2012

IMC Assignment
Brand: Fair and Handsome
Professor: Dr. Sanjay Bhale

Mukesh Pareek Marketing A 1/1/2012

The Story So far in Pictures

The Big Idea

Activation Programme

The No.1 Factor

Creative Print Ad

Use of Hinglish

The Way Ahead

Brand: Fair and Handsome Company: Emami Industry: Cosmetics Agency: Situations Launch: 2005

Brief Introduction In the year 2005 Emami in collaboration with Activor Corp, USA, launched Fair and Handsome a brand that created the Men's fairness cream segment in India. The brand became the creator and the market leader of this segment. Prior to the introduction of Fair and Handsome the category was serviced by the iconic brand Fair and Lovely from the stable of HUL. Emami was looking for ways to challenge the Fair and Lovely brand from HUL. Emami had a brand Naturally Fair which was small compared to Fair and Lovely. Emami went for serious customer research which showed that 25-30% of customers of Fairness creams were men. That customer insight paved way for a specialized brand for men. Facts and Figures The total fairness market is estimated to be around Rs 900 crores and men's segment is around Rs 160 crores. Fair and Handsome is worth Rs 45 Crores now commanding a market share of over 30-40% in the segment. The category is still in the nascent stage and the influx of new launches only confirms that the canvas is yet to see a lot of colors. Competitor Analysis An enumeration of the competitors would be: HULs Fair and Lovely Menz Active Nivea Whitening Range LOreal s Men Expert Garneir

Brand Fair and Handsome FAL Menz Active Whitening Lightning Men Expert

Stable Emami HUL Nivea Garnier LOreal

Price Perception Entry Level Entry Level Mid Level Mid Level Expensive

Brand Ambassador Shahrukh Khan None Shahid Kapoor John Abraham Gerald Butler ( Global)

Fair and Handsome has gained the first mover advantage, already competition is heating up. HUL has extended FAL into men's category with a variant Menz Active. Nivea and Lo'real also have moved into this segment. Unlike Fair and Handsome , other brands are little subtle in positioning their brands as a fairness cream. Nivea uses the term Whitening While LOreal positions the men's range Men Expert by providing a gamut of skin solutions for men. However HUL directly positions its Menz Active as a fairness cream but the target market are older men aged 25-35 So far, it is only Garnier which has taken the highway by not mentioning the Attract Women attribute

The IMC of Fair and Handsome

TAGLINE: Be fair, Be handsome Fair and Handsome is targeted at young urban men aged 15- 35. The brand was launched with much promotion across visual media. The discussion can be furthered by talking the first TVC aired by Fair and Handsome. Here the main character is depicted as a nincompoop who gets into a ladies hostel to steal a fairness cream. It leaves me wondering that why couldn't he just go to a supermarket and buy it, however in fair and objective discussion we sure cannot discount the fact that having a first mover advantage they sure had a unique value proposition which helped even a lousy campaign attain success. The brand is being positioned as the fairness cream that can make men handsome and also attractive to girls. The brand uses the tagline: Be fair Be Handsome. The brand has to be

appreciated for creating a category. It is true that men use creams meant for women. Hence there is logic in creating a brand for men in this category. In the face of emerging competition Emami has moved aggressively to promote Fair & Handsome by roping in Bollywood icon ShahRukh Khan as its brand ambassador. The TVC featuring SRK is already on air. According to a report in agencyfaqs, SRK was initially skeptical about endorsing a fairness brand for PR reasons; However Emami was able to convince SRK into endorsing this brand. Fair& Handsome is the first brand to target men. It was followed by Fair and Lovely extending itself to men's variant Men's Active. Now this segment is seeing lot of activity. Fair and Handsome is banking on its 5 power Fairness System: 1. Double Strength Peptide complex which was developed in collaboration with Activor Corp. USA. 2. Sunguard: Prevent sunburn 3. Stress Busters: prevent wrinkles 4. Anti Bacplus: anti bacterial 5.Herbo Cool: herbal ingredients. The brand website also gives an interesting chart that explains why fairness is important

. This chart in a way explains the Brand's thought process.Fair and Handsome retains the original tagline: Be Fair, Be Handsome" in the new campaign also. The brand gives an impression that the users are having a lack of confidence and feels insecure and have less self esteem. Again the brand assumes that Fairness gets women attracted towards men. The new campaign and the brand ambassador in SRK may spike the sale of this brand for a while, but in order to move up the ladder, FAH have to project itself as a winner rather than a brand for losers.

source: agencyfaqs,business standard,fairand handsome.net

Recent Communication Initiatives The brand managers acknowledging the importance of the virtual world have not only created a user friendly website but also in order to engage the customers have come up with various initiatives Win An Ipod

National Level Mr. Handsome Contest

Free Wallpapers, Screen savers and e cards

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE IMC

Strength
Simple and direct communication Hard hitting message playing the vulnerability of the target audience Reinforcement in the form ' World's no.1 cream' Strong recall because of Shahrukh Khan

Weakness
Single focus on 'Attract Girls' attribute Unable to create the aspirational value Heavy reliance on the brand ambassador

Oppurtunity
In the form of ancillary products which can be introduced using the same IMC channels Increasing awareness in men about beauty is an oppurtunity in itself

Threat
Objective communication messages devoid of puffery used by competitors Deep Pockets and advertising budgets of competitors The simplicity may just get converted into 'rusticity' and dampen its chances of beinga power brand

Observations and Suggestions

Again the brand assumes that Fairness gets women attracted towards men. It appears that the brand still lives in the Stone Age. It appears that they have got their assumptions wrong. By depicting the main hero of the ad as a person with low self esteem, the brand is repelling lot of self assured men who wants to take care of their skin rather than attracting chicks. Gone are the days where Indian men had a complex about the skin color influenced by the long oppression by the British. Now the urban male is a more evolved one. (It cannot be denied the fact that there are people who have complex about being not fair). Men are more exposed to sun and dust and the traditional creams may not be effective for men. Hence such brands should address the host of issues faced by men rather than talking about being attractive to girls. I feel that Fair and Handsome by default is restricting itself to the Fairness proposition ( which is not a bad idea in the short run but if they are in for the long haul then they would have to consider selling a complete skin solution). Even when you are addressing the issue of fairness, the brand have to project itself as an aspirational brand rather than as one for losers. Even the new campaign fails terribly in execution. The new campaign and the brand ambassador in SRK may spike the sale of this brand for a while, but in order to move up the ladder, Fair and Handsome have to project itself as a winner rather than a brand for losers. Though the brand has to tackle the issue of reluctance of men to be seen using a cream because cosmetics traditionally are viewed as a category meant for females. Situations are changing and the Metrosexuals are least bothered about openly caring about their looks. The changing face of modern man is definitely indicating a big opportunity to these brands.