Philips is a brand that is building for tomorrow. Being in touch with consumers’ emotions, understanding situations and acting towards it is something Philips has been doing really rather well. There is deep insight and research that goes into building a self-care brand and Philips is going that extra mile. Every product offering is backed by deep understanding on how the consumer behaves, intensive market research and technological innovation. Storyboard18 caught up with Deepali Agarwal, Business Head – Personal Health at Philips to understand how the brand managed to find its product market fit.
Edited excerpts.
The festive season in India has just ended. What are some of the festive trends that you noticed in 2023?
The interesting thing is that there has been a lot of buoyancy. A lot of consumers have come back to online, but interestingly also to physical stores this time and this is a trend that we’re seeing in many other facets also – that consumers are coming back to physical experiences. Just after Covid, there was a big surge in online experiences which obviously has continued and will continue given where we are as a nation. What we’re seeing is that consumers are supplementing that with a lot of physical experiences and that’s been a very big thing for us.
Secondly, there has been a lot of inclination to buy products which really elevate experiences so it’s not been a very price war driven festive. In some parts it has been a very experience and value-led festive this time.
Thirdly, we’re also seeing a lot of men come to grooming now. This is a trend that started with beard trimming a few years ago but we’re starting to see more and more young men participate in that. We’re starting to see more parts of the body getting groomed than just the face. And a number of those things happened during the festive period both because of the value propositions and offers and also because of the opportunity to go out meet and greet with people and so that’s probably been three trends that we’ve seen this year. It’s been quite heartening to see consumers flock to the category per se and this is across devices and non-devices but grooming and beauty per se as a category has seen a lot of interest from consumers across.
What are some of the marketing and consumer trends that you’re looking forward to in 2024?
There are categories that we operate in which are so nascent today by penetration. If I was to give you an example, only 70 percent of Indian men between the age of 15 to 35 trim their beard. Of that, only 70 percent own a device. There is still a big headroom in the category for adoption of that.
Secondly, we’re seeing that the age at which boys are entering the category is reducing. Earlier you’d probably start to groom your facial hair maybe at about 20-22 ,we’re starting to see that age reduce dramatically. Now 16-17 year old boys are already wanting to enter the category.
On the mother and child care side, which is another beautiful equity that we have, we’re seeing penetration of electrical devices like a breast pump or a steriliser is probably less than five percent. The interest of Indian consumers to adopt them is as high as 74 percent.
So there are multiple data points that we’re seeing which are telling us that there is this inflection point, in a way, where consumers are now willing to adopt technology for solutions that really make their life better. Whether it is in a life stage like early parenthood, whether it is a life stage where you’re moving out of school into a new life, whether it is early office goers, we’re realising that there are many of these life stages and movements in which technology can play an incredibly powerful role in making life better.
Other than these, there is desire to use the best products and brands such as Philips and participate in the technology journey that we have but consumers want it to be relatable to their life and their context and one of the big steps that we’re taking which we also took with the ‘how India celebrates campaign’ is to use our technology but make it very locally relevant in the context of my festival, my region, my geography. And that combination between a global technology and what it can do locally for you in your life is, I think, probably the winning mantra.
One Blade is another beautiful equity that we have, which is a facial grooming device designed for young boys. It’s designed for teenage boys because in teenage you don’t have a fully grown facial beard and you’re also very mindful that it shouldn’t cut your skin because skin sanctity and skin irritation are big issues that young boys face so One Blade is designed to actually not cut your skin.
The whole marketing mix for One Blade is driven by platforms like gaming, driven by campus engagement, which are so relevant to that audience and that life stage.
The How India Celebrates campaign capitalised on the festive fervour in India. What was Philips’s goal with the campaign?
Philips is a household name. We are privileged to be with a brand which most Indians have seen, heard or encountered and experienced in their life. The question is how do you reignite that love in a very different avatar and in a very personalised way. That was one big aim that we were going for. The other aim was really to say that in grooming, in beauty, the festive period is such a ripe moment for really looking your best and feeling your best; how can Philips participate in that in a very wholehearted way? When consumers think about grooming or beauty they will think about Philips. But the question is how can I make it locally relevant to an Ugadi or to a Durga Puja, which really then dials up brand love beyond reason. It’s not only about the technology and what it can do for you but it’s really about how it makes you feel and how you participate in that moment of celebration with the consumers. To us, it was both. One aspect of it was more cerebral, if I could say that, and the other aspect was to literally touch the hearts of consumers and target their heart with something which is so close and personal to them so that it becomes a part of their life.
