Skin Care for MEN

The mens skin care market in India is estimated to be about Rs 500 crore which is one-ninth the size of the skin-care market in the country. But its growing at a pace of 20% which is twice as fast as the U.S. and European market. The womens skincare market, in contrast, is growing at 10-15 per cent per annum. However, an average Indian consumer still spends a lot less on cosmetics as compared to the west.

World Market
The world market for men's grooming products is projected to exceed $33.2 billion by the year 2015. In China the market for men's grooming products, estimated at about $290 million in 2010, is set to grow 28% a year over the next three-four years, according to RNCOS. Even in the US, where women's market has declined during the recession, men's grooming is growing 8% a year. This is primarily driven by a rapid rise of metrosexual male, innovative appealing products, growing middle class population, increased Internet connectivity, and universality of prestige across the world.

Consumer Insight
"Today, men are being evaluated by women, at home and at work. So, they have to live up to expectations and they are doing this in a variety of ways. Heightened interest in grooming is one of them," an advertising veteran. Main drivers of the male grooming market are higher disposable incomes and changing lifestyle that make men care more for their looks. And it's not just those in the 18-30 age groups who avail facials at salons or use different beauty products, the elder one too are there in the market. The urban man no longer wants the rough skin and wrinkles of the Marlboro Man; he wants to look young and fresh. It's a global trend. While the overall cosmetics industry is growing at 15% year-on-year, fairness creams constitute a huge market with sales worth nearly Rs 2,000 crore (Nielsen 2010 figures). In the personal care category, skin care products are the most popular, offering significant room for growth. In India, fairness creams dominate the space with more than a 45% share, followed by moisturizers at 22%. Now, the market seems to be looking beyond fairness creams.

Key Brands
Emami: In 2005, Emami created history by launching Fair And Handsome, a fairness cream for men, which still dominates the space with close to 70% market share. The company calls this brand the worlds No. 1 fairness cream. The company achieved sales of $13 million in 2008-09. TVC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqtWUezP8VA Emami launched the mens fairness cream and used Shahrukh Khan as its brand ambassador. Their target audience is the urban youth in the age group of 15-35. There have been research reports stating that 30% of all fairness cream sold is used by men. This is the market that Emami tried to

capture. The first mover advantage along with the trust in the brand generated due to the presence of King Khan has given HULs Menz active a very hard time. The Emami ads have been anything but subtle and theyve unambiguously positioned themselves as a fairness cream for men. Contrary to what many believed in the beginning the response to the brand has been good. Presence of SRK and the strong message in a country where metro sexuality is still a relatively new phenomenon has ensured a good brand recall. Hindustan Unilever (HUL): In 2007, Hindustan Unilever launched Fair & Lovely Menz Active but it could not gather much share. It is currently advertising Fair & Lovely MAX Fairness for Men. It has also extended its Vaseline brand to the mens grooming segment with the introduction of the Vaseline for Men skin care range, including fairness creams, face wash, body lotions and body washes. TVC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MLZj6lkn7Q HUL dominated the fairness cream segment for women for decades with its Fair & Lovely brand. It almost copy pasted its campaign for Menz active version as well. The ads have the same before and after concept. Yes, they made them more Macho ensuring they arent as repulsive as the ones Emami came up with. Target audience is a tad bit older as working men were shown in the ads. The common assumption in both the ads seems to be that theyve assumed that men use womens beauty products to look better. Men have always liked to look good and thats what Gillette has capitalized on for years. However, such demeaning positioning significantly limits the market size. This could be the opportunity for other brands to slowly gain momentum and capture the increasingly competitive market of skin care for men. Like Nivea, Garnier & Lreal have already entered this segment. However, they are more subtle in their positioning. Nivea chooses to call it a whitening cream whereas Garnier has a range of skin care solutions for men.