Mumbai: In a category long dominated by functional messaging and near-identical claims of strength, Astral Limited has chosen to loosen the brief and lean into culture. Its flagship wood adhesive brand Bondtite has rolled out a new national campaign, ‘Lakdi Ka Chumbak’, fronted by Ranbir Kapoor, that attempts to reframe bonding not just as a product attribute, but as a universally understood idea.
Conceptualised by The Womb, the campaign signals a clear creative pivot for Bondtite as it looks to strengthen its footprint in India’s fast-growing wood adhesives market. Instead of competing head-on with technical jargon, the brand translates its core promise—strong grip—into a phrase rooted in everyday trade language: Lakdi Ka Chumbak (a magnet for wood).
From functional claim to cultural shorthand
Wood adhesives may be the backbone of carpentry and furniture-making, but advertising in the category has largely remained transactional. Bondtite’s new platform attempts to break that mould by elevating a functional truth into a cultural metaphor. The idea draws from how carpenters themselves describe a dependable adhesive—something that pulls wood together effortlessly and holds it firm.
That insight is central to the campaign’s effectiveness. By borrowing the vocabulary of its primary users, Bondtite positions itself as a brand that understands the trade from the inside out, rather than talking down through technical superiority.
Star power with strategic intent
Casting Ranbir Kapoor is less about glamour and more about trust transfer. In a highly concentrated market, where credibility is hard-earned and slow to shift, Kapoor’s mass appeal and relatability help the brand cut through beyond the shop counter. The presence of a mainstream superstar also underlines Astral’s intent to play big in the adhesives space, matching market ambition with marketing muscle.
A platform, not a one-off
The Womb’s approach reflects a belief that short-term tactical bursts are no longer enough to drive disproportionate growth. Lakdi Ka Chumbak is designed as a long-term platform—one that can flex across formats, languages, and regional contexts while remaining anchored to a simple, sticky idea.
The tone stays playful yet confident, ensuring the metaphor doesn’t drift into gimmickry. Instead, it reinforces Bondtite’s positioning as a high-performance alternative in a category often perceived as a one-horse race.
Rolling out across television, digital, cinema, outdoor, and social media, the campaign is among Astral’s most expansive launches in the adhesives category. The scale of the media plan complements the simplicity of the idea—ensuring the phrase Lakdi Ka Chumbak travels quickly from screens to conversations at worksites and retail counters.
With Lakdi Ka Chumbak, Astral and The Womb demonstrate how even the most utilitarian categories can benefit from cultural storytelling. By distilling a complex product promise into a phrase that feels instantly familiar, Bondtite has created a mnemonic that does more than advertise—it positions.
In a market where differentiation is rare and loyalty hard to shift, that magnetic pull might just be Bondtite’s strongest bond yet.
