Piyush Pandey’s face appears on the cover of Pidilite’s latest annual report. The company gives its advertising partner a prominence rarely afforded to the people behind a brand’s campaigns. Pandey did not invent Fevicol or run Pidilite. He made the adhesive’s strength funny enough for India to remember. He subsequently served as an independent director of the company. 

Chairman Madhukar Parekh credits Pandey with helping turn Fevicol from something of an industrial brand into a metaphor for strong bonds. The annual report revisits the crowded bus that stayed together against the odds and the tug-of-war that could not pull apart two pieces of wood. 

Fevicol’s ads reached households, but carpenters had to use the product. A homeowner paying for a cupboard might recognise the name without knowing much about adhesives. The carpenter could judge whether it held and decide whether to use it again. Advertising made his recommendation familiar to the buyer; the product had to make that recommendation worth giving. That is a plausible explanation of how the brand worked, not a measured account of what the ads contributed to sales.

Hereon, the distinction will matter as a growing part of Pidilite’s business asks more of that relationship. Construction and paint chemicals accounted for 22.6% of standalone sales in 2025–26 and grew 20.3%, against 9.4% growth for adhesives and sealants. Waterproofing is part of the faster-growing category, though Pidilite does not report Dr. Fixit’s sales separately. 

Applied Trust
Analysts recently asked Pidilite about a cement company entering tile adhesives and about competition and growth in waterproofing. The management’s answers were practical. For tile adhesives, it discussed consistent quality, plant reach, delivery costs, dealers and contractors. Advertising for its Roff brand was part of the response, but hardly all of it. 

Dr. Fixit makes Pidilite’s waterproofing promise recognisable to homeowners. Making good on it depends on more than the material. The BIS standard for wet areas in buildings distinguishes a waterproof material from a waterproofing system, which combines materials to form a barrier. The standard also identifies design and execution among the possible causes of leakage. A product can perform as intended while the finished job fails. 

Pidilite is trying to influence more of that job. The management described training applicators, working with architects and structural consultants to have complete systems specified, and supervising work on some sites. The applicators it trains are not its employees. If a leak appears, a homeowner may struggle to tell whether the material, the treatment chosen or the workmanship was at fault. But Pidilite’s name remains on the product. 

An architect who specifies a system, or a contractor who knows how to apply it, can give Pidilite a place in the decision before a customer enters a shop. Training and site support may help the finished work live up to the brand’s promise. They also demand continued effort, and the earnings call does not establish what return Pidilite earns on those efforts. 

Tile adhesives offer a related test. The management estimates that penetration in India is no more than 25–30%, leaving room for the market to grow, but calls competition intense. Pidilite is investing in Roff’s visibility while building the plant network and relationships needed to supply dealers and contractors reliably. Rivals see the same opportunity, so brand recognition will have to work alongside quality and availability. 

Pandey helped make a product tradespeople used familiar to everyone else. In waterproofing and tile fixing, Pidilite is trying to carry that recognition into the choice of system and the work done on site. The ads made the promise easy to remember. In waterproofing, Pidilite must ensure the work gives customers a reason to believe it.