Vivel: Integrated Marketing Communication Report | IIMC | IMC

CONTENTS

ITC - an introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1

The Six Success Mantras ................................................................................................................... 3

VIVEL DI WILLS & VIVEL ................................................................................................................... 6

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS – SECONDARY RESEARCH ..................................................................... 8

DOVE 9

LUX 9

Santoor ....................................................................................................................................... 10

Cinthol ......................................................................................................................................... 11

Imc Strategy of Vivel – Secondary research ..................................................................................... 11

PRIMARY RESEARCH – EVALUATION OF BRAND PERCEPTION AND PERSONALITY ................... 17

Brand Image ................................................................................................................................. 17

Brand Personification .................................................................................................................. 18

Point of purchase ....................................................................................................................... 18

Reasons for Choosing Vivel ......................................................................................................... 19

Reasons not to choose Vivel ........................................................................................................ 19

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ................................................................................... 20

USE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN THE EVOLUTION OF PERSONAL CARE BRAND VIVEL IN INDIA

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USE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN THE EVOLUTION

OF PERSONAL CARE BRAND VIVEL IN INDIA

ITC - AN INTRODUCTION

Popularly known as ITC, the $5-billion Indian Tobacco Company is an addition to the

select club of ambitious desi conglomerates (like TATA, Reliance, Aditya Birla etc.) for whom

diversification into new businesses has been the biggest propellant of their ever-growing size,

clout and brand prowess. Starting from its humble beginnings in 1910 as Imperial Tobacco

Company of India, Virginia House, the group headquarters in Kolkata, has been the proud

witness to many successful new business scripts in the company’s long and varied journey.

As tobacco became a bad word in the last two decades, and successive governments began

to put many curbs in terms of advertising and other promotions around tobaccos, it became

a tough business environment to operate in, besides it has started taking a toll on the

company's image.

Hence, ITC needed to change its track and that too quickly. And like a skin-shedding

snake, ITC started an earnest exercise in creating a new brand image and corporate

philosophy by investing in new business categories like personal care, premium apparel, rural

business (e-Choupal) and foods. All along using its famed distribution strengths built through

its successful past businesses like cigarettes, paperboards and packaging, hotels and agri

business, to create synergies across its verticals and help prop up its new businesses, like

personal care and foods.


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ITC implemented a well thought-out strategic approach. Rather than acquiring

weaker brands to get into these new segments inorganically, it created a range of new

personal care and branded apparel brands. The decisive element for its new brands was

having a product that's differentiated and superior in value proposition than what the

competition has to offer. The first step in this well-planned strategy was the launch of Wills

Lifestyle, the premium branded apparel business in 2002. This business is being spearheaded

by CEO Atul Chand from New Delhi. That ITC was very serious about this new foray was clear

from the fact that it hit the market with four brands— Wills Classic, Wills Sport, Wills ClubLife

and Wills Signature—to cater to the specific apparel needs of men and women of upper and

mid-income levels. Besides, it has also launched exclusive men's and women's wear brands—

John Players and Miss Players. Not stopping at apparel, ITC then moved on to take the

competition head on in the FMCG domain, through ITC Foods in August 2001, and personal

care business, which is the focal point of this story, in 2005. Under this category, brands like

Essenza Di Wills, Fiama Di Wills, Vivel Di Wills, Vivel and the Superia were designed to take

care of various sets of consumer segments.

Though, the plans for personal care foray were high, it got fructified only in July 2005, after

its successful foray into foods business with brands like Sunfeast, Ashirwaad Atta and Bingo.

