Jigar Shah & Keerthana Ramakrishnan decode 82°E’s marketing strategy

In a world where self-care transcends borders, 82°E emerges as a beacon of modernity rooted in Indian ethos, yet resonating globally. Inspired by the standard meridian passing through India, shaping its relationship with the world, the brand embodies innovation while staying grounded in its principles. With Deepika Padukone as Co-founder, the brand’s success finds a steadfast ally.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Jigar Shah, Co-founder, and Keerthana Ramakrishnan, Chief Marketing Officer of 82°E, delve into the essence of the premium beauty brand. They unveil its latest range of body care products and elaborate on the unique “drop strategy' – a monthly release of a new product. They shed light on Deepika Padukone’s active involvement in steering the brand’s daily operations.

Kindly share your professional journey. Being the CMO, what are your primary roles and vision for 82°E, a D2C brand?

Keerthana Ramakrishnan: At 82°E, I am responsible for overseeing all aspects of the brand’s marketing efforts. My role involves developing and implementing comprehensive marketing strategies, driving brand awareness, building a strong community and increasing customer engagement. I am also responsible for accelerating 82°E’s growth, building its product portfolio as well as global expansion.

Through the course of my career, I have worked across Public Relations, Advertising, CSR, brand building, and Influencer Marketing. Prior to joining 82°E, I was with Nike India for 16 years and held multiple roles. In my last position as Head of Marketing at Nike India, I strategized and steered several successful Indian and global campaigns, which have helped to strengthen brand recognition, business and increase customer engagement. I have also had the privilege of leading high-performing teams to achieve organizational goals, ensuring they deliver results that exceed expectations.

Recently, 82°E has launched its Body Care range. How has been the response of customers and how do you plan to take the brand ahead? How has been the journey of the brand since its inception?

Keerthana Ramakrishnan: Our Body Care range serves as a natural extension of our skincare category. It is important for us to offer a comprehensive product portfolio to our consumers and hence we introduced a rejuvenating experience for our community. We aim to engage our consumers in a meaningful way, inviting them to join us on this journey and encouraging them to elevate their self-care practices with our new launch and safe to say, consumers have been responding favourably to the new range. We launched the first four products with a campaign that invited consumers to focus on the art of leisure while indulging in a luxurious bathing and after bath experience.

Jigar Shah: Since November 2022, 82°E has witnessed phenomenal success globally. With the launch of 12 products in the skincare category, Minis for the skincare range, and two new categories – Body Care and 82°E Man – each release has garnered an overwhelming response from the community. Within the first month, our products reached consumers in over 36 countries, and now we are shipping to 50+ countries and have built capabilities to ship to 150 countries. Consistently exceeding industry-average repeat rates, our products boast an impressive average rating of over 4.3-4.4 out of 5, based on thousands of ratings from our paying consumers and our NPS has scaled up from 54 during the initial launch to 82 at present.

Over the past year, our products have not only received beauty awards in India and globally, but have also established strong product recall, fostering repeat consumers in the industry. The most significant achievement lies in the robust global community we’ve built since launch, with products often selling out within days, underscoring the phenomenal support and love from our community.

There are so many beauty brands in the market that offer Ayurvedic as well as chemical free products. So, what sets you apart from the competition? What is the brand’s USP?

Jigar Shah: 82°E simplifies skincare and marries Indian ingredients with global science-based compounds and that is our USP. We have developed a signature 3-step Cleanse-Hydrate-Protect routine, which provides simple solutions without compromising on the efficacy of the product. We are committed to high-quality, high-performing products, which are dermatologically and clinically tested.

82°E as a brand has a lot of premium products which may not be affordable by the masses. Do you call yourself a premium brand or a brand for masses?

Jigar Shah: We are a premium skincare brand. While our product quality matches with some of the best brands globally, as compared to premium and luxury brands around the world, we are more affordably priced. Since our inception, we have been committed to providing our consumers high performance and high quality, efficacious products that have been rigorously sourced, carefully crafted and clinically tested.

In the Western countries, we see that celebrities have their own brands which they endorse as well. Is the association with Deepika Padukone as a co-founder a strategic advantage for the brand?

Keerthana Ramakrishnan: Deepika Padukone is the soul and a strong asset of 82°E, and the brand was conceptualised drawing from her personal experiences as an avid beauty and skincare consumer. Her individual qualities and characteristics sets the brand tonality – one that is authentic, rooted in India with a global outlook. She leverages her global influence to educate consumers on our products, ingredients and their benefits for good skin health. Her influence is authentically harnessed to advocate for the values and vision of 82°E, aligning her personal philosophies.

The brand has been following its unique drop strategy that introduces a new product every month. What made you initiate such a marketing initiative?

Jigar Shah: The concept of the “drop strategy” emerged from my extensive experience of working with startups and deploying the lean startup methodology to product launches. Essentially, this approach involves commencing on a small scale, gathering consumer feedback, and iteratively refining the product or solution.

When we embarked on this journey, the beauty and personal care industry grappled with issues such as content and product overload, long, mundane and complex skincare and beauty routines and we felt skincare needs to be simplified while simultaneously educating consumers. After conducting extensive research and engaging in numerous discussions with dermatologists and experts, we devised a simple straightforward three-step product routine that demonstrated effectiveness.

However, in order to educate consumers, take their feedback, and to give sufficient spotlight to our products, we used a drop strategy of product launch till we had enough evidence of our solution working.

How is the year 2024 looking in terms of marketing strategies? What are your goals for this year?

Keerthana Ramakrishnan: 82°E’s achievements this past year reflect our commitment to building a premium self-care brand. Since its launch in November 2022, 82°E has grown significantly – both in its brand strength and in its market position. In 2024, we plan to continue innovative marketing strategies that revolve around strengthening the brand and serving our community.

Being the Co-Founder of 82°E, how has Deepika Padukone affected the marketing strategies of the brand? Is she actively involved with the brand?

Keerthana Ramakrishnan: As a co-founder, Deepika Padukone plays a pivotal, hands-on role in the entire product development journey, and her commitment to delivering a premium consumer experience is evident through her involvement. She actively participates in the product development process, involving herself in key decisions such as ingredient selection, formulation, packaging, and Go-To-Market strategies. Through social media, she enhances the brand’s key features, helping educate consumers on product efficacy and performance, thus fostering a deeper connection with our audience.

What are your future plans of expanding the brand’s presence in the International market? Do you, in future, plan to take the offline route via opening physical stores?

Jigar Shah: After completing the first-year mark, we have accumulated invaluable insights into our value proposition and gained a profound understanding of consumer preferences and pain points. In the upcoming months and years, we anticipate growth across three pivotal dimensions.

First, we have broadened our horizons with product and category expansion within the beauty and personal care sector by launching Body Care and 82°E Man this year. Secondly, our expansion plans extend to channel diversification, encompassing online marketplaces and offline retail outlets. Lastly, in our short journey, we have already shipped our products to over 55 countries and 5-10% of our revenue comes from exports. As we expand our business, we are evaluating partnerships for a deeper presence in select international markets to amplify our reach and impact.