ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

With immense pleasure I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to
Project Guide Mrs.??????? for guiding me to complete this project and providing the
necessary motivation to complete this study.
I am also grateful to all those people who have provided all the necessary valuable
information and guidance to complete the project without the help of whom the
project would not have completed on time.

???????????
PGDBM-IV
ROLL NO-81

1
 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

(From PROJECT GUIDE)

This is to certify that the project titled “Analyzing the Consumer Buying Behavior and
Advertising Strategies for Soap Industry” has been submitted by Mr. under my
guidance and supervision.
This project is being submitted by her for the fulfillment of requirements of the award
of Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management from New Delhi Institute of
Management.
This work is original and has not been submitted by her anywhere else for the award
of any diploma.

?????????
PROJECT GUIDE

2
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTENTS PAGE
NO.
Chapter 1 Executive Summary 4

Chapter 2 Industry Profile 6

 Introduction

 Industry Trend

 Global Market for Soaps

 Existing major players of soaps in India

Chapter 3 Research Methodology 30

Chapter 4 Findings & Analysis 34

Chapter 5 Advertising Strategies of a few Brands of Soaps 49

Chapter 6 Conclusion

79

Bibliography
83

Annexure
85
Questionnaire

3
 LITERATURE REVIEW

The role of advertisement changes unto what the organization wants them to do.
There where times that an organization use the advertising to help them survive
from the impacts of economic trends. Still, the economists views that the advertising
plays a significant effect on the consumer behavior. And in a long process, the
advertising can lead the organization to competition. Based on the understanding
regarding the advertising, the approach rooted in the organization’s search for the
right answer on the effects of the competition. Consequently, the accepted basic role
of the advertising is to provide the consumers with the right amount of information
regarding the product or services, which is related to the objective of the competition
and that is to deliver the consumer satisfaction. In this view, the level of advertising
affects the consumer who is the focus of the organization (Park, 1996). Based on the
previous studies regarding the consumer behaviors, there are three influential
factors that affect the consumer decision when buying. They are enumerated as
external influences, internal influences and the marketing influences in which the
advertising, product promotion, and pricing technique are found. Definitely, the
marketing activity such as advertising affects both internal and external behavior of
the consumer. Most especially, the consumers’ perceptions are influence through
the exposure such as seeing an advertisement; attention which means that the
consumer recognizes the advertisement; awareness which is common if the
advertisement involves some humor; and the retention that keeps or stays in the
mind of the consumer (Chen and Lee 2005). Advertisements also affect the
knowledge by giving information, attitude, personality, lifestyles of the consumers,
and the culture of the consumer. The concept of advertising makes it possible to
involve the consumers which greatly affect the buying decisions of the consumers

4
Tsai, M., Liang, W., & Liu, M., 2007. The Effects of Subliminal Advertising on

Consumer Attitudes and Buying Intentions, International Journal of

Management, Vol. 24, No. 1

CHAPTER 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

5
 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The basic objective of this project was to find out the consumer buying behavior
towards purchase of soaps in the Personal Care Industry. To proceed with this and
finding out the basic buying approach of consumers, a survey was conducted taking
into account all types of customers with different level of incomes, varied age groups
so as to reach an unbiased conclusion.
Through this survey I tried to find out answers to several questions like which brand
of soap was mostly used, what is the most important purchase factor kept in mind
before purchasing the particular brand, brand association of various soaps, to find
out brand loyalty of customers, effect of sales promotion on their buying habits,
advertisement recall rates etc.
After completion of this project I found that HLL has the maximum market share in
the soap industry with Lux as its most preferred brand.
In the second part of the project I have tried to analyze the advertising strategies of a
few brands of soaps. The advertising strategy defines the 4 major elements-target
audiences, positioning of brand, communication media used to deliver the message
to the audience and lastly the advertising message. This study was carried out by a
careful observation of various TV commercials of soaps and print ads of different
brands of soaps. This part of project was a total observational study which will help
us to identify that how does a marketer promotes his product in the market.

6
 CHAPTER 2
INDUSTRY PROFILE

7
 INDUSTRY PROFILE

INTRODUCTION

The annual value of personal products business in India, including oral care, hair
cares and skin cares products, is currently estimated to be Rs 54.6 Billion.

Just five years ago personal products were considered to be luxury items and
attracted a high excise duty of 120% (except the oral care category). Gradual
taxation reforms in India since 1991 have lowered the excise duty rates to a
reasonable 30%, making these products more affordable. At the same time, rising
income levels have led to rising aspirations on the part on Indian consumers. These
factors have been the catalysts in the exponential growth rate in the personal
product category over the past five years.

In the Rs 48,000-crore fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) market, soaps is

perhaps the most promiscuous category, with consumers shifting brands with
impunity.

The personal care and detergents segment in India has grown at a CAGR of 7-8 per
cent in the past 3 years. While the premium products of the industry, consisting of
cosmetics, skin care products, fragrances, deodorants and antiperspirants, and
shaving products, are growing at above 10 per cent due to low penetration levels,
the mass market segments like detergents, oral care products, hair care products
and toilet soaps have already achieved high penetration levels and are registering a
slowdown in demand growth. The latter segments also compete with the price-
competitive unorganized segment, which also restricts value growth.

The soaps industry is a mature industry and growing at an average rate of around 5-
6% per annum, by volume and is expected to increase its rate of growth to around 7-
8% in the next couple of years.

8
The demand for toilet soaps will be restricted to 5 per cent over the medium term, as
current penetration levels are already high. However, since the growth will occur on
a higher base, the quantum of increase will remain stable. Value growth in the
industry is likely to be driven by the migration of consumers from low-end products to
upper segments.

In the last one year, total quantity of soap sold in the country was around 4.5 lakh
tones. Of the sales value of Rs 4,900 crore, Rs 3,000 crore was accounted for by
urban areas.

The urban market has been growing at a faster pace of 7 per cent per annum
compared with just 2 per cent in rural areas. The per capita consumption of soap in
India is currently around 500 gm a year.

Under soaps the industry falls into two segments: Laundry and Toilet soaps. But
there we will concentrate on the brands of toilet soaps as the laundry soaps are
preserved for the small scale industries apart from a few like OK & 501.The toilet
soaps segment has faced a shortage of industrial oil, the basic raw material. There
is an approximate gap of 2 lakh tones. But the gap is now bridged through imports
caustic in excise duty on the soaps it he industry expects the demand to increase
and the industry to grow.

In tune of the increased disposable incomes of both the urban and the rural
population the industry has witnessed aggressive promotion of its premium brands,
which has benefited the industry. This is the fastest growing segment in the toilet
soaps, the market of which grew at 15% in the while the larger manufacturers are
engaged in major media battles in their bid to increase market share, the smaller
producers are also trying for a price of the cake through mostly regional marketing
efforts.

