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Purvita Chatterjee

Mumbai , July 25

LAKME Lever is moving beyond cosmetics and skincare into the hair care market.

The HLL subsidiary company has ventured into the shampoo and hair conditioner market with a new sub-brand — Lakme HairNext.

Comprising two shampoos, Instant Bounce and Quick Silk, along with two hair conditioners Snap Shine and Colour Fresh, Lakme HairNext will supplement the HLL shampoo portfolio consisting of Sunsilk, Clinic Plus and Clinic All Clear.

Mr Anil Chopra, Business Head, Lakme Lever, told Business Line, "This is the first time that Lakme has launched shampoos in the market."

At Rs 120 for 200 ml, the Lakme HairNext brand of shampoos are priced at a premium to Sunsilk (Rs 75 for 200ml), Clinic Plus (Rs 90 for 300ml) and Clinic All Clear (Rs 105 for 200ml).

The Lakme HairNext hair conditioner is priced at Rs 95 for 150 ml and is manufactured by Silvassa-based Aero Pharma. Its Snap Shine variant is meant for sheen and consists of a unique silicone complex. Its Colour Fresh variant for colour-treated hair is reportedly enriched with vitamin C and E, green tea extracts, along with a UV filter.

The Lakme HairNext range of shampoos is manufactured by Lotus Beauty Care and comprises fruits as ingredients. Its Instant Bounce variant for volume contains lemon and orange extracts, while the quick Silk variant is a smoothing shampoo enriched with Indian cress and grapeseed extracts.

Ms Elsie Nanji, Vice-Chairman and Chief Creative Officer, Ambience Publicis, the agency handling the Lakme brand says, "We have a whole new campaign in mind for the hair care range. It is going to be challenging since we have never done hair before for Lakme."

However, analysts tracking HLL are not too sure about Lakme's success in the hair care category.

Mr Nikhil Vora, VP, Research, SSKI Securities, says "HLL's brand equity in shampoos is already quite strong. There has to be a new positioning for Lakme's shampoos and it has to be drastically different from the rest. Shampoo is a growing category but its volume growth is due to sachets. There will be value growth on the back of volume growth in future. But whether there is space for a differentiated product in shampoos is something we have to wait and see."

The shampoo market is estimated at Rs 1,100 crore and is growing at about 7 per cent annum.

According to AC Nielsen, shampoo is one of the fastest growing categories within FMCG, registering a value growth of 10.9 per cent between April 2004 and March 2005.

Recently, P&G introduced a new Head & Shoulders Nourishing Aloe Vera variant in the market. In fact, in terms of pricing, Lakme HairNext's range of shampoos is pegged close to Head and Shoulders' which is Rs 122 for 200 ml.

Lakme Lever has also been extending its skincare range. Recently, it launched a range for oily skin under Lakme Matt effect with three products - an icy fresh gel, a refreshing astringent and a `mattifying' fluid.

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