Eyetex wants to be more than a kajal, kumkum brand

For generations women in southern India have smeared their infant’s foreheads with ‘Eyetex’. Eyetex is also the only make-up luxury that school-going girls in small towns are allowed.

A brand synonymous with kajal and kumkum , Eyetex started out in 1938 serving the traditional beauty needs of the quintessential Indian woman. Today, it offers an array of 65 products across cosmetics, face-wash, cleansing lotions and deodorants. In the pipeline are moisturising and men’s shaving creams.

With affordable pricing and a large distribution network, the Rs 63-crore business, with its enlarged portfolio, has emerged as an aspirational brand among the lower income groups.

Says R. Rajagopal, partner, Aravind Laboratories, which owns Eyetex: “We are the number 1 in the branded kajal segment in volumes, selling close to 38 million pieces a year. We are also doing well in nail polish, with 7.2 million pieces. The brand is growing at 20-30 per cent; we can achieve Rs 250 crore in five years.”

Eyetex was started by a Vasudevan, who was Carnatic music icon M.S. Subbulakshmi’s driver. “He protected her like a guard. When she became famous, she gave him money to start a business. Eyetex was started with a small store in Triplicane, a traditional bastion of Chennai.”

The company was acquired in 1958 by A. V. Srinivasan, Rajagopal’s father-in-law, a chemical technologist. The brand’s turnover was just Rs 20,000 then. Eventually, the business was bequeathed to Srinivasan’s sons-in-law Rajagopal and Devanathan.

The entry of newer players in the kajal segment does not worry Eyetex. “They cater to a different segment, at price points of Rs 200. We cater to the lower income group with prices from Rs 10-50,” says Rajagopal. (Market conditions have forced Eyetex to explore variations in the form of stick, pencil kajal and sticker kumkum ).

In 2002, Eyetex realised that for greater growth and turnover kajal and kumkum alone will not do. The company today sells colour cosmetics (eyeliner, nail polish, lipstick, mascara), face-wash, scrub and lip gel, under the brand-name Dazller. They contribute 45 per cent of the turnover.

Keeping in mind its price-sensitive audience, the company has kept prices low, “at least Rs 10-20 lower than competition.” While the nail polish is priced Rs 35, lipsticks cost Rs 100. The facewash is priced Rs 55 for 100 grams. (Eyetex plans to introduce a premium brand later.)

According to a store manager at a prominent department store chain in Chennai, Eyetex may have got the pricing right, but it is still seen as a kajal/kumkum brand among consumers. “Not many are even aware that Eyetex has other products. It still needs to work on building awareness.”

Eyetex says its relationship is stronger with the over 5 lakh mom-and- pop shops, predominantly in the South, which account for 85 per cent of its business. Chennai’s shopping streets are choc-a-bloc with Eyetex products placed in large plastic baskets, much like vegetables in a mandi. The brand is also visible in large department stores such as Pothys and Saravanas. Eyetex has appointed over 750 ‘beauty advisors’ at these stores to help out customers.

Rural India accounts for 60 per cent of sales, especially in kajal and kumkum . “Women in small places like Tirunelveli have now started using cosmetics,” says Hari Prasad, Devanathan’s son and a partner.

Eyetex has over 1,400 employees; 450 work in the manufacturing unit in Chennai, blending raw materials into the finished product. The plant teems with women. “They are not shy to say they don’t like a particular shade of pink. Our chief of production is also a lady,” says Rajagopal.

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