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“INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

&

CASE STUDY OF LUX”

Submitted to

MUMBAI UNIVERSITY

FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF

MASTERS OF COMMERCE

MARKETING STRATEGIES

SESSION 2013-2014

DEPT. OF MANAGEMENT STUDIES

MULUND COLLEGE OF COMMERCE

Under the guidance of: Prof. S. N. Chitale

Submitted by: RAVEENA UDASI

Roll: - 15051

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DECLARATION

I, Raveena Udasi, student of M.Com here by declared that the research

report enti tled “INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (LUX) ” is

completed and submitted under the guidance of is my original work.

The imperial finding in this report is based on the data collected by me. I have

not submitted this project report to any other University for the purpose of

compliance of any requirement of any examination or degree.

Raveena Udasi

M.Com Sem I

ROLL NO. 15051

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CERTIFICATE

I, Prof. S. N. Chitale, hereby certify that Miss Raveena Manoj Udasi ROLL. No 15051 of

Mulund College of Commerce, S. N. Road, Mulund (West), Mumbai -400080 of M.com Part I

(Business Management) has completed her project on ―Integrated Marketing Communication‖

during the academic year 2013-14. The information submitted is true and original to the best of

my knowledge.

____________________ ___________________

Project Guide Principal

_____________________ ___________________

Co-coordinator External guide

Date:

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A project is a golden opportunity for

learning and self development. I consider myself very lucky and honored to have

so many wonderful people lead me through in completion of this project.

My grateful thanks to Prof. S. N.

Chitale who in spite of being extraordinarily busy with her/his dut ies, took time

out to hear, guide and keep me on the correct path. I do not know where I

would have been without her/him. A humble ‗Thank you‘ Ma‘am .

I would also like to thank everyone who took active involvement in helping me

with my project report without whom, it would not have been possible.

RAVEENA UDASI

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TABLE OF CONTENT

SR. NO. TABLE OF CONTENTS

PG. NO.

1 Introduction to Marketing Communication 6

2 An Overview of IMC 8

3 Benefits & Barriers of IMC 10

4 Golden Rules 11

5 DAGMAR 14

6 Hindustan Unilever Limited : LUX 16

7 Executive Summary 18

8 Major Players 19

9 Competitor Analysis 21

10 Company Profile : HUL 23

11 Product Profile : LUX 29

12 Integrated Marketing Communication of Lux 33

13 Bibliography

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INTRODUCTION INTEGRATED MARKETING

COMMUNICATION

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Introduction

In most of the companies the promotional function was dominated by mass media,

advertising for many years. Companies relied primarily on their advertising agencies

for guidance in nearly all the areas of market ing communication. Most marketers did

use addit ional promotional and marketing communication tools but sales promotion

and direct marketing agencies as well as package design firms were generally viewed

as auxil iaries‘ services and often used on a per project basis. Public relations agency

was used to manage the organisations publici ty, image and affairs with the relevant

publics on an ongoing basis but they were not viewed as integral part icipants in the

marketing communication process.

Many marketers bui l t strong barriers around the various mark eting and promotional

functions and planned and managed them as separate practices with the different

budgets, a different view of the market with different goals and objectives. But these

companies failed to recognise that the wide range of marketing and promotional tools

must be coordinated to communicate effectively and present a consistent image to

target market.

During the 1980‘s , many companies began taking a broader perspective of

marketing communication in seeing the need for the more strateg ic integration of their

promotional tools. The decade was characterized by rapid development in the areas of

sales promotion, direct marketing an public relation which began challenging the

advertising role as the dominant form of marketing communication{I MC}, which

involves coordinating the various promotional elements and other marketing activit ies

that communicate with the firm‘s customers

Definition

Integrated marketing communication is a strategic business process used to plan,

develop, exec cute and evaluate coordinate, measurable persuasive brand

communications programs over t ime with customer‘s consumers, prospectus,

employees, associates and other targeted relevant external and internal audiences. The

goal‘s to generate both short term financial r eturns and build long-term brand and

shareholder value.

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AN OVERVIEW OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Advertising has much strength l ike reaching mass audiences, creat ing awareness,

building preference, etc, but i t also has major weaknesse s l ike targeting individual

consumers, making them believe a message and pushing them to action. Thus, i t has to

be combined with that of other communication elements such as direct marketing,

sales promotions, and public relation. The various promotional tools involved in

product promotion comprise the promotional mix of an organization. They include

advertising, personal sell ing, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the judicious and efficien t use of the

promotional tools so that a universal , clear, and effective promotional message is

communicated amongst the target audience. The concept includes online and offl ine

marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e -marketing campaigns or

programs, from search engine optimisation SEO, pay -per click, affi l iate, and email ,

banner to latest web related channels for webzine, blog, micro -blogging, RSS, pod

cast , and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are tradit ional print (newspaper,

magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, bil lboard, radio and

television.

There are five basic tools of integrated marketing communication:

Advertising:

This tool can get your messages to large audiences efficiently through such av enues as

radio, TV, Magazines, Newspapers (ROP), Internet, Bil lboards and other mobile

technological communication devices . This method can efficiently reach a large

number of consumers, al though the costs may be somewhat expensive.

Sales Promotion:

This tool is used through coupons, contests, samples, premiums, demonstrations,

displays or incentives. It is used to accelerate short -term sales, by building brand

awareness and encouraging repeat buying.

Public Relations:

This integrated market ing communications tool is init iated through public

appearances, news/press releases or event sponsorships, to build trust and goodwill by

presenting the product , company or person in a posit ive l ight.

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Direct Marketing:

This tool will uti l ized email , mail , catalogs, encourage direct responses to radio and

TV, in order to reach targeted audiences to increase sales and test new products and

alternate marketing tactics.

Personal Sell ing:

Setting sales appointments and meetings, home parties, making presentat ions and any

type of one-to-one communication, to reach your customers and st rengthen your

relationship with your clients, init iate this IMC tool.

Integrated Marketing Examples

Nike is a great example of a company that has fully embraced the concept of

integrated marketing. Their integrated approach includes tradit ional advertising

(bil lboard, magazine, and television); sponsoring sporting events and players such as

the Super bowl and Tiger Woods; and engaging in online marketing init iat ives by

allowing consumers to customize their Nike shoes. They also spend a great deal of

money in search marketing. Nike 's approach allows them to communicate their

message consistently across all media outlets ; and at the same time share that message

at every customer touch point; that is, use Nike products and you will increase your

performance regardless of what sport you are involved in.

Another example is HP's "The Computer is Personal Again" campaign. They uti l ized

many forms of media with great consistency, and cap italized on each of the media 's

individual strengths.

The role of IMC in Branding:

One of the major reasons for the growing importance of the IMC over the past decade

is that i t plays a major role in the process of developing and sustaining brand ident i ty

and equity. Building and properly managing brand equity has become a priori ty for

companies of al l the sizes, in all types of industries, and in all types of markets. With

more and more products and services compet ing for consideration by customers who

have less and less t ime to make choices, wel l -known brands have a major competit ive

advantage in today‘s market place. Building and maintaining brand identi ty and and

equity requires the creation of well –known brands that have favorable, strong and

unique association in the minds of the consumer.

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Benefits of IMC

Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort i t delivers

many benefits.

1. It can create competit ive advantage, boost sales and profits, whi le saving money,

t ime and stress.

2. IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the

various stages of the buying process. This ‗Relationship Marketing‘ cements a bond of

loyalty with customers. The abil i ty to keep a customer for l ife is a powerful

competit ive advantage.

3. IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness .

4. Carefully l inked messages also help buyers by giving t imely reminders, upda ted

information and special offers which, when presented in a planned sequence, help

them move comfortably through the stages of their buying process

5. IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible..

6. Finally, IMC saves money as i t el iminates duplication in areas such as graphics and

photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibit ions and

sales l i terature.

