Shashi Rajan on Sebamed’s curiosity-centered consumer strategy

Since the pandemic struck there has been a major shift in consumer behaviour, with a greater focus on health, personal care, nutrition, and what on is consuming. Consumers are scrutinising the efficacy of products based on a single priority – their health and wellness. During the pandemic times, customer loyalty has taken a huge hit, with consumers willing to buy whatever necessities were available, giving a surge to local brands and their products.

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Sebamed launches new campaign for its baby care portfolio

Sebamed, a German personal care brand with a legacy of over 50 years and marketed in India by USV Pvt Ltd, is back with its 4th thought-provoking campaign this year following ‘Filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno’, ‘Sirf science ki suno’ and recent social media campaign inspiring India to get ‘#BackToNormal’. Sebamed’s new film, ‘Pratham Snan Se’, nurtures a seed of curiosity in the minds and hearts of moms-to-be with a touch of humour, imparting ‘new knowledge’ to moms on their newborns’ skin pH balance. The campaign uses situational humour to drive home the point that the new age moms will reaffirm and choose nothing but the best products for their babies. They had also launched its all-new baby care campaign and urged moms and to-be moms to use Sebamed products with pH 5.5 benefits right from first bath. In line with its previous bathing bar and shampoo campaigns, the brand once again imparts new knowledge about skin’s pH at the time of birth and highlights the importance of using Sebamed products with pH 5.5 right from day one.

The film features a young mom in labour, asking frantic questions about the skin pH of newborn and showing her utmost trust on brand Sebamed by sharply reminding the surprised medical staff to use Sebamed products for her newborn’s first bath. Striking a relatable chord the film brings out an important message – ‘Maa ka dil hai, swaal toh puchega hi’, encouraging all moms and moms-to-me to stay curious and reaffirm their choices based on proven scientific facts.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Shashi Ranjan, Country Head, Sebamed, speaks about the brand’s purpose & growth, traction that Sebamed received for the ‘Pratham Snan Se’ campaign, the advertising journey of the brand, and a lot more.

Do consumers understand the concept of pH and what is right for their skin? What’s the brand purpose here and how is it helping the brand grow and fortify its position as a strong and caring brand?

Sebamed’s superior benefit, proven by clinical research, has made it highly recommended by the leading pediatricians across India as the best baby skin and hair care brand driving brand awareness amongst moms.

pH is an important criterion for healthy hair and skin and as a consumer centric organisation, onus is on us to empower consumers with right information so that they can make informed choices. We are making concentrated efforts to provide this new knowledge and include pH in the vocabulary of India personal care.

Through our recent campaign, we are taking forward our core purpose, our consumer awareness strategy urging new moms to ask unasked questions for what is best for their baby. Consumers today are more aware and research on product ingredients to help them make an informed choice. As a partner in this journey to help babies’ transition from pH 7 at birth to pH 5.5, we want to be an enabler to push the consumers in the right direction by urging them to listen to their maternal instinct and science. It’s aligned with our brand purpose of imparting new knowledge to our consumers, backed by robust scientific data & research. This has indeed helped the brand grow and has strengthened our position as a brand that cares. We all know brand building is a journey and we are here for the long haul.

There are other products for babies in the market who also provide the same kind of pH value that is 5.5 or less. What makes Sebamed different from them?

Sebamed is a pioneer in the world with pH 5.5 products and its products are sold across 85 countries. What makes Sebamed different are:

• Verifiable scientific research
• Entire range of products having pH 5.5
• Highest quality ingredients and strong customer loyalty across the world
• Follow stringent quality standards & has ECARF quality seal

Keeping this as the core of our brand, we understand how mothers have always been mindful of their product choices when it comes to the health of their little ones. Further, playing on the insight that a mother always knows what’s best for her baby, Sebamed’s ‘Pratham Snan Se’ campaign imparts new knowledge that a baby’s skin pH is 7 at birth and needs pH 5.5 from the first bath to protect a baby’s skin.

