Shared Values Lead To Common Goals

Brand perception is more important than ever before. Delivering products based on consumer expectations is critical to stay ahead of the curve and build brand loyalty.

With brands expected to play an even bigger role towards consumers, employees and the environment, trust has emerged as the cornerstone of brand equity for Dettol, India’s most trusted germ protection brand. Consumers instinctively know it will keep their loved ones safe and healthy from harm and illness.

This unwavering trust and credibility are because our product interventions help break the chain of many infectious diseases, including diarrhoea. Our efforts towards creating a cleaner and healthier world are, therefore, not an option but an imperative.

Be 100% Sure

While discussing the merits of building trust is easy, drilling it down to specifics is another matter. Dettol’s hallmarks of consistency, sharing common values and congruity between words and actions have engendered trust in a dynamic and challenging world where people gravitate towards familiarity, which they equate with confidence.

Such familiarity is a function of time and memory structures, which result from actions, forms and assets built by a brand over time. Dettol’s careful nurturing of its long legacy helped it maintain this consistency, making it easier for people to trust it.

Moreover, innovation is crucial for any product to maintain its relevance and stay in sync with changing societal needs. Fortunately, Dettol has a long history of innovation.

Formulated in 1929 by Albert Leopold Reckitt and Dr. William Colebrook Reynolds, Dettol was used as a post-surgery antiseptic skin wash in hospitals. Over time, this went beyond cuts and wounds towards sanitising hands, surfaces and clothes, which are breeding grounds for bacteria.

As our understanding of germs evolved with technology, so did Dettol’s portfolio of products. It now encompasses a wide range of antibacterial products from soap to handwash to household cleaning products.

Since hand hygiene is the foundation of good health, this has always been core to the brand’s purpose of preventing illness and enabling healthier families, communities and, ultimately, a healthier world. It continues to utilise scientific expertise to formulate high-quality and efficacious products that create a cleaner, healthier and safer world.

The foaming handwash range launched this year was built on the premise of moisturising hands while delivering the brand’s promise of complete germ protection.

Taking a completely different route is the recently launched powder-to-liquid handwash that offers an innovative hygiene solution to value-conscious Indian shoppers. This is our endeavour to make quality products accessible to an extensive consumer base at an affordable price.

Consistent Communication

Over the past more than eight decades, Dettol’s purpose has been to protect life. As one of India’s most trusted brands, we feel we are in a position of responsibility to tackle the spread of germs and illnesses due to poor hygiene behaviours.

While crafting new models and frameworks to overcome hygiene obstacles, we follow relevant life stages and map out inflection points to reach consumers appropriately.

Our communication builds on the power of good habits to overcome tough situations. Without instilling fear, we emphasise that protection is exceedingly important since threats exist due to bad hygiene habits.

We have an opportunity to play a meaningful role in ensuring that hygiene behaviours remain relevant, which is where innovative messaging comes in.  Every campaign underlines the clear link of the brand’s ultimate purpose, which is rooted in consumer insights.

When the nation was battling various health-related issues during the pandemic, Dettol engaged with its consumers consistently. From the viral #HandWashChallenge on TikTok in March 2020, which garnered 50 billion+ views across the globe, to the ‘’Dettol Salutes’ programme, which saw Dettol replacing the iconic logo on its handwash bottle with images of frontline warriors. The Mil Ke Harayenge anthem also emphasised the need to adopt good practices during tough times, be it washing hands or getting vaccinated.

Traditionally, brand assets like logos, fonts, colours and labels are sacrosanct and changed only during rebranding and re-strategising exercises. By modifying its packaging for the Dettol Salutes initiative, the brand showed that it stood with the Covid warriors at a turbulent time.

Successful brands must allow contemporary consumers to engage in a conversation. Deep consumer immersions give us clearer insights to convey our message, enhancing credibility of our actions and building long-term trust.

While the underlying principles behind great marketing communication have primarily remained intact, the context, platform and media realign to remain relevant. Dettol has been at the forefront of adapting to changing times. Whether it has been the skillful use of traditional media–like TV and print–or the adoption of digital platforms like TikTok, its campaigns befit its position of being amongst the Most Trusted Brands in India.

A Valued Brand That Values Hygiene

Hygiene is the foundation of good health, breaking the chain of infection of many transmissible diseases, especially post Covid. Despite increased awareness about personal hygiene, many neglect it leading to an increased risk of infection and illness.

Our research over the years found that diseases were caused by germs contracted during daily activities, which can be prevented by following basic hygiene practices. Numerous diseases, including diarrhoea, spread because of unclean hands. In a country where we eat food with our hands most of the time, it becomes even more critical to keep our hands clean by washing them frequently.

We look at closing hygiene gaps prevalent in India with our products and programmes to create a healthier nation. The sword on every Dettol pack depicts killing harmful germs and the shield symbolises protection.

Impact With Purpose

Reckitt has always tried to deliver its brand promise as a purpose-driven company by working in partnership with its customers and industry stakeholders rather than in isolation. This promise extends to ensuring that consumers have access to the products, which has been the driving force behind the expansion of the distributor network, which has crossed 5 million outlets across the country.

The other side of purpose is social impact and Dettol has been at the forefront in supporting purpose-driven campaigns and programmes that have achieved impact at scale across the country. The Dettol Banega Swachh India (DBSI) campaign, launched in 2014, (and pivoting to Dettol Banega Swasth India in 2019) has seen the growth of its school hygiene education programme reach 24 million children across India, driving a 14.6% reduction in diarrhoea among schoolchildren, and a 57% reduction in school absenteeism due to illnesses.

Other programmes, such as the recently launched Dettol Diarrhoea Net Zero programme, focus on advancing hygiene behaviours as key to reducing preventable deaths because of diarrhoea in under-5 kids. Initiatives like the Dettol Hygiene Olympiad also help engage parents and children and place hygiene knowledge as a symbol of excellence.