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The inclusion of softeners (20 g/l), namely, Siligen VN (silicon based), Basosoft SWK (cationic), or Leomin NI (nonionic), in a dimethyloldihydroxy ethylene urea (DMDHEU, 50 g/l) finishing formulation of 65/35 cotton/polyester blended fabric, enhances the resiliency of the fabric, which is expressed as the dry wrinkle recovery angle (WRA). The fabric acquires the ability to keep a rose oil fragrance upon storage up to 3 months. Improving the WRA and acquiring the ability to keep the fragrance can be descendingly arranged as follows: Siligen VN>Basosoft SWK>Leomin NI. Increasing the Siligen VN concentration (0-30 g/l) in the finishing formulation is accompanied by a small increase in the WRA, and a noticeable enhancement in the ability to keep the rose oil fragrance upon storage. By increasing the rose oil concentration (100-300 g/l) in a perfumed bath of cross-linked/Siligen VN, the softened fabric is accompanied by a slight drop in the WRA, and a decreasing ability to keep the fragrance up to 3 months.

However, the extent of the fragrance is higher at higher rose oil concentrations, regardless of the storage time. The ability of the fabric to keep the fragrance can be attributed to solubilization and/or encapsulation of the perfume in the oleophilic segments of the softener, and its slow release with time, so that the smell can be sensed. This ability decreases after increasing the storage time up to 3 months, and depending on the type of perfume oil used, is descendingly arranged as follows: jasmine oil > rose oil > sandal oil.

Marketing, innovation, strategy.

Undergraduate, post-graduate and executive education.

This case is set in January 2012, a few days before the launch of Mysore Sandal Millennium, a super-premium luxury soap offering from the Indian public sector enterprise, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Ltd. (“KS&DL”). Three years of research had been put into this product, which contained some of the finest, high-quality ingredients. KS&DL had, over the past decade or so, observed a significant fall in brand image for its signature product, the Mysore Sandalwood soap. While this soap had for many years been considered the premium brand in India, it had lost its place when well-known foreign brands became available in India, and local manufacturers moved towards this segment, manufacturing a whole new range of competitive products such as liquid body washes and gels. It was with an aim to rebuild its image that the company decided to launch the Millennium soap. KS&DL was clear that the product would be initially aimed at the high-income Indians, and then move to expand into the overseas market. However, it remained to be seen if the company could be truly successful in marketing a product priced at a level which would make it unaffordable to most Indians, other than a very thin layer of the ultra-rich. The question remains as to how KS&DL could best go about executing and communicating its strategy to make this launch a success.

This case provides students the 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 spill-over 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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