market leader in Modern Waterproofing. It has evolved from Basic
Integral waterproofing to high-end waterproofing system solution for structures.
Dr Fixit today offers a wide range of innovative construction chemicals in waterproofing, building repairs,
sealants, coatings and paints, grouts and anchors and industrial floorings. With high addressability, these
products are available across cement, building materials, paint, and hardware stores.
Dr Fixit began with the sale of its basic integral waterproofing product, Pidiproof LW+ to tap into the huge
potential in the market at a time when these chemicals were used only by large builders and multi-level dwelling
units. With a significant presence in the B2B segment then, it was given a more technical name- Pidiproof LW+
(LW for Liquid Waterproofing).

This specially formulated liquid waterproofing compound composed of plasticising agents, polymers, and
additives, is used as an additive for cement concrete, mortar, and plasters to enhance the properties of
cement to impart waterproofing property and thereby provide benefits like no rusting of steel bars, no cracks
and no dampness. These 4 benefits are projected as the 4 ACES of LW+
Where is Pidiproof LW+ Used?
The product is used in all concreting and plastering applications in a new construction building. The 4 ACES
benefits of the product helps create healthy constructions and provides basic integral waterproofing.

How is Pidiproof LW+ used?

Simple, mix 200 ml to the mortar mix/ concrete to every bag of cement used at the site

By creating consumer knowledge and demand, Dr Fixit Pidiproof LW+ in the last few years democratised basic
waterproofing and became synonymous with waterproofing amongst the customers and thus became a large
B2C waterproofing product and contributes a major share to Dr Fixit’s overall business.

Building the Brand, Pidiproof LW+

With exclusive teams for sales and market development, focus was on increasing addressability across retail
channel and creating a trained user base of building contractors and Rajmistries who understood the need for
waterproofing , the market propagated the use of LW+ for healthy construction.
Building contractors and Rajmistries were educated on basic waterproofing through mass product trainings
across the length and breadth of the country. After user acquisition, with focus on user loyalty and building
conviction amongst end consumers, penetration of LW+ increased.
Over the years, the communication journey for Dr Fixit and its brand LW+ has been from introducing the need
for waterproofing to driving the right dosage in construction to increasing the surfaces where waterproofing is
done. The TV campaigns in successive years and the motive behind these ads are given below.

The LW+ Journey- Timeline (Refer to the below mentioned videos)

1. Introducing LW+ for Waterproofing- 2 Friends- 2013

2. Drive the need for Waterproofing- The Angry Kid- 2014
3. Harping on the brand name LW+: Daaku Ad “LW+ Lagaana..”- 2015
4. Driving Right Dosage: LW+ in cement ki Paanch bori, no chori – 2018
5. Driving usage in more surfaces: 5 Point Waterproofing- 2018

Brand Challenge:
While Dr Fixit continued to add more products to its portfolio in repair, acrylic coatings and sealants in line
with the latest innovation in Waterproofing, Pidiproof LW+ continues to remain the Cash Cow for Dr Fixit.
Today, the growth drivers within Dr Fixit are the other products in portfolio such as latex and acrylic coatings
while Pidiproof LW+ is facing headwinds from competition and its consumption restricted to fewer surfaces.
Challenge from Competition for LW+:
• With already very high penetration for LW+, other paint and cement companies have launched their
integral Waterproofing compound and are trying to take market share from LW+
• Some cement companies have launched premium variants of grey cement with the claim of cement
being able to do waterproofing on its own and recommending not to use Integral Waterproofing
compounds like LW+ with these cements.
Challenge of consumption of LW+
• Even though there is high penetration (% of sites where the product is present) for LW+ as an additive
for cement almost all of it is in the concrete for roof slab
• Use of LW+ in plastering and in concrete for columns and beams is very low
• With years of advertising, user connect and positioning of Dr Fixit as Waterproofing expert, the brand
of LW+ is strongly linked to 1 ACE- i.e Waterproofing and not as much to the remaining 3 ACES.
With surging cement consumption in India driven by increasing spending on housing and infrastructure LW+ as
an additive for cement still has a huge potential to tap into. The new construction waterproofing market
potential in India is pegged at 30 times the sale of LW+.
With already high penetration for Pidiproof LW+, the growth rates are stunted and there is a need to chart
out the next set of actions for LW+ to continue to be a growth driver for Dr Fixit and also address the challenges
the product has in its way.

Your Objective
Step 1: Identify the problem:

• Understand the product and the waterproofing category

• Understand the user, homeowner, and consumption pattern of Integral Waterproofing/ LW+
• Identify the product benefits/ shortcomings of the current product proposition and its positioning
• What is the perception of the product from a customer/user/ homeowner lens?
• Deep dive into the challenges for Pidiproof LW+/ Integral Waterproofing. Are there more challenges
the product is facing/ may face?

Step 2: What to Communicate:

• Create a campaign – with creatives, media plan, and budget estimation for 1 year to trigger the hot
buttons and solve for the challenges the product is facing
(Can think national or regional or local)

Step 3: Suggest a Business Proposal:

• Share a cohesive distribution + Communication business proposal, with ROI calculation to the
management and convince us on what will unlock the next growth lever for Integral Waterproofing/
LW+

Pidilite’s Success Tips:

• Go Beyond Surveys: Meet, Speak, empathise, understand – Live through the Users, customers,
homeowners’ life to get real insights
• Go beyond what they say – but also look for latent needs
• Go Beyond Problems: Look for need in the market
Plan to Execute:
• Make a plan, that is realistic – that you could yourself execute subsequently

Reference Data:
Percentage of New construction buildings where LW+ is used
Surfaces for LW+ Usage 0-25% 25%-50% 50%-75% 75%-100%
Roof slab
Columns + Footing+ Beams
Flooring+ Septic Tank+ stairs
Brickwork
Plastering
*Integral Waterproofing has a potential to be used in all bags consumed at a New Construction site