The measure of quality in toilet soaps is the proportion of TFM. (Total fatty matter)
this is the Essence of the soap. Market source says that the belief on high TFM
content related to quality may have held in the past but today efforts TFM content in
soaps that should nonetheless wash well and be soft on the skin. This he says is

9
because a lot of TFM gets washed off without being active and increase that if this
were the case why is that premium soaps have TFM upward of 70%.

The soap product categories can be classified into three segments; premium (Lux,
Dove), popular (Nirma, Cinthol), and economy (Nirma Bath, Lifebuoy). The price
differential between the premium and economy segments is about 2X. The popular
and economy segments account for about 4/5ths of the entire market for soaps.

Penetration of toilet soaps is high at 88.6%. However per capita consumption levels
remain low India's per capita consumption of soap at 500 gms per annum is lower
than that of Brazil at 1,100 gms per annum.

Raw Materials

80% of the raw materials used in soap are oils. Since animal fats (which are used
worldwide and are far superior to vegetable oils and also cost effective) are banned
in India, Indian soap manufacturers are forced to use vegetable fats and hence
settle for a poorer quality of soap. Various kinds of oils such as rice bran, palm,
soyabean, neem, karanji, olive, kopra etc. are used for manufacturing of soap,
depending upon its positioning. The most commonly used oil is rice bran, followed
by palm. Other oils are also added but in a small quantity to get different variants of
soaps.

Rice bran and palm oil are the most common base oil used in nearly all soaps; Apart
from the base other additives used are perfumes, colour and other more expensive
oils in small quantities. Since these additives are added in small quantities they do
not make much difference to the cost structure. Therefore the contribution (excluding
packaging cost) on premium soaps vis-à-vis the popular soaps is substantially
higher.

Distribution network
Soaps are available in 5 m retail outlets in India, 3.75 m of which are in the rural
areas. Therefore availability of these products is not a problem. 75% of India's
population is in the rural areas; hence about 50% of the soaps are sold in the rural
markets.

10
Growth
Rural demand growth is expected to occur mainly with consumers moving up
towards premium products. But in the past, the proportion of premium soaps to
economy soaps has not changed much, in volume terms. This is because as some
consumers move up the value chain with increase in disposable incomes, some
consumers move down looking for cheaper substitutes as prices move up. This has
been the case especially, as growth in soap prices has generally outpaced overall
consumer inflation.

Indeed innovation has encompassed product. Forms as well company’s have

products that could once be found only on in hand up squeeze tubes not to mention
liquid soaps in pump raising the consumers outlay on personal hygiene is vast even
where usage penetration is high. In village heat and dust is reason enough to press
on. Most soap marketers are busy making the best; of what they can overall a
sharpened consumer focus has meant better corporate performance.

Overview of the Indian Soap Category

India is a vast country with a population of 1,030 million people. Household
penetration of soaps is 98%. People belonging to different income levels use
different brands, which fall under different segments (see table below), but all
income levels use soaps, making it the second largest category in India (detergents
are number one). Rural consumers in India constitute 70% of the population. Rural
demand is growing, with more and more soap brands being launched in the discount
segment targeting the lower socio-economic strata of consumers.

Soap Price (per 75 gram cake)

Segment in in US$
rupees
Carbolic* 5.00 10 cents
Discount 7.00 15 cents
Popular 11.00 23 cents
Premium 17.00 36 cents
Super 35.00 75 cents
Premium

11
* The carbolic segment consists of soap that has crysellic acid (e.g. carbolic acid) as
an active ingredient to remove body odor. These soaps have a strong
medicated/germ killing connotation.

Brand Positioning Then and Now

Soap manufacturers originally targeted their products to the lowest income strata in
urban as well as rural areas, positioning their brands as a way to remove dirt and
clean the body. For some brands, that positioning persists even today with a focus
on removal of body odor and keeping the user healthy. However, soap positioning is
moving towards skin care as a value-added benefit.
Consumer Preferences
Consumer preferences are varied and are more regionally specific. India is divided
into four regions: North, East, West, and South.

• Consumers in the North prefer pink colored soaps, which have floral profiles.
Here the fragrance preference is for more sophisticated profiles reflecting
their lifestyles. Freshness soaps with lime and citrus notes are also popular
preferences as the climate in the North is very hot and citrus/lime scented
soaps are seen to be refreshing.
• The East is not a big soap market; hence no particular preference skews.
• Consumers in the West exhibit preferences for strong, impactful fragrances
and somewhat harsher profiles compared to the North. Preferences are more
for the pink soaps with floral fragrances, primarily rose, which are positioned
on the beauty platform.
• In the South, the skew is towards specific soap segments like the
Herbal/Ayurvedic profiles and also the Sandal profiles. Consumers here do
not exhibit high brand loyalty and are ready to experiment and try out new
brands. Hence, most fast moving consumer goods companies tend to launch
their new brands in these markets, which they call test launch markets.
Marketing
Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision-makers in
terms of soap purchase. Medicated positioning like germ killing and anti-bacterial are

12
marketed to families.
About 75% of soap can be bought through these different types of outlets:
Kirana Store: This is the most common source for buying soap, which usually forms
a part of the month’s grocery list (which is purchased from these Kirana Stores).
Consumers exhibit loyalty to these stores, which is largely dependent on proximity to
consumers’ homes. Here consumers buy across the counter and do not have an
option of browsing through display shelves.
Pan-Beedi Shops: These are really small shops, almost like handcarts, and they
are primarily set up to dispense cigarettes and chewing tobacco. However, one
would find such a shop at every corner and they are the main sources of soap
purchase for the lower socio-economic classes. These kinds of shops exist by the
dozen in rural areas.
Department Store: In India, there are very few department stores and the
“Indianised” versions of department stores are called “Sahakari Bhandars.” It is still a
fairly new concept. However, department stores have good display counters and this
is the only place where consumers get a first hand experience of shopping and
choosing from available options. Here soap prices are also discounted below the
retail prices.

13
INDUSTRY TREND

All dressed up and however to go. That is the case of toilet soaps market, which has
been recording a dismal 4-5% growth for almost 2 years. Now, marketers maintain
that while volumes have certainly been hard to come by the market has been
increasing in value terms. No figure however was quoted.

“Consumers have been up grading themselves continuously. So while it’s true that in
volumes the market has been showing an upward trend”.
Consumers have been graduating form the popular to the premium segment. The
fact however remains that with volumes showing no signs of growth and marketers
continuously adding to its portfolio of brands the market is certain to witness
casualties.
For one and the soap marketers acknowledge this-it will be survival of the fittest and
several brands will certainly have offer consumers any special benefit will be
obliterated”, says an analyst.
A case in point is HLL’ s Le Sancy the bean shaped premium soap that has now
been withdrawn form the market. Its production has been totally stopped. “The
novelty of the shape and picking up it was decided to withdraw the product.
Nirma soaps have been growing at a rate of 26% per annum. “The growth has been
inhibited due to premium pricing policy adopted by the majority p0layers. It is the
popular segment that will grow. And that is how they have upped their market share
from 6% to 14%.
Nirma’s strategy has been to establish volumes where negligible volumes exist by
positioning its toilet soaps to lower end of the market thus enabling maximum
numbers of consumers to shift to soap.
Therefore, in terms of porter’s generic competitive marketing strategy, Nirma is in
cost leadership position in comparison to others who are in differentiation or focus
strategies.
The market has only recently launched its lime variant- Nirma Lime fresh – into the
premium category. Incidentally the company today has emerged as the second

14
largest manufacturer of toilet soaps, with the Nirma Brand moving up to gain the
number three position after Lifebuoy and Lux from the HLL stable.

