How Fevicol is reworking its bond with young consumers

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TL;DR:

Fevicol is trying to make ShoeFix relevant to Gen Z by shifting from old carpentry associations to sneakers, DIY repair and everyday convenience. The move works because it links a real consumer problem, a damaged shoe ruining a pair, with youth habits around value, self-expression and quick fixes. Its success will depend less on nostalgia and more on whether the product actually delivers.

Article:

Fevicol is using ShoeFix to make adhesive relevant to Gen Z, not through carpentry cues but through sneakers, DIY repair and quick everyday fixes. The move matters because India’s young consumers are shaping brand discovery, purchase behaviour and cultural conversations in categories far beyond fashion.

The campaign, built around the idea of keeping a footwear “jodi” intact, taps into sneaker culture and the practical problem of one damaged shoe making an entire pair unusable. It gives Fevicol a sharper role in a swipe-first market: not just a legacy adhesive brand, but a quick fix for young consumers who value convenience, self-expression and value.

Pidilite’s Sandeep Tanwani described the premise clearly: “When one shoe breaks, the entire pair pays the price. Shoefix is made exactly for such everyday moments, giving today’s fast-paced, DIY-lovers a quick and durable fix.”

The timing is commercially important. A BCG-Snap report estimated that Gen Z already influences about $860 billion of India’s consumer spending, while Redseer projects the cohort will drive $1.3 trillion in consumption by 2030.

Fevicol’s advantage is cultural memory. Its humour-led advertising has long made “bond” a household idea; ShoeFix tries to extend that equity into footwear care, quick commerce and youth-led consumption. The risk is overplaying nostalgia. Gen Z will reward the brand only if the product solves the problem as neatly as the campaign frames it.

The larger takeaway for marketers is simple: legacy brands do not need to chase youth culture blindly. They need to find a real use case, speak in the consumer’s context and make the product worth the pause.