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Modi Revlon is aiming for 50-per cent sales growth through skincare. And by restructuring marketing operations, the company hopes to touch the Rs 100-crore-turnover mark in three years
Modi Revlon, the 76:24 joint venture between Modi Mundi Pharma and Revlon of the US, appears bullish on market expansion. And a reflection of this can be seen in the company's planned foray into the Rs 1,200-crore Indian skincare market, and the lining up of a new colour cosmetic brand - from Revlon's international portfolio - targeted at youngsters here. Simultaneously, the company is also taking steps to strengthen its existing mass-market and premium offerings through increased advertising, organisational restructuring and retail expansion.
The skincare range that Revlon plans to unveil includes skin lotion, cleanser, skin toner and whitening products. The company is unwilling to disclose the brand name under which the skincare range will be introduced, and isn't parting with more information on the products either. Vis-à-vis pricing, all that is forthcoming is that the products will fall in the Rs 200-to-Rs 500 range. "The right time to launch these products is in the winter," says Amrita Deol, senior marketing manager, Modi Revlon. "Accordingly, we have planned the formal launch in August or September this year. It is too early to talk give out details."
Creating space in the already crowded skincare market is going to be a tough call for Modi Revlon. In this market - which is largely driven by fairness products - Hindustan Lever (HLL) has the lion's share. And competition for Revlon can come in any form from the different offerings of CavinKare, Emami, Paras Pharmaceuticals, Godrej, Synergie, Garnier… But Umesh K. Modi, chairman & CEO, Modi Revlon, isn't willing to let that dampen spirits. "Stepping into the skincare market is part of our ambitious plan to achieve sales growth of 50 per cent in 2002," he says excitedly. "And what is going to help us get there is mass-media advertising, new product launches and distribution expansion."
Talking about advertising, for the year 2002, the company has increased its spends by 100 per cent over last year. According to agencyfaqs! sources, the total mass-media ad budget for 2002 is in the vicinity of Rs 10 crore-plus. A print campaign for Revlon, created by Grey Worldwide, is out already, and features, for a change, an Indian face - that of model Fleur Xavier. "Taking an Indian face was born from the need to re-instil confidence in the consumers' mind that Indian-made products are equally good, if not better," explains Modi. "And anyway, the perception that foreign products endorsed by foreign models are better than Indian products is waning. Indian women consumers are more open to Indian-made products. That's why we have even decided to produce Revlon products locally."
Local commercial production of the entire range of Revlon cosmetics, hair-care and skincare products (except fragrances) will commence from the first week of February 2002, the company informs. To this end, a new plant has been set up in Assam, and Kamakhya Cosmetics & Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Modi Revlon, will monitor quality standards.
The company is also launching another brand from Revlon's international stable in April, details of which are not forthcoming. All that company officials share is that the brand's target group is young consumers in the 17-to-22-years age bracket. What is apparent is that by introducing a ‘youth brand' the company is working towards positioning Revlon as brand for all age groups.
In an effort to streamline its marketing, Modi Revlon is also restructuring operations into two divisions - cosmetics and personal care. The company sees immense potential in the Rs 500-crore colour cosmetics market. In fact, Revlon already claims to have grown by 27 per cent last year, as compared to the category growth of 15 per cent. The company plans to add 7,000 more cosmetics outlets to its existing 3,000 outlets, and the move is a clear indication of taking on the mass-market leader, Lakme. Revlon is also focusing on the premium-end by launching new products within the existing ColorStay range.
On the personal care front, Revlon has entered into a distribution agreement with Win Medicare to further strengthen its reach. The tie-up with Win Medicare is expected to give the company access to 1,20,000 chemist outlets. Also, the number of personal care outlets it covers is also slated to increase from 8,000 to 25,000. Apart from this, Modi Revlon is reinforcing its presence in the top-end of the retail chain by increasing the number of ‘beauty advisor outlets' by 45-to-50 per cent. Having put all its plans in place, the company is targeting a turnover of Rs 100 crore in three years time.© 2002 agencyfaqs!