The Sensodyne Story

Sensodyne, Glaxo SmithKline Consumer Healthcare’s sensitive toothpaste, has had a sensational run in India so far, emerging the top brand in its category and a 150-crore business in just three years.This feat is even more admirable given how the odds were stacked against Sensodyne: Colgate and Hindustan Unilever almost entirely controlled the oral care market; only 17% Indians knew what tooth sensitivity was against a global average of 33%; GSK Consumer had the baggage of one failed oral care launch — Aquafresh — before it; and, just 4% of Indians visited dentists. Clearly, Sensodyne’s success credentials globally were not going to be enough to make it big in India.

G Venkatramani, general manager, sales, at Glaxo Smith-Kline Consumer Healthcare India, and Rahul Bibhuti, general manager (marketing) – oral care at the firm are behind the most successful FMCG launch in recent years. Venkatramani,is a post- graduate in economics from Loyola College, Chennai. He worked with Nestle, Gillette and P&G before joining GSK five years ago. Bibhuti is an alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and he worked with Dabur before joining GSK Consumer.  Read more of this post