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<ul><li>Price cuts taken in mass segments will erase pricing-led growth seen in FMCG companies.</li><li>Few analysts are confident that price cuts will add to volume growth in Q2.</li><li>Without a meaningful rural recovery, volume growth will remain slow. </li></ul>It might be a slow second quarter for FMCG companies with hazy volume recovery and tapering raw material effects. The rise of new and local players have been eating into the business of top FMCG players. And, they chose to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/soap-opera-fmcg-players-kick-off-price-war-to-bring-back-whats-lost/articleshow/103657469.cms">take price cuts in mass categories </a> during the quarter. Analysts are divided on how much price cuts will add to volume growth. A report by Centrum said that price cuts pushing are primary volumes but off-take lags. The demand for packaged foods is rising but hair oils, toothpaste categories saw falling volumes. “Selling prices have been rationalised given the drop in commodity costs but there has not been a commensurate increase in volumes yet,” said J M Financial. The pricing-led growth in FMCG companies is now a thing of the past. Without significant volume recovery, revenues are ecpected to remain subdued this quarter. “We expect low single digit volume growth and low-to-mid single-digit value growth for most FMCG companies, with the tapering of pricing growth due to price cuts and/or anniversarization of price hikes. The underlying rural demand remains subdued. Uptick, if any, would be optical off a low base,” said a report by Kotak Institutional Equities. Analysts believe that without a meaningful recovery in rural demand which is yet to pick up, volume recovery will remain slow. Even tapering inflation during the quarter has not improved the rural consumer sentiment due to unseasonal rains. Moreso, the festive consumption of discretionary items also comes with a lag this year due to the ‘Adhik Mas’ effect. Raw material benefits slip On the other hand, the margin growth seen last quarter due to lower raw materials will also taper off. The raw material index has moved up by 8-9% over the last three months. Between July and September, crude oil prices rallied by 20%, and commodities will not be as benign as they were in Q1. On a year-on-year basis however their costs will be lower, adding to margins due a favourable basis. “A favourable base would still drive strong year on year gross profit margin expansion and earnings for September quarter, but some of the margin gains would be in the base soon especially given the recent uptick in raw material prices,” said J M Financial. The stress of rising competition will also eat into margins in more ways than price cuts. Players will continue to ‘normalise’ brand-building investments that were run down during the hyper-inflationary phase in FY23. “Most companies have indicated that a large part of gross margin savings will be invested behind brands. Hence, operating margin expansion will be lower compared to gross margin expansion,” said Sharekhan. Investors will watch out for management commentary on how volume uptick in the second half of the year. And a picture on when rural India will see a full-fledged recovery. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div>

