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  • Mamaearth debuts on national TV with first ad film

    Mamaearth debuts on national TV with first ad film

    New Delhi: It was nearly four years ago when the husband-wife duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh decided to launch their own personal care and beauty brand – Mamaearth, foraying into the toxin-free products category within the overall personal care and beauty sector that is estimated at $24 billion in India and is rapidly expanding at 8.3 per cent CAGR. This category includes traditional as well as new age brands, which posed a major challenge to Mamaearth.

    Initially, it started with baby care products, but today it is a Rs 100 crore plus brand with a portfolio of over 120 plus products including skincare and hair care items that are Made Safe certified, available across retail channels in 500+ cities as well as online.

    Interestingly, the founders have always stated that the intention behind starting the company stemmed from a personal need, because a few years back there were hardly any natural products in the market. However, with awareness, there is an increasing demand for such products in different demographics. Today, the brand has competitors in the same category.

    The larger purpose of the company is to reduce parental stress, and it is continually improving and innovating to make the world a safer place for both babies and their parents.

    First step

    Unlike most personal care brands that go for full scale ATL campaigns to create buzz about their products, Mamaearth decided to take the digital route for promotions and user acquisition. It targeted premium metro consumers and tied up with influencer moms to spread the word about toxin-free products on social media.

    The strategy worked well, and sales went up through positive word-of-mouth on popular social networking sites. The brand, since then, followed a two pronged marketing strategy – one is to leverage influencer marketing to reach the target audience, and secondly, promoting product offerings via campaigns only through the digital platforms and mediums.

    As per reports, Facebook works very well from an acquisition standpoint, Google for remarketing, YouTube for awareness and stories for the brand.

    Over the years, the brand has created a sizeable fan base on social media. It has nearly half a million followers on Instagram, along with a growing community on Facebook and Twitter.

    During this time, the brand got investments from Bollywood actor Shilpa Kundra and several other investors. Earlier this year, it also raised Rs 130 crore from Sequoia.

    The brand is now targeting a run rate of Rs 300 crore by end of this financial year.

    Next big step

    After four years of digital promotions, the brand has decided to go big and scale. It announced a partnership with the current season of Bigg Boss and as an extension of that association, it debuted with an ad campaign on national television.

    The television commercial on onion hair oil highlights the benefits of onion oil in reducing hair fall, and pitches Mamaearth’s innovative product as a modern alternative to DIY hacks of making onion pulp for hair at home.

    Designed and conceptualised by Korra Worldwide, and featuring actors Aahana Kumra and Pavail Gulati, the film positions Mamaearth onion hair oil as an easier and modern way to give one’s hair the goodness of sulphur, enriched with 10 essential oils and herbs that helps in reducing hair fall. The TVC is a simple yet powerful representation of the brand’s philosophy and product proposition of goodness inside.

    Mamaearth co-Founder and CIO Ghazal Alagh said, “Millennials are increasingly choosing products that are free of chemicals and safe. Mamaearth, with the goodness of nature in their products, is becoming the brand of choice by millennials for the product and value proposition. While the age-old remedies are effective, it is extremely tedious and time consuming to make them. Mamaearth is bringing these traditional recipes, coupling it with science and presenting convenient yet effective solutions for skincare and haircare needs. The film reflects this exact proposition.”

    Alagh stated that the product differentiation of Mamaearth has always helped it in achieving this fast-paced growth. There is a lot of awareness and demand around toxin-free products. Traditional brands are also foraying into this category to ensure that they are able to retain their loyal audiences.

    The campaign is further supported on social media and digital platforms.

    Deepak Kumar, head of creative, Korra said: “Women are very aware of the benefits of onion oil, especially with the rising searches on YouTube and DIY hacks. But these hacks and remedies are cumbersome and very laborious. The Mamaearth TVC had to clearly remind people about the ease of using onion oil now in a bottle. The right cast, right music helped us create this beautiful piece.”

