On a mission to change consumer behavior and develop quality products: Prabha Narasimhan of Colgate-Palmolive

Edited excerpts:

Colgate enjoys almost universal popularity in India. How challenging is it to drive further growth and adoption?

Ten years ago, oral care penetration in India was about 85%. Today, it is close to universal. The challenge now is to drive behavioral change – encouraging people to develop habits such as brushing twice a day, changing toothbrushes every three to four months and visiting the dentist regularly. Changing consumer behavior is a long-term endeavor, but it is in line with our mission to ensure better oral health for every Indian.

Is the oral health movement central to that mission?

Earlier, we had campaigns such as Oral Health Month, offering free dental check-ups. We have now expanded this into a year-round oral health campaign. This initiative combines technology, awareness and accessibility. For example, our partnership with Logy AI allows consumers to assess their oral health using image recognition via WhatsApp. Subsequently, more than 50,000 dentists in 1,300 cities conducted free oral health assessments. Through initiatives like free oral health assessments and easy appointments with more than 50,000 dentists, our goal is to reposition dentists as preventive agents rather than just problem solvers for critical issues. In addition, ongoing efforts in oral hygiene awareness are ensured through campaigns such as ‘Night Brush’ and the ‘Bright Smiles, Bright Futures’ program reaching 10 million children this year. With this always-on approach, we aim to create ongoing engagement and accessibility for consumers.

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How does an oral health campaign fit into your marketing strategy?

Oral health campaigns are an integral part of our marketing efforts. For example, we’ve placed QR codes on 600 million packages to give consumers easy access to oral health tools. Television continues to play an important role in driving national campaigns that promote behaviors such as brushing your teeth twice a day. On the digital side, data from programs like Logy AI allows us to create personalized recommendations and engage with consumers more effectively. Combining broad reach with personalized engagement ensures our marketing efforts resonate with different demographics. Advertising and promotion are an important part of our strategy.

What percentage of your marketing budget is allocated to these efforts?

We spend around 14% of our turnover on advertising and promotion. A large portion of this will be dedicated to the oral health movement as it is core to our mission and business strategy.

Premiumization is an important focus for Colgate. What is your strategy to grow this segment?

Premiumization is the second pillar of our growth strategy and it definitely needs to be ramped up. Currently, only about 14% of the oral care category belongs to the premium segment, lagging behind categories such as skin care and hair care. Our goal is for our high-end business to grow at least two to three times faster than the overall business. This growth was driven by Colgate Total Strength, which addresses advanced daily oral care needs and is a global flagship product with numerous patents. Whitening solutions, like our Visible White Purple toothpaste, provide instant whitening results and are designed to appeal to beauty-conscious consumers. Additionally, our treatment solutions for specific dental problems benefit from our strong network of dentists established in India over 87 years.

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Consumers often buy toothpaste for specific benefits, whether it’s freshening, gum health or whitening. Our job is to position Colgate products as the clear choice for meeting these needs, ensuring strong recall in each market segment.

With the rise of digitalization and fast commerce trends, how is Colgate adapting?

Fast Trade is a great addition for us as it benefits our dominant tight breed. About 6% of our business comes from e-commerce, of which Kuaishang contributes 20%. The channel is growing eight times faster than our overall business, increasing its market share and profits. In addition, our understanding of regional preferences allows us to partner with fast commerce platforms to ensure the right varieties are available in the right locations, which further strengthens our position in this channel.

Rural India faces unique challenges. How have you adapted your approach?

Rural areas of India are particularly important as per capita oral care consumption in these areas is approximately half of urban levels. To address this, we are expanding the Bright Smiles, Bright Futures program to reach more schoolchildren, working with the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Goa to integrate oral health education into school curricula and piloting communication strategies to encourage Daily Brushing We are also piloting new communication strategies to encourage daily brushing habits in rural areas, recognizing the unique behavioral and cultural differences in these areas, and these efforts are focused on driving behavior change in brushing areas. Frequency tends to be lower than in urban households.

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What is your vision for oral care in India?

We want to see every Indian brush their teeth twice a day, replace their toothbrush every four months and visit the dentist regularly. With the right tools, continued engagement, and growing awareness, we believe this vision is achievable in the near future.