HM Category Growth Simulator

Playbook 2025

Every product category has its own unique consumer behaviour. The way people buy electronics is vastly different from how they purchase beauty or grocery products.

Posted On:

November 3rd, 2025

Channel strategy is a simple derivation of How people search for a product and how often they buy it.

Every product category has its own unique consumer behaviour. The way people buy electronics is vastly different from how they purchase beauty or grocery products. For some items, brand names carry significant weight, while for others, consumers rely more on their knowledge, past experiences, or extensive research before making a decision.

“In certain categories, brands command a premium, whereas, in others, consumers may not even recall the names of the brands they use daily.”

Ask someone what phone they own, and you’re almost guaranteed a precise response: “I use an iPhone 16s, 256 GB.” However, ask the same person which brand of milk or cooking oil they use, and they might hesitate or struggle to answer.

This isn’t to say consumers aren’t careful about their choices. People are highly discerning when selecting ingredients for their meals, considering freshness, packaging, and nutritional value before choosing one brand of oil over another. But, in many commodity-driven categories, product attributes tend to overpower brand recall, making differentiation challenging.

For marketers, this variation in consumer behaviour creates a fundamental challenge—how to allocate media budgets and design communication strategies effectively. When product differentiation is minimal, branding becomes the key to standing out. Marketers craft compelling narratives to make brands memorable. Consider Coke and Pepsi—most people don’t question what makes one different from the other, but they strongly identify with the brand stories and emotions they evoke.

In India, rising affluence across economic segments has triggered a massive explosion of new product categories. Consumers are discovering entirely new types of products, while existing categories are witnessing an influx of brands.

Consider air purifiers: first introduced in 2016, they have now grown into an ₹800 crore industry. Similarly, travel clothing is rapidly gaining traction as a category (though one might question, Do we really need a separate wardrobe for travel?).

With such rapid changes, marketers face a crucial decision: should they focus on brand building, category creation, or simply ensuring visibility and availability at the point of sale? While all these aspects matter, businesses often lack the resources to pursue everything simultaneously. Prioritisation is key.

To simplify this decision-making process, the HM Growth Simulator categorises all product types based on two critical dimensions:

Purchase Frequency Index: How often a product is purchased—this determines the number of opportunities a brand has each year to acquire or lose a customer. In high-frequency categories such as toothpaste, bathing soap, clothing, cooking oil, and detergent, consumers have the opportunity to switch brands with every purchase. As a result, brands in these segments must maintain a high Share of Voice (SOV) in media to stay top-of-mind.
Awareness Spectrum – Importance of Brand Name: In certain categories, consumers instinctively ask for a specific brand. Consider soft drinks, shoes, toothpaste, and smartphones—people often have a preferred brand in mind before they even start shopping. This strong brand association makes it difficult for new entrants to break into the market.

“By mapping all consumer products—from cooking oil to refrigerators—on these two dimensions, we find that they naturally cluster into four distinct groups. Each of these “neighbourhoods” operates with its own unique dynamics and marketing challenges.”

Regardless of whether a brand is a newcomer, a challenger, or an established market leader, it will behave according to the rules of its neighbourhood.

We call these four neighbourhoods: Deal Bazaar, Innovation Factory, Channel Depot, and Brand Fortress.

1. Brand Fortress (Brand-First, Low Purchase Frequency)

This is the most coveted neighbourhood, where consumers make purchases brand first and do so very infrequently.

To belong to this category, a product’s brand name searches must account for more than 50% of the total category searches, and its purchase frequency must be less than once per year. This space is dominated by well-established brands, making it challenging for new entrants to break through.Take foundation makeup, for example. As the base of all facial makeup, foundation is chosen carefully based on complexion and skin type. Once a consumer finds the perfect match, they are unlikely to switch or experiment with other brands.

Moreover, because a single pack lasts a long time, foundation is purchased less than once per year. Smartphones follow a similar pattern—consumers buy them with a strong brand

How to Win (or Retain a Foothold in the Neighborhood)

Since brand loyalty is high and brand-specific searches dominate, staying in the spotlight is essential. Marketers achieve this through frequent product innovations and variant launches to keep existing customers engaged and attract new buyers.

