SWOT analysis of Hair & Care

Hair & Care is a brand of hair oil that is meant for girls in their early teens as they step into adulthood. The brand is owned by Marico, the most recognized name in India, in the domain of consumer goods headquartered in Mumbai, India. In addition to the Indian market Hair & Care is also sold in Bangladesh, Egypt, South Africa, Middle East, Vietnam, and Malaysia.

Marico has a number of popular products promising care for the hair and skin in addition to the healthy food oils, fabric care, male grooming etc. by offering some amazing products including Nihar Naturals, Saffola, Parachute, Hair & Care, Set Wet, Livon and Mediker and Revive. Marico had an annual turnover of INR 59 billion in the financial year 2016-2017.

Under the label Hair & Care Marico has two key variants – the Hair & care Fruit Oils and the Hair  & Care Silk and Shine leave in conditioner.

Strengths in the SWOT analysis of Hair & Care

Strengths are the abilities of a business to gain the cutting edge over the competitors in the market. As far Hair  & Care is concerned, its strengths are:

• Strong backing from Marico: Marico has always been successful in carving a niche out for itself. Most of its products moved from catering to a mass market to a niche segment.Marico also has a highly intensive distribution channel that spreads across not just India but other parts of the world as well. Hair & Care has benefitted from its association with a robust company like Marico.
• Trust and goodwill of customers: Hair & Care through its association with Marico which has had successful brands like Parachute in the hair care category has been able to win the trust and goodwill of their customers. The usage of natural ingredients in Hair & care has also been another critical factor for trust.
• Targeting: Just like most other Marico brands, Hair & Care also targets a niche segment in the highly competitive hair care market. The target segment of Hair & Care is young girls in their teens who are taking the baby steps to adulthood. The oil, as well as the leave-in conditioner, has been positioned as a solution for hair problems like dryness, itchy scalp or dull hair which are common to this age group.
• Focus on a need: Hair & Care looks at the specific need for nourishment for hair in the young adult category. The hair oil, for example, has ingredients like Amla, neem, and henna which increases the growth of hair and also makes it bouncy and shiny. This focus of the product on a very specific need has made it popular amongst a segment which faces this particular hair care problem.
• Distribution strategy: Hair & Care oil and conditioner is available in both urban and rural India and in other geographies like Egypt, South Africa, Middle East, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Most of these markets are not focal areas for multinationals and this reduces the competition in these markets.

Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of Hair & Care

Weaknesses are used to refer to areas where the business or the brand needs improvement. Some of the key weaknesses of Hair & Care are :

• Inability to keep up to trends: The hair care market is evolving at a very fast rate and multinational companies like Unilever or Procter &Gamble are able to churn out new products catering to niche needs at a very fast rate. Smaller companies like Marico find it difficult to match up to their speed with the result that their products become obsolete sooner.
• Inability to build a premium image: Hair &Care has been hugely unsuccessful in building a premium image with the result that customers in urban settings are unwilling to invest in this brand often preferring to go for premium brands which enjoy higher trust and goodwill.

Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of Hair & Care

The areas which promise a lot for the company to increase its profit by gaining more market share if the company targets these areas effectively:

• Hair care for men: With the growing popularity of the concept of the metrosexual male, the number of beauty care products in the men’s market is on a sharp incline. This is also true with hair care and thus companies like Marico can use established product lines like Hair & care to diversify into men’s hair care segment.
• Growth potential in shampoo market: The current trend in the shampoo market has a different variant for different needs. Some of the new needs that have emerged include frizzy hair, itchy or dry scalp, loss of shine in hair etc. These can all increase the scope for new variants of Hair & Care.

Threats in the SWOT analysis of Hair & Care

Threats are those factors in the environment which can be detrimental to the growth of the business. Some of the threats include:

• Competition: Hair & Care faces a lot of competition from brands like Dabur Amla, VLCC, Shahnaz Hussain as well as multinationals like Unilever and P &G.