After buying the hair-care division Schwarzkopf Professional from Henkel India earlier this year, Henkel Adhesives Technologies is on a roll. It will introduce Indola, a second professional hair care brand, a decade after Schwarzkopf was launched in the country. Indola, the 90-year-old brand globally acquired by Henkel Adhesives in 2004, will focus on three categories in India: hair colour, hair care (shampoos and conditioners) and form (hair rebonding).
At the initial phase, the brand will play safe by launching best-selling products in each category. In hair colour (dyes), it will offer six base colours that dominate preferences in the Indian hair colour market. Twenty-six fashion colours will feature on the colour palette to appeal to Indians who like experimenting with Western trends. In hair care, the offerings will be restricted to ‘colour’ and ‘repair’ variants that make up 80 per cent (in volume) of the professional shampoo and conditioner sales. Likewise, for rebonding products, Indola will offer codes 0, 1 and 2, which are popular among Indian consumers.
While Schwarzkopf is targeted at the premium end of the market, Indola has its eyes set on the mass segment. As Ravi Bhatnagar, head, sales & marketing, Indola India, explains, “We want to appeal to the burgeoning youth population of India who do not have the pocket to pay for premium professional care products. Our selling proposition is imported product at an affordable price.”
Indola is entering a space which is dominated by global heavyweights like L’Oreal with its three brands — Kerastase (luxury), L’Oreal Professional (premium) and Matrix (mass), Procter & Gamble’s Wella, as well as local players like CavinKare’s Raaga Professional. Industry estimates peg the professional hair care space at Rs 780 crore, which includes segments like hair colour, hair care, texture (straightening and bonding) and styling. Professional brands apart, competition is also rife from retail brands like Godrej Expert and CavinKare’s Indica.
Initially, Indola will focus all its energies on distribution. “Given Indola’s mass positioning, it will be stocked in 5,000 B and C class salons,” says Bhatnagar. Compare that to competitor brand Matrix (part of L’Oreal) which reaches 16,700 salons. To incentivise salons, the company will dole out freebies like scissors, hair dryers and brushes.
Given that education and skill level in hairdressing is still low in India, the company will hold staff training workshops for the salons it will tie up with. Indola has also roped in celebrity hairstylist Ryan D Rozario as brand ambassador, who will provide guidance during these workshops. L’Oreal Professional Care, for example, has a property called Colour Trophy — an all India competition for hair dressers which strives to add value to the profession. Experts say skill development and training is vital in growing this space, which is largely unorganised in the country.