Market with a share of 20% (Source: Nielsen

Looking good is no longer the preserve of Retail Audit).

women alone. Increasingly men are muscling
their way into this category. Male style icons Achievements
both from within and outside India have made The challenges facing the hair styling
‘metrosexual’ a coveted tag and the much- category are similar to those which
reviled comb-in-the-back-pocket dandy has confront other fashion-driven industries
turned into the post-liberalisation dude with such as branded fashion wear and
studiously styled hair. Urbanisation has also branded jeans. The interest in these
blurred the lines between socio-economic categories is immense with outlets housing
groups, with the result that the male grooming them, registering large footfalls. The
products market is spiralling upward. perennial problem has been one of poor
The overall hair care market is valued at to modest conversion. This has also been
Rs. 2862.20 crore (US$ 596.20 million) (Source: the challenge faced by Brylcreem.
marketresearch.com). Of this the fastest growing The good news for the hair styling
segment is hair styling and grooming, currently industry was that without intense effort it
had doubled in size
between 2005 and
2008. This good
news was
supported by the
market reality that
over 70% of all men
visited salons at least
once each month of potential users. The brand then cast its mind
and were today, on developing products that would interest
experimenting with them. It did this by unleashing a spate of
grooming and hair product innovations. Brylcreem Naturals cut
styling, more than at any across age barriers while Brylcreem UV Glow
other time in the past. and Brylcreem Headlines Hair Streak attacked
The conclusion that was the high-experimenter with a slew of
easy to draw was that suggestions on what he could do with his hair.
pegged at Rs. 120 crore (US$ 25 million). This is the market for hair styling was there but it While the strategy was now all in place it just
divided in two primary segments: hair styling, needed a very special marketing thrust. needed the vehicle that would carry this
and hair manageability and nourishment. Brylcreem met this challenge by first of all message. Brylcreem did this by some plain
The former is a segment, comprising in the questioning the conventional belief that looking lateral thinking: it simply blocked product space
main, young urban users. Hair gels – all water- good was the singular preserve of the young. By at chemist shops – a place traditionally that gets
soluble products – fulfil the specialised ‘wetlook’ including the older generation it democratised more male footfalls. Many supermarkets, too,
and ‘styling hold’ needs of this market. The latter the segment and created a much larger basket picked up the trend and created displays
is the more devoted exclusively
pervasive and is to men’s hair care
addressed by oil products.
emulsion-based, The approach
hair cream has worked in the
formulations. market place with
These cut across Brylcreem re-
age groups, socio- enforcing its status
economic as the segment
classifications as leader.
well as the urban-
rural divide. History
The issues The Brylcreem
facing the brand brand has a long
are increasing and hallowed
penetration, history. Created by
currently pegged County Chemicals,
at 12% and of Birmingham in
increasing usage 1928, the hair
by current users. grooming cream
Brylcreem was purchased by
dominates the Beecham in 1939.
hair styling and During the Second
grooming World War the
segment with a product was much
market share of used by Royal Air
39% with its Force pilots that
closest they came to be
competitor a called the
distant second Brylcreem Boys.

