It’s raining Sebamed, pH 5.5 everywhere.
At nearly 4-5 times the price of the Dove, Lux and Pears can Sebamed balance pH with pricing?
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HUL vs SEBAMED pH 5.5 Detailed Case Study
The brands which have got lesser PR budget must look after at the example of Sebamed. (Just Kidding).
It’s quite strange and hard-hitting campaign rolled out by Sebamed.
In just a few days, Sebamed, thanks to its ads, got written about by countless news outlets.
German skincare company Sebamed has seen more press coverage, social media coverage in the last four days than most brands tend to see in a few months, or even a quarter.
Sebamed is trying to put the giants in the soap category – Hindustan Unilever’s Lux, Dove and Pears – on a slippery slope with its marketing blitzkrieg. However, not many knew about Sebamed, which entered India in 2007, until last week.
According to Google Trends for India, on a scale of one to 100 (the latter being the highest), Sebamed was trending at five on January 1, 2021. But by January 10, it had scaled up to 100. The bullets fired by Sebamed have had more hits and fewer misses.
First, Sebamed compared Lux with Rin and said that both have the same pH value. Then came an attack on Dove, which HUL markets as a mild soap – healthy for the skin.
Sebamed also attacked Pears, a soap which is traditionally sold more during the ongoing winter season.
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Skincare brand Sebamed names Dove, Lux, Pears, Santoor, and Rin in digital ads
In a series of posters, and TVCs Sebamed takes the comparative advertising route to show why it’s milder than rivals.
Sebamed, a German personal care brand has teamed up with agency The Womb to create an ad campaign that pulls up its competitors by name. The ad sees women lounging around in a bathing area setting in luxurious clothes (often seen in beauty soap ads).
They explain that beauty soaps such as Lux, Pears, and Santoor have the same pH levels as dishwashing soap bar Rin. They place a strip of litmus paper on all the soaps in question to illustrate their point.
The campaign is titled Filmstars kee Nahi, Science Kee Suno – a clear reference to Lux soap which has always been known as the ‘filmstars soap’ in the past.
Filmstars kee Nahi, Science Kee Suno
Sebamed Ads
Creative partner, The Womb said, “The Personal care industry has always been conditioned to follow standard beauty practices in order to make it appealing to the consumers“.
What I got to understand about Sebamed ad campaign- It communicates the product truth through this campaign, without any silver coating. Striking the right balance between the bandwagon fallacy and authenticity, the brand is building a connection with its consumers through demonstration-based advertising with an honest approach.
Bombay High court orders Sebamed to take down the campaign.
HUL vs Sebamed: Bombay HC to give main order on 19 January
- Sebamed had earlier blamed rival Hindustan Unilever Limited for taking the matter to court without giving a prior notice
- Sebamed’s comparative advertising both on mainstream and social media raised a Twitter storm and upset HUL, which had promised suitable action.
The court recorded the submissions by both the companies around the aggressive advertising campaign launched by Sebamed on 8 January, comparing HUL’s Lux and Dove to detergent brand Rin, and claiming that the beauty soaps did not maintain the optimal 5.5 pH level meant for sensitive skin.
This is what happens when your skin’s natural pH balance is disturbed.
pH value above 5.5 can cause skin irritation and dryness: And even if it is below the standard pH value of the acidic state and hence cause skin irritation and dryness problems.
Sebamed ads claimed that its cleansing bar has the perfect pH level of 5.5 for sensitive skin.
There are millions of consumers who ought to know (the pH values of soaps they use and what a healthy level is).
Comparative advertising:
The Sebamed campaign taking on Dove, Lux, Pears, on pH value is a classic example of ‘Comparative Advertising’ by a challenger brand. (underdog).
In my view, the best comparative ad campaign was done by Doyle Dane & Bernbach for AVIS (vs) HERTZ back in 1962.
What’s your view on the Sebamed campaign? And the AVIS one?
Avis vs. Hertz
“Sebamed is marketed in India by USV, a pharma company with a deep knowledge of the Indian healthcare system. It (USV) has been promoting Sebamed through the medical field force as an Rx brand. It must have decided (thought) that with the heightened awareness around health and immunity, skin health may also get a boost.
So, the idea was to take Sebamed from Rx to what is called OTx, to promote it directly both to the doctors and the consumers.”
However, the price of a 100-gram Sebamed soap bar is Rs 199, while that of other brands is less than Rs 50.
