Himalaya Drug Company comes to the rescue of men with Pimple Clear Neem Face Wash

The campaign 'Men Hate Pimples Too' projects Himalaya Drug Company's Pimple Clear Neem Face Wash as the answer to men's pimple woes.

Skin ailments, like any other disease, do not differentiate between men and women. But, it's often that women's dermatological issues are highlighted more than their counterparts. Based on this insight is the latest ad by the Himalaya Drug Company, a herbal health and personal care company. Launched as a 360-degree multi-media campaign called 'Men Hate Pimples Too', and in collaboration with Chapter Five Brand Solutions, (which is the creative agency for the campaign), the brand aims to promote its Pimple Clear Neem Face Wash in the male grooming category under the company's portfolio.

The first leg of the 360-degree multi-media campaign commenced with the launch of a 30-second digital film that was launched on YouTube on February 19; the television campaign (TVC) for the same will be aired on February 24, followed by above-the-line (ATL), and below-the-line (BTL) promotions, print ads, and radio spots. The campaign is expected to continue until June this year.

The campaign, which targets males in the age-bracket of 15-45 years across socio-economic classification (SEC) A and B, has been produced by Jamic Films and is directed by Nikhil Rao.

The digital film begins with a man, who during a party, checks the presence of pimples on his face in the mirror and resorts to the leg-pulling of one of the women in the group, teasing her about pimples she once had. Later, to his dismay, he finds that his face, too, has pimples. The voiceover then talks of the importance of using Himalaya Drug Company's Pimple Clear Neem Face Wash that comes enriched with neem and natural Salicylic extracts which ensure fast and strong protection from pimples for men due to their anti-bacterial and anti-septic properties.

The voiceover goes on to say that while Neem helps fight skin infections, rashes, pimples and dark spots, natural Salicylic extract helps unclog pores and prevents damage caused by pimples, thus leading to healthy, glowing skin. The pack sizes available are 50 ml (Rs 75) and 100 ml (Rs 140).

A pre-launch in-house consumer research carried out by the company across Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru on a sample size of 900 respondents, (related to men's grooming needs) revealed that the penetration of the facewash category is quite high in these cities. The objective was to understand the needs of facewash users and users of personal care products in general, and that of Himalaya Drug Company's facewash category in particular. The research also cited pimples, oily skin and cleansing, and glow-related issues to be the three primary drivers contributing to the growth of the facewash category in India.

In addition to this, the company also undertook neuroscience research and communication script testing sessions by Nielsen (an American global information and measurement company), to validate the insights which laid stress on the effectiveness of the campaign vis-a-vis its communication which was found to be emotionally engaging, persuasive and memorable.

Commenting on the research, Ashwani Gandhi, category manager, consumer product division, Himalaya Drug Company says, "In India, 40 per cent men use unisex facewash, and the size of the unisex face wash category in India is pegged at Rs 1,800 crore. Moreover, from a global perspective, less than 10 per cent of men and women make up for the overall industry size in this segment. The fact is that one out of four men in India suffers from pimples and mostly resorts to homemade remedies. "

Gandhi continues further, "The qualitative findings highlighted men's attitude towards skin care problems. Men believe that getting pimples is an eventuality. It affects them as much as it does women, but their reaction isn't as extreme. They do not like to talk about pimples. They carry on with their normal lives, but they do go through personal and social discomfort."

In a press note, the company claims that the Pimple Clear Neem Face Wash for men is a soap-free, herbal formulation that helps fight pimples in men. The facewash is meant to take care of men's skin and contains White Spice Active Boost Technology with rapid action of herbal actives.

The company had launched a facewash for oily skin two years ago and this is the third product in the company's Men's Care portfolio after Intense Oil Clear Lemon Face Wash and Power Glow Licorice Face Wash.

According to Rajesh Krishnamurthy, business head, consumer products, The Himalaya Drug Company, says, the men's grooming market is the fastest-growing segment in skin care. It is believed that it will touch Rs 5,000 crore by the end of 2016. A category that was limited to shaving and deodorant is increasingly seeing new segments like face care and hair care range for men, and the fastest-growing category within this is men's facewash. As per latest reports, it is pegged at Rs 275 crore (U+R), and growing at more than 45 per cent. "In our constant interactions with our target audience, we found that one out of every four men suffering from skin problems, suffer from pimples which we consider as a huge opportunity for us to exploit. We are already leaders in the unisex segment with our Purifying Neem Face Wash and have the expertise in solving pimples. It was only natural, to extend this expertise specific to men," he says.

"The film leverages the insight that young males do not express their discomfort when they face a pimple problem. We have tried to capture very simply the real-life behaviour of a young man who would be socially awkward to accept that he is facing personal and social discomfort due to pimples. We aimed to create a disruptive TVC with an 'ahaa' moment that catches the viewer's attention and communicate that 'men hate pimples too," states Prateek Srivastava, creative head, Chapter Five Brand Solutions.

When asked about the marketing challenges for the current campaign, Gandhi says, "Differentiation in terms of establishing the product relevance is a challenge. Moreover, the cost of running the ad on various platforms is high, given that this product is for men."

With a history spanning more than eight decades in herbal research, Himalaya has positioned itself as a brand that cares about not only enriching people's lives, but also the environment. With its 'head to heel' range of products Himalaya aims to provide a holistic solution to everyday ailments that affect our bodies.