Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

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 Diagram

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

Product branding and quality level is established, and intellectual property protection such as patents and trademarks are obtained. Pricing may be low penetration pricing to build market share rapidly, or high skim pricing to recover development costs.
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Life cycle of Lux soap

Distribution is selective until consumers show acceptance of the product. 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 encourage preference over competing products. Promotion emphasizes product differentiation.

Decline Stage 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.
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Life cycle of Lux soap

Discontinue the product, liquidating remaining inventory or selling it to another firm that is willing 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.

Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

Lux soap was first launched in the UK in 1899 as a flaked version of Sunlight soap. Subsequently it was launched in the US in 1916, and marketed as a laundry soap targeted specifically at 'delicates'. Lever Brothers encouraged women to home launder their clothes without fear of satins and silks being turned yellow by harsh lyes that were often used in soaps at the time. The flake-type soap allowed the manufacturer some leeway from lye because it did not need to be shaped into traditional cake-shaped loaves as other soaps were. The result was a gentler soap that dissolved more readily and was advertised as suitable for home laundry use. Lux is currently a product of Unilever. The name "Lux" was chosen as the Latin word for "light" and because it was suggestive of "luxury." Lux toilet soap was introduced as a bathroom soap in the US in 1925, and in the UK in 1928 as a brand extension of Lux soap flakes. Subsequently Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including handwash, shower gel and cream bath soap.

Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

Lux soap was launched inIndia in 1929. The very first advertisement in 1929 featured Leela Chitnis as its brand ambassador. It was branded in India as "the beauty soap of film stars'. As of June 2009 Lux is sold in over 100 countries .

From the 1930s right through to the 1970s, Lux soap colours and packaging were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colours made up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. People enjoyed matching their soap with their bathroom colours. In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from traditional soap bars by launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturising bars. Lux beauty facial wash, Lux beauty bath and Lux beauty shower were launched in 1992. In 2004, the entire Lux range was relaunched in the UK & Ireland to include five shower gels, three bath products and two new soap bars. 2005 saw the launch of three exciting new variants with dreamy names such as Wine & Roses bath cream, Glowing Touch and Sparkling Morning shower gels.

Did you know?

Since the 1930s, over 400 of the worlds most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Demi Moore and, more recently, our own Catherine Zeta-Jones, have all been part of the Lux glamour story. The name Lux means light in Latin, however the name was chosen for its play on the word luxury.

Lux soap was first launched in the UK in 1899 as a flaked version of Sunlight soap.Subsequently it was launched in the US in 1916, and marketed as laundry soap targeted specifically at 'delicates'. Lever Brothers encouraged women to home launder their clothes without fear of satins and silks being turned yellow by harsh lyes that were often used in soaps at the time. The flake-type soap allowed the manufacturer some leeway from lye because it did not need to be shaped into traditional cake-shaped loaves as other soaps were. The result was a gentler soap that dissolved more readily and was advertised as suitable for home
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Life cycle of Lux soap

laundry use Lux is currently a product of Unilever. The name "Lux" was chosen as the Latin word for "light" and because it was suggestive of "luxury." Lux soap was introduced as bathroom soap in the US in 1925 and in the UK in 1928 as a brand extension of Lux soap flakes. Subsequently Lux soap has been marketed in several forms, including hand wash, shower gel and cream bath soap. Lux soap was launched in India in 1929. The very first advertisement in 1929 featured Leela Chitnis as its brand ambassador. It was branded in India as "the beauty soap of film stars'. As of June 2009 Lux is sold in over 100 countries

Lux launched the worlds first mass-market beauty soap in the US in 1924 & had been 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 etc. 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
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Life cycle of Lux soap

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. In the growth stage, company had the following MARKETING STRATEGIES :

Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

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 of the product. Promotion = In the growth stage, the company had also used the different proportioning strategies to attract the new and the existing customers

Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

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 market to 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 companys 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.

Production & material management

Life cycle of Lux soap

Besides of all campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux .The reasons for its decline are : 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, Indias second largest soap maker with 9.2% market share. with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW & NIKHAR.
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Life cycle of Lux soap

Fairglow brand, India's first Fairness soap, has created marketing history as one of the 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 India it 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

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Life cycle of Lux soap

PRICE:- price level, Discount, Special offers. PLACE:- supermarkets, Shops, Mail orders,etc. PRODUCT:- quality, Design, Image, Name & Packaging. PROMOTION:- advertising, Competitions, Sampling & In-store display.

