After entering the consumer products market with a snazzy new brand that proved to be a palpable hit, the Himalaya Drug Company is now taking a gamble - and junking it in favor of a catch-all umbrella brand

AYURVEDIC Concepts, the brand that signalled the entry of the Bangalore-based Himalaya Drug Company (HDC) into the consumer products market in 1999, was by all marketing definitions, a definitive hit. But instead of continuing to invest in that identity, the company has in a radical move decided to bring all its products, including personal care, under the 'Himalaya' brand.

The herbal healthcare company has gone in for a complete identity makeover, complete with a new logo and new colours. A huge gamble? Perhaps. But the senior managers at HDC are confident they can pull it off. Ravi Prasad, President and CEO, is betting on the new identity because he nurses a Himalayan ambition "to make Himalaya a household name; to make it synonymous with herbal healthcare".

HDC now straddles four segments - medicinal supplements, personal care products, pure herbs and animal health products - and he doesn't want to dilute things by having different brands across categories.

In addition to making Himalaya a mass brand, there's a larger agenda - to convince the masses that "herbs are not a heritage or an esoteric science", as is the perception now. Himalaya's tagline 'Researching Nature - Enriching Life' says it all.

The decision to switch to the Himalaya brand was also based on solid ground realities. Prasad say, "As the company decided to provide herbal healthcare on one platform, it emerged that Himalaya would be that platform." Research done by the company showed that in consumers' minds across 55 countries the brand that emerged was none other than 'Himalaya'.

Soumitro Banerji, executive vice president, consumer products, HDC, admits that the decision to drop Ayurvedic Concepts as a standalone brand was not an easy one. But it was one the company had to make - if it continued to invest In this brand but was forced to switch after three or four years, things would have been not only more expensive but also more traumatic. He says that so far there's been no dissonance in the market, except initially from Calcutta.

Incidentally, HDC's personal care products in crucial export markets like the US (where It was first introduced) were always sold under the Himalaya brand. It is only in India that the Company decided to go for a fresh brand, mainly for historical reasons. Himalaya in India is essentially a therapeutic company best known for its Liv.52 and Bonnisan brands. Unsure of how the doctors in the country would react to seeing Himalaya as a personal care products brand and unwilling to dilute the company's equity, Ayurvedic Concepts was launched.

Then the company was pleasantly surprised to find that doctors didn't particulary mind Himalaya's presence in the shampoos and face creams market. Some in fact asked Himalaya reps whether they could get a hamper of Ayurvedic Concepts instead of a regular gift "for the wife and kids". Others wondered if Ayurvedic Concepts had actually taken over Himalaya!

The new brand identity for Himalaya has been crafted by Ray+Kesavan of Bangalore. Ayurvedic Concepts still appears on the packaging, but plays second fiddle. The brand ambassador 'Dadima', who epitomized the goodness of ayurveda in a modern, appealing way, lives on. The new leaf logo forms the crossbar of the letter H and stands for herbal healthcare. The old yellow and brown colours have been replaced by orange - for warmth, caring and vibrancy - and teal, representing nature. With personal care products now under the Himalaya brand, the company is focusing on consolidating the 39 products it has - spanning hair care, skin, oral and healthcare - rather than introduce new ones. The focus will be on shampoos and skin care as representative of the brand. Earlier, HDC tried to highlight a mixture of products but found that the message was getting diffused. So now the focus will be on products like shampoos, acne/pimple cream, fairness cream, face wash and AyurSlim slimming tablets.

The company is also trying to correct a myth. In India, 'herbal' or 'natural' often means 'expensive'. Our products come at affordable prices, says Banerji, pointing out that Himalaya is cheaper than some of its well-known competition by some 40 to 70 per cent.

Banerji says that HDC has taken market share away from the mainstream, although in a small way. The business has grown from Rs 15 crore in the first year to Rs 25 crore in the second, and last year it was Rs 40 crore. The target is to be close to Rs 80 crore this year and reach breakeven next year, which Banerji says is according to plan.

The company is doubling distribution, with the number of retailers expected to go up to over 2.5 lakh this year. It's also ramping up exclusive stores, with 43 more being added to the current 18. It's found that stores do something interesting - it pushes up sales of Himalaya's products with pharmacists close to the stores.

GIobally the herbal industry is estimated at $63 billion, and it's growing at 20-25 percent. Though precise figures are difficult to come by, India's market size is pegged at around a billion dollars. "This is not a fad anymore. There's an over- whelming consumer demand for it in India," says Prasad. This can be seen from the fact that in addition to older players like Dabur, Zandu and Morepen, even multinationals like Hindustan Lever are jumping on the bandwagon.

Last April, HDC launched Pure Herbs, a range of single-ingredient produds, marking the company's entry into the Fast Moving Health Goods (FMHG) sector. "This was a segment waiting to be occupied," says Prasad. The market, according to him, was crowded with crude-looking, non-standardised pills. So Himalaya decided to launch 12 Pure Herbs- based tablets in capsule form. The target for the division in the first year of launch was set at Rs 10 crore, but seeing the response it's been revised up- wards, says Philipe Haydon, general manager, pharma marketing, Himalaya.

Himalaya's decision to enter the personal care and FMHG sectors on the Pure Herbs plank is based on the increasing tendency among Indians towards self-medication. In case of minor ailments, people pick up remedies themselves - nobody goes to the doctor for a cold or a cough anymore. "This is fuelling the growth of this sector,' says Dr SK Mitra, executive director, research and technical services, HDC.

"Ayurveda has always been thought of as an alternative. We want it to be complementary, to be mainstream," says Prasad. That would make Himalaya a household name - a name that people would instantly associate with herbal healthcare. Or will that be a tough mountain to climb? Prasad hopes not.