BoroPlus has stayed relevant for over 40 years without drastic reinvention, leveraging trust, Ayurvedic roots, and emotional memory while quietly evolving to meet modern skincare needs.
Priti A. Sureka, Executive Director, Emami Limited. (Source: prhandout)
The smell hit first. Herbal. Medicinal. Familiar. Before the white teeka made it to your cheek, before your mother warned you about sardi ki nazar, there was that unmistakable scent of BoroPlus.
This wasn’t just a cream. It was a winter ritual. A mother’s shortcut. A dresser staple. And, over time, a brand that embedded itself in Indian households—not through influencer-led hacks, but through something far less alluring: trust built quietly over decades.
Now, more than 40 years since its launch, BoroPlus is still here — unchanged in spirit, but adjusted in form. It hasn’t been rebranded. It hasn’t gone minimalist. It hasn’t partnered with Gen Z dermatologists on YouTube. And yet, it’s survived the collagen boom, the K-beauty phase, and the clean-beauty wars.
“BoroPlus is not just a cream — it’s an emotion and a cultural icon,” says Priti A Sureka, Executive Director at Emami Ltd.
That might sound like a line from an ad, but it’s hard to argue with the numbers — and the emotional memory embedded in them. But how do you keep something emotionally sticky and commercially viable, especially in a category where consumer loyalty is low and product fatigue is high?
Sureka’s answer: evolve slowly, but never softly.
BoroPlus launched in 1982 under Himani, when Ayurvedic products were still stuck in a binary: either medicinal and clinical or homemade and messy. It wasn’t aspirational. It was utilitarian, often hidden in drawers, not displayed on dressers.
BoroPlus challenged that. It came in white and mauve packaging, topped with a sleek flat cap, and carried a subtle fragrance that didn’t scream “medicine.” It was mass, but it was modern. It was accessible, but it didn’t look cheap.
“Back then, Ayurvedic solutions were mostly home remedies or pharmacy picks. We brought them into everyday skincare — affordable, easy, effective,” says Sureka.
It was one of the earliest examples of what we now call ‘ingredient-led storytelling’. Except BoroPlus never called it that. It just showed up, did its job, and quietly became a family essential.
The brand could have gone the maximalist route — flooding aisles with variants, sub-lines, or celebrity-led gimmicks. It didn’t.
Instead, it played slow and safe. First came the petroleum jelly. Then the lotions. Soft creams. Soaps. Aloe vera gels. Extensions that didn’t dilute the brand’s Ayurvedic credibility, but expanded it into new occasions.
“Every format we launch is still tied to our core Ayurvedic promise,” Sureka notes. “That’s non-negotiable.”
This kind of discipline is rare. Especially in a category where new-age D2C brands drop SKUs like memes, and even legacy players get tempted by TikTok-trending formulations. BoroPlus didn’t need to jump into niacinamide or retinol. It doubled down on neem, aloe, tulsi, and haldi.
The idea was simple: be where the customer needs you, but always look and feel like BoroPlus.
Of course, none of this would have mattered if the brand didn’t know how to make people ‘feel.’ And few have done that better.
The safed teeka. The baritone of Amitabh Bachchan. The line “taaki sardi ki nazar na lage.” These weren’t taglines — they were mnemonics. You didn’t just remember the ad. You remembered how it made your skin — and you — feel.
Sureka calls this “brand memory.” Not the kind measured by aided recall, but the kind you inherit from your grandmother. “When people reach for BoroPlus, it’s often subconscious. It’s not just about efficacy. It’s about emotional assurance,” she says.
And unlike nostalgia-for-nostalgia’s-sake, BoroPlus uses memory tactically. It doesn’t repackage old ads just to tug at heartstrings. It updates the familiar codes — same emotion, new context.
Here’s the thing. BoroPlus’s real success might lie in everything it refused to do.
It didn’t chase fads. It didn’t overpromise. It didn’t clutter its brand language with pseudo-science or synthetic credibility. It didn’t pretend to be the answer to 27 skin concerns.
“In this category, you see a lot of lofty claims that don't deliver,” Sureka says. “We have stayed focused on what we actually do well — Ayurvedic protection and healing.”
That restraint, counterintuitive as it sounds, gave the brand long legs. While others launched fast and fizzled, BoroPlus stayed slow — and stayed put.
The recent Bengal campaign is a case in point. It featured actor Aparajita Adhya, but it wasn’t just about a familiar face or a dubbed script. It was a cultural moodboard — built on familial intimacy, local language, and everyday gestures.
“Regionalisation isn’t translation,” Sureka argues. “It’s understanding tone and emotional texture. That’s what makes a brand feel personal.”
It didn’t replace the national brand code. It reinforced it. In fact, it showed that a 40-year-old antiseptic cream could still flex creatively — without fracturing its message.
BoroPlus today is sold across Russia, Ukraine, the Middle East, and parts of Europe. But unlike some Indian brands that tone down their roots when they go global, BoroPlus leans in.
Its international portfolio includes lip balms, foot creams, diaper rash solutions — but they are all wrapped in the same Ayurvedic storytelling.
“Our Indian identity is not a liability overseas,” says Sureka. “It’s a strength.”
That’s not just glocalisation. That’s conviction in origin.
They didn’t grow up with safed teekas. Their reference points are reels, not radio spots. But BoroPlus isn’t trying to teach them tradition. It’s giving them functionality — with just enough heritage to feel authentic.
Think: BoroPlus Soft Cream with aloe vera. Think: ergonomic packaging that works one-handed. Think: language that says “protects from pollution and screen fatigue,” not “works like your dadi's nuska.”
And yes, the brand’s now playing on Instagram — short-form, influencer-led, and rooted in daily routines. Not overproduced. Not overthought. Just real.
The real story of BoroPlus isn’t that it has survived. It’s how it has survived. With quiet consistency. With emotional equity. With a refusal to compromise the core, even while modernising the edge.
Not every brand needs to scream to stay visible. Some stay remembered — because they never tried too hard to be anything else.
“Sometimes, just being dependable is the most powerful position you can take,” Sureka says.
Turns out, in a world of infinite skincare choices, the one jar that’s seen three generations still has skin in the game.
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