Barriers to IMC

1. Functional si los: Rigid organisational structures are infested with manag ers who

protect both their budgets and their power base. Sadly, some organisational structures

isolate communications, data, and even managers from each other. For example the PR

department often doesn‘t report to marketing. The sales force rarely meets th e

advertising or sales promotion people and so on. Imagine what can happen when sales

reps are not told about a new promotional offer

2. Stifled Creativity: I t shouldn‘t matter whose creative idea i t is , but often, i t does.

An advertising agency may not be so enthusiastic about developing a creative idea

generated by, say, a PR or a direct marketing consultant.

IMC can restrict creativity. No more wild and wacky sales promotions unless they

fi t into the overall marketing communications strategy.

3. Time Scale Conflicts: Add different t ime scales into a creative brief and you‘ll see

Time Horizons provide one more barrier to IMC. For example, image advertising,

designed to nurture the brand over the longer term, may conflict with shorter term

advert ising or sales promotions designed to boost quarterly sales.

4. Lack of Management Know- how: A survey in 1995, revealed that most managers

lack expertise in IMC. But i ts not just managers, but also agencies .

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GOLDEN RULES:

Despite the many benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications (or IMC); there

are also many barriers. Here‘s how you can ensure you become integrated and stay

integrated – 10 Golden Rules of Integration

1. Get Senior Management Support for the init iat ive by ensuring they under stand the

benefits of IMC.

2. Integrate at Different Levels of management. Horizontally – ensure that al l

managers, not just marketing managers understand the importance of a consistent

message – whether on delivery trucks or product quali ty.

3. Ensure the Design Manual or even a Brand Book is used to maintain common visual

standards for the use of logos, type faces, colours and so on.

4. Focus on a clear marketing communications strategy.

5. Start with a Zero Budget. Start from scratch. Build a n ew communications plan.

6. Think Customers First . Wrap communications around the customer‘s buying

process. Identify the s tages they go through before, during and after a purchase

7. Build Relationships and Brand Values. Al l communications should help t o develop

stronger and stronger relationships with customers.

8. Develop a Good Marketing Information System which defines who needs what

information when.

9. Share Artwork and Other Media. Consider how, say, advertising imagery can be

used in mail shots, exhibit ion stands, Christmas cards, news releases and web sites.

10 Be prepared to change i t al l . Learn from experience. Constantly search for the

optimum communications mix.

Importance of objectives:

Advertising and promotional objectives are needed for several reasons, including the

functions they serve in communication, planning and decision -making and

measurement and evaluation.

Communications: Many people are involved in the planning and developm ent of an

integrated marketing communications programmed on the client side as well as in

various promotional agencies. The advertising and promotional programme must be

co-coordinated within the company, inside the ad agency, and between the two. Any

other parties involved in the promotional campaign, such as the public relations or the

sales promotion firms, research specialist or media buying services must also know

what company hopes to accomplish through i ts marketing communication programme.

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Planning and Decision Making: when the promotional objectives are specific they

guide the development of the integrated marketing communications plan. All the

phases of the firm‘s promotional strategy should be based on the established

objectives, including budgeting, creative and media decisions as well supported

programmes such as direct marketing, public relations, sales promotion or reseller

support . Decision making becomes easier if the objects are meaningful.

Measurement and evaluation of Results: one of the important reasons for sett ing

specific objectives is that they provide a benchmark against which the success or

failure of the promotional campaign can be measured. Without specific objectives, i t

is extremely difficult to determine what the f irm‘s advertising and promotional efforts

accomplished. The promotional planners provide measures that can be used to evaluate

the effectiveness of the marketing communication programme. Comparing actual

performance against the measurable objectives is the best way to determine if the

return justifies the expense.

Promotional Objectives:

To increase brand awareness by 25%, Build Awareness about the product. Tell the

market who they are and what they have to offer. Create Interest – Moving a customer

from awareness of a product to making a purchase can present a significant challenge.

Provide Information, Stimulate Demand, once a purchase is made, a marketer can use

promotion to help build a strong relationship that can lead to the purchaser becoming

a loyal customer. For instance, many retail stores now ask for a customer‘s email

address so that follow-up emails containing addit ional product information or even an

incentive to purchase other products from the retailer can be sent in order to

strengthen the customer -marketer relationship.

Communications Objectives:

Some common market ing communication objectives include:

1. Create a brand awareness for your company

2. Defining a need the product or service can fulfi l

3. Encouraging action from the target

Sales Objectives:

Many managers believe that monies spent on advertising and othe r forms of

promotion should produce measurable results, such as increasing sales volume by a

certain percentage or increasing the brand‘s market share.

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Advertising Strategies

Information, Dissemination/Persuasion: comparative ads attempt to get consumers to

believe that the sponsoring product is better . Although these are frequently disl iked

by Americans, they intend to be among the most effective ads in the U.S.comparative

advertising is i l legal in some countries and is considered very inappropriate cult urally

in some societies, especially in Asia.

Fear appeals: try to motivate consumers by tell ing them the consequences of not

using a product. Mouthwash ads, for example, talk about gingivit is and tooth loss can

result from poor oral hygiene. It is impor tant, however, that a specific way to avoid

the feared st imulus be suggested directly in the ad. thus, simply by using the

mouthwash advertised, these terrible things can be avoided.

Classical conditioning: a more favourable brand image can often be creat ed among the

consumer when an association to a l iked object or idea is created.

For e.g. , an automobile can be paired with a beautiful woman or a product can be

shown in a very upscale sett ing.

Humour Appeal: the use of humour in advertisements is quite common. this method

tends not to be particularly useful in persuading the consumer.however,more and more

advertisers find themselves using humour in order to compete for the consumer‘s

attention.often,the humour actually draws at tention away from the prod uct-people will

remember what was funny in the ad but not the product that was advertised. Thus, for

ads to be effective, the product advertised should be an integral part of what is funny.

Repeti t ion: whatever specific objective is sought, repeti t ion is cri t ical . This is

especially the case when the objective is to communicate specific information to the

customer. Advertising messages, even simple ones are often understood by consumers

who have l i t t le motive to give much attention to advertisements to wh ich they are

exposed. Therefore, very l i t t le processing of messages is l ikely to be done at any one

t ime of exposure.

Celebrity Endorsements: celebrit ies are l ikely to increase the amount of at tention

given to an advertisement. However; these celebrit ie s may not be consistently

persuasive. The elaboration l ikelihood model discussed below ident ifies conditions

when celebrity endorsements are more l ikely to be effective.

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DAGMAR:

It means Defining Advertising Goals for Measuring Advertising Effective ness. It was

put forward by Russell H.Colley.Dagmar tel ls that advertising has to perform a

particular communication task and the task has to be accomplished among a well

defined audience within a specified period of t ime. Following are the steps,

Awareness: an individual starts at some point by being unaware of a brand‘s presence

in the market. The init ial communication task of the brand is to increase consumer

awareness of the brand.

Brand Comprehension: Knowledge about the product or the organization is necessary.

This can be achieved by providing specific information about key brand attr ibutes. In

attempting to persuade people to try a different brand of water, i t may be necessary to

compare the product with other mineral water products and provide an a ddit ional

usage benefit , such as environmental claims. The ad of Ganga mineral water, featuring

Govinda, which banked on the purity aspect. They related the purity of the water with

that of r iver Ganga.