Godrej soaps the marketer of Cinthol and Gaga with 11% market share has only
recently launched its premium cinthol Ultimate.
Positioned as the family soap the new variant is the only soap in the category to
have three benefits killing germs, preventing body odour, and moisturizing skin-
rolled into one.
Mr. Adi Godrej, Managing Director while acknowledging that the soap market has
been stagnating in volume terms was also of the opinion that it is value game that
will now bring in the rewards.
“With consumers gravitating towards superior premium price soap, value-wise, the
market has grown by 20%. Infact this category has been some movements”.
The bottom-line therefore is clear. It will the value game that marketers will have to
play to get the growth they desire. But with the slowing down of the economy, the
market may not rather as much as the soap major may desire.

According to AC Nielsen data, at the end of October Godrej Consumer Product

Limited had a value share of 9.6 per cent of the market compared with Norma’s 8.2
per cent. In terms of volume Nirma, however, remains ahead of GCPL’s 11 per cent
with a share of 12.1 per cent. GCPL’s brands include No 1, Cinthol and Fairglow.

Hindustan Lever (HLL) continues to be the market leader in terms of value by a long
stretch with a share of just over 54.2 per cent. It has, however, lost market share
with its Lifebuoy brand dropping to its lowest level in 12 months.

According to industry estimates, Hindustan Lever Ltd controls about 60 per cent of
the soap market with brands including Lifebuoy, Lux, Rexona, Breeze and Hamam.
After HLL come Nirma and Godrej with their respective brands. The medicated soap
brands include Dettol and Margo.

15
GLOBAL MARKET OF SOAPS
The global market for soaps is dominated by a small number of multinational
Companies with strong brand identity and enormous advertising budgets.
There is cut-throat competition between these multinationals. The top global players
include Unilever, Procter and Gamble, Colgate Palmolive and Johnson & Johnson.
The top 20 global players in the soaps and toiletries market
Position Company % Value of
World

1 Unilever 10.07
2 Procter & Gamble 7.41
3 Gillette Group 7.66
4 Colgate Palmolive 4.5
5 Johnson & Johnson 4.45
6 Shiseido 4.32
7 Estee Lauder 4.21
8 Revlon 3.42
9 Wella 2.27
10 Henkel 2.27
11 Kanebo 2.13
12 LVMH 1.94
13 Avon Products 1.91
14 Kao 1.88
15 Reckitt-Benckiser 1.88
16 Beiersdorf 1.56
17 Amway 1.55
18 Mary Kay 1.54
19 Coty 1.49
20 Lion 1.07

Promotion and branding

The top soap manufacturers have huge advertising budgets at their command.
Unilever is the number 1 spender on advertising globally. Table 4 below gives an
indication of the size of the advertising budgets available to some of the top
Multinationals and their subsidiaries

TABLE: Advertising spend in 2003

16
Source: Adbrands.net
Multinational companies advertise on television, radio, the internet, in print, posters,
Direct mail, and through sponsorship and public relations campaigns. In 2001
Unilever doubled its spending on on-line advertising.
The major players in the international market control the major brands in their
respective markets sectors, and have the financial and marketing muscle to combat
the ever-increasing threat of competition. These manufacturers tend to house
Families of products, not necessarily in the same sector, under a general brand
identity. For example, Colgate Palmolive produces bar soap, liquid soap, shower gel,
and shampoo, all under the brand name: Palmolive, for the African/Middle Eastern
Market. For the Asian market, the brand is extended to include Palmolive
Botanicals, Palmolive Naturals and Palmolive Optima. This is done to maximize the
impact of advertising and promotion activity, as well as to promote brand loyalty.
Generally, the big firms operate strong individual brand identities for their core
products. This behaviour is best seen in the toilet soap sector, illustrated by Table 5
below. These three companies have the largest number of brands in the top 100
ranking.

Table: Key players: brand ownership in top 50 brands

17
Source: Market Assessment Publications

Rationalization is taking place among large players as a strategy in terms of the

Brand portfolios. This means concentration on a small number of key brands and
dropping non-performing brands. Such streamlining allows the manufacturers in
general to improve margins by lowering costs for sourcing manufacturing and
distribution. Creating a strong brand name through advertising is a primary strategy
used by most companies in the industry. They then diversify the brand into another
sector or sectors, thereby benefiting from the brand’s consumer image.
Despite the increasing number of brands and products on the global market,
established brands from the key global players such as Unilever, Johnson &
Johnson, Colgate-Palmolive etc. are proving difficult to displace. Though these
manufacturers' brands are more expensive than national brands and privately
labelled products, consumers seem to prefer familiar trusted brands.
Brief case studies of three of the major multinational companies can be found in

In most European, North American and in the Japanese markets, personal care
products such as soaps are in the mature stage of the product life cycle, with the
result that brands can grow only by capturing sales from competing brands, resulting
in a spiral of high marketing costs. The major soap companies and indeed all the
multinationals have realized that the soap markets in the developing world are at the
growth stages of the product life cycle. The evolution of soap marketing strategies in
the emerging markets have been facilitated by a number of factors, most of them
Exogenous to the soap producers. These include:
 The emergence of more discriminating educated and aware consumers.

18
  Innovative research and development for new raw materials and finished
products.
 Growth of the media, especially TV
 Improvements and increases in transportation and communication
networks including mobile phones and the internet.
 High speed packaging machines and attractive packaging materials.
 State of the art technology to enhance productivity and reduce cost.
 Choice of talented advertising and market research agencies
 Liberalisation of markets and growth in free trade.
Soap manufacturers start their marketing strategy by first identifying whether a
marketing opportunity exists. They proceed to determine whether to target the mass
market or a niche market, and subsequently position their products. Very often,
“metoo”looking products, despite their superior performance, fail to break the barrier
of
routine buyer behaviour. Where the market is crowded, companies try to differentiate
their products by new forms or new packaging concepts.
With the increase in both domestic and global competition, companies are having to
deal with and reconcile two conflicting elements in marketing strategy – namely
profitability and market share. Greater market share involves higher marketing costs
and lower profitability. In India, Hindustan Lever's share of the soap and detergent
market was dented severely by the Nirma (an Indian national, privately owned
company) strategy of developing a product especially for the poor, until Lever
managed to develop its own product.

