Despite lockdowns being lifted and the salon industry operating in full swing, women are still demanding personal grooming products. This is reflected in Philips’ new campaign #YourHairYourWay to promote hair straightening range with brand ambassador Alia Bhatt.
For the first time, the campaign execution is not solely centered around Bhatt and features women across age groups. Made by TBWA\India, the campaign builds the key message through a few different films, each starting with the spotlight on Bhatt featuring ‘Alia wala straight hair’ and moving on to feature different women from various walks of life with their individual hairstyles which reflect their own personality and sense of style.
Speaking exclusively to Storyboard18, Vidyut Kaul, head, personal health, Philips Indian subcontinent shares that their consumer research shows that Indian women are changing owing to their increasing number in the workforce and their well-defined individual choices.
“… especially the GenZ’s they don’t identify with pre-set notion of success or style. So with that, what we have understood is that every individual is different. Every woman has a different hair and skin type. So, why should we define the hairstyle for them and that’s the essence we tried to capture in the new campaign,” he says.
The campaign targets brand’s core consumers aged between 15 and 35 years belonging to the SEC A and B. The ad also highlights that the straightening range comes with CareEnhance Technology which is aimed at busting the myth around damage caused by styling products.
“..we have realized that consumers, especially in India, are afraid of heat when it comes to their hair. They associate heat with damage. We are bringing in technology to address that fear,” Kaul explains.
Philips India states that in female grooming, there is massive demand for hair care products (straighteners or straightening brushes) which are able to do job at home easily.
“.. and that’s what consumers are asking us to give us products that will give us almost a salon-like look at home in five minutes. Surprisingly, the other product which is booming is the epilators you know, as an alternative to waxing,” Kaul notes.
Though the demand is increasing, there is still a massive headroom for growth in the electrical personal grooming since India is still a relatively under penetrated country.
“We’re talking about categories where penetration of electrical grooming is below 20 percent. And there are many sub-categories within this category which are below 10 percent. This is in contrast to the Western markets which are close to 50 percent penetration so there’s still a massive headroom for growth when it comes to personal grooming in the country,” Kaul quips.
The new campaign will go live television ahead of the Valentine’s season and will be extended to YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, OTT platforms and various other digital platforms as well.
As per MarketResearch.com estimates, India’s female grooming market stood at $226.95 million in FY2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 21.16 percent in the next five years. Growth in the personal grooming market of India can be attributed to rapid urbanization and growing consumer demand for more convenient and professional grooming products. Brands such as Philips are eyeing this underserved market and it competes with players such as Vega, Ikonic, Babyliss, Syska, Nova, Havells and Remington.