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Some beauty brands arrive with an inherent allure (scientific depth, a sense of luxury or something more elusive) that immediately turns them into cult-favourites. Others must navigate through painstaking R&D, countless experiments and best-in-class marketing and community building before an intriguing product line can hope to capture people’s imagination.

By the end of 2018, mCaffeine was struggling. Even two years after its debut, the caffeine-themed beauty and personal care brand (its parent company is PEP Brands) did not strike a chord with Indian consumers. Despite a bold, attention-grabbing name and the allure of a standout ingredient, it could not carve a niche in a crowded market.

“We made every rookie mistake one could imagine, typical of a team building a brand for the first time,” said cofounder and chief growth officer Vaishali Gupta while speaking to Inc42 for CMO Code series.

“However, we were venturing into uncharted territory at the time. We had the name mCaffeine, but caffeine was a secondary ingredient in the brand’s narrative, a kind of afterthought. We were not sure how to use it as a core proposition.”

The way they picked the brand name was entirely serendipitous. Tarun Sharma, one of the cofounders, was suffering from a swollen eye and seeking a quick cure. In true desi fashion, a roommate suggested applying a cold tea bag, a home remedy passed down through generations. It worked. Intrigued by the outcome, the team dug deeper and uncovered an interesting nugget of information. Caffeine has long been used in dermatology for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hair-fall-reducing benefits.

Globally, caffeine-infused skincare was not a new concept, but it was largely overlooked in India. Spotting an untapped market, the team of five — Sharma (he is the CEO), Gupta, Vikas Lachhwani, Mohit Jain and Saurabh Singhal — set out to create a brand around this underrated powerhouse. They officially launched mCaffeine in October 2016.

“Around that time, we were looking for opportunities in the beauty and skincare space. The rise of the direct-to-consumer [D2C] model and the growth of the BPC [beauty and personal care] sector made us think — why not introduce caffeine-based products to the Indian market? The idea clicked, and mCaffeine was launched,” shared Gupta.

How A ‘Hero’ Ingredient Led To A Winning Pivot

As Gupta pointed out, the brand’s initial product lineup featured many experimental blends such as caffeine paired with hibiscus, caffeine with shea butter and other unorthodox concoctions. But two glaring issues soon emerged. First, caffeine often played a supporting role, overshadowed by more familiar ingredients. Second and more crucial: An average Indian did not fully understand how caffeine would add value to skincare.

It did not take the team long to realise that for most Indians, caffeine is synonymous with just one thing — coffee.

That insight was a game-changer. The founders knew they must shift the brand narrative and present caffeine not as a scientific buzzword but as a familiar, much-beloved staple. With its deep-rooted cultural significance in India, coffee could become the perfect anchor to elevate a brand.

The team tapped into the deep cultural and emotional bonds associated with coffee, transforming it from a functional beverage to something aspirational, even intimate. “You go on a coffee date. But you don’t say, let’s go on a green tea date,” chuckled Gupta.

The challenge lay in capturing the essence of coffee as the pulse of life, offering warmth, wellness and vibrancy, and shaping experiences and identities. That feeling needed to be woven into the brand to resonate deeply with consumers.

When it was finally achieved, the outcome was a bold brand pivot, with mCaffeine doubling down on coffee as its hero ingredient and launching a fresh product line, along with a campaign called Caffeinate for Good.

This unique tweak meant the branding reorientation could not stop at the product level. The team overhauled the packaging, ditching the sterile look for a sleek, consumer-friendly design. The brand voice also evolved — from scientific to relatable. With a clear value proposition and a stronger emotional hook, mCaffeine began to hit its stride.

“When we shifted direction, the emotional bond we wanted to forge with our customers happened in no time,” recalled Gupta. Within six months of adopting a coffee-first positioning, mCaffeine’s sales tripled. By FY20, revenues surged ninefold to reach INR 40.3 Cr from INR 4.5 Cr in the previous fiscal year.

The momentum did not stop. In July 2023, PEP Brands launched another skincare label called Hyphen in collaboration with actress Kriti Sanon.

The 6Ps That Built PEP Brands’ Marketing Engine

Behind the PEP Brands’ compelling consumer connection lies a meticulously crafted marketing strategy. The team calls it the Six P Framework, a concoction of product, proposition, pricing, packaging, platform and promotion.

“You cannot afford to miss out on any of these six Ps,” said Gupta. “You have to get all six of them right to engage with consumers and make a real impact effectively.”

Over the years, this framework has shaped every brand and product decision at mCaffeine. A prime example is the now-iconic coffee body scrub. Unlike the conventional creamy solutions, this is a powdered blend of all components, crafted to deliver a unique sensory experience. Supported by premium packaging and a striking visual narrative, it further highlights the brand’s commitment to innovation and luxury.

“The scrub doesn’t just smell like coffee; it is a complete experience. Every detail has been crafted with intention, from the aroma to the texture,” said Gupta. “We priced it strategically to encourage trials and pushed it across digital platforms through immersive, narrative-driven campaigns.”

Beyond its foundational 6P framework, Pep Brands leans on a blend of brand consistency, category creation and market intelligence to scale meaningfully. Let us quickly explore how the brand approaches user acquisition, retention and category innovation.

