“BRAND IDENTITY OF LUX”

A Project Submitted to

University of Mumbai for partial completion of the

Degree of Bachelor of Management Studies
Under the Faculty

PREPARED BY:
KIRAN ANANDA KADAM
ROLL NO 72

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

PROF. ANNIE ANTONY

LAXMAN DEVRAM SONAWANE COLLEGE BHIWANDI -

MURBAD ROAD, WADEGHAR, OPP. FIRE
STATION, NEAR DURGADI KILLA, KALYAN WEST

2021-2022
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To list who all have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and
the depth is so enormous.

I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and fresh
dimensions in the completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me

chance to do this project.

I would like to thank my Principal PROF.ANNIE ANTONY for

providing the necessaryfacilities required for completion of this project.

I take this opportunity to thank our Coordinator PROF. ANNIE ANTONY for her
moralSupport and guidance.

I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide

PROF. ANNIE ANTONY whose guidance and care made the project successful.

I would like to thank my College Library, for having provided various reference
books and magazines related to my project.

Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly
helped me in the completion of the project especially My Parents and Peers who
supported me throughout my project.
 DECLARATION

I the undersigned Miss / Mr. KIRAN ANANDA KADAM hereby declare that the work

embodied in this project work “BRAND IDENTITY OF LUX”my own contribution to

theresearchwork carried out under the guidance of PROF. ANNIE ANTONY is a

result of my own research work and has not been previously submitted to any other
University for any other Degree/ Diploma to this or any other University.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of others, it has been clearly
indicated as such and included in the bibliography.

I, hereby further declare that all information of this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rulesand ethical conduct.

Name and Signature of the learner

Certified by
PROF. ANNIE ANTONY
 LAXMAN DEVRAM SONAWANE COLLEGE BHIWANDI - MURBAD
ROAD, WADEGHAR, OPP. FIRE
STATION, NEAR DURGADI KILLA, KALYAN WEST

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Mr. KIRAN ANANDA KADAM has worked and duly completed his
Project Work for the degree of Master in Commerce under the Faculty of Commerce
in the subject of h i s project is entitled, “BRAND IDENTITY OF LUX” under my
supervision. I further certify that the entire work has been done by the learner
under my guidance and that no partof it has been submitted

Previously for any Degree or Diploma of any University.

It is his own work and faces reported by his personal findings and investigation

PROF. ANNIE ANTONY

Guiding Teacher

Date of submission:
 INDEX

Sr.No Title Pages No

1
1 INTRODUCTION

9
2 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

18
3 . COMPETITORS ANALYSIS

29
4 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5 SALES PROMOTION
40

6 MARKETING MIX
47

7 Recommendation

57
7

SUGGESTIONS
59
CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPY
 INTRODUCTION OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages from introduction to

growth, maturity, and decline. This sequence is known as the product life cycle
and is associated with changes in the marketing situation, thus impacting the
marketing strategy and the marketing mix.

The product revenue and profits can be plotted as a function of the life-cycle
stages as shown in the graph below:

Product Life Cycle DiagramIntroduction Stage

In the introduction stage, the firm seeks to build product awareness and develop a
market for theproduct. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

• Product branding and quality level is established and intellectual property

protection such aspatents and trademarks are obtained.

• Pricing may be low penetration pricing to build market share rapidly, or high
skim pricing torecover development costs.

• Distribution is selective until consumers show acceptance of the product.

1
• Promotion is aimed at innovators and early adopters. Marketing
communications seeks to build product awareness and to educate potential
consumers about the product.

Growth Stage

In the growth stage, the firm seeks to build brand preference and increase market
share.

• Product quality is maintained and additional features and support services may be
added.

• Pricing is maintained as the firm enjoys increasing demand with little competition.

• Distribution channels are added as demand increases and customers accept the
product.

• Promotion is aimed at a broader audience.

Maturity Stage

At maturity, the strong growth in sales diminishes. Competition may appear

with similar products. The primary objective at this point is to defend market share
while maximizing profit.

• Product features may be enhanced to differentiate the product from that of

competitors.

• Pricing may be lower because of the new competition.

• Distribution becomes more intensive and incentives may be offered to

encouragepreference over competing products.

• Promotion emphasizes product differentiation.

Decline Stage

2
 As sales decline, the firm has several options:

• Maintain the product, possibly rejuvenating it by adding new features and finding
new uses.

Harvest the product - reduce costs and continue to offer it, possibly to a loyal niche
segment.

• Discontinue the product, liquidating remaining inventory or selling it to

another firm that iswilling to continue the product.

The marketing mix decisions in the decline phase will depend on the selected
strategy. For example, the product may be changed if it is being rejuvenated, or
left unchanged if it is being harvested or liquidated. The price may be maintained
if the product is harvested, or reduced drastically if liquidated.

The company further differentiate the geographical segments according to Socio Economic
Cluster (SEC) i.e. education and Income. Lux mission is to keep its products prices in range
of maximum people. 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 the country. Their target category is divided in to three
segments A, B and
C. Sec A is “Higher upper level”, sec B is “ Upper Middle level income and sec C is “Middle
level income” because these three segments are assumed to be financially well off & they can
afford to buy lux as well. Its objective is to develop new and unique products of beauty and
care. In 1985 there were only soaps in only 5 colors but now Lux has launched its shower gel
moisturizing bars, liquid soaps. Now lux is sold in 100 different countries and sales achieved
1.0 billion euros alone. Lux main goal & objective is their supply chain and distribution. Lux
makes sure that products are accessible and are being supplied in market, no matter where
consumers are in Pakistan. In this task Unilever helps them & make sure that these products
are distributed to the consumers at correct time, with right cost and in accurate & proper
quantities. The mission of Unilever Supply Chain is: provision of their products in low cost
and price. They ensure the efficient provision of their products in market for this they
develops simple and effective network of supply so that they can achieve high level of

3
service & their main focus are retailers because retailers transfers & provide products to the
consumers or in other words they are not wholesalers. Unilever adopt two channels & ways
for the supply of their products that are conventional & vertical. In conventional marketing
producers, retailers & wholesalers are independent and they are seeking to maximize their
own profits because each business is separated, whereas in vertical marketing they join
wholesalers & retailers to supply products to the consumers. They work jointly & are not
having independent business.
The lux brand used different sale promotion to increase their sales. They are offering 22-carot
gold coins on 100 gms and 150 gms of packets of Lux. They are also offering different types
of promotions like Consumer promotion by distributions of samples of new variants,
coupons, free trials and demonstration at shopping malls, markets and point of purchase.
Trade promotion

Discounts and lucrative offers to the retailers via price offs advertising and display
allowances and free merchandises. Business and sales force promotion conducting trade
shows and conventions contests for sales representatives and speciality advertising.
Lux business portfolio involves launching of new products with normal prices in market.
FIRST LUX WAS PRODUCING ONLY SOAPS BUT NOW they are introducing new
several products under the Lux brand at different price points. Their new entries are not only
confined to a bar of soap. They are relooking at the brand architecture by launching Lux
International Body Wash and more variants to Lux may follow. These new entries are
establishing to increase their profits and their sales as well.
The marketing strategy that LUX Soap uses is no different than 90% of the large corporations
out there, Brand It and Slam It. They spend more time to come up with a catchy tag line,
pretty & attractive packaging and high priced celebrity endorsements and then spend millions
of dollars getting the brand out there on radio, TV, store ads etc. They spend a lot of money
in publicizing their products. Expensive commercials & ads are made for publicizing their
brand & products as well. Famous celebrities of Bollywood, Lollywood and Hollywood are
working in commercials of Lux to create a positive image in minds of consumer and to make
their brand famous and unique among other brands. The secret of Lux longevity has been its
consistent evolution i.e. attractive changes in their products whether it is the soap color,
packaging or new variants, the brand is focusing to keep its youthful image and to make it
attention seeking among audience. For this purpose they are Extending the soap cake to a
range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars &this extension & revolution has

4
helped the brand keep consumers excited and the competition at bay. The best thing about
Lux is its commercials. Casting famous models and actors in their commercials is one of the
best strategies of lux. The message in their commercials are If it’s good enough for a film
star, then it’s good for you too to Play with beauty— and they are conveying this message
over the years.

