Mens fairness cream

Mens fairness cream

Products[edit]The company is well known in India for its fairness cream products for men.[1]In 2008 the company announced that it intended to offer baby care products.[2]The company's health products unit offerstonicsfor colds and coughs as well asnutraceuticals.[3]The company forayed into men's deodrant market by launching HE brand of deodrants. Hrithik Roshan was appointed as brand ambassador for HE brand.

Subsidiaries[edit]The company has the following subsidiaries:[5] Emami Paper Mills Limited

Emami Chisel Art

CRI Limited

South City Projects (Kolkata) Ltd

Advanced Medicare & Research Institute Ltd (AMRI)

Frank Ross Limited

Emami Realty Limited

Emami Retail Pvt Limited (Starmark)

Emami Biotech Limited

Emami Cement Ltd

AMRI HospitalsHistory[edit]The inception of Emami Group took place in the mid 1970s when two childhood friends,R S AgarwalandR S Goenka, left their management jobs with theBirla Groupto set up Kemco Chemicals, anAyurvedicmedicine and cosmetic manufacturing unit in Kolkata in 1974. At that time the Indian FMCG market was still dominated by multinationals.

The company was established with modest capital of Rs. 20,000 and started manufacturing cosmetic products as well as Ayurvedic medicines under the brand name of Emami from a small factory in Kolkata, targeting sales at the Indian middle class.

In the early days the founders personally sold their cosmetics from shop to shop, using hand-pulled rickshaws. They soon established recurring consumer demand, and gradually hired additional staff. A chain of distributors was established and the sale of Emami products spread from West Bengal to rest of Eastern India and gradually to other states. Emami Talcum, Emami Vanishing Cream and Emami Cold Cream sold well. The company's marketing techniques were to sell dreams of beauty to Indian women using radio and TV advertising.

In 1978, Agarwal acquired Himani Ltd, a privately owned cosmetics company with a factory in Kolkata. The business of Himani was almost 100 years old, although it had only been incorporated in 1949 company; it had a good brand equity in Eastern India, but was in financial trouble.AgarwalandGoenkamanaged to restore it to profit, at considerable risk considering the small capital base of their own company at the time; this later proved to be the turning point for their business.

Agarwal decided to produce health care items and toiletries based on Ayurvedic preparation in the Himani factory. Ten years after commencement of the company, it launched Boroplus Antiseptic Cream under the Himani umbrella in 1984. This became a flagship brand and was extended to other products such as Boroplus Prickly Heat Powder. Emami brands started selling in all states of North, East and West India. Today Boroplus is not only the largest selling antiseptic cream in India but also in Russia, Ukraine, and Nepal.

In the 1983 Bollywood filmAgar Tum Na Hote, one of the earliest brand placement campaigns was achieved with lead actorRajesh Khannaplaying the managing director of Emami.

In the 1990s, Emami launches another flagship brand under the Himani Umbrella, Navratna Cool Oil, and expanded production by opening its second factory, at Pondicherry.

The introduction of new brands continued and the company extended its distribution network to South India, with Navratna spearheading the process. In 1995, the partnership firm Kemco Chemicals was converted into a Public Limited Company under the name Emami Ltd. In 1998, Himani Ltd was merged into Emami Ltd.

In 2000, with a view to concentrate on its core FMCG business, Emami's investment undertaking wasdemergedby issuing shares in Pan Emami Cosmed Ltd to shareholders of Emami. In 2003 a new factory unit was set up atAmingaon,Guwahati. A public issue of 5million equity shares at Rs. 70 followed in 2005. The issue was oversubscribed by 36 times. The share price later rose to Rs. 210.

In 2005 Emami launched Fair and Handsome, the first fairness cream for men.

In 2006 the company decided to introduce a Health Care Division and a number of new brands of AyurvedicOTC medicines.

Among the brands created by the company, annual sales of Navratna are at Rs. 3billion followed by Boroplus at Rs. 2.50billion and Fairness at Rs. 1billion. Sona Chandi Chyawanprash, Menthoplus and Fast Relief also among the top brands in their respective categories.

