Product Classification

Colossal Kajal is a durable product that falls under the Shopping Goods Category.

Five Product Levels:

Core Benefit : A Kajal stick that is safe to use and will give a good(dark black) look.

Expected Product : A Kajal stick that is safe, easy to apply, gives a dark black look and does not smudge easily.

Basic product : Colossal Kajal is marketed as a product that is dermatologically tested(Safe), 6 Hours smudge-free, waterproof, easy to apply and one that gives a dark black look.

Augmented Product : The product later came in a 12 hour smudge free variant as opposed to the earlier 6 hour basic product.

Potential Product : In 2014, by combining elements of kajal and eyeliner, Colossal Kajal, launched a Turquoise blue variant of their augmented product.

We can link the above 5 product levels using Kenichi Ohmae’s 3C model that link’s Customer, Competition & Company.
Customer
The first C -Customer represents
1)Core Benefit: The customer requirements.Here it represents a customer requirement for a kajal stick that is safe to use.
2)Expected Product: Customer expectation of the product & it’s benefits. In the kajal category the customer expects a kajal stick that is safe, easy to apply, gives a dark black look and does not smudge easily.

 

The 2nd C – Company includes
1) Basic Product: The company tries to fulfill customer requirements in their basic product offering. In the case of Colossal Kajal the basic product is dermatologically tested(Safe), 6 Hours smudge-free, waterproof, easy to apply and one that gives a dark black look.
2) Potential Product: A new product innovation which also marks the beginning of a new product life cycle(PLC). This potential product is seen in Colossal kajal’s new Turquise Blue Kajal that combines eyeliner with the original kajal.

 

The 3rd C – Competition
Here we assume that the company is the only one providing this product. i.e. no external competition.
In this situation, the competition faced is by the following :
1)Augmented Product: The augmented product offers customers more than is expected thus becoming a competitor to the basic product. The augmented product is generally launched in the growth phase of a PLC. In the case of Colossal Kajal the augmented product was the 12 hr smudge-free product as opposed to the earlier 6 hr basic product.
2)Potential product: The potential product has the power to wipe out the basic product. Though this is difficult in the case of Colossal Kajal because of the colour difference (blue vs black).

 

 

Competition

The Kajal market in India can broadly be divided into 2 categories: Generic and Branded. Although Kajal sticks constitute 5-7% of the total eyecare segment, which is a mere sliver of the Rs 2,500-crore Indian cosmetics market, branded Kajal sticks are a rapidly growing market.

When Colossal Kajal was first introduced by Maybelline in India, the kajal market was largely made up of generic brands of Kajal thus giving Colossal the first mover advantage. It was also the first kajal in India to offer a waterproof, smudge-free and long lasting product.

Reena Chhabra, CEO at Colorbar Cosmetics was quoted saying – “While there isn’t a drastic change in overall usage, kajal was an unbranded segment earlier. Now several companies with large distribution networks have entered the segment, helping consumers upgrade to branded kohl.”

This growing segment of branded kajal sticks was quickly exploited by Maybelline’s competitors Lakme and L’oreal in the form of  Eyeconic Kajal and Kajal Magique respectively.

Product Life Cycle

 

Maybelline started their operations back in 1915 by selling the first commercial mascara in Chicago. In 2011, almost a decade later, they started the trend of  selling branded kajal in India. They launched Colossal Kajal successfully and 400,000 units of kajal in the 1st year. They increased this figure by 120% in 2012 to 850000. In 2014 the product was voted as the “Product of the year”.

“Kajal is on fire. Just last year, we sold packs of Maybelline Colossal Kajal in multiple of crores. The brand has grown five times in the last two years on the back of kajal,” says Satyaki Ghosh, director, consumer products division, L’Oreal India.**

Right now Colosal Kajal is in their growth stage of product life cycle. This can be inferred from the following :

1. Growth in sales

2. Growth in market share.

3. Promotion is aimed at a larger market

4. Distribution channels are increased to meet rising demand. Also steps are being taken to prevent sale of counterfeit products.