MARKETING STARTEGY AND MARKETING MIX OF LUX

MARKETING STRATEGY

LUX creates customer value and achieve profitable customer relationships by spending
millions of dollars on the promotion, there is no second thought on the fact that lux has
reached its

maturity stage on the product life cycle. Therefore UNILEVER has no problems in the mass
promoting of the product.
Lux has no different or unique marketing strategy, which means that they use very catchy tag
lines, high priced celebrity endorsements, beautiful packaging and as mentioned before they
spend millions on getting there product on radio, TV, stores etc.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

LUX’s market segmentation is based on the geographic locations which are urban, sub-urban
and rural area. On the other hand these segments are divided into SEC (socio Economic
Cluster) i.e. education and income. SEC divides the population into five sectors starting from
A to E, A refers to the highly educated and high income holders and E refers to the lowest
income holders and is least qualified.

MARKET TARGETING

Unilever conducted a research that revealed that urban population are likely to buy expensive
and imported products, and on the other hand in rural areas they buy cheap products without
evaluating its quality but urban and sub urban areas the middle class people tend to buy

5
affordable and quality products. LUX now tries to target that market because it is the second
largest chunk of the population. Lux is not that expensive because it targets the middle and
upper middle class. According to SEC LUX targets A B and C because they assumed to be
well-off financially and can afford buying LUX.

POSITIONING

Unilever has obtained a very good position in the minds of the buyers, this image has been
passed on to its products through amazing price, quality and attributes, actually offering the
product in a way different way than the competitors do. LUX has 43% of the market share in
the beauty soap industry and in the beauty soap industry all products are of the same price so
the company can’t afford to lower the price furthermore but it is in great position in the minds
of its

consumers because of its packaging, fragrances and product design. In comparison with its
competitors lux provides the best quality.

THE MARKETING MIX

PRODUCT

LUX is offered in six flavors which are LUX Energizing, LUX golden glow, LUX nature
pure, LUX orchid touch, LUX almond delight and LUX aqua sparkle, and in three different
size 40gm, 80gm and 120gm.
LUX comes in three different types LUX the beauty soap, LUX the liquid soap and LUX
shower gel. The formula is provided by the R&D department in foreign countries. Its raw
material is imported which include sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to
the flavors.

PRICE

LUX provides with the best pricing with the quality it provides, and the major reason behind
it is that there are many competitors in the market and a slight change in the price comes up
with a huge risk of creating a price war among the rivals which would result to low profits or

6
the consumer shift towards other products. It is almost equal to its competitor.

PLACE

Unilever ltd has a huge distribution channel almost all around the globe. In Pakistan its sales
are more than 10 million pieces a year. The main factory or warehouse is in Karachi. The
company itself doesn’t have any transport system so it hires different distributers to provide
retailers with its products.
It is sold in almost all cities in Pakistan, but it differs according to the nature of the shop it’s
on
e.g. there are supermarkets then there are kiryana stores and then there is khokas. The lux is
sold on three of these but the hand soap and shower gel are only sold at supermarkets because
the type of consumer which comes at these stores.

PROMOTION

LUX is known for its promotional activities. It spends 25% of sales revenue on the
promotion. It endorses its products form the biggest stars of that particular country. For
example in India lux is endorsed by Katrina Kaif and in Pakistan Reema, Meera and Amna
Haq. The seriousness they pay on the promotion can be judged by this amazing figure that
lux endorses with 400 stunning women in the world.
Although promotion in Pakistan is difficult because to show international models you have to
deal with private channels, and this is because on PTV or other government owned channels
you can only show local models. So there ads in which Katrina or other beautiful women on
which spend millions cannot be showed on the national television of Pakistan.

MANAGING THE MARKETING EFFORT

Unilever needs no introduction. It is one of the biggest multinational consumer products

manufacturing organization which is currently working all around the globe. Unilever
Pakistan is the Pakistan chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas

7
the Government of Peoples Republic of Pakistan holds 39.25% share. LUX is the most
famous product of unilever, and its ruling Pakistan by occupying approximately 50% of total
market share among few major soap producers. Other competing brands like Tibet, Capri and
Pears 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.

MARKETING ANALYSIS

SWOT ANALYSIS

A tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization,
specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model that assesses what an organization can
and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT
analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal
(strengths and

8
 1. OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

• The objective of the project is to study the Product Life Cycle

• To study the product life cycle of Lux

• To observe the type of products provided by Lux

SCOPE OF STUDY

The scope of the study is to extend the knowledge about the Product Life Cycle of Lux

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Information collected from Lux’s website and various books

9
 3. INTRODUCTION TO LUX

Visit any departmental store or retail outlet, and you find its shelved stocked with Lux
Beauty soaps in different variants, with attractive colours on the packaging and its
permanent sign of the female model present on the package. Today, Lux is a household
name when it comes to soaps and in many places (especially in rural areas), it has
become a synonym for soaps.

People often walk into a shop and ask for Lux, when they mean, that they wish to buy a
soap.

The Lux soap was first launched as laundry soap way back in 1916, with specially targeting
the delicate garments. The Level Brothers (who found what we today know as Unilever),
encouraged women to do their laundry at home without worrying about those delicate silks
and satins turning yellow which often came as a result of the strong and harsh chemicals
present in the laundry soaps of that time. Lux at that time was much more gentle on the
clothes, it dissolved much more easily and was advertised as being suitable for home use.

The Lux toilet soap as we know today came around in 1925. It was advertised as a
bathroom soap, and the initial name “Sunlight flakes” was changed to Lux, which is the
Latin word for “Light” and was supposed to be a shortened version of the word “Luxury”.
From 1925 till date, Lux has been marketed in various forms – Soaps, Limited Editions,
Bars, Flakes, Liquids, Gels and Body washed.

In India, Lux was launched in 1929, and it has always come in various colours and
packages as well as world-class fragrances. These changes kept coming with changing
fashion trends. In 1958, the soap camein five colours – pink, blue, white, yellow and green,
and the customers would buy the soaps in a way that they could match it with the colours
of their bathrooms!

Lux has always used popular movie stars as its brand endorsers. Even if the ad went
around commonwomen, it still had references to some or the other movie star.

10
The year-wise brand image of the soap can be described as –

The 30s: This is when the widespread advertising of the product began. At this time, Lux
used much older women, who would talk about preserving the youthful beauty of the
skin in the series of print adsthat came during this time.

The 40s and the 50s: In this era, the focus shifted to the attributes that the consumers
associated with thebrand and the role the brand played in her life.

The 60s: It was in this decade that the “Fantasy Element” that we commonly associate
Lux with today was created, more simply put as the feeling of being a film star that the
soap generates. The campaigns began highlighting the sensorial and emotional attributes
of the brand along with the beauty quotient. The ads did not contain a star, but contained
references to them.

The 70s: This was a time when they beauty trends shifted from the then conventional ones.
Natural and wholesome beauty became the buzz. So, the stars of Lux stepped down from
the pedestals they stood on before and the campaign focus began to highlight the multi-
faceted nature of a woman, which the ordinary consumer of the soap was better able to
relate to at the time.

The 80s: by this time Lux had established itself as the soap of the stars and elite and its
image became one of a must-have for beauty among all women. The campaigns of the 80s
started focusing on skincare, which was portrayed to be the first step towards beauty. It was
during this time that Lux was launched inChina.

The 90s: During this time, Lux moved away from being a general beauty soap to launching
soaps in the market that were more function specific. Variants for different skin types also
came in. The communication strategy started becoming more localized and regionalized.
Different ad campaigns for different regions (say, Middle East, China, etc) started coming
in. It was also

during this period that Lux went in for brand extension and launched its range of Rich
shampoos, showergels and creams.

11
The 2000s: By now, Lux had expanded so far and wide, that the other end was not visible
from one end. This decade saw the focus of the campaigns and the product shift from
specific functional benefits of usage to the emotional factor associated with the soaps. By
this time, modelling and fashion industry had drawn a lot of dreams in the eyes of millions
of women. Cashing in on this, Lux tried to bridge up those aspiring models and the existing
stars of the industry. Notable was the “Lux Haute Pink” advertisement, with the woman in
the bath tub, flying over the world in a hot air balloon and spreading the beauty by blowing
down bubbles from her tub. It focused not only on beauty but the confidence that beauty
generates in a woman. Versions like Crystal Shine, Festive Glow, Sunscreen, Almond
Extracts, Orchid extracts, etc. Came in during this time.

The 2010s: Today, the focus is back on beauty – which has been the roots of the product.
The fruit versions of the soap – Strawberry and cream, Peach and cream are quite popular.
New variants – Purple lotus and cream, and Aqua Sparkle had been launched at reality
shows on televisions which is a new development in the basket of marketing strategies of
the soap.

