Latest / The Collaborative Canvas Podcast / The Future of D2C Brands in India | Gen Z Consumer Behavior | Inside The Mind of Gen Z Consumers

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The Future of D2C Brands in India | Gen Z Consumer Behavior | Inside The Mind of Gen Z Consumers · The Collaborative Canvas Podcast

• Speaker 1: premium doesn't sell in India. That's what we talk about. Gen Z's are not accepting premiumness. They are more attracted towards brands which are more authentic, which are more relatable. 50 % of the Indian population is Gen Z. Today, skincare is called as a ritual. Speaker 2: Why did you choose Gen Z, first of all? Does North Indian skin is different than a South Indian skin? ⁓ Speaker 1: I understood the colours play a major role. If you give them a product which is more enjoyable and personal to them, they will hook to it. Speaker 2: Any feedback that surprised you the most? How do you ensure that you know that fragrance is lost in your product? Speaker 1: you have used a body wash. You wash it off, the fragrance will stay up to 5-6 hours. Speaker 2: One word that defines Gen Z beauty in India. Speaker 1: Chancy beauty in India, the reality of India I would say. Speaker 2: Same-day delivery or an immerge digital experience? Speaker 1: you Speaker 2: Mm-hmm. Body care used to be simple. Your family bought one brand, you stuck it to a number of years, trust was inherited, but today Gen Z is rewriting the rules. They don't buy because something looks premium. They buy what feels bold, relatable, and culturally alive. With nearly half of India's consumption power and the trillions in projected spending, the generation doesn't reward size. They reward relevance. So, what does it take to build a mass premium ⁓ body care or hair care brand in an era where loyalty is earned daily and lost in one scroll? Welcome to the collaborative canvas where we explore the minds shaping what next. Today I'm joined by Gaurav Virmani, founder and CEO of Grass Skincare and GoVipped, who is building a bold innovation led brand for the new consumer. This isn't just about beauty. What we are talking about is ⁓ decoding a certain behavior. And building with Gen Z is just not for them. So ⁓ we have to dive into you know get a l little more details into this. So I invite Gorov to ⁓ to the show and Gorov ⁓ let's start by knowing a little bit about you. Speaker 1: Sure, thank you Ankeesh for having me here. just to introduce myself in one line, so I'm a CMO turned entrepreneur. My forte has been in marketing and branding throughout the years. I've worked with a lot of FMCG brands, consulted a lot of D2C brands while building. So the first entrepreneurship journey started back in 2019 when I was building in the travel space. And I used to travel along group of young people, took them to places like Manali and Jaipur as a college group students. Gradually when I started doing my MBA, got more exposure towards marketing and branding and that's where I got to know more about the FMCG space and that quietly was something that I got interested into. I started this brand called Grass Skincare which was back in 2020 before we launched it. So the journey was very ⁓ simple. When we thought about getting into the BPC space, ⁓ I went to lot of manufacturers. So if you look at the Indian market, there are a hubs where you will find most of the manufacturers. and if you go to them, they will place all the products that they are manufacturing on the table and tell you that you tell me what do you want to manufacture, I will give you the same formulation and you can put your label onto it. So that's how the market operates. And that's where the idea stuck me that you know why I am launching something which is already there in the market and we should ⁓ have another product on the shelf which replicates what is already there. So I went to outside India, we met the R &D labs like in Korea and Spain. just to understand what are the difference between what we are doing in India as a manufacturing unit and what they are doing to build brands like L'Oreal and Chanel. So the formulation labs are working with these brands. One texture that I found was not being talked about in India was the whip texture. And that's where we started and we were the first Indian brand to launch a whip texture sunscreen in India. The cost of that product was 1790 and the problem that we faced while building that brand was because we were focusing on luxury. But again, premium doesn't sell in India. That's what we talk about. The Gen Z's are not accepting premiumness. They are more attracted towards brand which are more authentic, which are more relatable. Exactly. And that's where we are now bringing the new brand called Go-WiPT, which is a WIPT inspired India's first hair and body care brand targeting Gen Z's, built for Gen Z's and inspired by desert fragrances. So yeah. Speaker 2: Generally, what I do when ⁓ you know I invite my guests, I actually go through their LinkedIn profile a lot because that's where you know a lot of ⁓ mark marketing and branding happens. Yes. And ⁓ since you have been CMO, ex CMO of an organization already, you know exactly how marketing works. Right. So I think how conversation a depth in terms of you know how we see ⁓ a certain generation. Right. So when you started this whole ⁓ body care and hair care thing because it is pretty demanding these days as well. Yeah. I mean I personally don't go with the bigger names anymore because you know it it doesn't work with me as a millennial as well. It doesn't work with me considering the