Honasa Consumer: Leveraging Mamaearth’s Branding Playbook

Starting in 2016, Honasa Consumer Limited established itself as a leading digital-first beauty and personal care (BPC) player in India with the Mamaearth brand. Mamaearth became popular with millennials for using natural ingredients and a toxin-free formula, making it one of the top digital-first BPC brands. Honasa relied heavily on Mamaearth to generate revenue growth despite introducing multiple brands. The startup had been going through a hyper-competitive phase with Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) rivals and well-established legacy brands closing in by introducing products with comparable value propositions. In January 2023, the company contemplated going public to fund its growth further. The founding team pondered over several unanswered questions regarding its growth and branding strategy to be unfurled in the next six months as they waited for approval for Initial Public Offering (IPO) from market regulator SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India). Should they prioritize protecting their overarching brand values or be more accommodating in pursuing growth in terms of brands and channels? Would it be prudent for the company to build new brands or continue strategic acquisition? Should they consolidate and strengthen the current portfolio in lieu of unbridled growth? Should it be prudent to shift their focus to the mainstream market by adopting a more prominent offline strategy or double down on D2C play?