Mysore Sandals Millennium: The Launch of India’s Most Expensive Soap

Over the past decade or so, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd (KS&DL) – an Indian public sector enterprise – has observed a significant fall in its signature product’s brand image, Mysore Sandalwood. The company now aims to rebuild its overall image by launching their new, Mysore Sandals Millennium, soap in January 2012.

Millennium is a super-premium luxury soap offering that has taken three years of research and development and is targeted at the top-end consumer segment. It is priced at US$12.60 for a bar – making it the most expensive Indian soap on the market – where the premium range is available for as low as US$0.35 a bar.

Will KS&DL succeed in marketing a product priced at a level that makes it unaffordable to most Indians? How can the company best go about executing and communicating its strategy to make this launch a success?

This case provides students an opportunity to learn about the challenges faced when a company launches a new brand — particularly a luxury brand in a developing country such as India. Through this case, students will learn about the concepts of brand extension, and above all, vertical brand extension. It can also be used to discuss the spillover effects of the launch, and its success, on other existing brands of the company, as well as the overall corporate brand.

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