5. Product innovation taking place with Maybelline introducing new colours in the Colossal Kajal product range

 

**Source : http://bit.ly/1sjFokT

Customer Decision Making

 

1.Who buys this item?

Colossal Kajal is targeted to those women who wear kajal everyday. In India, that includes almost every other girl over the age of 18.

2. What problem will this product solve?

Indian women have integrated kajal in their everyday beauty regime, however till the launch of colossal kajal, the kajal industry in India was largely unbranded. The lack of branded kajals in the market always raised an issue of quality. Colossal Kajal solved this problem. They were giving the customer quality assurances by branding their product as smudge-free for 6 hours(their USP) as well giving a smooth, dark black finish.

3. Which attributes are important and why?

Colossal kajal was the only smudge free kajal in the market when it launched and it is still competitively priced.

4. If this decision is the first time, how will it go? If it is repeat, how will it go?

If a person is making the buying decision for the first time, he will go through the following stages : Need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post purchase behaviour.

In the case of Colossal Kajal once the consumer recognises a need to buy kajal, there a very few(3-4) branded alternatives. The consumer will then research those alternatives and evaluate them. Being sudge-free, long lasting and priced competitively gives Colossal Kajal and advantage over the rest. This leads to a purchase decision. Post purchase, the consumer evaluates the product against his or her perceived value of the product.

Harshil Karia, Online Strategist and Co-Founder at FoxyMoron, while analysing their “EYE AM” campaign to promote Colossal Kajal, notes “98% of these mentions were positive and highlighted the various attributes and benefits of the Colossal Kajal. This indicates advocacy and loyalty through the medium of Facebook, both of which are strongly showcased on the page”.

 

Customer Value

Kohl pencils, fondly called kajal in India, are a staple in most Indian girls’ bags. Kajal in India is used by almost all girls, across all age groups, to accentuate their eyes so much so that it has become a part of our culture. Inspite of this the kajal market in India was a largely unbranded segment till 2011 when Maybelline New York successfully launched Colossal Kajal.

Shoppers Stop managing director Govind Shrikhande once said “Kajal is the perfect marriage of tradition and modernity as consumers have been anyway using it safely for years. There is no taboo attached.” This consumer insight was rightly understood by Maybelline and they branded their product as being a 6 hour smudge-proof kajal with a smooth black finish that also nourishes your eyes.

Basing Customer Perceived Value on Cost Vs Benefit theories by Phillip Kotler,

1. Customer Perceive Value will increase with an increase in the following Benefit: Product Benefit, Service Benefit, Personal Benefit, Image Benefit.

2. Customer Perceive Benefit will decrease with an increase in the following Costs: Monetary Cost, Time Cost, Energy Cost, Psychological Cost.

Maybelline has delivered Customer value dealing successfully with both Cost Vs Benefit –

 

Product

Colossal kajal is a result of Product innovation and cultural expectation. L’Oréal’s has realised their efforts to meet the diverse needs of consumers around the world by establishing R&D centres in five continents. The L’Oréal group has managed to adapt to specific cultural differences in the beauty market. It was with this in mind that the brand launched “Colossal Kajal” in 2012, a crayon which caters to Indian women’s habit of applying heavy eye make-up and can resist over 6 hours of Indian humidity. Their aim as Jacques Challes, Director of Innovation at L’Oréal explains “We wanted to modernise a traditional routine,”

Product Levels

Core Benefit : Smudge Free Kajal that is safe to use.

Basic Product : 6Hr Smudge Free Kajal Stick

Expected Product : A long Lasting Kajal stick that is safe to use and can resist Indian humidity.

Augmented Product : 12Hr Smudge Free Kajal

Potential Product : Since their successful launch, Maybelline has also launched a turquoise variant of the traditional black kajal. This variant is widely available in all the places that sell the original product. This product variation has allowed them to compete against the colour variant kajals launched by Lakme (Blue, White, Green, Brown, Grey).