P L C O F L UX

INTRODUCTION:

The look and feel of the Lux products and packaging to the fragrances, are delights to the femininesenses. Lux launched the worlds first mass-market beauty

soap is the US in 1924 & had beenlaunched in India in 1929. Since then it has expanded into the whole world. Lux products could befound in over 100 countries and they

had the sales of 1.0 billion euros in 2005. And Lux is themarket leader in Arabia, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa.
Product details:

Organisation: Unilever

Product: Lux Soap

Markets: India, China, Japan and UK

DEVELOPMENT STAGE:

A Monsieur Charpy

employed at Lever in England developed a technology that allowed production of a very thin sheet of soap that then could be flaked. The company began selling whatthey first

named "Sunlight Flakes" in England in 1899, though the name was changed to "Lux" in1900 which is associated with luxury. The soap flakes began to be imported to the U.S. in 1910and manufactured at a

new Lever Brothers plant in Cambridge & than in 1924 launched as beautysoap.
INTRODUCTION ST AGE:

L ux launched as the worlds first massmarket beauty soap

in US in 1924. Since then it hasexpanded into the whole world. After 1924 lux had been launched in many countries all over the world i.e. UK(1928), INDIA(1929), SHRI LANKA(1931),

BRAZIL(1932)PAKI STAN(1957) etc. A fter launch Lux became famous & got success because of marketing strategy of unilever & nonear competitor in the market. O

utdoor & TV advertising played a key role in the launch & success of Lux.
GROWTH STAGE:

In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising. In the growth stage, they have expandedtheir

market.World market for soap is obviously market for Lux soap too. This figure shows the maximummarket opportunity is in Asia, Europe, North America and Latin America.

World Market for Soap Unilever took full advantage and became the market leader for Lux brand in soap. They alwaysconcentrate on different Culture, lifestyles, tastes,

preferences budgets & economic development of the country. This strategy helped Unilever to be the number one Lux soap brand.Unilever depends heavily on advertising its brands and continued

product innovation to maintainand expand their market position. 1. Advertising: In almost all the countries movie & famous TV serial star can b e seen in the luxadvertisement. I

n 1943, Lux Soap st ore display cardboa rd advertising sign f eatures popular Para mount movie star Paulette Goddard. In India also famous bollywood stars have also been lux brand ambassadors.

The very first advertisement in 1929 in India featured Very famous Leelachitins as its brand ambassador. a. Outdoor & TV Adve rtising:

Brand awareness moved from 21% to 93% among women duringthe outdoor campaign & TV advertisement. Purchase consideration among women almost doubledto 21%, while ad

awareness rose 33% to 56%. Media attribution showed the impact of outdoor.Before the posters ran, 23% of women spontaneously thought they had seen the ads on roadside posters.

After the activity that figure rose to 67%, posters showed by far the biggest relativeincrease of any medium.Lux had launched different different variants & different products of lux i.e. shampoo, bodywash gel etc to

attract large number of customers. 2. Direct Consumer Contact: A large part of the global rural market for Lux is not mediareachable. In order to tap this huge market, Unilever in

the global market are using DCC strategiesto create brand awareness, consolidate brand loyalty and thereby increase sales. Unilever alsoattempt to gain credibility in local markets

and thereby build tacit endorsement for their productsthrough the sponsorship of activities, conferences and campaigns , undertaken by local professional bodies, funding and

disaster relief funds, donations, etc. All these are part of non-aggressive corporate strategy to extend or consolidate their brand positioning in local markets.They also continou research work for further

improvement according to the customers need. a. Field research: Lux marketers develop an expert knowledge of local markets, consumers, andtheir behaviors, and draw on this to create

marketing campaigns that maximize Lux brands impactthrough targeted communications. b. Desk research: Lux marketers act different roles based in Lux Innovation Centers.

Theycombine market research with local market insights to raise brand awareness and generate loyalty.Meanwhile, Lux is making use of the data that consumers volunteer themselves online in

blog,message boards and review sites. The advantage of using consumer-generated content to generateinsights as to consumer tastes gives an honest view of how the consumer feels.

MATURITY STAGE:

Competitor brands from both HUL itself (e.g. Lifebuoy, Liril, Hamam, Breeze, Dove)

& other manufacturers offered the competition & this slowed down sales.Price of these products is also very low in comparison to Lux thats why customers movetowards these

products.Than HUL implemented th e Segmentation strategy to increase the sales & to reduce the cost. Segmenting the market means dividing an overall market up into a number of

smaller, moreeasily attacked, and markets. Focusing on a market segment allows more targeted messaging, andmore effective use of resources. It also reduces the costs of going to market, and results

in better market understanding of the segment youre attacking.For example In India HUL is focusing on the Targeting the consumer and their purchasing power. They are classified

into very rich, consuming class, climbers, aspirant and destitute. Theresearch was carried out by R & D department of HUL in IndiaAs the marketing channels of the company are already established

HUL tried to increase the penetration in the rural sector to the extreme remote areas, which are not touched till now. HULtried to reduce the delivery time of the products by choosing and

increasing the strategic locationsof warehouses. HUL then will track the distribution path of the wholesalers in small cities throughmarketing team and would establish a platform or team at a zonal

level for all the wholesalers andwould try to take their feedback on the market developments. These kinds of congregations couldalso increase the brand loyalty in the wholesalers and

they would be motivated to push HUL products.

DECLINE STAGE:

HUL has use many strategy & done many campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux but thesales are still decreasing. The reasons are:

1.Currency fluctuations
:

Currency fluctuation can often disrupt the best-laid business plansof companies. Unilever products are in over 100 countries worldwide. As a

result, it isexposed to adverse currency fluctuations. For instance, in 2004, a 5.9% decline in turnover was primarily attributed to a 4% appreciation of the average Euro exchange rate againstother

currencies. Cash equivalent in fiscal 2005 was reduced by 188 million as a result of adverse currency fluctuations. Any adverse currency fluctuations in the future would

affectthe group's bottom line growth. 2.Inflation: In year 2006 inflation rate was much higher in UK then other countries. In 1970due to hard eco nomic conditions U nilever faced high i

nflation change in p rice level.Inflation rate may vary in different country. Depend on the currency rate, market and behaviour of the consumer. 3.Competition:

Lux has been facing competition from HUL itself & from other companiesalso. 4.Conflicting trends: As Bloomberg news
1

reported on 17
th

October in 2004 Unilever did notexpand Shanghai Lux Soap factory because of rising labor and land prices. Instead, theLondon-based maker of Lux soap received a package of tax breaks and

cheap land, and cutits wage bill in half by moving the plant to an industrial park on the outskirts of Hefei, theCapital of Anhui Province