MegaBrands · Hair colour

Godrej Expert: How a Rs 30 Sachet Changed the Way India Colours Its Hair

Godrej Expert, selected as the Mega Brand for Hair colour by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting), put crème hair colour into a Rs 30 sachet in 2012-13. Today its owner, Godrej Consumer Products, is working to move hair colour users from traditional formats to crème and shampoo colour.

By WCRC Leaders Editorial · Published October 2026 · 7 min read

At a glance

Godrej Expert is the hair colour brand of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), a Mumbai-based company of the Godrej Industries Group. Its range includes Godrej Expert Rich Crème, launched in the 2012-13 financial year as a crème colour in a Rs 30 sachet, the gel-based Godrej Expert Advanced and a shampoo hair colour. GCPL is led by Executive Chairperson Nisaba Godrej and Managing Director and CEO Aasif Malbari. It has been selected as the Mega Brand for Hair colour by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC.

Godrej Expert is built on a simple bet: that good hair colour should cost little and be easy to use at home. For years, many Indian consumers coloured their hair with powders. Godrej Expert set out to give them an easier crème format at a sachet price. That bet explains much of what follows: the reach, the trust and the steady stream of new formats.

The story starts with an established powder business. In its 2012-13 annual report, GCPL said it had backed its powder hair colour franchise with the gel-based Godrej Expert Advanced Powder Hair Colour. The same year brought the launch that would define the brand. GCPL introduced Godrej Expert Rich Crème, a crème hair colour in pre-measured sachets, which the company describes as a first in India. It came in five shades with a complete colouring kit, at Rs 30. As GCPL’s then Managing Director, A. Mahendran, wrote that year: “We also launched Godrej Expert Rich Crème Hair Colour, a unique innovation of a crème in a sachet, a first for the Indian market.”

GCPL does not publish revenue for Godrej Expert on its own. Its India business across all categories reported segment revenue of Rs 8,910 crore in FY2024-25, the latest full-year segment figure available to us.

WCRC MegaBrands covers 501 categories in India and selects one benchmark brand in each. It looks at brands through five pillars: Brand Positioning & Recall; Consumer Trust & Sentiment; Product, Innovation & Delivery; Sustainability, Governance & ESG; and Digital & Financial Soundness. Godrej Expert has been selected as the Mega Brand for Hair colour by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting). Here is how Godrej Expert’s record lines up with each pillar.

Pillar 1: How Godrej Expert Owns Share of Mind

Brand Positioning & Recall · weighted 28% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Godrej Expert’s position is easy to state. It is the brand that made crème hair colour affordable. In her 2019-20 letter to shareholders, Nisaba Godrej described Godrej Expert Rich Crème as the product that democratised crème hair colouring in India. In its 2020-21 annual report, GCPL said Godrej Expert “democratises hair colouring with a disruptive product portfolio”.

That message has been carried by familiar faces. In 2020-21, when salons were shut, GCPL partnered with film personalities Karan Johar and Neha Dhupia on Godrej Expert Rich Crème, to show how easily people could colour their hair at home.

The brand’s own website keeps the message personal. Its headline reads “Let your colour talk about your personality”, and its “Rang do yeh pal” campaign ties hair colour to festivals and family moments across the year, from Father’s Day to Diwali and New Year.

The brand’s message has also travelled beyond India. Sudhir Sitapati, GCPL’s Managing Director and CEO at the time, said in the company’s 2024-25 annual report that a Godrej Expert shampoo hair colour advertisement was shot once and adapted for India, Indonesia and Latin America.

Pillar 2: Why India Trusts Godrej Expert

Consumer Trust & Sentiment · weighted 26% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Trust in Godrej Expert starts with value. In its 2013-14 annual report, GCPL said Expert Crème was less than half the price of many competing products, and that it gave consumers using powders a way to step up to crème. In 2021-22, GCPL said its sachet hair crème, first offered at Rs 30, had also been launched at Rs 15. The company’s India site lists Godrej Expert Rich Crème among the smaller value packs that have brought its products to more households.

Trust also comes from showing people how. Hair colour is a product many consumers apply themselves, so GCPL has invested in teaching. In 2020-21, with salons still not fully open, it said it helped educate rural consumers about hair colouring through local celebrity and micro-influencer partnerships. In 2021-22, it partnered with mom influencers to address barriers to trial in hair colour and to build advocacy around Godrej Expert. In 2023-24, GCPL said it was also sampling hair colour directly with consumers.

The brand’s website adds an “Our ‘No ammonia’ promise” section, presented alongside guides on choosing the right shade and caring for coloured hair. The site does not say which products the promise covers.

The values behind the brand come from its owner. On taking charge as Managing Director and CEO in August 2026, Aasif Malbari said: “GCPL has always stood for trust, innovation, and boldness.”

