 Hello and welcome to Exchange for Media, D2C Revolution. We have with us today the co-founder of FemTech brand, Sirona, Deep Bajaj. Hi, Deep. Thank you for joining us today. Hi, Zoni. It's always nice to speak to you guys. So Deep, I'll dive straight in, right? FemTech as a category is very new and the D2C business model when Sirona was founded was very new, just 2014 if I'm not wrong. Just talk us through the journey of Sirona all through these years, the ups and downs, pre-pandemic, post-pandemic. What have you seen significantly change? Well, it's been a long journey to cover, but I'll say that we started with one product. We looked at one problem that Indian women were facing back then, which is the lack of clean toilets. And we started with Peabody as our first product, which became India's first stand-in-pea device for women. And back in the days, the Sirona D2C was also not coined as it is coined today. We're just a business trying to sell and online was just coming around in marketplaces, we're just opening to get customers' confidence. So we tried our hands at making the product available at offline stores. And back in the days, or even now, for branch store and offline stores, it's a very different animal. So it took us a while to get it offline, but online started ticking. And as one product started to get traction, we realized that there is this entire market where women in India are suffering from a lot of unaddressed, intermittent menstrual hygiene issues which nobody's solving. So we thought we should do something about it. So from toilets, we moved to periods. And after that kept looking at other solutions which were not available. And today, Sirona has known for solving a lot of problems which were not solved before us for women right from Peabody to menopause. So what has changed back in the days, it was more about learning the platform, making your own playbook, finding people who you were training and growing with them. While now, in the last few years, market has changed. There are a lot newer brands. The talent is easy to find now. People are far more open to transact online. But for us at the office in our heart, it's still day zero where we are saying, let's keep solving problems for women and keep bringing innovative products, whether it's physical products or technology products. Interesting. You mentioned about the feminine hygiene and wellness products. But what I also came across is that you've also forwarded into the sexual wellness category with some acquisitions in the recent past. Can you give us more insights into that? What triggered this expansion? So it just fits in very well with the brand philosophy. We are saying we want to break the stigma that exists around female hygiene issues. There's a lot of stigma as a world's most populous country. So sex is not in the earth. But as topics, it's not discussed, especially for women. The only product will be cotton jack best. Same as the case of periods, there is no dialogue around it. So Serona, the journey that we are trying to solve is right from puberty to menopause. And we are identifying gaps that exist around this journey which puts women at a disadvantage. And if there are product solutions for them, they can operate far better. So dirty toilets, we have puberty standard P, we have toilet seat covers, we have toilet deodorizers. When she starts her periods, she hits puberty or after when she starts on monthly cycles, then she needs products which go beyond pads. But I'm talking about 15, 16, who the dialogue was around pads. So we started talking about use of tampons with applicator. We introduced menstrual cups, which today 2 million women are using it. Serona menstrual cups, we are highest selling menstrual cups. We started solving other period-related problems. Like period pain, they were only solutions like hot water, bottle, pain killer. We came up with India's first herbal period pain relief patch. There were nothing available for rashes that women get in the intimate areas. While for kids, they were always baby diaper rash creams. So we came up with India's first anti-shuffing rash cream for women. Dagwit Chehan was the camp in national television, but nothing for period states. So we came up with India's first in a period state remover. And we were just looking at solving these problems in similar buckets when we stumbled upon this sexual wellness as a category for women, which is an intimate issue. But there were no condoms which were made from women's point of view. So we realized that condoms have benzocaine, they have other protein levels are high, which goes and impacts the vaginal fluids and creates issues for women, which were not even discussed very openly. So one idea was to innovate on our own. Second was to see if somebody's already solved that problem and we joined hands. So that's where we saw this brand called Blue, which is it is first vegan condom brand certified brand. And we thought it'll make perfect sense for us to bring it up to the fold. So now we are saying we are looking at toilets, we are looking at puberty, we are looking at your sexual wellness and maternity, whatever problems you face, and we're trying to solve them. That's where it got in. And in the similar flow, you know, when we launched India's first period tracker on WhatsApp, the same philosophy was followed that when it comes to tracking period or tracking evolution, you don't need to necessarily download Serona app while we have the Serona app. But because we are core, the core is to solve problem for customers from customers point of view, we realize what if she doesn't want to have my app and the problem can be very comfortably solved on WhatsApp. So we created India's first, it was perhaps world's first period tracker on WhatsApp. So in the same breadth, Blue was acquired, because it was an unrest issue, which we thought we could talk about it at scale. Lovely about the, you know, listening to the WhatsApp tracking with, you know, we've got, you know, different channels can be leveraged to reach. So coming to the channels a bit, it says, what channel are you, you know, more heavy on when you're talking to your audience and what's the