    Initially, when the brand started its journey, the objective was to spread awareness about toxin-free products, but now it is also focused on communicating the USP of its products. It is clear that the brand now wishes to scale up as it is now focusing on achieving growth and targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crores in the next three years. A television campaign with support on impact properties like Bigg Boss definitely helps the brand to cut across a large audience base across geographies and socio-economic categories. Alagh mentioned that the company is aiming to establish itself among the top 25 FMCG brands in the country.

    During the Covid2019 lockdown, the brand launched a few campaigns i.e. 'Spread awareness, not fear' and ‘Let your smile show.’ It also looped in ‘Goodness Ambassadors’ to distribute hand sanitisers for free to people in need.

    Mamaearth is also seeing an upward trend on Google searches, which clearly sets the time right for going for the next big move.

    The brand has claimed to be consistently upping its marketing budgets to have a strong plan in place for short, mid, as well as long term. It has always been extremely RoI fixated.

    It has focused on its products, innovations, and communication with the millennial generation. Over a period of time, the brand is breaking the traditional mould of big distribution required to enter the FMCG segment. The D2C business has helped it in reaching consumers faster and with more efficiency.

  • Jayant Chauhan joins Mamaearth as chief technology & product officer

    Jayant Chauhan joins Mamaearth as chief technology & product officer

    NEW DELHI: FMCG brand Mamaearth has appointed Jayant Chauhan as chief technology & product officer. In his new capacity, Chauhan will oversee the overall product strategy and engineering and will lead the product development and infrastructure teams.

    Mamaearth has exhibited disruptive growth in the last four years, and to further accelerate the scale-up, they’ve decided to add Jayant to the team who brings with him over 15 years of systems and product development expertise. Most recently, Jayant served as the chief product officer at PolicyBazaar wherein he spearheaded the consumer product and martech groundwork and enabled a more tech-oriented approach.

    With a masters in mathematics and computing, Jayant has played a pivotal role in structuring and strengthening the product and technology verticals of organizations like Samsung, Airtel, Reliance Jio and Zomato. He has been brought into the system to lead the technology vertical and augment the product interface and make it more efficient. 

    Chauhan will be based out of the Gurgaon office. His appointment comes on the heels of other critical and strategic additions to the leadership team of Mamaearth.

    Mamaearth founder and CEO Varun Ghazal said, “It is critical to constantly innovate and keep pace with the technological advancement to make the consumer experience enjoyable and seamless. The brand is at a tipping point wherein it is crucial to build a strong foundation to sustain the disruptive growth the brand envisions, and hence we brought in Jayant. We welcome him to our family and are confident that under his leadership, the technological disruption will continue to grow from strength to strength.”

    Chauhan stated, ‘I am extremely enthused to lead Mamaearth’s vision of creating tech-enabled products, that is set out to redefine the personal care industry. Mamaearth has established itself as an innovator and has assembled a leadership team that is second to none. I hope to sustain this distinction. I look forward with confidence to working with their creativity to realise unique results for the consumers.’

  • “We want to be in the top 25 FMCG brands in India” – Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh

    “We want to be in the top 25 FMCG brands in India” – Mamaearth’s Ghazal Alagh

    It is a little baby in the FMCG space, but its safe, natural, toxin-free personal care products have helped Mamaearth take rapid steps and get noticed by the biggies. Started in 2015, by the husband-wife duo of Varun and Ghazal Alagh under Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd, Mamaearth began with six baby care products, and today has 100 plus stock taking units, including its skin and hair care range targeted at both men and women, and natural products for pregnant women.

    More than that it has notched up a revenue of Rs 100 crore in the year just ended and has its eyes set on a Rs 1,000 crore top line by 2023.  Apart from actress Shilpa Shetty who invested in the company, it has blue chip private equity firms which believe it is well on course to do that. It announced a series B investment of Rs 130 crore from Sequoia Capital, and existing investors Fireside Ventures, Stellaris Venture Partners and Sharp Ventures in January 2020.

    The paucity of good quality natural products when their baby was born, was the driving force for the Alagh couple to foray into manufacturing them, and now with demand growing – especially among millennials – even the big boys of the FMCG world are eyeing the segment.

    But Ghazal explains that Mamaearth has a substantial lead time over them because “the biggies  are still struggling to remove toxins from their products, whereas we have already ventured into the personal care segment with toxin free skin and hair products.”