But behind this launch was five years of intensive on ground research of market conditions

and consumer expectations. Over one lakh consumers were surveyed across the country to

test various prototypes. Acceptance benchmark was kept as high as 90 percent for the final

products. ITC called this exercise as '3E’ approach —explore, establish and execute. ITC

wanted to create a portfolio on their own unlike many others who have a long and varied

history of inorganic growth, which had its own merits. They had the flexibility to create the

portfolio to meet the needs of today's consumers without being bogged down by the past

heritage or the varied history of an acquired business. They could develop strategies to utilize

the innate strength of their organization-distribution. The unique challenges they faced

while developing the business from scratch were upfront investment of time and resources

to understand consumers and develop consumer insights. Further ITC's target was HUL and

P&G only. Hence, it went about its business with a lot of strategy, experience, innovation,

correct marketing-mix and better products. It modelled itself after P&G's proposition of

superior products in every segment it has entered. ITC roped in its tobacco business veteran


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Sandeep Kaul to spearhead the personal care launch. It also poached some key talents not

only from across the industry but also a senior scientist from the HUL stable to spearhead

the technology function. That apart, it also sought help from product formulation and

branding experts in Europe and America to formulate the fragrance, aesthetics and

packaging. Many of the brands have also been developed at its R&D centre. The results are

there for everyone to see. In less than four years, ITC has been able to create brand awareness

and consumer acceptance for its five product lines—Essenza Di Wills, Fiama Di Wills, Vivel Di

Wills, Vivel and the Superia—each targeted at the needs, aspirations and usage behaviour of

different consumer segments. ITC says that the strategy for designing personal care is that

everyone is a potential consumer.

THE SIX SUCCESS MANTRAS

Source: Pitch, April 2009


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Each of the above brands has been created around six key strategic pillars. The first

of which is 'clear segmentation' across brands and product lines. The second pillar is making

these products reach far and wide. ITC cleverly leverages its 'distribution and group synergy'

strengths to deliver the products right at the doors of consumers. Though, ITC has a highly

successful distribution network for its tobacco products, it had to quickly devise a different

distribution plan for its personal care brands, as these are positioned in the premium

category. This was answered by rolling out a wide distribution infrastructure for ITC Foods’

brands like Bingo, Ashirwad Atta and Sunfeast. This helped in quickly rolling out the personal

care business across the country, with further support from its universally acclaimed e-

Choupal network. And today, ITC's distribution reach is almost at par with market leader

HUL's reach. The third pillar is a clear communication for these brands, according to the

target consumer sets.

The fourth pillar is the relevant brand extensions around which it has created the five

product lines. So far, the effort has been to keep the focus on the main brands through brand

extensions rather than confusing consumers with many sub-brands with different names.

But, the same doesn't apply to its luxury Essenza Di Wills range, which has sub-brands like

Inizio, Aqua and Mikkel to cater to exclusive and individualistic desires of its rich target

audience. Since brand ambassadors play a key role in creating the top-of-mind recall, the

fifth pillar of its strategy rests on associating itself with strategic brand ambassadors

whenever required. For example, only the Fiama Di Wills and Vivel ranges have brand

ambassadors while the rest two brands are TG-driven. Lastly, its sixth strategic pillar is visible

on the packaging side. The packaging for Fiama Di Wills was developed by international

design houses to ensure high-quality standards.


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The personal care business is considered recession-proof as these products are of

regular demand and hence a lucrative area. And ITC has both—a deep pocket to sustain

through the initial years and the ambition and will power to grow large. The personal care

space, comprising of skin care, soaps, shampoos, conditioners and hair oils touched Rs

16,612 crore in 2008-09, growing at a healthy rate of over 20 percent in terms of value and

14 percent in terms of volume. Soaps alone account for over 40 percent of the personal care

market and along with the shampoos, control well over 50 percent of the overall FMCG

market. These two are also the categories of prime focus for ITC. It’s in no hurry to get into

every conceivable FMCG segment. Unlike many other consumer goods players which have

too many brands, but not all which are not very clearly defined. ITC has kept the focus on its

five main brands with each of them having a unique brand proposition. Now, with high brand

awareness in place, the focus is on driving sales by creating multiple touch-points through

various channels of communication, promotions, different price-points and leveraging the

group synergies.


