PROJECT REPORT ON “INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICTION OF LUX

SOAP BY HINDUSTAN UNLEVER LIMITED”

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ABSTRACT

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. is a well-known and largest FMCG company in India. HUL has always revamped its products to meet the changing needs of the consumer without compromising on the quality. This report deals with one of its 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 selling 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 activities adopted, the brand's strengths and weaknesses, threats faced are also analysed. The FMCG category is always a battleground 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.

Executive Summary

Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant 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 most 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 criteria of education and profession which ultimately measures the financial ability of consumers. The cluster is divided into five parts starting 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 upholds the same standard all around the globe. The product is available in six different fragrances under three different sizes. Since the demand for beauty soap market is to a great extent oligopolistic, variations in price lead to price war which can eventually break down the company‘s market share. Thus Unilever cannot provide a better price than its competitors. But the price is affordable by most of the people. Unilever Bangladesh has outsourced its distribution channels to third party distributors which allow them to distribute LUX in massive bulks amounting to around ten million pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activities in the beauty soap industry. The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market share of slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Tibbet, Aromatic and Keya have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.‘s product features distribution and promotional activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader. Unilever, with the aid of its heavy promotional activities, 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; attract children (by making a special product for kids) and other innovative promotional activities to retain its command in the industry.

Industry analysis

The toilet soaps market is estimated at 530,000 tpa including small imports. The market is littered over with several, leading national and global brands and a large number of small brands, which have limited markets. The popular and premium brands include Lifebuoy, Lux, Cinthol, Liril, Rexona, and Nirma. Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not well differentiated by the consumers. It is, therefore, not clear if it is the brand loyalty or experimentation 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 competitive market. Toilet soap, once only an urban phenomenon, has now penetrated practically all areas including remote rural areas. The incremental demand flows from population increase and rise in usage norm impacted as it is by a greater concern for hygiene. Increased sales revenues would also expand from up gradation of quality or per unit value. As the market is constituted now, it can be divided into four price 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 competition, major players Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting are now drawing 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 overall soap market. HUL is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company; its journey began 75 years ago, in 1933, when the company was

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first incorporated. The company stirring the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products 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 Wall'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.

Godrej Consumer Products GCPL, India‘s second largest soap maker after Hindustan Unilever Ltd, has nearly 9.2% market share. With 11% market share in value terms, it is the second largest 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 first Fairness soap, has created marketing history as one of the most successful innovations. It is also 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 for the corporate segment in India. Wipro also has a profitable presence in niche market segments of infrastructure engineering, and consumer products & lighting.Wipro has made a large acquisition 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 acquisition, Consumer care business has reached a Revenue run rate in excess of $100 million per quarter.

Procter & Gamble India Procter & Gamble India (PGHHCL) was incorporated in 1964 after Procter & Gamble, US, acquired Richardson Vicks, US. Formerly known as Richardson Hindustan (the Indian subsidiary), it was later named as P&G. It changed its name again in 1998 to Procter & Gamble Hygiene and Health Care in order to reflect the nature and character of the business of the

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company. During 2004-05 the company has increased its 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 and Toilet Preparations etc has increased to 108500 Tonnes and 5875 Tonnes respectively.

Nirma Incorporated as a private limited company, Nirma was converted into a deemed public company and then to a public limited one in Nov.'93. Nirma has a leadership presence in Detergents, Soaps and Personal Care Products. To have a greater control on the quality and price of its raw materials, Nirma undertook backward integration into manufacture of Industrial Products like Soda Ash, Linear Alkyl Benzene (LAB), Alfa 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 licensee 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 last year and has made a strong headway in a short time. According to AC Nielsen, its share has grown to 1.75% in just five months despite the fact that many of its brands such as Superia, Fiama Di Wills and Vivel are currently sold in only six states.

Competitor analysis

Internal competitors Lifebuoy: Born: 1895

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External Competitors

Santoor: Santoor is the flagship brand in the Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting stable and the 2nd largest brand of soap in India in the popular segment of the category. The brand enjoys two decades of trust since its launch in 1986 and has grown to be counted amongst the top brands in the Country in an intensively competitive market. Millions 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 controls formation of skin darkening pigments like melanin, to give skin a radiant glow. Natural Skin Softeners make skin soft and supple. The end result, skin that is so healthy and beautiful, it lies about your actual age! Amongst the first brands in the Country to launch an offering with the twin ingredient benefits of Sandal and Turmeric, Santoor has over the years moved from a purely 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 its range are having feel-fresh fragrance and high TFM index. Cinthol‘s range covers an economic Lime-fresh, the medium deo-soaps (spice, lime,cologne and the new ‘sport‘) and a slightly 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 still able to sustain itself in the market . Godrej has now launched the improved Cinthol range. Cinthol now offers a deo-range of soaps, talc and deo-sprays in three exciting fragrances - Classic, Cologne and Sport in a trendy new packaging. It also offers Cinthol fresh soap and Cinthol Regular soap with new exciting packaging. 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, online and radio.