Price cuts might not bring in volume growth for FMCG majors in Q2 say analysts

<ul><li>HUL's Home Care grew 15% driven by high double-digit growth in Fabric Wash.</li><li>Household care continued to perform well and grew on a strong base. </li></ul>Hindustan Unilever Limited announced its results for the quarter ended 30th September 2021. September Quarter 2021: Robust broad-based performance in a challenging environment HUL delivered a strong performance in this quarter with Domestic Consumer Growth of 11% and Profit After Tax (PAT) growth of 9%. Performance was broad based with all 3 divisions growing competitively. Business fundamentals remained strong with more than three-fourths of the business gaining market share and penetration. Home Care: Home Care grew 15% driven by high double-digit growth in Fabric Wash. Household care continued to perform well and grew on a strong base. Liquids and Fabric Sensations continue to outperform. Calibrated price increases were taken across Fabric Wash and Household Care portfolios to partly offset the high inflation in input costs. Extending its Clean Future journey, ‘<keyword id="11860121" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="surf-excel-matic" source="Orion">Surf Excel Matic</keyword>’ has transitioned to bottles made from 50% recycled plastic while using 100% biodegradable actives in its formulation. Home Care also launched ‘Smart Fill’ machines to empower consumers to reduce plastic waste. Beauty &amp; Personal Care: Beauty &amp; Personal Care grew 10% led by Skin Care, Colour Cosmetics and Hair Care. Contextual communications in Hair Care continue to yield good results as it delivered another quarter of strong performance. Skin Care and Colour Cosmetics delivered high double-digit growths as mobility improved. Soaps grew on a high base led by strong growths in beauty and premium segment. Hand Hygiene portfolio declined against a strong prior year comparator. ‘VWash’ had another strong quarter. A calibrated approach towards price increase has helped protect the business model as vegetable oil prices remain at elevated levels. During this quarter ‘Pond’s Gold Beauty’ range, limited edition lip colours in ‘Lakme’ and ‘Vaseline Lip Therapy’ range were launched. Premium beauty brands ‘Lakme’, ‘Simple’ and now ‘Love Beauty and Planet’ are also available on dedicated D2C platforms. Lakme saw 30% of its sales come through digital platforms. Foods &amp; Refreshment: Foods &amp; Refreshment grew at 7% against a strong prior year comparator. Tea grew on a very strong base and further strengthened its market leadership. Focus on market development in Nutrition is yielding good results. Health Food Drinks volumes grew double-digit and it continued to gain penetration sequentially. Ice Creams recovered strongly driven by effective communications and innovations. Foods had a soft quarter on the back of high teens growth in the base period. ‘Kissan Peanut Butter’ and ‘Hellman’s Mayonnaise’ innovations are picking up momentum. In this quarter, ‘Horlicks’ expanded its high sciences range with the launch of ‘Horlicks Diabetes Plus’. Operating margins: EBITDA margin was stepped up sequentially vs JQ’21 and is at 25%. PAT at Rs. 2,187 Crores increased by 9% year-on-year. We continue to invest behind building our brands, portfolio and future-fit capabilities. Our focused actions on Net Revenue Management and savings have enabled us to manage inflationary pressures and deliver a healthy bottom-line performance.<a name="m_6344563292714055982__Hlk31014716"></a> Interim dividend: The Board of Directors has declared an interim dividend of Rs.15/- per share for year ending 31st March 2022. <a name="m_6344563292714055982__Hlk31014708" data-type="tilCustomLink">Sanjiv Mehta, Chairman and Managing Director said:</a> ‘September quarter witnessed a sequential improvement in trading conditions, albeit remained challenging with unprecedented levels of input cost inflation and subdued consumer sentiments. In this backdrop, we have delivered a strong performance growing topline in double digits and stepping up profitability sequentially. Large parts of our business continue to gain market shares and penetration. Calibrated price increases and laser sharp focus on savings have helped us protect our business model while ensuring the right price-value equation for our consumers. Through our ‘Re-Imagine HUL’ programme, we have further strengthened the digital capabilities across our organisation. We are making significant progress in our sustainable living journey. We are on track to collect and process more plastic waste than we sell in our packaging this year through our network of partners. Looking forward, we remain cautiously optimistic about demand recovery. In these times of uncertainty and unprecedented input cost inflation, we continue to firmly focus on delivering Consistent, Competitive, Profitable and Responsible Growth.’

