Emami’s Fair and Handsome fairness cream: Brand analysis #35

Emami recently re-launched their men’s fairness cream – Fair& Handsome. Many Indian women have a leaning towards a fairer skin whichresulted in the huge success of ‘Fair & Lovely’ by Unilever and ‘Fairever’by CavinKare which promises fairer skin in a few weeks. In tow with its femalecounterpart, ‘Fair & Handsome’ was launched targeting the male population witha similar interest. The campaign has always promoted the idea – Why use a girl’scream and be shy about it (when you have a male alternative)? 

The product itselfhas started on the wrong foot from the naming. While it is conventional to usethe phrase ‘Dark & Handsome’, ‘Fair & Handsome’ sounds clichéd. It soundslike a copy of its female cousin and worse still, does not add any masculine attributeto the product. 

Getting the attention of the opposite sex is stereotypical andthe viewers have been exposed by one too many of those ideas. By typecasting thesame USP, the company has become part of a clutter. Instead, the company whilenaming the product better could have also created a distinct identity in themarket through differential marketing. The USP could have been the confidenceone gains with a fairer skin and how it is ‘not’ a beauty cream. The companyhas been hard-selling the product aggressively in all their campaigns andsigning on Sharukh Khan as the brand ambassador can only mean they are placingtheir bet heavily on the product. The company would be well advised if they resortto soft-selling the product and create a USP that truly differentiates thebrand in the market and captures the viewer’s interest.