Grooming their way to growth

During the COVID pandemic, consumer trends changed quite a bit. People were compelled to explore the broad concept of transformative wellness and grooming.

The grooming and wellness category has seen significant growth due to pandemic. In a recent panel discussion, afaqs! talked to individuals, who are now building their own startups, to learn more about this category, its growth path and the challenges ahead.

During the discussion on the theme of 'Grooming Their Way to Growth', at the first edition of the Startup Brands Summit by afaqs!, startup heads talked about sexual health and intimate hygiene that are still considered taboo topics.

Moderated by Shreyas Kulkarni, principal correspondent, afaqs!, the panellists included Ananya Maloo, founder, Nuutjob; Jaideep Mahajan, co-founder and CMO, Svish; Rajat Jadhav, co-founder, Bold Care; and Sidharth Oberoi, founder & CEO, Let's Shave.

As this category straddles D2C and omnichannel models, the marketers talked about how they want to move their brands to offline platforms.

Oberoi of Let's Shave shared, "Omnichannel is a way to go, but it comes with a lot of pros and cons. If you have limited funds and resources, then you can focus on online platforms. On the other hand, if a brand has achieved a certain growth online, then it can move towards offline."

"Our company's strength is to focus on online. I will focus on expanding online, internationally. Currently, we are present in the US, UAE and Australia. I think if we'd gone offline, then it would have been a different journey. At present, we are not at the stage to enter an offline platform, but it is on our mind."

Bold Care's Jadhav said, "In a category like ours, the market is 5% online and 95% offline. It is very productive to move offline. We can do it by figuring out websites, marketplaces and e-commerce, and then start looking globally."

Nuutjob's Maloo said, "Going offline is an expensive approach for us. Through online, we create the wave first and then, in a matter of few years, we'd penetrate into the offline market."

She added, "Intimate hygiene is a very taboo topic in India. Creating awareness among people, who want to know why they should buy the product, happens by creating waves through digital platforms. Online channels mask the embarrassment of buying such products."

Svish's Mahajan commented, "When you have limited money and resources, then it is a lot easier to put your thoughts into the minds of consumers through online platforms. But offline platforms require a lot of effort and money."

According to all the panellists, brands need to adapt and change their content in order to make their ads stand out in online media.

Maloo mentioned, "While you are creating an ad on Facebook, you need to be very careful about the community guidelines. You need to be smart with the kind of content you create."

You can watch the full panel discussion below: