A silver bullet in Branding

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India is a lucrative market for almost every business industry today. There are thousands of brands operating in India today but what makes some of them stand out from the rest is their silver bullet. The bullet that they use to penetrate deep into the heart of the market before eventually infecting the entirety of their consumer base with a wide range of products.

The silver bullet - Mamaearth

When mama earth started, it started with only one product- a face wash. They used the facewash to establish their presence on the online market place. They were able to expand rapidly in a few years with a wide range of products. But a silver bullet works only in the presence of its complements.

Complements for the silver bullet

Let’s take the example of Mamaearth. Their silver bullet was the facewash. But they had some complements for the product as well. These were:

  1. Positioning
  2. Marketing efficiency
  3. Pricing strategy
  4. Growing demand from the market
Not so natural

Positioning

Mamaearth positioned itself as a product made with natural ingredients. It came at a time when the demand for organically produced was increasing and the awareness of skincare and skin health was picking momentum.

But are mamaearth products really natural?  Here are some ingredients of their Tea-tree facewash- Aqua, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Decyl Glucoside, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate, Glycerin, Polysorbate 20, Aloe Vera Extract, Tea Tree Oil, Sodium PCA, D- Panthenol, Cucumber Extract, Neem Oil, Citric Acid, Salicylic Acid, Disodium EDTA, Menthol, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate and IFRA Certified Allergen Free Fragrance. 

See for yourself. Most people don’t even care about the ingredients as long as they “feel” that the product is natural. Most brands play on their brand perception rather than the product itself.

 

Marketing efficiency

Mamaearth never focused much on their website but on the marketplaces like amazon. It’s where the customers already were. So their marketing efforts did not go to acquiring new customers by generating tons of leads. Rather, they were more focused on sales.

So, all they needed was literally a great marketing team, a manufacturer to get their customized product and a merchant account on Amazon to get started. 

 

Pricing Strategy

Mamaearth entered the market with one goal only- to create a new niche in the market. The niche was natural beauty care and cosmetics. Their prices initially were lower than the existing brands in the market. Later, they probably realized that they are not really that exclusively natural as their marketing campaigns once claimed to be so they decided not to charge a premium and till date they are competing in price wars with their competitors.  

Mamaearth started out new niche creator, but for the lack of RnD, they had no choice but to compete in the existing pool of the market. But they were quick to realize this and adapt to it.

 

Growing Demand from the market

India’s young market is touching its peak and it is to be remain the same for a few years. There is not enough supply to meet the demand from India… Read More

 

Does Mamaearth have a differentiated product? Definitely no. But do they have a differentiated brand? On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say 7.

But why did it work for Mamaearth? Who are they really selling to? Who is their consumer, who is their buyer, and who is their customer? They are all the same- women. 

So, for a cosmetic brand, it relatively easy to figure out what their target audience is while target different campaigns to the same segment of genders- Females. Being emotional creatures, women are more susceptible to the brand positioning and the “feel” of the brand. 

If you are an entrepreneur, and you want to start a business in 2023 that is scalable, build a foundation that is scalable and you can do that only with a silver bullet. If you’re trying to be many things at once while starting off, chances are you will end up known to be distinguished at nothing.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Vishal

    Interesting post. Very engaging yet informative.

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