Lux has always had the most beautiful women in the film industry endorsing the brands. If
we see internationally, there have been Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch,
Cheryl Ladd, Demi Moore, Brigitte Bargot, Natalie Wood, Sandra Dee, Diana Rig,
Samantha Eggar, Sarah Jessica Parker, Catherine Zeta Jones, etc. If we see in India, then
the first print ad of Lux came starring Leela Chitnis. After that there have been a string of
leading ladies – Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore,
Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit,
Sridevi, ashwarya Rai, Karishma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Babita, Priyanka Chopra,
Katrina Kaif, Mahima Choudhry, etc. In fact, Lux would be perhaps the only women’s
beauty soap brand which has had male models endorsing it. This came when Paul Newman
(internationally) and Shah Rukh Khan andAbhishek Bachchan (Indian) endorsed the brand.
It can thus be said, that the USP of Lux advertising is the presence of popular movie stars
in it. The positioning of the brand can be said to be according to the Reference Group by
using the famous celebrity at that point of time. Partially attribute positioning can also be
considered for Lux, since the ingredients of Lux have also been greatly highlighted. Today,
Lx also serves as a sponsoring brand name for so many awards and functions like the
popular Lux Zee Cine awards, making its positioning of being associated with

the stars more prominent.

Today, Lux beauty bar can be regarded to be in the maturity stage of its life cycle.

Lux has always had the leading actors of their times endorse the brand, which has made

12
Lux the market leader and the brand has indeed set benchmarks for competition in the
market. Today, Lux is manufactured at more than 71 locations and has more than 2000
suppliers and associates who provide raw materials for its manufacture. The key markets
of Lux lie in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China, Bangladesh & South Africa. Lux is also the
market leader in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Thailand. It is also one of
the most trusted brands in India. Lux has offerings in two of the four market segments for
soaps. These are popular and premium. The popular segment covers all those soapsthat we
generally see sitting on our retail outlet shelves – Strawberry and Cream, Peach and
cream, Purple Lotus and cream, etc. The Premium segment covers the Lux International
range.

The novel metallic substrate packaging of Lux has been characteristic of the soaps with
the same font style of writing the brand name that go back as far as any of us can
remember, coupled with the ingredient linked fragrances of the soap have been written
down memories of so many generations.

13
4. SWOT Analysis for LUX:

SWOT analysis is a basic, straightforward model that provides direction and serves
as a basis for the development of marketing plans. It accomplishes this by assessing
an organizations strengths (what an organization can do) and weaknesses (what an
organization cannot do) in addition to opportunities (potential favorable conditions
for an organization) and threats (potential unfavorableconditions for an organization).
The role of SWOT analysis is to take the information from the environmental
analysis and separate it into internal issues (strengths and weaknesses) and external
issues (opportunities and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines
if the information indicates something that will assist the firm in accomplishing its
objectives (a strength or opportunity), or if it indicates an obstacle that must be
overcome or minimized to achieve desired results (weakness or threat) (Marketing
Strategy, 1998).

The SWOT analysis for Lux helps identify the external environment faced by Lux, and the
opportunitiesand threats that it presents.

Strengths –

Lux possesses a very strong network of market research. Door to door surveying and
sampling is doneannually in rural as well as urban areas selectively.

Lux has a very wide range of products to offer.

The parent company of Lux has helped in establishing a strong supply and distribution
network. Besides,it also has access to the resources of the parent company of Unilever.

Lux possesses a very strong brand image in the market.

The focus of Lux is going strong on beauty segment.

Lux is a dynamic brand and is undergoes changes as per the changes in demand and
trends, which is evident from the launch of the new range of body washes – Magical

14
Spell, Scarlet

Blossom, Strawberry & cream and Peach and cream have been launched with the tag line of
the secret toliquid silk skin. The brand has innovative sales promotions tactics that spread
across different forms of media – print,electronic and social.

The brand is known to deliver value-for-money in the eyes of the consumers.

It has a broad market presence and mass appeal, being the market leader in so many
countries. As per the BCG matrix, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, Lux can be
put into the STAR category for high market growth and high market share.

Weaknesses –

Lux lacks a unisex appeal as it has essentially been portrayed as a women’s beauty soap and
has a lot offeminine appeal.

The wear rate of the soap is very high. It gets dissolved pretty fast and gets

mushy andsoggy quickly.

Certain variants of the soap, like the Haute Pink, Sunscreen, etc did not do so well in the
market as someof its other variants have.

Some of its advertisements have been quite controversial, specially the one with Shah Rukh
Khan in thebath tub, and the one of Haute Pink soap with the model in the bath tub flying up
in the air in a hot air balloon.

The stock replenishment in semi-urban areas and rural areas is quite long, despite having
such a widedistributor network. This leads to stock out in these areas.

15
Opportunities –

The industry today, is growing at a rate of more than 10% per annum.

The compounded annual growth rate, better known as CAGR is also rising at a steep
pace. This is evident from the performance of Fair and Lovely in its segment. So, Lux
can yield great benefits byreinforcing itself in the beauty segment.

Promotions strategies like kiosks, price offs, sample distributions, etc are essential with
competitors likeITC, etc catching up fast.

The soap, as mentioned above, is in the maturity stage of its life cycle. So it is essential that
a retentivestrategy be adopted so that this can be sustained.

Ayurvedic variant of Lux could have a big scope in the market. So far, the only variant of
Lux

that has somewhat come close to Ayurveda, though not actually is the festive glow variant,
which had the goodness of haldi and chandan ubatan. This could cater to a new segment in
the market.

A Lux Kids Special soap would also help the brand greatly, as this segment has been
running dry for quite some time now. In this way, brand loyalty could be caught
young!

The brand extension products of Lux – the body washes, with its new range launched
recently, is in the growth stage of its life cycle. They can pick up fast pace is positioned and
marketed properly. Active marketing of these body washes is going on in the social media.

During the sales promotions schemes, the level of servicing goes very high and this needs
to be broughtdown.

16
Lux has only near about 20% penetration in rural markets. Lux holds great scope if it
taps the ruralmarkets.

Threats –

Number of competitors is rising – ITC, P&G, etc are fast catching up.

High internal competition also exists for the soap.

Lux seems overly relied on the beauty segment, so in case the consumer trends or
preferences change,then Lux stands to be highly vulnerable.

More focus needs to be put on the newer technology – currently body washes being the latest
technology.This can already be seen in the market, but it needs to be enforced further.

If constant reinvention is not there, then Lux can slip down from the maturity stage it
currently is in andget into a declining phase.

Thus, Lux is a soap that so many generations grew up using, so much so that, today the
term “soap” and “Lux” are used interchangeably in so many households. However, it never
takes much time for a bubble to break and yet it could be impossible to break a strong
bubble. With appropriate marketing strategies and developments, Lux could not only retain
its alpha position but also climb further up the ladder before any of the competitors got to
catch up or come close.

17
5. COMPETITORS ANALYSIS

Internal Competitor:-
➢ Lifebuoy: 2010, 18% market shares
➢ Santoor
➢ Dove
➢ Pears

Internal competitors

Lifebuoy:

Born: 1895

History: Owned by Unilever Plc., the parent company of Hindustan

Unilever Ltd. Status: Has 18% market share in the bathing soaps
category, worth Rs6,000 crore
Lifebuoy landed on Indian shores in 1895, when the country was in the grip of
a plague epidemic. With its positioning as a powerful germicidal and
disinfectant, and with a strong carbolic smell, it was what the nation was
looking for. But the health advantage waned over time as competitors came out
with soaps that promised both health and beauty.

It was around 2002 that the product moved from being a hard soap to a mild
soap that delivered a significantly superior bathing experience. The new soap
had a refreshing fragrance and its overall positioning changed, painting its
promise of health in softer, more versatile and responsible hues—for the entire
family. The packaging was also changed: The rugged looking packs were soon
replaced with a softer pinkish cover. This was followed by a series of ads
highlighting the soap’s germ-fighting benefits.

Lifebuoy had become a family soap with hygiene as its core promise. Right
from the early days, the brand has preferred effective communication to
celebrities. An exception is its recent, limited exposure campaign with cricketer
Yuvraj Singh.

18
 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.

MARKETING RESEARCH

Marketing research is the systematic design, collection, analysis and reporting, marketing
research starts with the first step of Defining the problem which is the most important stage:
We will be conducting the marketing research of Lux starting with the first stage of defining
the problem Two Lux soaps, located on one shelf of retail outlet, one imported and other is
local, isn’t it deviating the customer?