Conviction: By creating interest and preference, buyers are moved to a posit ion where

they are convinced that a part icular product in the class should be t r ied at the next

opportunity. To do this, audience‘s beliefs about the product have to be moulded and

this is often done through messages that demonstrate the product‘s superiori ty over a

rival or by talking about the rewards as a result of using the product. For e.g., many

ads l ike Thumbs Up featured the reward of social acceptance as ‗grown up‘. It almo st

hinted that those who preferred other drinks were kids.

Action: involves some move on the part of the buyer, such as trying a brand for the

first t ime, visi t ing showroom or requesting information. For eg, Tupperware, Aqua

Guard, are famous in Indian ci t ies as a result of i ts personal sell ing efforts.

Concept of DAGMAR:

o A Communication Task : An advertising goal is a specific communication task, to

be accomplished among a definite audience, in a given period of t ime.

o A specific Task: The second importance concept of DAGMAR approach is that the

advertising goal should be specific.

Measurable Task: To indicate exactly what appeal or image is to be communicated

and to specify the measurement procedure.

Benchmark: i t‘s a standard or a point of reference which can be used to determine the

success or failure of an ad campaign. President Lincoln has been quoted as saying, ―If

we could first know where we are & whither we are tending, we could better judge

what to do and how to do i t .‖ Benchmarks can s uggest how a certain goal can best be

reached.

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Target Audience: i t‘s important to define the target audience.e.g. When a new brand

of fashion garments are introduced, a common consumer will respond much differently

as compared to a consumer who maintains a certain l ifestyle.

Time Period: in sett ing advertising objectives t ime period should be specified within

which the objectives must be achieved. The t ime period can range from a few days to

a year or more. Most of the ad campaigns specify t ime periods fo r a few months to a

year depending upon the si tuation and type of response expected.

Writ ten Goals: Finally, goals should be committed to paper.

Limitations of DAGMAR :

Sales Oriented Performance : DAGMAR approach is considered to be successful if th e

sales increase and i t is considered as a failure if increase in sales is not achieved.

Partial Assessment : the DAGMAR approach assesses the impact of ad campaign in a

quanti tat ive term, i t does not explain how to improve quali tat ive representation.

Unsuitable to Small Advertising: only large advertisers with financial stabil i ty can

allocate funds to collect the information. Small f irms cannot afford to do i t .

Non-Comprehensive Study : i t is not necessary that a consumer wil l go through the

pre-defined steps in the response hierarchy model before deciding to buy, he may have

impulsive purchaser.DAGMAR does not explain impulsive purchaser.

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HINDUSTAN UNILEVER LTD: LUX SOAP

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ABSTRACT

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. is a well -known and largest FMCG company in India. HUL

has always revamped i ts products to meet the changing needs of the consumer without

compromising on the quali ty. This report deals with one of i ts premier brands "LUX".

HUL leads the market in the toilet soap category with 54.3% market share. Lux has

inched up to be on par with Lifebuoy in

HUL's soaps portfolio. The Lux brand now has an almost equal market share as

Hindustan Lever 's largest sell ing soap brand - Lifebuoy. This report gives an overview

of the history of the company and the brand "Lux", the various strategies adopted to

survive in the market for over 75 years and the various competing brands. The

promotional activit ies adopted, the brand's st rengths and weaknesses , threats faced are

also analysed. The FMCG category is always a batt leground for all the competing

firms and the bathing soap category is no different. With more firms entering the

market, maintaining the customer base is not very easy. Within six months, ITC's soap

products have been able to capture 1.75% of the market share.

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Executive Summary

Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing g iant operating in over

hundred countries all around the globe. Unilever Bangladesh is the Bangladesh

chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government

of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh holds 39.25% share. Unilever‗s one of the m ost

popular brand is LUX. They segments LUX.‗s market according to geographical

locations. It further differentiates these segments into Socio Economic Cluster (SEC)

which takes into account the cri teria of education and profession which ult imately

measures the financial abil i ty of consumers. The cluster is divided into five parts

start ing from A to E. Unilever targets the urban and sub urban upper middle class and

middle class segment of the population, who falls under A to C of SEC.

Tactical marketing tools, 4P‗s, are extensively used by the company to market LUX.

Though LUX is produced in Bangladesh, Unilever Bangladesh maintain s the same

standard all around the globe. The product is available in six different fragrances

under three different s izes. Since the demand for beauty soap market is to a great

extent oligopolist ic, variations in price lead to price war which can eventually break

down the company‗s market share. Thus Unile ver cannot provide a better price than

i ts competitors. But the price is affordable by most of the people. Unilever

Bangladesh has outsourced i ts distribution channels to third party distributors which

allow them to distribute LUX in massive bulks amounting to around ten mill ion

pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activit ies in the beauty soap industry.

The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market

share of sl ightly less than 50%. Other competing brands l ike Tibbet, Aro matic and

Keya have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.‗s product features

distribut ion and promotional activit ies have created high brand loyalty for which i t is

st i l l the market leader. Unilever, with the aid of i ts heavy promotional activit ies, has

been able to penetrate the market. But the other producers in the industry are posing a

threat towards Unilever‗s market share as they have moved towards the rural masses

of the population. Therefore, Unilever Bangladesh should undertake further steps such

as moving towards the rural and/or poorer segment; at tract children (by making a

special product for kids) and other innovative promotional activit ie s to retain i ts

command in the industry.

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Industry analysis

The toilet soaps market is estimated at 530,000 tpa includin g small imports. The

market is l i t tered over with several , leading national and global brands and a large

number of small brands, which have l imited markets. The popular and premium brands

include Lifebuoy, Lux, Cinthol, Liri l , Rexona, and Nirma.

Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not well different iated by the

consumers. It is , therefore, not clear if i t is the brand loyalty or experimentat ion lured

by high volume media campaign, which sustain them. A consequence is that the

market is fragmented. It is obvious that this must lead to a highly competit ive market.

Toilet soap, once only an urban phenomenon, has now penetrated practically all areas

including remote rural areas. The i ncremental demand flows from population increase

and rise in usage norm impacted as i t is by a greater concern for hygiene. Increased

sales revenues would also expand from up gradation of quali ty or per unit value.

As the market is const i tuted now, i t can be divided into four pri ce segments: premium,

popular, discount and economy soaps. Premium soaps are estimated to have a market

volume of about 80,000 tonnes. This translates into a share of about 14 to 15%. Soaps

form the largest pie of the FMCG Market with bathing & toilet soaps accounting for

around 30% of the soap market, by value. Currently, the soap industry is divided into

three segments namely Premium, Popular and Economy/ Sub popular.

To fight competit ion, major players Hindustan Unilever Ltd ( HUL), Godrej Consumer

Products Ltd (GCPL) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting are now dr awing up fresh

game plans. And the accent is clearly on innovation to gain mind share as well as

market share in this overcrowded category.

Major Players

Hindustan Unilever Ltd.

With over seven brands — LUX, LIFEBUOY, HAMAM, REXONA, BREEZE, DOVE

and PEARS — has 54.3% share of the overal l soap market. HUL is India 's largest Fast

Moving Consumer Goods Company; i ts journey began 75 years ago, in 1933, when the

company wasfirst incorporated. The company stirring the l ives of two out of three

Indians with over 20 dist inct categories in Home & Personal Care Prod ucts and Foods

& Beverages and also one of the country's largest exporters. HUL's brands includes :

Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Sunsilk, Clinic,

Pepsodent, Close-up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr-Annapurna, Kwality Wal l 's

- are household names across the country. They are manufactured in over 40 factories

across India. In the Rs7,000 crore by sales soap market, HUL‗s market share has

dropped to 54.3% in March 2008 from 55.9% in March 2006.