HUL spent Rs 2,255 crore on advertising between April and September this year

<ul><li><keyword id="2582336" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rohit-jawa" source="Orion">Rohit Jawa</keyword> would take over the leadership role for a term of five consecutive years with effect from June 27, 2023.</li><li>Jawa will join the <keyword id="44863" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="hul" source="Orion">HUL</keyword> board as a whole-time director from April 1, 2023.</li><li>Besides the Indian market, he will also take over as President of <keyword id="45009" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="unilever" source="Orion">Unilever</keyword> South Asia. </li></ul> FMCG major HUL on Friday announced the appointment of Rohit Jawa as the Managing Director &amp; Chief Executive Officer to succeed <keyword id="169120" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sanjiv-mehta" source="Orion">Sanjiv Mehta</keyword> who will retire from the company after leading it for a decade. Jawa, presently the Chief of Transformation for Unilever, would take over the leadership role for a term of five consecutive years with effect from June 27, 2023, the company said in a statement. "The appointment of Rohit Jawa as a whole-time director and MD &amp; CEO will be subject to the approval of Shareholders and other statutory approvals as may be applicable," it added. Jawa will join the HUL board as a whole-time director from April 1, 2023. Besides the Indian market, he will also take over as President of Unilever South Asia. He will join the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) effective April 1, 2023. After a transformational tenure of 10 years at the helm of HUL, Sanjiv Mehta will retire from the company. Jawa is currently the Chief of Transformation for Unilever in London where since January 2022, he has successfully orchestrated the once-in-a-decade, end-to-end transformation of Unilever. He started his career with HUL as a management trainee in 1988 and has a proven track record of sustained business results across - India, South East Asia, and North Asia. As EVP for North Asia &amp; Chairman for Unilever China, he led a significant transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business, now Unilever's third biggest globally, the statement said. Further, as the Chairman of Unilever Philippines, he led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally. Rohit's ability to integrate the strength of traditional markets with digital technologies and future-fit business models positions him well to take HUL into its next growth phase. Commenting on the development HUL Chairman Nitin Pranjape said: "I am delighted to welcome Rohit back to India. He has a deep understanding of the business landscape, particularly in Asia and has led the transformation of Unilever businesses in China and in the Philippines. "I am certain that with his astute business acumen, and growth mindset Jawa will take HUL to the next level of performance." Mehta (62), had taken over as the MD &amp; CEO of HUL in October 2013 leading the business through a period of sustained growth. During his decade at the helm, the business crossed the Rs 50,000 crore turnover mark and the market capitalisation of the company increased more than four times from USD 17 billion to USD 75 billion, reinforcing HUL as one of India's most valuable businesses, the company said. He has been a proponent of long-term value creation anchored by growth, high-performance anatomy and distinctive capabilities and introduced several transformative business programmes such as 'Dial Up the Big Q' and 'Winning in Many Indias' to make the business more consumer-centric, agile, and resilient. In order to make the business more future-fit, Mehta kickstarted the 'Reimagine HUL' agenda by leveraging data, harnessing latest technologies, and designing business models to redefine how HUL engages with consumers, customers, and the way the business operates. He was also instrumental in HUL undertaking several strategic mergers and acquisitions, including the amalgamation of GSK Consumer Healthcare into HUL, one of the biggest mergers in the history of FMCG in the country. Besides, he actively championed the diversity agenda making HUL an even more inclusive organisation, the company said. Paranjpe said Mehta has been an integral part of the Unilever Leadership Executive and has driven the South Asia growth agenda as the president of the market cluster. Hindustan Unilever Led (HUL) is India's largest Fast-Moving Consumer Goods company, For the financial year ended on March 31, 2022, HUL which owns power brands such as Rin, <keyword id="270001" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="surf-excel" source="Orion">Surf Excel</keyword>, Dove etc has a revenue of Rs 51,193 crore. Mehta also served as the President of the industry body FICCI. Besides, the HUL board also announced the appointment of Ranjay Gulati as an Independent Director of the company for a term of five consecutive years with effect from 1st April 2023. Gulati comes with a rich understanding of Business Strategy and is presently a Professor at Harvard Business School, said an HUL statement. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/tata-technologies-files-drhp-with-sebi-all-you-need-to-know-about-this-tata-motors-subsidiary/articleshow/98539244.cms">Tata Technologies files DRHP with SEBI: All you need to know about this Tata Motors subsidiary</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/demand-for-call-center-remote-customer-service-jobs-see-sharp-uptick-since-pre-pandemic-indeed/articleshow/98543190.cms">Demand for call center, remote customer service jobs see sharp uptick since pre-pandemic: Indeed</a>