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VIVEL DI WILLS & VIVEL

Easily, the most important of all the brands, Vivel Di Wills and Vivel compete in the

most competitive, the popular market segment, dominated by well -entrenched players like

HUL and P&G, besides smaller players like Marico, CavinCare, Godrej, Dabur etc. Launched

in the first half of 2008, Vivel Di Wills introduced two soap variants. Vivel has both soaps and

shampoos, catering to a wide range of consumers in the mid and upper-middle class

segments.

Vivel soaps, shampoos and fairness creams usually depicts the features and virtues

like Youth, Confidence & Beauty. The USP of Vivel range is nourishment, protection and

hydrating ingredients for complete skincare. Vivel, unlike Fiama, is a gender-neutral brand.

Vivel Di Wills soaps come in two variants and cater specifically to upper-middle class

consumers, and is priced at Rs 30. While Vivel offers five variants, all priced in the range of

INR16-18, while the Vivel shampoos come in three variants. This space is dominated by HUL,

whose brands like Lux, Rexona, Liril, Sunsilk and ClinicPlus command over 50 percent market

share in soaps and over 45 percent in the shampoos market, while ITC has only around 2

percent of the personal care market. Kareena Kapoor is the brand face for Vivel brands and

its communication is both in Hindi and English unlike Essenza and Fiama which is only in

English and French. Towards the end of 2008, ITC has launched a new anti-dandruff shampoo

‘UltraPro’ under the Vivel umbrella, pitched against HUL's Clinic AllClear and P&G's Head &

Shoulders in the rapidly expanding dandruff control segment. Targeted at men, UltraPro is

endorsed by Hrithik Roshan. Besides being available across leading departmental stores and

modern retail outlets, Vivel is also retailed through the John Players showrooms — ITC’s

men’s wear stores.


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Tag line: “Khoobsurati bus mein , duniya kadmo mein.” meaning “if you are beautiful, world is at

your feet.”

Segmentation: It has been cleverly targeted: Vivel Di Wills for the upper middle class and Vivel for

the popular mid segment.

Group synergy: Retailed at John Players stores, besides ITC’s traditional distribution channels

Communication strategy: It has communication in Hindi & English to cater to both upper middle &

popular middle class.

Brand extensions: Vivel & Vivel Di Wills a clever way to target the ‘Lux’ consumers of yore (Lux vs.

Lux International)

Brand ambassadors: Kareena Kapoor is the brand face thanks to her popular mass and class appeal

Packaging: Vivel Di Wills has a more premium packaging, but Vivel has a different packaging

Vivel –Brand Portfolio


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Vivel soap is available in five different variants. The packing of product indicates the

ingredient or type of variant. Eg: Sandal Sparkle in yellow color packing. The moisturizing

bar from Vivel features Kareena on the cover packaging of soap indicating beauty & flaw less

skin. The packaging is hard cover as other premium soaps

The shampoo bottles are available in 100ml and 200 ml bottles. These are of different

color to indicate different shampoo catering different hair types. Eg: Vivel Shine & Glow for

dull to normal hair. Shampoos also available in sachets of 8 ml.

On the Sales and Distribution front, the brand uses Push as well as Pull Strategy,

making it available at Modern as well as Traditional trade channels. The visibility is also quite

high in Outlets owing to the bargaining power ITC enjoys traditionally.

Vivel adopts the strategy of capturing different consumers through its different

variants within the mid segment of the soap category. Vivel seems to offer an alternative to

consumers who would like to upgrade from the lower price segment and this alternative may

also create trials among those using Lux or other brands in the price segment.

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS – SECONDARY RESEARCH

HUL divide the customers into three types of the customers: striving, aspiring and

affluent and make targeting strategies accordingly. HUL targets different types of customers

with different set of bath products. For striving customers, it offers Lifebuoy and Breeze, for

aspiring, it offers Hamam and basic Lux variants and for affluent customers, it has Pears,

Dove and superior range of Lux.

HUL strategy pyramid for personal care products

Key strategy: To straddle the pyramid and move consumers up to more aspirational brands.