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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 it radiant. Vivel Di Wills Sheer Crème is enriched with Shea Butter, to moisturize skin to make it 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 Ayurvedic Ingredients which help protect skin from germs and harsh environment, keeping it 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 fragrance of Sandal & Almond Oil Natural Glow: with Neem & Coconut Oils Healthy Glow: with Orange Oil

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Company profile

Hindustan Lever Ltd Hindustan Lever Ltd (HLL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) company. HLL's brands like 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 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 associates. Hindustan Lever Limited's distribution network comprises about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3 million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 million rural consumers. HLL is also one of India's largest exporters. It has been recognised as a Golden 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 "add vitality to life." 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 its products to India. This process began in 1888 with the export of Sunlight soap, which was followed by Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim soon after. In 1931, Unilever set up its first 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 entity that came into existence after merger was called as Hindustan Lever Limited. HLL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, and it was the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Currently, Unilever holds 51.55% equity in the company while the rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 380,000 individual shareholders and financial institutions. Brooke Bond entered Indian market in 1900 and in 1903 it launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Unilever acquired Brooke Bond through an international acquisition. Similarly, Lipton's link 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 acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986. The liberalization of Indian economy in 1991 and subsequent removal of the regulatory framework allowed HLL to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity. The 1990s witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it 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, Brooke 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

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strategic alliance 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 like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India. In January 2000, as part of its divestment strategy, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HLL. In 2002, HLL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods. In February 2007, the company has been renamed to "Hindustan Unilever Limited" to strike the optimum balance between maintaining the heritage of the Company and the future benefits and synergies of global alignment with the corporate name of "Unilever".

Mission

Unilever's mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.Their deep roots in local cultures 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 quality expectations of their consumers into their products. To win consumers‘ confidence and loyalty, they need to consistently deliver branded products of excellent quality. 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 quality of their brands and products, and the high standards they set.

Principles of the Quality Policy

• Putting the safety of their products and consumers first.

HUL has stringent mandatory quality 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 quality, and conform to the relevant industry and 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 position their products.

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• Quality is a shared responsibility Quality and consumer safety is the responsibility of every Unilever employee and Unilever demonstrates visible and consistent leadership to meet this policy. The drive for quality, 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 Consumer Goods company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. They endow the company with a scale of combined volumes of about 4 million tonnes and sales of nearly Rs.13718 crores. HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters; it 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 over 1,300 managers, is to "add vitality to life." HUL meets everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds 52.10% of the equity. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions. HUL's brands - like 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. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's distribution network, comprising about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering 6.3 million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250 million rural consumers. HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in all its operations. The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up in 1958, and now has facilities in Mumbai and Bangalore. HURC and the Global Technology Centres in India have over 200 highly qualified 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 products include home and personal care products, foods and beverages, industrial and agricultural products. Home and personal care products 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, rice, salt, atta and rawa, marine products and mushrooms. Industrial and agricultural products includes specialty chemicals, bulk chemicals, fertilisers, animal feeds,

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seeds, plant growth nutrients, processed-tri-glycerides and agri commodities, yeast, leather, footwear and carpets, thermometers and plantations. Its brands are spread across 20 consumer product categories. Hindustan Unilever markets consumer goods throughout India. The company faces competition from international, local and regional players. The company derives 44.3% of its revenues from soaps and detergents, 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 its brand equity and exclusivity.

New Products introduced by HUL in recent years: Lux strawberry and cream Clinic plus multi sachet Ponds age miracle Axe shock and recover Paddle pop Wheel active Green

Divisions

Home and Personal Care The HPC business is made up of Fabric Wash, Household Care, Personal Wash and Personal Care categories. Personal Wash: Lux, Lifebuoy, Liril, 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

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Foods

The Foods Division of your Company comprises Beverages, Processed 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 Direct Selling arm. It is a multicategory direct selling business offering a wide range of high-quality, high-performance products for its consumers and also exciting business and personal development opportunities for its consultants. It already has about 7 lakh consultants - all independent entrepreneurs, trained and guided by HUN's expert managers and trainers. HUN‘s mission is to a create millionaire club in India. There 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 different 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 Selling channel, and not available in the retail channel. HUN has already spread to 1500 towns and cities, backed by 28 offices and over 130 service centres across the country. HUN's vision is to earn the love and respect of India by making a real difference to the lives of million Indians.