Hindustan Unilever appoints Rohit Jawa as new MD & CEO; Sanjiv Mehta to retire

<ul><li>Shares of fast moving consumer goods company fell 5% after the company reported lower than expected volume growth along with cautious commentary.</li><li>The company reported 9% year-on-year growth in net profit to ₹2,187 crore as against ₹2,009 crore in the same quarter last year.</li><li>Further, the company said they remain cautiously optimistic about demand recovery.</li></ul>Shares of consumer goods company <keyword id="6365619" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-unilever" source="Orion">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> (HUL) fell as much as 5% on Tuesday after the company reported its September quarter earnings. Although the company reported 9% year-on-year growth in net profit to ₹2,187 crore as against ₹2,009 crore in the same quarter last year, investors were disappointed on lower than expected volume growth. The company delivered 4% year-on-year volume growth in the July-September quarter lower than estimates of 5-7%. Food segment that includes products like Horlicks, Kissan, Bru, Kwality Wall’s saw a slowdown in revenue growth. Food segment grew only 7% in the September quarter as against 12% in the June quarter. Hindustan Unilever attributed the dull growth in the food segment to reasonably high sales in the previous quarters. <div type="image" title="HUL cchart" height="900" width="1200" msid="87136921" hostid="261"></div> The company has declared a dividend of ₹15 per share in this quarter. Adding to it, the company gave a cautious remark on the demand recovery. “Looking forward, we remain cautiously optimistic about demand recovery,” said Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director of HUL. Meanwhile, muted consumer sentiment with rising inflation bothered the (fast moving consumer goods) FMCG major. “September quarter witnessed a sequential improvement in trading conditions, albeit remained challenging with unprecedented levels of input cost inflation and subdued consumer sentiments,” added Mehta in a statement to stock exchanges. Cautions comments by HUL will impact the outlook for the sector and competing players like <keyword id="75190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nestle" source="Orion">Nestle</keyword>, <keyword id="6359432" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="britannia" source="Orion">Britannia</keyword>, and <keyword id="6357073" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="itc" source="Orion">ITC</keyword>. Shares of other FMCG players also ended lower on October 19. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">FMCG companies </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Stock change on October 19 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">ITC </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nestle </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.2% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Marico </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.6% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Britannia </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-0.9% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Dabur </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">-1% </td></tr></tbody></table> SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/iex-lt-infotech-ttk-prestige-and-two-other-stocks-that-have-ignored-the-market-mood-to-hit-a-one-year-high/slidelist/87132594.cms">IEX, L&amp;T Infotech, TTK Prestige and two other stocks that have ignored the market mood to hit a one-year high</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/dmart-is-continuing-to-do-what-it-knows-best-but-the-street-wants-more/articleshow/87113806.cms">DMart is continuing to do what it knows best but the street wants more</a>

Horlicks and Boost maker HUL sees slowdown in food segment in the last three months