climatic conditions are changing, atmosphere. Right. People are looking at more than authentic is something which is more real. Right. That gives them some kind of a result. Exactly. So why did you choose Gen Z, first of all? Because again, other than the population that we already spoke about, Kya was Saratin, Speaker 1: Exactly. Speaker 2: ⁓ so million low hair, bagara, bagera. Why body care and hair care specifically? Considering ⁓ you know, the market is s shifting towards a lot more than that. Right. And then specifically in the Gen Z era. Speaker 1: So basically when you look at the market today, 50 % of the Indian population is Gen Z and they are rewriting the playbook of buying the products. Earlier what used to happen is if a parent is buying a product, they used to focus on getting the functionality out of it. For example, if you talk about our parents, they used to buy a product just to get the functionality done. For example, washing the hair, getting the body clean, that's all the target was. But today, Gen Zs are looking for product which is more relatable, which is more authentic to themselves. Today, if you talk about to a Gen Z, because I interact with lot of Gen Zs and I ask them, you know, why skincare, why body care, what do you see in the market? What I generally see is that they are not buying products just to get the functionality out of it. They are buying products to get it identity for themselves. For example, now today, skincare is called as a ritual. Why so? They have shifted from a hygiene level to a ritual and that's because this particular generation is not taking things like it used to be. Today the work culture has shifted, today the mindset has been shifted and this is because they don't like things boring. I think Gen Z's are ⁓ eliminating the brands which used to be the legacy brands and shifting towards these brands which are more relatable, which talk their language and more likely to be ⁓ in their own identity. So at GoWiB, what we are building right now, we are focusing on Gen Zs, we are interacting with them daily. So I personally meet them, I talk to them, what are their needs, what are the gaps they feel. This similar kind of answers come across, you know, they are just giving me faces around the brands which are already existing because they feel it's too boring. And that's where the insight of building this GoWiB came into the picture. And that's what we are targeting right now. Speaker 2: So ⁓ since we're just starting this up, ⁓ and if you really wanted to understand what ⁓ Gorov is saying and you really wanted to validate it, ⁓ every bit and pieces that Gorov just mentioned is there on LinkedIn. So his meetings with the Gen Z, there are videos which are there and ⁓ you've done a thorough research on ⁓ Gorov on Gen Z. I mean I literally saw they click five to six people were there in your studio office and you were talking to them and you were trying to understand their whole crew was sitting down there. Right. The first question which strikes my mind, because Genji is a very ⁓ generation which changes instantly, you know, whatever they get, where they're able to adapt it. Do you see a brand loyalty also coming along with the same thing? Speaker 1: So I will say brand loyalty doesn't exist in this generation, right? Because if I talk about brand loyalty, the market has been flooded with so many options. Every ⁓ minute, I would say every 20 minutes, is a new brand being launched in the skincare and the beauty and personal care section. Because there is no market entry barrier, right? So loyalty cannot be bought. It is only the experience that can get your generation, this gen Z, hooked to your particular product and always looking for new products. They are not sticking to the Lehman method of just one product and all the needs. They want different products for different needs. And that's how they are reshaping it. Speaker 2: So Gorav, considering that ⁓ for them to get adaptable to a certain brand, they really need that brand to be authentic. Exactly. But if Todi Todi Deremen Nene brands are popping up, you know, ⁓ how can they ensure that they can actually track the authenticity and can stick to that brand for a longer period of time? So where does this authenticity plays its own role? Speaker 1: So will tell you, for example, you look at a photo shoot of a brand, know, any international brand or any Indian legacy brand, they will get the faces which are more fair. There we will get faces which have been, you know, a lot of makeup putting on those models to showcase that this is how you're going to look like. Exactly. But Gen Z is so smart, they get to know that this is a makeup and that's what they don't want. They want the authenticity in the skin texture also. They should feel relatable to that model. This model looks like me and this product is for me. That's where the relatability factor comes in. and that's where the authenticity steps in and people are getting loyal towards the brand which are authentic. Speaker 2: Which is why one of the premium brands who used to portray ki ⁓ texture. Right. Doesn't exist that I don't see that ad any which ways. Speaker 1: And they have changed their name also now. Speaker 2: Exactly. So ⁓ when we talk about ⁓ you know again I'll go back to the loyalty and authenticity again. Brands, how much do they deep dive into the research element? Because you've been doing it, so I wanted to understand from you. So you see decoding, ⁓ these guys gonna, you know, stick with me before they move on. And ⁓ if when We know that, you know, this is a