Building The Brand Recall

PEP Brands does not chase fleeting viral moments. Instead, it plays a long game built on consistent messaging, tightly controlled visual identity and a product-first ethos.

“All these lead to a brand recall that does not happen in a day or two. What’s critical is consistency,” said Gupta.

Here are the four key principles that help build lasting brand recall.

• Message matters more than the medium: The format may vary from AI-generated visuals to influencer-led reels, but the core product message remains the same.
• Authenticity is critical: The mCaffeine Coffee Body Scrub, for instance, sticks to a simple yet powerful promise: A Starbucks-like fragrance and tan-free, glowing skin after just one use. Such clarity and authenticity help lock in consumer memory.
• Product is the anchor: Every PEP Brands’ product is designed to deliver a dual experience — sensorial delight (through texture, fragrance and feel) and real-time efficacy. Neither aspect is negotiable; both must be present in a product to meet brand standards.

Category Creation And Disruption

For PEP Brands, the category strategy is not an either/or situation. It actively operates in both realms, either introducing new functions or reimagining tired, conventional approaches.

Category creation involves identifying emerging consumer requirements and cultivating new habits around those. Interestingly, both product innovation and consumer education play a critical role here. For instance, the brand observed rising global interest in under-eye patches, and search trends further indicated a growing demand. But conversations revealed that Indian consumers did not know how to treat puffiness or permanently remove dark circles.

In response, mCaffeine introduced caffeine-based under-eye creams and patches, packaged with engaging but informative content that eschewed medical jargon.

As for category disruption, the brand enters a saturated category and/or product format and reinvents the offering to surprise and re-engage consumers. For example, the way a body wash is typically sold is a well-worn format. So, mCaffeine launched a body wash in a takeaway-style coffee cup, blending fragrance, experience and a visual surprise. The launch was timed with the International Coffee Day, and the product was a sellout in a week, sparking a viral moment that combined novelty and emotional appeal.

The distinction? Category creation revolves around education+innovation, but category disruption is the magical blend of familiar format+unexpected twist.

Timing The Launch And The Exit

Launching new products and/or categories requires insight, not haste. Hence, mCaffeine uses a three-pronged model for its go-to-market (GTM) strategy, helping the brand determine when to launch and retire a product. Its GTM relies on the following three:

• R&D and trend intelligence: Continuous tracking of skincare innovations and product developments globally and within India
• Search data: Monitoring search patterns, rising queries and consumer interest through platforms like Amazon and Google
• Consumer conversations: Active engagement with users to identify unmet requirements.

The launch of the under-eye care category is a case in point, as all three signals — trend insights, search volume and direct consumer feedback — aligned at the time.

All products typically get a 12-month runway (across all four seasons) before final decisions are taken about retiring them. The key metrics for assessing product-market fit (PMF) include:

• Repeat purchase: Are existing customers coming back for it?
• Repurchase intent: Is there a drop-off after the first trial?
• Market fit: Is the product resonating with enough consumers to justify scale?

Although mCaffeine’s kombucha range (containing fermented tea) ticked all the research criteria, it failed to scale due to low consumer adoption. The company decided to pause it after a full observation cycle.

Crafting Consumers’ Journey

At PEP Brands, marketing is not a siloed function but a well-integrated full-funnel system designed to guide consumers from initial awareness to conversion. Its annual marketing blueprint is carefully crafted to drive visibility at the top funnel, foster engagement in the middle and push conversions at the bottom.

The company runs influencer-led campaigns, high-profile events, celebrity tie-ups and other activities to build product awareness. Each one is meticulously designed to establish a distinct and consistent brand identity.

As consumer interest peaks, performance marketing steps in, leveraging platforms like Meta and Google to retarget users and deepen engagement. Eventually, brand-owned digital platforms, especially the D2C website, drive transactions, using tailored promotions, exclusive sales events and product bundles. Budgets are tightly managed, though, as is typical for startup brands.

Marketing spend is split into a media budget for user acquisition and retention via digital channels and a discounting budget for promotional levers like offers and seasonal deals. For every INR 100 earned in revenue, INR 40 is reinvested into marketing. Of this, 5-8% is allocated to ATL (above-the-line) efforts, and the rest supports campaigns to boost digital sales.

Focus On Customer Retention

Beyond campaigns and spend allocations, PEP Brands takes a calibrated approach to evaluating marketing effectiveness, especially regarding customer acquisition costs (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLTV/LTV).

Rather than analysing these metrics in isolation, the team takes into account the interplay across product categories and their impact on revenue. Here is an interesting use case. Face and hair care products typically incur a higher CAC, driven by greater consumer inertia, but they offer stronger LTV due to frequent usage and faster replenishment cycles. On the other hand, body care has a lower CAC owing to easier consumer adoption, although the LTV tends to be marginally lower.

But the metric that matters is customer retention. “Whether we acquire 100, 1,000, or 1 Lakh customers, loyalty must kick in early, ideally with the first 100,” said Gupta.