<ul><li><keyword id="6888422" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sebamed" source="Orion">Sebamed</keyword>'s comparative advertising last year against <keyword id="44863" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hul" source="Orion">HUL</keyword> soap brands including <keyword id="119472" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lux" source="Orion">Lux</keyword>, Pears and <keyword id="94301" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="dove" source="Orion">Dove</keyword> got it noticed by consumers.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="17535" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shashi-ranjan" source="Orion">Shashi Ranjan</keyword>, Country Head, Sebamed to understand how its strategy of targeting other brands in the category has worked for it.</li><li> Ranjan tells us the brand's campaigns have helped it win the trust of huge number of consumers who are looking for 'highly efficacious and scientifically superior products'.</li></ul>When it aired its campaign targeting some of HUL’s market leading soap brands including Lux, Pears and Dove in January 2021, German personal care brand Sebamed made quite a splash. It had taken on the biggest soap manufacturer in the country, to demonstrate the ‘superior benefit of Sebamed’s cleansing bar over market leaders in the soap category’, a claim that had later been rebutted by HUL. Following the launch of the campaigns, HUL had filed a commercial suit in the Bombay High Court, and alleged that Sebamed’s campaigns were ‘misleading consumers on soap efficacy during these difficult times, and further denigrating and disparaging well-known brands like Lux, Dove, Pears and Rin’. The Bombay High Court later permitted Sebamed to continue with its campaign for its cleansing bar. Despite the legal backlash, the brand and its comparative advertising was written about by numerous media outlets, which turned out to be great PR for the brand. It had the desired effect, getting a relatively new brand noticed by consumers. Later in the year, Sebamed released another campaign, this time drawing consumers’ attention towards misleading advertising by various hair care brands titled #NoConditionsApply. A year since the launch of its talked-about campaign, we caught up with Shashi Ranjan, Country Head, Sebamed, to understand how its strategy worked for the brand and how it has been educating consumers about the benefits of using its products and building a market for itself. Excerpts: Q) Sebamed has had a very different advertising approach. How do you think that has helped in its brand building in India? We are a purpose-driven organization, and we strive to transform the Indian <keyword id="34523" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fmcg" source="Orion">FMCG</keyword> landscape. By leveraging the power of honest and transparent advertising, we are empowering consumers with the right knowledge backed by scientifically verifiable facts and realistic claims. We want consumers to make informed choices about their consumption habits and our advertisements narrate the story in a unique and palatable way. Our differentiated approach to advertising has introduced a new vocabulary of pH and generated a buzz in the personal care category. It has nudged consumers to challenge the status quo and question claims around standard beauty practices and provide them with science-backed facts instead, and as a result, build a strong connection with Sebamed. We have been able to win the trust of huge number of consumers who are looking for highly efficacious and scientifically superior products. Q) What sort of reception have your ads received? They did the work of getting the brand noticed but did that translate to sales? We are overwhelmed by consumer responses after every campaign. It really gives a surreal feeling that consumers wait for our advertisements as every category we get into we impart new knowledge and most importantly something they can trust and validate. In addition to disruptive awareness, our advertisements have resulted into exponential increase in our revenue as well. Our annualized portfolio run rate is Rs 600 crore in MRP terms. We remain committed towards investing in brand building as a full-stack player. We continue to strive for share of affinity of our consumers and it has been overwhelming since inception. Q) What sort of growth have you witnessed since you launched your campaign? We are on an exponential growth path and have grown 5X in the last 3 years. In fact, some of the subcategories in personal care have grown more than 10X post the campaign. Q) How did the pandemic impact the business? Where do you stand now? Like any other FMCG player we were also impacted by the first wave of pandemic during Apr-June’20 quarter. However, we have managed to bounce back and are now on our growth trajectory. We witnessed ~40% growth on our overall portfolio vis-à-vis 2019 despite the pandemic. We used this as an opportunity to realign our Marketing, Sales, Distribution &amp; People strategy.We managed to bounce back after a quarter and are now back on our growth trajectory.Hence, the silver lining is, despite pandemic our exponential growth journey continues.Our offline sales have grown around 50% over last year itself. Q) For any relatively new brand, sampling plays an important role. With people stuck in their homes, how have you been able to take the brand to people's homes? How are you ensuring the brand stays top-of-mind for your consumers? Sampling has been a key enabler to induce trial for consumers across all categories and we have leveraged this since the beginning. During pandemic when people were stuck at home, we partnered with hyper local delivery partners as well as some society activation partners to take the experience to consumers’ home. Further recently we have also launched Sebamed shampoo sachet at Rs 10 to encourage trials. Today all Sebamed shampoos – Anti Hairloss, Anti-Dandruff and Everyday are available at Rs 10. We have also started seeing early trends on increasing revenue contribution of Tier II and Tier III cities for Sebamed products. Q) How important has e-commerce been for you? The world-wide pandemic has turbocharged ecommerce transition for FMCG companies. With the touchless economy and safety conscious consumers, we have witnessed a strong preference towards ecommerce during the pandemic and it’s going to continue in the long run as well. Ecommerce has been a key growth driver for us, and we have further enhanced our presence by partnering with quick commerce players as well in addition to traditional ecommerce players. In fact, we have taken an emphatic approach to set up our own ecommerce platform mywellnesskart.com during the first wave of the pandemic to ensure our products are made available to consumers amid logistic disruptions. Q) What's your marketing budget for the year? Will you be increasing spends this year? Which medium will get the largest chunk of the marketing pie? Our marketing budget is commensurate with our growth aspirations. We have grown our marketing budget by 3X over last 3 years. We remain committed towards investment in brand building as a full stack FMCG player and strive for consumer’s share of affinity towards our brands. Our current split between traditional and digital marketing is 50:50 and we will continuously evaluate the same and pivot it around consumer’s behavioral shift. Q) Going ahead too, will the brand continue focusing on competitive advertising or do you plan to modify your strategy? We invest a lot in understanding our consumers. Keeping the evolving consumer needs in mind, our advertising approach has been focused on building long-term trust with the consumers – there is no short-cut to gaining trust. This requires consistent effort. Competitive advertisement is just one tool in the marketing playbook. Every category has different objective and advertisement strategy would differ accordingly; however our brand purpose will remain consistent as the common denominator across every segment we operate. Q) Sebamed has positioned itself as a brand that empowers consumers with the right information on the basis of scientifically verifiable facts and realistic claims. Apart from your campaigns, how else are you educating consumers, since it takes a change in behaviour for people to opt for a new shampoo/soap instead of products they have been using for years? After the pandemic, basic health and hygiene choices are being re-evaluated. We strive to educate our consumers about the benefits of pH5.5 products for healthy skin and hair and impact of using conventional products. pH is a relatively new conversation in the personal care segment, and we are aware that persuading consumers to opt for a new shampoo/soap instead of products they are using for years is a journey. In order to expedite the transition process, in addition to integrated campaigns we are following a 3-pronged approach: -Offering free pH test kits to consumers, so they can test themselves at their homes -Offering free customized skin and hair solutions by our experts through our portal -Sampling and society activation initiatives Q) What is your strategy towards increasing your marketing spend? What is the growth strategy you are going to follow? -Brand building is a journey and we are committed to ramp up our marketing investments in alignment with our aspirations. -We will continue to focus on five key transformational pillars – people, differentiated products, branding, rapid distribution expansion and robust governance. Q) What kind of revenue target do you have for 2022? We are here for the long haul, we plan to grow 10X in the next 5 years, hence we aspire to grow exponentially in 2022 as well, pretty much the way we have grown over the last 3 years.

