We are seeing initial hiccups from demonetisation: Sarfraz Rumane, Himalaya

With the onset of winter, skin care brands are always looking to get through to consumers. Recently, Himalaya Drug Company (Himalaya) recently a new campaign for its Coca Butter Intensive Body Lotion. The brand is looking to target a revenue of Rs 2,100 crore by the end of the current fiscal from Rs 1,800 crore in FY16.

It further looks to grow its revenues to Rs 2,500 crore next fiscal and maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 20%, Philip Haydon, CEO of Himalaya told PTI earlier in September this year.

Sarfraz Rumane, Marketing Manager, Hair Care and Premium Skin Care of Himalaya spoke with the Zeebiz team on its ad spends, the impact of demonetisation, competition from Patanjali and more. Here are the excerpts.

Why is the ad campaign centered around the bridesmaid instead of the bride-to-be?

Himalaya has been strongly recommended by peers, friends and people who are emotionally close to. We wanted to capture that essence somewhere in our communication. That is the thought behind getting the bride recommended about the product.

Which mediums will be used for the campaign?

Primarily, we are using TV followed by digital and on some part we are trying to get some in-store communication.

What are the media spends for this campaign?

We are increasing our ad spends by more than 50% from last year, and we should be hitting double digits by this campaign.

How much does personal care contribute to your total sales?

Out of the entire Himalaya basket, personal care contributes around 42%. Within personal care, face wash, hair care and oral care products contribute the most .

Is Himalaya’s sales getting impacted due to demonetisation?

We are seeing initial hiccups but we expect it to even out. We see no impact on winter products like lotions, skin creams and lip balms, because these are more of a functional requirements. However, in about a month we should be able to see things improve, where we have already seen a slight improvement.

Are you on track to achiveing the revenue target?

A slowdown is there, like all FMCG companies say. We don’t know the way forward, but we will do our best to reach our revenue target and a more than double digit growth next year.

Does Himalaya fear Patanjali‘s presence?

Patanjali is a disruptor in the category. While we compete with Patanjali on a couple of categories directly, we see little impact. With Patanjali doing their role in the category, we see the Ayurvedic segment expanding. There is no competition per say with the brand.