ETBWS 2025: From niche to nation: The bold vision of mCaffeine's playbook for D2C success

Time of India

08-07-2025

HighlightsTarun Sharma, co-founder of mCaffeine and Hyphen, emphasized the importance of creating brands tailored for Indian consumers, leveraging the internet and increased capital to develop sustainable and relevant solutions. Sharma introduced the "4Es" framework—Efficacy, Ethos, Experience, and Emotional currency—to effectively engage millennials and Generation Z in the competitive beauty and personal care market. The "5Cs" framework for achieving profitability focuses on understanding the consumer, category, and channel, while the "6Ps" framework guides product development to ensure effective communication and brand stability.
At the recent
ETBrandEquity
's Brand World Summit 2025,
Tarun Sharma
, co-founder of
mCaffeine
and Hyphen, offered a compelling look into his decade-long journey building successful direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands. As the head of a conglomerate that includes mCaffeine (a caffeine-based body care brand), Hyphen (a face care brand blending nature and science), and Fiem (a fragrance sub-brand), Sharma shared his insights on thriving in India's competitive
beauty and personal care market
.
Domestic vision: Building for India
Sharma's core philosophy centers on creating brands specifically for Indian consumers, a direct response to the historical dominance of international products. He highlighted how the internet and increased capital have empowered founders to develop relevant, homegrown solutions at scale. His journey has been marked by a constant pursuit of sustainability, questioning whether they were simply building a business or a true, enduring brand. Sharma pointed to the explosion of competition, with brands on Amazon skyrocketing from 9,600 when mCaffeine launched to 17,000 by Hyphen's debut. This intense environment underscored the need for a strong, adaptable company culture to maintain agility and core values across all ventures.
The "4Es" for engaging millennials and GenZ
Sharma unveiled his "4Es" framework for connecting with younger demographics:
Efficacy
: The product must deliver on its promises. A sunscreen, for instance, must effectively protect and a lightweight product must genuinely feel light.
Ethos
: This generation demands ethical practices, including no animal testing.
Experience
: The entire brand interaction should be delightful. This extends from tactile packaging and unique textures to thoughtful details like a "cute little spoon" with a body scrub.
Emotional currency:
Brands are ultimately built on the invisible, emotional value they create in consumers' minds. This requires consistent effort in every decision and communication, shaping a distinct brand persona that resonates deeply.
Driving profitability with the "5Cs" and "6Ps"
Beyond subjective appeal, profitability is crucial. Sharma introduced the "5Cs" framework for achieving unit profitability: understanding the
consumer
, the specific
category
they're interested in, and the
channel
where they prefer to purchase. Executing this
culture
correctly, he noted, consistently generates
cash
. He admitted that past missteps occurred when rapid scaling overshadowed focus on the right consumer-category-channel fit, leading to inefficient marketing.
The "6Ps" framework then guides daily product development:
Proposition
: Clearly defining the product's promise (e.g., "SPF 50 PA++++ a lightweight sunscreen").
Product
: Ensuring the product genuinely delivers on that promise.
Packaging
: Making it not only appealing but also highly usable.
Pricing
: Setting an accessible price point.
Platform
: Selecting the ideal sales channel where the category and consumer align.
Promotion
: Crafting effective communication vital for an experiential brand.
Sharma warned that ineffective communication can be "suicidal" for an experiential brand founder. These frameworks, sharpened over a decade, are integral to mCaffeine and Hyphen's continued growth and stability.