Exploration of entry strategies for the men’s grooming industry in India

Abstract

As the society is developing fast, there is rapid spread of such issues like personality development and grooming are increasingly having a higher bearing on success and achievement especially for the urban male. Such reasons have led to the bubbling of a latent demand for grooming products for men for about five years now. Until recently, a small part of this demand was being catered to by women’s skin care etc products available in the market. However, men in general do not prefer women’s product due to a string feminine image attached with these brands. So, in the past couple of years, it has been observed that there is a surge of grooming products especially for men in the market. This sudden spurt is observed not only in the terms of value growth but also in terms of sheer variety of products and brands available. Hence, we decided to analyze this segment and scoop out high growth opportunities for companies planning to enter this industry. The industry was broadly divided into body care, hair care and skin care segments for the purpose of analysis. The major approach for our study was extensive market research to understand consumer buying behaviour, identifying the required product attributes and probing into newer channels of distribution and innovative promotional strategies. This was supported by extensive collection of secondary data on the growth values of the various segments of this industry and analysis of some of the major players in the current market like HUL and Emami. The other premium players include Garnier and Nivea, but these branded products are obviously not as fast moving as those of the mass brands. This study led to classification of the current competing brands into mass players and niche players and the classification of the current products into generic products, premium products and masstige products. With respect to product attributes, it was observed that in spite of lack of widespread awareness and education among the general masses regarding men’s grooming products men who are even remotely conscious of their appearance portray strong involvement in the benefits of the products and its suitability to their body/skin. Also, price and promotion still plays a major role in changing consumer choices. Word of mouth marketing plays a very major role and hence the analysis recommends new entrants to try promoting their products through free distribution of trial packets to appropriate target customer segments. The next focus was on uncommon channels of distribution and promotion i.e. through branded/professional salons, dermatologists/skin clinics, fitness centres, men’s apparel retail outlets, modern electronic gadget stores etc. In conclusion, this fast growing industry currently has ample scope for a mass player entrant as well as a niche player entrant and both should follow the appropriate strategy to capture sufficient share of the relevant market.