Selling fairness creams in India: a study in packaging communication

Fairness CREAMS MARKET in India Fairness creams have become a vital product for the Indian companies in increasing their overall sales due to the importance given by Indian consumers towards fairness. As India is a country known for its diversity different consumers from different parts of the country prefer different brands. The leading players in the market includes Hindustan Lever Ltd., (HLL's) 'Fair & Lovely' with 76 percent of the market share and Cavin Kare' s 'Fairever' with 15 percent of the market share. Other important players like Garnier, Emma's 'Fair and handsome', Olay, ponds and Himalaya share the rest of the market share. There are number of fairness creams and other skin whitening products in the market such as peel-offs, serums, lotions etc. All the fairness creams have similar basic ingredients but the several additions make them more suitable to some particular skin type and may irritate other skin types. Sometimes and in some people it may have side-effects there are a number of creams in the market and many cosmetics. India has a tropical climate with maximum number of months having sun shining as the brightest star. Moreover, the temperatures are rising day by day. These factors create a need for the otherwise darkened skin due to over-exposure to the shining sun.

All the companies are reaching out to the target customers through its wide range of fairness creams. Aloe Vera extract, turmeric, vitamin-E, lemon extract are some of the ingredients which form major formulations. Another advantage of such fairness creams is that they tend to clear dark spots, brighten the discolored, pigmented skin and are suitable for all skin types. They have to be used twice a day on face and neck after cleaning them with a face wash. All the cosmetics companies have at least one fairness cream under their brand name. Although packing changes regularly, formulations remain the same. Starting from the most popular brand, Fair & Lovely plays as the market leader with oldest brand and highest customer base. There are two more variants added to its original brand. They are anti-marks and ayurvedic range. For that flawless look Ponds of HLL and Oil of Olay of P & G, quite openly challenge the seven-day test with a money-back guarantee. Shahnaz Herbal claims its product as herbal and best in its range. This product is economical in range as against the normal line of products at premium prices. For the last few years, Emami is selling its fairness cream for men the product is a great success, especially in small towns and cities. As most of the Indians are very much bothered about their color complexion the fairness creams enjoy very good market growth rate when compared with other related product categories.

The skin care market is valued at $180 million in India. With safe and effective procedures, advancement in medical technology, increase in awareness, the Indian Skin care solutions business is growing very fast. The skin care market can be segregated into toners, cleansers, sunscreens, anti-wrinkle creams, dark circle removing creams, astringents, facial creams, moisturizers, fairness creams, day and night creams, etc. Out of these, facial creams, moisturizers, fairness creams, day and night creams, etc. are the most popular products and account for approximately 60% of the skin care segment. The skin care market is at a primary stage in India. The penetration level for both the urban and rural market is low. Many people still prefer to use homemade and traditional products to cure the skin problems. However, within a period of five-six years, the use of skin care products has increased significantly in India. With changing life styles, increase in disposable incomes, greater product choice and availability, and influence of satellite television, more people are taking interest in personal grooming. The facial skin care market is booming. Products are competing with one another to take shelf space in the retail stores. Facial skin care products have become an essential part of the beauty market. Like western countries, creams and potions are applied in India also, in an effort to remove the pimples and the acne, fight stress and worry lines, and to remain young. Since the penetration level is still relatively low, growth is expected to be around 25% over the next five years.

In the skin care category, Fair & Lovely fairness cream, with a penetration of 75%, accounts for 60% of the skin care market in rural India. It also enjoys the undistinguished patronage of 58% of its user households. Both Pond's and Fair & Lovely are enjoying a monopoly in the rural markets in their respective categories. Rural India is not averse to trying out the premium brands at high prices.

Packaging Packaging is any container or wrapping in which the product is offered for sale and can consist of a variety of materials such as glass, paper, metal or plastic, depending on what is to be contained. A brands package is off course, the container that both protects and sells the product. Packaging is the least expensive form of advertising, every package is a five-second commercial, the package is the product, and the package is the silent salesman. Packaging is an important part of the product that not only serves a functional purpose, but also acts as a e=means of communicating product information and brand character. First among the functions of packaging are the practicalities. Packaging must be functional; it must protect the product in storage, in shipment (transport) and often in use. Other packaging functions centre on convenience for the customer, both in terms of ease of access and ease of use. In addition to offering functional information about product identity and use, packaging also serves a promotional purpose. It needs to grab and hold the consumers attention and involve them with the product. This means that the packaging is actually adding value to the brand; this can be achieved through the combination of materials, shape, graphics and color. Finally, packaging can be used for promotional purposes. It gives

the manufacturer a powerful medium of communication. It can be used, for example, as a means of distributing coupons, for advertising for other related products, announcing new products, presenting onpack offers or distributing samples and gifts. We will analyze the packaging of fairness creams on the basis of: Shape of the package Sizes in which the product is available Graphics used on the package Brand name Typography used Pictures Colors Benefits Packaging is now days regarded as an essential component of our modern life style and the way business is organized. Packaging is the enclosing of a physical object, typically a product that will be offered for sale. It is the process of preparing items of equipment for transportation and storage and which embraces preservation, identification and packaging of products. Packing is recognized as an integral part of modern marketing operation, which embraces all phases of activities involved in the transfer of goods and services from the manufacturer to the consumer. Packaging is an important part of the branding process as it plays a role in communicating the image and identity of a company. How can we define Packaging?

