Tell me you weren’t reminded of the trademark smell of this amber-gold liquid that has been a part of our homes, probably since our birth. I personally associate it with a familiar and almost nostalgic sense of security, a promise that our homes and loved ones are truly safe and germ-free!
FMCG major RB (formerly Reckitt Benckiser) came up with Dettol around 90 years ago, after extensive testing in hospitals for use during child delivery. It was a huge success, reducing morbidity rate from sepsis during birth by 50%, and thereby becoming a doctor’s favourite. This trickled down to colonial India through the brand’s British parents. Now we can probably say that the British left behind two good things, the Railways and Dettol! Jokes apart, Dettol quickly grew to be the expert in disinfection, hygiene and first aid – things that we know it for today. Its presence in 124 countries around the world, and a huge 85% market share in India speak for themselves.
Later it added shaving cream, liquid soap, plasters to its portfolio followed by body wash, sanitizers, etc in the last 20 years. Be it the Doctor’s sword of trust, the clouding effect when dissolved in water, or the untouched white on green packaging, all of them have an appeal of a brand that did not spoil a product just for the sake of evolving with times. Their campaigns, on the other hand, are the need of the hour at all times. The ‘Dettol banega Swachh India campaign’ targeted the gruesome problem of open defecation in Indian states with the voice of Amitabh Bachchan, Narendra Modi and others, and commanded attention to an issue that needed to be addressed. It claims to have made a difference to 26,000 villages and 14 lakh households.
In recent times, Dettol soaps promoted handwashing to keep germs away. The whole advert from the shoot to the editing and music was done at home by the stakeholders. No wonder RB saw a shortage of products like hand sanitizers and soaps by February, and after a rapid increase in production subsequently saw sales surge by 13.3% in the first quarter of the year, its highest growth since inception! Good for you if you already had a stock of these 🙂
Signing off with the hope that you’re in charge of your hygiene, and doing your bit to keep your family, especially the vulnerable ones, 100% safe
Informative.