Hitesh Dhingra, Co-founder and Managing Director, The Man Company, a number one ‘Men Only’ premium grooming necessities model, is a serial entrepreneur who has gathered in-depth data of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, with a collection of start-ups in varied domains. Starting with Tyroo Media, a contextual promoting community; on-line retailer Letsbuy.com, which Flipkart acquired in 2012; TrulyMadly.com, a new-age courting app, and lastly The Man Company in 2015, the place he has discovered his area of interest, Dhingra talks of breaking stereotypes, igniting conversations round men’s grooming and his purpose to make The Man Company a worldwide model.Looking again in your entrepreneurial journey throughout Tyroo Media, Letsbuy.com, TrulyMadly.com and now The Man Company, what have been your greatest learnings via it all?One of the fascinating insights I acquired whereas engaged on TrulyMadly, a content-based app, is that men provoke the dialog by simply saying ‘Hi’ however do not know methods to maintain on to the dialog—they fade out after that. Men want numerous grooming, not simply in Tier II or Tier III cities, but additionally in Tier I and metro cities. Etiquette and confidence about what to do, what to put on, what to order throughout a date—the whole lot is an alien idea for them. When I lastly determined to maneuver on from TrulyMadly, it was as a result of I noticed an enormous hole within the men’s grooming group. Our thought was to launch a platform like a grooming buddy. A spot the place men can ask essentially the most fundamental questions and get solutions. At that point, not many manufacturers labored for the men’s grooming group. Only a handful of female-oriented manufacturers supplied a number of merchandise like shaving and equity lotions or deos. No one was speaking to those millennial men within the language they understood.Our preliminary market analysis indicated that men have truly began spending so much on grooming. That they’re much more acutely aware about how they appear or odor than their predecessors have been some 25 or 50 years again, and able to spend on beard grooming, pedicure, manicure and haircut. As per our analysis, a mean man goes to a salon twice a month. In distinction, girls have a tendency to go to salons after 40-45 days. So, we thought, why not launch a model that gives head-to-toe merchandise manufactured particularly for men? Finding women-centric manufacturers, and attempting on their merchandise in real-time is pretty simple. Now, The Man Company has been in a position to give that have to men. Today, if you happen to go to malls, one can find The Man Company at Shoppers Stop, Lifestyle, Pantaloons and different top-level hypermarkets throughout the nation. We are additionally current in main retail chains and pharma retailers, apart from unique model retailers (EBOs) in any respect main malls throughout the nation, the place men can expertise the merchandise. Going forward, we’re in dialogue with a number of potential companions. As of now, we have already got greater than 55 companions on trendy commerce and practically 50 EBOs, along with 3000+ offline touchpoints.My earlier work expertise, together with my time as a administration trainee at a Singaporean agency, the place I learnt about completely different verticals and an Indian promoting agency, the place I joined as a founding member, gave me immense publicity. Through these experiences, I learnt methods to construct an organization and make it work. The Man Company’s ground-breaking journey is proof that our preliminary speculation and agendas have been heading in the right direction. We are planning to increase our footprint throughout India and turn out to be a one-stop store for all men-centric wants.
What did it take to normalise grooming and skincare conversations for men, break taboo round stereotypes and launch a premium grooming model for men in 2015? What have been the challenges you confronted then, and what are the challenges right this moment?A person speaking about pores and skin or hair care would have been frowned upon till a number of years in the past, however now issues have modified drastically. Particularly because the pandemic, clients have turn out to be much more acutely aware about their well being, self-grooming, and its affect on their look. Gone are the times when female-oriented grooming and magnificence merchandise used to dominate the market. Today, the men’s grooming market has a separate area that specialises in creating merchandise catering to the wants and desires of modern-age men. The international men’s grooming business is estimated to develop at a CAGR of 6% between 2020 and 2027, signifying that such stereotypes and discrimination don’t have any place on this period. Initially, it was troublesome to onboard men to speak about fundamental magnificence and grooming practices, sometimes believed to be a girl’s prerogative. However, over a interval, folks have began breaking these obstacles. We additionally initiated a number of campaigns like ‘Gentleman kise kehte hai’ and ‘Gentleman tumhi to ho’ to ignite conversations round men’s grooming.Despite all this, some points are nonetheless the identical. More consciousness and studying are required. Men nonetheless shrink back from having an open dialogue about grooming with friends. While girls can simply discuss their lipstick shades, men received’t discuss shampoo particulars or beard grooming kits. We plan to encourage the change to normalise this.
You just lately entered the nutraceuticals class. Tell us about your plans to foray into different classes.Even earlier than the pandemic pressured folks to pay correct consideration to their total well being, we at The Man Company have been already addressing men’s grooming-related wants that have an effect on each psychological and bodily well being. However, we determined to take a step ahead and turn out to be extra concerned with men’s holistic wellness. By venturing into the nutraceuticals class, we’re concentrating on extra than simply exterior grooming features. With the MINS vary of merchandise, we’re offering modern-age gents with merchandise that may uplift their total well-being and elevate health ranges.
What are the pillars of your advertising technique for The Man Company? What is within the pipeline?The three main pillars of our market technique are Content, Community and Collaboration–the 3Cs. In phrases of content material, we deal with the commerce side and present info via the identical medium that millennials use. We optimise the content material on The Man Company’s official web site by posting related vlogs and blogs. We even have our unique weblog–The Man Mag–with weekly updates about substances utilized in our merchandise or about grooming. We additionally work together with our group via social media (Insta reels) or YouTube by posting informative movies. One has to guarantee that a novel voice and visible enchantment is being created via each piece of communication that goes out, no matter the platform. For occasion, whereas we use Instagram to construct a group of evangelists, creative-wise, we keep excessive on static visuals and quick movies. In phrases of group engagement, we purpose to create a group of evangelists, as we wish to name it, the gentleman membership. This is primarily pushed via social media. Similarly, for collaboration, like-minded platforms assist us attain a bigger viewers with an affinity in direction of the platform. Also, grooming or way of life influencers add immense worth. These influencers have confirmed themselves to sway followers in direction of a selected model via entertaining and informative content material. They not solely present the model with extra visibility and optimistic phrase of mouth, however artistic content material that results in extra site visitors, which finally converts to increased purchases. How do you see the grooming and magnificence business for men evolving in future? What are some requisites important to the expansion of this class?From being a class that was not even thought of an entity, the quintessential men’s grooming business has turn out to be a multimillion-dollar market over the previous couple of a long time. Moreover, rising consciousness concerning the dangerous results of UV rays and air pollution has additionally performed an instrumental half in driving the expansion of the men’s grooming and magnificence business. This class itself wants extra consciousness. Here, experiential advertising, informative content material, progressive merchandise and advertising play a giant half. Going ahead, what is your imaginative and prescient for The Man Company? What will be your priorities within the lengthy and quick time period?Our final imaginative and prescient is to turn out to be essentially the most liked model within the men’s grooming business. Our short-term aim is to deal with the wonder and wellness section. We have already launched our wellness vary MINS, below that are MinStrips. Our plan is to launch extra such merchandise and encourage inside-out wellness. Our long-term aim is to make The Man Company a worldwide model. We have the suitable substances. Now it is only a matter of time.
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Published on: Monday, April 04, 2022, 08:14 AM IST
https://www.freepressjournal.in/brandsutra/grooming-and-skincare-conversations-must-be-as-normal-for-men-as-it-is-for-women-hitesh-dhingra