Kotler defines packaging as "all the activities of designing and producing the container for a product." Packaging can be defined as the wrapping material around a consumer item that serves to contain, identify, describe, protect, display, promote, and otherwise make the product marketable and keep it clean. Packaging is the outer wrapping of a product. It is the intended purpose of the packaging to make a product readily sellable as well as to protect it against damage and prevent it from deterioration while storing. Furthermore the packaging is often the most relevant element of a trademark and conduces to advertising or communication. Indians obsessed with fairness creams With WHO issuing a warning that fairness creams ruin your skin, we bring out the 'unfair play of advertising. What connects Shah Rukh Khan, Shahid Kapur, John Abraham, Genelia D'Souza, Deepika Padukone and now Yaami Gautam? They have all endorsed fairness creams, which promise to be your ticket to the world of glamour. That Indians are obsessed with fairness is evident from the way these creams do brisk business in the country. But is everything fair in the advertising game?

Top 10 fairness creams talking about fairness: Fairness Creams in our country have gained a lot of popularity over the past decade because of the growing awareness amongst girls and ladies regarding a fair, brighter complexion.Here are a list of the leading Fairness Creams in India which are highly preferred by women for achieving a spotless and beautiful complexion:

 Fair and Lovely

Fair and lovely is the most popular fairness cream in India. It is widely chosen by women for a younger, brighter complexion. It has a number of variants like anti marks, skin clarity, and multi vitamin, active sun block, ayurvedic balance and even a fairness cream for men known as Fair and Lovely Menz Active. The Fair & Lovely Foundation has a vision to give an opportunity to as many women as they can to realize their dreams.

Garnier Light

Garnier is a mass market cosmetics brand of LOreal that produces hair

care and skin care products. Much like other brands from LOreal, it is sold in several markets around the world. The Garnier Light Fairness and Dark Spots prevention cream lightens skin, Prevents dark spots from reappearing. It a multi-targeted action to protects a fair and radiant look: it smoothes, lightens the skin, protects from UVA & UVB rays, and helps prevent appearance of dark spots.

Olay Natural White

Olay Natural White Night Cream contains twice the mulberry leaf extract, which is proved to not only whiten you skin, but also optimizing its texture leaving your skin feeling feather soft. So you get a fairer, smoother skin. It nourishes skin from deep inside, 2X whitening effect, It gives intense moisturizing and reveals skin health and radiance. Olay Natural White helps not only to improve your skins fairness but also to improve the condition of your skin.

Ponds White Beauty

Enriched with detoxifying vitamins, White Beauty is not only popular for whitening the skin, but to neutralize the effect of darkness causing elements in todays harsh environment. The range consists of a number of products other than a fairness cream. It is the brands commitment to providing superior face care solutions to Indian women. Each ingredient is testimony to the latest research in skincare and a commitment to quality and pricing. The Ponds white Beauty range is widely available throughout India.

Nivea Visage Sparkling Glow

For a fairer complexion that glows from within and stays protected, start each day with Nivea visage sparkling glow day care fairness cream. It is advised that after cleansing and toning your face apply the cream by gently massaging in to the skin using small upward , circular strokes for optimal fairness result. The Nivea Visage Sparkling Glow range promises skin three times fairer than usual in just three weeks. It is designed to bring out your skins inner glow and make it sparkle.

LOreal White Perfect

The LOreal White Perfect is enriched with White Micro Pearls, Melanin-Block and Vitamin C for radiant, fairer skin. LOreal Paris has discovered the new generation of natural whitening. It is based on the

knowledge that skin coloration depends not only on the level of melanin pigments but also on the microcirculation under the skin.

Lakme Perfect Radiance

Lakme offers Perfect Radiance for your skin to tackle all signs of skin darkening. Enriched with calming and purifying extracts of White Lotus and Sacred Lily, it includes a number of products in this range. The fairness cream should be used to be smoothed onto cleansed skin every morning and evening to discover skin that glows from within. The Lakme Perfect Radiance Fairness gives you fairness thats ultimate and complete. It ensures that your skin looks fair not just on the surface, but lends to it fairness so complete, it looks radiant, day after day.

Neutrogena Fine Fairness

The Neutrogenas Fine Fairness range transforms your skin from the inside out. With a holistic approach, its dimensions target all aspects of skin radiance. So you can be confident of getting whiter, healthier looking skin that lasts.Fine Fairness is defined by simultaneous action in 3 facets tone, texture and hydration to ensure even-toned, smooth and supple skin from inside out. The synergistic Fine Fairness range effectively brightens complexion to give an even-toned, brighter skin.

