When Minimalist was lunched in India by the sibling-duo Rahul and Mohit Yadav, people were quick to compare it with The Ordinary, the cult-favourite beauty brand that made single-ingredient, active products a popular concept in the industry. Everyone wondered if Minimalist could be an Indian, budgeted counterpart to it. Four years later, it’s safe to say that the brand is successful is gaining that status in the industry. With its recent acquisition by Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the brand has multiple avenues opened to expand with better R&D and more SKUs. We spoke to the co-founder, Mohit Yadav, to know more about the brand’s future plans, the growth of men’s grooming segment, and keeping the brand relevant among its competitors 

From your experience, would you tell us what’s your biggest takeaway when it comes to men as beauty consumers? 

One big change is the taboo associated with a man taking care of skin has reduced. People are more vocal about it, and no one judges you for being a man following a skin or hair care routine. The concerns of men are little different because of the skin type–the adoption in women for anti-ageing products is faster, what men consume in terms of grooming is more functional. I believe that men have started to follow a basic routine of applying a serum and sunscreen but it’s basic compared to women who are into layering of products. For hair, hair loss is a common issue across genders, and everyone is actively looking for solutions in that segment.  

Is it difficult to reach male consumers? 

Actually, it's much easier. Most men like to keep it simple with a serum, moisturiser and sunscreen. And our brand’s philosophy is simplifying routines, putting across what each product stands for and what it delivers. With each serum, we explain what concern it targets, and so if you are not suffering from that issue, you don’t have to include it in your routine and stick to basics. That is how adoption becomes much easier and less complicated. We also recommend starting slow and not using 10 products in one go. Start with basics and stick to it if there’s no major concern that you’re dealing with.  

It’s also what the industry has been propagating for years; there are multiple brands selling products specifically for men; however, the ingredient is the same. You can’t undo years of conditioning in one go but more consumers are now adopting brands which are gender neutral.  

Is there any category that’s popular with men? 

Hair loss is a big problem. So, hair care products are equally relevant for both genders. So, it is equally relevant for both genders. Acne during puberty is also a common problem. Also, there’s a desire among men to have brighter skin so products with vitamin C is another category where we see traction from men. 

The brand has often been compared to other active and single-ingredient brands. What do you have to say about the competition in the market?  

I believe The Ordinary has popularised active skin care not just in India but even globally. Anyone who would have started an active-based product initially, it would draw parallels with what The Ordinary has been doing. However, I believe that it’s all about how focussed you are on the product; you can't win the market on the narrative that it’s a transparent, active-based skincare brand. The brand must also focus on what products to bring in the market, which problem you're solving, how you are different from others, and how you connect with people. We invest a lot in our R&D and every product goes through clinical trials. We invest time in ensuring that we stand by our claims. We majorly focus on two things broadly–how deep we can go in a product and how well we can serve our consumers. 

Consumers now have multiple options to choose from. How do you stand apart, now that we have global brands foraying into the market quite frequently?  

Whenever a new molecule is introduced and  popularised, brands jump on it to introduce a product with the ingredient. This is what happened with niacinamide and hyaluronic acid. But the thing is no two hyaluronic acid molecules used by two different brands are the same because it depends on the source of the active ingredients (like hyaluronic acid, retinol, salicylic acid etc), its molecular size and to what extent the molecule will work on a particular case. When a consumer tries two different products, he can easily figure out which is giving results.  

We work with one of the leading suppliers globally making it comprehensive. While on a label you will see similar details like 10 per cent vitamin C but the purity of the molecule will be different. Customers usually try multiple things but settle for and stick to what works for them. To stay relevant in the competitive space, you must also bring in newer innovations so you’re ahead in the game. A good example here is retinol that every brand offers for ageing, but we launched retinal, which is a more potent derivative, and the result is far superior to retinol. 

With all the innovation and technology, does maintaining price become a concern for you? 

We always want to be a fair price brand rather than a low-price brand. It depends on what solution you’re offering and what choices are available to people from alternate brands. Our philosophy is to be clear in terms of not unnecessarily charging a price just because we might be the first one to bring technology. It definitely is a task to manage it but, in a business, you have to work on multiple aspects.  

What does the recent acquisition of Minimalist by Hindustan Unilever (HUL) say about the future of the brand? 

There are a lot of synergies between both the companies. While we have been focusing on products and e-commerce, HUL has capabilities and strength when it comes to distribution, both offline and international. They also have global R&D centers which you can use to further improve the product, their infrastructure in terms of multiple factors that they operate, holistically we can do a lot more together. It's still at its nascent stage; the deal has been announced towards the end of January. 

We are evaluating but a lot of that work will most likely start from April-May once we understand each other's way of operating and optimise and prioritise the areas which are critical for the next six to 12 months. We have a goal and vision for Minimalist and if we can achieve that with any partner, it's a win. We started Minimalist and had a vision that it can become the first-eye beauty for the world. Though we are operating in six to seven international markets right now, which make up almost 20 per cent of our business, we wondered if we could go deeper and have slightly more robust international distribution? When the conversation started with HUL, we thought that it would help us achieve some of these targets faster. That’s how it came into being. 

What are some of the major challenges you face while building the brand? 

There are multiple brands in the market with tall claims and available at half the price. For example; there are multiple brands selling sunscreen with SPF 50; we tested many of those in our lab and a few were not even SPF 10. The challenge is that customers have no way to figure out which brand to trust. Till the government does not work aggressively on these regulations, bring in transparency and take actions, people will feel cheated. That’s another reason why consumers find it tough to trust Indian brands over international ones.  

How different was it to work in the hair care category as compared to skin and body care, given the former took off well from the first launch? 

There are various factors; not all solutions work on every scalp and hair type. Then, we also have certain practices that we have grown up with, for example, applying hair oil for stronger hair. The limitations with hair were more as compared to skin. We had our share of successes, failures and learnings. While people are way more comfortable trying non-fragrant products for skin, it is a desirable property in hair care.  Another factor is that the frequency of hair washing is different for men and women whereas with skincare, there’s not much of a difference. Keeping these factors in mind, it was a bit challenging to work on the hair care category. 

Maleic Bond repair was a project that we worked on for more than two years before it was launched, so the positive feedback was exciting. We also realised that there's enough opportunity that’s going to unlock gradually in this space. It’s an interesting category but we have to work a lot in terms of creating awareness as well because not much has been done there. 

What next? 

We believe that there’s a lot more that can be done in our existing categories. We only have a few products in the hair and scalp category. We're working a lot in that segment. Similarly, even in face care, we have limited depth when it comes to eye, lip and further solutions. We’ll be expanding in these areas. We honestly don't have much in body care, which is an evolving segment. So, more work there.