What does the media mix for this campaign look like? How much of it was visible on TV, outdoor, digital, radio?
The beauty of this campaign is that we wanted it to be very organic. The campaign actually commenced as an internal employee campaign because in India we have about 8,500 employees in Philips who are all potential consumers of our products.
We started it as an employee engagement campaign and based on the results we then expanded it and the two large levers that we used were PR and influencers. The idea was not to come and tell consumers what Philips can do, it was really about organically generating how Philips is a part of their life. So, we literally did a mass campaign in a combination of content creators, influencers and PR to really make it very content rich and make it real life instances rich versus more advertisement rich. That’s the difference in this one versus say a normal advertising led marketing campaign in some way.
India is a market that is overcrowded with consumer durables. What does it take for a brand to break this clutter and stand?
The first thing it takes is to say that we’re not a consumer durable. We are a personal grooming and beauty device. We as a brand in its entirety are all about self-care. Everything that we start is not from the perspective of saying we’re selling a consumer durable. It’s quite different to buy a durable for a household. We’re selling a device that you literally are going to put on your skin, on your hair.
It all starts by knowing your consumers intimately. We’re all obsessed about going beyond the conventional marketing definitions of demographic and psychographic. A young girl, when she walks into a college environment or when she goes on her first date or when she walks into her first office meeting – that moment is beyond demographics and psychographics. It’s how she feels and what fears and anxieties she’s going through and how the brand can empower and help her overcome that.
Thirdly, really bringing out technologies and solutions and also talking about them in a way that really is meaningful but also reignites love. We are a self-care brand, we believe in bringing technologies and solutions that can help consumers overcome some life stages.
For us, the whole concept of building Philips to its next phase of journey is about that. How do we build self-care in a way that there are solutions that help consumers in their life journey but also it is presented and spoken about in a way that it’s real and very relevant to each one’s life stage.
What does Philips’s marketing spend look like? How do you allocate the money?
For us, the marketing mix for every equity is literally dependent on who we’re speaking to. One Blade is an equity that is made and designed for teenage boys. The marketing mix for One Blade is led by a lot of social media and a lot of social conversation, a lot of in-campus engagement. We touched about 50-55 campuses in 2023 and we continue to scale that up in 2024.
Gaming is a big part of young teenagers’ lives and a lot of our effort this year has been in participation with BGMI and some of the other gaming fraternities.
In stores, particularly stores where mobile accessories are sold, it is a big place where teenagers go. The entire marketing mix or the connected experience as we call it is based on what the journey of the teenager is.
The Philips straightening hairbrush is literally designed for young office goers who are crunched for time but still want to look their best. For them, the ecosystem is probably different. There are a lot of content creators, there is a lot of advertising on television and YouTube and so on.
And Avent, which is for young mothers who get influenced the most by mommy communities, paediatricians and gynaecologists. Also, specialist websites and online portals like First Cry.
What is the size of the market that you operate in and what is Philips’ share in the market?
Philips is in a sizeable market. The size depends on different categories in a way. But in most categories that we operate in, we are the number one brand by a huge distance. Having said that, I think the context of our market is such that most of the categories that we operate in are sub 20 percent penetration. The trimmer is probably the only exception, which is probably at a 50 percent penetration. Most other categories have a sub 20 percent penetration. About 50 percent of our categories are sub 10 percent penetration.
So really market share, if you think about it, is probably not the best benchmark. In today’s context, where we operate, I think the biggest benchmark is how quickly can we move the needle on some of these emerging categories from say 5 percent, 2 two percent, 1percent penetration to a much bigger headroom that we have in the category.
So for us, while staying ahead of the game is always important, and we continue to be a share gaining number one player, a bigger mandate for us is how do we fuel category growth and how do we get more consumers into these categories as we go forward.
What does innovation in your category look like and how important do you think it is for Philips to constantly continue to innovate to stay on the consumer’s wish list?
Innovation is critical because without innovation, there is no real value that you bring to the table on a continuing basis. So that’s a given. I think our innovation philosophy, again, is based on three things.
One, who’s the consumer and what’s the life stage? We’ve had a very solid portfolio of facial trimming devices for a very long time. But when we looked at the teenage cohort, we realised that the need is not just the sharpest trim, but also trim that is safe for the skin, and therefore, One Blade.