EXISTING MAJOR PLAYERS OF SOAPS IN INDIA

HLL (Hindustan Lever Limited)

19
With Rs. 2922 crores of its turnover constituted by soaps and detergents alone,
HLL’s share in the total industry is around 38%. Whether detergents, laundry bars or
toilet soaps the company produces the entire business of Hind Lever chemicals, HLL
has gained strategically in all market segments with a bid for a take over of Calcutta
Chemicals reportedly in the offering the company is moving from strength to
strength. It has the largest market share of around 36-38%.

HLL believes that the starting point for any decisions on brand portfolio within a
category is the business objectives. If the objectives are of the overall market
leadership and dominance in the category, it would need a certain portfolio of
brands. A business objective that is centered on being a profitable niche player in
certain defined segments would lead to a very different brand portfolio, this basic
difference in objective is why a company like HLL has brands of toilet soaps with
large volumes. In personal wash while company’s like J&J or R&C have one brand
each with smaller volumes. HLL’s brand portfolio includes brands such as Dove,
Liril, Lux, Moti, and Pears in the premium segment Breeze, Hamam, Jai, Lifebuoy
Gold, Lifebuoy Plus, and Rexona in the popular and carbolic segment. In HLL’s
personal wash portfolio amongst the strongest and the most successful brand s are
Lifebuoy, Lux, Liril each of these is a different benefit area – health, skin care,
freshness – each has a distinctive physical form and brand personality integrated
with the positioning. If Liril delivers the feeling of freshness, Lux—a measure of
illumination by the dictionary caters to the desire to radiate the glow and beauty of
film stars. Lux essential qualities of luxury and glamour are what the company wants
to transmit successfully to the shampoo norm. Lux is India’s 23 most popular brand.
The largest: women who aspire to be as beautiful as there favourite film stars.

Lifebuoy the red carbolic soap which sells one every third tonne of soap in the
industry may be faced with stagnation soon. A research reveals that its target share
has started dropping. The 1.3 lakh tonne soap has already penetrated India quite
deeply, so winning new users is difficult. Moreover, traditional users are being less
loyal. Moreover, we can not classify their routine response behaviour as brand loyal,
rather it is brand habit which is a mechanism adopted by consumers to case the
process of decision making and it can be changed by slight push by other brand of

20
competitors. The survey finds that in many parts of India, the young male has started
going for a basket of brands, which includes some other popular and sub-premium
products. This may not be a bad news for Lever, its marketer, because that seems
to fit in with how it has been trying to segment its market all along. Lifebuoy to fight
germs, Rexona (Lifebuoy Plus) to smell nice, Liril to feel fresh and so on. If we look
at Lifebuoy and its extension to Lifebuoy plus we can see that the extension has
leveraged the old Lifebuoy equity of health and germs-protection while extending it
into the area of preventing perspiration, odour and deoderancy. What Lifebuoy plus
has done is to extend the equity of Lifebuoy into a closely related benefit area and
into a target segment that is younger more urban and upscale than the traditional;
Lifebuoy target group. It feeds back into the Lifebuoy character that is young
contemporary and also more functional.
HLL’s competitive marketing strategy is to place more brands for different market
target segments having different variables, although to some extend and
psychographic (lifestyle) variables, although to some extend, it is cannibilisation of
its brand. However, it increases the total market share by diluting the market share
of competitors.

HLL is forever trying to gauge the pulse of the people so that it adds focus on
customer’s deepest desires. With honesty uppermost on most middle class minds in
these scan – tainted times HLL has used the honesty idea in its Hamam soap ad.
The Ad shows a little boy coming home dejected because be has not made it to the
school football team. Instead, he tells his father another classmate was selected
because that boy’s father influenced his sports instructor a mass brand is using the
middle class simmering discontent against corruption as a lever to position the brand
as the epitome of honesty. This can be classified as the motivational segmentation
of market.

HLL has also recognized that providing products relevant to the needs of the rural
consumer can be a tough preposition. But it is something HLL has managed to do
by keeping its ear close in the ground. Every year around Diwali the company floods
small towns and villages in Maharastra with Moti soap. The reason – during this time
rural women perform an annual ritual called ‘Abhyaang Snaan’ (morning bath) even

21
those women who normally do not use soap while bathing tend to treat themselves
by buying an expensive brand. Sales of soaps like Moti soap and HLL ensures that
the products is factory fresh.

PROCTOR & GAMBLE INDIA LTD.

P&G made famous strategic alliance with Godrej Soaps in March 1993, when it
allied with its competitor to form the new company P&G Godrej. Godrej detergent
business and its powder market were sold to P&G India. Godrej was to manufacture
toilet soaps for P&G Godrej and P&G India. The total consideration involved was
reported to be 60 crores.

But this alliance did not last. Within 3 years both companies decided to restructure
their 3-year-old alliance. Godrej decided to go alone however it would continue to
manufacture Camay for P&G for another 2 years while its detergents – Trilo, Key,
Bix & Ezee continued to be with P&G.
P&G India with help from its parent, which happens to be a major overseas player,
will make all it also efforts to entrench itself in the domestic detergent soap market.
Bought over Godrej soaps entire distribution system including 400 sales people.
Because of this brand like Ariel, Camay (natural/classic) have ridden on this
infrastructure with success.
The company would now find it difficult to locate a slot for its global soap brand like
Zest, Ivory because the competitors have already blocked the shelves and the
customers mind space.
According to the latest market shares available for toilet soaps, only one brand of
P&G creates a mark for itself that is Camay milk cream with a 3% market share.
The new advertising which P&G hopes for is a distinct and deliberate advertisement
creation process and P&G is a very advertisement savvy company. The company
strongly believes that advertisement should be benefited.
Post alliance of P&G extends into believing that the company has achieved what it
wanted to from the alliance. They are at a point when the twin objective of gaining
market share and ability to quickly introduce products have been met.

22
NIRMA LTD.
Nirma manufactures detergents, toilet soaps and other industrial chemicals. It has
backward integrated by setting up a 75000 tpa LAB plant, a 65000 tpa N-Paraffin
plant and a 0.42mn tpa soda ash plant. The first FMCG company to have forayed
into such large capex backward integration projects, Nirma's strategy is to emerge
as one of the lowest cost detergent manufacturer in the world. The company has
also strengthened its position in the toilet soap category and achieved phenomenal
success in the last one year through launch of a new brand Nima.
Nirma also plans to boost its capacity, modernize its facilities and integrate its
business processes. The rationale was to gain control over its raw material and cost
structures, Norma also has facilities to manufacture close to 80% of its raw
materials, in-house thus relieving itself from the stronghold of the cartel'’ irregular
supplies and fluctuating prices.
Nirma’s competitive marketing strategy is overall cost leadership. The backward-
integration in raw material, economies of scale benefits by increasing capacity and
modernisation are part of it.
Another detergent for Nirma has been attacked from cheap regional imitators. With
the state of art packaging plant at morayia it will give Nirma room for differentiation
through superior and cost effecting packing. In addition thee is a 50 heel are
automated mandali complex near Mehsana in Gujrat where Nirma has a rupees 70
crore expansion programme for its soaps business.