time when they probably be switching to another brand. We have to do something else. Right. How do you go about doing that and what is that deep dive all about? Speaker 1: So basically when we get into a research and ⁓ interact with audience, we don't just call them to the studio, we reach where they are available. For example, Delhi is a hub of hotspots like cafes and CP, the Cannot Place Market, the Khan Market where most of the jenis will be found ⁓ just exploring the evening. So we go there, we spend our time in that locality, we come across people, we interact with them. We have our mics in hand, we have the camera, we still record that so that we also can do a back research when we have those footages. So we ask them simpler questions. What is the problem that they see in the daily ⁓ shahar routines? What is the problem they see in daily hair care routines, hair styling problems? So all these answers that they give us help us understand what is there in the market which is missing. And that's what the authenticity will link to. That is where we get to know Because if you look at bigger brands, they don't have ⁓ bandwidth to go into these markets, interact with consumers and get the products done. Speaker 2: What is simple, they the market research and they get to know exactly what is their answer to those questions that they've Speaker 1: Exactly. what they do, the formulations are built in their labs, but we say our formulations are built in the market, talking to these people, interacting with the generation we are selling to, and that's how we get to know what is the gap. So every Saturday, it's out of the office that we go and we interact with. Saturday, nobody's in the office. Every team is out there meeting new people, meeting new consumers, interacting with them, getting to know what they're looking for. Speaker 2: How often do you do that? Speaker 1: and on Monday morning we are setting again to discuss what they got as an Speaker 2: So is there a full fledged questionnaire which is designed ⁓ a week before? Speaker 1: Yeah, so we have an Excel sheet where we have mentioned all the questions that we want to ask them. Randomly, sometimes the conversation gets so deeper that some new questions pop up. And we add those also for the new people to get in. Speaker 2: Whenever you interact with them, do you showcase your product in the same time? Speaker 1: So not always, we do show them the product in some stages where the question is related to the shahar routines. We ask them and then we make them try the product to get their insight how they are feeling the product. So we recently did a Vox Pop, we went to this market called Khan Market. We gave the team our products, so we do not have any label on to it, it's just the plain bottle as of now to just showcase them. Speaker 2: ⁓ Right. Speaker 1: the blind bottle. So we give them, we tell them, you know, this is a product, guess what it is. So because they have not seen this texture before, they guess it like a shaving cream. They will guess it like a hair mousse because they don't know this can exist. And once they try and they get to know that this is the formulation that we are offering, for example, we gave them a body moisturiser. And then the reaction that comes up, the smile on their face, wow, this is a body moisturiser, I want to try it again. They put it on their body on the camera itself. So that's the interaction we do. to understand how they are reacting to our products, what is relatable to them and how they are responding towards the products that we have developed. Speaker 2: I'm blindly thinking and you know, in fact ⁓ holistically thinking would have come and said, you know, ⁓ this looks to be another brand and you know, it smells premium brand house, Do you get these kinds of feedback as well when you talk to them? Speaker 1: So we do not get these kind of feedbacks mostly what we get to know is that, this can really exist because this texture is so booming in the international market and nobody is talking about this in India. So we are the first brand doing it. So we have that leverage of giving that consumer the first experience of this texture of whipped format. Because if you look at the shelf in the Indian market, you will find products which are mostly cream in formulations. We have lotion. We have gels. whip texture doesn't exist on the shelves. Speaker 2: But ⁓ the shaving creams are webbed right. Speaker 1: that doesn't come into your body lotion and body washes yet. So, shaving, that's why they relate with shaving cream because they have only seen that. So, that only comes to a remind when they see that texture but they haven't thought of it that this texture can be body wash too. This texture can come in the body moisturiser as well or for their hair styling products. So, that is the kind of generation we are raising to and catering to because they are looking for these kind of products. Speaker 2: Not it. But you said I'm just a Khan market guy, you know, you're probably interacting with people who are going to cafes. How often do you actually go to another city rent rather than just Delhi or Metropolitans? Speaker 1: So that we do like twice or thrice a quarter because mostly we are also travelling. I personally travel to different places like Bangalore and Mumbai to for meetings. My evenings are spent in the hotspot destinations over there. For example, I go to Bangalore. So I will go to the Church Street and all these areas to understand what these consumers because at that time I do not have a team who is recording. But still I get