PRICE: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

Recent pricing of lux(100g) Lux Crystal Shine Lux Festive Glow Normal Lux Mini Lux

Rs.17 Rs.15 Rs.10 Rs.5

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Life cycle of Lux soap

PLACE: Distribution network-key strength (which help reach out its product across the length 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

PRODUCT: Product classification: Tangible Non durable Logo:-

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/-

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Life cycle of Lux soap

Promiinent variants: Lux almond

Lux orchid

Lux pearl glow

Lux renewal massage

Lux crystal shine

Lux rose

Lux international

Lux chaocolate

Lux aromatic extracts

Creamy delight Lux

Purple lotus Lux

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Life cycle of Lux soap

Lux SPA

Lux Shower gel range

Lux body wash

Lux hand wash

Lux FNF

Lux Shampoo

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Life cycle of Lux soap

PROMOTION: 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 22carat 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 Stops along with an exclusively designed by Neeta Lulla and a beauty makeover by Michelle Tung, Aishwaryas 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 years 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.
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Life cycle of Lux soap

Now anyone can get a taste of stardom and rub shoulders with the 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 & Ash in London. Well, this is not all... there are exclusive signed photographs of the couple to be won. 12 lucky couples could win a chance to go to London and spend an evening with Abhishek 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
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Life cycle of Lux soap

of Lux over generations, it was natural that the brand has built equity as the best beauty soap in India. NEW LUX:Actress Asin Thottumkal has joined the likes of Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra and 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 Ra i Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. They were paid Rs.25 crore for this ad. But in all these advertisements the celebrity never shadowed thebrand. 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 bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world of icons, film stars and fairy lands.

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Life cycle of Lux soap

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 Grand Intercontinental in Mumbai. South Indian:JAYALALITHA (1970)

SHRIYA SHARAN

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 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 po rtray star quality in every
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Life cycle of Lux soap

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 world outside. 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.

Strengths:
Strong market research (Door to door sampling once in a year Rural and Urban area.) Many variants (Almond oil, Orchid extracts, Milk cream, Fruit extracts, Saffron sandalwood oil and Honey). Strong sales and distribution network backed by HUL. Strong brand image Dynamically continuous innovations New variants and innovative promotions (22 carat gold coin promotion Chance Hai) Strong brand promotion but relatively lower prices Winning combination. Mass appeal/Market presence across all segments ( 15% of soap market)

Weakness: Mainly positioned as beauty soap targeted towards women, lack unisex appeal Some variation like the sunscreen, international variant did not do well in the market Not much popular in rural areas

Opportunities: Soap industry is growing by 10% in India. Beauty segments compounded annual growth rate(CAGR) is very high. Liquid body wash is currently in growth stage- Lux should come out with more variant in this segments. Large market share- Strong hold over the market

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Life cycle of Lux soap

Threats: High internal competitions (Pears-beauty segments) New entrants (Vivel) Maturity stage-threats of slipping down to decline stage- if constant reinvention is not carried out.

Internal Competitor: Lifebuoy: 1895, 18% market shares

External competitiors: Herbaria Merci Clarin

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

Created good position: Buyers mind- Better product attributes, price and quality. Offering product in a different way
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Life cycle of Lux soap

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.

Ayurvedic Variants Lux Kids Special Soap Target Rural Area Target Male Customers

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, are now 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.

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Life cycle of Lux soap

www.mbaparadise.com www.fmcg.com www.hul.com http://sxxz.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-is-currency-inflation.html http://adage.com/garfield/article?article_id=116289 http://www.hll.com/brands/lux.asp http://themes.blogflux.com/theme/5483.html http://www.businesswireindia.com/attachments/Kareena%20Lotus.jpg http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/01/lux-celebratingbeauty.html http://www.slideshare.net/hit20032003/lux-presentation-presentation http://www.moneycontrol.com/news_html_files/news_attachment/2009/ HUL-RU-Q3FY09-29-01-20091.pdf www.google.com

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