LIME semifinals: 14 teams compete for top spots in finale

Eleven teams from India's top B-schools and three wild card teams battle in the LIME semifinals. One of the wild card entry was from the London Business School. The teams competed for just three spots in the LIME Grand Finale.  

The marketing challenge for the semifinal stage was from Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for a new product it launched in May 2012. This product addresses a key concern over large section of the Indian population. It is a laundry additive called Magic Water Saver. Everyday over a 100 million Indians grapple with the problems arising from the scarcity of water. The majority i.e. 57 percent of them belong to the lower income section of society. One of the biggest water consuming activities in household is laundry which accounts for over 20 percent of the daily usage. Almost 80 percent of the water used in this process is actually just to rinse soap off the clothes. Enters Magic Water Saver, this laundry additive was devised to help rinse and wash clothes in just one bucket of water thereby saving up to three buckets for every wash. It was test launched in Andhra Pradesh and has achieved 40 percent of its targeted volumes, with around 150000 households trying it. The response has been slow but encouraging. HUL now wants to increase the rate of trials, educate customers and grow this new category.