Close-Up Whitening: HLL plays shade card

Namrata Singh in Mumbai

Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL), which has just relaunched Close-Up Renew as Close-Up Whitening, says the teeth whitening segment is an “investment for the future”.

Close-Up first entered the whitening segment with Renew in 1997, with the strategic intent to strengthen the whitening leg of the architecture. The then advertising revolved around ‘goodbye yellow, hello white’. While it was an initial success in certain key markets, overall the brand could not register the requisite sales volumes. The company blames it on market slowdown and to a crop of low-priced toothpastes.

As per estimates, the whitening segment is seen to be rising in developed markets like the US and Europe, where it is valued at Rs 1,500 crore. This is larger in size as compared to the total toothpaste market in India.

HLL believes the same would ring true for India too, albeit in the future. In order to firmly establish the brand’s credibility with the new relaunch, HLL has leveraged the power of a ‘shade card’ as a diagnostic tool. The relaunch idea is to introduce a mix capable of building a category.

Says HLL category head - oral care (personal products) Mr Pradeep Banerjee: “The idea behind the shade card is to empower the consumer as a see-it-yourself kind of strategy. With the shade card, consumers can and see and believe in promise, thus adding to the credibility.”

The strategy behind empowering consumers is also aimed at reducing trial barriers. By providing a shade card, the company hopes to generate more users into this niche segment.

Even though the whitening segment is predominantly an urban phenomenon, research conducted by the company across the rural and urban spectrum revealed that white teeth rank high on the priority list as compared to other dental qualities. HLL has thus endeavoured to build this category which, it feels, has a promising future considering that the research findings peg “whiteness” as the prime concern among the consumers, especially youth.

At a price of Rs 19 for 50 gm and Rs 49 for 150 gm, Close-Up Whitening comes at a five per cent premium to the core categories of toothpastes.

The first phase of the advertising focuses on the relaunch of Renew into Whitening. The outdoor campaign hinges on the baseline ‘no white lies, just white teeth’ and ‘dazzling white teeth in just 4 weeks’. The second phase will have a thematic base which generates awareness among consumers regarding the true shade of their teeth.

Meanwhile, to support the franchise, the company has also rolled out a Close-Up Whitening toothbrush priced at Rs 35 in a limited geography.

The marketshare of Close-Up toothpaste is about 16.5 per cent. HLL’s overall toothpaste (Close-Up and Pepsodent) share stands at 36.1 per cent.