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Godrej Consumer Products

GCPL, India‗s second largest soap maker after Hindustan Unilever Ltd, has nearl y

9.2% market share. With 11% market share in value terms, i t is the second larg est

soap maker after Hindustan Unilever. Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is a major

player in the Indian FMCG market with leadership in personal, hair , household and

fabric care segments . The company is one among the largest marketer of toilet soaps

in the country with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW, NIKHAR, &

ALLCARE. Fairglow brand, India ' s f i rst Fairness soap, has created marketing history

as one of the most successful innovations. It is a lso the preferred supplier for contract

manufacturing of toilet soaps, some of which are the most well -known brands in the

country.

Wipro

In the Indian market, Wipro is a leader in providing IT solutions and services fo r the

corporate segment in India. Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche mar ket

segments of infrastructure engineering, and consumer products & l ighting.Wipro has

made a large acquisit ion in the Consumer Care business. The presence of Wipro in the

toilet soap industry can be seen through their brands such as SANTOOR and

CHANDRIKA. With industry leading organic growth rates and the acquisit ion,

Consumer care business has reached a Revenue run rate in excess of $100 mill ion per

quarter.

Procter & Gamble India

Procter & Gamble India (PGHHCL) was incorporated in 19 64 after Procter & Gamble,

US, acquired Richardson Vicks, US. Formerly known as Ri chardson Hindustan (the

Indian subsidiary), i t was later named as P&G. It changed i ts name aga in in 1998 to

Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care in order to reflect the nature and character

of the business of the company. During 2004-05 the company has increased i ts

installed capacity of Soaps &

Detergents and Toilet Preparations etc by 36500 Tonnes and 263 Tonnes respectively.

With this expansion the total installed capacity of Soaps & Detergents a nd Toilet

Preparations etc has increased to 108500 Tonnes and 5875 Tonnes respectively .

Nirma

Incorporated as a private l imited company, Nirma was converte d into a deemed public

company and then to a public l imited one in Nov. '93. Nirma has a leadership presence

in Detergents, Soaps and Personal Care Products. To have a greater control on the

quali ty and price of i ts raw materials, Nirma undertook backward integration into

manufacture of Industrial Products l ike Soda Ash, Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB), Alfa

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Olefin Sulphonates (AOS), Fatty Acid, Glycerine and Sulphuric Acid. During 1996 -97,

Nilnita Chemicals, Nirma Detergents, Nirma Soaps and Detergents, and Shiva Soaps

and Detergents were amalgamated with the company. The company created 'Nirma

Consumer Care Ltd. ' - a wholly owned subsidiary on 22nd Aug. '97, which is the sole

l icensee of the brand name 'Nirma' within India. Nirma enjoys a share of 6.74% in

soaps.

ITC

ITC, the country‗s largest cigarette maker, entered the segment l ast year and has made

a strong headway in a short t ime. According to AC Nielsen, i ts share has grown to

1.75% in just f ive months despite the fact that many of i ts brands such as Superia ,

Fiama Di Wills and Vivel are currently sold in only six states.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

External Competitors

Santoor:

Santoor is the flagship brand in the Wipro Consumer Care & Light ing stable and the

2nd largest brand of soap in India in the popular segment of the category. T he brand

enjoys two decades of trust since i ts launch in 1986 and has grown to be counted

amongst the top brands in the Country in an intensively competit ive market. Mill ions

of women across the country have discovered the secret of younger looking skin with

Santoor. It is a truly unique soap that combines the goodness of natural ingredients -

Sandal, Turmeric and natural Skin Softeners . Sandal provides a cooling and soothing

effect that softens skin, while turmeric contro ls formation of skin darkening pigments

l ike melanin, to give skin a radiant glow. Natural Skin Softeners make skin soft and

supple. The end result , skin that is so healthy and beautif ul , i t l ies about your actual

age!

Amongst the first brands in the Country to launch an offering with t he twin ingredient

benefits of Sandal and Turmeric, Santoor has over the years moved from a p urely

natural ingredient based appeal, to one of the most preferred beauty soaps of the day.

Today, Santoor is one of the fastest growing soap brands in India. Santoor is available

in three variants – Santoor (Sandal & Turmeric), Santoor White (Sandal & Almond

milk) and Santoor Chandan which is a premium soap manufactured with extracts of

Sandalwood oil – a favourite of discerning consumers.

Cinthol:

Cinthol the popular and much-loved brand of Godrej Consumer Products Limited

(GCPL)have been a favourite of people for many years . All different soaps in i ts range

22

are having feel -fresh f ragrance and high TFM index. Cinthol‗s range covers an

economic Lime-fresh, the medium deo-soaps (spice, l ime,cologne and the new ‗sport‗)

and a sl ightly expensive ―Cinthol -Original‖ .

For decades, Cinthol -Original is one of the best soaps made in India. It had a simple

red-cover which attracts none! But was st i l l able to sustain i tself in the ma rket .

Godrej has now launched the improved Cinthol range. Cinthol now offers a deo -range

of soaps, talc and deo-sprays in three excit ing fragrances - Classic, Cologne and Sport

in a trendy new packaging. It also offers

Cinthol fresh soap and Cinthol Regular soap with new excit ing p ackaging. The eye -

catching and vibrant packaging symbolizes a sense of adventure, zest and action. The

new Cinthol range brings 24-Hour Confidence through Active Deo Formula, which

controls body odour, Powerful DryShield that absorbs sweat, UltraScent Technology

for long lasting fragrance and Freshness that revitalises you 24x7.The new range will

be available across the country at modern retail and other outlets and will be

supported by high-impact advertising on television, print , out -door , on-line and radio.

Vivel and Superia:

The Vivel Di Wills range is available in two variants. Its unique carton pack has been

developed by ITC's design team to provide a novel consumer experience. Vivel Di

Wills Sheer Radiance is enriched with Olive Oil , to provide skin lustre to make i t

radiant. Vivel Di Wills Sheer Crème is enriched with Shea Butter, to moisturize skin

to make i t soft and supple.

The Vivel range of soaps is available in four variants: -

Vivel Young Glow is enriched with Vitamin E and Fruit Infusions which help in

providing youthful glow to the skin.

Vivel Satin Soft is enriched with Vitamin E and Aloe Vera which help the skin

feel beautifully soft .

Vivel Sandal Sparkle is enriched with Sandalwood Oil and Active Clay which

helps in providing clear skin.

Vivel Ayurveda Essence is enriched with multiple Ay urvedic Ingredients which

help protect skin from germs and harsh environment, keeping i t healthy and

beautiful .

In the popular segment, ITC has launched a range of soaps and shampoos under the

brand name

Superia. Superia Soaps enriched with natural ingredients give radiant glowing skin.

Superia

Soaps are available in four variants :

Fragrant Flower: with the fragrance of Rose & Lavender Oil

Soft Sandal: with the f ragrance of Sandal & Almond Oil

Natural Glow: with Neem & Coconut Oils

Healthy Glow: with Orange Oil

23

Company profile

Hindustan Lever Ltd

Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) is India 's largest Fast

Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company. HLL's brands l ike L ifebuoy, Lux, Surf

Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond's, Sunsilk, Clinic, Pepsodent, Close-up,

Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr -Annapurna, Kwality Wall 's are household names

across the country and span a host of categories, such as soaps, detergents, personal

products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and culinary products. These

products are manufactured over 40 factories across India and the associated operations

involve over 2,000 suppliers and associa tes. Hindustan Lever Limited 's distribution

network comprises about 4,000 redistribution stockist s, covering 6.3 mill ion retail

outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 mill ion rural consumers.

HLL is also one of India 's largest exporters. It has been recognised as a Gold en Super

Star Trading House by the Government of India. Presently, HLL has over 16,000

employees including over 1,200 managers. Its mission is to "ad d vi tali ty to l ife." The

Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a majority stake in Hindustan Lever Limited.

In the late 19th and early 20th century Unilever used to export i ts p roducts to India.