The soap segment in India is estimated to be around Rs 22,000 crore. Based on application, the market is segmented into
- Beauty Soap,
- Kitchen Soap,
- Medicated Soap,
- Laundry Soap,
- Perfumed Soap,
- Novelty Soap,
- Personal Soap and others.
Beauty soap is the largest category and medicated soap is the fastest growing one, especially after the outbreak of the COVID pandemic.
“I admire its (Sebamed’s) courage. Taking on HUL is not easy and I wish it all the best in its battle,”
Reports suggest that HUL (Lux, Lifebuoy, Dove) has over 42 per cent of the market share and is the largest player in the category.
ITC (Vivel, Fiama Di Wills, Superia), Godrej Consumer Products (Cinthol, Godrej No.1), Reckitt Benckiser (Dettol), etc., are the other large players in the market.
Sebamed’s most affordable soap, a 100-gram bar, costs Rs 199. However, if an order is placed on the e-commerce platform Amazon, it costs Rs 99 (50 percent discount).
Nykaa also sells Sebamed bars at the same rate. There is, however, no such discount on the likes of Tata Cliq and Flipkart.
The obvious question, therefore, is, why is Sebamed selling soaps at Rs 199 and taking on soaps that are 4-5 times cheaper?
“Sebamed soap is mostly bought from a chemist shop through a dermatologist’s prescription and most of their customer live in metros and mini-metros,” says Konark Gaur, CMO, Sebamed India.
I don’t feel like however through marketing and communication disruption may not dent HUL’s pie, HUL straddles the segment across price points with multiple brands. It has the most extensive physical retail distribution, with prime dominance extending on e-commerce sites and modern trade as well.
And there is a meagre chance for the new players to make much headway in the FMCG and soap category to be particular. Most of the customers are loyalists and 9 out of 10 uses HUL products all over India catering to rural and urban areas as well.
Out of the 4P’s in this case the major factor which comes in to play is Price, Price, Price and only Price.
“The pricing of Dove soap is one-fifth of Sebamed. In India, the value proposition is paramount, most of the consumers over here are price sensitive.
Due to the virus, there is an increase in demand for protective personal care products like soap, sanitisers etc. This is an opportunity for beauty brands too, as 57% say that they are open to buying protective personal care products from beauty brands while 75% say that they are more likely to purchase a product with strong
Beauty products the Indian consumer will invest in
- Hair Care: i.e 26%
- Skin Care: i.e 59%
- Body Care: i.e 15%
Natural products/ Clinical products:
- Natural Brands: 81%
- Clinical Brands: 19%
According to the report suggested by Schbang X.
81% of Indian consumers say that they will prefer tutorials from an – Influencer rather than a brand.
This is some of the insights shared by Schbang X in their research report.
Key actionable for the beauty/skincare brand is:
Natural products will trump over artificial products.
Word of mouth remains the best form of marketing and boosts confidence amongst the products.
Speak about health and safety in your communication.
Influencers remain a good bet for the brand as they trust them more than branded content.
Invest in 3D renders as customers would like to get that touch and feel experience digitally.
Sebamed has even properly integrated influencer marketing:
With a skincare expert to share some gyaan about skincare.
And most Indians will find a Sebamed soap very expensive. This issue may lead to better awareness of Sebamed among a section of consumers and retailers. But the question is, will a large consumer base shift just base on a few ads and pH proposition? We don’t think so.
Sebamed wants to penetrate deeper into the country while retaining its premiumness. This marketing blitzkrieg is to start a conversation around pH.
I think Sebamed have done an incomplete work over here. I think this was just a teaser, but they haven’t explained why the pH of soap is so important for sensitive skin. If it had given a few more nuggets, it would have built its case better.
All you need to know about skin pH 5.5:
First of all, let’s understand what is skin pH?
You know that the normal body temperature is 37 degrees, the normal blood pressure is 120/80 similarly the skin has a pH value of 5.5.
The pH is measured on the pH bar 0 indicating acidic and 14 indicating alkaline. The pH of water is 7 which is neutral. Normal, healthy skin has a pH of 5.5 which is slightly acidic.
pH 5.5 leads to soft and smooth skin, aids in skin removal and imparts a healthy glow to the skin and guards skin from infections.
What pH of soap is best for your skin?
Between 5 and 6.
Find the Best Products to Balance Skin pH Levels
To keep your skin healthy, stick to a pH-balanced soap like Puracy Natural Body Wash, with a pH of between 5 and 6.
