How an Eight-Decade-Old Soap Brand Is Wooing Gen Z

Chandrika, the Ayurvedic soap owned by Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting, has released a new television commercial with actor Keerthy Suresh as brand ambassador. The film is set at a traditional Kerala wedding, where a young guest named Gowri notices another woman’s unmistakable glow. Only later is the woman revealed to be Suresh, who credits Chandrika for her skin.

The product story is simple: a coconut oil base blended with seven Ayurvedic herbs. Ravindra Ramavath, senior general manager – marketing, Wipro Consumer Care, frames it as a bridge between Chandrika’s “over eight decades” of heritage and a generation seeking natural, authentic beauty. The ambition, in his words, is to feel “modern yet rooted in tradition.”

Why a wedding works harder than a product demo

Chandrika could have shown soap lather in a bathroom. Instead it stages discovery inside a Kerala wedding, where beauty is already being watched, compared and discussed. The setting gives the product social context: someone else’s skin becomes the ad’s evidence. Gowri notices the glow before knowing the brand, which mirrors how consumers actually encounter personal-care products—through other people.

The structure also borrows the classic “who is that woman?” hook used by beauty advertising for decades. The viewer is invited to look, wonder, and then receive the answer. When Suresh names Chandrika, the reveal ties aspiration to an accessible, everyday soap rather than a luxury cream.

The legacy-brand tightrope

Legacy brands often mistake “younger” for “louder.” Chandrika instead keeps its Ayurvedic identity and updates the context. That is a cleaner move: heritage becomes the reason to believe, while Keerthy Suresh and the wedding setting supply contemporary relevance. The coconut oil base and seven herbs remain functional proof points for the natural-skincare claim.

Here is the tension brand managers should watch:

• Don’t hide the age. Chandrika’s eight decades are used as proof, not apology.
• Don’t demo alone. The product’s value is shown through a social moment, not a sink.
• Match the face to the frame. Suresh, a Kerala-born actor, fits the film’s cultural setting without feeling imported.

For marketing psychologists, this is meaning transfer in action: the celebrity’s perceived natural beauty and authenticity transfer to the soap, and the wedding setting transfers occasion relevance. The claim is not “you will look like Keerthy Suresh.” It is quieter: “if you want natural glow, use the product she uses.”

What to copy tomorrow

If you manage a heritage brand, find the one scene where your consumer already watches for evidence. A wedding, an interview, a festival, a date. Then place your product’s payoff in that scene. Keep the founder-era ingredient story intact; update the person, the place and the pacing. The product can stay old if the moment feels new.

Source: ETBrandEquity.com