Our differentiated approach to advertising has nudged consumers to challenge the status quo and question claims around standard beauty practices: Shashi Ranjan, Sebamed

<ul><li><keyword id="430602" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="justdial" source="Orion">JustDial</keyword>’s operating revenue declined 6% last quarter compared to the same time period last year.</li><li>This comes as a surprise as the festive season of October-December quarter is usually the best time for any consumer-facing business.</li><li>While the recent management change after Reliance acquisition may be one reason for the recent decline, over-diversification may be another.</li></ul>While many other digital businesses like Zomato, Nykaa and Paytm have recovered from the impact of COVID-19 a long time ago, JustDial seems stuck. Market watchers say it could be because the app is trying to be Google, without the resources to be one. Once again, JustDial's quarterly revenue declined on a year-on-year basis, which is a cause of concern since October-December quarter is usually the best time for any consumer-facing business. It is the time when customers are on a spending spree because of the festive season of Diwali and Christmas. However, the decline in JustDial’s operating revenue came as a surprise, especially when the company seems to offer every service that can be sold online. The stock was down over 3% on January 19, the first trading day after the earnings were reported. <div type="image" title="JustDial can’t beat Google and it should stop trying to, say analysts" msid="89011002" hostid="261"></div> From food to flight tickets, from delivery services to at-home beauty services, you name it and JustDial would have a seller on its platform. Yet, the revenue declined. Market watchers say, being a jack of all trades may not be working well for this 26-year-old company. Neha Khanna, director at Value Prolific (ValPro) Capital, tells Business Insider that JustDial has spread itself too thin and it has made it susceptible to competition from all sides. <div type="image" title="JustDial can’t beat Google and it should stop trying to, say analysts" msid="89010548" hostid="261"></div> JustDial — which offers at least 14 different services — is currently in competition with all the big newage digital businesses one can think of. Few examples include Paytm, BharatPe, Google Pay, PhonePe and others for its payments/fintech business, BigBasket for its grocery delivery business, Zomato and Swiggy for food delivery business, and Urban Company for at-home services vertical. <div type="image" title="JustDial can’t beat Google and it should stop trying to, say analysts" msid="89013326" hostid="261"></div> This stands true that JustDial is a discovery business, therefore, it simply has to sign up vendors/professionals willing to offer the service. It is still not doing the company any favour. “Google has taken away their core offering [of services discovery], and other players are emerging much stronger in different verticals,” Khanna says while explaining the knots in JustDial’s business. Yash Gupta, Equity Research Analyst at AngelOne, tells Business Insider that the nominal decline in JustDial’s business in the third quarter could also be attributed to the recent<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/just-dial-share-price-surge-as-mukesh-ambani-is-looking-to-buy-just-dial/articleshow/84432450.cms"> management change</a> after the Reliance Retail acquisition. There is usually a dull period for the stock due to cleaning of the balance sheet, he notes. But that could only be a part of the reason. Gupta explains that JustDial is a ‘pull’ sort of business model, where they need to go to customers and get them to start paying for its services. Meanwhile, other companies — such as Zomato, Swiggy, and even Google — where customers come on their own. This becomes the first challenge for the company. Secondly, the failure of JD Mart — the business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce marketplace of JustDial — to do anything substantial in the three quarters has further disappointed the people who keep track of this space, Gupta added. JD Mart competes with IndiaMart, which has been <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/indiamart-share-price-has-gone-up-five-times-in-just-the-last-18-months-here-is-why/articleshow/86058084.cms">reporting higher revenue </a>than JustDial for the past two years by focusing on B2B ecommerce. The crux of all these problems is over-diversification that prevents it from going big in one segment, Gupta says. They would have done much better if they focused on one vertical, he adds. ALSO WATCH: A ₹3,000 crore fund manager says even conglomerates in India struggle the moment they have more than two verticals ⁠⁠ <div type="Youtube" id="kSf5f3gXjKg" title="A ₹3,000-crore fund manager explains why he won&amp;#39;t buy RIL, why he sold ITC and bought HDFC Life" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kSf5f3gXjKg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The common thread running in what both Valpro and AngelOne analysts are saying is the fact that both have not been able to figure out why Reliance decided to acquire JustDial. “I don’t really see any value proposition for Reliance in JustDial,'' says ValPro’s Khanna. Things can become clear one Reliance unfolds its plan for JustDial, AngelOne’s Gupta adds. <div type="image" title="JustDial can’t beat Google and it should stop trying to, say analysts" msid="89013331" hostid="261"></div> SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cred-expands-esops-pool-to-500-million-employees-can-own-12-5-of-fintech-startup/articleshow/89010053.cms">CRED says that all its employees get stock options, expands pool to $500 million</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/hul-bajaj-auto-lampt-infotech-and-other-hot-stocks-on-january-20/slidelist/89008387.cms">HUL, Bajaj Auto, L&amp;T Infotech and other hot stocks on January 20</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/indias-daily-covid-19-count-surpasses-three-lakh-after-eight-months/articleshow/89009476.cms">India’s daily COVID-19 count surpasses three lakh after eight months, Omicron tally climbs to 9,287</a>