For instance, smartphone brands release new models every year, even if the core upgrades are incremental. In the beauty industry, a foundation user who buys “Shade 3 of Maybelline Liquid Matte” today will likely find multiple new formats of the same shade available when they repurchase in three years—perhaps in a serum foundation, cushion compact, or long-wear stick format.

For new brands, entry into this category is difficult but not impossible. The key is to specialize and create a strong niche. Instead of directly competing with established players, they must introduce a unique sub-category—for example, a wrinkle-minimizing foundation or a smartphone engineered specifically for pro gamers.

How to Win

Frequent Product Innovations – The pace of new launches should be equal to or slightly higher than the purchase frequency.
High Share of Voice (SOV) – Continuous branding efforts are necessary to maintain top-of-mind awareness.
Create a Sub-Category – New brands must enter through a niche offering that meets an unmet consumer need.

2. Innovation Factory (Brand-First, High Purchase Frequency)

This neighbourhood is constantly evolving, with no room for complacency. Products in this space are purchased frequently (more than eight times a year), and brand names dominate searches, accounting for over 50% of total category searches.

Here, brands compete fiercely for every single purchase, ensuring they remain the consumer’s first choice at the point of sale. Trust is a key factor, as many of these products—especially in personal care and beauty—play an intimate role in consumers’ daily lives.

Given the high purchase frequency and trust-driven decision-making, brands must constantly break through the clutter with new product launches. This neighbourhood operates like an innovation lab, where brands continuously refine and reinvent their offerings to stay ahead of the competition and maintain a dominant share of voice at the point of sale (POS).

A significant portion of marketing investment is directed toward POS branding and visibility. This ensures that every time a consumer shops—whether online or in-store—the brand stands out. For instance, in the toothpaste category, brands frequently introduce new variants such as charcoal, day & night formulas, pain relief, and whitening solutions. When a new variant is launched, retailers undergo a branding facelift, online and offline storefronts get refreshed, and channel partners are incentivized to push the product ahead of competing brands.

From a growth perspective, the bigger challenge here is driving retention and repeat purchases rather than persuading customers to switch brands. Market expansion comes primarily from category growth and reaching new markets, rather than converting competitors’ users.

Take the toothpaste industry as an example: The category’s total buyer base—the population that uses toothpaste—is essentially a function of the country’s population. Given this finite market size, only a handful of dominant brands control the space, and growth comes from innovation rather than poaching competitors’ customers.

How to Win:

Continuous New Product Development – Keep launching new variants to maintain excitement and differentiation.
Create & Leverage Trends – Stay ahead by capitalising on evolving consumer preferences.
Aggressive Communication Strategy – Ensure strong marketing and messaging around every new launch.
Dominate POS Visibility – Invest in prime shelf space, in-store branding, and digital prominence to remain the consumer’s first choice.

3. Deal Bazaar (Generic Search Dominant, High Purchase Frequency)

This fast-moving, hyper-competitive neighbourhood is where new brands thrive. Unlike brand-driven categories, product searches here are dominated by generic and feature-based keywords, with brand-specific searches accounting for less than 50% of all queries.

Here, product visibility and pricing trump brand loyalty. Every transaction is an opportunity to acquire a customer, as most shoppers are brand-agnostic or unaware of specific brands before purchasing.

One of the best examples of this dynamic is the fashion industry. In online retail, searches for “latest fashion trends,” “cotton shirts,” or “knee-length dresses” vastly outnumber searches for any specific brand. While shoppers may visit a brand’s outlet in a mall, their intent is not necessarily brand-first—it’s a starting point for their search. That’s why, in malls and high streets, similar stores are clustered together—customers are driven by style, material, or colour preferences rather than a particular label.