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Exports

Today, HUL is one of India‘s Largest exporters of branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods. It has been recognized by the Government of India as a Golden Super Star Trading House. Over time HUL has developed into a viable & competitive sourcing base for Unilever world wide in Home and Personal Care & Foods & Beverages category of products. HUL is also a global marketing arm for select licensed Unilever brands and also works on building categories with core country advantage such as branded basmati rice.

HUL Exports offers high level of service with flexibility and responsiveness thorough out the supply chain. It has a dedicated organization structure to support this endeavour and this has helped in growth of these businesses in particular. Intrinsic cost competitiveness in the end to end Supply chain with appropriate technology and competitive capital investment operations while delivering best in class quality enables HUL to position itself as a key sourcing hub for Unilever and also become a preferred partner for Global customers in categories we operate. HUL‘s key focus in the exports business is on two broad categories. 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 focuses on becoming a preferred supplier to both non-Unilever and Unilever clients in three categories in which India, as a country, has competitive advantage – Branded Rice, Marine Products and Castor and its Derivatives . HUL enjoys international recognition within Unilever and outside for its quality, reliability 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 affordability. Pureit‘s unique Germkill Battery technology kills all harmful viruses and bacteria and removes parasites and pesticide impurities, giving you water that is ‗as safe as boiled‘. It assures your family 100% protection from water-borne diseases like jaundice, diarrhea, typhoid and cholera. Pureit not only renders water micro-biologically safe, but also makes the water clear, odourless and good-tasting.

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Corporate Responsibility As in the earlier years, your Company continued to involve itself in social welfare initiatives across the Country, both through charity and social investment around issues like education, health, nutrition and initiatives for the economic upliftment of the underprivileged. The company has commenced a pilot in its tea business, in partnership with an NGO (Partners in Change) to source tea directly from small producers and thereby improve their livelihood. The effort of the Company in improving water availability through 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 Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already touched 84.6 million people in approximately 43890 villages of 8 states. The vision is to make a billion Indians feel safe and secure.

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PRODUCT PROFILE:

Lux soap was first launched in 1916 as laundry soap targeted specifically at 'delicates'. Lever Brothers encouraged women to home launder their clothes without fear of satins and silks being turned yellow by harsh lyes that were often used in soaps at the time. The flake-type soap allowed the manufacturer some leeway from lye because it did not need to be shaped into traditional 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 name 'Lux' was chosen as a play on the word "luxury." Lux has been marketed in several forms, including bar and flake and liquid (hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap). Lux in step with the changing trends and evolving beauty needs of the consumers, offers an exciting range of soaps and Body Washes with unique elements to make bathing time more pleasurable. One can choose from a range of skincare benefits like firming, fairness and moisturising. Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of India's most trusted personal care brands. Since its 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 film 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 times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colours made up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. People enjoyed matching their soap with their bathroom colours. In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from traditional soap bars by launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars. Lux beauty facial wash, Lux beauty bath and Lux beauty shower were launched 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 exciting new variants with dreamy names such as ―Wine & Roses‖ bath cream, ―Glowing Touch‖ and ―Sparkling Morning‖ shower gels.

Lux has recently launched its two fruit extract variants – New Lux Strawberry & Cream and Lux Peach & Cream contain a blend of succulent fruits & luscious Chantilly cream. The most recent addition in the brand is Lux Crystal Shine.

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Product Category, Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and Positioning

This section describes the category of the selected product. The chapter is organized into four sections. Section 1 states under which category the product falls. Section 2 describes how Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. differentiates the population and categorizes them into different segments. Section 3 analyzes which segment the company targets 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 positioning 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 selling beauty soap in Bangladesh. Moreover some survey reports also reveal the same result. Though LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh, it does not go for traditional mass marketing. Moreover as a beauty soap LUX does not even segment its 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.

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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 the second highest population of segment of the country. From the segmentation 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 LUX.