    Being a digital first brand, Mamaearth- which is available in stores in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata ,Chennai, Pune, Nagpur,  has been pretty focused on online marketing through influencers and digital campaigns. For instance, during the Covid2019 lockdown, it asked netizens to “Spread awareness, not fear”” and gave away 50,000 sanitisers through thousands of goodness ambassadors to health care workers, security personnel, delivery agents, domestic helps etc. Then it launched its “Let your smile show” initiative under which it gave away 20,000 smiley masks  as the lockdown was being lifted.

    Indiantelevision.com’s Dolly Mahayan got into a conversation with Ghazal Alagh on what makes the brand tick and the road ahead. Excerpts from the interview:

    Marketing always plays a very crucial role in any new brand. What was your marketing perspective when you started, and how it has evolved over the years?

    We started as a small brand with a premium proposition and wanted to reach out to only the metro consumers. That’s why we chose the digital medium to reach our target audience and communicate our brand story. We tied up with influencer moms who helped us spread the word about toxin-free products on social media. The strategy worked well, and our sales went up through positive word-of-mouth on popular social networking sites. Even today, we use influencer marketing to reach out to our core consumer group. While earlier, our objective was to spread awareness about toxin-free products, we are now focused on communicating the USP of each of our products.

    With every passing year, brands tend to increase their ad spends, ultimately leading to a surge in product pricing. How should a brand find the right balance between marketing expenses and product costs?

    The idea is to have a strong marketing plan in place for short, mid, as well as for the long term. Building a clear marketing budget from the beginning and breaking down the costs monthly helps us stay on top of the spends, without any nasty surprises at the end of the financial year. Finally, even if the ad spends increase every year, the key is to spend effectively.

    The brand is extensively prioritising influencer marketing to drive engagement. In what ways, these partnerships have helped?

    Influencer marketing has worked really well for us. Our target audience is the millennial generation who rely on information available on the internet and are influenced by word of mouth from their peers.  In today’s digital age, influencers have built a high amount of trust from their followers, and recommendations from them establish trust with the brand’s potential customers.

    For a new brand like Mamaearth, how do you find the right balance between marketing expenses and product costs?

    Being a product company, we make sure we are not cutting down costs on raw material and manufacturing. In the end, it is the product that will deliver. Marketing efforts at each stage of the brand, especially for FMCG, keep changing, and each stage requires a different approach and investment. Eventually, the right balance between marketing expense and product cost has to be made by keeping in mind a healthy bottom line.

    Your products are towards the higher end of the spectrum, what do you think gives you an edge in the Indian market?

    We’ve focused on our products, innovations, and communication with the millennial generation.  Another factor that gives us an edge over other FMCG products is our D2C business. We are breaking the traditional mold of big distribution required to enter the FMCG segment. The D2C business has helped us in reaching our consumers faster and with more efficiency.

    The company has recently started rolling out digital campaigns. Any plans to expand the reach to TV or any other medium?

    So far, we’ve been able to reach and engage with our target audience through the digital medium. Not only is it cost-effective, but digital technology also helps us in understanding our consumers better and connecting with them closely. So, for now, we’ll continue with digital campaigns only.  

    You have crossed the initial hurdle, now, what is the way forward? What are your plans when it comes to retail expansion?

    With our focus on innovation, a six-product portfolio is now a 100+ SKU portfolio within four years. Even during this pandemic, we managed to introduce 12 new products —the goal is to consistently and quickly push the envelope in the big personal care segments. Soon the goal is to enter the more niche segments (sheet masks, face cream, hand cream, etc.) as well.

    For our brand Mamaearth, the goal is to reach a Rs 1000 crore run rate in the next three years, which will put us in the top 20-25 FMCG brands in the country.

  • Mamaearth celebrates #GoodnessInside as brand purpose

    Mamaearth celebrates #GoodnessInside as brand purpose

    NEW DELHI: Mamaearth, the toxin-free personal care startup, announces its brand purpose as “Goodness Inside”.

