The Hindu Business Line : Appealing to all

HLL is realising the importance of building its margins on the masstige brands from its international portfolio. After concentrating on core brands such as Clinic Plus, Clinic All Clear and Sunsilk all these years, it has decided to bring more premium brands into the country. "The past few years we were concentrating on market development and expanding our presence in the rural markets. It has been a stage-by-stage process for the hair care brands. The Indian woman is today ready for a product designed largely to repair damaged hair," says Rajaram.

In the recent past, HLL's beauty brand Sunsilk was stretched to the premium market with a host of wash and post-wash products for coloured hair. Its colour cosmetics brand Lakme too was extended to the hair care segment with Lakme HairNext. However, HairNext is yet to register any significant volumes, being the most premium brand in HLL's kitty.

Meanwhile, HLL continues to lead the Rs 2,000-crore hair care category with its largest selling brand Clinic Plus, riding on its positioning based on family health.

Realising that growth in this segment is not exactly coming from the staid shampoos but from specialised products, HLL is increasing its offerings in this arena. Says Rajaram: "While the hair care category is growing at 15-20 per cent, it is nascent categories within it that are growing faster. It is not the standard clean and wash solutions but specialised solutions which are gaining. We see this as an opportunity to enter these segments now."

With Clinic and Sunsilk reaching their saturation points, the FMCG major is turning to masstige brands from its international portfolio. Says Tripathi: "HLL does feel that brands such as Clinic and Sunslik have reached a plateau and it is time it diversified its consumer base. The company wants to go beyond its current portfolio and give a wider choice to its consumers."

HLL's strategy for its overall hair care portfolio is simple. "With the strength of our five brands, we want to be across price points and benefits. Whenever we see an opportunity in the segment we would be plugging it with our existing brands," says Rajaram.

As the hair care market gets more fragmented and graduates to offering more solutions and benefits, HLL and its brands will tap every opportunity. As for Dove, the $3-billion Unilever brand is here to make an impact in the hair care category with its therapies. Will the Indian consumers help it graduate from skin care to hair care?

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