It should be partially alkaline. pH 7 is neutral – Plain water. A pH value of 8 is good enough. If it’s too high, i.e. above 12 your skin will become dry, and cause skin irritation and other skin-related infections.
So no one uses soap with a pH value of 14.
But unfortunately, pH is not mentioned in the labels of many products.
What does pH value 5.5 mean?
The skin’s acid protection mantle protects against harmful environmental influences and pathogens. A neutral pH value harms this protective barrier function and can in the worst case even destroy the skin’s surface, i.e lead to dehydration, irritation and allergies. pH neutral- pH value 7- is not the right value to keep skin healthy.
Skin exposed to pH neutral products needs several hours in order to regenerate again.
With modern care substances, humidity can be regained and a protective barrier function restored. Nevertheless, with pH neutral products these effects are diminished and neutralized.
Optimal protection and compatibility with the skin are only achieved with a pH value of 5.5. Many consumers assume that pH neutral products are skin-compatible, i.e skin-friendly.
As a matter of fact, such products represent a wide variety of pH values, among them also very acidy or leachy ones that can severely damage sensitive skin.
Sometimes pH value can also change during storage time. All Sebamed products guarantee strict sustainability of the pH value 5.5.
The pH of the skin really matters:
Healthy skin pH is around 5.5, which is slightly acidic.
“When the skin’s pH is too high, your body produces excess sebum to fight back and restore its natural pH levels. However, the soap residue ensures the disruptive pH is maintained,” says independent beauty chemist David Pollack. “The end result is that skin can become too oily. If that isn’t bad enough, soap residue emulsifies or binds to the skin’s lipid matrix.”
How long it takes to damage our skin’s acid mantleTrusted Source?
There are a protective layer of oils, fatty acids, and amino acids) can vary, but signs of damage include increased dryness, itching, irritation, and inflammation. All this can also worsen skin conditions trusted Sources such as acne, eczema, dermatitis, and rosacea.
Tips for resilient skin: younger-looking skin for longer
Here I have got covered an interesting case study of Fiama Di Wills: Challenger To Game Changer.
Through this, you can get to know if you want something new, you have to stop doing something old. And you can get more clarity on how does one shake-up the market in something as ritualistic as a daily bath? What could be imparted to the tedious toilet soap tablet to transform the everyday bathing routine into an exotic sensorial experience that leaves the consumer humming all day?
A soap is a soap. Even thinking about product innovation as a strategic game-changer in this highly functional is considered sacrilegious.
But as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
The Quest For Innovation Begins:
In the premium bath-space, the growth opportunity lay not in the market penetration or inter-brand movements but in garnering a sizeable share of the consumer upgrade pie, from both mid and popular segments.
In the early 2000s, the only attempts at innovation in the soap industry were the transparent glycerine bath soaps or the cream bathing bars introduced much later.
In the pursuit of differentiation, the first cue for ITC came from the Westen world, where consumers had mostly switched to liquid soaps for both convenience and hygiene reasons. ITC had developed shower gels in 2004 but they soon realized the product was ahead of its times and was limited to a very niche segment. However, the product formulation containing suspended encapsulated beads filled with moisturizing oils was a potential winner in the stable.
Most among those who had used shower gels at some point felt it did nice things to their skin and left a lingering sense of freshness long after they had stepped out of the shower and dried themselves. So the problem with shower gels lay more in attitudes, habits and water constraints and not with the experience.
The took the challenge in their hand and harness the positive perception of shower gels and present the product to the customer.
The insight that changed the game.
A curious thought popped in their mind:
If only all the natural goodness and sensorial appeal of the shower gel could be taken and transported to the convenient and familiar mould of a bathing bar.
So, while the objective makes shower gels was to become the brand of choice when consumers evolved to using shower gels and wanted to disrupt the innovative product which could deliver all the benefits of a shower gel in the ease of usage of a bathing bar format.
This is how they created a bigger opportunity for crafting a unique shower gel soap and thus began the success story of the Fiama Di Wills gel bathing bars.
A young scientist, from the R&D centre, simply froze shower gel in an ice tray to throw up a near-Eureka moment. However, this was just the beginning of the journey. It took a five-year-long journey to craft and perfect the gel bathing bar that would go on to transform the age old-category.
Challenge No. 1: The first challenge was to achieve stability of form:
The gel liquid upon freezing would change to solid state; but when exposed to normal ambient temperatures, would change back to liquid form.
After a plethora of experiments with solvents and processing technology were undertaken, before the R&D team hit upon a ‘liquid crystal freezing technology,’ which changed the crystalline structure of the product, making it stable in a solid-state even at room temperature.
