PL C OF L UX

INTRODUCTION:

The look and feel of the Lux products and packaging to the fragrances, are delights to the feminine
senses. Lux launched the world’s first mass-market beauty soap is the US in 1924 & had been
launched in India in 1929. Since then it has expanded into the whole world. Lux products could be
found in over 100 countries and they had the sales of 1.0 billion euros in 2005. And Lux is the
market leader in Arabia, Brazil, India, Thailand and South Africa.

Pr oduct details:
• Organisation: Unilever
• Product: Lux Soap
• Markets: India, China, Japan and UK

DEVEL OPMEN T ST AGE:

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 what
they first named "Sunlight Flakes" in England in 1899, though the name was changed to "Lux" in
1900 which is associated with “luxury”. The soap flakes began to be imported to the U.S. in 1910
and manufactured at a new Lever Brothers plant in Cambridge & than in 1924 launched as beauty
soap.

INTR ODUCTION S TAGE:

Lux launched as the world’s first mass-market beauty soap in US in 1924. Since then it has
expanded into the whole world. After 1924 lux had been launched in many countrie
s all over the world i.e. UK(1928), INDIA(1929), SHRI LANKA(1931), BRAZIL(1932)
PAKISTAN(1957) etc.
After launch Lux became famous & got success because of marketing strategy of unilever & no
near competitor in the market.
Outdoor & TV advertising played a key role in the launch & success of Lux.

GR OWTH ST AGE:
In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising. In the growth stage, they have expanded
their market.
World market for soap is obviously market for Lux soap too. This figure shows the maximum
market 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 always
concentrate 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 maintain
and expand their market position.
1. Advertising: In almost all the countries movie & famous TV serial star can b e seen in the lux
advertisement. In 1943, Lux Soap store display cardboard advertising sign features popular
Paramount 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 Leela
chitins as its brand ambassador.
a. Outdoor & TV Advertising: Brand awareness moved from 21% to 93% among women during
the outdoor campaign & TV advertisement. Purchase consideration among women almost doubled
to 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 relative
increase of any medium.
Lux had launched different different variants & different products of lux i.e. shampoo, body
wash gel etc to attract large number of customers.
2. Direct Consumer Contact: A large part of the global rural market for Lux is not media
reachable. In order to tap this huge market, Unilever in the global market are using DCC strategies
to create brand awareness, consolidate brand loyalty and thereby increase sales. Unilever also
attempt to gain credibility in local markets and thereby build tacit endorsement for their products
through 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, and
their behaviors, and draw on this to create marketing campaigns that maximize Lux brands’ impact
through targeted communications.
b. Desk research: Lux marketers act different roles based in Lux Innovation Centers. They
combine 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 generate
insights as to consumer tastes gives an honest view of how the consumer feels.
MATURITY ST AGE:
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 that’s why customers move
towards these products.
Than HUL implemented the Segmentation strategy to increase the sales & to reduce the cost.
Segmenting the market means dividing an overall market up into a number of smaller, more
easily attacked, and markets. Focusing on a market segment allows more targeted messaging, and
more effective use of resources. It also reduces the costs of going to market, and results in better
market understanding of the segment you’re 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. The
research was carried out by R & D department of HUL in India
As 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. HUL
tried to reduce the delivery time of the products by choosing and increasing the strategic locations
of warehouses. HUL then will track the distribution path of the wholesalers in small cities through
marketing team and would establish a platform or team at a zonal level for all the wholesalers and
would try to take their feedback on the market developments. These kinds of congregations could
also increase the brand loyalty in the wholesalers and they would be motivated to push HUL
products.

DECLINE S TAGE:
HUL has use many strategy & done many campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux but the
sales are still decreasing. The reasons are:
1. Currency fluctuations: Currency fluctuation can often disrupt the best-laid business plans
of companies. 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 attributed to a 4% appreciation of the average Euro exchange rate against
other 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 affect
the group's bottom line growth.
2. Inflation: In year 2006 inflation rate was much higher in UK then other countries. In 1970
due to hard economic conditions Unilever faced high inflation change in price 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 companies
also.
4. Conflicting trends: As Bloomberg news1 reported on 17th October in 2004 Unilever did not
expand Shanghai Lux Soap factory because of rising labor and land prices. Instead, the
London-based maker of Lux soap received a package of tax breaks and cheap land, and cut
its wage bill in half by moving the plant to an industrial park on the outskirts of Hefei, the
Capital of Anhui Province.

Reference List:
1
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2. http://www.businesswireindia.com/attachments/Kareena%20Lotus.jpg
3. http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/01/lux-celebrating-beauty.html
4. http://www.slideshare.net/hit20032003/lux-presentation-presentation
5. http://www.moneycontrol.com/news_html_files/news_attachment/2009/HUL-RU-Q3FY09-
29-01-20091.pdf
6. www.unilever.com
7. http://www.hll.com/brands/lux.asp
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9. http://sxxz.blogspot.com/2005/11/what-is-currency-inflation.html