Page 160 - DMGT506_CONSUMER_BEHAVIOUR

Unit 12: Sub-culture and Cross-cultural Consumer Behaviour

Notes

Caselet Meera: Healthy Hair for Years

eera is a classic example of ethnic marketing in Indian context. Ethnic is defined
as that which is pertaining to or characteristic of a people (group) sharing a
Mcommon and distinctive culture. Ethnic marketing is understanding that
distinctiveness and adapting product and marketing strategies in order to appeal to that
group.
Meera is famous for its herbal hair wash powder. The tradition of using powder hair wash
lies in our culture and tradition. Traditionally Indian women relied on powdered herbs to
nourish their hair.
Then along with changing lifestyles, new products like shampoos began to take the place
of these herbal powders. While hair oils have retained their position in the hair care
market, the use of hair-wash powder was reduced to a niche.
It is in this context that Meera as a brand becomes interesting. The brand not only catered
to the niche but also has developed this market and evolved to become an umbrella brand
for more traditional hair-care products.
Although there was many companies who were selling powder hair wash, most of these
players belong to the unorganized sector. Shaw Wallace had a similar product but the firm
was not promoting that line. Cavinkare began to aggressively build the brand and Meera
became the market leader in that category.
Herbal hair wash product typically consists of powder/essence from Shikakai , green
gram, tulsi, veliver, reetha , hibiscus ,feenugreek etc.
When time passes by, these traditional products tend to lose relevance. Traditional products
fade from the market for many reasons like

1. Better new products: New and better products make some traditional products less
relevant.
2. No marketing: Because of lack of marketing, many traditional products fade from
the consumer's mental space.
3. Product availability.
4. Changing consumer preferences
5. Non-viability of manufacturing and marketing traditional products.

In the case of herbal powder market, the products are unattractive to urban market because
these are not easy products. Herbal powders are often messy and the user has to spent lot
of time in using the product. In this fast life, the urban consumers are looking for fast
solutions.

In my observation, consumers with grave hair problems tend to go back to these herbal
products because of they feel worthwhile to invest time in using these products.
Meera as a brand has made the choice easy for the consumers. Instead of using unbranded
products, consumers trusted Meera since it came from a well known company. The brand
also is available in sachets thus making it convenient for the consumer to buy the product
in smaller quantities. Meera uses the slogan "Healthy hair for years "highlighting the
efficacy of the product.
Contd...

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