marketing, you know, spends life happening there. So, you know, we are strong on marketplaces, followed by our website, and now a little bit of offline is what we started, we also sell internationally. So those are the few channels from where we sell. And marketing spends honestly, a very channel wise, but we ship some 4 lakh orders every month, as of now. And I think we're still scratching the surface, yet to reach to the tier 2, tier 3 terms in the way we want to, right? I mean, obviously, with Amazon, Flipkart, Nike, Mishos of the world, you're delivering products everywhere. But I think these, some of these products need to be available offline, for it to really scale to the level where we believe we can be. Right. Can you give us some more insight into, you know, the share of D2C versus the share of e-commerce when it comes to your distribution? Well, so out of whatever number we do, we do about 70% from marketplaces, 10 to 15% comes from data scheme, offline is a small part right now. Perfect. And what is, you know, you have been in this space for quite some while, you know, now and the world has seen a constant, you know, complete transformation since then. What are you perceiving the entire D2C domain as right now? How has that space sort of, you know, built itself or the clutter has increased? What is the domain looking like right now? I think it's a very interesting time for anybody who wants to start a D2C brand to look at it. Because, you know, what technology has done, it has taken up internet is everywhere today, you know, mobile phones are on every hand. And there is a reasonable amount of awareness that people have around any topic. You know, today, if you want to learn about, like, next look up, for example, back in the days when we started talking about, there were barely any discussion rounds. You've created a lot of videos today. Those videos have hundreds and thousands of views, you know, which are coming from tier two, tier three towns. So people are inquisitive, so technology has taken awareness, content to the last mile. Logistics also, if you look at it, there is such advancement that has happened in terms of, you know, if you have a product, it can be delivered to any part of the country. And then, obviously, there are marketplaces which are enabling the ecosystem to do better. There is also a rise in disposable income, so which means that consumers are also willing to, you know, try more than, I mean, try other than the regular products that they used to buy. So very interesting times. And I think this is just the, it's still the beginning. We are, we still scratching the surface as it, when it comes to the brands, I think there'll be far newer brands, there'll be brands which will be known for niches, micro-niches also. And because, you know, internet facilitates it, you don't see any reason why the sector should not do well. Okay. And, you know, deep, you're also bang at the beginning of the festive season, right? What are we expecting from, what should we expect from Sirona over here? What do we expect it to see, you know, you're not going big on the festive season. What's your plan? Well, all guns blazing here. We are excited about some new launches. We'll share it closer to the date. We have already, you know, planned our inventory, our spends are in line, our campaigns are lined up. So this Diwali time especially becomes one of the most sought after timing for the 3 to C brand. So excited to look at the season this time. And I'm assuming it's going to be amazing because there's so many newer platforms also that have come in, you know, last till about a couple of years ago, it was only about Flipkart, Amazon, Nica. But now there are so many newer quick commerce players who are doing exceptionally well. So this will be interesting here for us. You mentioned the line that said Diwali is very sought after time for D to C brands. Why do you say so? Well, there's a lot of traffic, additional advertising that everybody is doing. The mood is high, you know, and people are looking to spend, buy stuff, rent away and all of that happens around the time. It's also the wedding season. So all in all, you know, it's onset of good mood, I would say, which has a spell of online buying. And there are only newer, you know, buyers getting added to the online shopping world every year. So yes, that's why excited. Are you planning to up your spends this second half of the year as compared to the first half? Yeah, it is. It's usually in line with the season. So yes, we are parking some campaigns specifically around the festive season. Right. You just also mentioned about, you know, how tech, the role tech is playing. Can you give us some insight on where does tech stand for Serona in terms of reaching your consumers and in terms of getting consumer insights as well? So it plays a very important role. The good lamp group has a very strong tech team back in team, which uses the data, like, you know, no second that I know of at least. So there is an app that Serona has today. Thousands of women are asking questions almost every day on topics that are difficult to find answers for outside, you know, because you don't want to discuss too much of intimate needs on public forums. So when you look at, it's a closed network. It's a community. Our sister community is going every day. There are what's up groups where women are getting answers to their questions. So technology that way is being an integral part. And obviously the WhatsApp period tracker that we have is also bringing a lot of new customers to Serona and at the same time help them track their periods effortlessly. And I think going forward, whether it is for Serona or whatever technological advancements are happening, it is only going to be a boom for the data seeker system. So exciting times ahead. And, you know, I also wanted to get to know about your localization plan. So the category you are in, it's more something that an urban consumer say would know about, right, then say a tier two or tier three, what sort of response are you seeing from those towns and how are you sort of communicating with that audience? So vernacular is a big part of our business. It always