Changing Narrative. A seven-decade long soap saga

If you are of a certain age, think Cinthol and the image that will come to mind is of a suave stallion-riding Vinod Khanna exuding machismo. “Vinod’s body confidence soap” has now entered its 71st year. Launched on Independence Day back in 1952 as India’s first deodorant soap, Cinthol has come a long way. It has traversed the past seven decades with the promise of freshness, confidence and skin health even as its brand positioning evolved with changing times.

From that overwhelming rugged macho positioning, the soap has in the last decade shifted its narrative to embrace a youthful, gentler, more inclusive positioning — albeit staying true to its “confidence” proposition.

Expanding portfolio

Ashwin Moorthy, Chief Marketing Officer - India, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL)

“Around 2012, the brand focused on a new communication idea called “Alive is Awesome.” It pivoted the brand from celebrity-based machismo to reflect what younger consumers felt. While Cinthol kept its boldness and a sense of confidence, it changed direction to focus on the themes of exploration and shared adventure. That’s the idea we continue to hold,” says Ashwin Moorthy, Chief Marketing Officer - India, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL).

Recently, the company launched a campaign focusing on how the aspirations of women of Tamil Nadu have evolved. The State currently has one of the highest number of women district collectors. Building on this fact, the campaign depicts the protagonist, who is playing the role of a district collector, inspiring her younger sister to dream big, aptly illustrating the three generations that have been using Cinthol.

Although a targeted regional campaign for Tamil Nadu, that’s still quite an image shift for Cinthol, which through the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s has had a quintessentially male appeal, from the rugged to the adventurous. In the ’90s, in the brand’s ads, Shah Rukh Khan presented the more relatable modern man, who takes everything sportingly even after a long tiring day with the “Susti Mitaye Chusti Laut Aaye” messaging. In 2008, cliff-jumping Hrithik Roshan packed in a lot of stunts for the brand to stress on ‘long lasting freshness for 24-hour confidence’.

Cinthol’s Tamil Nadu campaign

Over the years, Cinthol, which is a large brand for GCPL, has expanded its portfolio. Beyond soaps, it includes deodorants, talcs and shaving creams. But soaps, with variants of Cinthol Original, Lime, Cool and Health+, continue to be the largest business for the brand. Cinthol is estimated to be an over ₹500 crore brand with about 5 per cent market share in the mass soaps category.

Asked about venturing in other white spaces, Moorthy says, “So far, Cinthol has done well by extending into spaces that are naturally built on equity of deodorisation and confidence.”

Moorthy says that despite increasing competition, Cinthol has been growing. “We have been steadily growing in double digits for the last few years, ahead of the soaps category as well as competition. Since 2012 we have been able to triple our Cinthol Freshness (Lime and cool soaps) business,” he says.

With Cinthol Original, the brand is the market leader in Tamil Nadu. “We continue building Cinthol Original in our core geographies and it has established itself as a ‘Doctor Recommended Soap’ for skin related concerns,” adds Moorthy.

A Cinthol ad from 1950’s

“The strength of our brand equity has enabled us to have a loyal consumer base. We believe we need to keep investing to continue strengthening the brand’s salience, and remain relevant. While soaps is a well-penetrated and large category, it is a growing market,” he explains.

The overall soaps category in India is pegged at about ₹20,000 crore - ₹25,000 crore. Nearly 60-70 per cent of the market is dominated by mass brands.

Covid driven innovation

Post the pandemic, the beauty and personal care industry has witnessed a lot of disruption due to the emergence of new age brands and D2C channels. This puts a lot more pressure on established brands to innovate.

Brand strategist, Ambi Parameswaran, Founder, Brand-building.com, feels that Cinthol which was a big brand in the 1970s with a clear deodorant proposition has not been able to build a consistent image lately, while rivals have managed to get ahead through sharper positioning and consistent brand promotions. “Personal wash market in India is highly competitive and is the graveyard of numerous brands including global brands like Camay, Fa and Palmolive,” he says, pointing out, in that context, it is admirable that Cinthol has remained modestly successful. “However the brand had the opportunity to become something much bigger,” he feels.

Cinthol Lime and Cool KV

“It is all about staying relevant and sticking to the core proposition but also being contemporary. Over the years, the soaps category has evolved a lot. The cosmetic aspects of soaps seem to have become far more pronounced in recent times than the functional aspects,” says brand strategist Harish Bijoor.

Cinthol has to navigate these soap bubbles — but then again, with confidence as its proposition, it should be able to lather ahead.

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