19
ISSUE

The problem is the difference between quality of local and imported one, which can
unconditionally create customers deviation. Discussing the design of Lux, packaging, price
and quality are main differentiating factors. Lux bar soap is similar to Ivory in its pure white
color, lux has a clunky square shape, it is dense plus brittle just like Ivory and its smell is also
like Ivory. These all things are same for both local and international Lux. This can’t be
changed as Lux has to maintain these things under some regulations that are maintained and
supervised by the global Unilever chapter. Moving towards the quality, there’s a huge
difference between the qualities, as Pakistan chapter of Unilever is producing Lux in its own
way to maintain its cost up to a certain level so it can target a large number of consumers,
whereas imported Lux is mostly an import from China or Dubai.
These countries like China, Dubai, India, etc. have their own chapters of Unilever and their
manufacturing recipes and their manufacturing companies are also different, that maintains
its shapes but differs on everything which always creates deviation for the customer of Lux
Pakistan. The main issue is that quality is different in sense that Lux manufactured by India,
Dubai and China is of good quality whereas the one that is locally produced is of low quality.
A customer that desires to buy Lux, who is attracted by its endorsement and advertisement,
now coming to purchase, customer is deflected to buy which one, if the customer is not aware
of the quality and is first time user of Lux, then he would be buying on the basis of on the
spot attraction, like packaging and price. Whereas if the customer is existing user, then he
would definitely buy imported one due to good and better quality. Even then it is not sure that
he would buy imported Lux or not, as on the basis of price and packaging, the imported Lux
would have its own competitors.
Lux is bringing glamour into the world. Lux is provoking consumer by the senses sight, smell
and touch like never before but on the other hand if there will be such a difference in the

quality then people will switch to imported lux no one will ask for the local lux
.international lux has so many types people don’t even know about those types like:
Lux Beauty Soap brand new Packing/style, new Size variants White glamour, Velvet Touch.
CLV LUX fragrance soap, having high foam and awesome smell. Its basic feature is of
cleansing plus whitening. Lux whitening soap is available in different colors like pink,
yellow, and green and purple.

20
All these soaps are not manufactured in Pakistan they are imported from other countries but
not in a huge quantity. If all these types are manufactured her with an affordable price and in
a good quality then customers will get the same quality soap from their very own country
plus there will be no need of importing these soaps. LUX and its various products are
manufactured in 71 different locations with more than 2000 suppliers. The key markets of lux
are in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China, Bangladesh and South Africa, and are a market leader in
India (for soap bars), Brazil, Saudi Arabia (for soap bars), Bangladesh and Thailand. Pakistan
is the key market of lux soap but still the soaps manufactured in Indian, Saudi, and Brazil is
better than local soap most of the lux soap is imported from India.
Though Unilever checks out the product quality in all the countries it is produced in. Lux
products are gentle and these products are non-irritating for normal skin. Unilever
Corporation conducts all the product safety regulations in each country where Lux soaps are
sold. According to Unilever Corporation, they apply high standards checked before bringing
a product to market. Unilever also has a Safety and Environmental Assurance Center that
ensures safety of the environment, people and production. Lux soap is formulated for use
with children under the age of 3, the elderly and other vulnerable members of the population.
Of Corse there is a price difference in all the lux like the local lux is selling in cheaper price
as compared with the imported lux. Lux soap is an affordable bar soap, when first introduced
in the United States in early 190,s, it had an affordable option to expensive French Milled
soaps. Lux is also sold in China at an affordable price for consumers not only in china and
United States lux all around the world has a nice affordable price so the pricing factor of lux
is stable, but the quality difference should be eliminated so there should be minimum
customer’s deviation. Observational research can really help in overcoming the defined
problem. Maximum people want the quality of lux to be improved

LUX is the name of beauty and it is the enigma of a woman. Since its launch in Pakistan in
1954, it is known as the 'soap of the stars' capturing the imagination of the target audience
with the allure of Pakistan's leading glamorous ladies. It’s all about the brand lux is offering
or introducing new products and expanding its soap range day by day but talking about
Pakistan the quality isn’t that good as compared to the imported lux (lux produced
internationally).if Unilever keeps check at the quality of the local lux and compares the
ingredients and other things used in the production of local lux with international standard
then this problem can easily be sorted

21
In the marketing research stage after defining the problem ,conducting research on that we
have other two stages which is implementing the plan the plan to sort out the problem to
minimize the deviation of consumer.so in this stage the plan should brought in to serious
action now the researchers must also process and analyze the collected data to isolate
important information and findings the solution to this problem is mentioned above then
finally marketing research deals with its last stage/step which is of interpreting and reporting
the findings now this research should draw some conclusions and report them conclusion. So
solving the above mentioned problem all depends on the Unilever corporate who can keep a
check on the quality and the research department the quality of lux in ever country should
match with each other their shouldn’t be any difference only in this the deviation can be
minimized.

ANALYZING AND USING MARKETING INFORMATION

CONSUMER VIEW ON LUX (BOTH IMPORTED AND LOCAL)

LUX has created its brand image and no matter what most of the consumer uses LUX as their
daily skin care soap. According to retailers 60% of customers tend to buy local LUX as
compared with other imported soaps. 45% of consumer says that “they choose imported LUX
over other imported soaps.” Based on the above analyzed information from retailers, we can
assume that local Lux sales are been competed by its imported image at a good scale and
even then Unilever is unaware of the issue.

Consumer often thinks that local product lacks quality and effectiveness. As far as LUX is
concerned 75% customer thinks that local LUX is not as effective as the imported ones, but
sales are only effective of local Lux due to its price factor. In Pakistan there is always a cheap
way of producing goods and consumer even suspects a multination company like Unilever
for using wrong ways of producing soap.
Another fact, which creates deviation for a customer of local Lux, is their biasness towards
Pakistan actresses and model. A class of Pakistan will never go for a soap which is endorsed
by Meera; however they still prefer LUX on other soaps. Therefore customers go for
imported LUX. 90% of customer thinks that imported LUX will give better results because
more technology is used in imported LUX as compared to local ones. They also think that

22
imported LUX is expensive so it will be better than the local LUX.

Media is one of the biggest and most effective ways of creating brand imaging and LUX is
using this tool for many years for creating its brand image and marketing position. This
marketing promotion tool has gained lots of benefits and loyal customer to LUX. However
Pakistani people tend to watch Indian and foreign channels these days and they get attracted
to imported LUX advertised on those channels. . So when these customers go to buy LUX
they switch to imported LUX because of their advertisement. Pakistani customers are
overwhelmed by using a soap having Ashwariya Rai and Katrina Kaif picture on its pack.

UNBIASED CONSUMERS
Only 20% customers prefer LUX on other soaps because they trust Unilever and have a mind
that both LUX whatever local or imported have same qualities and same LUX. . Just
packaging and variants are different. More than 35% of customers do not check the
manufacturer of LUX they just buy LUX for its brand imaging and promising results. LUX is
an international brand and it cannot provide poor quality in local.

However Unilever Pakistan can make more profit in these economic crises if they start to
promote local LUX more and ensure its quality as compared to imported LUX. There are no
efforts of convincing customers to buy local LUX by retailers and Unilever itself. Unilever
should remove the doubts of its customers they have for local LUX. . In this way the will get
more results. On the other hand Pakistani models and actresses should be hired for
international branding According to the views of several retailers, in Pakistan Lux that I
manufactured locally owns the 50% of market whereas the imported one owns an equal share
in market. In Punjab zone there are proper channels of distribution of imported Lux products
that are supplied to retail outlets and are sold more than Local ones. In short the imported
image of Lux is taking over its local one very easily.

LUX CRM (CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT)

How Unilever marketing strategies are based on consumer insights and information:

One of the biggest strategies Unilever uses is to hire actors and actress for LUX because
market research showed that people had some sort of attraction for goods advertised by the

23
stars. It’s some sort of visual mapping and product positioning strategy when makes
consumer to use LUX more than other soaps and increase its market share.
“The brand has always hired celebrities when they have reached a certain height rather than
using them at the start of their careers. This avoids the issue of celebrities overshadowing the
brand,” says Angelo Dias, national creative director.
In Pakistan LUX has showed Babra Sharif, Reema Khan, Iraj Batool, Iman Ali, Meera, and
Vaneeza Ahmed & Amina Haq as role models in LUX. Now they have Reema Khan, Meera,
Humaima Malik and Mahira Khan in their new advertisement. Due to these strategies LUX
got approximately 43% of total market share among few major soap producers.
Moreover, Unilever gets to know that almost everyone uses internet and Facebook these days
so they use Facebook as their promotional scheme. They get this insight from the customer
that

advertisement is not working on then because watching TV has become less than ever. Being
smart Unilever not only uses Facebook for promotional scheme but also to gain consumer
insight. It’s an innovative project of Unilever that uses social networking and the users’ data
for getting engaged with customers, to get their insights as well. This new project will
broaden Unilever’s understanding of its consumers when it comes to LUX and It will enables
them to do more instead of using same old promotional schemes.
Whatever consumer wants is provided by Unilever LUX, consumer seeks high quality and
it’s provided by LUX. Variety is needed by customers and Unilever provides lots of variants
in LUX soaps (Sparkle, Crystal Shine, peach & Cream etc.). It’s a customer want to get more
in same product line so that is why Unilever introduced LUX body wash and hand wash.