With an active 8% of share of the fairly competitive soap category the major
competitors for at least next 2 years is Nirma, also its next push is likely to involve its
handling personal products business—shampoos and toothpastes.
Nirma carbolic and Nirma beauty both have already been launched the CEO feels
that the multinationals are all high cost producers and our strategy is to beat them by
giving consumers the same value at lower prices.
Nirma also believes that all the raw material they manufacture will be for captive
consumption and they have decided to manufacture them because they will enable

23
us to reduce the cost of final soaps considerably. Nirma has always been the cause
of much heart burn in the industry the company’s ability to match the lowest of prices
means Limitless. The company believes that so long as millions of households
continue to buy its soaps and other products it can afford to ignore its critics.

Nirma’s well conceived distribution network has undoubtedly played a major role in
its success all distribution have been given the full range of its products for their
territories unlike in other competing soap company where different dealers are given
different products and unlike most of the companies which have multilayered system
consisting of clearing and forwarding agents distributors dealers and retailers, Nirma
obtain consists of only distributors and retailers.

The company’s marketing strategy is Nirma’s entry into premium toilet soaps and
shampoos is a part of an attempt to sell to the 50 million households who currently
consume Nirma products. When a middle class consumer graduates to the top end
of the market. Nirma should not lose her but should remain as option Nirma,
therefore, will be relying on a tested weapon in its armoury : Price. “Therefore, to try
to concentrate on volumes in these segments. They have priced the new products
lower than there competitors.”

The surprise factor comes in, in the MARGINS being offered to retailers. It is
currently a hefty 52% of the products price for Nirma premium soap. The industry
average is around 10 to 15% the existing perception which the consumers hold is
that Nirma to be a cheap brand and they are ashamed to admit that they are using it.

So the company has spent huge amount to promote the Nirma Brand name.
Corporate Ads. Which show Nirma as 1000 crore brand have been splashed across
the country since Sep. 96 this exercise will basically help in correcting the brand
image of the company.
The company also feels that it lacks the necessary penetration in those urban
pockets, which serve as important vehicles for promoting the product. They also feel
that the company lacks penetration in medical shops and specialty shops and they
are targeting those pockets for promoting their products.

24
The Nirma brand is owned by a Pvt. Ltd. Company which has given a non-exclusive
license to Alpha Mkt. Enterprise ACE to use the name. All products are marketed
through ACE.
Nirma can provide stiff competition to both HLL and P&G. The Company having
established a good brand preference in the lower end segment has moved into the
medium range also. Once commercial production begins on the backward
integration project the company will be able to improve its operating margins
significantly.

GODREJ SOAPS

The company is now on its own after a rather unsuccessful alliance with P&G which
lasted about 4 years. The group completes a 100 years in 1997. While the main
company is engaged in a number of activities toilet soaps and detergents form the
major single contribution to earnings. Mr. A.B. Godrej, MD, Godrej Soaps had a
turnover of Rs. 1250 crores by the turn of this century, of which soaps and
detergents are expected to contribute approximately 60-65%.

The thrust is on soaps a business close to their heart. Toilet soaps from almost 40%
of GSL’s turnover and is its most profitable business. “Our brands are quite strong,
although they were a little run down,” says Mr. Godrej, convinced that there is no
need for any new brand immediately. Last year GSL spent over Rs. 24 crores on
sales generators, primarily ad. Campaigns. “Our priorities are Cinthol, Ganga,
Shikakai, Marvel, Evita and Crowning glory, Vigil, Fresea and the weaker brands will
be worried about later.

Cinthol is India’s third strongest brad of soaps (after Lifebuoy and Lux) with sales of
150m crores it accounts for about 60% of all the soaps GSL sells. Cinthol at Rs. 200
crores sales in Godrej’s key brand. It is present in both the 55,000 premium and the
3,50,000 tonne popular segment with refreshment as its main platform. The brand
started its programme to win back its lost prestige by taking centre stage at Miss

25
World contest. “It brought the Godrej name into the limelight after being over-
shadowed in the P&G days,” says Godrej.

Cinthol’s evolution is peculiar launched in it’s started by “promising a flawlessness

complexion”. Extended the label to talcum power in 1960 and then moved the soaps
message to body protection in 1962. In 1985 came New Cinthol to be flanked by
lime and cologne variance in 1989, just when individuals in urban families started
getting particular about their brand of soap. The Limes freshness lime did so well
that the brand carved out an incredible 10% of the toilet soaps market, its deodorant
and complexion soap is now called cinthol spice.

Godrej generic competitive marketing strategy has been to creal differentiation in the
eyes of consumer and get price premium.

No wonder Cinthol sends out all sorts of signals. Is there a common threat? May be
points out one market watcher, “Makes who feel sissy using feminine brands – Liril.
Lux, whatever have been loyal to Cinthol”, recent consumer researcher shows that
Cinthol is perceived largely as a male soap. This is best explained by its advertising
which rose to peak popularity when it took on Vinod Khanna, Imran Khan, Sharukh
Khan and other such endorsers. This is personality and lifestyle segmentations of
market using celebrities for product positioning.

Cinthol’s association with glamour related events (beauty contest and so on) could
soften the masculinity to retain wider base for the brand feel the company. Despite
strong opinion in the adv. World that a gender-neutral approach makes for low
involvement brand, the truth is that the individual choice is not all that high as yet.

Regular Cinthol has always been intended as a brand targeting everybody, and part
of its success might very well be its gender neutrality.

Some of the specialised variants though have acquired distinct personality. And he
the masculinity lives on, Cinthol colognes TV commercial has Akshay Khanna, S/o
former Cinthol model Vinod Khanna rippling his chest out of swimming pool.

26
Meanwhile Doodh Ganga a milky version of Ganga is trying to salvage a brand that
made purity its exclusive properly and bathing at home a quasi spiritual experience
for the traditional Indian family.

“The beating Ganga look was more than the beating Cinthol look, “thinks Godrej. A
runway success after its launch in 1992, Ganga faltered when the Ganga jal (water)
message was dumped in favour of a vague ‘I am so pure and Indian’ feel. Its market
share fell from over 5% prealliance to about 2% by the lime it broke up (ganga is a
Rs. 35 crore label now Godrej’s ganga has a potential to beat Nirma at the lower
end) besides companies Godrej, “The packaging and shapes adopted during the
P&G period were not very good advertising was not very hot for our brands. “Pre
1993 GSL ha strategically picked TV shows such as Rajni, Mahabharat and Ruined
to sponsor. P&G’s approach alleges Godrej was different. P&G is a company which
looks to providing a strong benefit in advertising in India, what you offer in terms of
imagery is more important.

In the 1980’s GSL was the master of the game a worthy archival of levers. Cinthols
variables had a marvelous array of sub appeal, good enough to battle levers brands
marvel went out for women who demanded a gentler soap then Lux Vigil stood body
guard for the people who did not like carbolic soap.