to time to interact with these people and get their insights out. Speaker 2: Reason why I'm asking this question is because ⁓ we we live in a different climatic zone across India and everybody has a different requirements altogether. So Joe Ako feedback, Delhi May Milrogo, not necessarily the same feedback book work in Bangalore or CNA. Right. So how do you actually ensure Go Whipped product line hai, it caters to different skin, different texture, different ⁓ mindset. How do you ensure that? Speaker 1: So if you look at the climate of India, it's all tropical mostly and whatever heat you get into Delhi and the climate you get into Delhi, it's quite similar to now in Bangalore with all these global warming changes that we have. Delhi has never experienced these kind of summers what they used to get earlier. So if you look at the geography of India now, it's almost equivalent to what you can feel in Bangalore and what you can feel in Mumbai. The humidity will change, the weather will change but still the skin textures, the preferability towards the texture is stagnant throughout. Because nobody wants to put a product onto their skin which feels more heavier or makes them feel uncomfortable. That's where this particular format that we are developing the whip comes in because this is easy to absorb into the skin, first thing. It is easy to absorb plus it gives you a very light feel onto the skin. It doesn't feel heavy or leaves any residue. So these kind of ⁓ USPs about this particular texture can be catered to all the parts of the India, not just South or North. This can go throughout India. Speaker 2: A random question ⁓ since you're covering the entire ⁓ you know ⁓ geography. Right. And more like a f fundamental question, I'm trying to understand myself. So, different skin, mm-hmm, ⁓ different texture, different places. Right. Now the point is, does North Indian skin is different than a South Indian skin? When it comes to Speaker 1: Very mildly, very very very you know it's a very less frequency of changes that you will see. ⁓ South skin is more exposed to the salt because of the sea and the waves that they have the tropical areas. But when you come to the north they are not very much exposed to the humidity that people might have in the Mumbai or a Bangalore region. Right. So that is where the difference comes in. But the experience of using a product, the preferability of using a product doesn't change like drastically. But when I talk about brands which are already catering to the pan India market, the formulations and the cream textures sells throughout India. It's not the particular region that will have the maximum sales. Exactly. So similarly, because if you look at the Indian market altogether, there is no such difference of the product which can cater to North and South separately. You know, it's just the formulation and the Speaker 2: They have a very uniformity across the brand. Speaker 1: affordability of the product that can vary from these regions. Speaker 2: I mean, as in compared to ⁓ Bangalore, again, North Indians are also there. Yeah. So I shouldn't be categorizing that. But ⁓ the core Bangaloreans versus core Mumbai's versus boar core deliites, mindset changes when you speak to them. Speaker 1: I don't think so because this generation is more exposed to social media and social media is one platform that caters to every part of the India and they are not really having any changes in their ideology and preferences because if you talk to a person in Delhi, especially a Gen Z guy, the answers that he will give you might be very much similar to a Mumbaiker because they are coming from the same generation and the same mindset of building something in their lives. Speaker 2: For them, I think authenticity ⁓ holds more relevance than ⁓ going by the brand which their probably family would have been respectfully be using it. Yeah. It doesn't change much. No. So ⁓ I'm in fact, but still ⁓ when we s when we talk about overall identity perspective, ⁓ considering there's so many brands. Up next, you actually found out you know why ⁓ in fact I'm kind of buying with the idea of Go Whip. ⁓ skincare treatment because again for us it's all has always been the shaving ⁓ cream. Right. Sorry, yes, shaving whip. One of my episodes ⁓ we talked about men's grooming product. ⁓ Usme Thaki ⁓ the the the cancer used to have some gases. Right. How does it work in the skincare? Because you know, they said that you know if you you know ⁓ get the whip on your s hand It still dispatched some kind of ⁓ gas, which is not good for you because you're actually closer to the cancer and then you probably be smelling that. How does it work for ⁓ the Go Whipped ⁓ skincare brands, as in skin product line? Speaker 1: So basically when we talk about a web product. if you look at that it comes in an aerosol bottle. So it's exactly what a whipped cream will look like. You know you have to dispense it out of an aluminium bottle and the texture is exactly what whipped cream will look like. So the idea here is not about the question that I want to answer was that ⁓ as the gases we talking about here, the gases are all neutral. So that those gases are nothing to be more of a chemical sort or will get you exposed to some kind of allergy or something like that. It's a generic gas which is not too harmful for you. So this is something which doesn't actually really matters to this point. Speaker 2: So how do you ensure long longevity rare because I'm trying to still understand what kind of how can a whip cream because I have seen ⁓ you know the dispensers