leven months after Dabur acquired the Rs 57-crore brand, Babool, during its takeover of Balsara, the herbal giant decided to go in for promotions and released the first TVC for the toothpaste. The commercial with a catchy jingle based on an old Hindi film song features Vivek Oberoi.
Babool was launched in 1998 for the economy sub segment and was one of the first toothpastes to be launched at a price point of Rs 5 (for a 30 gm tube). According to sources in Dabur, Babool has a strong equity as a herbal toothpaste in the economy segment. The new commercial strengthens these core values further on the herbal platform. Kudrati Babool toothpaste delivers a relevant rational benefit of "strong teeth from roots". Babool packs will now incorporate the Dabur logo to lend credibility to the herbal factor. "This," says a company official, "we have tried to achieve by a communication wherein the benefits of Babool are demonstrated by the protagonist Oberoi who enjoys life by directly biting into hard fruits, while other people are nibbling away."
The account is handled by McCann Erickson. "Toothpaste is a mass product. Our attempt was to reach out to more and more people. Dabur wanted to add a new dimension - strong teeth. We have metaphorically taken it forward and used the VO - stop living life in small bites," explains Prasoon Joshi, regional creative director, South and South East Asia, McCann Erickson. ... more