innovative products
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
Till the last decade it was almost unimaginable that there would be a fairness cream for men among male grooming products. As it turned out, men contributed significantly to consumption of HUL's fairness product Fair & Lovely and even other fairness products.
That shouldn't be surprising as we live in a society which is obsessed with fair skin, just as the West is preoccupied with getting the perfect tan. This phenomenon was not restricted to women and, unknown to marketers, had influenced Indian man as well.
However in this case, HUL failed to hunt the treasure first, and Kolkata-based Emami Industries had the far-sightedness to identify the potential. It launched a fairness cream just for men - Fair and Handsome - in 2004. The brand was endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan, which further fuelled growth. HUL followed suit, and two years later it launched HUL's Fair and Lovely Menz Active - a line extension of its popular brand Fair & Lovely.
The size of Indian skincare market including creams, moisturisers and cleanser is estimated at Rs 4,750 crore. Of the total skincare market, the facial skincare market in India is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore, of which half comes from the fairness market.
In 2007, Elder Health Care along with Shahnaz Husain too entered the segment with Fairone Man with director and TV actor Anuj Saxena endorsing the brand. In the same year, Beiersdorf AG, the German company which owns Nivea, also launched a whitening moisturiser under the 'Nivea for Men' name in India. Kaya Skin Clinic, too, introduced the Kaya Whitening Moisturiser with SPF 15, while earlier this year, Garnier stepped into the fairness market with the launch of Garnier Men PowerLight lightening skin cream and provided a 'shade card' with the same. It roped in Bollywood hunk John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the product.
So much so that in just five years, the category has grown to be Rs 100
Till the last decade it was almost unimaginable that there would be a fairness cream for men among male grooming products. As it turned out, men contributed significantly to consumption of HUL's fairness product Fair & Lovely and even other fairness products.
That shouldn't be surprising as we live in a society which is obsessed with fair skin, just as the West is preoccupied with getting the perfect tan. This phenomenon was not restricted to women and, unknown to marketers, had influenced Indian man as well.
However in this case, HUL failed to hunt the treasure first, and Kolkata-based Emami Industries had the far-sightedness to identify the potential. It launched a fairness cream just for men - Fair and Handsome - in 2004. The brand was endorsed by Shah Rukh Khan, which further fuelled growth. HUL followed suit, and two years later it launched HUL's Fair and Lovely Menz Active - a line extension of its popular brand Fair & Lovely.
The size of Indian skincare market including creams, moisturisers and cleanser is estimated at Rs 4,750 crore. Of the total skincare market, the facial skincare market in India is estimated at Rs 2,000 crore, of which half comes from the fairness market.
In 2007, Elder Health Care along with Shahnaz Husain too entered the segment with Fairone Man with director and TV actor Anuj Saxena endorsing the brand. In the same year, Beiersdorf AG, the German company which owns Nivea, also launched a whitening moisturiser under the 'Nivea for Men' name in India. Kaya Skin Clinic, too, introduced the Kaya Whitening Moisturiser with SPF 15, while earlier this year, Garnier stepped into the fairness market with the launch of Garnier Men PowerLight lightening skin cream and provided a 'shade card' with the same. It roped in Bollywood hunk John Abraham as the brand ambassador for the product.
So much so that in just five years, the category has grown to be Rs 100