In 2006, J B Marketing & Finance Ltd., the erstwhile marketing company of the Emami Group merged with Emami Ltd. and the total turnover of Emami including sales in domestic and export market stood at Rs 5.16billion at the end of the fiscal year 2006-07.

Emami Limited acquired a major stake in Zandu Pharmaceuticals Works Ltd, a century-old household name in India, for Rs 7billion. Emami added some of Zandu's prominent brands like Zandu Balm, Zandu Chyawanprash, Zandu Kesri Jeevan, Zandu Pancharishta, Sudarshan and Nityam Churna to its own range.

Within three decades, the company has grown to Rs. 10billion Emami Ltd under the Rs. 30billion Emami Group.

Emami is still led byAgarwalandGoenka, with the help of second generation directors from their two families and professional staff. The group recently moved to a new corporate office "Emami Tower" in Kolkata.

Controversies[edit]Fair and Handsome[edit]In 2007, the company attracted controversy with an advertisement for itsskin whiteningcream for men, Fair and Handsome. Emami and the star of the campaign,Shahrukh Khan, were accused of perpetuating racism.[1]In July 2013, WOW a Chennai based NGO launched a campaign against Emami asking them to remove the Fair and Handsome advertisement starring Khan, saying that it is discriminating against people on the basis of skin color.[6]

HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emami" \l "cite_note-7" [7]The campaign has been supported by celebrities like Nandita Das[8]Tannishta Chatterjee. More than 22,000 people have signed an online petition launched by them.[9]Hospital fire[edit]On 9 December 2011, Kolkata police arrested Agarwal and Goenka, founders of Emami and directors of AMRI Hospitals, for negligently causing death to 91 people as a result of a fire at AMRI Hospitals on the same day. It is recorded as the largest hospital tragedy in India, caused due to storing toxic and inflammable materials in the basement of the hospital, w

