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case study

Hindustan Unilever: The changing face of beauty Swee Hoon Ang, PhD Associate Professor, National University of Singapore

A popular movie star endorsing a skin cream that will lighten the complexion with visible results within a week or two - this is a common storyline that has been fed to Indian consumers for years. The only 'visible difference' you may see now is that it's a good-looking Indian male actor highlighting the positives of the product to a large group of young Indian men

Indian men: Demographics and emerging trends

With Asia being one of the fastest-growing markets for men's skin care, the marketing focus has shifted and is now directed towards men and overall grooming. In India, the market for male-grooming products has been growing at a very high compound annual growth rate (CAGR). The value of this market stood at US$643 million in 2018 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 11 per cent to cross US$1.2 million by 2024. Most of the growth comes from India's eight largest cities and the urban areas of the larger Tier 2 cities.

This compares favorably with the Indian market for female-grooming products which was valued at just US$152 million in 2018, although is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 26 per cent to surpass US$623 million by 2024.

What are the reasons for this dominance of male-grooming product sales? One reason is simple demographics: there are more men than women in India. In 2019, for every 100 men, there were 93 women. Given India's population of 1.34 billion, there is a sizable male population.

source: Statistics Times,

But, more than just the sheer relative size of the Indian male population, Indian men in the 25-45 age group in particular are spending more money on grooming and personal-care products than Indian women. A survey of 1500 men aged 18 and over indicated that 65 per cent are concerned with their looks, and 25 per cent are concerned with body odor and hair graying.

According to a study, Indian men spend an average of 42 minutes daily on grooming: 16 minutes on their body, 14 minutes on their hair and 12 minutes on their face. Understandably, men living in urban areas spend, on average, a significantly greater amount of time (61 minutes) getting ready each day: 22 minutes on their body, 21 minutes on their hair and 18 minutes on their face. In comparison, Chinese men spend just 24 minutes in total on daily grooming.

Thus, it is not surprising that Indian men are beginning to look for innovative grooming products created specifically for them. One study showed that more than one in two men (56 per cent) are interested in grooming products that cater to their concerns around body odor, hair graying, excessive sweating, acne and baldness or hair thinning.

Correspondingly, there has been a sharp increase in the number of beauty salons and spas in India. It is estimated that 40 per cent of total salon business comes from men's treatments.

Underlying this demand for grooming products are two drivers - Indian men want to feel confident and they want to have a competitive edge over other men in career progression.

Not only has men's awareness about the products and brands increased; there is also a rising aspiration among Indian men to look better groomed. 'Over the years, men have begun to accept basic skin care and even make-up is a daily routine to keep the skin healthy and flawless. Competition among the workforce too has upscaled the drive to look youthful and has led to increased demand for products specific to them,' says Shikhee Agarwal, Head of Training at The Body Shop.

According to a Nielsen survey, sales of men's face creams more than doubled and the use of face-cleansing products among men increased by a massive 60 times between 2009 and 2016. See Figure A1.1.2.

Other factors contributing to the increased demand for grooming products include rapid urbanisation, the increase in disposable incomes of the middle-class population and the changing preferences of Indian consumers for professional products.

The demand for better grooming products and skin-care regimes is also the result of an increase in promotional campaigns and advertisements by leading skin-care companies, including L'Oral, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Procter & Gamble, Nivea and Emami. Brands have refurbished their e-commerce websites to provide an enhanced shopping experience as well as innovative branding.

And, while consumer awareness may have been limited to urban India, this is expected to change with growth drivers focusing on the overall skin-care market in the country

HUL: Responding to competition

Until early 2014, the market for HUL was limited to brands such as Vaseline for Men, Fair & Lovely Max and Axe deodorant. Inevitably, competition entered the market and one competitor, Emami, enlisted Bollywood heartthrob Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador for its Fair & Handsome skin cream, helping the brand garner a hefty 70 per cent share of the Indian men's fairness cream market.

An expert on beauty brands remarked that, traditionally, Indians associate good looks with fair skin in women. But, with changing times, even men are judged on the similar criterion of fair skin. The endorsements of Bollywood actors and actresses for beauty products promoting fairer skin also perpetuate fairer skin as being a hallmark of beauty. In particular, young men are drawn towards the idea of looking 'Western' - that is, 'fair'.