This process began in 1888 with the export of Sunlight soap, which was followed by

Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands l ike Pears, Lux and Vim soon after. In

1931, Unilever set up i ts f irst Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing

Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders

Limited (1935). The three companies were merged in November 1956 and the new

enti ty that came into existence after merger was called a s Hindustan Lever Limited.

HLL offered 10% of i ts equity to the India n public, and i t was the first among the

foreign subsidiaries to do so. Currently, Unilever hold s 51.55% equity in the company

while the rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 3 80,000 individual

shareholders and financial insti tutions.

Brooke Bond entered Indian market in 1900 and in 1903 i t launched Red Label tea in

the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was fo rmed. Unilever

acquired Brooke Bond through an international acquisit ion. Similarly, Lipton 's l ink

with India date back to 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972 and in 1977 Lipton

Tea (India) Limited was incorporated. Pond's ( India) had been in Indian market since

1947. It joined the Unilever ranks through an international acquisit ion of Chesebrough

Pond's USA in 1986.

24

The l iberalization of Indian economy in 1991 and subsequent removal of the

regulatory framework allowed HLL to explore every single product and op portunity

segment, without any constraints on product ion capacity. The 1990s witnessed a string

of crucial mergers, acquisit ions and all iances. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond

acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993,

i t acquired the Kissan business from the UB

Group and the Dollops Ice -cream business from Cadbury India. In one of the most

talked about events of India 's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company

(TOMCO) merged with HLL, effective from April 1, 1993. In July 1993, Broo ke Bond

India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL).

Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited launched Wall 's range of Frozen Desserts in 1994

and by the end of the year, HLL entered into a strategic all iance with the Kwality

Icecream Group families. BBLIL merged with HLL, with effect from January 1, 1996.

HLL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Nepal Lever Limited (NLL). The NLL

factory manufactures HLL's products l ike Soaps, Detergents and Personal

Products both for the domestic market and exports to India. I n January 2000, as part

of i ts divestment strategy, the government decided t o award 74 per cent equity in

Modern Foods to HLL. In 2002, HLL acquired the government 's remaining stak e in

Modern Foods. In February 2007, the company has been renamed to "Hindustan

Unilever Limited" to s trike the optimum balance between maintaining the heritage of

the Company and the future benefits and synergies of global al ignment with the

corporate name of "Unilever".

Mission

Unilever 's mission is to add Vitali ty to l ife. They meet everyday ne eds for nutri t ion,

hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get

more out of l ife.Their deep roots in local cul tures and markets around the world give

them strong relationship with consumers and are the foundation for their future

growth.

A key requirement is building in the quali ty expectations of their consumers into their

products.

To win consumers‗ confidence and loyalty, they need to consistent ly deliver branded

products of excellent quali ty.

The Quality Policy describes the principles that everyone in Unilever follows,

wherever they are in the world, to ensure that they are recognised and trusted for their

integrity, the quali ty of their brands and products, and the high standards they set .

25

Principles of the Quality Policy

• Putt ing the safety of thei r products and consumers first .

HUL has stringent mandatory quali ty standards in place against which compliance is

verified through regular audits and self assessments. These standards ensure they

design, manufacture and supply products that are safe, of excellent quali ty, and

conform to the relevant industry a nd regulatory standards in the countries in which

they operate.

They actively engage consumers and customers, translating their needs and

requirements into products and services, thus creating consumer value wherever they

posit ion their products .

• Quali ty is a shared responsibil i ty

Quali ty and consumer safety is the responsibil i ty of every Unilever empl oyee and

Unilever demonstrates visible and consistent leadership to meet this policy. The drive

for quali ty, in all that they do, is a passion reflected in their brand development,

manufacturing and customer service processes.

Present stature

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India 's largest Fast Moving Co nsumer Goods

company, touching the l ives of two out of three Indians with over 20 dist inct

categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. They endow the

company with a scale of combined volumes of about 4 mill ion tonnes and sales of

nearly Rs.13718 crores.

HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters; i t has been recognised as a Golden

Super Star Trading House by the Government of India. The mission that inspires

HUL's over 15,000 employees, including o ver 1,300 managers, is to "add vitali ty to

l ife." HUL meets everyday needs for nutri t ion, hygiene, and perso nal care with brands

that help people feel good, look good and get more out of l ife. It is a mission HUL

shares with i ts parent company,

Unilever, which holds 52.10% of the equity. The rest of the shareholding is

distributed among 360,675 individual shareholders and financial insti tutions.

HUL's brands - l ike Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely, Pond's,

Sunsilk, Clinic, Pepsodent, Close -up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan, Knorr -Annapurna,

Kwality Wall 's – are household names across the country and span many categories -

soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded staples, ice cream and

culinary products. They are manufactured over 40 factories across India.

26

The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's distribu tion

network, comprising about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3 mill ion retail

outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 mill ion rural consumers.

HUL has tradit ionally been a company, which incorporates latest technol ogy in all i ts

operations. The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1958, and

now has facil i t ies in Mumbai and Bangalore. HURC and the Global Technology

Centres in India have over 200 highly qualif ied scientists and technologists, many

with post -doctoral experience acquired in the US and Europe. Group operates through

seven segments: Soaps and Detergents , Personal Products, Exports , Beverages,Foods,

Ice Creams and Other. The produc ts include home and personal care products, foods

and beverages, industr ial and agricultural products. Home and personal care pro ducts

consists of personal and fabric wash, household, oral care, skin and hair care,

deodorants, perfumery, colour cosmetics and baby care. Foods and beverages includes

tea, coffee, cooking fats and oils, bakery fats, ice creams, tomato products, fruit and

vegetable products, r ice, salt , at ta and rawa, marine products and mushrooms.

Industrial and agricultural products includes specialty chemicals, bulk chemicals,

fert i l isers, animal feeds, seeds, plant growth nutrients, processed -tr i -glycerides and

agri commodities, yeast , leather, footwear and carpets, thermometers and plantations.

Its brands are spread across 20 consumer product categories. Hindustan U nilever

markets consumer goods throughout India. The company faces competit ion from

international, local and regional players.

The company derives 44.3% of i ts revenues from soaps and deterg ents, 26.6% from

personal care products , 10.5% from beverages, and the rest from foods, ice creams,

exports, and other products. As counterfeit trade increases, the company stands to lose

on i ts brand equity and exclusivity.

New Products introduced by HUL in recent ye ars:

Lux strawberry and cream

Clinic plus multi sachet

Ponds age miracle

Axe shock and recover

Paddle pop

Wheel active Green

27

Divisions

Home and Personal Care

The HPC business is made up of Fabric Wash, Household Care, P ersonal Wash and

Personal Care categories.

Personal Wash: Lux, Lifebuoy, Liri l , Hamam, Breeze, Dove, Pears, Rexona

Laundry: Surf excel, Rin, Wheel

Skin care: Fair and Lovely, Ponds, Vaseline, Aviance

Oral care: Pepsodent, Close up

Deodorants: Axe, Rexona

Colour cosmetics: Lakme

Ayurvedic personal and health care: Ayush

Foods

The Foods Division of your Company comprises Beverages, P rocessed Foods, Ice -

Creams and Modern Foods businesses. The Division recorded strong growth in 2007.

Tea: Brooke Bond, Lipton

Coffee: Bru

Foods: Kissan, Annapurna, Knorr

Ice cream: Kwality walls

Hindustan Lever network

Started in 2003, Hindustan Unilever Network (HUN) is HUL's Dir ect Sell ing arm. It is

a multi -category direct sell ing business offering a wide range of high-quali ty, high-

performance products for i ts consumers and also excit ing business and personal

development opportunit ies for i ts consultants. It already has about 7 lakh consultants -

al l independent entrepreneurs, trained and guided by HUN's exper t managers and

trainers.

