Brand Update : Dettol

Dettol celebrated its 75 years of existence in 2008. This highly popular antiseptic brand has come a long way since 1933. After a plethora of extensions and experiments, this brand is still ruling the Indian market as the most preferred antiseptic lotion and also as a premium soap.

The brand celebrated its 75 years by reinforcing the germ killing positioning and the tagline " Be 100% sure ". The brand is currently running a campaign highlighting the efficiency and the multi-uses of the product.

In marketing theory , it is taught that one of the strategy for a brand which has reached the maturity stage of PLC is to find new uses for the product. The Dettol brand is currently in the process of discovering those new uses for the product. When the consumer uses the product for different purposes, the sales naturally increases.

A classic case that is used in most marketing textbook is that of the Baking Soda brand Arms & Hammer. The brand found that consumers use baking soda as a refrigerator deodorant. Arms & Hammer ran a series of promotions to encourage consumers to place an open box of Arms & Hammer in their fridge. The brand later extended itself into various products like toothpaste and antiperspirant . ( Marketing Management, Kotler, Keller 13ed)


The best way to find the new uses for the product is to ask the consumers. Dettol did just that. It ran a series of promotions asking consumers to tell the company , how they used Dettol.

Watch the commercial here : Dettol new uses
The brand asked the consumers to contact them and tell the company on the multiple uses of the product and thus gained lot of insights into the various uses of the brand.

The brand later came out with a series of campaign highlighting the various uses of this antiseptic. Dettol now taken the platform of a multi-use antiseptic which can be used during bath, to clean wounds, to sterilize clothes, floor etc.

Although homemakers has been using Dettol for all these, the company has now taken these uses as a part of the core product. The brand is trying to break the image of Dettol as an antiseptic which is used for cleaning wounds.

Along with this initiative, the brand also reinforced its commitment towards hygiene. The brand has selected hygiene as the core brand value and theme which it will fight for.

In 2008, the brand conducted a study which showed that 78% of frequently touched surfaces in a household is highly contaminated. The brand then conducted a series of awareness campaign to promote better hygiene using Dettol.

Using hygiene as the major theme, Dettol is trying to increase the usage of the product among the households. Because of the excellent brand equity, Dettol is in a position to ride this wave.

Regarding the distribution, recently I wanted to buy this brand from my nearest grocery store but was surprised to find that the product was not stocked there. He told me that Dettol is available only in medical shops. A major super market is also not stocking this brand. I am not sure whether Dettol has stopped selling through OTC . If it is so, then the brand is in for trouble.