He’s managed to carve out a new market segment altogether. Emami’s head honcho tells how Shah Rukh was roped in for Fair & Handsome...
The Kolkata-based Rs.600 crore Emami Group has been
known for roping in Bollywood stars and creating massive ad-campaigns. And the company believes such ad-campaigns helps to convey the distinguishing attributes of the product. In the year 2006, they became the pioneer in unleashing men’s fairness cream – Fair & Handsome. Later, big daddy HUL entered the segment but, in spite of such a shark Fair & Handsome did a fair business of Rs.40 crore in 2006. But the game in 2007 was no longer limited to a duopoly as more and more players (like Nivea) have jumped into the fray. So the company resorted to its time-honoured strategy of resorting to the oomph of Bollywood avtars and this time they roped in King Khan. “Our internal research showed that we need a strong brand ambassador to promote men’s cream. And when it comes to looking beautiful and fair, the man has to be from Bollywood. Specially, if you want to associate fairness with looking handsome, it has to be said by some one like Shah Rukh,” reasons Mohan Goenka, MD of Emami.
The factor ‘tall, dark & handsome’ is a major bottleneck to sell men’s fairness cream and hence the promotional campaign have to keep in mind that the target audience is Mr. Adam, who might not be beckoned with the fairness factor. “Yes, it was a challenge but at the same time, there was an inherent need for fairness among men. So the campaign instead of directly hitting on fairness factor, focused on as a relief from sunburnt,” elaborates Mohan. The demand was there and it was addressed through right strategies.
But the success of the product cannot only be attributed to a great marketing campaign and the Don. There’s more! And it’s the pricing factor. On the one hand, to avoid a typical economical product the prices were kept higher than HUL and at the same time, the positioning as a high priced ‘luxury product’ was a strict no. So the prices were kept below Nivea and L’ Oreal. Adds Mohan, “Proper pricing, an Indian image and being a two-year-old brand has made us different from Nivea,” Mohan is confident that this positioning will work wonders for the brand, which is confident of fighting the predominant HUL in the segment.
Banking on such strategies, the company is gung-ho to achieve a turnover of Rs.55 crore from Fair & Handsome. Don aka SRK made a fair deal in 2007, but whether it was fair for Emami will be proved in 2008, when the company will achieve its target turnover.
The Kolkata-based Rs.600 crore Emami Group has been
known for roping in Bollywood stars and creating massive ad-campaigns. And the company believes such ad-campaigns helps to convey the distinguishing attributes of the product. In the year 2006, they became the pioneer in unleashing men’s fairness cream – Fair & Handsome. Later, big daddy HUL entered the segment but, in spite of such a shark Fair & Handsome did a fair business of Rs.40 crore in 2006. But the game in 2007 was no longer limited to a duopoly as more and more players (like Nivea) have jumped into the fray. So the company resorted to its time-honoured strategy of resorting to the oomph of Bollywood avtars and this time they roped in King Khan. “Our internal research showed that we need a strong brand ambassador to promote men’s cream. And when it comes to looking beautiful and fair, the man has to be from Bollywood. Specially, if you want to associate fairness with looking handsome, it has to be said by some one like Shah Rukh,” reasons Mohan Goenka, MD of Emami.The factor ‘tall, dark & handsome’ is a major bottleneck to sell men’s fairness cream and hence the promotional campaign have to keep in mind that the target audience is Mr. Adam, who might not be beckoned with the fairness factor. “Yes, it was a challenge but at the same time, there was an inherent need for fairness among men. So the campaign instead of directly hitting on fairness factor, focused on as a relief from sunburnt,” elaborates Mohan. The demand was there and it was addressed through right strategies.
But the success of the product cannot only be attributed to a great marketing campaign and the Don. There’s more! And it’s the pricing factor. On the one hand, to avoid a typical economical product the prices were kept higher than HUL and at the same time, the positioning as a high priced ‘luxury product’ was a strict no. So the prices were kept below Nivea and L’ Oreal. Adds Mohan, “Proper pricing, an Indian image and being a two-year-old brand has made us different from Nivea,” Mohan is confident that this positioning will work wonders for the brand, which is confident of fighting the predominant HUL in the segment.
Banking on such strategies, the company is gung-ho to achieve a turnover of Rs.55 crore from Fair & Handsome. Don aka SRK made a fair deal in 2007, but whether it was fair for Emami will be proved in 2008, when the company will achieve its target turnover.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist)
