Hindustan Unilever teams with Amazon India on male grooming

Marking the first alliance of its kind, the personal care company collaborates with the Indian branch of the global e-tailer to create a beard grooming and hair care range.

HUL will sell the items, which will be under the Brylcreem brand, exclusively on Amazon India’s online marketplace. The male grooming range will feature products including hair styling creams and gel, hair wax, a 3-in-1 shampoo, beard oil, beard wash and beard balm.

Brand first​

Sandeep Kohli, Executive Director of personal care at HUL stated: “It is the first time that Unilever is entering the beard grooming range and the first time we are creating a product with insights provided by Amazon India. The male grooming segment is seeing a lot of impetus — not only in the metros but also in smaller towns,”​ a Global Cosmetics News report​ revealed.

Beard grooming on the up​

Beard grooming companies are proving a popular segment choice, with both offline retailers, Maroc and Enami acquiring beard grooming companies in India in 2017. Teaming up with online giant Amazon India helps HUL carve out a digital male grooming presence to compete with offline names.

“Brylcreem’s entire range speaks to young, digitally savvy Indians who are seeking products that define them​,” added Manish Tiwary, Vice-President, Category Management, Amazon India.

Abneesh Roy, senior VP, institutional equities, Edelweiss Securities, noted: “HUL is investing disproportionately in online and operating with the nimbleness of a small company, but using analytics, AI and robotics like a global company. This reflects the highest level of freedom that any MNC gets in India and shows the willingness to fill product white spaces,”​ The Economic Times reported.  

Brand identity​

Introducing its new beard and hair grooming range, HUL used the hashtags “#BoysManUp”​ and “#SochBadlaStyleBadla”​ to launch its new Brylcreem umbrella brand.

“Brylcreem is a brand associated with men of great character. The brand communication inspires every man to be a hero by becoming better social citizens,”​ HUL stated, emphasising that the move is “An Amazon.in exclusive”​.