HUN‗s mission is to a create mill ionaire club in India. Ther e are many consultants

who are earning at over a rate of Rs.1,00,000 per annum. Several consultants earn

over Rs.50,000 per month. HUN offers to build a business with d ifferent categories of

Home & Personal Care (HPC) and Food products. They are all essential household

needs. And they are all exclusive to HUN, specifically developed for the Direct

Sell ing channel, and not available in the retail channel.

28

HUN has already spread to 1500 towns and cit ies, backed by 2 8 offices and over 130

service centres across the country. HUN's vision is to earn the love and res pect of

India by making a real difference to the l ives of mill ion Indians.

Exports

Today, HUL is one of Ind ia‗s Largest exporters of branded Fast Moving Consumer

Goods. It has been recognized by the Government of India as a Gol den Super Star

Trading House. Over t ime HUL has developed into a viable & competit ive so urcing

base for Unilever world wide in Home and Personal Care & Foods & Beverages

category of products. HUL is also a global marketing arm for select l icensed Unilever

brands and also works on building categories with core country advantage such as

branded basmati r ice.

HUL Exports offers high level of service with flexibil i ty and r esponsiveness thorough

out the supply chain. I t has a dedicated organization structure to suppo rt this

endeavour and this has helped in growth of these businesses in particular. Intrinsic

cost competit iveness in the end to end Supply chain with appropriate technology and

competit ive capital investment operations while delivering best in class quali ty

enables HUL to posit ion i tself as a key sourcing hub for

Unilever and also become a preferred partner for Global custom ers in categories we

operate. HUL‗s key focus in the exports business is on two broad categor ies. It is a

sourcing base for Unilever brands in Home & Personal Care (HPC) and Food and

Beverages (F&B) for supplies to other Unilever companies. It also focuse s on

becoming a preferred supplier to both non-Unilever and Unilever clients in three

categories in which India, as a country, has competit ive advantage – Branded Rice,

Marine Products and Castor and i ts Derivati ves . HUL enjoys international recognition

within Unilever and outside for i ts quali ty, rel iabil i ty and speed of customer service.

HUL's Exports geography comprises, at present, countries in Europe , Asia, Middle

East , Africa, Australia, North America etc

Water

Pureit , a breakthrough offering of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), comes with many

unique benefits – complete protection from all water -borne diseases, unmatched

convenience and affordabil i ty. Pureit‗s unique Germkill Battery technology kil ls al l

harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurit ies, giving

you water that is ‗as sa fe as boiled‗. It assures your family 100% protection from

water-borne diseases l ike jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. Pureit not only

renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear, odourless and

good-tasting.

29

Corporate Responsibility

As in the earl ier years , your Company continued to involve i tself in socia l welfare

init iat ives across the Country, both through charity and social investment around

issues l ike education, health, nutri t ion and init iat ives for the economic upliftment of

the underprivileged.

The company has commenced a pilot in i ts tea business, in partne rship with an NGO

(Partners in Change) to source tea directly f rom small producers and thereb y improve

their l ivelihood. The effort of the Company in improving water availabil i ty throu gh

soil conservation and water harvesting methods has borne good results. Company

believes that brands must be at the forefront of driving social change.

HUL is also running a rural health programme – Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana. The

programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among rural Ind ians

and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 84.6 mill ion

people in approximately 43890 vil lages of 8 states. The vision is to make a bil l ion

Indians feel safe and secure.

PRODUCT PROFILE:

Lux soap was first launched in 1916 as laundry soap targeted spec ifically at

'delicates '. Lever Brothers encouraged women to home launder th eir clothes without

fear of satins and si lks being turned yellow by harsh lyes that were often used in

soaps at the t ime. The flake-type soap allowed the manufacturer some leeway from lye

because i t did not need to be shaped into tradit ional cake-shaped loaves as other soaps

were. The result was a gentler soap that dissolved more readily and was advertised as

suitable for home laundry use.

Lux toilet soap was introduced in 1925 as bathroom soap. The n ame 'Lux' was chosen

as a play on the word "luxury." Lux has been marketed in several forms, incl uding bar

and flake and l iquid (hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap).

Lux in step with the changing trends and evolving beauty nee ds of the consumers,

offers an excit ing range of soaps and Body Washes with un ique elements to make

bathing t ime more pleasurable. One can choose from a range of skincare benefits l ike

firming, fairness and moisturising.

Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of Indi a 's most trusted

personal care brands. Since i ts launch in India in the year 1929, Lux has offered a

range of soaps in different colours and world class fragrances. Lux is a beauty soap of

fi lm stars. Lux recognized the need for a compelling message about beauty that would

resonate with women of today.

From the 1930s right through to the 1970s, Lux soap colours and packaging were

altered several t imes to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colours made up the r ange:

pink, white, blue, green and yellow. People enjoyed matching their soap with their

bathroom colours.

30

In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from tradit ional soap

bars by launching i ts own range of shower gels, l iquid soaps and moistu rizing bars.

Lux beauty facial wash, Lux beauty bath and Lux beauty shower were launc hed in

1992.

In 2004, the entire Lux range was re -launched in the UK to include five shower gels,

three bath products and two new soap bars. 2005 saw the launch of three exc it ing new

variants with dreamy names such as ―Wine & Roses‖ bath cream, ―Glowing T ouch‖

and ―Sparkling Morning‖ shower gels.

Lux has recently launched i ts two fruit extract variants – New Lux Strawberry &

Cream and Lux Peach & Cream contain a blend of succulent fruits & luscious

Chantil ly cream. The most recent addit ion in the brand is Lux Crystal Shine.

Product Category, Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and Posit ioning

This section describes the category of the selected product. The chapter is organized

into four sections. Section 1 states under which category the p roduct falls. Section 2

describes how Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. differentiates the population and c ategorizes

them into different segments. Section 3 analyzes which segment the company ta rgets

and why they target that specific segment. Finally section 4 describes the process

through which the company tries to capture a place in the buyers mind i .e. the product

posit ioning method.

Product Category

LUX falls under the category of toiletry product as a beauty soap.

Market Segmentation:

The company claims that LUX is the highest sell ing beauty soa p in Bangladesh.

Moreover some survey reports also reveal the same result .

Though LUX is the highest sell ing beauty soap in Bangladesh, i t do es not go for

tradit ional mass marketing. Moreover as a beauty soap LUX does not even segment i ts

market according to gender.

Shows that Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. segments their market according to geographical

areas.

The population of the country is segmented into three parts which are urban, sub

urban and rural area consumers.

31

Target Market:

LUX is not a highly expensive but an affordable product. That is why the company

targets urban and sub urban upper middle and middle class people who are th e second

highest population of segment of the country. From the segmenta t ion of customer

according to SEC they target category A, B and C, because they are assumed to be

financially well -off and can afford to buy

Product Posit ioning:

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good posit ion in the buyer s‗ mind through better

product at tr ibutes, price and quali ty, offering the product in a different way than the

competitors do. The company offers improved quali ty of products in the industry at

an affordable price with high branding, which ult imately helps to posit ion the product

in the buyers‗ mind as the best quali ty beauty soap.

The market share of the company in the beauty soap industry is somewhere around

43%.Since in the beauty soap industry all products are of same price Unileve r cannot

provide i ts consumers with better price but i t is in a great posit ion in reference with

i ts packaging, fragrances and product designing.

Tactical Marketing Tools

This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use th e tactical marketing

tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sec tions. This

section includes a table that shows the location of the company‗s warehouses all

around the country. Finally section 3.4 discusses the promotional activit ies that the

company undertakes for LUX.