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PRODUCT OR SERVICE

LUX, a soap for everyone who wants to feel beautiful, it’s a product by unilever Pakistan
limited and it is offered in market as daily consumption soap which can change your bathing
into a experience of beauty and Luxury. Everyone needs a soap that is just not a random soap.
That’s exactly what unilever is doing they are providing a special soap for every citizen of
Pakistan. People who use LUX as their daily soap feel experience nice fragrance and quality
bathing experience.
On the other hand, when it comes for imported LUX, same product and same experience is
being provided, however its target market is international countries. Unilever, currently
working in all big countries of world is providing LUX for same reason and almost working
under same motto: “LUX provides prestige-inspired beauty products made accessible to all
which indulge the senses to make your skin and hair smell, look and feel more alluring and
attractive, and inspire you to revel in the pleasure of expressing your beauty.”
Differences are very minor between imported LUX and local one but unilever Pakistan needs
to make LUX of Pakistan by creating more customer value not only for Pakistan citizen but
for other people around its world. . If LUX of other countries is interfering our LUX
economy then LUX of Pakistan should do same to them. Large amount of profit can be
generated if sales of Pakistan LUX increases on international basis.
The main thing that has to be noticed is that what is the difference between levels of product
and services of local LUX and imported one, as far as augmented aspects of local LUX and
imported one are concerned, they are almost same, which mainly includes after sale service,
warranty and product support. In actual product circle brand name is same, LUX is LUX no
matter what. Features are almost same though variety is more in imported LUX products
.design , of LUX is same all over the world but local LUX comes into 3 different sizes but
imported comes only in one standard size in Pakistan. Packaging is not that different, LUX
uses quality and colorful packaging for its product whether local or imported. Quality of
imported one is bit improved because of use of heavy technology of developed countries but
that doesn’t mean local LUX is of low quality. It is one of the best quality soap among all
other Pakistani local soaps. However retailers don’t agree to consumer. They said that “both
LUX soaps have same quality “All of this analysis leads us to customer value. Users of LUX
are 100% satisfied for what they have

provided by unilever and there is no complaining or bad word of mouth for local LUX and

25
imported LUX.
LUX, both local and imported is complete consumer products. They both come under
category of Convenience products i.e. A consumer good and/or service (such as soap, candy
bar, and shoe shine) that are bought frequently, often on impulse, with little time effort spent
on the buying process... Organization marketing, that unilever is doing for LUX is almost
same every country. . in Pakistan lox is carry out promotional activities , campaigns ,
customer value services and sponsoring different programs to maintain its brand name means
they mostly use social marketing for To nurture performing arts in Pakistan, LUX has started
a LSA scholarship program providing free education to a chosen few who show immense
potential.. Product line of local LUX is soaps, range of body and hand washes.

According to unilever Pakistan “We all want to be pampered, to look and feel great, to enjoy
that moment when anything seems possible. And that's just what LUX offers you on a daily
basis at a price you can afford...” That’s on what unilever is positioning its brand , “ LUX
bring the star in you” Imported LUX brand is positioned in the basis of “Feminine, decadent,
but always

accessible, LUX provides women with a collection of sophisticated skin and hair care
products developed to meet their needs and delight their senses.”
So to some extent brand positioning of LUX is same all around the globe. Brand name
“LUX” is LUX is derived from Latin, meaning "light" and it’s a short form of English word
Luxury and name shows how the products work. It symbolizes Luxury, relaxation and
comfort. This name LUX is one of the main reason of the popularity of this some. LUX is the
name that goes out with its products, which describes products as light and gentle, luxurious
experience, light as silk. It’s a unique name which is easy to pronounce and remember.
Unilever is a manufacture‘s brand and its shares its profit with government though it is a semi
private company that creates brands all over world such as LUX
Although LUX has the same charm everywhere unilever Pakistan has to take some brand
strategies in order to create high value for local LUX over imported one. It should create a
line extension, i.e. introduce more variants in existing LUX products. Moreover unilever
Pakistan can have a brand extension strategy, it can introduced complete brand new products
under the name of LUX. For example LUX faces wash, face scrub and face creams etc. so
that local products of LUX have more charm and customer attention then the local one.
Efficiently done brand marketing strategies can make a tremendous change in the sales and

26
value of local LUX products. Unilever Pakistan has to compete with international standards
of unilever for getting more from the local LUX.

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28
6. MARKET SEGMENTATION

“One cannot be everything to everyone, but can be everything to a selected few”. This
is the basis for segmentation. The definition of segmentation is “market segmentation
is a process of dividing a heterogeneous market into homogeneous sub units.
Market segmentation is the identification of portions of the market that are different
from one another. Segmentation allows the firm to better satisfy the needs of its
potential customers.

A good market segmentation will result in segment members that are internally
homogenous and externally heterogeneous; that is, as similar as possible within the
segment, and as different as possible between segments.

Market segmentation of Lux

As mentioned above, market segmentation is done so as to satisfy the customers more

efficiently. For a brand like Lux, which has a broad customer base, this factor becomes
absolutely critical.

The segmentations are done basically on the basis of factors like:

Lux soap concentrates in the beauty soap category. A brief description of the various
factors Lux considers are:

Gender:

Lux has been, since its introduction seen as a soap for women. Lux as a brand
symbolises beauty. The Lux ads has hosted a bevy of film stars such as from
Madhubala, Babita, Hema, Karisma to Kareena all endorsing the goodness of Lux over
generations. This was done in order to attract women who wanted to look and feel like
the stars they idolised.

Age :

Lux is seen to mainly attract customers that fall within the age group of 16 to 35. In
order to cater them, Lux comes up with new and interesting variants. One of the latest
entrants, Lux Crystal Shine is mainly targeted at the youth . So is the Black
Provocateur which symbolises boldness . Another

29
example is the chocolate variant lux which was a novel idea. All these are introduced
to catch the attention of the youth.

Income :

One of the essential characteristic of an FMCG product is an affordable price which is

very important for its fast sales. It’s the meeting point of demand for a product and its
price that decide whether the product will sell or not. And the demand for a product is
highly dependent on the income of the customer. Lux is not very costly toilet soap. Its
price varies from Rs.15 to rs.20.Therefore its target market starts from the middle
income group.

➢ Gender: female
➢ Age:16-35
➢ Income: middle income group (Rs.15-20)
➢ Highest selling beauty soap in urban areas (rural area-lifebuoy)
➢ Expensive-affordable
➢ Target area: urban and sub-urban – upper middle and middle class people

PRODUCT POSITIONING OF LUX

➢ Created good position: Buyers mind- Better product attributes, price and
quality.
➢ Offering: improved quality of the product- affordable price with high
branding- to
position the product as a best quality beauty soap in buyers mind.
➢ Market shares of Lux: 15%
➢ Better positioning: market leader of beauty soap.
➢ Offering product in a different way

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MARKETING CHANNELS (PLACE)

Producing a product & make it available to buyers requires building relationship not only
with customers but also with sellers & suppliers in the company’s supply chain. The supply
chain consists of two partners upstream & downstream. Upstream provides information,
supplies, raw materials, components and parts for the development of a product or service
.Whereas downstream pattern concentrates on connection between the firm & customer. On
line purchasing is also getting common. Because of new technologies & internet companies
are developing complex relationship with firms. Whereas supply chain has two views Supply
chain “make and sell” view includes the firm’s raw materials, productive inputs, and factory
capacity. Like Lux needed to inquire which materials are required for the production of their
products, what is their capacity & what is their range of producing products.
Demand chain “sense and respond” view suggests that planning starts with the needs of the
target customer, and the firm responds to these needs by organizing a chain of resources and
activities with the goal of creating customer value. Lux first target their customers then
launch their products & find out which products are the needs of the consumers. Unnecessary
products should not be launched in the market. Value delivery network is the firm’s
suppliers, distributors, and ultimately customers who partner with each other to improve the
performance of the entire system. Lux will combine with the suppliers, retailers & people
who are involved in the production of Lux products. When products get ready they are
handed over to sellers to add value in them .For this purpose producers uses intermediaries.
Intermediaries offer producers greater efficiency in making goods available to target markets.
Through their contacts, experience, specialization, and scale of operations, intermediaries
usually offer the firm more than it can achieve on its own. Lux contact larger & high level
sellers to introduce their products in market, for example unilever limited makes millions of
bars of lux soap each day, but you want to buy only a few bars at a time. So big retailers such
as Big Bazaar buy Lux by the truckload and stock it on their stores shelves. In-turn you can
buy a single bar of lux along with a

shopping cart full of small quantities of shampoos & other related products. Thus
intermediaries play an important role in matching supply & demand. Marketing channel
consists of firms that have partnered for their common good with each member playing a
specialized role.

