Amway India to foray into premium skin care segment

Ropes in Bollywood actress Diya Mirza as brand ambassador

The Rs 636-crore Amway India, a subsidiary of US-based $6.2-billion Amway Corp, is entering the premium skin care segment in India. It will be launching the 'Attitude' range of products that include cleansers, toners, moisturisers, face wash and sun screen lotions on February 16.

The Delhi-based direct-selling company, for the first time, has decided to have a brand ambassador for its product category, in the form of Bollywood actress and former Miss India (Asia-Pacific) Diya Mirza.

Addressing a press conference, William S Pinckney, managing director and chief executive officer, Amway India Enterprises, said, "At present, we do not intend to launch advertisements with Diya Mirza for our 'Attitude' range of products. She will, however, be our brand ambassador for our events and will also feature in our sales literature for a 12-month period."

The agreement signed between Diya Mirza and Amway also has a renewable clause, he added. "We, however, do not rule out the aspect of advertising in mass media in the future," Pinckney said.

The new products are being manufactured by a Hyderabad-based contract manufacturing company "� Sarvotham Care Limited "� that, according to Pinckney, is a key contract manufacturer for the company.

Amway is also associated with six other contract manufacturing companies in India. These products are being manufactured only for the Indian market and the company is not looking at distributing them abroad.

"In the skin care, the market for super-premium (Rs 65 crore) and premium category (Rs 325 crore) of skin care products are the fastest growing ones, compared to the mid-market (Rs 600 crore) and the mass-market ones (Rs 860 crore)," Pinckney said.

"In the super-premium category, we already have our 'Artistry' range of products. With 'Attitude', we are entering the premium category," he added. Amway India, Pinckney added, is not looking at entering the mid-market and the mass-market segment.

"This year, we are also looking at launching new products in categories like nutrition and personal care for men," Pinckney said. "Of the 450 products that we distribute worldwide, only 55 are sold in the Indian market. So we have many products to launch this year," he added.

Amway India has so far invested Rs 151 crore in India and has around 48 offices and 4,00,000 active distributors for its products in personal care, home care, nutrition, wellness and cosmetics categories. It has its presence in 1,700 towns and cities in India.