Men's Grooming in Malaysia

PRE-COVID-19 PERFORMANCE

Men’s grooming continues to gain momentum in 2019, driven by increasing emphasis placed on appearance amongst local males, particularly younger generations

Men’s grooming continued to record a strong performance in 2019, as the number of local men taking care of their appearance gained further momentum. Younger Malays are particularly interested in new product launches by global brands and are more likely to be influenced by celebrity endorsements and the latest trends that they see on social media.

New launch by David Beckham in 2019 likely to be well received as Malays are highly influenced by celebrity endorsements and related branding

Local males are particularly open to celebrity endorsements and branding, and therefore ranges of men’s grooming products that are linked to famous Malay names or especially, global stars, are likely to be well received. One notable entry to men’s grooming at the end of the review period was the range by British footballing star David Beckham developed in collaboration with Coty Inc and includes David Beckham Instinct Eau de Toilette in addition to the Respect, Classic and Homme lines.

Fragmented and intense competitive landscape allows room for movement within men’s grooming in 2019

Men’s grooming remained a fairly fragmented competitive landscape in 2019, led by multinationals such as Procter & Gamble, Mandom, Unilever, L’Oréal and Wipro, which remained highly active in launching new products and marketing products in various categories within men’s grooming, including Gillette in men’s shaving, Gatsby and Brylcreem in men’s hair care, and Garnier Men and L’Oréal Men Expert in men’s skin care. However, value share amongst the leading players remains tight with many of the leading names losing ground to smaller players under “others”, as local males are increasingly open to trying innovative products that offer some level of differentiation.

2020 AND BEYOND

COVID-19 impact

Value sales of men’s grooming are now expected to grow by 5% in 2020 at constant 2019 prices in light of the impact of COVID-19. This compares to an expected 7% rise forecast for 2020 during research conducted at the end of 2019 before the spread of COVID-19.

Affected products within men’s grooming

While many men are likely to pay less attention to their overall appearance whilst being forced to remain at home during the lockdown, leading to low demand for men’s shaving and fragrances, a number of other categories are still set to record stronger demand including the largest category of men's toiletries, which is deemed to be essential, while high growth will continue to be driven by mass men’s bath and shower. However, demand for men’s deodorants is predicted to be marginally slower as remaining at home is likely to lead to less frequent usage.

Recovery and opportunities

While normalisation in terms of value growth at constant 2019 prices is set to resume from 2021, a number of men’s grooming products will behave differently over the forecast period. Interestingly, men’s pre-shave and men’s razors and blades will remain weaker in performance compared to the review period; with beards or an unshaven look emerging during the lockdown, the trend is set to remain, at least for the short term amongst some men.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.