    Mamaearth’s latest video brings forth this idea of ‘Goodness is a Choice’ to its consumers. It is a digital and social media led campaign with the key message that goodness isn’t a superpower or a special gift. It is simply a choice that you make every day, just like the choices Mamaearth has made. Mamaearth products are made from the best of nature, and have no toxins, no harmful chemicals, no animal testing, no plastic impact.

    Since its inception in 2016, Mamaearth has stood by the promise of honesty and goodness in everything they do. Founded by husband and wife duo Varun Alagh and Ghazal Alagh, Mamaearth is Asia’s first brand with products of Madesafe certification. It offers 100% toxin-free and natural baby care, skincare, and hair care products. They recognise that millennial consumers have the same belief system, and make their choices with the philosophy of goodness as a choice too.

    Fireside Ventures partner VS Kannan Sitaram said, “We at Fireside firmly believe that great brands serve a larger purpose beyond delivering product benefits. Mamaearth is an outstanding example of a brand that lives its purpose in an admirable manner. Its values resonate strongly with its consumers and create a loyal, growing community of consumers. With this firm anchoring, Mamaearth is set to grow multifold."

    MamaEarth co-founder Ghazal Alag said, “Millennials want to do good and steer their families into a better tomorrow. That’s why we call this generation as ‘Generation Good’.  At Mamaearth, we share the same values and moral compass as Gen Good. Our new tagline ‘Goodness Inside’ is a promise that we will do what is right for our consumers and for Mother Earth by staying loyal to our product roots of toxin free purity and natural goodness.”

    The film is conceptualised by Korra Worldwide shows multiple situations where people can make good choices in their daily lives to make the world a little better. And with each little choice, we head towards a much better future. The main video of 1 minute will be followed up by multiple smaller edits focusing on one situation and one category of products from the brand.

    Korra CEO Gaurav Nabh said, “Our work on Mamaearth is staying true to Korra’s mission of communicating to a digital first audience, helping challenger brands tell insightful stories and in turn creating disruption in the category. This campaign truly demonstrates Korra’s deep understanding of the digital native, showcases our capabilities and is the first among a series of future work furthering a strong partnership with Mamaearth.”

    The brand’s belief in spreading ‘goodness’ is extended beyond product to other actions as well. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mamaearth decided not to profit from the situation by selling sanitizers. Instead, they distributed 50,000 sanitizers to people in need through 2500+ Goodness Ambassadors across the country. Recently, they’ve also distributed cotton reusable face masks with smiles printed on them, through these Goodness Ambassadors as well.

  • Brands undertake mothers’ day campaigns

    Brands undertake mothers’ day campaigns

    Mumbai: Advertising and marketing world is buzzing with ideas on making Mother’s Day more special for their audiences. Brands are leaving no stones unturned to mark their presence on social media. Today is International Mother’s Day, an occasion that reminds us the reason for our existence. During this lockdown, family is the only thing that is keeping us sane. No matter how difficult the times are, there is one person we can always lean our shoulders on: our mothers. Yes, in this quarantine buying a bouquet of flowers or buying a card may be a little difficult, but you can definitely look at these creative campaigns to make your day little happier.

    We’ve come up with a bunch of fun, innovative and emotional campaigns that will want you to hug your moms immediately. So, let’s have a look at the Mother’s Day campaigns for 2020.

    Mamaearth

    Toxin-free personal care brand Mamaearth has decided to launch a special Mother’s Day Campaign this year. It’s a fun and refreshing tribute to Indian mothers, who are having a hard time during this pandemic. The video of this song showcases Indian moms of all ages, sizes, and communities.https://we.tl/t-hOL7V2e3dX

    Wakefit.co

    Wakefit.co’s Mother’s Day Campaign ‘MaaTeri Lori is an emotional ode to the mother who is currently away from her child due to this lockdown. The company has tied up with film, TV and social media celebrities such as Sumeet Vyas, Rasika Dugal, Atul Srivastava, Abhay Mahajan, Ashish Verma and Sulagna Panigrahi, who feature in the videos.

    ShareChat

    ShareChat, the Indian social media platform, is running a five-day #MAA4ME campaign to commemorate motherhood and recognize all the selfless efforts made by the mothers.

    Glucon-D

    On this Mother’s Day Glucon-D salutes mothers across the nation with its campaign #EnergyGharKi. Through this campaign, users on social media will be able to create virtual packs with their mother’s name embedded with a personalised picture instead of Glucon-D’s logo

    Surprise your mother too by creating a virtual pack: https://glucon-d.com/

    Havmor

    Havmor has come up with an interesting campaign celebrating the essence of motherhood. This is the first time that the brand has taken a digital route to convey a special message. The film highlights the fact that mothers can be carefree and it’s time we live and celebrate the kid in them.

    Dineout

    Dineout celebrates Mother’s Day in a diversified manner. The video showcases the idea of different languages but one love. Dineout’s employees shared videos of the most common dialogues of their mothers.

    Whirlpool of India

    Whirlpool launches a social campaign to acknowledge the lessons learnt from mothers that prepares one for life. The #PreparedToTakeCare campaign has been designed to celebrate the unwavering spirit of mothers.

    https://we.tl/t-nyAZqGHbDq

    Sony Music Kids

    On this special day Sony Music Kids launches ‘Mother’s Day Rap Party’ playlist in an effort to drive up the entertainment quotient for moms. Celebrity parents Soha Ali Khan, Mahi Vij, Tahira Kashyap and Angad Bedi will be seen bopping to these unusual beats.

    bit.ly/SonyMusicKids_MothersDay

    Lotte ChocoPie

    Lotte India Corporation Limited celebrates this Mother’s Day with two unique digital campaigns #PauseToThank (Lotte ChocoPie) and #ArgumentsWithMom (Coffy Bite).

    Titan

    Titan has launched ‘Tune for Ma’ Mother’s day campaign to make this day special. The campaign is conceptualised by Ogilvy. In this film, Titan shares an evocative message on the healing power of Mothers and Music.

    Asus

    Electronics firm Asus has also launched a new campaign #LikeMotherLikeAsus to celebrate the consistent productivity of mothers while juggling with several other tasks.The campaign is conceptualised by Dentsu Webchutney.

    Voltas Becko

    On this day, Voltas Beko is paying tribute to single mothers through its emotive campaign “#IAmEnough”. The video, conceptualized by Momspresso, is inspired by single moms. With this DVC, Voltas Beko is reinforcing its commitment as the ‘partners of everyday happiness’ to mothers across India.

    CK Birla

    Columbus India (A Dentsu Aegis Network Company) created a beautiful and emotional video for CK Birla Group Hospitals which will be posted on all its social media handles to honor the brave health care workers in the hospital.

    AIS

    AIS did an amazing post saluting the mothers for their undying will and unconditional love for the family. Such a simple yet impactful thought to thank the strength of the whole family during this time of the pandemic. A true inspiration who deserves appreciation every day for being our savior like an unsung hero. #ThankYouMa

    Disney Junior

    This Mother’s Day, Disney Junior is celebrating the special relationship between mothers and their little ones across its digital platforms. These mothers along with their adorable kids, gave a glimpse of a few special moments spent with their pre-schoolers.

    https://www.instagram.com/disneyjrindia/

    Some of the other interesting posts that caught our intention include:

    Viviana Mall:

    Balaji Motion Pictures:

    RCE:

    Twelfth Man:

  • Mamaearth targets word of mouth through moms for marketing

    Mamaearth targets word of mouth through moms for marketing

    MUMBAI: When 26-year-old Ghazal Alagh was to deliver her first child, she learnt that there was no cure to her morning sickness other than to pop pills. Soon after delivering her baby, Ghazal and her husband realised that the market was full of toxic products for babies and new mothers. India does not have any baby care regulation like in other countries such as the US, UK, Japan or Canada. The only regulation Indian baby care manufacturers abide by is that baby skin is three times softer than adult skin so the products should be formed accordingly.

    It was then the husband-wife duo decided to take it upon themselves to create toxin-free and natural products for new born babies and their moms in India. Launched only in December 2016, Mamaearth claims to disclose all its ingredients on product labels. Run by Honasa Consumer, it is the first company in Asia that has been certified by Made Safe – a US-based non-profit organisation that provides a comprehensive human health-focussed certification for making non-toxic products. The brand has unique products for kids such as easy tummy roll-on, SLS-free natural toothpaste, talc-free dusting powder, cleansing shampoos, diaper rash creams, mineral based sunscreen lotions, insect repellents, soothing massage oils, body washes, and daily moisturising lotions for babies.

    public://happy.jpg

    Mamaearth co-founder and a proud father Varun Alagh says, “We are a generation of Google parents, and every choice that we make for our child, right from feeding bottles, shampoos to the paediatrician, is made after thorough research and Mamaearth is a solution to parents who are globally connected, ever evolving and want to make the safest choices for their child.”

    With over 35 products in its kitty for moms and babies, people can shop on the company’s website along with Firstcry, Nykaa, Flipkart and Amazon. Over 90 per cent of the sales are through online channels, and a mere 10 per cent through offline stores. As of March 2018, the company had a customer base of over 100,000, which it plans to expand to 250,000 by the end of the year.

    The company has its own lab in Gurgaon, and an R&D team which consists of scientists and doctors. Mamaearth’s first round of funding was led by Kanwaljit Singh and the promoter couple along with some of their friends who invested the seed capital in 2016. The company raised $1 million in the second round of funding led by Fireside Ventures and other investors in 2017. Last week, the company got a celebrity boost when actor Shilpa Shetty invested $250,000 and also came on board as an equity investor and brand ambassador.

    With this partnership, Shetty will be completely involved in the process of creating new products and marketing the existing line of products. Digital will be its advertising target since the company does not believe in advertising on television. Alagh says, “Today, everyone is on digital and we are targeting mothers and parents who wouldn’t mind spending some extra money on toxic free products for their child’s well-being.”

    Apart from using Shetty’s digital presence to reach the target audience, the company will also leverage social media through influencer marketing. It already uses influencers on social media who are mothers themselves and works with over 500 mom bloggers.

    With baby care products in India being available for as less as Rs 50, Mamaearth products are priced at a slightly premium price of Rs 399 onwards. But it will also look at launching products priced at Rs 99 to target middle class consumers.

    Mamaearth in a period of mere 16 months since its launch, is today present across 125 cities in India. Mamaearth co-founder Ghazal Alagh mentions, “When we started, we imagined Gurgaon, Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai would be our primary markets, but we are present across 125 cities today. Although the metro skew remains higher but we have received phenomenal response from mini metros and tier 2 cities.”

    Mamaearth products are available in over 300 stores across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmadabad, Surat and Pune and plans to reach over 10,000 stores in the next two years, including chemists and modern trade outlets.

    While launching a new product especially in the category of baby care, brands generally tend to partner with doctors or chemists who recommend the products to mothers and parents. But Ghazal says they believe in ‘mum-power’ and want to target mothers directly and are a strong believer in the power of word of mouth through them.

    In addition to its small manufacturing set up in Delhi, the company’s primary manufacturing unit is based in Himachal Pradesh which was chosen due to the state’s clean water quality and easy availability and accessibility of essential oils, herbs and flowers.

    Although the company has an array of unique products including baby wipes made from bamboo, it still does not have diapers, which is the most sold item in baby care category. On this, Alagh says, “Manufacturing eco-friendly diapers is difficult as its requires a large amount of investment and R&D. We are actively looking at it and will hopefully be able to get it right soon.”

    Though India will continue to remain the primary market, Mamaearth is also available on Amazon’s global website amazon.com to cater to Indian moms living in other countries.

    The company faces stiff competition from Johnson & Johnson, Piegon, Mom&Me, Huggies, Pampers, Himalaya baby care among others. But Mamaearth’s organic and natural route may help the brand to carve a niche for itself as today’s consumers are careful about choosing natural and safe products. But that’s the case only among the educated urban youth. The company will have to push itself hard in smaller pockets of India where local players still hold a majority of the market share and it will be difficult to get people to understand the importance of organic products and the higher price they command.

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