This low brand stickiness means that businesses compete fiercely on offers, promotions, and availability. Brands can easily win new customers if they provide a fresh product offering or a better price on a standard one. Players often undercut each other with loss-leader pricing to boost market share.

Take body wash as an example. A consumer shopping online is unlikely to search for a specific brand but instead looks for the best per-milliliter cost or the best deal. This is why 1+1 free, 3+1 packs and other bulk-buy offers dominate this space. New brands can leverage competitive pricing, visibility, and retargeting strategies to accelerate sales.

How to Win:

Optimize Online Conversions – Treat conversion rate as the holy grail metric and constantly test different formats and offers.
Dynamic Pricing & Offer Adjustments – React quickly to competitor promotions to stay competitive.
Invest in Retargeting Tools – Capture interest and bring back potential buyers who browse but don’t purchase.
Leverage Subscription Models – Encourage repeat purchases and build long-term retention.

4. Channel Depot (Generic Search Dominant, Low Purchase Frequency)

This research-heavy, tech-driven neighbourhood consists of products that are bought infrequently (every 3-5 years) but require extensive consideration before purchase. Despite the presence of strong brands, consumer searches remain category-driven, with brand-specific searches making up less than 50% of total queries.

Think TVs, refrigerators, cars, and hard drives—by the time a consumer makes a repeat purchase, the product landscape has evolved significantly. This constant cycle of innovation means consumers spend considerable time researching, comparing features, and seeking opinions before making a decision.

How Consumers Buy in Channel Depot

In this category, the omni-channel effect is strong—consumers seamlessly move between online research and offline store visits before committing. A typical air conditioner purchase in summer might look like this:

Online research (product specs, customer reviews, expert opinions)
Consulting family & friends
Visiting a multi-brand store to experience the product firsthand
Relying on in-store staff recommendations to finalise the decision

Since these products come with numerous advanced features, the biggest consumer dilemma is:

“What’s the right model for me?”

This is where expert guidance matters—in offline retail; knowledgeable in-store demonstrators influence final choices. At the same time, in digital, their role is replaced by customer reviews, ratings, product videos, and comparison websites. This is why comparison platforms for cars, electronics, and software products thrive—consumers demand detailed feature comparisons before purchasing.

For brands, the biggest challenge isn’t just driving conversions but ensuring consistent messaging and seamless experiences across channels to guide consumers toward an informed choice.

How to Win:

Advertise Features & USPs Over Brand – Buyers are looking for capabilities first, not brand names.
Dominate Generic Search – Invest in high-share-of-voice (SOV) for category-level search terms.
Prioritize Content Marketing – Educational content (reviews, videos, explainers) is key to building trust and influencing choices.
Invest in Omni-Channel & Comparison Platforms – Ensure presence across multi-brand stores, online retail, and comparison websites to influence decisions at multiple touchpoints.

The right channel strategy often makes new kings, sometimes a brand becomes a market leader in only one channel. But sometimes, that is enough, especially when the cost pressures are high and the brands are looking for newer footholds for differentiation and profitability.

Case Study

Beyond Basics: How Jockey Scaled Plus-Size Bras in a Variety-Driven Category

The Challenge:

In a category where shoppers primarily search using generic terms like “Bra” or “T-shirt Bra,” visibility is skewed toward high-velocity SKUs. While variety is a key driver of purchase decisions, plus-size bras remained underrepresented in search results, limiting consumer choice and sales potential.

Our Approach:

Identifying the Demand – Data showed that plus-size bras were already selling within existing SKUs, but had low visibility share in search results, meaning shoppers had to put in extra effort to find them.
Making Plus-Size Bras Easy to Find – Ran targeted ads to ensure plus-size bras appeared when shoppers searched for broad terms like “Bra” and “T-shirt Bra,” instead of being buried under more popular SKUs.
Expanding Choices & Ensuring Availability – Created dedicated plus-size SKUs and maintained strong stock levels so customers could always find their size.
Reaching & Converting the Right Shoppers – Used smart targeting and remarketing to re-engage women who had shown interest in plus-size options, driving more purchases.