42 SUPERBRANDS

Beecham India Private Limited began
manufacturing the cream in India in 1949. The
ownership changed yet again when SmithKline
and Beecham merged to form SmithKline
Beecham Limited. During the 1960s the
Brylcreem glass jar was a permanent prop in
Hindi films and became one of the most
recognisable packaging in the country. Thanks to
this exposure, Brylcreem had become a must-
have for the well-groomed, fashion-conscious
man of that day.
From the marketing perspective also,
Brylcreem was ahead of its time. Long before
celebrity endorsements had become popular
sales drivers Brylcreem had signed up with
Farookh Engineer, India’s dapper and debonair
wicket-keeper cricketer as its brand ambassador.
Brylcreem changed hands yet again when
SmithKline Beecham sold the brand to Sara Lee
Household & Bodycare in 1993. In mid-2007,
Godrej Sara Lee Limited acquired the Sara Lee
Household & Bodycare businesses in India and
Sri Lanka. The new parent reworked the entire
positioning strategy and re-launched it as a
young, cool and upwardly mobile brand, yet
accessible to all. This helped re-energise
Brylcreem and strengthen its hold on
the market.
Product
Market research has revealed that the first thing
that men look at in the morning is their hair –
making it literally and figuratively their top
priority. Brylcreem has spared no effort in
providing the new man with a wide range of
new-age products.
Currently Brylcreem offers products in two
segments – hair gels which have the strong
allegiance of younger viewers and creams for
the more mature consumer.
Brylcreem hair gels provide the essential hair apprehensive
styling propositions in which ‘wetlook’ is the about the
dominant need-state while the water-resistant, welcome his
Wetlook Gel ensures great shine and wetness new-look will
of the hair. At the same time the product also receive. But he is
conditions hair and provides ultra violet light aghast to find
protection from the sun. The Brylcreem Ultra that every one in
Strong Gel affords stronger and lasting styling his town from the
hold even as it offers the same properties of farmer, the owner
hair conditioning and protection against ultra of the corner tea-
violet light. shop, the local
On the other hand is Brylcreem’s traditional goon, the postman,
red tub hair cream. Ideally suited for better hair the gym owner
manageability and nourishment the brand has and even
now been extended to three distinct usage and mamaji have all
hair types. Brylcreem Protein Plus has been undergone a style
formulated especially for providing limp hair metamorphosis.
with vitality, Brylcreem Dandruff Control The campaign’s
contains climbazole, the best-known anti- tagline 'Style is
dandruff agent and Brylcreem Natural uses the for everyone' says
goodness of aloe vera, wheat germ and jojoba in words what
oils to naturally condition and moisturise hair. the images had
conveyed.
Recent Developments Brylcreem had
Godrej Sara Lee has decided to focus on earlier tied up with
developing several products – each fulfilling a Interactive Television in
unique need-gap and addressing a consumer a joint promotion for
white space. Continuous efforts to further the super hit film
develop path-breaking consumer-centric Garam Masala. This
products have resulted in new formulations. created a symbiotic
Using its international expertise and after relationship between Brylcreem, a brand at the
conducting intensive studies on formulation cutting edge of style and Akshay Kumar and
prototypes, a revolutionary breakthrough John Abraham both leading style icons in
product has been developed and launched the country.
under the brand name Brylcreem Hybridz. Between these efforts and the up gradation
Extensively tested, Brylcreem Hybridz is a of its packaging,
premium offering that straddles the Brylcreem has further
benefits of both ‘wetlook’ and ‘hold’ in a consolidated its
single formulation. It also comes in an leadership position.
attractive black, first-for-the-industry-in-
India packaging. Brand Values
Currently Most brands that are 80
undergoing a years old expect to be
market launch toppled from their perch.
it has already So it is extraordinary that
garnered Brylcreem should continue
4.60% share in to dominate the market with
its first four such exceptional intensity.
months. The fact is that Brylcreem
is one of the world’s great
Promotion iconic brands. It has retained
‘A Little Dab'll its youthful exuberance
Do Ya’ was the because it has been
first tagline for constantly re-jigged and
Brylcreem way rejuvenated. It has kept pace
back in the with changing times and pace
1940s. The with market needs.
brand has come Today, when people reach
a long way since then out for Brylcreem they are
but the promotional concept remains the same actually reaching out to a small part of folk lore
– Brylcreem will still ‘do ya’. The truth quite and marketing history.
simply is that all men – young or old, rich or
poor, urban or rural – aspire to look good. The www.godrejsaralee.com
advertising in the past, however, including
communications for Brylcreem has always Things you didn’t know about
targeted the chic, ultra-modern, pub-drinking,
lady-on-one-arm audience. This has had the
Brylcreem
effect of alienating mass markets which couldn’t Fred Flintstone's famous ‘Yabba Dabba Doo’ is
visualise themselves in those surroundings. derived from the Brylcreem motto ‘A Little
Brylcreem spotted this weakness. Its latest Dab'll Do Ya!’
advertising campaign eliminates this deficiency.
The choice of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the One of the early brand ambassadors for
charismatic Indian cricket captain as brand Brylcreem was the legendary singer, Kishore
ambassador for Brylcreem has been nothing Kumar
short of a casting coup. Dhoni’s unique selling
The footballer, David Beckham, signed a
proposition is his image of a small town boy
promotional deal with Brylcreem, until he
who skyrocketed to glory. This perception has
shaved off his hair
enabled the new Brylcreem television
commercial featuring Dhoni, to seamlessly At a show in 1967, the original lead singer and
straddle both the rural and urban worlds guitarist of Pink Floyd reportedly crushed a
without appearing to patronise either – a clever tube of Brylcreem over his head while the
reverse swing, in a manner of speaking. band’s co-founder, Syd Barrett was its
The commercial shows a hip, swinging, gelled regular user
Dhoni returning to his hometown, a trifle
SUPERBRANDS 43