you know just up the cream and then you rub it on your hand or face. The whip is different. Right. So how do you ensure the longevity happens around? Speaker 1: So a product for us for example, we have tested it. So a 200ml of a bottle of a body wash can last up to 30 to 35 days if you use it daily. Generally, if I talk about a Lehman brand which is generally available in the market, the legacy brands, if you buy a bottle for a body wash, you might use half of it and then buy another one. Because you don't want to stick to any of those fragrances. Exactly, so if you have to change a product for 30 to 35 days and get a new one, half of that is a waste for you. then why not use a bottle that is getting finished in 30-35 days and you switch to another product after that from the same brand, maybe you can get some other fragrance from our side. So yeah that's it. Speaker 2: I've seen a lot of brands actually give that ritual on a paper ki step one, then step two, then step three, and you have to follow this over a period of time. Right. Do you do something like that as well? No. So how do you ensure that people are actually ritually using it? So Speaker 1: We have made the product so playful in its texture that once a product is bought by somebody and they start using it, they might not feel like dropping it out. The reason is simple. If you step into a shard, just a small question, do you sing in while you're in shard? Everybody does that. Why do they do it? Because they enjoy doing that and that is their own space. Exactly when a product is given to them in their personal space and they enjoy using it, that becomes a habit to them and they don't want to switch out of it. Exactly that's how people, because we asked this question to a lot of people while interacting that do you sing in Shahar and they said yes. So that's how the generation is growing up. If you give them a product which is more enjoyable and personal to them, they will hook to it. Speaker 2: Did you ever ask them how much time they spent in the bathroom? Speaker 1: Yes, asked them and some girls gave me an answer and 1.5 hours also they are spending in chat. Speaker 2: So you invited a lot of ⁓ Gen Z to the to the studio, I would rather call it rather office. ⁓ packaging discussion, what kind of because I heard I probably I saw the transcription ⁓ in in your one of your messages that you you're actually asking Tonekaki, how often ⁓ you know that change you see, how often those conversations happen with these Genji's? So Speaker 1: what we did, we just invited four or five Gen Z's who were more interactive towards the brand. They were talking to us for almost a month now. So we called them, we actually designed a number of packages. Speaker 2: So these are people who are who are using your brand. Speaker 1: They have tried the samples, but they have not seen the packaging yet. So we invited them to the studio. We put all the labels that we have designed on the table and randomly asked them, which one will you pick? So that idea was to understand what is particular thing about that designs, is actually attracting them. Some said that font is something they would like to understand. I remember that. Yeah, the font needs to be more readable. I should be able to read the font from a distance. And if some label is having a minimal font or not too visible from an end, I might not pick it up because I have to go through it and pick it up and then read it. They don't want to do that. They want to stand at a level and understand from a glance that this is what the product does. This is what it is giving you the benefits. It should be all visible to them. Second part that I understood, the colors play a major role. Of course. Right. They don't want a packaging with the labels and the ingredients pasted on the top of it. that most of the brands are doing today. They are putting all the labels in front saying that we are transparent. You put all the things in the forward, but at least ensure that the packaging is attractive because they are using it daily. should not feel like... Should be relatable to them. It should feel that they are using a product which is more related to them and not just to sell them. So we created this packaging. I will show you the photos over there. So these photos will showcase you how the product looks like. So we have added a drip effect. of how the chocolate will drip out of the bottle. So we have a collection called Hot Chocolate. We have a collection called Birthday Cake. So these are the name of the collections that we have kept. The packaging, they look tasty. So that's how we have done it. Speaker 2: Joe, ⁓ when you actually create ⁓ you know these testing scenarios, any feedback that surprised you the most? Speaker 1: So I think what we are doing right now is we are documenting everything, whatever we are doing at building GoWiP. We are calling out people, whatever discussions we have, we recording everything, and we are putting it on our channel called GoWiP on Instagram, so that once people know the journey, how we have thought about it, why we have thought about it, and what actually brought in the ideas, who brought in the ideas, and what actually happened behind the scenes. So why we are doing it is to ⁓ actually gather information and put it all on one channel so that they can also get to know how we build this brand. The idea of your question, I just forgot your question. Speaker 2: What the most surprising feedback you got from these conversations? Speaker 1: Surprising feedback was that you know they are not looking for a luxury