Godrej Soaps president (consumer products division) Hoshedar K Press told The Financial Express, ``Color Soft has picked up considerable volumes to show up on ORG's retail audit data. Going by the response, the brand will now be taken to other cities like Mumbai and a national launch is due within the next six months.''

`Color Soft' was launched to ride on the premium plank of the hair dyes market. It is the second brand in hair-dyes introduced by Godrej. Color Soft has been positioned as an up-market brand and has been priced at Rs 95 for a standard size of 40 ml. It is being test marketed in three colour ranges of natural black, soft black and natural brown.

Godrej Soaps has also set up a haircare institute to assist the company in various product decisions regardingthe hair colour market in India. ``We plan to launch a number of variants in Color Soft later to develop it into a strong mother brand,'' said Press. He added that while the company does not intend to venture into wild western colours like blond, Godrej Soaps is planning to launch a number of variants in Indian shades like brown, black and even burgundy.

Godrej's premier brand of hair-dye `Godrej Hair Dye' is already a leader in the Rs 180-crore market with a share of around 45 per cent. Godrej Hair Dye, however, commands a popular price of Rs 55 as compared to Color Soft. Even as Color Soft competes with the multinational brand in hair colour L'Oreal in term of the positioning, the Godrej brand has been priced strategically lower as compared to L'Oreal's premium pricing of Rs 260.

The hair-dye market is segmented into three: liquid, premium powders and popular powders. Godrej is present in the liquid hair dyes only and leads here with a share of around 90 per cent. The other main player here is JK HeleneCurtis' `Tru Tone' hair-dye which has a share of close to 30 per cent in powder hair-dyes.

The growth of the hair-dyes market is close to 30 per cent per annum and has the potential to grow at a better pace, feel industry observers.