has been not more from, you know, because when you look at the kind of topics that are on our deals and they're all taboo, you know, there's a lot of harshness around these topics. So and we believe one of the ways you can break a taboo is by talking about it. So we've been, we've been ardent believers in creating content around these topics in multiple languages. The press release is also that we do, we try to have strong vernacular angle to it. So I see that shall shall continue for us. And that is going to be the focus of the plan as well for now to say that tier two, tier three towns, there is, there is, if they have the awareness, there is a lot of willingness to try and we track our orders, they're coming from all over. Yes, metros do contribute to majority of them, but it's also because, you know, people have moved from tier two, tier three towns to cities to work, doesn't mean that the demand from there is less, so that the earning audience is not there or the younger. And the ones who are there, as long as they get to know about the products are willing to try. Otherwise, you know, I mean, look at 20,000,000 women using Serona Metro Cups today, which about five years, six ago was not even a category that existed, you know, when we started pushing it. So and it's the demand has come from all over, T-Buddy gets demand from all over. You know, we recently, we also acquired a Peppersbury brand, where also we are surprised to see, you know, demand coming in from, you know, the remotest parts of the country today. And I think it's also because, you know, women might be traveling back to their hometown and then they want these products. So I mean, to just say that it's an urban phenomenon as of now is wrong. Yes, when it comes to marketplaces, the convenience is to get delivered to your primary place of stake. But when, as people travel, the demands come from all over. Yeah, but are you sort of building on any initiatives to, you know, build awareness among these regions? It's an ongoing thing for us. We also run a foundation, you know, where we work with the underprivileged women, we are on a mission to enpede poverty and gender inequality, which happens pan India. You know, we work with the most underprivileged as well as the most underserved communities. And through that anyways, we're talking about, you know, the importance of sustainable menstrualizing practices. At Serona at the brand level, there are content, there is content being created regularly in multiple languages to ensure that people who are not very well-versed with English as the primary language or Hindi do not get left out because of lack of right content. So it's an ongoing part of our existence at Serona that we need to educate our customers, we need to empower them to the right knowledge, to empower them with the right products, right reviews. And rest, I think the magic happens when you have a great team. Right, there's an interesting point that I wanted to ask. Your quote, TG, is women, you know, are women consumers, right? Do you sort of get any, so any, you know, do you sort of notice a trend where you get the male consumers as well? Well, I think initially it was in fact funny that we used to get a lot of men asking us that, hey, you're men trying to solve women related problems. And I said, you know, it's not a gender thing. Do we get men? Yeah, I think there are, there are, there are questions from men also that comes in, you know, there are questions where, you know, thoughtful boyfriends, husband, brothers have asked around, you know, hey, can you tell me more about your period paint patches? You know, my sister or my daughter or whoever, you know, has, has been facing this problem. Is that a lot of volume? Not yet, but it is a very welcome percentage that, you know, men are also inquiring about these and they want to solve these problems for the women, which is the destination that Serona is chasing. Like that's our blue star, you know, that we keep, not star, I'm sorry, that we keep chasing that country where, you know, everybody talks about these issues, how we talk about any other issue like education, you know, so it's not a man versus woman topic. So this, this needs to be normalized in the same thread. The change has started to happen. There are men asking, but we still have more women, you know, who are, because they're suffering directly. So they are, you know, seeking solutions only a small percentage of men, but it's, it's rising. Yeah, but the key lies in breaking the tempo and getting everyone to speak about it, right? Absolutely, as long as you normalize this, you know, which is precisely what we are even trying to do with our recent project that we took to you, which we launched now with the Delhi Airport guys. Yeah, you know, and we said that, you know, it will be amazing if these products are kept outside the washrooms and not inside them. Let's normalize it, right? By Pepsi Coke cans are spread everywhere. Why can, you know, the hygiene products not be placed similarly at the point where it's required. So that's what Sirona thinks in, in everything that we do, where we are saying, you cannot solve this problem by saying, hey, I only have the product, but listen, I'll send it in brown paper. No, it needs to be, it needs to actually be delivered if possible, you know, as it is, you know, it is a natural phenomenon. So why do we keep it under wraps? So yes, the more we talk about it, the more the table goes. Great. And lastly, anything that we should expect from Sirona in the coming, you know, months, anything significant, future plans, expansion plans, whatever. You'll be the first ones we'll inform. But yes, keep, keep watching this space. There's some very interesting products we're launching. There are some new initiatives, like the Airport One, it's live at Tabu, very soon coming to Terminal 3. Similar stories to help our consumers, to help our customers live a better life. Superb. I think that was indeed a great conversation. Deep, we got to know a lot about breaking the tabu and a lot of interesting facts as well. Thank you. Thank you for being with us here today. And thank you audience for joining in. Thank you so much.