31
Channel conflict refers to disagreement over goals, roles, and rewards by channel members

• Horizontal conflict

• Vertical conflict

Vertical conflict: channel will perform better if it includes a firm, agency, mechanism or
providing leadership or has power to assign roles and manage conflict. Conventional
distribution systems consist of one or more independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers.
Each seeks to maximize its own profits, and there is little control over the other members and
no formal means for assigning roles and resolving conflict. Whereas VMS consists of
producers, wholesalers and retailers acting as a unified system. Another channel development
is horizontal, in which two or more companies at one level join together to follow a new
marketing opportunity. By joining another company or by joining competitors can attract the
consumers and will increase the sales of their products. Like if lux will combine its
competitor like dove or some else it will result in increase in sales or if the Lux does contract
with hi-fi stores that these particular stores must sell their products will increase their sales.
Multichannel Distribution systems (Hybrid marketing channels) are when a single firm sets
up two or more marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments.

32
Disintermediation occurs when product or service producers cut out intermediaries and go
directly to final buyers, or when radically new types of channel intermediaries displace
traditional ones. It is the process of introducing products direct to customers without the help
of intermediaries. Like lux will direct place its products in the market without publicizing
their products with help of commercial, ads etc.

Integrated logistic s management emphasizes on teamwork both inside the company &
among the entire marketing channel to maximize the performance of entire distribution
system. Lux will coordinate with all individuals whom are doing better for the organization &
their brand whether they are working inside the organization or outside the organization.
Interview was also conducted to know more about the Lux brand: Retailer said that imported
lux is found only in two main markets of Lahore which are Shah-Alam market & Akbari

33
market. Whereas big stores like metro, macro, hyper star deal with products that have
genuine license so that they sale local lux only (under the rule of unilever Pakistan). He said
general grocery stores do have both lux soaps (imported and local).

34
LIFE CYCLE STAGES OF LUX

Lux launched the world’s first mass-market beauty soap in the US in

1924 & hadbeen launched in India in 1929.
• At that time there was only one competitor of Lux, which was from
its own brand “LIFEBUOY”.

• In the initial stages Lux was introduced in the major cities of INDIA
like Calcutta, Mumbai

• MARKETING OBJETIVES - was to create the product

awareness and to attract the customers towards the product.

• The Lux MARKETING STRATEGIES in the initial stages :

• Product = They offer only on product in the market. They did not
come up with the
differentiated product.

• Price =In the initial stages of the product, they offer the
relatively higher price than their competitor (LIFEBUOY). Because,
they want to recover their initial cost of making the product.

Advertising =In the initial stages, they allocate more advertising

budget So that more and more customers could be
attracted towards the product. In ads they targeted the early
adopters, who were readiest to buy the product. The first
ambassador, Leela Chitnis.

Distribution =was selective and only covers the major cities of

INDIA to get recognition in those cities.
Their distribution channel was through: Manufacturer
Wholesaler & Retailer

35
 GROWTH STAGE

In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising.

• They have expanded their market to the other cities of INDIA.

• MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objectives of

the Lux were to expand their market to the other cities of INDIA.

• Another objective was to maximize more market share.

• Inthe growth stage, company had the following MARKETING

STRATEGIES :

• Product = In the growth stage, the company had offered the same
product in the market.
• Price = In this stage, the company had changed their price to some
extent because of maximizing the market share. ( Slightly cut down the
prices )

• Advertising = In the growth stage, they had increased their

advertising budget as in the initial stages because of attracting the new
customers or to retain the existing customers.

Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Zeenat Amaan, Juhi Chawla,

Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi

• Distribution = In this stage, company had expanded their market

to the other cities of INDIA. Their distribution channel was the same
as in the initial stages ofthe product.

• Promotion = In the growth stage, the company had also used the
different proportioning strategies to attract the new and the existing

36
 SA
ALES

COSTS

PR
ROFITS

M
MARKETING
G OBJECTIV
VES

PRODUCT STRAT
TEGY

PRICE STRATEGY
S

DISTRIBU
UTION STR
RATEGY

ADVERT
TISING STR
RATEGY

37
MATURITY STAGE
They modified the product by adding some changes in the product.

• In this stage, few competitors enter into the market like (CINTHOL,
FAIRGLOW, SANTOOR, CHANDRIKA, FIAMA DI WILLS and
VIVEL).

• The company has expanded their market to almost all the cities of INDIA.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objective of Lux is to

maximize more profit while defending the market share. And to expand the
marketto all the cities of INDIA.

MARKETING STRATEGIES In this stage are based on:

• Product= The Lux has made the modification in the product by

introducing: Lux Almond, Lux Orchid , Lux Fruit, Lux Saffron,
Lux Sandalwood, Lux Rose, Lux International, Lux Chocolate,
Lux Aromatic Extracts, Lux Oil and Honey.etc

• Price = The Lux products are now available at higher prices in the
market, the reason behind is that the company’s marketing objectives
is to maximize more profit.

• Distribution = Now Lux products are available in almost all the

cities of INDIA. Their distribution channel is same as in the initial
stage.

• Advertising = In this stage Lux advertising has been reduced to

some extent because of the more brand awareness in the minds of
customers.
Recently, they have shown Aishwarya Rai , Kareena kapoor & Shah Rukh khan.

• PROMOTIONAL OFFERS Like buy 3 get 1 free.

38
DECLINE STAGE
Besides of all campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux .The reasons
for its declineare :

• 1. Currency fluctuations: Unilever products are in over 100

countries worldwide, As a result, it is exposed to adverse currency
fluctuations.
• For instance, in 2004, a 5.9% decline in turnover was primarily due to
a 4%appreciation in the average Euro exchange rate.

• 2.SLOWDOWN: In year 2008 - 09 due to hard economic

conditions in INDIA and other countries the sales were highly
affected as the consumer started looking for some alternate products
with a cheaper price than Lux.

• 3.Competition: Lux has been facing competition from HUL itself

(Lifebuoy) & from other companies like:-
• Godrej Consumer Products : GCPL, India’s second largest
soap maker with 9.2% market share with leading brands such as
CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW & NIKHAR.
Fairglow brand, India's first Fairness soap, has created marketing
history as one ofthe most successful innovations

• Wipro : The presence of Wipro in the toilet soap industry can be

seen through their brands such as SANTO OR and CHANDRIKA. In
the southern market of Indiait is a major market player in toilet soap.

• ITC :It entered the segment last year and has made a strong
headway in a short time by growing to 1.75% in just five months. With
the brands like: Superia, Fiama Di Wills and Vivel

39
7. SALES PROMOTION

Lux presented 30gm gold each to the first three winner of the Lux
Gold Star offer from Delhi. According to the promotional offers that
Lux unveiled in October 2000, a consumer finding a 22-carat gold in
his or her soap bar got an opportunity to win an additional 30gm
gold. The first 10 caller of every week got a 30gm gold each. The
offer could be availed only on 100gm and 150gm pack of Lux soap.

Lux star bano, Aish karo contest. All one neede to do was to buy a
promotional pack of Lux soap. The pack comes with a special
scratch card. The 50 lucky winner and their spouse were flown down
to Mumbai to live a day like Aishwarya Rai would. They could also
be given gift voucher worth Rs.50,000/- from Shopper Stop’s along
with an exclusively designed by Neeta Lulla and a beauty makeover
by Michelle Tung, Aishwarya’s preferred designer and stylist. The
piece de resisitance was a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself.

Lux celebrated 75 year 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”, he
or she would get an equivalent discount (in rupees) on his or her
purchase from his or her shopkeeper. If the consumer found the “75
years” written inside the star, he or she will get a year’s supply of
Lux free.

Lux, the brand synonymous with beauty and stars, now takes its legacy
a notch higher by introducing the Lux Superstar offer. The offer gives
an opportunity to consumers to meet Bollywood's Superstar couple
Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan in London.

Now anyone can get a taste of stardom and rub shoulders with the

40
power couple, all you need is to purchase Lux soap and complete a
slogan to stake a claim to an evening full of glamour, glitz and glory.
12 lucky couples will be flown to meet Abhi

41
 & Ash in London. Well, this is not all... there are exclusive signed
photographs of thecouple to be
won.

12 lucky couples could win a chance to go to London and spend an

evening withAbhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

✓ Promotion:-

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 include Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Rekha,
parveen babi,Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Sairah Banu, Hema
Malini, Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, Aishwaria
Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor,Priyanka Chopra and most recently
Katrina Kaif.

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 in the country.

Lux advertisements through ages 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 decades. An ode to their beauty, an announcer of the ir
stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured film stars across
the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to common women
.With top movie stars - from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to
Karishma 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.

42
NEW LUX:-

Actress Asin Thottumkal has joined the likes of Aishwarya Rai,

Priyanka Chopraand Katrina Kaif as the new brand ambassador of Lux
soap.
She has been signed as the face of the soap's new variant Lux Sandal & Cream.
"It's a beauty accolade to be associated with the legendary beauty
brand Lux, which has celebrated beauty and glamour over the decades.
It gives me immense pride to endorse the new natural variant Lux
Sandal & Cream, as I truly believe in being beautiful the natural way,"
said Asin.
"The credit of rooting the right beauty mantra goes to my mom, who
being a doctor, has always entrusted the beauty of my skin to
sandalwood, due to its magical cleansing, toning and moisturising
attributes," she added.

IDEA:- If it is good for star, it is good for me.

In 2005 Lux celebrated its 75th anniversary sparking of a controversy.

Deviating its tradition of roping Bollywood Divas, this time none other
than Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Lux. The ads created instant
controversy with marketers discussing whether the brand has suddenly
become MALE. Paul Newman also has endorsed Lux soap which
shows that Lux makes such stunts to excite the market. Whatever be
the controversy, the brand a gain succeeded in creating excitement in
the market. Some argue that HLL was testing a new positioning appeal
to male users while others say that it was a one time endorsement to
break the clutter. A recent ad of Lux featured the golden couple
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. They were paid
Rs.25 crore for this ad. But in all these advertisements the celebrity
never shadowed the brand.

43
From the beginning Lux, by using a leading film star of the time has
fulfilled the consumers aspirations of us ing beauty soaps via the
rationale if its good enough for a film star, its good for me´. This later
moved into a transformation role of having a

44
bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world of icons,
film stars andfairy lands.

Events:

Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by unveiling

Shah Rukh Khan as their latest brand ambassador.
Kareena Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini graced the
event and made it special. All this stars have endorsed Lux in the past.
The event was held at the GrandIntercontinental in Mumbai.

8. Change in communication strategy

Lux was always changing with the times. Whether in terms of product
or in terms of promotions, the brand kept the consumers excited. Lux
was initially a premium brand. It was being projected as an
aspirational brand and the endorsements by stars further reinforced the
positioning. However the communication was slowly seemed to be
losing relevance, as consumers were beginning to question if the film
star actually used the brand. The increasing competition in the soap
category also forced Lux to rethink on its targeting strategy. Several
competitive beauty soap brands had begun advertising using similar
methods of communication.

The brand had a choice either to compromise on market share or

dilute the positioning. 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 moves the brand away from the long
running film star route. The film stars still features in the new
communication but not as her gorgeous self but rather as an alter
ego/projection of the protagonist, for a few seconds of the entire ad.
Thus, for the first time the film star was used as a communication

45
device and not as the main feature of the ad. The move away from the
film star and her fantasy world to the regular Lux user with the focus
on the protagonists star quality is a change from the norms set by the
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 brands promise. The promise goes beyond
the functional deliverables of soap, beyond bathing and bathroom to
the worldoutside. Its the world where 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 give it a more useful
and contemporary image. Breaking away from tradition, HLL resorts to
a male and metro sexual Shah Rukh Khan to revive Lux which turned
75 in 2005.

46
9. MARKETING MIX

Product

A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a need or want.

Products that are marketed include physical goods, services, experiences,
events, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas.

PRODUCT:-
➢ Product classification:-
Tangible
Non durable

➢ Labelling:-
Lux trade character or logo is present prominently in the package.
Female models.
Displayed graphically- Key ingredients.

➢ Packaging:-
Differents colours- different variants(Saffron-Saffron variants & Pink Rose
extracts
etc.)
Packages size-100gm, 120gm, 150gm.
Launched- Mini Lux- 45gm- Rs.5/-

Product Classification

LUX is a Tangible, Non Durable Good on the basis of this classification.

LUX and other soaps fall into the category of Convenience Good

47
Some of the prominent variants

Lux Almond
Lux Orchid
Lux Fruit
Lux Saffron
Lux Sandalwood
Lux Rose
Lux International
Lux Chocolate
Lux Aromatic Extracts
Lux Oil and Honey Glow
Lux Provocateur

LUX Beauty Soap- Form, Features, Style

With icons of beauty endorsing the brand, the offerings made by Lux
have always been superior and have always led the market, setting
benchmarks for competition.
Lux has beauty offerings in two of the four market segments – popular
and premium, spanning the needs of varied consumers.
Lux Toilet Soap in the popular segment has in the past years offered its
consumers a range of soaps enriched with the goodness of a variety
of nourishing ingredients – rose extracts, almond oil, milk cream, fruit
extracts and honey which are known to harbour the secrets of incredibly
perfect skin.
At the upper end of the market is the premium range which continues to
offer specialised skincare to its consumers in the form of International
Lux – a range of moisturising, deep cleansing and sunscreen soaps.
To establish the presence of nourishing ingredients in the new Lux, a
unique concept, ‘ingredients you can see in the soap’, was born. A novel
metallic substrate packaging beautifully showcased the ingredients and
its globally accepted ingredient-linkedperfumes heightened the sensorial
experience.
Each of the soaps in the range has milk cream, with the active
ingredients of rose extracts, sandal saffron, almond oil and fruit extracts.
These create an experience in pampering indulgence and luxury
designed to bring out the star in every woman. This

48
 is the first time in the Indian chapter of the brand that the beauty bar
variant was beingdifferentiated on the basis of its ingredients rather than its
perfume and colours.
Though Lux International, a premium variant of the toilet soap,
launched in 1989, is differentiated on the basis of its ingredients, the
popular version, Lux Beauty Bar was always projected as a “pure and
mild” solution to soft and smooth skin.

b. 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.

Advertising

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 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 decades. An ode to their beauty, an
announcer of their stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured film

49
stars across the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to ordinary
women.

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

50
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.

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.

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.

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.

PRICE:-

If price is too high then a company may never sell a single item of it. If price is
too low then one can lose money on every sale once all of costs of doing
business are considered. Therefore the key is to price it in such way that it
appears attractive to the customer as well as profitable to the company. HUL
seems to have mastered this idea. Prices of HUL are considered the most
competitive in Indian market. The main fact for this huge success story is the
strategic pricing decision the company has adopted from time to time.

51
HUL always gives value for money to their consumers. It is known for its
competitive pricing. It has the advantage of quoting a reasonable price due to its
economies of scale. HUL also can quote a very competitive price due to its
superior technology and optimum utilization of inventory. It has the product
range that meets the needs of all classes of consumers. It has the products that
are categorized as premium and mass products. HUL matches its prices with the
competitor who is operating in the same category.

HUL also gives price offs on its products to reward consumers who are using it
for a long time and also to attract new consumers.
The price of the premium segment products is twice that of economy segment
products. The economy and popular segments are 4/5ths of the entire soaps
market.

Competitive prices: Neither high nor low

Price segment of toilet soaps

Segments Prices/weight
Premium >Rs.15/75gms
Popular Rs.8-15/75gms
Economy <Rs.8/75gms

However, recently HUL has been forced to hike its price by one rupee, to Rs17 (for
100 gm), givingin to the pressures of inflation. This paves the way for competing soap
makers like Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) to take price increases.

