or most Indian consumers on the wrong side of 30, Godrej Consumer Products� (GCP) Cinthol is a bulky, brick-shaped green soap in a no-frills, white-and-red packaging, best known for its distinct fragrance and value-for-money association. For younger consumers, however, Cinthol has, at various points in time, signified a lime soap, a cologne soap, a spice soap, an international soap, a fresh soap, an orange soap, a skin soap, and even a deo soap. Add to this the fact that in its advertising over the years, Cinthol has flip-flopped between the macho male, the bubbly-fresh family and the confident woman-about-town, and it comes as no surprise that the 52-year old brand - and GCP�s second largest offering after Godrej No 1 - is still working to establish a clear identity in the mind of the consumer.

Currently, after all the reworking of the Cinthol portfolio (soaps contribute 90 per cent to the brand�s Rs 130-crore turnover), the brand comprises the new Cinthol Deo Soap (available in Spice and Cologne variants at Rs 13 for 75 gm and Rs 20 for 125 gm), Cinthol Lime Fresh (50 gm for Rs 5, 75 gm for Rs 13 and 125 gm for Rs 20) and the original Cinthol (100 gm at Rs 19). With a 17 million-strong user base, Cinthol makes for an interesting paradox in the soap market. While the original Cinthol soap has remained unchanged over the years, the newer variants are being shuffled around in an attempt to find a suitable plank. ... more