Challenge No. 2: Aesthetic Appeal:
In this stage they faced the challenge in finding a right cooling process to retain product transparency.
Challenge No 3: Wear Rate
Wear rate was perhaps the biggest challenge as Indian consumers are culturally more inclined towards value-for-money products and which lasts long. Fiama Di Wills struck the right note by finding the right balance of texture. An overdose of ingredients to make it last longer would make the gel bar harsh, while it would wear too fast if made too wild. Reaching this optimal level was an iterative process demanding significant research.
ITC state-of-the-art facility in Haridwar, where an entire floor was dedicated to developing gel bars. The years of diligent effort and sheer detailing that went into the creation of this unique bathing accessory are mind-boggling. This is how you craft a product that would cut through the clutter and create a unique proposition.
Challenge No. 4: Differentiation:
The main key differentiator of the product is its shape of the gel bathing bar. For ages. soap bars had been either oval or square in shape. ITC decided to break the boundaries and introduced the Fiama Di Wills gel bar in a unique dewdrop shape.
A design was curated in a novel shape that fits snugly into the palm and enhanced grip in the water. The dewdrop shape has since been one of the strongest brand attributes of the Fiama Di Wills gel bar.
Challenge No. 5 Cue ‘premium’
To create the entire bathing experience more premium, luxurious, and pampering. Fiama Di Wills for the first time had come up with the concept of exotic ingredients and skin conditioners in soap was introduced. From patchouli, Brazilian orange, ginseng, seaweed, peach, and avocado to bearberry extracts, blackcurrant, lemongrass, macadamia nut, oats, and nutgrass.
Fiama Di Willi gel bars introduced exotic skincare ingredients from around the world in each of their variants.
Challenge No. 6: Building the aroma advantage
The most significant and next challenging task was to create a strong olfactory recall at every stage.
Fact: I have noticed some of my family members are always in the lookout for best fragrance soaps available which keeps skin clean & healthy. And also long-lasting.
From the first whiff on opening the product packaging to the actual in-use bathing experience and finally, the lingering fragrance long after one steps out of the shower, there had to be an olfactory wow at every bath. Some of the world’s finest fragrance houses were approached to develop winning fragrances for the innovative gel bars.
So, customization of the fragrances was needed to arrive at the right balance between subtle and strong- a formulation that would wow Indian users with distinctive notes.
Leading fragrance houses were brought on board to create a wide array of scents used in the gel bars- Fruity (peach and avocado), Citrus Fresh (Brazilian orange), Green Fresh (seaweed and lemongrass), Floral Beauty (patchouli), Gourmand (bearberry). This blend significantly enhanced the premium appeal and a winning product was ready.
Challenge No. 7: Manufacturing technology: Borrowing from unconventional sources
Getting the product right at the lab-scale is one thing, but commercial production to feed the market is a different ball game altogether. There wasn’t any existing soap manufacturing unit with the appropriate equipment available to handle its production. The conventional bar soap is usually manufactured together in the mold. That process wouldn’t hold the gel bar.
In search of an ideal solution, the company was forced to look at other domains. The study of manufacturing set-ups, mostly in the food segment like confectionery and candies, served as important learning, which again would require a lot of optimization to adjust to changing parameters, including the weather, besides ensuring all the special ingredients in the product retained their core qualities.
In the end, the technology solutions for gel bars production came from the manufacturing of hard-boiled candies where the liquid is converted into candies. Liquid shower gels were developed in large mixers and then poured into moulds and channelled through large freezing chambers to solidify the gel into a bathing bar format- a first of its kind in India and perhaps the world.
2009: A Star is born
The journey of Fiama Di Wills bar is one of relentless pursuit to innovate in an industry that, over many decades, had not experienced much novelty.
To go with the unique story of shower gels frozen into gel bathing bars, the heady mix of exotic ingredients in a refreshing new range of bright colours and the assortment of intoxicating fragrances combined made it as consumers favourite product.
A unique packaging solution added novelty to the product offering. Superior packaging, employing food-grade oil wrap, was used to keep the freshness alive in the gel bars over an extended period.
Telling the story
So how was the communication to do justice to the task of telling the story of this dramatic product to the consumer?
The launch of communication in 2009-10 centred around the theme of ‘Nature and Science’ an amalgamation of exotic ingredients depicting ‘nature’ and the advanced, patented liquid crystal freezing technology cueing ‘science’. But the campaign impacted only a small set of consumers, with most not able to relate to the message.