HUL responded. By using the male population's increased awareness about the importance of facial care, whether prompted by personal hygiene, social status or professional and career development, HUL filled the gaps in its product range and customized face creams to specific skin types and climates. It brought celebrity athletes and movie stars on board as brand ambassadors - Varun Dhawan, a Bollywood actor, is the face for Pond's Men, and Saif Ali Khan promoted the Fair & Lovely face wash. HUL even used cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar's 200th and final test match as an advertising pitch. As part of its promotional strategies for Fair & Lovely for men, the brand was also displayed across cricket stadiums. The rationale behind the campaign was to command the attention of the television audience for the cricket match but by using in-stadium branding instead of expensive television commercials.

Diversification and consumer engagement

Beyond skin care, other male-grooming products are also enjoying swift business. Fragrances dominate the market followed by shaving and skin-care products, and the toiletries segment of shower and bath products is also growing. The shaving-products market is expanding at a CAGR of 29 per cent, and the deodorant and anti-perspirant segment is growing at a CAGR of 25 per cent. Local competitors such as Vini Cosmetics entered the fragrance market with a range of no-gas deodorants under the brand FOGG. Start-up Bombay Shaving Company sells six-part shaving kits that include a pre-shave scrub, a brush, shaving cream, a razor, blades and an after-shave balm

To meet such diverse competition, HUL is improving its customer services by looking at ways to make it easier for consumers to access the company's products, and also how it can improve the effectiveness of its engagement with consumers. This has driven HUL's innovation research and marketing initiatives, along with a focus on engaging with consumers in remote areas of India. Its exploration in mobile-marketing platforms has resulted in the digital initiative 'Be Beautiful' for its personal-care brands, which is an example of how HUL is using social media to build powerful brands and meet consumer needs. This digital platform, with over 3.5 million visitors annually, 7 million engaged users on Facebook and over 40 million views on YouTube, is probably one of the largest beauty advisory platforms in India and an example of how different segments of the diverse Indian population are brought together through media innovation.

Besides competitor brands such as Garnier and Nivea entering the market with face washes, sunscreens and oil-control moisturizers and vying for a fair share in the growing male skin-care segment, HUL also has to contend with competition from traditional ayurvedic (holistic healing) and herbal businesses. The company remains innovative across its product portfolio, especially in personal-care products, detergents and oral care. The company continues to invest in India's growth story, with a view that 'what is good for India is good for HUL', and has identified that 'serving many Indias' essentially requires HUL to have a portfolio of brands that will reach and appeal to a wide cross-section of the population, throughout the country and across income brackets.

Male-grooming products in other markets

Western Europe has the largest male-grooming market with a value of US$12.4 billion as of 2015. This is followed by Asia-Pacific with a high forecasted growth rate of 8.1 per cent. This translates to an estimated market value of US$11.5 billion by 2020, a huge jump from 2015's US$7.8 billion

The two markets that stand out in Asia are India and China. A survey on Chinese men's attitudes towards grooming found that 39 per cent of men aged 20-30 said they use skin-care products or makeup, compared to 29 per cent of men aged 31-45. And, similar to India, the male-grooming market in China is expanding. In the past five years, the Chinese market for male-grooming products has grown at a CAGR of 6.5 per cent, giving a current estimated value of about US$2.1 billion. Leading this trend are men's fragrances with 14 per cent growth, followed by bath and shower products at 8.7 per cent growth. Still, the largest male-grooming categories are toiletries, skin care and hair care.

Despite such growth, the Chinese market still lags behind Japan and South Korea in average spending per capita on male-grooming products. This suggests that opportunities abound for marketers.

Discussion questions

What level of needs does grooming fulfil for men?

Is this different compared to women?

HUL says it will fill gaps in its product range to meet different skin types.

What does this tell you about the consumer? Should HUL enter the fragrance market for men?

Describe the profile of men who would buy skin-care products from HUL rather than local brand names or ayurvedic products. How is India different from China in terms of men's grooming?