Grow share by growing ahead of the Market


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DOVE

Dove was globally launched in 1957. This brand came

to India in 1995. Internationally this brand has a cult status

and is a major player in the global premium soap market. The

brand is positioned as the Mildest Soap. Dove is PH neutral

and this makes the soap soft on all kind of skin types.

Internationally this brand is positioned as a brand that

celebrates the “Real Beauty”. Dove defines real beauty as

“beauty is not about how you look but about how you feel".

The Dove's official site " campaignforrealbeauty.com"

highlights this brand value.

In India, the brand did not had the success of its global counterpart. One reasons are

the small “Premium “market and another is the price barrier. Dove's initial price was around

Rs50 that put off even the premium customers. The brand has undergone some repositioning

in recent times. Earlier the brand was positioned on the platform of “Trial for Results" idea.

Later it was changed to the moisturizing platform. The brand is claiming that it is milder than

the 25 leading soaps thus proving its legitimacy to being the mildest soap in the country.

Globally also this brand is positioned not as a soap but a cream bar.

With the emergence of an attractive market in the premium cosmetic market in India,

Dove have lot of potential to become a key player, it has got the positioning right, now it has

to set the " Value" right for the Indian consumer. Further Dove features at the extreme end

of aspirational brands in soaps for a normal Indian customer.

LUX

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 moisturizing. Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one

of India's most trusted personal care brands.


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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. Lux is a super brand that celebrated beauty across the

world since 1925. The soap which was endorsed by the beautiful film stars came to India in

1929. Lux has been the largest selling personal wash brand in the country Lux has effectively

managed its PLC through careful brand building and changing the product in line with the

changing consumer. The brand is being positioned as the favorite soap of Film stars has been

consistent in terms of communication and positioning. The brand is also the classic example

of successful celebrity endorsement. The first celebrity to endorse the brand was Leela

Chitnis . From Leela to Aishwarya , From Madhuri to Madhubala, Lux has been endorsed by

more than 50 film stars. But in all these communications, the celebrity never shadowed the

brand.

Over these years, the positioning of Lux also evolved. Earlier the brand used the

positioning “Beauty soap of Film stars”. But as the customer evolved, the positioning lost its

charm because customers began to doubt whether the film stars actually used this brand.

Taking a cue from the customers, Lux changed the positioning appealing to the need for

becoming a star. The new positioning is communicated with the tagline “Bring out the star

in you".

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.


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CINTHOL

Cinthol the popular and much-loved brand of Godrej

Consumer Products Limited (GCPL) have been a favorite of

people for many years. All different soaps in its range are

having feel-fresh fragrance. 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.

IMC STRATEGY OF VIVEL – SECONDARY RESEARCH

Vivel Luxury Creme Soap with unique flip top carton packaging

They introduced the premium packaging and flip-carton design for the first time featuring Kareena to convey the premium nature of the product. Competitor : Dove

Vivel Aloe Vera Baby Commercial (With Kareena Kapoor)


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A popular ad recalled by many where a baby is impressed by the soft skin of Kareena stressing mainly on the skin nourishment and softness. Competitor : Dove

Vivel Sandal Sparkle Soap with Kareena | Satin Soft now the New Vivel Aloe Vera

Two variants released with Kareena depicting its features directly targeting brands like Santoor.

Sandal and Aloe Vera variants were shown to be used in natural Indian setting with stress on natural benefits. Competitor : Santoor,Hamam

Vivel Brand Film Choo Lo Aasman

Brand film featuring Kareena depicting the brand as a gentle-carer who loves you, embraces you and lovingly nourishes you to keep you looking beautiful and feeling confident always. It helps you stride ahead to achieve your dreams and see them take wings. Competitor : Dove

Regional Ads with celebrities and festive occasions


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Vivel has collaborated successfully with regional celebrities like Trisha and Mahesh Babu for the brand launch and couple of festive season ad campaigns have been run in local languages during Durga Puja, Onam etc.

