MUMBAI: A quick walk down a mall or supermarket is enough to know that the grooming industry for men has grown and how.
Over the past couple of months, the booming sector has seen a number of established brands joining the segment along with some new entrants. In April last year, The Himalaya Drug Company, entered the men’s grooming segment with an aim to be the market leader, as it is in the women’s face wash segment.
As a brand, it has shied away from celebrity associations. The campaigns, especially the TVCs, are rooted in the lives of everyday people. Hence, to promote Himalaya For Him face washes, the company took a step further to explore a campaign that ties into the essence of brand Himalaya – a problem-solver and an enabler. This gave birth to ‘My Lakshya’, a unique campaign that redefines the value of living your dream.
Launched with a video that captures the value of fulfilling one’s dream and aims to bridge the gap between passion and career, the response has been fairly impressive. In less-than-a month since its launch, it has received about 300 entries. The official Facebook page for ‘My Lakshya’ has got over 15000 likes and the video has received more than 25,500 views on YouTube.
Talking about why the company chose to take a different route from mainstream category communication, The Himalaya Drug Company consumer product division marketing GM Vineet Jain said, “We wanted to help young men get ahead in their life and felt that choosing the right career and doing something you truly enjoy is so important to living a fulfilling life.”
The film, created by Web Chutney and directed by Sharad Kalawar took about six months from conception to execution and the core insight came from research interviews. “We did a qualitative study across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, to understand the choices people made when it came to their careers and if these were aligned with their dreams and passions. We spoke to college goers and first jobbers and found that quite a few were dissatisfied with their present jobs. Most of them had different dreams but were unable to pursue them for various reasons – from financial constraints, or societal, family and peer pressure to lack of proper guidance or mentors,” elaborates Jain.
In India particularly, children still seek parental approval and support in making career choices. Given that one spends nearly half his/her live in the workplace, it’s important to love what one does.
‘My Lakshya’ gives young adults an opportunity to pursue a career of their choice. In this first phase, it has selected areas like fashion designing, graphic design, photography, music etc and as the campaign matures a lot more career options will be added.
The winners receive a cash price of Rs 1 lakh and mentorship with an expert in their respective field.
“We believe that this campaign is aligned with the philosophy of the brand and our products. Consumers see us as a problem-solution brand – even with our men’s face washes – Oil Control and Power Glow, we address specific skin problems. In ‘My Lakshya’, we’ve built on this equity to become an enabler - offering young adults a platform to showcase their talent and realise their dreams. We expect this campaign to help consumers connect emotionally with brand Himalaya thereby increasing brand love,” highlights Jain.
As part of the marketing plan, a 360 degree campaign was created on various digital platforms like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and an official website where the participants could submit their entries. The herbal health and personal care company also took the campaign on-ground to IIT-B’s annual fest Mood Indigo, where it connected directly with consumers.
From 10 per cent share in its turnover in 2002, the personal care segment had grown to seize a 38 per cent share in revenue, which is at par with the company’s pharma segment, by 2014. Keeping this in mind, the company’s men’s portfolio will remain its key focus areas in the coming months. “The initial consumer feedback for our Men’s face washes has been very encouraging but we still have a long way to go to reach a sizeable market share. The thrust will be on increasing coverage and depth of distribution and rolling out exciting new campaigns. We are also exploring new products for men’s face care with higher order benefits,” concludes Jain.
