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How founder-led education is driving Plum’s marketing & consumer communication

Plum’s CEO and Marketing Lead unpacks how Plum is approaching India’s new, research-driven skincare consumer and shares details on their evolving marketing strategy.

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Sneha Medda
New Update
Plum Marketing

India's skincare market is witnessing a fundamental shift. Gen Z and millennials are driving a new wave of informed consumption, one that prioritises ingredient transparency, scientific formulation, and products tailored to Indian skin types and climate. This demographic, armed with research and scepticism, has little patience for marketing fluff. They want to know what's in their products and why it works.

India's beauty and personal care market is valued at $33.08 billion, with premiumisation emerging as a uniform trend across the country. Plum, one of India's earliest D2C-native beauty brands, has built its business by speaking directly to this audience. Founded over a decade ago, the brand initially captured the millennial cohort. As that base has matured, Gen Z has entered with greater disposable income and an even sharper eye for authenticity. For Plum, the strategy is to balance both groups without alienating either.

"It's not just Gen Z," explains Akansha Baliga, Marketing Lead at Plum. "When Plum started 10-11 years ago, it was largely the millennial audience. That base has evolved with us and continues to be important. Gen Z now has more disposable income and is entering the skincare market, so they've become a core audience too."

Marketing to the research-obsessed consumer

Baliga dismisses common misconceptions about Gen Z's shopping behaviour. "There are several misconceptions about Gen Z, but what's great about them is that they don't take things at face value. They want detailed information about what they're buying. They research extensively, online and through word of mouth. They want to know what's in the product and what has gone into it."

This insight has fundamentally shaped Plum's marketing approach. The ingredient and product story are central to every launch the brand does. For the brand's latest Cerasense launch, the focus has been on FAQs, explainers, and content that differentiates the product in a crowded market. "We aim to simplify the science without dumbing it down, explaining things the way a favourite professor would, using fun analogies and clear visuals," Baliga says.

With winter setting in, Plum’s latest launch, Cerasense, captures this science-first approach. The product was shaped by the uniquely Indian insight: that winter here doesn’t behave like winter elsewhere. “Although it gets cold in many parts of the country, it's still humid or moderately hot, especially in Mumbai and the South. People tend to sweat a lot even during winter, and most Indians still have oily skin. So they can't apply very thick, heavy creams,” Baliga explains. Cerasense was formulated to address exactly this gap.

For new launches, Plum goes online first, leveraging Meta, YouTube, and creator partnerships, Baliga explains. "We work extensively with creators even before product launch, we give them samples, get feedback, and treat them like consumers," Baliga notes. The brand also conducts blind testing and A/B testing with consumers before finalising any major launch.

Beyond online marketing, the brand is also exploring experiential marketing to build deeper connections with creators. "We bring them to events where we can explain products in detail and show what we do as a brand. The hope is that they know us better than other brands, which helps maintain credibility," Baliga says. 

The brand plans to increase its focus on experiential formats, recognising that its products, with their depth of formulation, benefit from in-person demonstrations.

Beyond the metros 

Baliga also mentioned that while online marketing delivers reach, experiential marketing allows Plum deeper penetration. 

Plum's growth story challenges the metro-centric narrative that often dominates D2C discourse. According to CEO Shankar Prasad, more than half of the brand's business comes from beyond the top eight cities. "Currently, let's say about 60% of our revenue comes from outside the top 8 cities," Prasad notes. Markets like Palakkad in Kerala, Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, and Udaipur in Rajasthan are among the brand's leading contributors.

Early in its journey, Plum had to navigate logistics hurdles that most urban-focused brands never encounter. "There were pin codes where a BlueDart or Delhivery would not deliver. We had to go to the post office and send it via India Post's speed post," Prasad recalls.

The premiumisation trend that's fueling this growth isn't restricted by geography. "Premiumisation is a uniform trend across India; people are seeking out better, wholesome, believable and more premium experiences," Prasad says. 

The brand's D2C model plays a crucial role in this strategy. Unlike marketplaces, Plum's website and app allow the brand to control the narrative. "D2C allows us to tell the brand story, the depth of what we do, what our products stand for. That's hard to convey on marketplaces," Baliga explains. 

Offline expansion, however, remains measured. Currently present in about 150 cities, Plum is focused on strengthening existing systems rather than pursuing aggressive expansion. "Offline retail is not as seamlessly scalable as online retail is. It needs physical presence. It needs to have the right team, the right distribution partners, and the right ways of working in the market," Prasad says. 

Social media strategy

Plum's social media strategy centres on education-led content, with the brand's founder emerging as its key face rather than external influencers or celebrity ambassadors. The decision is rooted in authenticity, which is a non-negotiable for the brand's target audience.

"As a brand, we stand for 'chemistry with heart,' and who better to talk about chemistry than the founder himself? He has nearly three decades of experience as a formulator," Baliga explains. While the brand explored external ambassadors in the past, the most authentic story came from the person behind the products. "We decided to let him be the first voice. He, along with our other formulators, tells the product stories with authenticity, and consumers respond well to that."

Shankar Prasad, the brand’s founder and CEO, acts as the main educator, who dissects their products and ingredients to simplify the brand for the audience. 

Along with Prasad’s role as product educator, the brand also puts its formulators and scientists front and centre in FAQ-style reels, adding authenticity and credibility to its social media.

Along with educational content, their social media also contains fun and relatable content surrounding skincare, topical content and viral trends. 

Content creators play a prominent role in their social media strategy as well. 

The visual language

For a digitally-native brand, packaging serves dual purposes: functional and aesthetic. Plum has adopted a minimalist approach, but one that balances understated elegance with visual appeal on social media feeds.

"Today, thanks to Gen Z, if the packaging doesn't look great, nothing works, no matter how good the product is. It needs aesthetic appeal, especially on social media," Baliga acknowledges.

The brand's outer packaging is predominantly white with colour accents, a deliberate variety that prevents monotony. But the inner product packaging is where colour and identity come alive. "For example, Cerasense is completely purple; the Niacinamide range is blue. We balance outer and inner packaging intentionally and showcase the inner packaging more, because that's where we can express colour and identity," says Baliga.

social media strategy plum marketing skincare marketing winter marketing