MegaBrands · Shampoo and conditioner

Clinic Plus: How a Promise of Strength Sets India’s Benchmark in Shampoo

Clinic Plus, selected as the Mega Brand for Shampoo and conditioner by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting), is the Hindustan Unilever shampoo sold from a Rs 1 sachet. HUL says it reaches about 86% of Indian households in a year, and its turnover crossed Rs 2,000 crore in FY2023-24.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial · Published October 2026 · 9 min read

At a glance

Clinic Plus is a shampoo brand of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), headquartered in Mumbai. It speaks to mothers who buy for their daughters, under the theme “Raise Strong Daughters”. HUL sells it in packs as small as a Rs 1 sachet and says it reaches about 285 million Indian households a year. The brand crossed Rs 2,000 crore in turnover in FY2023-24. HUL is led by CEO and Managing Director Priya Nair. Clinic Plus is the Mega Brand for Shampoo and conditioner in WCRC MegaBrands.

Clinic Plus has built a household name in Indian shampoo around a single word: strong. For decades its advertising showed strong, lustrous hair. For at least three decades, by HUL’s account, the brand has also celebrated the bond between mothers and daughters, and today its theme is “Raise Strong Daughters”.

The brand belongs to Hindustan Unilever Limited, the Mumbai-based company that describes itself as having a legacy of over nine decades in India. HUL lists Clinic Plus among its hair care brands, and its annual reports return to the brand year after year. In HUL’s FY2023-24 annual report, then CEO and Managing Director Rohit Jawa noted that Clinic Plus had crossed the Rs 2,000 crore turnover mark.

What sets Clinic Plus apart is reach. HUL says the brand is bought by about 86% of Indian households in a year, some 285 million homes, citing Kantar Worldpanel data for August 2023 to July 2024.

WCRC MegaBrands covers 501 categories in India and selects one benchmark brand in each. It looks at brands through five pillars: Brand Positioning & Recall; Consumer Trust & Sentiment; Product, Innovation & Delivery; Sustainability, Governance & ESG; and Digital & Financial Soundness. Clinic Plus has been selected as the Mega Brand for Shampoo and conditioner by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting). Here is how Clinic Plus’s record lines up with each pillar.

Pillar 1: How Clinic Plus Owns the Idea of Strength

Brand Positioning & Recall · weighted 28% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Clinic Plus has held on to one idea, strength, for a long time. For decades its films showed strong, lustrous hair. Then the brand widened the meaning of strength. In 2017 it released a film called “Badho Mazboothi Se”, which HUL later described as the brand’s first step towards making the girl child strong.

In September 2019, ahead of Daughter’s Day, the brand launched #MeriBetiStrong with the core television line “Tum Strong Ho”. HUL said at the time that the brand had moved its story on to raising strong girls, with strength meant in more than a physical sense. HUL’s FY2022-23 annual report noted that Clinic Plus continued its purposeful marketing with the “Meri Beti Strong” campaign.

The brand has kept the story fresh by changing who tells it. In September 2024, the #BetiBankeAana film asked families to wish for a girl child, and HUL says it drew more than 100 million views across platforms. In September 2026, a new Daughters’ Day film turned the story around, showing a daughter who becomes her mother’s source of strength. Its line, “Maa ki Majboori nahi, Beti Hoti hai Maa ki Mazbooti”, says that a daughter is a mother’s strength, not her burden.

The words “Tum strong ho” still close the brand’s page on HUL’s website, written as a message mothers can give their daughters.

Pillar 2: Why Indian Families Trust Clinic Plus

Consumer Trust & Sentiment · weighted 26% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Trust in a shampoo is earned one wash at a time, in the home. Clinic Plus has earned it at very large scale. HUL says the brand reaches about 86% of Indian households in a year, or about 285 million homes, based on Kantar Worldpanel data for August 2023 to July 2024.

HUL describes Clinic Plus as a trusted family brand, and the way it speaks to buyers explains why. The brand talks first to mothers, who choose hair care for the family, and especially for their young daughters. That gives Clinic Plus a place in a routine that passes from one generation to the next.

The brand’s message has also stayed close to real concerns in Indian families. The 2024 film took on the preference for sons, in a story set at a traditional baby shower. Speaking at its launch, Harman Dhillon, then Executive Director of Hindustan Unilever and Beauty and Well-being General Manager for Unilever South Asia, said: “At Clinic Plus, we firmly believe in the strength and limitless potential of every girl.”

