Introduction

Understanding Marketing Concepts: Parachute Hair Oil Case Study

Parachute has created a brand name for itself as the blue bottle has become iconic in the hair oil category. Parachute has risen to be the market leader with approximately 53% of market share in a category which once was a 1500 Cr industry dominated by unbranded oils in India. It is then not surprising that Parachute has become the flagship brand of Marico Ltd. Marico positions itself in the ambit of “beauty and wellness”.

The pioneer in packing hair oil in plastic bottles capitalized the insight that having healthy hair has become an important concern in an age wherein harsh chemicals are being rampantly applied, along with the challenge of managing different types of hair and hair problems in our stressful lives.

Parachute has been reputed for its purity (it guarantees 100% pure coconut oil).

In terms of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, using hair oil would come under esteem needs, people who are concerned about their appearance and status in the society, and about hygiene habits usually demand hair oil.

While initially the target market was females of all age who used coconut oil, Parachute has now introduced various brand variants like Parachute advanced, Parachute Therapie, Parachute advanced starz etc, thereby expanding target market to consumers with hair fall problem, consumers who don’t want sticky oils and look for fragrance, customers who have kids of age 3-10 years.

As it has been evident from the kind of advertising that Parachute reflects that today, one of its main target is trendy youth who have moderate disposable income and like experimenting with their hair, hence want good hair care product. Parachute has delved into various nuances and insights relating to usage of hair oil, as can be seen through its advertisements. Parachute’s ‘Gorgeous Hamesha’, ‘Lambe baal koi bhule to kaise’, ‘1 hour champi kiya kya’ have been very successful taglines. The brand has been endorsed by celebrities like Deepika Padukone, Diya Mirza, Yuvraj, Sreesanth. Advertising is usually heavy before Holi (non-sticky hair protection solution) and also during winters (non-freezing oil).They also did a campaign with “weight-test” with the proven research statement that ‘pure coconut oil is heavier than manipulated’. 

While Parachute has extended its product line heavily, it has always maintained its core value of being pure and safe. This also reverberated when Parachute came out with tamper proof seals for its packaging. This modernization and evolution of the brand has helped increase its consumer base.