Santoor's soap campaign is my favourite, says Yardley India's Manish Vyas

The ad stands out because of the consistency of the message over the decades

Which is your favourite campaign and why?

It is the Santoor soap campaign over the years and particularly the latest one with three film celebrities from different languages. It is not often that one sees campaigns that are rooted in its positioning and yet customised and made relevant for the local market. This is the first time that Santoor has roped in three celebrities, Varun Dhawan (Hindi), Mahesh Babu (Telugu) and Karthi (Tamil) simultaneously for different regions as part of its hyperlocal marketing strategy. And also, while Santoor campaign has celebrity actors, the protagonist or the central character remains the lady with a younger looking skin. The campaign continues to revolve around mistaken age.

The key strength of Santoor has been the uniformity in communicating the core proposition while refreshing the context and reflecting the aspirations of the new Indian woman. 

This campaign also capitalises on India’s passion for cricket with the film shot in stadium with the backdrop of a cricket match. That is an added plus.

On what parameters did you base your decision?

It is the consistency. Rarely does one find a brand staying with a 30-year-old storyline and yet render it so beautifully so as to make it contemporary and relevant that it resonates with consumers. Santoor’s celebrity commercial presents the brand’s signature campaign of mistaken identity and the core proposition of Younger Looking Skin in a new light beautifully.

Also, celebrities have helped to deliver the message of mistaken age sharply in the film. They have helped to break the clutter and gain high brand recall.

Manish Vyas, Vice-president & Business head, Yardley India

What do you think was the key idea the campaign was trying to drive home?
 

The fundamental message is that Santoor is the secret to younger looking skin. This iconic message today symbolises Santoor brand. 

Often, the emotional element in a campaign has greater recall than the product or service advertised. Do you feel that the same thing could have happened with this campaign given the consistency of the message?

I don’t think so. The emotional element in the campaign is subtly built into the story while conveying the unique functional benefits of the product being advertised. 

What are the takeaways for you from the campaign?

Santoor’s core positioning of younger looking skin that has remained constant for 30 years needs to be part of marketing case studies of successful Indian brands. It is that inspirational. This specific campaign highlights how one can contemporise a campaign thought without changing the storyline and without simply translating it from another language.

What else could have been done to make the campaign better?

I hope the brand will localise the idea for other markets as well in the future. In the past we have seen several brands using celebrities across regions of North, South, West and East. Santoor has attempted to localise further by going choosing celebrities for a specific state and language. I hope they will build on this further.