Pillar 3: Clinic Plus, From the Rs 1 Sachet Up

Product, Innovation & Delivery · weighted 20% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Clinic Plus is built to be within reach of every shopper. HUL’s FY2024-25 annual report describes its hair care range as meeting the needs of consumers across the income pyramid, starting “from Clinic Plus available in a ₹1 sachet”. The sachet lets a family buy shampoo for a single rupee.

The product promise matches the brand story. HUL says Clinic Plus shampoos contain ingredients that nourish girls’ hair and help it grow, linking the functional benefit of strong hair to the emotional idea of strong daughters.

Delivery depends on HUL’s distribution. HUL’s FY2025-26 annual report says the company reaches more than 9 million outlets. That network is how the company’s brands, Clinic Plus among them, reach shoppers. Trade publication afaqs! summed up the brand’s growth in April 2026 as coming through “affordable pricing, deep rural penetration, and consistent communication”, which helped turn shampoo from an “urban luxury” into an “everyday household essential”.

Inside HUL, Clinic Plus anchors the group of brands the company calls Democratisers. HUL’s FY2025-26 annual report says that in Beauty & Wellbeing, Democratisers “continued to be anchored by strong, contemporary brands such as Clinic Plus”.

Clinic Plus also travels. HUL says the brand is available in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Pillar 4: Clinic Plus and the Cause of the Girl Child

Sustainability, Governance & ESG · weighted 16% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Clinic Plus uses its reach to speak up for girls. HUL’s FY2024-25 annual report says the brand “has always championed the empowerment of mothers to raise strong daughters.” The #BetiBankeAana campaign of 2024 aimed to start a movement to “wish for a girl child”, which HUL called a first step towards raising strong daughters and, by extension, a stronger nation.

The 2026 film carried that commitment to another group. Introducing it, Harman Dhillon, now Executive Director, Beauty & Wellbeing at HUL, said: “A mother raises her daughter to be strong, empathetic, and independent…” He dedicated the film to “the 1.3 crore single mothers across India”.

The brand sits within a listed company with clear governance. HUL is led by Chairman Nitin Paranjpe and CEO and Managing Director Priya Nair, and it reports its results to the stock exchanges. On the environment, HUL was reported in October 2025 to have set a target of net zero emissions across its value chain by 2039, with plastics among its priority areas. HUL’s FY2025-26 annual report lists plastic circularity work in more than 10 cities. These are company-wide programmes, not Clinic Plus initiatives.

Pillar 5: The Numbers Behind Clinic Plus

Digital & Financial Soundness · weighted 10% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Clinic Plus is a large business in its own right. HUL reported in its FY2023-24 annual report that the brand had crossed the Rs 2,000 crore turnover mark. HUL does not publish later turnover figures for the brand.

The company behind it is growing. HUL reported turnover of Rs 63,763 crore in FY2025-26, up 5%, a figure that excludes its ice cream business. Its Beauty & Wellbeing segment, home to Clinic Plus, reported revenue of Rs 14,990 crore in FY2025-26. HUL’s FY2025-26 annual report says Hair Care was among the businesses that “delivered strong growth” that year.

The brand’s campaigns now live on digital platforms as much as on television. HUL counts more than 100 million views across platforms for the 2024 #BetiBankeAana film, and the 2026 Daughters’ Day film was also released as an online video.

The Clinic Plus Benchmark

Every category has leaders. A MegaBrand is the brand its category is measured against. Clinic Plus holds that place in Indian shampoo because its record is strong on every pillar at once. It is known for one clear idea, bought in about 285 million homes a year by HUL’s count, available from a one-rupee sachet, used to speak up for girls and backed by a company with steady finances.

Above all, it shows that a mass brand can stand for something. A one-rupee sachet and a message about raising strong daughters have travelled together into Indian homes, and the brand’s story keeps growing with the families who use it.

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More Questions About Clinic Plus

About Clinic Plus

Clinic Plus is a shampoo brand of Hindustan Unilever Limited, headquartered in Mumbai. Under the theme “Raise Strong Daughters”, it speaks to mothers and their daughters. HUL says the brand reaches about 285 million Indian households a year, and its turnover crossed Rs 2,000 crore in FY2023-24. It is also sold in Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. Clinic Plus has been selected as the Mega Brand for Shampoo and conditioner by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting).