LIFEBUOYS JOURNEY IN INDIAN MARKETS by Paarmi Modi July 24, 2013

Today, Lifebuoy is one of the leading soap brands in the world, having been in the market for over 100 years and used by over 500 million people across India. In 1894, William Hesketh Lever launched Lifebuoy in the United Kingdom. He named it after a buoy saving lives of drowning people at sea and used carbolic acid to provide germ protection. This red brick soap reached the Indian Markets through Bombay Harbour in 1894. Lying in the economy category of the market segmentation, Lifebuoys target audience was urban, semi urban and rural population. Its mission was to provide efficient health and hygiene to people. The first major re-launch was targeted to the sports fanatic in men with the peppy jingle on Tandarusti. But as the sales declined, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. made a conscious attempt to work towards its revamp in 2002. Now, Lifebuoy had a sweet smelling, cresylic perfume and new ingredient Puralin. The target audience shifted from sporty men to caring women. With the importance of family into focus, newer taglines like 100% Suraksha and Koi Daar Nahi were advertised. Better packaging was incorporated to bring a friendlier and modern appeal to the soap. The brand logo had an addition of the + sign to delineate the effectiveness of soap in maintaining hygiene. Four different choices of Lifebuoy were also introduced; namely Lifebuoy Strong, Lifebuoy Fresh, Lifebuoy Gold and Lifebuoy Naturals. To keep pace with the changing trends, Lifebuoy Talcum powder and Liquid Handwash and Sanitizers were also introduced in the market. Inspite of these new products in the market, Lifebuoy as a brand stayed true to its mission. Apart from this, HUL initiated the Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetna to spread health awareness amongst the rural population of India. The Swasthya Chetna made people aware of the ill effects of diarrhoea and thus adopt a healthy hand washing routine. This was demonstrated through a special Glowgerm UV demo and other interactive visuals to the 43,000 villages visited. Since its inception in 2002, the program has reached 110 million rural Indians and the soap consumption has increased by 15%. The campaign also received several accolades from the Rural Marketing Advertisers Association of India (2006) and Asian CSR (2007). The brand also tied up with McDonalds to educate people that Visible Clean is not necessarily safe clean. Being one of the sponsors of Global Handwashing Day, HULs lifebuoy promoted Healthy Hindustan through a number of short films on hand health. Another promotion campaign carried out by Lifebuoy was its association with Punjab Cricket Association

where eminent cricketers like Harbhajan Singh became the face of the brand. Lifebuoy has proved to be one of the most ingenious brands on 2013. In Mahakumbh in Allahabad, a branding festival, Lifebuoy embossed slogans on rotis provided by local eating joints. For further brand positioning and fulfilling social responsibilities, Lifebuoy has started the Gondappa campaign which aims adopt the Thesgora Village in Madhya Pradesh and thus help a child reach his fifth birthday. The widespread reach of social media has helped this campaign create better awareness about the preventable diseases and hand washing. Lifebuoy's skin cleansing soaps have grown from 14.7% YTD to 15% in 2013, according to Nielsen figures obtained from independent industry sources. ET Bureau (2013). Thus, through effective brand positioning and brand rejuvenation, Lifebuoy continues to grow as a soap brand working towards creating a healthy society. REFERENCES http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-0227/news/37331097_1_lifebuoy-brand-hindustan-unilever http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-0323/news/29178563_1_lifebuoy-global-brand-soap http://tnmg4u.com/lifebuoy/ http://www.wpp.com/CorporateResponsibilityReports/2007/impact/cr_clien twork/case_studies/lifebuoy_india.html http://www.hul.co.in/brands-in-action/detail/Lifebuoy-adopts-Indianvillage/346573/?WT.contenttype=brands%20in%20action http://www.slideshare.net/georgetcherian/a-case-study-on-lifebuoy http://www.slideshare.net/shaileshgururani/lifebuoy-15005646 http://www.slideshare.net/ashishpsrt/final-ppt-14290355 http://www.superbrandsindia.com/images/brand_pdf/consumer_1st_editio n_2004/lifebuoy/lifebuoy.htm