glass-and-granite headquarters of Kolkata-based FMCG company Emami off the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass is 'artful' once you are inside. Here's where SH Raza, FN Souza, Manjit Bawa, Ganesh Pyne, Jamini Roy, MF Husain brush shoulders with each other on the walls, especially on the eighth floor where the top managers have their offices overlooking the vast expanses of green and wetlands on the far-eastern flank of the city.From here, the Emami management has fought every challenge thrown its way; it's where ideas germinate too, like for example launching a whitening cream exclusively for men when there was not a single player in the field. Fair and Handsome not only had the first mover advantage when it was launched nationally in 2005, but it also opened up the fray and saw the entry of big players like Garnier and Nivea. Emami now wants to focus on several of its top brands across categories and grow each: Boroplus, Navratna, Fair and Handsome, Zandu Balm and MenthoPlus.According to Harsh Agarwal, director and son of Emami chairman and founder RS Agarwal, though both Boroplus and Navratna are growing at a healthy rate, they have a lot more potential."We are fine-tuning our distribution network, laying greater emphasis on advertising and looking for new markets for exports and exiting from those that aren't reaping rewards," says Agarwal. For example, the brand of cool hair oil that Emami is selling has low penetration, about 15-20 percent, and hence there is a scope to grow. "We have to increase consumption since per capita consumption of our oil is much less. We have to increase penetration and we have a strategy in place to bring in variants. One of the things we are doing is to generate trials by launching Rs. 1 sachets," he explains.The Navratna Oil is a Rs. 600 crore brand and in three years, Emami expects it to become a Rs. 1,000 crore one. In fact, the variant, Navratna Cool Talc that it launched five years ago, is already a Rs. 100 crore plus sub-brand, 'and extensions are one way of growing it,' says Agarwal. Navratna Cool Talc recorded an 80 percent growth in FY13. The brand expects to touch a minimum of 25 percent year-on-year growth despite the talcum powder segment in India having hit a near saturation point, he adds. Navratna Cool Talc has a market share of 18 percent in the Rs. 430 crore cool talc sub-segment of talcum powder. "There is potential in launching variants but we won't launch too many because we don't want to dilute the equity of the mother brands," he adds. In FY13, flagship Emami Ltd's turnover was Rs. 1,700 crore, and down the years the group, with a combined turnover of Rs. 6,000 crore, has grown primarily by being present in segments which have little competition to begin with.Why Boroplus ClickedWhen Emami launched Boroplus, there was an established brand called Boroline. "It was a monopoly brand but there were lots of gaps in the market and issues of availability. We decided to launch Boroplus in an attractive colourful packaging which would attract the youth," he recalls.Boroplus, which was launched in the '80s, is a Rs. 500 crore brand now. As the skin care category is growing, Boroplus has seen extensions in lotion and prickly heat powder. "Boroplus occupies a unique space because no MNC is present in the antiseptic cream category, and lends a lot to the overall category because it is perceived to be a do-good product," Agarwal points out, "and we do push it with new campaigns." It was earlier managed by Agarwal and now Priti A Sureka, director, Emami, heads it.Emphasis On PromotionsOnce Emami finds niche, potential sectors, it also promotes the products aggressively. Almost all the A-listers of Bollywood, from Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan to Kareena Kapoor endorse some Emami product or other. In FY13, Emami spent Rs. 279 crore on advertising and promotions, which is 16.4 percent of the turnover."Though our promotional expenses are high - both Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan endorse Navratna and Kareena, Boroplus - this has helped us to grow the category. If you have to grow the category, you have to spend but mere association of celebrities doesn't assure you success. You have to make the product relevant to the customer," says Agarwal. For instance, to achieve the targeted growth for Navratna Cool Talc, Emami has rolled out a brand new campaign positioning the brand as Bina Bijili ka Sabse Chhota AC with SRK and Junior NTR for the southern markets.The Zandu AcquisitionIn 2007-08, Agarwal's father aggressively pursued the Zandu acquisition despite some misgivings within the Emami family on whether he was spending too much to buy the Ayurveda company. In the end, he spent Rs. 732 crore to buy Zandu, and Agarwal says it has been the perfect fit. "Our products are based out of Ayurvedic/natural formulations and Zandu is a strong Ayurveda/natural herbal brand," says Agarwal."Zandu is a popular brand that we have taken a decision to bring all our healthcare, herbal and natural products under and a foreign consultant is helping us do that," he points out. Emami has products like Sona Chandi Chyawanprash and Himani Fast Relief, which would once compete with Zandu Balm, the undisputed leader in the category.Like all the other Emami power brands including Boroplus, Navratna and Fair and Handsome, Zandu too will see an aggressive adspend. "We want to promote and consolidate the Zandu umbrella and make it a national brand," says Agarwal.Mohan Goenka, director and son of co-chairman RS Goenka, points out that Zandu is the single largest pain reliever brand in India despite the presence of products like Moov and Iodex. "Zandu was losing focus before the takeover, but now it has been re-energised," he adds. From sales of Rs. 140 crore in 2007-08, it has nearly doubled to Rs. 270 crore already by FY13.The other brand which is growing aggressively is MenthoPlus, especially in the rural market, says Goenka. It is worth Rs. 98 crore now, but it has a potential to grow as 90 percent of the sales come from only three states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.The Men's Fairness Cream GambleIn 2005, Emami entered another uncharted territory. "In 2005, we launched a fairness cream for men because market studies showed that 30 percent of males were clandestinely buying fairness creams meant for women. We launched in 2005 and the competition in the form of Lever, Garnier and L'oreal joined the fray from 2006. The market is growing faster than the female creams but that's perhaps because of the low base," says Goenka. Fair and Handsome is a Rs. 200 crore brand now. Emami has 60 percent market share followed by Lever (30 percent) and Garnier (20 percent), according to market estimates. The category got a huge boost when celebrities were roped in to showcase the product, from SRK for Emami, John Abraham for Garnier and Arjun Rampal for Nivea.There's a lot of potential for growth because recent data shows that 22 percent males still use female fairness creams, says Goenka. The brand touched Rs. 100 crore in the first 3-4 years. "The entire male grooming sector has opened up and the celebrity endorsements have a lot to do it. We have spent Rs. 45 crore on Fair and Handsome last fiscal for ads and celebrity appearances. It's a new category, so investments are required to build the brand," adds Goenka.