premium packaging They want the product to look more of a bolder side rather than being on a minimalist side So they don't want the minimal packaging minimal designs. They want good packaging good designs which can look good on their shelves That's what they're looking for. That was a surprise to me basically Speaker 2: So as a CMO, ⁓ anything else that surprises you? Because you know, from the marketing ⁓ perspective, you guys actually think beyond the boundaries. Right. And when you actually talking to them, which is where you are getting a lot of insights, things might change here and there. Yeah. Anything which actually considered to be apt for your brand when you spoke to them, ⁓ which made you think you are high, changes I think should be necessary. And how often do you actually look at those changes? Because Chen Z ka to Mm. Speaker 1: So what we changed after getting this interaction done was the content that we were writing. So we writing content as usual brands write to you know that a body wash for example if I'm talking about a body wash we used to write that this body wash will help you reduce the you know increase the hydration of your body levels it will clean up the all the dirt and whatever the sweat is there on your body but they don't want to read that language they are not relating to that language what they want to read is This particular body wash is meant to be your favourite main character energy for your product, for yourself. For example, they want to read it in such a way that this body wash gives you the main character energy. This body wash is meant for you. Speaker 2: Making the content also relatable to them. Exactly. More personalized. A lot many times you have seen, you know, we have spoken about loyalty per se, but Chen Zi loyalty we have also spoken about. With habit builds loyalty. With usage, builds loyalty. Skin care is all about experiences. Now ⁓ what we are going to understand from Gen Z these days is to, you know, out of the so many products, they're choosing a certain skincare because it denotes their own character. Speaker 1: Exactly. Speaker 2: Right. How d are you actually working on building that experience to a level where they only considered you as the only brand that they should go about? Speaker 1: There are three types of experiences that actually matters. One is emotional. So emotional comes when you get to see a product and connect with it. The packaging, that creates the emotion. Second is sensory experience. When you punch out the texture, what is your first experience towards that particular product that will give you the second kind of connection with the product. Third is the fragrance that you get. That is these three factors, if aligned clearly, will actually hook somebody to become a loyal customer to you. So we have worked on three of them. First is the packaging. We have stored it out. If you look at our packaging, it will stand out from any other product onto the shelves. The product when once dispensed, every time we dispense a product in front of anybody, any consumer that we are targeting to, the first reaction is like, ⁓ wow, because they have never expected that texture. Third, the fragrance. Every time they smell the fragrance, they come up like, I love this fragrance, give me more. I want to put it more. So if these three things are aligned, and they are relating to all these things at once. They'll become loyal to you. Speaker 2: Mostly those fragrances, you know, they accept the body. That's how we call it. Right. So how do you ensure ⁓ not just you as such, but how does even Gen Z ensure ki the fragrance that they loved stays for long because that's what the culture is where their character is getting built up. Right. How do how do you ensure that you know that fragrance is last in your product? Speaker 1: So, for general, if you use a body wash, the fragrance might last to 35 to 40 minutes. Not more than that. For our particular products that we have developed, we have ensured, you know, once you have used a body wash, you wash it off, the fragrance will stay up to 5 to 6 hours for the body wash itself. Just after that, you step out of the washroom, you want to put a moisturiser. So, once you use the same fragrance of a moisturiser on your body, that's going to extend that hours to 8 hours. Speaker 2: More than that. So basically you're creating a ritual experience as well. Right. So you're letting them, you know, if you're building a habit, you should do all these things. Exactly. So you're creating layers on layers. Speaker 1: Exactly, because everybody uses a body moisturiser only in winters I see. The reason is because the texture is so heavy, it is so sticky that you cannot use it in summers. But what if I give you a product which is light in texture, easy to use and you can use it 12 months a year and that is what we are targeting. Speaker 2: That's beautiful. And how do you ensure ki ⁓ that works across? Because I remember certain body moistures, even if I'm using in winters, I get I really wanted to get rid of after say thirty minutes or forty minutes. Exactly. Yes. Right. So texture being exactly. So it doesn't work that way. So s I need something which stays and it doesn't give me that ug for oily skin or for a skin like mine. Right. Speaker 1: because the Speaker 2: It stays. It should not leave. Exactly. How do you ensure that kibochi is a hema? Speaker 1: So when I talk about our body moisturiser, what we have curated in this whipped format, the first USP comes out to be its airy light and texture. When you apply onto your skin, within