Pillar 3: The Engine Behind Every Godrej Expert Pack

Product, Innovation & Delivery · weighted 20% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Godrej Expert’s range spans several formats. Godrej Expert Original offers easy-to-use sachets. Godrej Expert Advanced is a gel-based colour. Godrej Expert Rich Crème brings the crème format to a sachet price. In 2021-22, GCPL presented the Godrej Expert 5-minute shampoo-based hair colour, made for quick, hassle-free colouring at home.

Innovation has worked in both directions. GCPL said in 2013-14 that it used technology from its hair colour businesses in Latin America to build the crème sachet for India. A decade later, the flow had reversed. In its 2023-24 and 2024-25 annual reports, GCPL described Godrej Expert Shampoo Hair Colour as an Indian innovation finding acceptance in global markets, with strong traction in Latin America.

GCPL has set out where its hair colour business goes next. Speaking to investors on 2 September 2026, Mr Malbari said that “almost two-thirds of consumers still use the traditional format”, while modern formats, broadly crème and shampoo hair colour, hold about a third. He named the first part of GCPL’s strategy plainly: “The first one is upgrading consumers from traditional format to modern format.” He added: “We’re in the midst of the crème renovation or relaunch.”

GCPL is also investing in production. In 2021-22, GCPL used IoT data from the Godrej Expert Rich Crème lines at its Lokhra unit to monitor and improve output. In August 2026, GCPL inaugurated its fourth manufacturing unit at Malanpur in Madhya Pradesh, an investment of over Rs 480 crore, and said the expanded facility will make products including Godrej Expert Hair Colour.

Pillar 4: Godrej Expert and a Lighter Footprint

Sustainability, Governance & ESG · weighted 16% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

Godrej Expert’s owner is part of the Godrej Industries Group, whose roots go back to 1897, and is a listed company. GCPL was formed in 2001, when the erstwhile Godrej Soaps was demerged, and it is led by Executive Chairperson Nisaba Godrej and Managing Director and CEO Aasif Malbari.

The brand has been part of GCPL’s work to measure its environmental impact. In 2021-22, GCPL completed life cycle assessments for five products, including Godrej Expert Rich Crème, which together made up about half of its India revenue.

At company level, GCPL reports steady progress. In FY2024-25, recyclable plastic made up 63% of its plastic packaging, up from 40% a year earlier. It used 1,03,559 MWh of renewable energy, above its target of 90,000 MWh, and cut Scope 1 emissions to 30,541 tonnes of CO2 equivalent from 40,842 tonnes the year before. GCPL is a founding member of the India Plastic Pact. Its new Malanpur unit, which will make Godrej Expert Hair Colour, was designed to Indian Green Building Council guidelines.

Pillar 5: Godrej Expert’s Growth With Financial Strength

Digital & Financial Soundness · weighted 10% in the MegaBrands framework · How MegaBrands measures this

GCPL reports hair colour as a category, and the recent run has been strong. In the quarter to June 2025, GCPL said hair colour delivered “a strong double-digit performance”, with underlying volume growth led by Godrej Expert Rich Crème and GCPL’s shampoo hair colour. In the next two quarters, it reported that hair colour kept gaining market share in both crème and shampoo formats, although in the September 2025 quarter it said trade confusion after GST rate changes had hit the category significantly. In the quarter to June 2026, hair colour again “delivered strong growth”, with share gains in both formats.

The business around the brand is growing too. GCPL’s standalone India business reported sales of Rs 2,535 crore in the quarter to June 2026, up 12% on a year earlier, with underlying volume growth of 7%.

Digital work supports that growth. GCPL has used mom influencers to build advocacy around Godrej Expert, the brand’s website offers colouring guides, and in 2024-25 GCPL said one Godrej Expert shampoo hair colour film had been adapted for India, Indonesia and Latin America.

The Godrej Expert Benchmark

Every category has leaders. A MegaBrand is the brand its category is measured against. Godrej Expert holds that place in Indian hair colour because its record is strong on every pillar at once. It has a clear position on affordable colour, builds trust through value and education, keeps bringing new formats to market, is backed by a listed owner that measures its environmental impact, and sits in a hair colour business that GCPL says keeps gaining share.

Above all, it shows that a brand can raise the standard of a category by lowering its price. A crème colour in a Rs 30 sachet brought crème colouring within reach of many more households, and the shift from traditional to modern formats is still under way.

Powerfacts

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About Godrej Expert

Godrej Expert is the hair colour brand of Godrej Consumer Products Limited, part of the Godrej Industries Group, headquartered in Mumbai. Its range spans easy-to-use sachets, gel-based colour, Godrej Expert Rich Crème and shampoo hair colour. Godrej Expert Rich Crème, launched in 2012-13 at Rs 30, brought crème hair colour to a sachet price. Godrej Expert has been selected as the Mega Brand for Hair colour by the Business Intelligence Unit of WCRC (World Centre for Research and Consulting).