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In
May 2007, Beiersdorf AG, the German company which owns Nivea, a
major global skin and body care brand, launched a new line of
products under the 'Nivea for Men' name in India.
The Nivea for Men line included two new fairness products - a
Whitening Moisturizer and Multi-White Whitening Facial Foam. (In
addition to the whitening products, the Nivea for Men line also
included Deodorant Aqua Cool, Multi Protecting Facial Foam,
Moisturizing Shaving Foam, and Shaving Gel.)
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The launch of the Nivea for Men line in India marked
the company's entry into the male grooming segment in the country. In
India, Nivea had been primarily known for its moisturizing creams.
The
launch of the new line was supported by extensive promotional activity,
including television and print advertising, as well as a large number of
point-of-sale activities.
The early 2000s had witnessed an increased interest in personal grooming
among men. According to analysts, men were becoming more conscious of
their looks, as in the business world as well as in society, a lot rode
on how a person presented himself. Ill-groomed men ran the risk of
coming across as shoddy and irresponsible.
The grooming fad was not limited to men in the corporate field; it had
spread to college goers and youngsters too. It also helped that a large
number of celebrities were becoming increasingly voluble about their
personal grooming habits.
The Indian cosmetics industry was quick to latch on to the phenomenon.
Surveys carried out by cosmetics companies suggested that a large number
of Indian men were using fairness creams that were originally targeted
at women.
For example, a study conducted by Emami Industries (Emami) in the early
2000s showed that 29% of the users of fairness creams were men. Going by
this trend, companies started developing men's grooming products that
went beyond shaving products and deodorants.
In 2005, with the launch of 'Fair and Handsome', Emami became the first
company in India to launch a fairness cream exclusively for men. Emami
had collaborated with Activor Corp. of the US as well as several
herbalists and dermatologists in India to create the product.
Because Fair and Handsome was a category creator, its launch was
supported by heavy promotion. The theme of the company's advertisements
revolved around bringing out the fact that a large number of men used
women's fairness creams.
One of the first advertisements showed a young
man secretly using a women's fairness cream, all the while fearing that
he would be caught by his friends.
Emami also marketed its product by emphasizing that women's creams did
not work on men because of the differences in their skin types, and the
differences in the conditions to which they were exposed to on a daily
basis.
In the first 11 months after its launch in mid-2005, the sales of
Fair and Handsome were reportedly Rs. 160 million.1
Fair and Handsome was followed in 2006 by Hindustan Lever Limited's (HLL) Fair and Lovely Menz Active, another fairness cream for men. HLL used the brand strength of one of its most popular products, Fair and Lovely, in launching this product. Menz Active was also launched amidst heavy promotion.
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