Pepsodent: Charting Growth in Indian...
The eampaign conveyed the message, .'D~hoom, Dirhooll/ 10 Pt!psodt!nl ko kaOll/
Pepsodel1t: Charting.Growth iJllnd~an Oral
Care Market through
'.. Segmen~ation
..'.. '..' ..'i;"'" . ,., ,.; OJ'
Colgate-Palmolive (India) 1'\1. Ltd. (CPPL) WO1$ ~ eomPa"~ywhich'i~ttoo~ced
toothpaste in India with thC launch of Colgate Dental Cream (CDCl in 1937~Till the
1980s, the company faced very linle in the way of competition and enjoyed the
position of market leader. The early 1980s saw the launch of Promise by the Balsara
Group. In the late I980s, Hindustan Lever Limiled (HLL), the Indian arm of Unitevcr,
introduced Close-Up toothpaste, targeted at the Indian youth. The product was
positioned on the freshness plank; . Pepsodent before going to sleep helped to fight gemlS all through Ihe night. This
The real compelilion, however, came in 1993, when HLL launched Pepsodent
toothpaste. Unlike Close-Up, which was launched on the freshness and whiteness
platform, Pepsodent was aimed at oral health benefi\. The toothpaste was positioned
as a germ-fighting toothpaste. The company claimed that using the toolhpaste would
hdp fight germs even hours after brushing. The prnduct was targeted at housewives.
PepsodenI became a direct competitor to CDc. MAscompared to normal toothpastes,
-
hele is a productlhal fights genns longer that's the USP of the product," explained
Pralee\; Srivastava, Associale Director, Lintas, the advertising agency that handled the
Pepsodenl accounll
nefere the :aunch of denial care products, Indians used neem twigs,' sail, ash, etc., 10
clean their teeth. Many of them continued to follow the same practice even after
subslilules in the form of branded toothpaste and tooth powder became available in
the market.
IILL therefore found it necessary to create awareness about the new methods of oral
care among Indians, espe{ially among children. It conducted many children-focused
programs at the school1evel and involved denlists in these programs.
By 1997, CPPL's market share had gone down to 56% from 75% in 1979. HLL was
ranked No.2 with a 36% market share with its tWo toothpaste brands, Close-Up and
Pepsoden\. Although HLL launched some other toothpaste brands like Signal and
Aim, it later decided:o discontinue them so as to focus on Close-Up and Pepsoden\.
In 1999, HLL relaunched pepsodent as Advanced pepsodent laying emphasis on the
health benefits derived through the ingredients which helped it 'fight germs longer
and nuke teeth stronger: HLL also initiated a national dental health awareness
program in association with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to spread oral care
and hygiene awareness among rural Indians, white simultaneously promoting the
benefits of its Pepsodent brand. The company found that only 47% of the Indians used
toothpasle and 27% used toolh powder. Around 260 million Indians did not use either.
Meanwhile, HLL's market share increased to 37% with Close-Up'conuniriding a 21%
and Pepsodenl commanding a 16% market share.
In 2003, HLL launched ils 'dishoom-dishoom' (dishoom) campaign targeted al
anxious molhers. The dishoom campaign showed tWo schoolboys eating ice cream.
The boy who uses Pepsodent enjoys ~s ice cream, knowing his teeth are. well
protected. The other boy, however, getr a spanking from his mother for spoiling his
teeth by eating ;ce cream.
i "HLL ready wilh media blitz to promote Pepsodent's relaunch," Financial Exprcss, July 20,
t9')'),
: A}urveda describes Neem as a herbal drug. Neem twigs contain antiseptic ingredients which
pro\.ide required denIal hygiene. . .
hai,') "Pepsodent is a family health brand" and, kids are central to the category.
'Tbde(o~. s~c i';;;eption, we have been using kids in our advertising." explained
Madhu Noorani (Madhu), Unit Creative Director, Lintas, who was in charge of
'Pepsodent's advertising campaign. Madhu added, "There is always a connict between
mothers and children when it comes to eating things which are considered bad for the
teeth. In this commercial, we have linked the brand proposition, Pepsodent fights
germs hours after brushing, to a consumer's benefit. The emotional benefit is that the
mothers needn't fight with their children and allow the toothpaste to do the fighting:'"
The company also launched another campaign that claimed that brushing teeth wilh
campaign was based on research which showed Ihal germ allack increased by 25%
while one is asl~ep. The results of these campaigns indicaled Ihat the campaig~s were
successful.
In 2004, of the Rs 25 billion toothpaste market in India, Pepsodent enjoyed a 17.6%
market share while Close-Up's share dropped to 15.3%. filL thus had 36% of the
market share, while CppL's share dropped to 50%. Pepsodent thus became a growth
driver for HLL in the oral care segment. The company believed thaI a large number of
consumers had shifted to Pepsodenl due to increasing awareness about oral health and
hygiene and the health bcnefit positioning of the Pepsodenl brand.
\ The success of Pepsodcnt encollraged fiLL to reposition Close-Up as a product which
\ provided stronger and whiter teeth rather than just freshness. "After all, consumers aTe
f no longer looking for fresh breath and the whole contexi of oral health has changed.
There has to be a new direction to the brand," said Sanjiv Kakkar, vice-president -
Oral Care, HLL' He added, "Altliough'in the past we experimented with Close-Up
variants more strongly than Pepsodent, experience with other brands has shown that it
is more diffi,cultto create variants for a sensorial brand than one based on the family
health platform such as Pepsodent, which is anchored strongly on the core benefit of
oral health:"
Questions for Discussion: ,
I. Close-Up was one of the earlier toothpastes 10be launched in Iodia. It also had a
clear positioning - olTering the freshness benefit to the consumer. Yet the markel
share of the brand came down, What are the possible reasons for the deC!i", in
the shaLeof Close-Up over the years?
2, What were the advantages that HLL derived by having two brands targeting tWo
different sections of consumers?
10 2005, Tile ICFAI CenTerfor ManagemenT Research. All rig"'s re,.e,,'ed. This coselt!1 was
written by Ajilh Sankar R. N, ullder tile direction of San jib Dutla.
) The English translation -Jr's Pepsodent's job 10 do 'dishoom dishoom' (fight germs).
"No kidding, ads arc for kids,' The Hindu BusinessLinc; November 0 I, 200 I. .
"Upclose and singular," The Hindu BusinessLine, June 17, 200~.
"Upclose and singular," The Hindu BusinessLine. June 17,2004,