For mCaffeine, retention is not just a key performance indicator but a core value built within the business. Without repeat customers, sustainable growth remains elusive, no matter how efficient the acquisition funnel may appear on paper.

Driving Efficiency Through Data And GenAI

According to Gupta, efficiency stems from the seamless integration of data and automation. The brand’s D2C engine generates 10 Mn customer data points every week, providing product feedback, uncovering unmet requirements and course-correcting campaigns in real time.

“GenAI has become an indispensable asset for copy generation, concept testing and even creative iteration,” she said. “It helps our teams operate faster, stay leaner and focus more on strategy than execution.”

Preparing For A Cookieless Future

The team has been preparing for a cookieless future by building a robust first-party data foundation through its D2C channels. Gupta believes one-time campaigns cannot drive customer retention. It requires countless small moments such as social media interactions, query resolutions, empathetic touchpoints and hyperpersonalisation to build that loyalty factor. Even in-house machine learning models can help personalise UX, showing customers they matter.

“That’s the future of brand stickiness,” she asserted.

Rethinking Team Design And Culture

At PEP Brands, its marketing principles underpin all core verticals, even creative, data and technology, ensuring a unified approach across the business. In addition, a dedicated category team works closely with product and customer success to drive cohesive, category-led growth. This approach ensures sharper execution and alignment across the business.

“We also follow a core cultural framework we call the 5H Policy. It stands for humility, honesty, hunger, hustle and humour. These values have played a pivotal role in refining our hiring process,” said Gupta.

Keeping the team aligned with the brand’s vision helps retain top talent. “We make it a point to connect our team to the larger brand vision, involving them actively in strategy discussions, brand storytelling and innovation road maps. At the same time, we celebrate short-term wins, encourage experimentation and foster psychological safety so that failures are seen as part of the learning curve,” she added.

A strong sense of ownership also helps here. “We make sure that every team member feels heard and sees the direct impact of their work. This sense of purpose and contribution keeps people motivated and deeply invested in the brand’s success,” explained Gupta.

Here are other key strategies for user acquisition and retention deployed to grow mCaffeine as a brand.

Expanding The Skincare Playbook With Hyphen

In 2023, Hyphen entered the face care market for a specific reason. Of course, mCaffeine had already established a strong presence in body care with its experiential and functional approach, but the founders identified a gap in the market. Consumers were increasingly seeking performance-driven products that combined potent actives with natural ingredients, delivered in a simplified, all-in-one solution.

“People were overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options,” said Gupta. “Someone managing acne also wanted a solution for marks and pigmentation. But the market lacked consolidated, minimalist skincare that could address multiple concerns in one go.”

Hyphen has been built around that insight. Its formulations combine various ingredients such as salicylic acid, azelaic acid, niacinamide and tea tree extract, to deliver numerous benefits via a single product. The goal is to simplify skincare without hurting the outcome.

The decision to bring in actor Kriti Sanon as a cofounder was equally well-thought-out. A mutual connection introduced her to the founding team, as she had been exploring the industry. Their shared values instantly clicked. “We talked about skincare philosophies and branding ideas, and everything was a natural fit,” recalled Gupta.

Hyphen was officially launched a year later, on Sanon’s birthday.

Internally, both brands follow the 6P playbook. However, their execution is strategically tailored to cater to their respective users.

“This isn’t a market where the winner takes all,” the founding team noted. “Consumers look for innovations every now and then and want the most effective solutions. As long as the problem statement is clear and the positioning is sharp, multiple brands can coexist and thrive.”

The Learning: Dive Deep Into Consumer Insights To Make Purposeful Brands

As PEP Brands expands its portfolio with mCaffeine and Hyphen, the focus shifts to creating sustainable, insight-driven growth engines. With Hyphen, the team leveraged nearly a decade of learning from mCaffeine, ensuring that all six marketing levers — product, proposition, packaging, pricing, promotion, and platform — are seamlessly integrated.

The aim is to build brands which are digitally native, performance-driven and aligned with fast-evolving consumer requirements.

Customer retention lies at the centre of this approach. The brand focusses on educating consumers about ingredients, involves them in product development and encourages active participation.

“Every product we launch is a direct response to what our consumers want,” Gupta shared. Whether they turned an April Fool’s Day post into a mango lip balm or expanded mCaffeine’s offerings based on customer feedback, consumer insights and inputs have always shaped their product decisions.

Gupta also emphasised the importance of managing expectations. Whether investors want financial discipline, cofounders seek consensus on product-market fit, or teams require clarity, consistent and transparent communication should serve the purpose.

“Being upfront, managing expectations realistically and demonstrating measurable progress are the key to building trust on all fronts,” she said.

Looking ahead to 2026, PEP Brands will focus on four key areas. While trust will be the watchword for every product category, the brand will build long-term consumer loyalty, expand strategically across D2C and emerging commerce channels and maintain profitability. Its strategy may evolve, but the core mission will remain unchanged. It will build purposeful brands that address real pain points, foster meaningful engagement with consumers and scale with discipline.

[Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal]

The post Inside PEP Brands’ 6P Engine That Turned mCaffeine & Hyphen Into Household Names appeared first on Inc42 Media.

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