five minutes you won't feel there is anything on your body in terms of residue, but only the hydration level will stay. Okay. Right. We have only added those ingredients which are necessary for your body, not just to make it more hydrating, more enriching, just an ingredient that should be on your part of your daily routine to keep your skin healthy. So when I'm selling your product, which is more likely to be a part of your daily life rather than being a seasonal product, then only you will get hooked to a product because you're using 12 months. Got it. Speaker 2: I I think that's how ⁓ this actually works. Yeah. Speaker 1: So this is somewhat what bottle looks like. So the texture, ⁓ what copy we have written after getting interaction with the consumers. So the first line says chocolate in a shard, question mark, obviously. And then it starts like choco whip body wash that makes you ⁓ feel like cuddling with a chocolate. So this is the kind of content we Very sensual. Exactly. And you are listening to it and you're getting hooked to it. That's what we want to do. Speaker 2: Nice. Nice. And since ⁓ it it's skincare. Right. It's basically, you know, a mass premium traditionally, you know, giving signal aspirations to the Gen Z. How do they actually relate over perfection? Speaker 1: I think perfection comes with when you talk more of a clinical language, right? When you talk more clinical, they will find that you know they are more on a perfection side. But do you think that JNZ are looking for something which is too perfect? Speaker 2: I don't think so. Because you know they they don't stick to one. Speaker 1: Exactly, they don't stick to one, they want to try it. If they like it, they will keep it, else they will just dump it off. The buying capacity is there, the intention of using a product is there, it's only how you are selling to them. Speaker 2: Which is which is where ⁓ you know Gen Z replaces a brand in one scroll doesn't happen too often. Right. Unless until they are hooked to it. Yeah. Wonderful. I have some ⁓ of ⁓ rapid fire round. ⁓ and we spoke about it in ⁓ you know bits and pieces already. But really wanted to understand from you. ⁓ do you believe in bold packaging or minimalist packaging? Speaker 1: after interacting with Gen Z's I believe in it now. Speaker 2: Damit credibility or create a credibility? Speaker 1: I think both because Dermat and Creators come together to make it because Dermat will give you more of a functional side which our products also have. Creator will give you the virality factor what actually is going in the market and that's where the both comes in the same boat. Speaker 2: Launch fast or perfect fast? Speaker 1: I think launch first because perfection comes over time. You cannot build a perfect product on day one. Once you give it to the people, they understand, they give you the feedback, then you reiterate and make it better. That's how the industry is operating. Speaker 2: Community first or performance first? Speaker 1: I think both again because community, yes, we are driven by a community of gen Z's and that's where we exist. And again, the second part. Speaker 2: And the ⁓ performance Speaker 1: The performance should be because we as a brand are making a product for this body care. ⁓ We focus on performance and community both at the same time. Speaker 2: Up Instagram boss followers and I see a lot of you know influencers do that. So viral moment or long term ritual? Speaker 1: I think long term ritual because virality is temporary and long term ritual is something that people will hope to. ⁓ Speaker 2: Beautiful. Same day delivery or immersed digital experience? Speaker 1: same day delivery because if it's not getting delivered quickly in today's generation, in today's era, I don't think digital experience matters then. Speaker 2: So you prefer more of a quick commerce than e commerce? Speaker 1: Yeah, we are selling across Quickcommerce. Speaker 2: One word that defined Gen Z beauty in India. Speaker 1: Chainsibute in India, the reality of India I would say. Speaker 2: ⁓ Nice. ⁓ thank you so much, ⁓ Gaura, for making time out. I mean, I think we really wanted to decode Gen Z and you're like apt on it. Are you a Gen Z as well? Speaker 1: I am almost a Gen Z I would say because just a borderline Gen Z. I'm more of a millennial now. Speaker 2: But when you spoke to them, I think you decoded a lot. ⁓ one thing which I forgot to ask person I'm asking right now, when you sell a bottle or when you sell a product to them, they use it. Do you actually go back and again check with them whether they liked it or not? Speaker 1: Yeah, we do because feedback is always what keeps us going. So every time we sell a product, so we also call them after a month or two to understand what they found in the product. Have they dumped it or are they still using it? That gives us insight what we need to change, what we need to make it better. Speaker 2: But these are people that you have actually sold the product ⁓ through you, right? Not through eco. Speaker 1: Now, Ecom doesn't give us that data. Speaker 2: Neither the QCOM. No, nobody. So if you're choosing them then you are basically doing a trial and ⁓ testing a ⁓ thing or ⁓ you actually selling them and going back to, you know, understand how your product is? Speaker 1: So we sell them and then we go back to them and understand them. So because these people who are buying from our website, they get to know more about it. We have the data to connect. Speaker 2: And which is where you have the data about you call back. So it's more of a