Sales of Lifebuoy have risen sharply since the campaign, aided by the introduction of a smaller-size bar that costs five rupees (about 12 cents). Just as importantly, says Hindustan Lever’s chairman Harish Manwani, the campaign has reached around 80 million of the rural poor with education about how to prevent need deaths.
Marketing manager Punit Misra, who oversees the Lifebuoy brand, emphasizes that “profitable responsibility” is essential for companies to have a true impact on solving the world’s problems. “If it’s not really self-sustaining, somewhere along the line it will drop off ,” Misra says. Other proponents of bottom-of-the pyramid thinking agree that BOP works because it ties social responsibility directly into the heart of the company. Businesses contribute to lasting change when the profit motive goes hand-in-hand with the desire to make a contribution to humankind.