JustDial can’t beat Google and it should stop trying to, say analysts

<keyword id="6365619" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Hindustan-UniLever">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> (<keyword id="44863" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="HUL">HUL</keyword>) has planned to launch a new range of <keyword id="596334" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="baby-care-products">baby care products</keyword> under the Dove brand in the coming few months. This will be done so that the dominance of Johnson &amp; Johnson in the market, which is worth Rs 4,000-crore, can be challenged. 
 
"Several of these products will directly compete with Johnson &amp; Johnson (J&amp;J) and will be their (J&amp;J's) first serious competition in the country," a person aware of the matter told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fmcg/hindustan-unilever-to-launch-baby-care-products-under-dove-brand/articleshow/53371572.cms">ET</a>. 
 
The decision is also aimed at expanding the brand of Dove, which started off as a bathing bar in 1993 and now includes shampoo, deodorants, lotions, body and face washes. 
 
As per industry experts, the segment of baby care products has huge potential, since despite the huge number of children born in the country every year, the segment has not been tapped to its potential. 
 
"India is under-branded in the baby care category despite high potential and birth rates. There has been low level of innovation and product introductions too," said Devendra Chawla, president, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/HUL-to-partner-with-startups-to-regain-agility/articleshow/49320600.cms">FMCG </a>and brands, at Future Group. 
 
Chawla, however, added that safety and quality matter the most in this category, adding that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/number-of-HUL-annual-crorepati-employees-fall/articleshow/52796580.cms">HUL </a>would not find it a cakewalk to earn the trust of new parents. "Mothers are very sensitive about this segment and one doesn't change loyalty easily unless she is assured about the quality," Chawla said. 
 
Talking of Dove, it is the fastest-growing brand in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/169-employees-of-HUL-earn-8-digit-salaries-a-year/articleshow/48142324.cms">HUL’s </a>portfolio of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/HUL-is-enhancing-presence-in-ayurveda-space-and-building-personal-care-portfolio-Heres-how/articleshow/50232722.cms">personal care products</a>, having risen its revenues to Rs 1500 crores from Rs 100 crores in 2007. 
 
<a href="http://babycare-blog.com/files/2015/02/baby-care-product.jpg">Image source</a>

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