Next, Fiama Di Wills team tried the ‘skin benefits’ and the ‘sensorial experience’ route, which gave the brand a temporary boost before hitting a plateau again.
If it is unique and different, why not let it make headlines
‘Shower Gel in a Bathing Bar’ is what clicked with the consumers and the ‘Fima Di Wills gel bar saw a meteoric rise in demand, mindshare and consumer franchise. The communication helped in creating exclusivity and an intriguing value for consumers to try the bathing bar.
The experiential marketing initiatives emphasized gel skin conditioners as a special enhancing ingredient. Consumers were engaged through the application of gel skin conditioner, with a moisture test meter giving an instant reading to highlight the increased moisture levels.
A film showcased the innovative ‘liquid’ to ‘bar’ journey accompanied the consumer engagement activities in modern retail, multiplexes and other target rendezvous where premium consumers could be accessed.
Jewel in the crown
The many firsts Fiami Di Wills gel bar notched up- from its unique dewdrop shape to the first Indian patent in liquid crystal freezing technology to exotic ingredients and skin conditioners and even pure gold in it- earned it the ‘Product of the Year’ in 2010, within six months of its launch.
Fiama Di Wills extended its franchise to a premium range of personal care and also introduced a portfolio of products for men. The gel bathing bar, with its liquid shower in a bathing bar format, became the jewel in the line’s crown, catapulting Fiama Di Wills into the orbit of an exclusive club, hitherto represented by only large imported brands.
2012: Introduced high fashion in this commoditized category
Fiama Di Wills introduced the concept of designer series soaps in India, another first, collaborating with ace Indian fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, to create the first signature series of the couture range of gel bathing bars with pure gold. Launched with much fanfare in 2012, the signature series was a roaring success and served to accentuate the intrinsic ties with the fashion world Fiama Di Wills had from the outset.
To further cement the connection between beauty and fashion, Fima Di Wills associated with the high octane Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, a normal synergy with Wills Apparels- the lifestyle house brand of ITC.
Looking ahead
The focused on taking forward the gel story and offer a range of gel products across the multiple categories in the wash and care segment. The gel is the future and the Fiama Di Wills gel bar has simply delineated the path to the future.
It was a massive leap of faith that enabled a challenger brand to carve out a niche among well-entrenched toilet soap titians hoggin market shares. The project was fuelled by the desire to create a unique brand proposition through smart product innovation. I was a fresh bold approach with no cobwebs of the beaten path attached. And the end product not only stood out in a crowd, but it also provided a new dimension to the bath soap segment.
What I’ve observed during my research is that the number of discerning consumers, when it comes to skincare, is growing. It’s mostly the younger people – millennials and Gen Z. They’re at the age when the involvement with beauty, health, and lifestyle are at a high level.
For instance, there’s a trend that when the younger generation has a skincare problem, they go and see a dermatologist for cosmetics and skincare products.
Sebamed has been astute in pitching to these discerning customers, who are younger and, therefore, see Lux and Dove as brands for the older generation. And Sebamed is smart because it says, “Filmstars ki nahi, science ki suno.” Knowledge is a powerful currency today, especially with the younger people and those with access.
So, knowing something better about skincare could be exciting as a proposition, and draws them.
Also, another cultural trend Sebamed picks up on is authenticity. We’ve all heard from the consumers that they are tired of stars pretending to use something. It’s a very smart understanding of the culture and consumers. It’s a smart way to position itself by repositioning the leaders.
What I have noticed in the Sebamed’s latest print ad is that,
Sebamed offers free pH testing kit with its soap now. A front-page ad in major newspapers including Times of India offers users a free at-home pH testing kit on purchase of the soap from the website. They are intriguing the audience to test their soap’s pH level immediately and trust more on science, not on the influence of filmstars, and they have priced the soap at the price range of MRP Rs 99/- Only- (*Made in Germany).
Sebamed needs to think about disruption and bring in product innovation if they are taking on the market leader as it is always the way to go when you are a small player. They will face a legal challenge if they have not done their homework. If, however, it has a good legal case, it will be able to storm the citadel of HUL.
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.” –Peter Drucker, management consultant and author.
For more information, visit www.hul.co.in (Hindustan Unilever), Sebamed.com
Instagram: Unileverdiariesindia, Sebamedindia
Reference:
https://www.afaqs.com/
https://www.livemint.com/
https://www.campaignindia.in/
Thank you