Product:

LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Un ilever. Though

manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an

international brand, i t maintains an international quali ty for the product. Formula

given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries, LUX is

produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials l ike sodium soap, glycerol and

different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants si tuated abroad.

LUX is offered in Bangladesh in s ix different f lavors which are: LUX Energizing

Honey, LUX Golden Glow, LUX Nature Pure, LUX Orchid Touch, L UX Almond

Delight and LUX Aqua Sparkle. Taking into account the convenience of i ts customers ,

the company manufactures all f lavors of LUX in three di fferent sizes, 40gm, 80gm and

120gm.

32

Price:

Though Unilever Bangladesh gives i ts LUX customers a lot in t erms of the product

i tself , i t cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraint s in the beauty

soap industry. Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in Bangladesh . A

change in price has a high risk of creating price war among the rivals which will

eventually cause a loss of profit . Its pricesare almost equal to i ts competitor. Lux‗s

price with i ts major competitor. Company carries out research on competitors‗ price

and brand loyalty when i t feels extreme necessaity of chaging price. The brand loyalty

test is an exploratory research which is known as Brand Health Check-Up (BHCU).

Place:

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the

country as i ts sales reach more than 10 mill ion pieces a year . The company h as six

huge warehouses, one in each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes after

they are manufactured at Kalurghat factory.

The company does not use i ts own fleet of transport for distributing i ts product.

However , i t has outsourced i ts distribution process to various third party distribu tors,

exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the

product al l over Bangladesh to a huge number of retailers. Even though LUX targets

the urban and sub urban middle and upper middle class people they are distributing

their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent increase in demand of i ts

product to all segments of the population.

Promotion:

Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activit ies t o promote LUX which

has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% t o 25% of i ts

Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activit ies for LUX 1 It‗s

certain annual promotional campaigns l ike LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel

i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamou r world. Since the

1930s, over 400 of the world‗s most stunning and sensuous women have be en proudly

associated with Lux advertisements. They do not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for

the beauty conscious females, i t also promotes the brand for males and the company

proved that , by including world famous male celebrity Shahrukh Khan for their

advertising campaign.

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of mone y for promoting LUX through

TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and bil lboards. Mor eover i t also

undertakes small promotional campaigns at di fferent schools, colleges, universit i es

33

and recreational parks with winners of i ts Zonal Beauty Contests. Til l now

promotional activit ies of LUX has always been successful which has made i t a

household common name and helped i t reach almost one bil l ion tak a sale value in the

year 2004 2.

The Market for LUX

For better comprehension of Unilever Pakistan, i ts market ing strategy, product

quali ty, posit ioning and placement, we present here a comparative analysis of i ts

competitors. This part of the project i l lustrates the market share of different

companies in the beauty soap industry.

Market Share:

The beauty soap industry in Pakistan consists of only seven majo r producers. Unilever

Pakistan Ltd is operating in the industry with i ts world famous brand L UX. Out of

these giant companies Unilever Pakistan Ltd is the market leader with a share of

around 43%. Other companies in the industry are not as big as Unilever Pakistan Ltd

but they are posing threat to the company by a tendency of a gradual increase in their

market share. Kohinoor Chemicals which is operating with the brand name Tibet is an

extremely famous brand to the rural segment of the population and possess a

significant share in that segment which is the largest population group in Pakistan.

Moreover Keya Cosmetics Ltd operatin g with the brand name Keya and Marks & Allys

Ltd operating with the brand name Aromatic are also uprisin g brands to both the rural

and sub urban segment of the population.

Moreover a recent takeover of Aromatic by multinati onal consumer product giant

MARICO who operates with famous brands in other industries l ike Parachute Coconut

Oil is posing to be a threat to Unilever Pakistan‗s market share.

Integrated Marketing Communication

Promotion

The great Indian brand wagon started nearly four decades ago. Great brands sometimes

outlast their ambassadors as proven by Lux which celebrated i ts 75th anniversary in

India.

The first ambassador, Leela Chitnis featured in a Lux advertise ment which flagged

off the Lux wagon. She gave way to a galaxy of stars which includes Ma dhubala,

Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu,

Hema Malini , Zeenat Amaan, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit , Sridevi , Aishwarya Rai and

Kareena Kapoor. The last frontier for most actors aspiring to stardom is becoming a

34

Lux ambassador. The brand has outlasted many soaps. From the beginning, Lux

became a household name across the country.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion, a key ingredient in marketing campaigns, consist s of a collection of

incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to st imulate quicker or greater purchase

of part icular products or services by consumers or the trade.Whereas advertising

offers a reason to buy, sales promotion offers an incentive to buy.

Prominent Sales Promotion Schemes Used By LUX

Lux presented 30 gm gold each to the first three winners of the Lux Gold Star offer

from Delhi. According to the promotional offer that Lux unveil ed in October 2000, a

consumer finding a 22-carat gold coin in his or her soap bar got an opportunity to win

an addit ional 30 gm gold. The first 10 callers every week got a 30 gm gold e ach. The

offer could be availed only on 100 gm and 150 gm packs of Lux soap.

Lux Star Bano, Aish Karo contest: All one needed to do was buy a special

promotional pack of Lux soap. The pack comes with a special scratch card. The 50

lucky winners and their spouses were flown down to Mumbai to l ive a day l ike

Aishwarya Rai would. They could also be given gift vouchers worth Rs 50,000 from

Shoppers ' Stop along with an exclusively designed Neeta Lulla sar i and a bea uty

makeover by Michelle Tung, Aishwarya 's preferred designer and stylist . The pièce de

résistance was a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself .

Public Relations:

Not only must the company relate constructively to customers , suppl iers and dealers,

i t must also relate to a large number of interested publics. A public is a ny group that

has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a company‗s abil i ty to achieve i ts

objectives. PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a

company‗s image or i ts individual products.

LUX PR Activit ies

Press relations

Lux has been maintaining constant communicating wi th i ts customers and potential

customers, of the various developments taking place in the brand by using press

relations.

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Events:

Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by un veil ing Shahrukh Khan as

their latest brand ambassador. Kareena Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini

graced the event and made i t special . All the stars have endorsed Lux in the past . The

event was held at the grand Intercontinental in Mumbai.

Limited edit ion:

Coming up with l imited edit ion of the brand is also a way of at tracting attention

towards the brand. It creates a buzz and a feeling of urgency to try out the pro duct and

helps in promotion of the brand. This strategy was also implemented by Lux by

bringing out l imited edit ions l ike Chocolate Seduction, Aromatic Glow, Festive Glow

and Haute Pink.

Labell ing

The LUX Trade Character or Logo is present prominently on the package. A novel

metall ic substrate packaging showcases the ingredients, and a female mo del is shown

on the pack. Also displayed graphically are the key ingredients.

Packaging

The colors are different for different variants such as saffron for the saffron variant,

pink for the rose extracts etc.The Bars come in package sizes of 100g, 120g, 150 g

Point of Purchases:

The LUX is not given a notable placement on the shelves of di fferent retail shops &

departmental stores for i ts sales promotion. Usually the compan y goes for wide

display in the stores where i t potential for i ts product. Different eye -catching

decorations are made inside the store and in the showcase for outside display. These

arrangements are made with the assistance of the sales people of the company.

Advertisements:

The message that the product reflects in i ts advertisements is the o ne that is usually

narrated by the corporate i tself . Advertising is any paid form of non -personal

presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. Ads

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can be a cost effective way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand

preference or to educate people .

USP or the common thread through all the advertisements is the Presence of Movie

Stars through the ages. The product has been posit ioned on the basis of REFERE NCE

GROUP by using a celebrity popular at that point in t ime. Some amount of at tr ibute

posit ioning by mentioning the various ingredients has also been done.

