SuperMax, which is the world’s second largest manufacturer of razor blades after Gillette, is beefing up its operations in India. The brand, which is present in 140 countries, is eyeing revenues worth Rs 1000 crore from the region. The company recently shifted its headquarters from London to Dubai. FE?s Pritha Dasgupta caught up with SuperMax chairman Rocky Malhotra to find out the company’s plans for the Indian market. Edited excerpts:

What are your plans for India?

As far as the Indian market is concerned it is upgrading itself. There is better awareness, people are more conscious about grooming and hygiene and there is a demand for high-end products and grooming aids. So, coupled with capacity expansion we are looking at innovation in terms of new product offerings.

India has the full range of SuperMax products. We operate in the entry level shaving systems and razors and we have recently added grooming aids – the post and pre shave gels, aftershave lotions. We are looking to make Rs 1000 crore revenue from the Indian market. The wholesale market in India is huge and is very important. And we have grown with the support of the wholesale market. And the other end is the organized retail, which is serviced through various trade distributors in the country. What is now beginning is the very organized retailers like in the West.

How do the price points affect you since there are so many unorganised players?

Our price points are generally set based on competitive price points and it’s a benchmarking there, which is followed worldwide. However the actual prices may differ from country to country. Some markets are extremely unorganised like Africa, India, certain parts of West Asia, certain parts of Latin America. In a lot of these markets it will be a while before the conversion takes place. Our unique selling proposition is we are priced at a level which is not scary. And we try to give the consumer the best offering at that price point. A lot of other competitors may have lower price points but the product offering isn’t substantial enough or they have an excellent product offering at a very high price point.

Tell us about your global advertising and marketing strategy and how it is different for India?

A lot of our advertising and marketing is focused on point of sale. It’s focused on the actual trade to create the impulse for people when they walk into the store motivated by displays and on retailer and dealer motivation. In some countries such as Iran and UAE, where we have very high weighted distribution we use television. We also do a lot of in-flight promotions with Emirates.

One of the issues is that we are struggling with is capacity. We often ask ourselves what to do with the money?whether to advertise the product which is already sold out or spend the same money to build capacity. We normally spend 7-8% of our annual revenues on advertising and marketing.

You claim that your market share in India is 60%, but the general perception is that Gillette has a higher market share.

The perception is there because they spend a lot of money in marketing and advertising. We are coming up with a number of new products that will compete with Gillette. We are in the mass-market area, the double edge blades. That’s an area where they don’t really compete. And we are now aggressively entering the higher end area where we will compete with Gillette. So the focus will be on the retail activities.

What are the challenges?

We are a fast moving consumer goods company in the necessity end. We are very fortunate that people don’t stop shaving during the global crisis. What also helps is that people use competitive products which are higher end and more expensive. And in a time like that they might give us a try. And usually they are pleasantly surprised. The challenge that we face is that a number of our trade partners face problems with other local vendors and their inventory holding level may affect us.

Globally you are associated with a number of sporting events. Any plans of associating with the Indian Premier League?

We will look at anything if the cost benefit analysis works out. We are already involved with car racing. IPL yes, why not, as long as it makes commercial sense. We are also currently in talks with one or two major international celebrities to endorse our products.

In 2011, SuperMax will complete 25 years. What are your plans?

We have got a very clear agenda in terms of goals in the next 5 years. We will stay within the core category but we will expand into grooming aids. We have already gone into shave foam, shave gel, aftershave lotion, aftershave balm. This will be increased with a series of grooming aids for men and women like skincare, haircare because people have begun to trust the brand name. We have already started implementing this in UAE, in Latin America and in a small way in India.