Earlier GSL relied heavily on bulk media buying and concentrated TV audiences.
They had to spend much more to get what they got earlier form Mahabharat.
Besides these days a high share of voice is not merely enough the very ads have to
be good. GSL makes Rexona for levers Dettol for R&G and Johnson’s baby soap for
J&J. GSL though will concentrate on high value products to begin with. The toilet
soaps market in India is growing at a snails pace of 5% or so by volume the most
increases are coming from rural India (where 60% of all toilet soaps go). But the
margins are in the urban India where people want more than something that cleans
their body. Godrej is trying to grow the Cinthol brand to large volumes over the next
2 years. However, they have no inhibitions in extending the cinthol franchise.
Eventually GSL, may have to choice but to broaden or reconstruct its offer basket.

27
The company intends to spend Rs. 30 crores on ads. During the year 1997, but
since there is a timelag between ad and market share and the levers can easily
outspend thee ad. Budget gives the competitors position of strength.

The solution, then, lies in the class underdog poly-pressing its creative resources to
deliver the magic. Godrej also believes in creating ad. Campaigns that go down in
marketing history. This approach takes very little money, some inspiration and pots
of perspiration and gets disproportionate space in the consumers mind.

DABUR

Dabur India Limited is one of the leading FMCG companies in India with a
consolidated turnover of Rs.1536 crores. Founded by S.K Burman, it is India's most
recognized herbal specialist company and a trusted name in the field of natural and
herbal healthcare worldwide.

Building on a legacy of quality and experience for over 100 years, Dabur has
powerful brands in diverse categories of health and personal care such as Dabur
Chyawanprash, Dabur Amla, Vatika, and Hajmola, Anmol & Real. The company has
a wide distribution network, covering 1.5 million retail outlets, with a high penetration
in urban and rural areas.

Dabur India Limited has entered the personal wash segment with the national launch
of its new Vatika - Honey & Saffron Soap. This launch marks Dabur’s entry into the
Rs. 4700 crore Indian soap market.

Vatika is one of the five master brands of Dabur India with a turnover of over Rs 100
crore and the distinction of being awarded “Super brand” in 03-04. This brand
currently has products in the Hair Oil, Shampoo and Skin care categories.

“Soaps segment is amongst the biggest FMCG category in India with 98 per cent of
urban and 88 per cent of rural Indians using soap for bathing. Amongst these, the
beauty and skin care sub-category ranks the largest and comprises almost 50% of
the total soap market. “Vatika - Honey & Saffron soap will be positioned as a natural

28
offering to the consumer who is looking for good looking beautiful skin ”, The 100 gm
Vatika Honey & Saffron soap is priced at Rs 13 in comparison to other beauty soaps
that are priced between Rs 6 to Rs 25.

The soap continues Vatika’s promise of offering premium personal care products
while using traditional natural ingredients for the modern women. Vatika Soap
presents the unique combination of natural ingredients – Honey and Saffron Honey
for a clear skin with natural glow. The soap is peach white in colour and has
beautiful saffron coloured specks.

RECKITT BENCKISER INDIA LTD

Reckitt Benckiser India Ltd, 51% subsidiary of Reckitt Benckiser Plc has a wide
product portfolio of consumer brands in antiseptic, household care, toiletries,
laundry, insect repellents and shoe care categories. Dettol, Mortein, Robin, Harpic,
Lizol, Colin, Cherry Blossom are among its well-known brands.

Reckitt has faced tremendous competitive pressure in key product segments from
domestic as well as global players, which has resulted in steady market share
decline in most categories. Growth in the last 2-3 years has been largely driven by
pest control brand Mortein and product variants launched under its flagship Dettol
brand. The company is now looking at new categories such as Incense sticks and
extension of Dettol brand equity to surface cleaners to spur volume growth. However
heavy advertising and promotion will be necessary to grow these markets as well as
protect existing market shares in mature categories, which will impact margins.
Reckitt’s Dettol brand, with decades of leadership, has become a generic name for
the product. Dettol enjoys a monopoly position in the antiseptic market with an 85%
market share. Dettol Antiseptic contributes to 8% of Reckitt’s turnover and is among
the few brands in its portfolio that registered a positive growth. The company has
also extended its brand equity to soaps and talc. Dettol soap enjoys a market share
of 11.7% in the premium soap market. . The brand was launched in the early 1980s.

29
Dettol soap volumes registered an 8.2% yoy decline as against industry degrowth of
11.6%. The company launched a new brand targeted at children aged 2-6 years -
Dettol Kids Bar in July 2001. Dettol Talc and Prickly Heat Powder were launched in
F12/00. Overall the Dettol portfolio grew by % yoy in F12/01
The Dettol Skincare soap has been priced at Rs 15 for a 75-g pack, the same as the
existing Dettol original soap.

30
 CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

31
The task of data collection begins after a problem has been defined and research
design/plan chalked out. While deciding about the method data collection, the
research should keep in mind two types of data viz, primary and secondary.
The primary data are those which are collected fresh and for the first time and thus
happen to be original in character. The secondary data are those which have
already been collected by someone else and which have already been passed
through the statistical process. The methods of collecting are to be originally
collected, while in case of secondary data the nature of data collection work is
merely of compilation
PRIMARY SOURCE- In case of this report I collected the primary data during the
course. The data was collected through the survey method where the respondents
were required to fill up the questionnaires.
SECONDARY SOURCE- Secondary data means the data already available, which
has already been collected and analyzed by someone else. It includes the published
data available in the form of:
 Various publications
 Journals
 Books, magazines, Newspapers
 Internet
During my project work I did collected the secondary data from all these sources.

SAMPLE SIZE
The sample size of respondents to find out their buying approach was 65.

TOOLS USED IN SURVEY

The various tools used in conducting the survey are as follow:
 Observation Method
 Questionnaire
 Personal Interview

32
 OBSERVATION METHOD: Observation method is the most commonly
use method.Obsevation becomes a scientific tool and the method of data
collection for the researcher when it serves a formulated research purpose
systematically planned and recorded and is subjected to checks and controls on
validity and reliability under the observation without asking from the respondent

 INTERVIEW METHOD: The interview method of collecting data involves

presentation of oral verbal stimuli and reply in terms of oral verbal responses.
Personal interview method is the face to face contact to the other preson.This
method is particularly suitable for intensive investigation.

 QUESTIONNAIRE METHOD: This method of data collection is quite

popular in case of big queries. In this method a questionnaire is presented to a
concerned person with a request to give answers of the questions. The general
form of questionnaire can be either structured or unstructured. Structured
questionnaires are those in which there are definite, concrete and
predetermined questions. When these characteristics are not present in the
questionnaires, it is termed as unstructured. The questions included can be in
the form of closed ended which involves choice of answers or it can be open
ended questions which asks for the respondents personal opinions and views.

