Role of Consumer Insights
How did they come up with the idea of starting Mamaearth?
Mamaearth started in 2016 when Ghazal and Varun Alagh couldn't find safe products for their son's eczema. They turned into what they jokingly call "Google parents" - constantly researching ingredients and questioning everything that touched their baby's skin.
The more they looked into it, the more frustrated they got. Products claiming to be "gentle" were full of harmful chemicals that could make their son's condition worse. Even premium brands weren't cutting it… Until they decided to take matters into their own hands! But they wanted to be sure they were not alone in this struggle.
Ghazal personally spoke with over 3,000 mothers across India, sitting with them and hearing similar stories of confusion and worry. These conversations revealed parents weren't just lacking options - they had no idea what these chemicals might be doing to their children.
For the first six months, they educated new parents about the toxins hiding in everyday baby products and building a community that wanted better options. This education became as important as the products themselves.
That's how Mamaearth was born - Asia's first brand with Made Safe certified products. What started as two parents trying to help their son has grown into something much bigger, changing how millions of children in India are cared for every day.
Building a Culture of Listening: How Consumer Insights Sit at the Heart of What We Do
At Honasa, the consumer is at the core of the business and Consumer Insights is not just a support function - we co-own strategy with Brand, NPD, and Revenue. When I joined Honasa, one thing was clear from Day 1 - this is a company where research sits at the center of decision-making. Not because we have dashboards, Nielsen or brand tracks - but because we have built a culture that truly listens to consumer voice.
At Honasa, the consumer is at the core of the business and Consumer Insights is not a support function - we co-own strategy with Brand, NPD, and Sales. Whether it’s launching a new product, shaping a portfolio, or just finding that one insight – we are involved from idea to shelf.
This didn’t happen overnight. It took consistent efforts and partnership. We had to show that research doesn’t slow you down - it brings more clarity. In a fast-paced setup like ours, speed and structure go hand in hand.
We have embedded insights across the product mix:
- Portfolio moves are driven by consumer need states, balanced with internal ambition
- Innovation is led by trends and social listening, and rooted in consumer pain points
- Creative testing is done not to just validate, but to sharpen and improve impact
Our proudest moments have been when a sharp insight triggered a meaningful pivot - a claim picked, a category doubled down on or a message that finally landed.
But more than any one win, it’s the shift in how we work that excites me. Brand teams proactively build with insights, and Sales teams pull us in at the GTM stage - not as a checkbox, but as a partner. That’s when you know it's in the culture.
We are still learning, still evolving and experimenting with AI tools and agile methodologies more than ever. But one belief stays constant: If you listen well - really listen - consumers will tell you everything you need to know.
From Insight to Impact: How We Turn Listening into Action?
Insights aren’t just for decks – they are for decisions. Every positioning, claim, or campaign we roll out begins with a sharp articulation of what the consumer is facing - and what they truly seek.
Take the Mamaearth Ubtan Facewash campaign, for instance. It’s received immense love, but its origins lie in a simple line from an in-depth interview with a consumer:
- “Problems I face today are different – pollution, dust, sun damage. Do natural solutions still work?”
- That one line sparked a thought: How can a brand rooted in natural ingredients give consumers the confidence that age-old solutions can tackle new-age problems?
- This led to the campaign insight – “Traditional Natural ingredients to solve modern day problems.”
- Ubtan - a familiar combination of ingredients like saffron & turmeric - became the hero, not just for nostalgia, but for what it could solve today.
- The result was a film that resonated, a message that stuck, and most importantly - a product that delivered on a real consumer need.
How Research Is Evolving with Speed, While Staying Focused on Clarity?
At Honasa, decisions are fast, launches are frequent, and agility is key to how we operate. In that respect, the role of Insights becomes even more critical.
To keep pace, we have adopted newer tools – agile testing and AI-powered diagnostics. We have the benefit of strong sales from our D2C channel, and we often leverage it for surveys and A/B testing. We are not solely dependent on tools/methodologies or dashboards from research agencies; we have a system in place to build and leverage these solutions internally.
Though, tools alone aren’t the differentiator – it’s how we use them to bring clarity into decisions. The goal is to move quickly, but never blindly.
We have also shifted from just validating ideas to decoding instinctive vs. considered responses - what Kahneman called System 1 and System 2 thinking. We’re now decoding not just what consumers say, but how they decide - the subconscious shortcuts and rational checks that drive choices. And as Google’s “Messy in the Middle” study reminds us, consumer journeys are rarely linear - people loop between search, reviews, forums, and conversations before they finally hit ‘add to cart’. Understanding that messy middle is key to designing sharper communication and innovation today.
We are bringing that nuance into our testing – so messaging, pack design, and benefit prioritization aren’t made in isolation from real behavior.
The Era of the Bold & Agile
Insight without impact is a missed opportunity. Today’s boardrooms don’t just need more data - they need clarity that drives confident, fast decisions.
That’s where Consumer Insights can lead - from being custodians of data to catalysts of action. The future belongs to teams that can move fast, stay curious, and keep listening deeply. At Honasa, we have learned to move with speed without losing sharpness.
I see this quiet transformation already happening - with insights leaders helping brands move fast - without compromising on depth or direction. That is the real unlock for modern marketing.
Aditya Sharan leads Consumer & Market Insights at Honasa Consumer, a digital-first house of brands like Mamaearth, The Derma Co., BBlunt, Aqualogica & Dr. Sheth's. With 12+ years across organizations like Unilever, Dabur, and currently Honasa, he blends classical insight thinking with new-age D2C speed. He is passionate about making insights land simply and driving action - especially in fast-moving, digital-first setups where sharp decisions need sharper consumer truths.