Reckitt Benckiser to bring Cillit Bang to UK

Household cleaning giant Reckitt Benckiser is to launch a brand of general cleaning products called Cillit Bang in the UK, taking on arch-rival SC Johnson’s Mr Muscle.

The launch will be backed by a &£5m television ad campaign, which will break at the beginning of November. J Walter Thompson and Euro RSCG are Reckitt Benckiser’s roster agencies, while OMD UK handles media planning and buying for the company.

According to industry sources, Reckitt Benckiser claims that Cillit Bang’s superior cleaning action is likely to boost sales in the household cleaning sector. Cillit Bang will be positioned as an all-in-one cleaning product that can be used in the kitchen or bathroom on limescale, dirt and rust.

Reckitt Benckiser owns cleaning brands such as Harpic, Dettol and Mr Sheen, but lacks a direct competitor to Mr Muscle. Cillit Bang is already a leading household cleaning brand in Europe.

But at least one industry insider suggests that the company might struggle to establish the Cillit Bang brand in the UK, where the name lacks the obvious ring of Mr Muscle. He says: “The name is quite strange at first, but Reckitt Benckiser believes that advertising will establish the brand in the minds of consumers.”