Santoor's new extensions to form its anti-ageing potion

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting Group is also sharpening the geographic focus of its largest-selling brand

Wipro Consumer Care  and Lighting Group (Wipro Consumer) is sharpening the focus of the biggest brand in its portfolio, Santoor. Rather than focus on the north of India, it will look to increase its share in states contiguous with its stronger markets in south India. Wipro Consumer will also cross-leverage knowhow of its acquired international businesses to launch new product extensions.

Santoor contributes to over 60 per cent of the Rs 2,100-crore domestic sales of Wipro Consumer, a division spun off from Wipro Technologies last financial year.

Santoor reclaimed its spot in the top three soap brands in November 2013 and has widened its lead during November 2013 to January 2014.

Vineet Agrawal, the division's president, says, "We have seen the north (of India) is not an area for Santoor. We have natural traction for Santoor here (in the south), so we are pushing our strength here. There is still enough scope and juice here."

In the Rs 10,000-crore soap market, HUL's Lux and Lifebuoy remain market leaders, competing neck and neck with shares close to 15 per cent.

Santoor, however, has maintained its lead in south and west India. Agrawal says, "Our next focus will be states like Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu." Santoor enjoys a 35 - 36 per cent market share in soaps in Andhra Pradesh, 19 per cent in Karnataka, 15 per cent in Maharashtra and 11-12 per cent in Gujarat.

About the Rs 1,300-crore brand, Agrawal says, "Santoor is still growing at about 11 per cent in the third quarter, ahead of the industry's growth rate. On a cumulative basis, Santoor has seen volume growth of 10 per cent so far this year."

For decades, Santoor's television commercials have highlighted its age-defying capabilities by portraying a man smitten by the beauty of a seemingly young female protagonist, only to be further amazed by a child who emerges and runs towards the two of them calling out to the lady, her mother.

Santoor's communication has been around the same theme for about 25 years; recently, it launched a campaign featuring actors Mahesh Babu and Saif Ali Khan in ads for south and north India, respectively, on a similar storyline.

The brand has been extended beyond the flagship sandalwood and turmeric soap, to variants like Santoor White, Santoor Glycerine, and more recently, Santoor Honey and Apricot.

Extensions to give a leg-up

But the largest age-defying step Wipro Consumer is taking for now, is lining up a new set of brand extensions for Santoor. Wipro Consumer is test-marketing a range of shampoos, body lotions, hand washes, facewashes and deodorants to appeal to a younger audience. These new products are being tested in at least two markets in south and west India.

Agrawal mentions the cross-leveraging of Wipro Consumer's international portfolio - it had acquired Unza, a South-East Asian personal care company and the rights to Yardley's business in Asia North-West. Agrawal says, "We sell body washes all over South-East Asia, so it doesn't take us much to bring that capability here in India. We understand the formulation and packaging and when we see the market ready for it, we will launch it."

However, Agrawal is cautious about the extensions at the same time. "At this point we just need to consolidate what we have expanded into. We need to grow the market share in each category and reach a higher level of share in the new categories we've launched," Agrawal says.

Founded in 1947 as a vegetable oil company, Wipro Consumer has been clocking growth at 24 per cent in the last few years with its presence in 18 countries - in SAARC, ASEAN, MENA regions and the UK. It clocks an annual revenue of Rs 4,500 crore from businesses in skincare, lighting and commercial furniture in both India and international markets.

Wipro Consumer has gone for inorganic growth in personal care as well, with its acquisitions like the Singapore-based Unza in 2007, Yardley in 2009 and 2012, Aramusk in 2011 and the Singapore-based LD Waxson for in 2012.

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This is a modified version of the original report