‘My career was my film school, partners like Nykaa were my B-school’: Priyanka Chopra Jonas

Indian actor-turned-entrepreneur Priyanka Chopra Jonas has made a foray into the Indian market with Anomaly, her new hair care brand launched in partnership with beauty e-commerce platform Nykaa. Haircare is the fastest-growing category across segments in the Indian beauty industry and Jonas says that her partnership with Nykaa will help her understand the Indian consumer better, thereby aiding her journey as an entrepreneur.

“I believe in collaborations. Everything in my career has been about collaborations. I work with leaders. As an actor my career was my film school, and as an entrepreneur, working with partners like Nykaa and Maesa, who are leaders in what they do, has been my B-school. It’s fun and creative for me, and also scary when you venture into new things,” Jonas told Business Today.

She launched her product two years back in the American market during the pandemic. “It took us time to figure out and strategise on how to bring the brand to the Indian consumers and what the positioning should be. We launched about two years ago in America. The plan was always to come to India. We don’t think we’re that late,” she said.

Globally, she adds, the awareness was a lot more different and required a lot of building. “But in India, I’ve had a 22-year-old career. There’s a lot of awareness about who I am and what I do, there’s a lot of credibility attached, which I’m still building in the US – the credibility I probably have here,” she said.

Jonas adds that when Anomaly launched in the US, it flew off the shelves and sold one product every 7 seconds on day 1. “Nykaa on their platform has 4,000+ products, 450+ haircare brands and we're in the top 10 in about 3 months. Anomaly comes from an ethos of Indian haircare. It is for the Indian consumer,” she said.

When it comes to pricing and position, every Anomaly product in the US is under $10. That’s a very easy price there, Jonas said. “But when you say it’s Rs 750 in India, it’s different. Hopefully, we’ll get to a point where we built the brand enough where we can be mass. Right now, we’re catering to a consumer who cares about what they use, and who can afford four times the price that you could have paid for a product. We’re giving to you products under Rs 1,000 but also a consumer that aspires to get that formula,” she said.

“We’re democratizing the access to get that formula at a price which they can afford. I am leaning upon Nykaa to understand what their consumer base is about and how Indian beauty is changing,” she adds.

Jonas also said that as of now, there are no plans to venture into any other categories like styling, makeup, skincare, etc. “That’s where we’re staying as of now, but you never know,” she said.

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