Retail

How grooming brands are chasing the new age men


The one thing that legendary adman Piyush Pandey, cricket superstar Virat Kohli and football player Cristiano Ronaldo have in common is striking style.

One is known for his royal moonchh, the other for his well-groomed beard, and the third for his funky hairstyles.

While Bollywood and sports have influenced the style statements of Indian men, now digital-first brands are trying to make a statement in the business. Take, for instance, Beardo, an Ahmedabad-based men’s grooming brand. The two-year-old brand managed to impress FMCG-major Marico and expanded its reach through salons and select retail stores. Last year, Marico picked up a 45% stake in Beardo for `50-60 crores, as per media reports.

The Billion Dollar Trend
In 2016, Unilever spotted Dollar Shave Club, a subscription-based men’s grooming brand, and was impressed with the way it was engaging with its users. Reports indicate that it was acquired for $1 billion. It was a YouTube video starring Dollar Shave Club’s founder Michael Dubin that got everyone’s attention. In the video that has got over 25 million views, Dubin tells viewers the product is f***ing great, “so gentle a toddler could use it.” The day the video was released the website crashed and the blades sold out in six hours, according to the company.

Ashutosh Valani, co-founder, Beardo, tells us that the acceptance for new men’s grooming products is impressive. Valani caters to the millennial generation and believes that Bollywood has a big role to play in influencing style even today. That’s one of the many reasons why Suniel Shetty is a brand “mentor” for Beardo. While the 90’s actor hasn’t given audiences blockbusters like his counterparts, Shetty has come back in the spotlight because of his Instagram photos. Currently, actor Shahid Kapoor is endorsing the philosophy of “beard revolution” for Beardo on social media.

Gurugram-based The Man Company entered the market a year before Beardo and won the confidence of homegrown conglomerate Emami, last year. In December 2017, Emami picked up 30% stake in The Man Company for an undisclosed amount.

According to Hitesh Dhingra, co-founder and MD, The Man Company, men in India are becoming conscious of the way they look. He says, “While most of the big brands were focused on the mass market and products, new brands like ours are introducing products that are not only creating category awareness but also an interest in grooming.”

For The Man Company, while the 28-and-over men are its key audience, women are also an interesting buyer set. According to Dhingra, around 20%-25% of buyers on The Man Company’s official site are women.

Another brand that has caught the attention of a global consumer goods behemoth is Bombay Shaving Company. In August this year, Colgate-Palmolive picked a minority stake in the startup. Shantanu Deshpande, co-founder, Bombay Shaving Company, tells us, “India is the right market to understand how brand building is happening in the new FMCG era. Big companies are interested in partnering with startups that are entering bigger categories because it’s a healthy playground. Marketing lessons beyond the 30-seconder is the need of the hour, and that’s what many of us are trying to bring to the table. Also, many of these startups have more data scientists than brand managers in their team, which are impressing the big companies.”

Deshpande tells us his brand’s digital communication is not quirky like the others. It’s plain and straightforward. What the company is focusing more on in the coming months is pure product expansions.

But from a marketing point of view, is this enough? Puru Gupta, a former P&G India senior executive who has worked on Gillette closely, believes that there is hardly any brand level differentiation among the newer brands. Gupta adds, “For big companies, these investments are usually lucrative. However, one must understand this is a category for brands to establish themselves. A lot of them are focusing just on product expansion. Brand building seems to have taken a backseat.”

Gupta also says that it is important for these brands to think in terms of their retail inventory. “People buy these products off the shelves a lot of times impulsively. Shopper-centric campaigns need to be thought through. While retail in India is not an easy game to crack, I think the new men’s grooming companies need to invest time and resources for a solid retail strategy. It is a matter of crossing a barrier to impress both the retailer and your potential new consumer.”

Fact File
The Indian male grooming industry is currently worth Rs 16,800 crore and is expected to touch Rs 35,000 crore in the next three years.

The Hairy Players
Beardo


Investor: Marico

[45% stake]

Bombay Shaving Company

Investor: Colgate-Palmolive

[Minor stake]

The Man Company

Investor: Emami

[30% stake]





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