For generations of Indian consumers, Colgate has been the default word for toothpaste. Its red-and-white packs have travelled from kirana shelves to modern trade and, increasingly, to smartphone screens. But that leadership faces its toughest test today.
Colgate’s toothpaste market share has fallen from about 58% a decade ago to roughly 43% now, according to analysts and industry estimates, as competitors such as Dabur, Patanjali and Hindustan Unilever as well as a new crop of digital-first brands chip away at its once-formidable lead.
It doesn’t help that oral-care consumption in India still lags. Only around 45% of rural households brush daily, while brushing twice a day remains uncommon even among urban consumers, according to the company.
Into this landscape walks a familiar face. When Manish Anandani takes charge as managing director and chief executive of Colgate-Palmolive India on 28 September, he will be returning to a company he knows from the inside—but to a market that has changed dramatically since he left it in 2018.
India’s urban toothpaste market is mature, with household penetration already high. Winning therefore requires consumers to buy more, trade up or switch—not merely adding first-time users. Quick-commerce has made that switching easier. A consumer who once bought the brand available at the neighbourhood store can now compare, discover and order alternatives almost instantly.
Anandani’s homecoming could make a big difference, industry experts say. He spent nearly 13 years at Colgate-Palmolive between 2005 and 2018, holding roles across India, Indochina and the global organisation. His last stint included worldwide responsibility in global customer development, with a focus on retail, shopper marketing and capabilities. He left for Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health and subsequently became managing director of Kenvue India and South Asia.
The return gives Colgate a leader who has seen the business from several angles: sales, marketing, customer development, e-commerce, general management and international markets. It also comes when those cross-functional skills may matter more than ever.
Dabur Red has tapped consumers’ preference for herbal and Ayurvedic propositions, while Patanjali Ayurved has added pressure in naturals, according to sector experts. Hindustan Unilever has continued to defend and expand its oral-care portfolio. And then there are newer brands such as Perfora and Salt, which have emerged from a start-up ecosystem more comfortable with digital-first discovery, sharper positioning and direct consumer engagement.
This is where Anandani’s experience becomes relevant. At Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health, he pushed a digital-first sales approach and helped expand e-commerce, later taking on e-commerce and omnichannel responsibilities across Asia-Pacific. As Kenvue’s India and South Asia chief, he managed a portfolio spanning healthcare and consumer brands including Johnson’s Baby, Stayfree, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Listerine, Benadryl and ORSL.
That experience sits neatly alongside Colgate’s next growth agenda: premiumisation, digital commerce and expanding oral care beyond basic brushing. Under Narasimhan, Colgate said its premium portfolio had grown at five times the pace of the broader market over her four-year tenure. The task for Anandani is to make that premium growth meaningful enough to compensate for pressure on the mass-market core.
He also brings a marketer’s understanding of India’s fragmentation. Anandani has spoken of “Many Indias”—different consumer cohorts requiring more personalised and immersive communication. That philosophy could prove useful in a category where the same toothpaste can mean very different things to a value-conscious rural household, a wellness-focused urban consumer and a younger shopper discovering brands on quick-commerce platforms.
The other test will be whether Colgate can retain its science-led identity without becoming disconnected from changing consumer aspirations. The company’s earlier attempt to chase Ayurveda through Ved Shakti was acknowledged by global management as a distraction from its core positioning. Colgate has since doubled down on science-backed innovation.
Anandani therefore inherits neither a broken business nor an easy one. He inherits a market leader whose biggest asset Colgate’s extraordinary brand and distribution remains intact, even as the market has evolved.
His career has brought him almost full circle: from building Colgate’s customer-development capabilities, to running consumer-health businesses, and now back to the company itself. The question is whether the veteran can use that accumulated experience to make India’s most recognisable toothpaste brand relevant to the next generation of consumers.