Modi Revlon to focus on hair care, plans Flex relaunch  ( October '26,2004, FE)

Modi Revlon, whose thrust area so far has been colour cosmetics, is now training its guns on the hair care market, a segment which has seen recent price wars by FMCG majors including Procter & Gamble and Hindustan Lever Ltd.

Interestingly, Modi Revlon too plans to ride on the price-driven strategy to reactivate its presence in the hair care market. The company headed by UK Modi is planning to relaunch its Flex brand of shampoos at a more ‘competitive’ price, starting early next year. The cosmetic major is also mulling expansion of its hair care range which currently includes shampoo and hair colour (Colorsilk) range.

“We plan to relaunch the Flex shampoo with the launch of a new range of shampoos and conditioners and price it more competitively,” Modi Revlon vice-president sales & marketing Sanjeev Kapoor told FE.

Mr Kapoor, however, refused to elaborate on the exact pricing the company proposes for its Flex range post its relaunch. The new variants are likely to be priced by 25% lower than the current pricing. Currently, a 100-ml of Flex shampoo is priced at Rs 78.

Early this year, HLL initiated a price war in shampoos with its ‘one plus one’ free offer for its brands, Clinic Plus and Sunsilk. Following which, P&G reacted with a price cut for its premium brands Pantene and Head & Shoulders.

According to Mr Kapoor, the company is currently working out the relaunch strategy for Flex. A team from Revlon, Australia is visiting its India operations next month to finalise the finer details of the strategy, Mr Kapoor added.

Though Modi Revlon’s Flex brand of shampoos has been present in the country for quite some time, it has, however, not made any significant attempt to capture market share in the shampoo market. “Shampoo is a tough market but nevertheless Flex enjoys considerable equity among a certain target audience,” Mr Kapoor said.

The company maintains that it is not a mass player and thus remains unaffected by the recent price wars in the FMCG industry.