Product Positioning:

Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good position in the buyers‘ mind through better product attributes, price and quality, offering the product in a different way than the competitors do. The company offers improved quality of products in the industry at an affordable price with high branding, which ultimately helps to position the product in the buyers‘ mind as the best quality 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 Unilever cannot provide its consumers with better price but it is in a great position in reference with its packaging, fragrances and product designing.

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Tactical Marketing Tools

This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical marketing tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sections. 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 activities that the company undertakes for LUX.

Product: LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an international brand, it maintains an international quality for the product. Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries, LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials like sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants situated abroad.

LUX is offered in Bangladesh in six different flavors which are: LUX Energizing Honey, LUX Golden Glow, LUX Nature Pure, LUX Orchid Touch, LUX Almond Delight and LUX Aqua Sparkle. Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm.

Price: Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the product itself, it cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints 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 prices are almost equal to its competitor. Lux‘s price with its major competitor. Company carries out research on competitors‘ price and brand loyalty when it feels extreme necessaity of chaging price. The brand loyalty test is an exploratory research which is known as Brand Health CheckUp (BHCU).

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Place: Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has 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 its own fleet of transport for distributing its product. However, it has outsourced its distribution process to various third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all 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 its product to all segments of the population.

Promotion: Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX which has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX 1 It‘s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world‘s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. They do not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for the beauty conscious females, it 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 money for promoting LUX through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. Moreover it also undertakes small promotional campaigns at different schools, colleges, universities and recreational parks with winners of its Zonal Beauty Contests. Till now promotional activities of LUX has always been successful which has made it a household common name and helped it reach almost one billion taka sale value in the year 2004 2.

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The Market for LUX For better comprehension of Unilever Pakistan, its marketing strategy, product quality, positioning and placement, we present here a comparative analysis of its competitors. This part of the project illustrates the market share of different companies in the beauty soap industry.

Market Share: The beauty soap industry in Pakistan consists of only seven major producers. Unilever Pakistan Ltd is operating in the industry with its world famous brand LUX. 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 operating with the brand name Keya and Marks & Allys Ltd operating with the brand name Aromatic are also uprising brands to both the rural and sub urban segment of the population. Moreover a recent takeover of Aromatic by multinational consumer product giant MARICO who operates with famous brands in other industries like Parachute Coconut Oil is posing to be a threat to Unilever Pakistan‘s market share.

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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 its 75th anniversary in India.

The first ambassador, Leela Chitnis featured in a Lux advertisement which flagged off the Lux wagon. She gave way to a galaxy of stars which includes Madhubala, 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 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, consists of a collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular 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 unveiled in October 2000, a consumer finding a 22-carat gold coin in his or her soap bar got an opportunity to win an additional 30 gm gold. The first 10 callers every week got a 30 gm gold each. 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 live a day like Aishwarya Rai would. They could also be given gift vouchers worth Rs 50,000 from Shoppers' Stop along with an exclusively designed Neeta Lulla sari and a beauty makeover by Michelle Tung, Aishwarya's preferred designer and stylist. The pièce de résistance was a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself.

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Lux celebrated 75 years of stardom with the Har Star Lucky Star activity. All wrappers of Lux had a star printed inside them. If the consumer found written inside the star, any number from ―1‖ to ―5‖, she would get an equivalent discount (in rupees) on her purchase from her shopkeeper. If the consumer found ―75 years‖ written inside the star, she will get a year‘s supply of Lux free.

Online contests: Example:

Please enter your name and email to play the game.

Play the supercharged version of the hit puzzle game, Bejeweled. Create rows of 3 or more identical stones and you could win a trip for two to a five-star Resort in Goa.

Public Relations:

Not only must the company relate constructively to customers, suppliers and dealers, it must also relate to a large number of interested publics. A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a company‘s ability to achieve its objectives. PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company‘s image or its individual products.

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LUX PR Activities Press relations: Lux has been maintaining constant communicating with its customers and potential customers, of the various developments taking place in the brand by using press relations. Events: Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by unveiling Shahrukh Khan as their latest brand ambassador. Kareena Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini graced the event and made it special. All the stars have endorsed Lux in the past. The event was held at the grand Intercontinental in Mumbai.

Limited edition: Coming up with limited edition of the brand is also a way of attracting attention towards the brand. It creates a buzz and a feeling of urgency to try out the product and helps in promotion of the brand. This strategy was also implemented by Lux by bringing out limited editions like Chocolate Seduction, Aromatic Glow, Festive Glow and Haute Pink.

