BeYu, a €20-million German colour-cosmetic company of the €170-million ARTDECO group, is partnering Kaunis Marketing Services Pvt Ltd for an India entry next month. This is the German brand’s second coming. BeYu debuted in India in 2009, in partnership with Elder Health Care, but exited in 2012, as it failed to make a dent in the market.

Short for ‘Be Yourself,’ BeYu sells 500 cosmetic aids in 40 countries and these will be available in India starting April 10 across 150 outlets, including top-end general trade stores and large trade chains like Health & Glow, Central, Lifestyle and NewU.

BeYu plans to launch a special set of 230 make-up items to suit the Indian skin tones, and these will be available in 300 stores by the year end.

“I believe this is the right time to re-launch BeYu in India as the disposable incomes of the growing middle- class is much higher than it was eight years ago. We have partnered with Kaunis to build our India footprint and will be available in 1,000 stores in three years,” said Sascha Reinhard, Managing Partner, BeYu, told BusinessLine .

“BeYu is all about being yourself because everyone is unique. Our products are Paraben and fragrance free, dermatologically tested and are not tested on animals,” added Reinhard. Asked why the brand exited India in three years, he said: “Our price-points were unaffordable at that point in time; when lipsticks cost ₹400, ours were priced at ₹750. Today, Indians are paying upwards of ₹800 for a lipstick.”

Seeing a bigger potential in India than China and sure that it can become the No 1 market for BeYu in three-five years, Reinhard said a marketing spend of €100,000 has been earmarked for the launch, after which 30-40 per cent of the annual turnover will be spent on marketing the brand.

A PE-backed organisation that develops strategies for world-class brands to enter the India market, Kaunis will buy products from BeYu and invest in setting up 20 company-owned stores, the first of which will open in New Delhi’s Pacific Mall.

Kaunis will devise and implement strategic plans that cover all spheres of business from distribution, sales, marketing, pricing to logistics, manpower, operations and imports.

Ajay Ghooli, Managing Director, Kaunis said: “BeYu is a mass premium brand that competes with Bourjois, Lakme’s Absolute range, L’Oreal, Faces, Colorbar and NYX.

The price-point starts at ₹395 for nail varnish and goes up to ₹2,150 for face cosmetics. With BeYu’s exceptional price-performance ratio at an average selling price of ₹975, we have no doubt that the products will fly.”

The ₹3,500-crore Indian colour-cosmetics market is growing at a CAGR of 16 per cent

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW