Breaking the clutter in a sea of clone brands in the men’s grooming sector.

An average man, according to a Mintel report, spends 16 minutes on grooming his body, 14 minutes on his hair and 12 minutes on his face.

The average Indian man spends 42 minutes a day on grooming himself. 

While the urge to look good and confident is higher among those based in the larger cities, the youth in small town India are equally conscious about their appearance.

Walk into a men’s salon in small town India, and you will find a full menu card in offering services such as a hair spa, hair colour, highlights, facials and more. Men's fairness cream sachets are one of the fastest moving products in retail / kirana stores in rural as well as urban India.

With new brands cropping up rapidly, Beardhood approached us with a key branding problem - they wanted to build resonance with their audience, specifically in the tier two and three cities, and beyond. 

In a sea of brands, each looking like the next and having the same tonality, Beardhood was finding it tough to create recall and stay relevant.  

Before we began changing our audience’s perceptions towards Beardhood, we had to familiarise ourselves with the current brand takeaways and key offerings. What goes into making these products? How should they be used? What are the motivations behind buying them? Does the user want to add new variants to his grooming kit? How long do they last and what should the pack sizes be? 

Beardhood was selling some very potent ingredients, and we had to study packaging materials to ensure they would work with the product’s shelf life. We chose darker tinted glass bottles for the serums to avoid oxidation, and easy to scoop jars for the waxes. This was a product the user would interact with daily - so the form of the container was as important as the label that would be used to lure the purchase. In this market - repeat purchase is key. 

Were these young men hesitant towards colour, or would they embrace it with pride? 

Do they want a brand that is a guiding voice for grooming, or were they looking for a friend that would mould as per their style expressions?