Saniya Mariyam

(MAMM, A2000420005)

DETTOL
#IndiaAgainstCovid19

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TABLE OF
CONTENTS:

OVERVIEW
Ad Film …………………………..………………….3

NDTV – Dettol ….....…………….………..….….4

TikTok – Dettol ………….……….……………...5

EFFECTIVENESS …………………………………6-7

REFERENCES ……………………………………….8

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 OVERVIEW

Ad Film
Reckitt Benckiser’s Dettol became the number one soap brand in
the country during the Covid-19 wave, overtaking Hindustan Unilever’s
Lifebuoy. RB sells various products under Dettol such as surface
disinfectants, soaps, antiseptic liquid, hand sanitisers, kitchen dish
cleaning gels and body wash among others.
In early April, 2020 Dettol launched a new ad film conveying the
importance of personal hygiene to prevent the spread of Coronavirus. The
ad uses a simple illustrative graphic and gives a demo of soap efficacy
against germs. Although, the Dettol soap bar is strategically placed in the
video, the narrator encourages the audience to wash hands with
whichever soap they can, in order to beat the virus.

What makes this ad film even more special is that it was shot and
produced in such a small time frame, without setting foot outside of
home. McCann India’s CEO, Prasoon Joshi found an innovative way of
adhering to guidelines of staying home yet manging to contribute towards
bringing about Covid awareness. The agency got in touch with directors,
who could produce this video from the confines of their homes by
shooting it on their mobile phones. And not just that, they had to cast
their own family members.

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 NDTV - Dettol
Dettol and NDTV together had launched a new campaign, 'India
Coming Together Against Covid-19'. The aim of this campaign was to
recognise and acknowledge the unsung heroes who were at the forefront
of the battle against coronavirus – doctors, the police, community
kitchens, the suppliers of essential commodities. Stories were covered
pan-India on the efforts being made to combat the virus – narrated by
the administrators, the police and government bodies. They also
showcased how hygiene and handwashing were critical in this fight
against the novel Coronavirus.
They conducted special two hour telethons and invited guests from
different spheres to arm people with the right information and fight the
battle against Covid-19. Amitabh Kant (CEO of Niti Ayog), Dushyant
Chautala (Deputy CM of Haryana), Naina Lal Kidwai (Former President of
FICCI), Yami Gautam (Actress) and Yuvraj Singh (Cricketer) were some of
the esteemed guests on the show.
The campaign was run live on television and on NDTV website. The
recordings were later uploaded on YouTube and other social media
platforms where the generated many views and comments.

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 TikTok – Dettol
During their campaign, “India Against Covid-19” Dettol also rolled
out a hand wash challenge which went viral on TikTok. Although it was an
awareness campaign, it had been packaged in a way that was consumable
on TikTok. They created a  #HandWashChallenge filter which stated the
brand’s name and the steps to wash hands while the user dances out the
steps.
The campaign was given an initial push by collaborating with
several TikTok influencers such as Avneet Kaur and actress Urvashi
Rautela. The campaign was a massive hit, generating over 48.3 Billion
views. 90 Million plus people participated in this challenge including some
big names like, Karthik Aryan, Riyaz Aly, Shehnaz Gill and Tiger Shroff.

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 EFFECTIVENESS
The fact that Dettol saw an overall increase in global sales by 62%
is a clear indicator of how effective their marketing campaigns are. Since
the outbreak of the epidemic, customers have been putting more
importance on disinfectants and related products have been seeing great
sales.
During this campaign of #IndiaAgainstCovid19, products like hand
sanitizers and newly launched surface disinfectant were marketed heavily
on social media. They were priced competitively but were marked slightly
higher than its competitor brands like Savlon. As the products of Dettol
are available in several variant according to specific use like home and
strictly hospital and clinical use, naturally it deploys product line pricing
by setting distinct price levels for the variants.

Dettol has aligned its ad campaign to local needs and government

policies like Dettol’s Ad campaigns have been around Swachh Bharat
mission of Indian government. The image building part company has
invested heavily in CSR activities which aim at teaching children about the
importance of washing hands. It has used innovative ways of
communication like through competition such as its #HandWashChallenge
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on Tik Tok. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are also
used for promoting Dettol brand.
During the pandemic, they also revamped their website completely
and now have a big banner on all the pages that redirects users to a
covid-19 myths versus facts webpage. They have included subheads such
as illness & prevention, healthy homes and personal hygiene alongside
the traditional subheads like about us and our products. These new
subheads also help in marketing their products by bringing about an
awareness about germs and infections to the readers.
Given below are some examples of how Dettol has used Twitter as a
platform to reiterate its message and how well the audience reciprocates
by liking, sharing and engaging with their posts.

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 REFERENCES
 https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/adv
ertising/dettols-latest-ad-film-promotes-washing-hands-with-
soap-to-fight-the-coronavirus-outbreak/74959632

 https://www.indiantelevision.com/mam/marketing/brands/det
tols-education-programme-delivers-strong-social-value-
201130

 https://www.socialsamosa.com/2020/03/dettol-launches-
handwashchallenge-on-tiktok/

 https://www.financialexpress.com/brandwagon/dettol-
promotes-hand-hygiene-in-its-latest-campaign/1918095/

 https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/covid-helps-
reckitt-benckiser-s-dettol-soaps-win-market-share-in-india-
11595944594739.html