Fairever

It feel more beautiful than ever, with new fairever! Because weve added more saffron to pamper your skin to a new brightness. And more

milk to keep it nourished and glowing. Theres wheat germ oil to keep skin youthful, and sunscreens to retain your fairness, while reducing the harmful effect of UV rays. Plus, a special ingredient to help cream spread evenly. Suitable for all skin types.

Fairone

Shahnaz Hussain Fair One Cream has a unique blend of herbal ingredients like saffron, honey, apricot oil, rose, cucumber and lemon distillate. The formulation protects the skin from the darkening effects of the sun. Honey, a natural moisturizer, nourishes the skin, keeping it smooth and supple. This cream helps to make your skin look fairer and brighter. It not only de-pigments but also nourishes and restores damaged skin cells. It ensures long-term benefits by sustaining and maintaining a healthy, flawless skin.

Men in India [ Images ] seem to be in a rush to be the fairer sex. So Hindustan Lever [ Get Quote ] is the latest to make a splash with its range of Vaseline whitening facewash and cream.

It is still a fairly small segment - just Rs 186 crore (Rs 1.86 billion) out of the total Rs 2,200 crore (Rs 22 billion) plus fairness cream market, according to Nielsen - but one that is growing at a fast clip of 31 per cent.

Clearly, men in India wouldn't mind being the fairer sex, if marketers' pitches for men's fairness creams are anything to go by.

To secure early leads, marketers are expanding their portfolio beyond creams and straddling different price-points with various ranges. Differentiation, for now, seems to have been relegated in favour of endorsements by filmdom's and cricket's A-listers for their communication.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) is the latest to make a splash with its range of Vaseline Men Anti-Spots Whitening facewash and cream. In what is

seen by observers as retaliation to Garnier's campaign with star endorser John Abraham [ Images ], HUL has roped in Shahid Kapur [ Images ].

Garnier, Loreal's natural ingredient-based brand, launched its Garnier Men PowerLight range of moisturisers and facewash last year.

But won't the star endorsements by every brand erode differentiation? Garnier Marketing Manager Richa Singh says, "John Abraham's positive energy and the will to be active helped us portray him in a way that was real to both him and our brand. It appeared genuine." HUL Skin Care General Manager Govind Rajan feels, "It is always better to start with the young who are more amenable to change. Hence, Shahid Kapur".

On its part, Nivea has associated with India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni [ Images ]. The first mover, Emami's Fair and Handsome has Shahrukh Khan [ Images ] as its endorser.

Kolkata-based Emami first saw the need for a men's fairness product, beating bigger players. Research had showed that the country's leading

women's fairness cream, Fair and Lovely, had then owed over 30 per cent of its sale to men users.

Emami's Fair and Handsome, launched in 2005, was followed by HUL, the makers of Fair and Lovely, which launched Fair and Lovely Menz Active in 2006. Beiersdorf AG, the German parent of Nivea, entered next with its Nivea for Men products. Smaller players include Elder Healthcare's FairOne Man, a Shahnaz Hussain franchise. (See chart for market shares)

Heavy advertisers such as HUL and Garnier are now looking to expand the skincare category beyond vanilla fairness creams with face washes and sunscreens, though experts question the efficacy of these products.

"How can brands have facewashes which lend fairness?" asks one. Emami Group Director Mohan Goenka believes that "product extensions will be only to support the mother brand of the fairness cream."

Marketers admit that fairness is the foremost concern of users but insists that it only points to the underlying need for a healthy skin.

Nivea For Men Group Brand Manager Sudarshan Singh says, "Whitening emerges as the prime need. Since Indian men spend a lot of time outdoors, they desire to reverse the effect of the aggressive factors and hence use whitening creams. The other big need is also of oil control." Adds Garnier Marketing Manager Richa Singh, "Our products address the need for a clear and glowing skin, albeit without a tan and dark spots."

The brands are banking on the halo effect of the names under which they launch their men's fairness products, apart from the star pull. Singh says, "Our differentiator is what Garnier stands for overall - fusing nature with technology." HUL's Rajan says, "Vaseline has always been viewed as an expert brand on skincare thanks to its heritage. So it has the credibility to create a habit of skincare regime."

Brands are also straddling different price points, either through different product ranges or through packaging. Garnier launched satchets of its cream early this year. Its parent, L'oreal also has a range for men's whitening cream priced much higher. HUL covers the mass market with its Fair and Lovely Menz Active.

With Vaseline Men, it will focus on modern retail, which Rajan admits will yield a higher throughput as it is targeted at the urban man. "Men are wary of walking into a fancy and cosmetic store and tend to pick up products from chemists and hypermarkets," he adds.

Emami, still lording it over the market with its Rs 125 crore (Rs 1.25 billion) brand, is far from embattled. Goenka points out, "It is one thing to have a brand and quite another to focus on it. What will be the war chest that larger players will set aside for their men's brands?

We have 20 per cent of revenues going into advertising and Fair and Handsome remains a focus brand, he asks. HUL, for example, does not intend to extend its Fair and Lovely Menz Active, but wants to concentrate on Vaseline Men.

On the whole, most players say they want to grow the market, so the more the merrier.