Philips India sharpens its edge with AI-powered premium grooming makeover

New Delhi: Although Philips was founded in Europe more than 90 years ago, it has firmly established itself as a trusted household name in India for decades. What began as a white goods pioneer has, over the past decade, reinvented itself in the personal care category. 

In India, Philips is calibrating its personal care portfolio through a set of interlocking strategies to capture the fast-evolving male grooming market.

Premium repositioning, multi-channel distribution, next-gen media planning, category creation, and data-driven personalisation and innovation define the marketing playbook that Philips India is following to stay ahead of the competition.

In an exclusive conversation with BestMediaInfo.com, Vidyut Kaul, Head of Personal Health, Philips Growth Region (JAPAC, ISC, META & LATAM), outlined how the legacy European brand is leveraging cultural insights, product innovation, and platform fragmentation to win the market race.

Breaking taboos, minting myths, and gaining insights

Until recently, Indian men’s personal care was largely limited to face and head grooming. Philips India sees body grooming—especially of intimate areas—as a major emerging trend. According to Kaul, this is particularly evident among younger consumers who view grooming as a routine hygiene practice rather than a niche indulgence.

Elaborating on some of the shifts that have shaped Philips India’s approach, Kaul said, “Over the last couple of years, there's been a noticeable shift in consumer preferences. Younger consumers are increasingly interested in body grooming, especially in intimate areas—a trend that's rapidly gaining traction.

“Meanwhile, millennials, particularly those aged 35 and above, are gravitating back toward clean shaving. They appreciate the flexibility of switching styles—clean-shaven one month, bearded the next—without constantly experimenting with new looks like a French beard one day and a goatee the next.”

By foregrounding intimate-care attachments in its trimmer portfolio, Philips is betting that frank conversations around body grooming will unlock incremental category growth and reshape the brand’s perception from purely technical to culturally attuned.

But the household brand is not just focusing on hair—it’s also turning its attention to the skin. Since cutting hair involves direct contact with the skin, Philips India has made skincare central to its design philosophy. This insight, Kaul shared, was derived from a long-standing myth.

“Traditionally, when boys turned 15 or 16 and began growing facial hair, mothers would advise them not to shave at home but to visit a barber instead. The barbers would use what was commonly known as the ‘zero machine’—a tool that was often painful to use. There was a belief that shaving would make the hair grow back stiffer and take away the natural glow of the skin,” Kaul explained.

Minting this myth into a strategic insight, Philips India saw an opportunity and decided to challenge and capitalise on it.

“What emerged clearly was that skin-friendliness mattered deeply to Indian consumers. Since our products are about cutting hair while coming in direct contact with the skin, we made skincare central to our design philosophy. It became crucial for us to deliver not only precision and results but also a smooth, irritation-free experience—free from nicks, cuts, or burns.”

Premiumisation with Prestige

On Tuesday, Philips India unveiled a range of premium electric shavers. These shavers—the Philips Series 7000, i9000, and Philips i9000 Prestige Ultra—incorporate ‘SkinIQ technology’, which the company states utilises artificial intelligence.

These models are designed to offer a precise, comfortable, and user-friendly shaving experience. According to Philips, the shavers adapt to individual skin and beard characteristics to provide an enhanced, irritation-free shave.

With the launch of these premium shavers, priced between Rs 15,000 and Rs 35,000, Philips is aiming to evolve into a more premium brand. “We will continue to be hyperlocal with our products. But when it comes to the brand—the big Philips mega brand—there will be one big shift. And today marks the beginning of that shift,” Kaul told BestMediaInfo.com.

Revealing the brand’s premiumisation plans, Kaul asserted, “We will not be a brand that is everything for everybody.” These efforts align with the brand’s roots and its ethos—“innovation, premium, best-in-class, first in the world”.

The newly launched Prestige Ultra shaver, featuring a pressure sensor and AI-enabled feedback for a customised next-shave experience, exemplifies this pivot.

Marketing levers propagating premiumisation

With a significant strategic pivot, Philips is making deliberate decisions about partnerships. For different products, the brand is capturing spaces not traditionally associated with Philips. The personal care arm is collaborating with colleges and universities for youth festivals to engage younger audiences.

Youth remains a major focus for Philips. For youth-centric products, Philips India is also tapping into gaming platforms to reach the right audience.

“If you look at the next generation—Gen Z and Gen Alpha—they’re moving away from traditional social media platforms. Facebook, for instance, has seen a decline among younger users and is now primarily used by their parents. We’re noticing a similar trend with Instagram. These younger audiences are increasingly active on alternative platforms, especially in the gaming ecosystem.

“We are absolutely tapping into those spaces. For instance, with our OneBlade product, we’re reaching out to this emerging audience segment through gaming platforms and other non-traditional channels,” Kaul said.

Philips India is also partnering with Cult Studios to integrate personal care more deeply into its brand identity. In addition, the brand is leveraging prominent faces. Virat Kohli remains the flag bearer, supported by “premium content creators”.

Media Mixology

Rather than broad-brush campaigns, Philips segments its media plan by product and demographic.

Youth-orientated lines such as OneBlade receive an “80% digital-first” allocation, dominated by social media, gaming, and influencer content, while premium products command a roughly 50–60% spend on OTT and CTV, complemented by contextual out-of-home placements near affluent neighbourhoods and airports.

Philips’ distribution strategy spans traditional retail, leading e-commerce platforms, and fast-growing quick-commerce services. According to Kaul, the brand gives “equal weightage and experience to all customers and partners”, recognising that each channel caters to different consumer mindsets.

Retail partners like Croma and Vijay Sales offer hands-on demos for premium lines, while e-tailers appeal to research-driven shoppers. Quick commerce, which saw “massive growth” during lockdown-driven home stays, plays a crucial role in last-minute purchases like birthday gifts. This strategy is backed by market insight shared by Kaul, who noted that 40% of shavers are gifted.

From sensors to shaving

Central to Philips’ premium play is its shift beyond standard CRM toward real-time, sensor-informed personalisation. The Prestige Ultra’s built-in pressure sensor collects shave-pattern data, feeds it into an AI engine, and visually guides users to optimise coverage in the next shave.

Far from monetising data, Kaul insists the sole objective is to “improve consumer experience”.

In India, Philips operates in the personal health business, including the beauty and grooming segment, where it has various products like hair dryers, hair straighteners, hair brushes, beard trimmers, etc. Its health business also includes oral care – electric toothbrushes and mother and child care products.

Growth outlook for Philips in India

Philips is expecting double-digit growth in the short to mid-term in India, a "key market" for the Dutch multinational, said Kaul.

India has the potential to come into its top five markets over the next five years, helped by the double-digit CAGR growth here, said Kaul.

When asked about the growth outlook in India in the short to mid-term, Kaul said, "We are looking at a double-digit CAGR between 10 and 15%."

The company expects its men's grooming, mother and child care with Avent and female grooming segments to be its growth drivers.

"But, in the next 2- to 3-year horizon, you will see us playing an active part in oral care," Kaul added.

India is currently among the top 10 markets for Philips.

"With this growth, the idea is we have the aspiration in the next 5 years to get it into the top 5," he added.

In FY24, Philips India's standalone revenue from operations was Rs 6,000.4 crore, up 4.64% year-on-year, according to financial data accessed by business intelligence platform Tofler.

Its personal health business contributed Rs 765.8 crore, while the 'Health Systems' vertical generated Rs 2,833.8 crore. Its innovation services contributed Rs 2,271.9 crore.