Vivel Deo Spirit - Pyar ka naya formula

A cheeky new series of Ads available also in local languages having contrasting images of Past and Present age protagonists. The jingle is still recalled by many.

Vivel Clear – Dermat Film

An unsuccessful attempt at gel bar using a Dermatologist to convey the therapeutic values of the brand

A family-centered campaign deplicting a family and 3 layer skin-care. It's the promise of Vivel Clear. And when the goodness of 3 join hands, all you get is beautiful skin. It has Almond Oil that nourishes , glycerine moisturizes and germ guards protect the skin keeping it soft and glowing


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Competitor : Pears, Lifebuoy

Vivel Kiss Miss Film 2015

Ad depicting the goodness of nourishing ingredients like Aloe Vera, Green Tea, Oranges, Mixed Fruits, Milk Cream and Vitamin E. It nourishes your skin so beautifully from deep within that it becomes irresistibly soft. So soft that world can't resist spontaneous affection for you!

Vivel 3-in-1 Facewash

An unsuccessful attempt at facewash category with 3 in one features.

Vivel Soft Touch Ad


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Ad campaign showing skin nourishment and care, husband and wife chemistry depicted; also features Kareena; released in vernacular languages as well.

Neem, turmeric, milk cream - the secret of healthy glowing skin

Ad depicting traditional Indian herbal elements as ingredients of Vivel; featuring a Dadi maa in mostly south Indian setting.

PR Activities-Brand Launches, Brand Ambassador Interaction session in select malls

Webcast of Beauty Dialogues with celebrities- Kareena Kapoor

The diva speaks about her beauty secrets and the richness of Vivel as a beauty regime.


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Vivel See the World Contest

A World tour contest was launched by Vivel in select cities and city wise promotions were executed.

Eg: Calcutta city was welcomed with purple colored rickshaws in collaboration with KKR and film-celebrities. The promotional video was aired and web-telecasted.

Trade promotion and Engagement activities

ITC's personal care brand Vivel organizes special events to recognize the support of its trade partners in making the brand a great success. The company arranged for brand ambassador of Vivel soaps, Kareena Kapoor, to be present on the occasion. The event, executed by a local agency in the city, provides the guests with an opportunity to interact with the celebrity. Around 400 trade partners from across the northern belt of the country attended the event.

Source: http://www.eventfaqs.com/news/ef-02886/ITC-engages-partners-of-Vivel-1279110141310.html

Below the Line Activation Approaches followed by Vivel

BTL campaigns deployed by Vivel include innovative posters, danglers in select malls and shops. A “magic mirror” was installed in few places where it displays ad till a viewer comes close and then it becomes a mirror.

Palichunu Oru Matram - Tamil Nadu

The campaign, Palichunu Oru Matram, launched in Tamil Nadu, aims to reach half a million

households, meeting women. Vivel announced the campaign to reach out to women and

establish a personal bond with the brand. The initiative gives women an opportunity to

interact with the brand. To make every day special, consumers can experience Vivel’s range


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of soaps and shampoos as part of a unique offer at an attractive price which is exclusive to

the “Palichunu Oru Matram” Home to Home campaign!

Source: http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-business/vivel-announces-palichunu-oru-matram-home-to-home-programme-

113101404639_1.html

PRIMARY RESEARCH – EVALUATION OF BRAND PERCEPTION AND PERSONALITY

A Primary research on Vivel Soap comprising of Questionnaire survey was conducted

by us to accomplish a deeper insight about the role of integrated marketing communication

in the evolution of brand Vivel. We have tried to study the perception of the brand Vivel and

its personality among the selected target consumers. We chose an apartment complex in

Thakurpukur (Genex Valley) and shoppers from a Shopping Center (More) for respondents.

We could collect 84 responses from Questionnaire Survey and were able to conduct detailed-

interviews with 4 people.

