Katrina Kaif on why Kay Beauty fills the need gap of a human cosmetics brand

Claiming it to be a reflection of herself, Katrina Kaif in conversation with Social Samosa talks about the launch of her makeup brand, Kay Beauty and why it stands out.

"What’s important to me is that Kay Beauty is not any brand endorsement but it is my brand. It has to be truly representative of who I am," asserted Katrina Kaif as she took us through her vision for the recently launched beauty brand in partnership with Nykaa.

Katrina wondered if she could create a makeup product that was long-lasting, looked ultra-glam but at the same time cared for her skin. Thus was born the idea of #MakeupThatKares, a makeup collection where each product has specific ‘care’ ingredients to nourish the skin. Katrina felt that this collection was a part of her and extended her name to it, calling it ‘Kay’.

Recently, Kay Beauty also announced the launch of #KARE social initiatives, a special way for the brand to give back to the community.

Social Samosa caught up with Katrina Kaif to dig deeper into Kay Beauty's advertising and marketing strategy, making of #ItsKayToBeYou campaign, association with Nykaa, and what need gap does the brand fulfills.

Excerpts:

Kay Beauty is touted to be India’s first celebrity brand. How does it feel being an entrepreneur now?

It’s actually been a big journey and a lot of work has gone behind creating the brand we wanted it to be. From the quality of the products to the textures to our first campaign & communication to the first photoshoot for the brand.

Tons of effort and work go behind creating something like this and that’s my biggest learning.

Even I was taken aback by how much incredible every little detail has been. You are creating a brand from scratch - packaging, what’s going to be on the product, the formulation, how do we want the first picture to look.

I don’t really see it as any entrepreneurship. We like to give tags to things. But for me, it’s just about creating something I wanted to. I wanted to create a beauty brand that said what I think about make-up and what do I expect from my make up. The entrepreneur bit is a by-product.

Kay by Katrina is pegged as the '#MakeupThatKares'. What does that entail?

That is #MakeupOnTheGo. The products are easy to use and we care about the fact that they should not be too complex. You shouldn’t be spending a lot of time with them. This is why the eye products which we have launched, do not need brushes to apply them and can be blended with your fingers.

Makeup that cares because most of our products have ingredients in them that care for your skin.

Please elaborate on
Kay Beauty’s association with De’Haat Foundation?

#Kare is our charity initiative from Kay Beauty. We have the ‘K’ factor everywhere. With #Kare we will be choosing different initiatives, foundations, and causes that we believe in and are close to our hearts.

In this particular case every lip product that you buy from Kay Beauty you are going to get this incredible pencil which has been crafted and is the livelihood of these women who De’Haat is supporting.

Could you take us through the conceptualization and execution of the campaign ‘It's Kay to be You’?

Zoya (Akhtar) and I spend a lot of time together. We do this thing usually on Sundays where we have girl meetings and chat about various things over coffee and cakes. Around this, we discussed Kay Beauty’s launch. Zoya would constantly be chatting with me about the brand, the campaign, the message, and more.

Through those conversations when it came time for us to come up with our ad campaign, Zoya was like - Listen, I have the concept in mind and I am going to write for you based on what we discussed’. When she wrote this beautiful piece, I instantly knew that it was exactly what I wanted people to feel and think about when they will see Kay Beauty for the first time.

We called Falguni (Nayar, CEO, Nykaa). She heard the concept and loved it. We just needed that one reassurance that this was definitely it. The best part about making the campaign were these beautiful women who came down and supported me just based on the fact that I called them and asked them to be a part something.

‘If you don’t feel like a princess, it’s okay because you are the queen’ is also my favorite line from the campaign. We all have to remember that in ourselves.

Also Read: “Knowledge-sharing influence helps Nykaa get conversions” Falguni Nayar

How does a message
like ‘Its Kay To Be You’ or supporting a cause helps a brand rebuild its
identity?

I don’t know if it helps and it’s not of any concern to me if it helps. What’s important to me is Kay Beauty is not any brand endorsement but it is my brand. It has to be truly representative of who I am.

Kay Beauty is not what we think it will or will not be – it has to be true and authentic to who I am and all the aspects of my personality.

I feel what I said in my ad film. Some days you feel terrible or under-confident and some days you want to laugh, dance, cry. These are the emotions I go through and I wanted that to be represented in my campaign. I did not want to make a video which talks about perfection and perfect moments.

#Kare too talks about something which is a huge part of my life. My Mom has been working with charitable causes even before I was born. I have seen that part of my life.  I wanted Kay Beauty to be true and authentic to me.

You can’t aim only for success. Success will follow if these things are in place.

Who is the TG for Kay Beauty, especially since make-up has been associated with the notion that it primarily caters to the urban audiences?

Not at all. That’s where Nykaa comes in because the brand has a strong network of online distribution and they have stores all across India. It is absolutely the best partner to create Kay Beauty because they have their reach. That is where I want to be.

I want to be in all the tier cities.

Kay Beauty is inclusive and I want it to be accessible meaning I have a place to either go and buy it or do it online.

What is the marketing strategy of Kay Beauty?

There is a whole plan in place which is going to unfold - from our product launches every few weeks, months, how we plan to roll out our entire line. This is a very small portion of what is going to be the entire Kay Beauty line. It’s an extensive plan.

What is the nature of the partnership with Nykaa?

We sat down through a mutual friend and we had this conversation about creating Kay Beauty. Falguni and I both thought that it was a great idea and we are co-owners of the brand. It’s a wonderful partnership.

Everywhere where I may be falling short of information about business, distribution, the technical side of things, I have the best possible partner that I could wish for. It’s has all the ingredients that I look for in a partnership.

What future that you
foresee for Kay Beauty 5 years down the line?

There are so many things I want to do with the brand and every time we sit and talk about it to Reena (Reena Chhabra, CEO, Nykaa Brands) and Falguni, the Nykaa team - the great thing is we are all on the same page. We all have hopes and aspirations and we know where we are going with it.

There is potential and slowly but steadily we have to put in the groundwork, introduce all the products to everyone in the market, and not flood it all at once. I want everyone to give enough time to see and live with Kay products and understand them. Then we will move where we want to be.