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Dabur goes for facelift to woo youth

Partha Ghosh & Bhupesh Bhandari

It is makeover time at Dabur India Ltd. The company, in a strategic gambit, is targeting the young and modern consumers by tinkering with some of its products, giving them a more youthful packaging and rolling out a whole new communication strategy.

The effort is a part of a larger initiative to transform the Rs 11.66 billion ayurveda-based company into one dedicated to "health and well-being."

Dabur India chief executive officer Ninu Khanna said: "We are expanding into natural and herbal products without losing focus on ayurveda."

It all began when an in-house survey revealed that Dabur's consumers were mostly people in the middle- and higher-age bracket and not the youth. Hence the shift.

"Ayurveda is limiting. Hence it was decided to expand into natural and herbal products," a company source said, adding, "We are targeting consumers in the 15-40 years age bracket. Even now, most of our consumers are in this bracket, though they are closer to the upper limit of 40 years."

Thus, Dabur Amla hair oil has come out in a new avatar, Amla Lite, which is a clearer oil and is also lighter in smell. Chyawanprash has been re-positioned as an immunomodulator -- an agent that helps in the modulation of the body's immune system.

The new advertising campaign of chyawanprash talks of the scientific knowledge that the company has gathered through clinical trials of the product in the last 7-8 years.

Similarly, Lohasav, an iron tonic, has now been put out in the form of capsules. Ashvagandha, a stress reliever, has been re-positioned in a capsule form as Stresscom.

"The formulation is different, though we have taken the basic properties of Ashvagandha," the company source added. In the same vein, Madhuvaani, a cough syrup, which had to be mixed with honey before intake, now comes mixed with honey.

In the past also, the company has tried to give its products a new profile by both changing the packaging as well as introducing more youthful variants.

Pudin Hara, the stomach pain reliever and traditionally available in glass bottles, was re-introduced first as pearls and later in sachets. "Young people were averse to carrying bottles but they didn't mind the pearls or the sachets," the source said. Also, Hajmola, a digestive, was introduced in a peppy tamarind flavour.

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