Lux campaigns have wooed mill ions of people over the decades. Popularly known as

the beauty soap of fi lm stars, Lux has been an intimate partner of the brightest stars

on the si lver screen for decades. An ode to their beauty, an announcer of their

stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured fi lm stars across the nation,

promising their beauty and complexion to ordinary women.

With top movie stars – from Madhubala to Madhuri , from Babita to Karisma and

Kareena having endorsed the goodness of Lux over generations, i t was na tural that the

brand has buil t equity as the best beauty soap in India.

From the beginning Lux, by using a leading fi lm star of the t ime , has fulfi l led the

consumers‗ aspirations of using beauty soaps via the rationale ‗if i t‗s good eno ugh for

a fi lm star, i t‗s good for me. This later moved into a transformation role of having a

bath with Lux, which t ransports the user into a fantasy world of icons, f i lm stars and

fairy lands.

Change in communicat ion strategy

However , the communication was slowly seen to be losin g relevance, as consumers

were beginning to question if the fi lm star actually used the brand.

In addit ion to this, several competit ive beauty soap brands had begun advertising

using similar methods of communication. In this context, the global bran d team for

Lux developed a new communication strategy. This strategy – bring out the star in you

– for the first t ime moved the brand away from the long-running fi lm star route. The

fi lm star st i l l features in the new communication but not as her gorgeous self but

rather as an alter ego/projection of the protagonist (a regular girl) , for a few seconds

of the entire ad. Thus, for the first t ime the fi lm star was used as a communicat ion

device and not as the main feature of the ad. The move away from the fi lm star and

her fantasy world to a regular Lux user, with the focus on the protagonist‗s star

quali ty, is a change from the norms set by Lux advertising in the past . With the new

communication strategy, the fi lm star is used purely as a communication device to

portray star quali ty in every Lux user. Thi s can be significantly seen in the latest TV

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commercial of Lux Crystal Shine where Priyanka Chopra is portrayed as a normal

woman.

This idea – bring out the star in you – puts the consumer at the heart of the brands‗

promise. This promise goes beyond the funct ional deliverables of soap, beyond

bathing and the bathroom to theworld ou tside. It‗s a world where with Lux on her

side, an ordinary woman can impact her world with her own star quali ty.

This is a successful at tempt to bring the brand closer to i ts users and to give i t a more

youthful and contemporary image.

Selection of Media:

There are number of Sources available for passing the product message. These are as

follows;

Television

Outdoor (Billboards)

Magazines

Newspapers

Brochures

Internet

Impact on Sales:

The company believes that ads do have adequate impact on s ales . In order to meet the

company policy of maintaining and strengthening the corporate image, the ads are

shown on television. There is a long -term strategy in the books of Unilever to disturb

the loose Soap market. They usually show documentary from tim e to t ime regarding

the flaws in loose Soap quali ty. It is usually shown without any discrimination, i .e. ,

without mentioning any Soap name or company name in the documentary.

Celebrity endorsements

Hollywood

Since the 1930s, many well -known Hollywood actresses have marketed the soap to

women as a beauty enhancer. Advertisements have featured Dorothy Lamour, Joan

Crawford, Laurette Luez, Judy Garland, Cheryl Ladd, Jennifer Lopez, Elizabeth

Taylor, Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Catherine Zeta -Jones, Rachel Weisz, Anne

Hathaway, and Marilyn Monroe, among others. The first male to star in a Lux

advertisement was Hollywood actor Paul Newman

Bollywood

Today, the brand is st i l l heavily advertised in India using Bollywood stars.

Madhubala, Mala Sinha, Hema Malini , Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit , Juhi Chawla, Karisma

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Kapoor, Rani Mukerj i , Aishwarya Rai, Amisha Patel , Kareena Kapoor and Tabu have

all been past brand ambassadors.

Priyanka Chopra is the present brand ambassador of Lux. In In dia Shahrukh Khan was

the first male in a Lux advertisement

Pakistan

Lux has been widely advertised in Pakistan ever since the brand was introduced.

Pakistani models including Reema Khan, Meera, Aaminah Haq, Babra sharif and

various other leading models and actresses have been "Lux models" from time to t ime.

Lux remains the leading soap brand in Pakis tan, representing the s tylish class of

Pakistan. Things started with a TV show called Lux Style Ki Duniya, now with the

country's leading models and actors ta king part in the annual Lux Style Awards every

year. Ali Zafar the famous Pakistani Singer has become the first male model for Lux.

Other countries

Lux soap is very popular in Nepal and the brand appointed Nepali model -turned-

actress Jharana Bajracharya to be the Lux Girl in the Summer of 2003. After that , she

appeared on many TV commercials. Nigerian actress Genevieve Nnaj i appeared as the

face of Lux soap in 2004. Two decades earl ier, singer Patt i Boulaye had been

Nigeria 's face of Lux. In Norway duri ng the 1950s and 1960s, Lux advertisements

featured fict ional Ital ian actresses. Lux soap is also a category leader in Pakistan, the

brand being synonymous with glamour. While init ial ly i t was also marketed as the

beauty soap of the fi lm stars, recently i t is focusing more on bringing out the star in

ordinary people. Current brand ambassador is Iman Ali .

Soap operas Lux soap was known for sponsoring several popular radio series in the

1930s and 1940s including Lux Radio Theater that was hosted and direc ted by Cecil

B. DeMille and the Life and Love of Dr. Susan an early soap opera. This radio

sponsorship made the brand fairly well -known in the United States while the shows

were produced, though the soap has since disappeared from mainstream American

markets and is no longer the recognized brand i t once was. Many Hollywood stars

were lured to appear on Lux Radio Theatre not only due to i ts high quali ty, but that

the actors and actresses received monetary payment instead of free samples of the

product. From 1950 to 1959, Lux sponsored Lux Video Theatre and Lux Playhouse on

television.

Public Relations:

In order to build healthy relations with the consumers, the company has established a

consumer department to manage the complaints of the end -users. A legal department is

also dealing with the legal issues and media war. If any news is published in a

newspaper that harms the product image, a persuasive message is published in that

newspaper to counter the rumor.

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Sponsoring Events:

The company goes for sponsoring events in order to heighten the company and brand

image.

Mostly the company goes for financing such kind of events in which i ts product has

got some room to build l ikeness . The company also goes for sponsoring fashion shows

in different ci t ies.

Distribution:

LUX goes for indirect channel of distribution. The hierarchy of the distribution

channel is as follows.

Manufacturer

Distributor

Retailer

Consumer

The distribution strategy pursued by the Unilever is intensive. It means that the

product distribution is covering wide market . There are regional headquarters of the

company in all the big cit ies of the country. There is a distributor in each big city. In

order to reach remote areas, a distributor engages a sub -distributor for a small area.

The company is directly l inked with the main distributor and the sub -distributor has

no such direct contact with the company. The company provides the Life Buoy

inventory to the main distributor that is further dispatched to retai lers and sub -

distributors .

There is a regional manager of Unilever that employs Area Sales Manager for a

specific area then comes the Terri tory Sales Officer (TSO). TSO is directly l inked

with the distributors to set and achieve targets. The targets vary from area to area and

are set on the basis of history of the area sales. As the sales targets depend upon the

area history of sales; these are usually achievable. If these targets are facing some

kind of setback, the promotional schemes based on areas are announced as discussed

earl ier.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.managementparadise.com/vinola/documents/1894/integrated-marketing-communication-amp-case-study-on-bajaj-pulsar/

http://www.managementparadise.com/sayed123/documents/15118/project-on-imc-of-lux/

www.hul.co.in/brands/lux.asp www.lux.com www.wikipedia.org

Advertising and Promotion – George E Belch & Michael A Belch