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What is the first thing that arises into your mind when you hear Hair Oil? A familiar blue bottle above which has been part of our shelves for many years now and we see it planted into roots on our head. But did you know that Parachute oil is not branded as a hair oil?
All the genius minds that were part of this mission interestingly produced the best results in marketing it as a Hair oil. If you look at the bottle packaging content, it has no mention of it as hair oil. So what makes the brand classify it as Coconut Hair Oil than Hair oil? The reason will blow your mind.
Marico’s Branding and Marketing spot on for Parachute Oil
Marico, the company name behind the Parachute, has created a perception of how this brand is looked upon. A brilliant example of a campaign that it ran called “Mere Baal, Meri Jaan” and how silently it targets the audience they have in mind. A clear way by which they silently deliver a message of a ‘Hair Oil’ without explicitly making a claim of it. In Q3 FY 22, Parachute saw 1% volume growth and 8% value growth.
If you look at their communication, it seems well presented towards the goodness of coconut oil and its advantages to the human body. In fact, this is true for all its cosmetic divisions for hair care. Nihar, Parachute Advansed, Hair & Care, etc are other brands under the Marico label that is part of the hair oil portfolio. Marico also plays close eyes to the branding and positioning of other brands too. Take a look below at its campaign #Champibeats for Parachute Advansed.
This campaign was to encourage consumers to bond with their loved ones during the lockdown. They utilized the concept of how families are spending time at home and they understood that the families are dealing with a lot of anxiety and stress. That was when they spotted an ideal opportunity to tap into such a campaign launch. They onboarded renowned TV celebs and other web influencers that made an impact of whopping 10 bn views in the first six days of its run.
All of that summed up well as Marico’s Q4 results had great results especially a net profit rise of 14% at Rs.227 Cr while the sales were up y 34.5%. Over the years, Marico has managed to keep the primary position for the term to resemble it as Parachute oil as Hair oil without actually speaking about it openly.
Why Marico Doesn’t Mention Parachute Coconut Hair Oil?
The answer is rather simple, the company is able to pay fewer taxes by not writing. Edible oil draws a 5% excise duty while hair oil is having an excise duty of 18%. In fact, the back of the bottle also mentions it to be Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) approved which makes it usable for cooking purposes too, but in reality, many use it more for hair than cooking. Marico has been fighting in the courts to retain this status to retain edible oil than quoting it as a Hair oil but the branding placement has been phenomenal for people to believe its purpose to be otherwise.
Why smaller bottles are popular?
Earlier, the coconut oil was sold in larger tins and that’s where the true problem existed. The brand produced smaller packing of parachute oil that not just looked great but also were durable with quality. As a matter of fact, this actually helped the company to position its say in the court regarding the tax. Parachute’s tax planning argument was based on how they can’t control the end-use of the product by the consumer. The smaller packaging also added support especially when they brought to notice how smaller packaging helps consumers in their cooking.
All thanks to smart planning and strategy to tackle the boulders on the path, but that’s what makes this brand a market leader. Take a look at the statistics of Marico’s Product Market Shares in Key Categories in the India Business. In most of the categories, Marico’s products are having over 50% of the share, in particular, the so-called “parachute oil.”
