The Indian baby toiletries market is growing at a rate of 20 percent per year, according to a report published by Wellness India, thanks to the growing popularity of licenced products emblazoned with children’s favourite cartoon characters and super heroes, such as Chhota Bheem, Spiderman and Doraemon.

Local players such as HUL, Future Group and Dabur India have jumped on the trend, while international manufacturers are not immune to the lure of Indian superheroes either. Johnson & Johnson is said to have signed a licensing deal with Chhota Bheem, while L’Oréal offers kids shampoos emblazoned with Disney characters. International movie characters are also proving popular as manufacturers vie for licencing rights to feature characters from Jurassic Park, the Minions Movie and Rovio’s portfolio, which includes Angry Birds and Star Wars.

“In India, I believe awareness and significance of kids’ personal care products is increasing day-by-day. With a vision to encourage kids towards better oral and personal care, we have developed innovative products with kids’ favorite cartoon characters. So far, we have received a very good response from each and every region where we’ve launched our product,” said Navdeep Mehta, Director, Novateor Sales & Marketing.

“We deal with good child footfall outlets like department stores, toy stores, apparel stores, LFOs and the adult cosmetic outlets where kids accompany their mothers. We have learnt that ‘what looks best, sells best’, so we keep our products at the cosmetic outlets that catch the attention of those parents who are accompanied by their pestering children,” said Alok Kamat, Managing Director at Alkam Licence Products.