We have used Jennifer Aaker’s brand personality traits to study the Brand Image and

personality, where each brand is described by five traits each of which contains2 or 3

adjectives. The five personality traits are:

1. Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)

2. Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)

3. Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)

4. Sophistication (upper-class, charming)

5. Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)

BRAND IMAGE

Sincerity23%

Excitement12%

Competence43%

Sophistication15%

Ruggedness7% Brand Image (Aaker Model)

Sincerity Excitement Competence Sophistication Ruggedness


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Based on survey results, Vivel is identified to be a brand with competence may be

because of its quality ingredients and unique product formula which help in making the skin

beautiful and energetic at the same time healthy and nourished.

BRAND PERSONIFICATION

According to the analysis we did on ads and other PR, Vivel has gained a Young,

beautiful and aspirational personality for itself among the consumers which is vindicated by

our survey result in Figure 1. When 32% respondents associated Vivel to a Young beautiful

and aspiring person, about 26% finds it confident and independent. A significant number of

people (14%) find a progressiveness in Vivel which is something go along with a young and

aspiring personality. Hence, over the years, Vivel has succeeded in making itself appealing to

people who are young beautiful confident independent and progressive and those who

aspires to be like that.

POINT OF PURCHASE

Young, beautiful & aspirational

32%

Energetic, lively12%Seductive, sexy

1%Progressive

14%

Confident, independent

26%

Germ protection10%

Motherly love &

care5%

Others0%

Brand personification

Young, beautiful & aspirational Energetic, lively Seductive, sexy

Progressive Confident, independent Germ protection

Motherly love & care Others

Khirana store18%

Neighbourhood stores25%

Supermarkets46%

Shopping mall11%

Others0% Point of Purchase

Khirana store Neighbhood stores Supermarkets Shopping mall Others


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Forty six percentage of the respondents buy soaps from Supermarkets, according to

our survey results shown in figure 3. We assume that the number of people buying soap from

neighborhood stores is lesser compared to supermarkets because of the fact that most of

our respondents belonged to a society of upper middle class people who generally make

planned purchases every month.

REASONS FOR CHOOSING VIVEL

As we already mentioned in the report, superior quality of Vivel soap and its

nourishing nature makes it suitable on most types of skin and hence a major factor which

influence consumers decision to buy Vivel. Also, the attractive colours in which the soap is

available in the markets, it fragrant smell and its value for money play a major role in making

it a consumer’s priority soap.

REASONS NOT TO CHOOSE VIVEL

Smell16%

Colour19%

Lather6%

Long lasting8%Protects skin

5%

Suits your skin27%

Value for money11%

other8%

Reasons for choosing Vivel

Smell Colour Lather Long lasting Protects skin Suits your skin Value for money other

Lack of awareness17%

Lack of visibility13%

Don’t like the product8%

Others62%

Reasons for not using Vivel Soap

Lack of awareness Lack of visibility Don’t like the product Others


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The survey results shows that there is a huge percent of people giving out reasons not

in these categories (68%). Some of these answers were “I do have a fixed brand, which is not

Vivel”,”I don’t have any reason, and I haven’t tried it yet”. 17% people gives out reason of lack

of awareness despite the fact that, lots of ads are running are running in TVs. Lack of visibility

seems to be another factor which ITC may have to look up on.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

Our primary research results show us that the brand is high on competence with

reliability, success and intelligence. The brand is also perceived to be young, beautiful and

aspirational among the survey respondents. Though the target connect seems to be perfect,

there seems to a lack of clarity in terms of brands image and features. We have developed

the following Brand Prism with respect to the primary research and secondary research

performed on Ads and online reviews.

Vivel –Brand Identity prism as depicted in Advertisements

The synergy between Internal and external Brand expression needs to be balanced in

order to modify or improve the expected brand personality. More consistent campaigns in

TV, print and social media needs to be planned and executed around a central theme or

concept. The factor of visibility needs to be revisited in case of modern Retail as told to us by

certain shoppers. Vivel could also partner with Events and Experiential marketing options to

engage the consumers.

Education

Vivel: Integrated Marketing Communication Report | IIMC | IMC