Colgate : Smile karo aur shuru jo jao (Case Study : How Colgate became household name in India ? )

On one fine day, When I woke up and I heard my neighbor saying to her daughter " toothpaste krli kya?" I paused for a moment, and I remembered I felt something odd somehow because Colgate was missing.

yes you heard me right " Colgate " and it's been ages since I heard the name toothpaste (unless it's ads). I know in India we all say " Colgate kr li kya ? " and it's actually doesn't matter you are doing Colgate, it can be closeup Sensodyne or even Dantkanti  but Colgate isn't just a brand anymore.

So lets dive into to know, How Colgate became household name?

First some amazing facts about Colgate:-

• An American Brand, originally sold as starch, candles and soap but started oral hygiene products in 1873, 16 years after death of his founder, William Colgate.
• first, Colgate (I mean toothpaste) used to sold in jars, and later on, tubes.
• Colgate become popular in 1950s, with it's slogan it " Cleans your breath while it Cleans your teeth".
• Colgate tooth powder, soaps , detergent still can be purchased .
• Colgate- Palmolive had a long competition with P&G , the world's largest soap and detergent maker.
• Colgate's soaps turn down by consumers when P&G introduced Tide laundry detergent after World war II.
• After P&G added fluoride to it's toothpaste, Colgate lost its position , but Colgate able to reclaim it's position as no. 1.
• Colgate and P&G used to compete in soap operas, sponsored many Tv shows (it's one of the reasons how Colgate get popularized ?)
• In 2005, Colgate sold it's underperforming brands Fab, Dynamo, Arctic Power, ABC, Cold power, and fresh start.
• Today, Colgate has numerous subsidiaries organization spanning 200 countries but it is publicly listed only in three countries i.e, the United States India and Pakistan.
• The company rank 184th in 2018 fortune 500 list of the one of the largest United States corporations by revenue.
• 2021 the company ranked 15th on the list of most trusted brands.

And today's it's product line has been working in these 5 segments Germ Tooth Decay, Sensitivity , Whitening, Gel , Children

How Colgate became benchmark , for toothpaste ?

Colgate-Palmolive (India) Limited is India's leading provider of oral care products, incorporated in 1937. The range includes toothpastes toothpowder toothbrushes and mouthwashes under the 'Colgate'.

Colgate-Palmolive Company U.S.A. is the company's ultimate holding company.

Colgate has become a household name for battling germs and poor breath while maintaining proper oral hygiene. By offering high-quality goods at fair and affordable prices, the brand has earned the confidence of millions of customers.

So, Colgate just they didn't displayed " Colgate "as something royal or something out of reach, they introduced with something small like this " buy toothbrush get toothpaste free" scheme with smaller packs, with kids pack, in with everything, and it increased sales by 170% .

I've observed that you can win the market by 3 ways, i say them 3 golden rule to dominate the industry :-

first, one is to become leader, be dominant in the industry with new technologies and ideas. for example : Apple

second, be good at imitating the leader, for example : Samsung

and third, do make mass production, as much as you can , something at reasonable price( lowest price as compare to the competitor) . for example : local brands of soft-drinks, (or what China does, they don't provide quality but they do mass production at low price )

and it's actually psychology saying there might be no actual difference in competing products but banging over the head for being different , do works !!!!!

Colgate marketing strategies 101

Unique Packaging

Colgate packaging stayed same for years by means of color Red, and in psychological manners Red color depicts excitement, passion, energy, and action. It's a vibrant and influential color, and do stand out.

They have been using the color red so much that now people have started believing that if toothpaste is wrapped in the wrapper of the color RED it is a Colgate product

The Smile

In this above image the audience is so focused on the teeth of the people in the images that they fail to notice the woman in the first picture has six fingers, and this highlighted the importance of brushing.

“The Smile Show” – YouTube videos to reach targeted millennials.

The Trolls (Social Life)

Colgate started this new campaign by hashtag Max fresh The troll #MaxfreshThetroll and showed us how Ranveer Singh Jaspreet Bumrah tackles the trolls in daily life, by giving a social message to move on with life with smiling.

The Real life stories

Colgate not only signed up celebrities to gain trust of the audience but was able to bring real life struggles and inspiration such as :

• Sindhutai Sapkal : Once Homeless, Today She’s a Mother to the Homeless,
• Anand Arnold : From a cancer survivor to a wheelchair bodybuilder,
• Divyanshu Ganatra : He lost his Vision but Never lost Sight of his Dreams and many more.

Promoting Education

IDA (India dental association) along with Colgate sponsor scholarships such as Keep India Smiling Foundational Scholarship & Mentorship Programme aims to provide foundational support to individuals but may lack resources to pursue their dreams.

Colgate Seva Mandir Education Scholarship Empowering young children from marginalized communities in the tribal/rural villages of Udaipur, Rajasthan.

Colgate has been associated with Pratham, an NGO working towards providing quality education to the underprivileged children in India.

Breaking Taboos

During lockdown, Colgate introduced a new freedom, by using lockdown as a reassessment of life & give life a second chance & above all, start with a smile.

For the future

This effort began in 2019 and not all tubes will immediately be recyclable. It takes time to make the transition, and during this time, some of our toothpastes will be in recyclable tubes while others won't have transitioned yet.

So what actually did is they on every factor from real life stories to social causes, but the journey of Colgate-Palmolive isn't always this smooth, it got messy when "Dentist ka sujhya huya no. 1 brand " almost lost in 2007 when UK claimed the Advertising standards authority (ASA) in the UK that Colgate could not longer make claim over that 4 out of 5 dentist recommends Colgate.

Before Patanjali’s entry, things wasn't that much rough, but when Patanjali entered the market and changed the competition because of the herbal or natural category.

while Patanjali and Dabur collectively enjoying the bigger pie with a market share of ~75%. This is where MNC’s such as CPIL and HUL have lost their market share to domestic players. To fight back, CPIL has launched several products in this segment under the Ved Shakti Portfolio.

CPIL tried to give a fight here with the Colgate Max Fresh, but HUL sustained its leadership.

and whatsoever " Colgate-Palmolive " able to gain this confidence & trust over the customer.

I've been working on this article from 2 months and why? Well I wanted to cover Colgate is how slowly and steadily it became household name & benchmark over the years , that we forget its just only a brand but still we say "Colgate krli kya ?" and fact is we still going to say colgate krli kya?

and for timeline journey of Colgate-Palmolive over the years, click on this link made by Mehak Khudania.

Source : Business standard, Wikipedia, Kantara, IIDE, Economics times, Colgate.com, Buddy4study , economics times , Aevy Tv , Dental Tribune, HDFC Securities Report on Oral Care Market in India (20) , the strategy story.