PROCEDURE OF RESEARCH
1. To conduct the research the target population was open as soap is a product
which everyone uses.
2. The target geographic area was Delhi with the sample size of 65
3. To this sample size a questionnaire was given with the combination of both
open ended and closed ended questions.
4. Finally the data was collected and analyzed and computed to arrive at the
conclusion.

33
The second part of the project which is concerned with analyzing the advertising
strategies of a few selected brands of soaps was based on the observation method.
Here the medium to find out the result was to carefully observe the Television and
print advertisements of soaps and to extract the meaning of the message it wants to
convey to the audience.

LIMITATIONS OF STUDY
 The study was restricted to Delhi only.
 The sample size taken is very small as compared to the population size using
the product.
 There was a time constraint
 People might have given a biased opinion.

34
 CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

35
 PERSONAL WASH
PRICE – BENEFIT SEGMENTATION

HEALTH
FAMILY SKIN CARE BEAUTY FRESHNESS
PALMOLIVE
DOVE
LUX
PEARS MOTI
INTERNATIO
PREMIUM DETTOL VATIKA
NAL
CAMAY LIRIL
MARGO
FA

MARGO
REXONA
LB GOLD SANTOOR LUX CINTHOL
POPULAR
HAMAM MEDIMIX NIRMA
LB PLUS

FAIRGLOW

GODREJ
DISCOUNT NO.
1 LB FAMILY BREEZE JAI

LOW
PR
IC LIFEBOUY
E

36
 FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS OF THE SURVEY

Ques1. Which brand of soap do you use?

MOSTPREFEREDBRANDOF SOAP

LUX
30
DETTOL
NO. OF RESPONDENTS

DOVE
25
CINTHOL

LIRIL
20
PAMOLIVE

PARKAVENUE
15
PEARS

NIVEA
10
LIFEBUOY GOLD
PONDS
5 NIRMA

MEDIMIX
0 DENIM
1
BRANDSOFSOAPS

The most used soap presently is Lux (39% of respondents were using Lux), followed
by Pears (19%) and Dove (8%).If we care fully observe the chart we can see that
there are 5 Brans of HLL that are used by respondents ie lux,Liril,lifebuoy,pears and
Dove.And if we sum up all the above we find that 50 respondents out of 65 are using
these brands so we can conclude that 76% of the cosumers are using HLL brands
according to the reports of this survey conducted.

37
Ques2. How long you have been using this brand?

YRS. OF USAGE
0-12
8, 12% months
18, 28% 1-2 yrs

15, 23% 2-5 yrs

5-10 yrs

10, 15% 10 yrs &

14, 22% above

Out of 65 respondents 28% ie 18 number of people wre using the present brand of
soap for more than 10 years.This shows the loyalty and liking and satisfaction level
of the brand they are using.

Ques3. Which is the most important purchase factor for your soap?

FACTORS INFLUENCING PURCHASE Packaging

Colour
Fat content
9% 3% 18% Lather
20% 9% Price
Size of Bar
2%
5% 9% Advertisements
25%
Status
Bar shape

The Most important buying factor is price followed by advertisement, packaging,

status. We see that 25% of the consumers are price conscious while making the
purchase decision. The average consumer has become sensitive to value offered by
brands, either in terms of price or in terms of the intrinsic benefit offered at a higher

38
price point. The emergence of several discount brands and higher-priced improved
offerings in the soap category can be seen.

The table shows how the industry in India classifies the various price segments of
bar soap products.

With the premium end shrinking, most companies are finding consolation within the
popular segment.

Ques4. How do you associate your brand of soap among the following factor?

BRAND ASSOCIATION OF FEW SOAPS

BRAND ASSOCIATION-LUX

9% Freshness
9% 23%
Others
Beauty
9%
Skin care/glow
Fragrance
10% 15%
Cleanliness
12%
Smoothness
13%
Softness

39
 BRAND ASSOCIATION-DETTOL

8%
Skin care/glow
15% 31%
Health

Fragrance
15%
Cleanliness
31%
Beauty

BRAND ASSOCIATION-DOVE
Moisturizer
7%
7% Softness
30%
Romance
14%
Skin care/glow
Cleanliness
21% 21% Luxury

BRAND ASSOCIATION-PEARS
Moisturizer
7% 2% Fragrance
7% 22%
Softness
7%
Skin care/glow
Smoothness
19% Health
17%
Freshness
19%
Others

BRAND ASSOCIATION-LIRIL
Freshness
21%
Fragrance
41%
8%
Lime

Beauty
13%
Girl in the waterfall
17%

40
 BRAND ASSOCIATION-LIFEBUOY

9% Cleanliness
2% 16%
4% Sportsmen
Long lasting
16%
Health care
Children
6%
47% Romance
Others

After asking the respondents to associate the brand of soap they were using we see
that Dove is associated with moisturizer, Liril with freshness, Lifebuoy with
healthcare, Lux with beauty, Pears with moisturizer, Dove with moisturizer and
softness,Dettol with health & skin care.

This exercise depicts the positioning of the brand in the marketplace.

The act of brand positioning is the linchpin of an effective communications plan. It

provides consumer salience in motivating specific brand choice.Without solid
positioning, a business or organization ends up speaking with many different voices,
saying nothing and going nowhere.
Positioning is about creating a customer-driven identity and image definition that
leads to consumers WANTING you. It is about arriving at what your brand stands for
and the way in which you want it perceived, relative to your competition.
As an example, here is what the positioning statement for Dove soap looks like:

Beauty. It’s not about glamour or fame . It’s about

(Point of Differentiation)
Every woman and the beauty that is in each of us.
(Market Segment) (Frame of Reference)
That’s what Dove is all about. And that’s why
(Brand)
More women trust their skin to Dove.
(Competitive Edge) (Brand)

41
Ques5. What influences you to buy your preferred Brand?

WHO INFLUENCES CONSUMERS TO PURCHASE

Friends/neigh
bors
32%
Display

Dealer

Family

15% Advertiseme
37% nts
2%
Self
3% 8% 3% Experience
other factors

Out of 65 Respondents 37% of them prefers to purchase the product based on their
self experience, followed by 32% of people who says that advertisements plays an
important role in making the purchase decision. Only 3% of people say that besides
all these factors other reasons are involved behind the purchase of the brand which
in this case involves Doctors Recommendation.

42
Ques6. If you do not get your brand in a shop then will you:

IF THE BRAND IS NOT AVAILABLE THEN:

66% Go to
another
shop

Try
another
brand

14% Try the

20% same
type of
brand

The Idea behind asking this question was to check the Brand Loyalty of the
consumers. Majority 66% of the people said that they will go to another shop if they
do not find their brand in the shop followed by 20% who said that they would try
another brand. 14% of the respondents were willing to try same type of soap with
other brand name. Thus we see that minority is not brand loyal but have brand habit
of routine response behavior there are many people who are brand loyal. Thus an
advertiser should try to pull more people into the more brand loyal category by
frequent releases of ads.