Logo

Labelling The LUX Trade Character or Logo is present prominently on the package. A novel metallic substrate packaging showcases the ingredients, and a female model is shown on the pack. Also displayed graphically are the key ingredients.

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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

Lux has also launched a 45 g variant called Mini Lux priced at Rs. 5.

Point of Purchases: The LUX is not given a notable placement on the shelves of different retail shops & departmental stores for its sales promotion. Usually the company goes for wide display in the stores where it potential for its 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.

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Advertisements:

The message that the product reflects in its advertisements is the one that is usually narrated by the corporate itself. Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. Ads can be a cost effective way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand preference or to educate people.

LUX ADVERTISEMENTS THROUGH THE AGES

Leela Chitnis in the first Lux print adverstisement featuring an indian actress

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Aishwarya Rai in a print advertisement featuring Lux international

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Priyanka Chopra in the latest Lux advertisement

USP or the common thread through all the advertisements is the Presence of Movie Stars through the ages. The product has been positioned on the basis of REFERENCE GROUP by using a celebrity popular at that point in time. Some amount of attribute positioning by mentioning the various ingredients has also been done. Lux campaigns have wooed millions of people over the decades. Popularly known as the beauty soap of film stars, Lux has been an intimate partner of the brightest stars on the silver screen for

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decades. An ode to their beauty, an announcer of their stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured film 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, it was natural that the brand has built equity as the best beauty soap in India.

From the beginning Lux, by using a leading film star of the time, has fulfilled the consumers‘ aspirations of using beauty soaps via the rationale ‗if it‘s good enough for a film star, it‘s good for me. This later moved into a transformation role of having a bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world of icons, film stars and fairy lands.

Change in communication strategy

However, the communication was slowly seen to be losing relevance, as consumers were beginning to question if the film star actually used the brand. In addition to this, several competitive beauty soap brands had begun advertising using similar methods of communication. In this context, the global brand team for Lux developed a new communication strategy. This strategy – bring out the star in you – for the first time moved the brand away from the long-running film star route. The film star still 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 time the film star was used as a communication device and not as the main feature of the ad. The move away from the film star and her fantasy world to a regular Lux user, with the focus on the protagonist‘s star quality, is a change from the norms set by Lux advertising in the past. With the new communication strategy, the film star is used purely as a communication device to portray star quality in every Lux user. This can be significantly seen in the latest TV 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 functional deliverables of soap, beyond bathing and the bathroom to the

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world outside. It‘s a world where with Lux on her side, an ordinary woman can impact her world with her own star quality.

This is a successful attempt to bring the brand closer to its users and to give it a more youthful and contemporary image.

Breaking away from tradition, HLL resorts to a male and metro sexual Shah Rukh to revive Lux, which turned 75 in 2005.

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

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Impact on Sales: The company believes that ads do have adequate impact on sales. 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 time to time regarding the flaws in loose Soap quality. 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 still heavily advertised in India using Bollywood stars.[2] Madhubala, Mala Sinha, Hema Malini, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Karisma Kapoor, Rani Mukerji, Aishwarya Rai, Amisha Patel, Kareena Kapoor and Tabu have all been past brand ambassadors.[citation needed] Priyanka Chopra is the present brand ambassador of Lux. In India Shahrukh Khan was the first male in a Lux advertisement

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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 time. Lux remains the leading soap brand in Pakistan, representing the stylish class of Pakistan. Things started with a TV show called Lux Style Ki Duniya, now with the country's leading models and actors taking 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 Nnaji appeared as the face of Lux soap in 2004. Two decades earlier, singer Patti Boulaye had been Nigeria's face of Lux. In Norway during the 1950s and 1960s, Lux advertisements featured fictional Italian actresses. Lux soap is also a category leader in Pakistan, the brand being synonymous with glamour. While initially it was also marketed as the beauty soap of the film stars, recently it 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 directed 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 it once was. Many Hollywood stars were lured to appear on Lux Radio Theatre not only due to its high quality, 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.

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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.

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 its product has got some room to build likeness. The company also goes for sponsoring fashion shows in different cities.

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 cities 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 linked 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 retailers and sub-distributors. There is a regional manager of Unilever that employs Area Sales Manager for a specific area then comes the Territory Sales Officer (TSO). TSO is directly linked 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

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achievable. If these targets are facing some kind of setback, the promotional schemes based on areas are announced as discussed earlier.

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BIBLOGRAPHY:

Advertising and Promotion – George E Belch & Michael A Belch www.hul.co.in/brands/lux.asp www.lux.com www.wikipedia.org

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