Liril: Older and bolder

With the ‘girl under waterfall’ format going stale, Liril’s latest ad makes another effort to put freshness in a new perspective, even as it appeals to a more assertive audience.

Waterfall, or no waterfall. In the recent past, this one poser must have assumed Shakespearean proportions for Hindustan Lever (HLL), every time it planned a new commercial for its lime-scented soap brand Liril. For Liril and the waterfall - and the woman under the waterfall - are, perhaps, the most celebrated and evocative images in Indian advertising. By divorcing the two, Liril risks sacrificing those visual cues that the consumer best associates with the brand.

Inversely, plugging the waterfall association has its own limitations, the biggest being predictability. It's hard getting consumers enthused with a 25-year-old story - especially if it's one they know by rote.

But now, finally, HLL appears to have crossed the Rubicon. In the latest Liril commercial, not only has the Liril girl been pulled out of the waterfall, she has been planted squarely in the middle of a dry, scorching Rajasthani desert. And it is left to a bunch of matka-bearing Rajasthani women to provide the Liril girl with the much-needed water that rounds off Liril communication. Of course, the commercial does retain one very critical Liril cue - the ‘laa-la-la-la-laah' refrain, rendered in a throaty male voice, intermingled with Rajasthani dialect.

"Liril captured the public attention in 1975 with its historic communication depicting a bikini-clad nymph cavorting under a waterfall," explains a Lowe Lintas spokesperson. "This bold communication has, over the years, built one of the most powerful brands in India, and helped the brand reach the leadership position in the premium segment of the Indian soap market. However, over the last couple of years, this ‘girl in waterfall' format was reaching fatigue levels - lacking in newness and innovation."

It may be remembered that this is not the first time that HLL has attempted taking the Liril girl out of the waterfall. When HLL launched a liquid soap variant of Liril, one ad showed the model bathing in a car wash, while another had her bathing by a hydrant. More recently, there was this commercial where the Liril girl dives to the seabed, discovers a cake of Liril nestled in the sand, does her la-la-la thing, and surfaces. Ironically, for most consumers, images of Preity Zinta under the waterfall overpower both these examples, however fatiguing the waterfall format may have become.

If on the one hand the waterfall was limiting, the fact that Liril's imagery was being mirrored in the communication of rival lime-scented soap brands didn't serve Liril's purpose. "This imagery had also been copied by cheaper me-toos such as Nirma Lime," says the Lintas spoke. "And it was not being able to create a bonding with today's youth any longer. The need of the hour was to renew the ‘shocking freshness' that endeared the brand to yesterday's youth, and win the affection of today's youth."

"Today's youth are experimentative and would love to do things their own way," he continues. "They (especially the girls) long to spontaneously do their own thing, to be more assertive, without being told ‘behave yourself'. Surprisingly, this was a longing that was shared by older women too. This led to the thought behind the new campaign - ‘Taazgi meri marzi'. Or, ‘Freshness my way'." Lintas feels the new commercial "carries forward the core brand benefit of freshness", with that element of attitude that bonds with the youth. "The Liril girl feels the urge for freshness, and goes about getting the same in her own unique manner."

Assertiveness is a strong component in the new ad. "In the 70s and 80s, Liril's communication drew from the belief that women were constrained, and were seeking freedom," explains one industry analyst. "It was believed that the 10-odd minutes a woman spent in the bath, all alone, was all the time she had for herself. Liril was positioned as a catalyst that gave her an outlet to realize her innermost fantasies - within the four walls of her bathroom. However, today's woman is more mature, assertive and knows her mind. ‘Taazgi meri marzi' is a reflection of this woman - she wants it, she gets it. Today, the Liril girl is bathing in front of other people, not in a lonely waterfall or car wash. That's a measure of boldness."

Agency : Lowe Lintas & Partners, Mumbai

The Team : Team Lowe Lintas

Filmmaker : Sujit Sarkar

Production House : Red Ice Films

Model : Tara Sharma

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