feedback. Right. So is there a process of doing a feedback? And do you do on a regular basis or that's just one time question answer and done? Because you know, controlling them it's not that easy. Speaker 1: No, so they don't want deeper conversations to go on after they have bought the product until they love the product. You know, if they are hooked to your brand, if it relates with them, they are more happy to talk more about it. Speaker 2: And how often do you see that? You know, once you sell it to them, they they can kinda like it and then they're posting reviews everywhere and tagging you. How often do you see that? Speaker 1: That only comes with the virality factor what we have got now because when you talk about the bottle is so Instagrammable that when you get that bottle you will instinctively feel of putting a picture on telling people that I bought this. Speaker 2: Well that's that's ⁓ usual Gen Z behavior. Speaker 1: Exactly. One more thing to add here. So on our packaging label, we have added this QR code. So if we are selling through QuickCommerce also, we have mentioned do not scan onto it. People generally mention scan me and I have mentioned do not scan. The reason is that is how Gen Z talked to us. If you tell them do not do this, they will do it. that's where most of the scans are coming from. Speaker 2: So ⁓ I actually so my teammate ⁓ as in the girl who actually looks after all the design, but is also a Gen Z. So I asked her to create a s QR code for my ⁓ podcast as well, so I can paste it on ⁓ the moving vehicles. Right. So she gave me two options. One is board in traffic, which is very millennial kind of a thing. Right. The other one was don't scan. And that was like don't scan is like huge. Right. So people would first of all, you know, look into it and then definitely scroll it. Speaker 1: This is some Speaker 2: I love that idea so well that you know as millennials we don't think about it. We go in a very straightway direction. These guys think out of the box. Right. And ⁓ kudos to you because you know going through your entire LinkedIn ⁓ you know handle, which I'm going to give Corrupts in LinkedIn details in the description box, you have done very thorough research. I barely see founders actually putting their studies onto that, you know, social media where where the credibility you know brings a lot. And I think That's kind of your DNA because you've been a CMO, you know exactly how to get pally with the customer. Right. And you know, understanding consumer at a greater depth. And then telling people that, you know, that's how we we brought ourselves. We are not like, you know, yeah, already shell pay, but do my label. That's not kind of a work that you've done. Right. So kudos to you, and in the way you have actually brought up the GoWeb ⁓ whole community around it. I saw the Instagram and I I loved it. But definitely I've not used your product, so I would drop probably you know try once or rather. Hormidimang experience self bottle ke ⁓ I mean the way you actually show your bottles, the way you do actually these ⁓ interviews, the way you are actually giving them what they actually prefer. What else do you do ki unko lag product? Speaker 1: So one thing that we have done it recently was that we asked a lot of people, do they sing in a shahar? I told you about it. So when we realized that yes, they are somebody who are hooking to music while they're in shahar. So we have curated a playlist on Spotify by the name of GoWimped. So it has all the music that Gen Z's prefer while being in a shahar. So once somebody buys a product, we send them a link that enjoy the product in shahar while listening to this playlist. Speaker 2: So letting them actually, ⁓ no, shower for more than one and a half hour. Speaker 1: Yes, now they can share more, listen to good music, use good products and have a good time in share. Speaker 2: Beautiful. Very I I l I love the idea behind Go Webb. I mean I think you've actually you're you're hitting a market in a different way altogether. You know, the people who are j used to push their tubes out and, you know, use those lotion bottles, they're actually going about. I mean, do you also providing ⁓ the travel bottles as well in future? Speaker 1: So these bottles are travel friendly. Because under 100 ml it's all allowed in the airplanes. They can carry it all over India and internationally. Speaker 2: Beautiful. I love the conversation. And if there's one thing today's conversation made clear, it is this loyalty isn't dying, it's transforming. Gen Z doesn't reject brands, they reject irrelevance. In skincare, where identity, aesthetics, and emotional intersect, winning isn't about being the biggest ⁓ brand on the shelf. It's about being the most culturally tuned in one. So thank Gaurov, again, you know, giving us the perspective where you know you've bring a different product all together, you're reaching out to the consumers, you're talking to them, you're understanding what is changing and how much it is changing, where you can also fit into that gap. So you're doing a fab fabulous job and ⁓ again sharing all that relevant ⁓ case studies, which I totally loved about understanding, you know, how much you're decoding Gen Z is about. And to everyone watching, in the world where brands are replaced in one scroll. The real question is, are you building for attention or are you building for connections? Until next time, ⁓ stay curious, stay collaborative, and ⁓ keep trying ⁓ and keep building what's next. ⁓ wait for this episode to be aired soon. See you in the next episode.