What is that one thing that makes age-old soap brands stay memorable across generations? Is it the fragrance, the colour, or the packaging? Not quite. Consistency in product promise and brand communication is what keeps legacy soaps relevant, say branding experts. That consistency has now paid off for Santoor.
Santoor, according to parent company Wipro Consumer Care, has emerged as India’s largest soap brand, clocking an estimated revenue of Rs 2,850 crore in 2025. Driven by strong rural reach, steady pricing, and its long-running “younger-looking skin” positioning, the brand has overtaken Hindustan Unilever’s Lifebuoy to claim the top spot in the category.
Wash away the clutter, hold on to one truth
At the core of Santoor’s rise lies a sharply defined and unwavering differentiator. According to Samit Sinha, Founder & Managing Partner, Alchemist Brand Consulting, the brand’s enduring association with sandalwood has been its single most important strength in an otherwise cluttered soap market. Sandalwood, he points out, is a highly specific and culturally rooted attribute, particularly in southern India, where the soap category itself is large enough to significantly influence national market share.
Sinha notes that while Lifebuoy may still be stronger in parts of western, northern and eastern India, Santoor’s dominance in the South created a decisive advantage. Being a category leader in a high-consumption region helped tilt the national balance in Santoor’s favour and enabled it to grow into what is now the country’s largest-selling soap brand.
Foam without the fuss of reinvention
Experts believe Santoor’s success is equally about what the brand chose not to change. N Chandramouli of TRA Research says Santoor modernised without abandoning its core consumer or its original reason-to-believe. Instead of chasing premium cues or urban aspiration, the brand refreshed its look, packaging, and communication while staying anchored in value, familiarity and functional benefit.
This approach ensured there was no cultural or price shock for its core user. Incremental modernisation allowed Santoor to evolve alongside its consumer rather than attempting to reframe her identity, helping the brand scale nationally while remaining deeply accessible across middle-India and rural markets.
Gopa Menon, COO & Co-Founder, Theblurr, adds that Santoor made a deliberate choice to retain its sandalwood and turmeric proposition while shifting the conversation from ingredients to outcomes. The promise of “younger-looking skin” was aspirational yet believable, particularly for mothers balancing household responsibilities. Rather than pursuing a premium leap, Santoor improved product quality, refreshed packaging cues and communicated in a contemporary manner, all while maintaining consistent price points.
Rinse and repeat: The power of ‘Santoor wali mummy’
If there is one campaign that cemented Santoor’s place in popular culture, it is the ‘Santoor wali mummy’ narrative. The mother-daughter confusion storyline ran for years, becoming one of the most recognisable advertising ideas in Indian FMCG.
According to Chandramouli, the strength of the campaign lay in repetition and cultural embedding rather than constant reinvention. Each execution reinforced the same central idea, helping build strong memory structures and instant recognisability at scale.
Menon similarly notes that the campaign worked because it translated the product benefit into a simple, memorable visual that resonated far beyond the ad break, especially among young mothers who were both users and household influencers.
However, some experts caution against over-reliance on a single executional device. Nisha Sampath, Managing Partner at Bright Angles Consulting, says Santoor’s strength is rooted in a timeless insight rather than the campaign itself. “Having worked on Lux from 2004 to 2009, I see Santoor’s strength as rooted in a core insight that remains timeless: people aspire to be mistaken for being younger without looking like they’ve ‘made an effort’. That aspiration, particularly for the Indian housewife, has allowed Santoor to stay relevant,” she says.
At the same time, Sampath warns that iconic storytelling devices can become constraints if brands marry themselves too closely to one execution. “When a brand is imprisoned by execution rather than the larger aspiration, it becomes hard to evolve,” she notes.
With the category itself changing and expectations from wash-off soaps being redefined, she argues that Santoor should retain its beauty-led aspiration but refresh what ‘aspirational’ means for Indian women today.
Soap shelves decide the winner
Beyond communication, experts point to Santoor’s consistent pricing, familiar packaging and strong availability as critical enablers of scale. While Hindustan Unilever enjoys a structural advantage in FMCG distribution, Sinha argues that distribution ultimately follows consumer demand. As Santoor became more meaningful and relevant to consumers, shelf presence and channel support followed.
Menon and Chandramouli underline that in mass categories, affordability and availability often outweigh abstract purpose. Santoor ensured it was present where consumers shop, at price points they are comfortable with, supported by packaging that evolved gradually without losing recognisability. While Lifebuoy’s purpose-led health positioning carries social relevance, it does not always translate into everyday purchase decisions in price-sensitive markets.
The bigger lesson: Clarity beats complexity
For legacy FMCG brands, Santoor’s ascent offers a clear lesson. Consistency, not constant reinvention, builds scale. Sinha describes it as standing for one thing, reinforcing it year after year, and staying true to brand DNA. Chandramouli calls it long-term coherence in a market crowded with short-term campaigns.
Sampath sums it up as disciplined custodianship. “The biggest lesson is consistency. Commit to what works, and have both the company and the agency act as custodians of that positioning instead of chasing novelty every time leadership or short-term metrics shift,” she says.
Santoor’s Rs 2,850 crore milestone shows that brands who endure are those that know what not to wash away.