In hairstyling, we had a portfolio of dryers and straighteners for a very long time. But we very quickly realised that there is a need for a device that can be time effective because modern women are always on the go, and therefore the hair straightening brush.
In fact, in 2024, we’re coming up with a series of very powerful innovations, really based on very local consumer insights to say, how can we really help them overcome that barrier, so that there is adoption. So that’s the number one philosophy of innovation – to root the innovation in a value proposition that helps consumers.
Second, it has to make sense in the value proposition per se. So between what we offer and what price we command, it has to be meaningful for the consumer.
Thirdly, it has to be able to work for a large cohort of consumers. For example, we can’t only be speaking to teenagers, which is where One Blade operates. We also need to speak to mature adults who are now looking for the next best device. And that’s really where our all-in-one technology comes in, which is the best in class. It really trims and shapes your beard as good as a salon barber could. And that’s sort of the most cutting edge in facial trimming devices in a way.
So to be rooted in consumer insight in a way, to really have the value equation right between what we offer and what we command, and to be best in class in technology and be ahead of anyone else are probably the three principles.
We’ve also launched some really powerful innovations. The pipeline continues in 2024 and onwards and more to come.
It’s no longer just about going to a store and buying a product. Brands are focusing a lot more on the entire buying process. They’re focusing on the entire buying experience. So how is Philips doing that? Are you focusing on that?
Connected experiences are a big mandate. And one, to your point, they’re no longer going to the store and buying. But also, they discover products in a different store and store format or even an online store format and they may end up buying in a very different store format. Sometimes the journey is maybe as small as 10 minutes and sometimes the journey may be as long as 10 days. All of those need to be accounted for when you try to create a connected experience for consumers.
So for us, what are the principles by which we operate? Number one, our brand always needs to be aspirational and top of mind, which is the fundamental job of advertising.
Number two, consumers need to have a deep understanding or we need to create that deep understanding of our technology and how it is probably the best suited for their needs. So that’s the job that we do with a whole host of content creation.
And third, at the point of purchase/ discovery, there needs to be enough for them to experience the product. So, for example, on our hair straightening brush, we do an en masse hair demo, where in a store that you walk in, there will be an assistant who can literally demonstrate to you how on your hair this product would work and how it would look versus not using it.
For One Blade, we have a really sweet demo where, (like I said, it doesn’t cut your skin, right?) we demonstrate it on a balloon and nothing can be softer than a balloon. Look, even a balloon is not bursting. That’s how safe it is. It’s really to bring to life your proposition to say, what value can it create for you?
And then, of course, there are mechanisms in which we circle back with the consumer. So a number of our portfolio products come with a QR code where consumers can scan, go back to our website, learn more. It’s also linked to our online selling store where they can also buy if they like, linked back to a consumer care centre where they can go back and give feedback and say what they feel about the product.
An interesting thing that we’ve done with Avent is that the biggest need for buying a breast pump is in the three days when you’re in the hospital. And I’ll tell you this from personal experience. When the baby is born, you’re obviously overcome with this emotion of wanting to do the best. Unfortunately, for a lot of mothers, it happened for me as well. You don’t lactate at the right minute because lactation is so much about demand, supply, baby latching, and so many other factors.
And it is such a vulnerable moment for the mothers. And therefore, the breast pump comes into picture. We have a massive programme with hospitals where we work with the nurses. We work with the paediatricians for education.
The other important aspect is when a mother buys a breast pump, in many cases she doesn’t know how to use it. So we have what we call the Avent Helpline, which is the 24 X 7 helpline where consumers can literally call and the purpose of the helpline is to help new mothers on board onto a breast pump because it’s those two days where she needs to feel that she’s in control and she’s doing the best for her baby. See, eventually, most mothers will get onto a journey of doing the best for their baby with or without breast milk. It’s in the vulnerability of that moment that you need a brand to handhold you. And that’s what we’re trying to do with the Avent Helpline.
A number of these things are coming together for us to really create an experience beyond just selling a product. It is about educating them. It is about hand holding them. It is about listening to them. We have a fantastic programme called Glam Gang, which is for young Indian girls, who want to tell their story of looking glamorous and how they participate in the whole grooming and beauty ritual. That is linked to our social handle, linked back to our e-store. And it’s a connected experience that young girls can engage in as well.
So a number of those programmes that we do with the sole purpose that everything that the consumer experiences about the brand literally adds up to continue that brand love, but also therefore participate in the category.