Putting men’s sexual health at the forefront, how Bold Care has grown 240% in one year

Bold Care, established in July 2020, is at the vanguard of transforming the men’s sexual health solutions industry in India. It operates on science-backed treatments and is touted as the No. 1 Sexual Health and Wellness Brand in India, trusted by more than 15 lakh men in India. The approach towards sexual wellness is all-inclusive at Bold Care, with a blend of modern medicine and traditional natural remedies. The foremost focus of the brand is to prioritize the sexual health of men, by offering expert-developed plans that are easily accessible. The solutions of Bold Care are available on the D2C website (www.boldcare.in) and e-commerce marketplaces such as Flipkart, Amazon, Meesho, and others.  In addition, instant delivery across India is provided by the brand via quick commerce platforms such as Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, Blink, and others.

In an exclusive interview with Adgully, Rajat Jadhav, Co-founder & CEO, Bold Care, speaks about Bold Care’s journey so far, specifically after the association with actor Ranveer Singh; the company’s long-term brand vision; integrating humour, satire, and wit in its campaigns; the trends, challenges and opportunities in men’s sexual health and wellness industry in India, and more.

How has the journey of Bold Care been so far, especially after the association of actor Ranveer Singh with it? What is the company’s long-term brand vision and what was one of the turning points for it?

Having Ranveer join Bold Care has been tremendous. My co-founders and I are privileged to have worked behind the scenes with us in building Bold Care. His experience as a successful actor and entrepreneur is so valuable. His insights on branding, marketing, and storytelling help us navigate as a brand in this space and grow. Also, his passion for innovation and commitment to men’s sexual health is commendable. Paired with his creativity, it has just changed the way the team thinks and growth is just going to be a by-product of this.

Since then, we have only grown onwards and upwards. With our combined skills and experience, we focused on perfecting our formulations, carving a niche, and building science-backed solutions. We are committed to redefining sexual wellness in India to create a positive impact on the 90 million men who continue to face this issue.

How are you planning to integrate humour, wit, and satire in your upcoming campaigns?

Bold Care’s co-founder Ranveer Singh is known for his magnanimous, witty, and humorous personality. With his vibe, we plan to create more thought-provoking scripts that take a clever approach to marketing sexual health products, addressing newer, niche concerns and finding better use cases from actual life where we can punnily deliver our message.

Which creative agency has conceptualized the campaign #TakeBoldCareOfHer and what was the creative brief given to them? What is the concept, and thought behind it, and to what extent the marketing objectives have been fulfilled?

The Bold Care digital ad films were conceptualized by Moonshot, a digital agency led by Tanmay Bhat. The magic trio – Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, and Ayappa KM – helped us bring this insane concept to life.

We knew that we wanted to achieve three things – destigmatize men’s sexual health, position ourselves as a science-led validated brand, and help consumers shake off the shame around their sexual health concerns. We shared these points with the agency and realized that our concept has to be out-of-the-box, help people light-heartedly understand that this isn’t something to deal with in isolation, and feel more in control of their sexual health management.

And we did achieve them all and how – our videos saw over 20 million views on the first day, we saw our website traffic shoot up by 470% and our e-comm sales grow by 60-75%.

What are the trends, challenges, and opportunities in the men’s sexual health and wellness industry at present in India and how has consumer behavior evolved in the same?

The biggest challenge that we are noticing is the drop in the average age of Indian men experiencing sexual health concerns. In the 2000s, men would face issues around their mid-30s, but that has declined to late 20s over the decades. This creates a larger number of men silently facing these struggles.

Along with that, we also noticed a shift in market perception and structure for sexual health. What was once a disorganized market with Unani and Japani solutions, has evolved into a research-first, verified product-led market. The consumer today has access to information and is aware of the ingredients in their products.

This has favoured Bold Care as we have always focused on science-backed, highly effective solutions as our driving force. From our formulations to customer touchpoints, we keep objectivity at the core.

What are the challenges and opportunities that arise at the time of marketing a brand that is focused on men’s sexual health and wellness in India? How is Boldcare leveraging social media, digital platforms, and AI to establish relationships with its target audiences and to build brand awareness and brand loyalty?

As we were the first movers in the sexual health market, we switched the narrative on how these products are marketed. Our brand holds science as a fundamental pillar, and that’s the tone we extend through our communications. We entered a market that was fatigued with very inflated marketing, a lack of high-recall brands, and a lack of discreet delivery.

We fixed these consumer pain points, understood what the digital user was seeking, and shaped our brand TOV accordingly. Additionally, we employ social listening tools to improve our tone, humorously dispel myths, and highlight the benefits of Bold Care products.

What differentiates Bold Care from its competitors and what are the recent developments, and innovations within the brand? What is the perception it has created in the minds of the consumers in terms of its brand identity and what kind of consumer/ market research goes behind its campaigns and in building products?

We are currently the largest digital-first sexual health brand in India. And that is because we realize that customer feedback and audience mapping have to be the foundation of our market research. We do extensive studies, analyze testimonials, real-time feedback and perform focus groups as well. For our products, we do study the key sexual health concerns in the market and work with our experts to provide validated tested solutions.

With these processes in place, we have been laser-focused on creating the best possible solution. And it has truly worked! At present, we have captured very high market share data in online commerce and have repeated purchase orders from our consumers.

What is the role played by testimonials and customer feedback in shaping the marketing strategies and its brand image? What are the strategies it employs to reach new customers?

The idea of Bold Care in itself came from consumer reviews and feedback that I had in my previous startup, so I believe it is the primary indicator for any step we take in the company.

Our main goal is to become the go-sexual health and wellness brand in the country. With this vision in mind, we listen to our consumers – either from our care team or on socials – to understand the gaps and what they’re enjoying. The #TakeBoldCareOfHer campaign hit the mark because our approach was satirical and unique. So, we’ll keep ideating around that approach as well as an objective approach to educate them as well.

To reach new consumers, we rely on a robust D2C strategy and distribution via e-commerce channels.

Could you share insights on the approach of Bold Care towards influencer marketing and partnerships for reaching an extensive audience? How does the brand build trust and maintain transparency with its consumers in a personal and sensitive industry such as men’s sexual health and wellness?

Staying true to our brand and core foundations, we partner with creators who not only hold subject expertise in sexual wellness but also help us objectively dispel myths and stigmas around sexual wellness.

We find a balance between reach and domain expertise with our creators and try to crack ideas that not only address common concerns, but do so in a creative way. And you can notice that with the informative content, which we created with sexual health influencer Seema Anand. We had our co-founder, Ranveer have a dialogue with her on men’s sexual health concerns and highlight the issues in a logical, simple fashion.

We understand the doubts our consumers may have about sexual wellness solutions, but we constantly keep testing and improving our formulations and supplements to ensure maximum efficacy and get feedback from customers.

How has been the performance of Bold Care in the year 2023 and what are its growth targets/ focus areas for 2024? What has been its marketing budget, market share, and ad spending this year?

Since our launch in July 2023, Bold Care has seen a 240% growth across all product categories: Extend Category, Bold Care Condoms, Vibe Lubes, 404 Condom Range, Shilajit, and other hair care categories.

We have also emerged as the fastest-growing condom brand, as well as the leading sexual health brand in India with the delay category. Over the year, we have also noticed a clear increase in market share on online platforms.

In the coming year, we aim to focus on PE as a category, innovate with new product offerings, and reach Rs 100 crore in terms of revenue.

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