What kind of traction did you get for the ‘Pratham Snan Se’ campaign? What were the consumers’ responses to the same?

Our idea is to strike a relatable chord with consumers and share new knowledge, while bringing out an important message – ‘Maa ka dil hai, swaal toh uthega hee’, encouraging all moms to stay curious. While, it’s too early as we have launched ‘Pratham Snan Se’ campaign just a couple of days back, however in just a few days we have received great response from our consumers and we are confident it will resonate well with our audience.

What was the campaign brief given to the agency?

Through the campaign, we wanted to educate new moms-to-be on the pH level of their babies at birth. Our campaign brief was also centred around the same, imparting new knowledge to consumers that a new-born’s skin has a pH of 7 unlike the pH of an adult’s healthy skin (who have a pH of around 5.5) and benefits of using pH 5.5 products right from day one for healthy skin and hair, in a unique and palatable manner. Through this, our aim was to encourage more moms to stay curious and be aware that their baby is born with a skin pH of 7 and using Sebamed from the first bath will help their little one’s skin take it’s natural pH journey to 5.5.

How has Sebamed’s advertising journey planted the seed of curiosity in the consumers?

Sebamed has always believed in educating consumers and partnering them in making informed choices. At Sebamed, we believe it is our role as a responsible brand to always impart new knowledge to our consumers so they make the right choices when it comes to their hair and skin’s pH value. Therefore, we have launched a range of thought provoking campaigns over the years, including: ‘Filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno’, ‘Sirf science ki suno’ and the recent social media campaign inspiring India to get ‘#BackToNormal’ and now ‘Sebamed Pratham Snan Se’.

In each of these campaigns, we have made an attempt to create inquisitiveness amongst consumers based on verifiable scientific research. We made it a point to bring in new knowledge every time we launched any category. As consumers are re-evaluating their choices while purchasing skin and hair care products, evidence-based new knowledge will simplify their decision making.

What is so different about ph 5.5 formulation? What are its advantages for the consumers? How have you decided on the valuation of the product?

Just like the normal body temperature is 37 degrees, normal blood pressure is 120/80, similarly human skin has a standard pH value of 5.5. Hence, using products with pH 5.5 benefits help maintain acid mantle of the skin and keep the skin healthy. All Sebamed products are made of the highest quality ingredients and are free from any harsh chemicals, thereby setting up gold standards in skin and hair care and are completely safe to be used daily right from day one.

What’s been your engagement strategy with your audience in the pre- and post-pandemic period?

Sebamed started its journey in India as an OTC brand recommended by experts. Over the years, Sebamed has been growing and shaping its curiosity-centered consumer strategy to drive long-standing engagements and brand recall. Our engagement strategy is developed with a robust sense of purpose as today’s discerning consumers not just buy what you sell, but they also want to know why you sell it. Our approach is focused on 3 pillars:

1. Provide new knowledge about skin & hair care basis verifiable scientific data & research
2. Enhance awareness through 360 degree campaign 
3. Trial generation and robust in-store experience 

Rooted on this path, our campaigns like 'Filmstars kee nahi, science kee suno’ and ‘Sirf science ki suno’ made an impression on consumers’ minds and hearts and encouraged them to re-think their buying choices and listen to science. On the eve of Independence Day this year, we launched a social media campaign inspiring India to get ‘#BackToNormal’. To create buzz, we joined hands with accomplished singer Shekhar Ravjiani, who composed an anthem of encouragement through these challenging times, followed by real-life heroes who have fought their way and come out stronger.

We always followed an integrated communication approach, however during the pandemic phase our focus on digital initiatives, especially live sessions with doctors and social influencer programs had significantly increased. We also launched our own e-commerce portal, www.mywellnesskart.com, to ensure any consumer in need can place orders directly with us and receive delivery within 3 days. Through our initiatives, we want to continue to make a positive change and inspire consumers to be wise and will continue to invest in brand building across ATL, BTL and digital mediums to drive home the message.