Men spend more on grooming to make the first look count
Brands are targeting local, asian population with skin lightener
Dubai: Men are shelling out more on personal grooming around the world, and it's about time the fad caught up in the Gulf as well. Emami Ltd's Prashant Goenka certainly thinks so.
"Men's face care in the GCC is still a nascent market at Dh12.5 million, but growing at a fast pace as more men realise the importance of personal grooming," said Goenka.
"As research has shown that most individuals make their first assessment of others in the first five to ten seconds, good-looking people naturally get more positive vibes from others."
"And looking good in many regions is co-related to looking fair - so, we believe the potential is huge."
Referring to the international debate over the use of face-whitening creams, Kenneth Lingan, Marketing Director, Unilever Gulf, said: "We would never release something that was unsafe. Our customer base shows that customers are happy. In terms of marketing we're not saying that white is better we're simply responding to consumer demand and supplying a product."
Emami Ltd's brands enjoy a 60 per cent share of the local men's skin care category.
Along with the brand Fair and Handsome, its five brands are targeted at the local and Asian male population of between 15 to 35 years as skin toner and lightener.
"When we did our research, we found men already use a face-cream, but buying female [beauty] products because there weren't men's available," said Goenka.
"We believe the unlocked potential for men's face care and skin whitening in the region is huge."
He said the brand has been developed for the Middle Eastern man.
"The beauty of the brand is that it is not an implant from our home base in India, but a new formulation which takes into account the climatic and other external living conditions of the region and its impact on the skin," Goenka said. "Affordability was another criterion."
The brand has done well with its celebrity endorsements featuring Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. "They're the most prominent brand ambassadors we have."
