From the house of SSIZ International, 'Ikonic' is a premier in-house entity that crafts class-leading styling tools. Founded in 2009 by Rayed Merchant, Ikonic’s ultimate vision is to be a stalwart of the styling industry and be the one and only brand that professionals all over need.

From hair straighteners, dryers, curlers, combs, brushes, and a wide array of world-class tools, Ikonic is not just about building the best styling products, but also about creating a brand that embodies the pinnacle of beauty and grooming.

In India, the brand claims that it currently holds 10 percent of the total hair styling products market share.

“We want to have at least 33 percent market share in the coming years. We look to dominate one-third of the hair styling products market in the country,” said Rayed Merchant, Director of Global Marketing and Head of Brand Procurement, Ikonic Professional.

Products In-Line

Ikonic currently has about 140 SKUs. It operates in around 11 categories, including hair straighteners, dryers, curlers, combs, brushes, travel minis, etc. It also has a line called ‘Essentials’, which consists of accessories like salon clips and spray bottles. The brand recently launched another line called 'Ikonic Basics', comprising beauty products for home use such as bathing loofahs, nail cutters, foot scrapers, manicure and pedicure tools, etc.

Additionally, while keeping the standards of Ikonic as a brand quality and maintaining its niche, the brand is also introducing a line that is a little more competitively priced, and it will be called as ‘Ikonic Me’. This line will also have dryers, irons, stylers, clippers, trimmers, etc. but at a lower price point.

“Ikonic Me will be the line of products which we are going to be telling our audience that if you are a homemaker, then you use this line of products as you really don't have to go to the most professional product. So if you are using it at home, this is good for you and you also pay a reasonably lower price for that,” he noted.

“Our idea is to add on more particular categories in Ikonic. Going forward, we will launch wet line products of hair care and hair styling, which connects to the tools being added to our portfolio,” Merchant added.

Spreading Wings

Apart from its website, Ikonic is available on e-commerce platforms like Amazon, Nykaa, Purplle, Tata CLiQ, etc. On the offline front, the brand currently has about 400 distributors, covering each pin code in India.

Currently, 70 percent of the brand’s business comes through offline channels while the remaining is contributed by the e-commerce websites. “E-commerce can never overtake offline; e-commerce is a service, but it cannot be replaced with businesses offline,” Merchant stated.

In order to make the brand more visible, Ikonic is planning to launch standalone stores across the country. The first store will be launched in Mumbai in the first quarter of 2023.

Explaining the need to have an offline store, Rayed asserted, “It's very difficult for any shopkeeper to give us so much space for display, which basically disconnects our clientele to have an experience of the entire catalog that we have. Hence, it motivated us to come up with our own store.”

Tier III Push

Ikonic stated that there are a lot of Tier III regions that have now started giving revenues as close to Tier II cities. This shows that the population is getting more educated and tech-savvy, and the consumers are seeing and buying things that are related to grooming and self-care.

At present, Tier II and III cities contribute around 35 percent of Ikonic’s total business.

“We are planing to expand further in Tier III cities and beyond. The idea is to create a distribution channel in the cities where there is a population of about a hundred thousand people,” he explained.

In a bid to connect more to these consumers, Ikonic will focus on education, and connecting with salons and academies. It will also organize look-and-learn seminars and extend its wing of digital training. Additionally, Ikonic is also planning to make its YouTube channel super active.

“YouTube is one of the most watched applications in Tier II and III cities. This is the channel that will help us in touching base with the right consumers, and we are also going to create content in regional languages for better understanding of the consumers,” said Merchant.

Focus on Influencer Marketing

Ikonic strongly works with influencers. When the brand works with influencers, it is not expecting influencers to generate sales for it. Its idea of having an influencer is purely educational i.e. to teach the audience how to use the brand products and what can be achieved out of this.

“For instance, today if a consumer has a hair iron, and if he/she sees an influencer or an Ikonic page telling him/her that though they have picked up an iron, they can also do curls with it, and they don't need to spend to buy another product. As a brand responsibility, Ikonic is telling consumers how the product can be used in better ways,” Rayed asserted.

“33-35 percent of our total marketing spends go into social media as it helps us educate more consumers,” he further added.

Roadmap Ahead

The brand plans to set up a manufacturing unit in India, which will be its engine to produce more tools and products. This unit will also lead to an employment opportunity for the country, taking away the hustle of being dependent on imports.

Ikonic has been growing 100 percent over the past two years. It achieved a turnover of close to Rs 250 crore last year.

“We are looking to achieve double this fiscal year,” Merchant asserted.

“Going forward, we want to make ourselves largely available in different offline spaces, like modern trade, malls, kiosks, institutional events, and B2B expo in small towns,” he added.

Talking about the overseas expansion, the brand said it has set up the company in the Middle East, and it is supplying already to Nepal, Sri Lanka, Dubai, Saudi, Iran, and Kuwait. Ikonic has also been certified and is now qualified to be available for sale in UK, US, and Canada, and this would be the expansion target for the brand for 2023.