Not Just Child's Play

While a number of international players are offering baby care products, what they lack is an understanding of the specific needs in India,” says Rana Banerjee, marketing head, healthcare, Dabur India. His company’s baby care offerings — Lal Tail, Janma Ghunti, and gripe water — have been around for decades. But it is its renewed focus and revamped branding in baby care that is making news. In January, Dabur formally unveiled its sub brand Dabur Baby. Premium baby care products will follow across subcategories, and the first, a massage oil, has already been launched at Rs.200, higher than Johnson & Johnson’s Rs.165 for a 200 ml bottle.

The baby care market in India was pegged at $14 billion in 2014 and is expected to reach $20 billion by 2019. It is extremely fragmented and unorganised in the apparel, toys and accessories segments. However, the rest, which includes skincare, haircare, food and diapers, is mostly organised and historically dominated by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Kimberly-Clark, HUL, Procter & Gamble and Nestlé. But playing the herbal and ayurvedic card, local firms such as Himalaya and Dabur have gained market share. “Compared with J&J, we are very new. But we have a 22% market share in skincare, which is pegged at Rs.1,800 crore,” says Chakravarthi NV, GM, baby care division, Himalaya Drug Co.

Himalaya transformed itself into a personal care major from a pharma player over the past decade. In FY15, personal care contributed 42% to turnover, as against 34% by pharma and 13% from baby care. Himalaya has had a pre-bath, bath and post-bath range of baby care products since 2007, but has become very active over the past two years. “We entered the Rs.2,000-crore diaper category last year. Our research showed that 90% of mothers worry about rashes. That’s why we launched diapers with aloe vera to prevent rashes,” says Chakravarthi. The Indian diaper market is growing at 18% every year and is dominated by Pampers, Huggies and Mamy Poko Pants.

“Rising incomes, more working women, better informed parents and the growing penetration of social media have all contributed to a spurt in demand for natural baby care products,” says Banerjee of Dabur. These factors are driving demand for a variety of baby products — wet wipes, for instance — that weren’t on the scene in the past but sell like hot cakes today. “Products like baby car seats — the Indian consumer was not used to them. Parents are also buying a lot of baby monitoring cameras today,” says Supam Maheshwari, co-founder, FirstCry, whose portal also has 150 offline stores.

Apart from playing the herbal card, Himalaya’s strategy includes leveraging its pharmacy network to push its baby care products. It has been relying on doctor recommendations and prescriptions to grow the category and has been chasing hospitals, clinics and maternity homes for product placement. So much was its reliance on chemists that Chakravarthi says “till 2012, 85% of baby care sales came from chemists, but that number is now falling as our products become available through modern trade and other channels”.

But can Himalaya and Dabur dent MNC brand loyalty? Maheshwari believes both companies have the capability. “Dabur and Himalaya have a certain positioning in the mind of the consumer and I am sure they are perfecting their products in what is a difficult category,” he says. Pretty sensibly, Dabur and Himalaya have tried to find differentiators to grow in a market where foreign brands are walking in every other day. Right now, none of these new foreign brands enjoy a large retail reach and are mostly urban oriented. “With our massage oil, we are open to offering seasonal and geographic variants. We marketed Shishu Malish Tel only in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Similarly, we are planning to launch lotions and creams in Tamil Nadu,” says Chakravarthi. Well, the reign of MNCs in baby care might not be over anytime soon, but local lords are surely taking baby steps to wrestle with the giants.