Pravesh Saha, General Manager, South Asia, Wella Company, in conversation with Kanishka Ramchandani, at the launch of the Ultime Repair range.
What are your plans for the distribution of the new Ultime Repair range across the country?
Our plans are already in place and our distributors across the country already have the products. We had the big launch with close to 400 salons and around 50 influencers joining us for this event. So, you can place your orders right now and get the new products in your salons and make your clients’ hair look beautiful.
How is this range different from existing care range at Wella?
There are two parts to this. We follow a tiered structure. We have base level ranges and premium ranges. Our repair range called Fusion is a very powerful line. Now, moving upwards, we are bringing the Ultime Repair range, which is even more powerful, more effective and caters to the premium plus consumer.
How has Wella Professionals progressed with haircare over the years?
We’ve always approached haircare as a full portfolio. Our lines cater to everything from colour safe to volumising to anti-hair fall, scalp, dandruff, etc. While we have had a strong care portfolio, we realised that the biggest care need is repair. And that’s why we developed this product specifically to cater to this large segment and huge consumer need of repair. So, Ultime Repair was launched.
That’s our journey on care and we will continue to build on this as time goes, along with our other care lines to strengthen our position in care. But this is our first and our biggest foray into the premium haircare space.
You mentioned that the formulation has been re-engineered for Asian hair. Is it only for women with damaged hair?
No, it’s for everyone. It is an everyday product because hair gets damaged on a daily basis. You can use it to make sure your hair stays in shape. So, the range is not targeted only towards women. It is targeted towards anyone with hair.
Anyone who walks into the salon and has hair concerns can opt for this?
Yes, it addresses multiple concerns not only related to damage but also heat protection, styling and general care. So, it’s kind of like a Swiss army knife.
What about the technical training for the new range?
We’ve done pre-launch trainings and covered more than 400 salons across the country. My education team has been working hard over the last one month in taking the message of Ultime Repair to hairdressers across the country.
And we’ve had great success, received extremely positive feedback from our salon partners.
Wella is not a company that rests on its laurels. How do you plan to stay ahead of competition, ahead of trends going forward?
That’s actually a great question. We are a global company, so we get to know about trends much before our competition and that keeps us ahead in our game.
We have a very strong R&D setup, which is constantly working on developing cutting-edge hair products with unique formulations and figuring out the best ingredients to use. Our products are loved by hairdressers and consumers across the world. We are present in 100 plus countries.
We are constantly innovating, coming up with the next big thing.
Within the next three months, you’ll hear news from us on colour and in another six months, on care as well.
We have pipelines ready for the next three years with innovative products catering to different types of consumers, very specific hair needs and democratic hair solutions.
We’ve achieved a big milestone because we’ve made everyone across the globe recognise that Asian hair is different and a one-size-fits-all solution doesn’t work. That’s why you need products specifically formulated for Asian hair. And that’s what is going to take the game to the next level.