A decade ago, a car was largely a means of commuting. Today, for many urban consumers, it is where a sizable part of the day is spent, whether on the daily work run or simply inching through traffic. That makes the car an interesting new space for fragrance brands, and Odonil is wasting no time in getting behind the wheel. After building a strong presence in home fragrance, the Dabur-owned brand has entered the car fragrance category with Ocean Breeze and Ruby Mist.
Vaibhav Rathi, Marketing Head, Home Care at Dabur India, in a conversation with IMPACT Magazine, says that the move is not merely about adding another product to the portfolio. It is about taking the brand’s fragrance expertise into a space that consumers have started treating as personal. “The penetration of cars in India has grown, particularly in urban markets, and consumers are spending a disproportionate amount of time commuting. Therefore, in our understanding, the car is now an extension of their personal space.” he explains. Odonil’s new range, hence comes with features such as fragrance intensity control and Anti-Smoke Technology, with the products offering up to 45 days of freshness.
The car, however, is only one part of the larger opportunity Rathi sees for Odonil. While the brand holds a leadership position in air fresheners, the category itself remains underpenetrated in India, making the bigger business ambition ‘to recruit more consumers into the category’.
Odonil’s recent regional campaign aptly fits that strategy. Created as seven independent films across Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the campaign moves away from the familiar formula of creating one national film and dubbing it across markets. For Rathi, that level of specificity becomes particularly important, “Unless the conversation is extremely relevant and compelling, it wouldn’t swing the needle. That’s where a hyper-local approach starts working for us,” he says.
But hyper-local, in Odonil’s playbook, does not simply mean speaking the consumer’s language. Rathi explains, “We made sure that we’re able to present local social realities while also staying anchored in the core human and brand truth.” The impact, he adds, is still too early to quantify. However, the initial response has been encouraging, with engagement levels and conversations around the campaign giving the brand confidence that ‘the initial trajectory is good’.
When it comes to the media mix strategy, Rathi says digital sits at the centre of the brand’s approach in the urban markets where the category is concentrated. However, he does not see digital as one homogenous space. The content and the role of the screen change depending on how consumers are watching. “When consumers are viewing content on a large screen, it’s a slightly more relaxed environment. There is more collective viewing and therefore it renders itself better to long-format content.” Smaller screens, by contrast, offer a more individual and immersive environment, requiring a different kind of content approach.
Q-commerce is the other piece Rathi places firmly on the media map. For him, its significance goes beyond delivery speed because the consumer journey itself has compressed. “It has never been shorter. Therefore, it’s just not a demand fulfillment platform. It’s also a demand generation platform,” he says. For Odonil, that makes Q-commerce an important touchpoint as the brand looks to bring more consumers into the category.
Like brands everywhere, Dabur has also embraced AI across marketing, using it for trend spotting, insights, content ideation and asset adaptation. But Rathi is conscious that the same technology, available to competitors, creates a risk of advertising that begins to look interchangeable. “It is very important for any brand to figure out how they would differentiate themselves compared to the rest,” he says. Rathi points to three areas in this effect: innovation rooted in a genuine consumer benefit, communication that reflects authentic consumer nuances, and a brand position that stays relevant while allowing for fresher executions.
With more legacy players and D2C brands entering home and personal care, competition is broadening. Yet Rathi sees plenty of room for the category to grow, supported by urbanisation, premiumisation, greater hygiene consciousness, rising aspirations, modern trade and Q-commerce. The bigger challenge, he says, is getting more consumers to participate in the category. “We have to be at the forefront of creating, driving and growing the category. That is why I see it more as an opportunity than challenge”
