KATHMANDU: Few business ideas are better than an idea that is meant to stroke one’s vanity. This idea has given birth to an industry which is among the oldest and most lucrative business plans globally. The indus-try to make one look more attractive and appealing is a money spinner and also the biggest spending segment.

The launch of a new brand always stimulates me to think about what the future of this enterprise holds. So recently when a friend informed

me about her enterprise to bring a global cosmetic giant LASplash to Nepal, I was obviously thrown into thinking about how the four elements of branding can be used to build the brand here.

The inherent offering: The product, in this case the range of cosmetics, is a personal use item and the ‘value satisfaction’ from the use is irreplaceable. Moreover, it is a vanity driven purchase and quality is key. Since the introduction of LASplash Cosmetics in 1996, the brand has been able to cater to the wider spectrum of consumers. The brand claims to create high quality, colourful cosmetics for trendy, hip, modern and fashion-forward consumers. It is a brand that sells the ‘Made in America’ story which is refreshing as it overcomes the ‘Made in China’ stigma. A novel idea, provided the products deliver the expected value satisfaction quality. So, the most important factor that will shape the future of LASplash will be its ability to deliver the perceived ‘American’ quality.

The marketing: Being a vanity purchase, it is essential that the marketing — whether advertisements or promotions — are done to stroke and enhance the ‘vanity quotient’. Globally the beauty industry is among the most advertised product category — typically 75 per cent of all advertisements are from this industry. The bigger the brand, the more beau-tiful the girl using the brand, the more expensive the product and smaller the tube! At this junction, LASplash has the option to either go down the well honed ‘big’ marketing plan or come up with a novel method of communicating the brand’s ‘value proposition’. The road less travelled may be more rewarding.

The lineage: LASplash Cosmetics, also known as Splash Cosmetics is a division of Jon Davler Incorporated. With more than 25 years of experience in the cosmetics industry, the company prides itself as having understood and identified a unique consumer base. Its focus consumer age group is 14 to 30, who love to experiment with colours without compromising on quality. For Nepal, being able to provide products that are not ‘counterfeited’ is the unique selling preposition that the brand should capitalise on, provided it can deliver on its promise.

The product positioning: Like all cosmetic products, LASplash has to identify its product promise. The possible product promise for the brand in Nepal should be quality, ‘Made in America’ story and originality.

It should also capital-ise on its ‘fun and trendy’ aspect.

With a tagline of ‘Dare to make waves’ we, as consumers wait to see the birth and hopefully the success of a new brand. Also, not to miss, see some pretty faces too.

(The author is associated with The Chaudhary Group and can be contacted at vibhor.kumarsingh@gmail.com)