Lux has versions in all the three price segments:

Recent pricing of lux(100g)

Lux Crystal Shine Rs.17
Lux Festive Glow Rs.15
Normal Lux Rs.10

52
 PLACE:-

Cutting-edge distribution network

HUL’s distribution network is recognized as one of its key strengths -- that

which helps reach out its products across the length and breadth of this vast
country. The need for a strong distribution network is imperative, since HUL’s
corporate purpose is “to meet the everyday needs of people everywhere.”

At Hindustan Unilever Limited, distribution network is one of the key

strengths that help them reach their products across the length and breadth of
this vast country. It has 2000+ suppliers and associates 7,000 stockists and
direct coverage in over 1 million retail outlets across India.

To meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer, HUL has set up a

distribution network that ensures availability of all their products, in all outlets,
at all times. This includes, maintaining favourable trade relations, providing
innovative incentives to retailers and organizing demand generation activities
among a host of other things. HUL boasts of placing a product across the
country in less than 72 hrs.

The first phase of the HUL distribution network had wholesalers placing bulk
orders directly with the company. Large retailers also placed direct orders,
which comprised almost 30 per cent of the total orders collected.

Today, the goods are transferred from the factory to the company warehouses
and are sent to the distributor from there on a daily basis. From the distributor,
the stock reaches the market through daily sales. Typically, these include the
salesman registering the order of a retail outlet and delivering the goods the
next day.

53
Recently HUL has changed its traditional way distribution and came out with a
new strategy of distribution. It‘s because of the change in buying pattern of the
consumer due to more disposable income. There are different channels of
distribution like Modern Trade, which covers all chains of super markets like
Food World, who get the stocks directly from the company. Wholesalers and
second leg of big retail outlets called Super Value stores come under the
surveillance of the distributor along with the mass retail outlets. There is also
this new concept in the HUL distribution channel called Kiosk. Kiosk is a small
shop that sells only sachets and low priced items (below Rs.10/-). Kiosk also
does not come under the surveillance of the distributor.

In addition to the ongoing commitment to the traditional grocery trade, HUL

is building a special relationship with the small but fast emerging modern
trade. HUL's scale enables it to provide superior customer service including
daily servicing, improving their range availability whilst reducing
inventories. HUL is using the opportunity of interfacing moredirectly with
consumers in this retail environment through specially designed
communication and promotions. This is building traffic into the stores while
yielding high growth for the business.

RSNet

An IT-powered system has been implemented to supply stocks to redistribution

stockists on a continuous replenishment basis. The objective is to catalyse
HUL’s growth by ensuring that the right product is available at the right place
in right quantities, in the most cost-effective manner. For this, stockists have
been connected with the company through an Internet-based network, called
RSNet, for online interaction on orders, dispatches, information sharing and
monitoring. RS Net covers about 80% of the company's turnover. Today, the
sales system gets to know every day what HUL stockists have sold to almost a
million outlets across the country. RS Net is part of Project Leap, HUL's end-
to-end supply chain, which also includes a back-end system connecting
suppliers, all company sites and stretching right up to stockists.

54
Powered by the IT tools it has improved customer service, while ensuring
superior availability and impactful visibility at retail points.

For rural India, HUL has established a single distribution channel by

consolidating categories. In a significant move, with long-term benefits, HUL
has mounted an initiative, Project Streamline, to further increase its rural reach
with the help of rural sub-stockists. As a result, the distribution network directly
covers about 50,000 villages, reaching about 250 million consumers.

Distribution will acquire a further edge with Project Shakti, HUL's partnership
with Self Help Groups of rural women. The project, started in 2001, already
covers over 5000 villages in 52 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka Madhya
Pradesh and Gujarat, and is being progressively extended. The vision is to reach
over 100,000 villages, thereby touching about 100 million consumers. The
SHGs have chosen to adopt distribution of HUL's products as a business
venture, armed with training from HLL and support from government agencies
concerned and NGOs. A typical Shakti entrepreneur conducts business of
around Rs.15000 per month, which gives her an income in excess of Rs.1000
per month on a sustainable basis. As most of these women are from below the
poverty line, and live in extremely small villages (less than 2000 population),
this earning is very significant, and is almost double of their past household
income.

For HUL, the project is bringing new villages under direct distribution
coverage. Plans are being drawn up to cover more states, and provide
products/services in agriculture, health, insurance and education. This will both
catalyse holistic rural development and also help the SHGs generate even more
income. This model creates a symbiotic partnership between HUL and its
consumers, some of whom will also draw on the company for their livelihood,
and helps build a self-sustaining cycle of growth.

➢ Distribution network-key strength (which help reach out its

product across thelength and width of the vast country)
➢ 2000+ Suppliers & Associates
➢ 7000 Stockists
➢ Direct coverage in over 1 million retail outlets
➢ Factory-Company warehouses-Distributor-Market
➢ Factory- Wholesaler & Big Retailer(Bulk orders)-30%Sales

55
BCG Matrix

BCG matrix method is a portfolio management tool developed by Boston

Consulting Group.It is a method based on the product life cycle theory that can
be used to know what priorities should be given in the product portfolio of a
business unit.To ensure value creation ,a company should have a portfolio of
products that contains both high growth products in need of cash inputs and low
growth products that generate a lot of cash.There are 2 dimensions : market
share and market growth.Placing products in the BCG matrix results in four
categories in a portfolio of a company:

Star : High market growth and

high market shareCash cows : Low market growth

and high market shareQuestion marks : High

market growth and low market shareDogs : Low

market growth and low market share

Innovation seems to be the main theme of the Indian soap industry in 2008.
With the entry of ITC, the stage is all set for a major tussle between the new
entrant and existing players in the Rs 6,500-crore branded toilet soaps sector
in India. The soap industry is seen to have a market growth rate of about
10%. This shows that industry has a high growth rate. HUL is a market leader
in the industry and its soap Lux enjoys a market share of 17 % in India. So
according to the concept of BCG matrix any product which has high market
growth and market share is classified as STARS. The major objective of
products coming in Stars is to maintain their high market share. HUL comes up
with various variants in LUX quite frequently in order to maintain their
position.

56
 Recommendation

Lux has been following a trend of constant product development and

improvement since its inception. This has always proved to be successful for
the brand. Therefore a similar strategy can be followed in the future: Lux can
go for a high end Ayurvedic variant. Lux has been associated with beauty and
feminine grace till now. In the present day consumers are into naturopathy and
believe in natural treatments like the Ayurveda. Keeping with this trend, Lux
can foray into Ayurvedic variant. HUL already has Hamam soap in this
category. But it is a low priced soap whose target audience is quite different
from Lux. This new variant can provide the current customers of Lux with a
blend of both class and natural goodness.

57
Today’s children are tomorrow’s customers. Children have a major share in the
decision making process of consumers. Therefore it will be a viable decision to
launch Lux Kids Special soap. By doing this Lux can “catch them young” and
get a loyal customer base from them. This variant can be in vibrant colours as
opposed to the soft colours used currently. The fragrances can also be made
more “fun” and vibrant.

Lux has high penetration in the urban and semi urban areas. However, it has
only 19.8% penetration in the rural areas. The rural market has great untapped
potential, which HUL has not concentrated on till now. Consumers are
becoming more and more aware and undergoing a surge in disposable income.
This huge opportunity can be explored by Lux. HUL already has a strong
distribution channel in almost all regions. What is needed here is a change in
the communication strategy to reach out to the rural customers. The various
channels of communication should be made more appealing to this rural
segment of customers

58
 CONCLUSION

The beauty soap industry of India consists of a few producers in the industry.
The Demand for this product is very much vulnerable in terms of pricing.
Hindustan Unilever is providing LUX at a price which is affordable to most of
the people in the country. Beauty soap is an uprising product in India as a
greater portion of the population, both male and female, arenow getting more
beauty conscious.

As a multinational company Hindustan Unilever with heavy promotional

activities, has been able to penetrate the market. With six different fragrances,
three different sizes, international standard and high quality design, as a
product, LUX has been highly successful over the years. Its distribution process
is highly efficient. Its promotional activities, like the beauty contest has been a
milestone in attracting a huge number of customers. Overall with its marketing
activities LUX has been a successful brand.

59
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Name of author: Philip Kotler

Name of book: Marketing Management- A South Asian Perspective

Name of Publisher: Pearson Education

Edition: 13th
Year of edition: 2009

Name of author: Ramaswamy Namakumari

Name of book: Marketing Management- Indian Context

Global Perspective Name of Publisher: McGraw Hill

Education Private Ltd New Delhi Edition: 5th

Year of edition: 2013

WEBLIOGRAPHY

➢ www.fmcg.com
➢ www.hul.com
➢

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