43
Ques7. If a sales promotion is going on in your area then will you:

EFFECT OF SALES PROMOTION

12% 22%
Buy
Might buy
Not Buy
66%

We observed that only 22% of people were sure that if a sales promotion scheme is
on they would definitely buy the soap, the rest 66% of the respondents said that they
might buy and the remaining 12% were certain that they will not go in for the
scheme.

44
Ques8. Which brand of soap other than what you are using would you prefer
to buy?

SECOND PREFERENCE OF CONSUMERS Lux

NO. OF RESPONDENTS

20 Dettol
18
18 cinthol
16 15 Liril
14
14 Dove
12
12 Pears
10 Hamam
8 Pamolive
6
6 5 5 5 Lifebuoy
4 4
4 3 Medimix
2 Fa
0 Denim
BRANDS OF1SOAPS others

Through this question I intended to find out that which brand of would the consumer
like to purchase as a second option. We could find that most of the respondents
would like to go for lux.This shows that all the non-users of Lux i.e. 39 respondents
besides 26 who were already using Lux out of 65 would buy Lux soap. While second
preference was given to cinthol, followed by Liril at third rank.

Ques9. Which media has a greater impact on buying decision for soaps ?
MEDIA INFLENCING PURCHASE

9% 3% 3% TV
0%
Radio

Print

Hoarding
85%
Others

85% of the respondents feel that Television Advertisments have a brader impact on
their buying Decision besides other media,followed by 9% people saying Print

45
Media.Today we can see that About 70% of ad spends goes to television. The rest
goes to outdoors, merchandising like danglers, posters, wall painting, print and
radio. Radio is again a very important medium.

Ques10. Do you prefer different brands of soap for other members of the
family?

DO YOU PREFER DIFFERENT BRAND OF

SOAP FOR OTHER MEMBERS OF FAMILY

40%

yes
60%
no

The idea behind asking this Question was to find out whether the Indian consumers
use the same soap for all members of the family or they prefer to buy a different
brand for other members of the family depending upon the attributes of the brand
which suits individual needs and preferences.So we can see that 60% of the family
uses tha same brand of soap for all members of family but 40% says that they buy
2-3 brands of soap for use in family.

46
Ques11. If yes, what brand of soap for which member of the family?

IF YES,FOR WHICH MEMBER

19% 27%
Parents

Children

Brother
23%
Sister
31%

This chart depicts that 31% of the concened parents buy a different brand for their
children.We could find out that mothers generally prefer soaps like Dettol
Juniour,Pears,Jhonson etc Brands for their kids which are actually meant for
kids.While we also got reponses like parents,brother etc used different brands.We
colud find aut that mothers are more concerned in this category for their children by
having a wooing 31 % reponse out of 26 respondent to previous question.

Ques12. List the 5 Top of the mind brands of soap you are aware of:

5 TOP OF MIND BRANDS OF SOAPS

25 Lux
51
25 Dove
Pears
Liril
Lifebuoy
27 36 Cinthol
32

47
The 5 top of the mind and most recognizable brands are lux with 51 respondents out
of 65 naming it, followed by Dove with 36 repondents, then pears.liril and at last
lifebuoy & Cinthol with same Ranking. This show the Recognition and popularity of
the brand of soaps in the mind of consumers.

Ques13. Can you recall any one or more advertisement of soap brands, please
mention with brand name:

TOP OF MIND ADVERTISEMENT

5%
8%
2%
3%
36%
6%

8%
2%
12%
18%

Lux Liril Pears Jhonson

Dettol Dove Cinthol Fair Glow

Lifebuoy Don’t Remember

95% of the people recalled one or more ads. for soaps and only 5% did not
remember any advertisement for any soap.

Recall rate for Lux at 36% and Liril at 18% is the biggest followed by Pears and
Dettol at 12% and 8%.

48
Ques14. What do you liked the most about this ad:

WHAT DO U LIKED MOST ABOUT AD

10% 5% 16%

13%

32%
24%

Jingle Model/Celebrity Concept

Presentation Message Emotion

When asked this Question most of the respondents ie 32% replied that that liked and
recalled the celebrities and models in the ads.24% of the respondents liked the
concept of the ad,follwed by 16 percent who remembered and liked the catchy jingle
of the ads.

49
 CHAPTER 5
ADVERTISING STRATEGY OF
FEW SELECTED BRANDS OF
SOAPS

50
 ADVERTISING STRATEGY

The research indicates that “ad liking” has a tremendous impact on ad success.
However, just because an ad attracts attention, captures everyone’s imagination and
is liked, does not guarantee success. Many ads have won awards for creativity but
failed to increase sales or reverse fortunes of declining brands. Some advertising
and marketing people believe that advertising must ultimately motivate the consumer
to purchase the product or service. Great advertising results by creating a
combination of ad liking and its strategic relevance.
Advertising or creative strategy blends the elements of creative mix. Four elements-
the target audience, product and its positioning, the communication media and the
advertising message constitute the creative mix.Advertisng objective says where the
advertiser wants to be with respect to consumer awareness, attitude and preference.
The advertising strategy describes how to get there. One simply need to watch TV
commercials or scan a few magazines to appreciate numerous different ways of
conveying advertising messages. Underlying all messages are creative strategy and
tactics to address target audiences to effectively communicate the product
positioning though selected media.
 TARGET AUDIENCE- The specific audience that the advertising is intended
to focus upon will be typically larger than the target market. Advertisers need
to know who the actual end user of the product or service is, who is involved
in influencing and making the purchase decision and who makes the
purchase. Various family members, friends and others may be involved in
purchase decision making. Research shows that brand popularity cuts across
all levels of purchasing frequency which means that while the company may
target heavy users of a product, many light users and non-users of the
product are also exposed to advertising. The dominant brands are purchased

51
 the most by both heavy and light users because advertising helps them make
popular.
 PRODUCT AND IT’S POSITIONING- The product is a “bundle of values”
offered to the consumer. While writing the advertising plan, the concerned
manager must develop a simple statement describing the product and its
positioning-how the advertising will present the product to the audience.
 COMMUNICATION MEDIA- Communication media involve all the media
vehicles that might carry the marketer’s advertising message and include
Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, internet and others.
 ADVERTISNG MESSAGE- The advertising message involves everything that
the marketer plans to say in its ads and how it plans to say the same, both
verbally and non- verbally. The advertising message strategy includes the
verbal element i.e. what advertising message should say. It includes
consideration that affects the choice of words.Secodly,Non-verbal element
which points to the overall nature of graphics and any visual that must be
incorporated and used for an ad.Thirdly,the technical element which refers to
the preferred way of execution and mechanical outcome and any specific
requirements for each ad such as logos, slogan etc.

52
 Some of the Key Findings about the ad expenditure in the Soap
Industry

• Toilet Soaps advertising spends have dipped 50% across Jan-Sept ’05 compared
to Jan-Sept ’04.
• Post 2001, print advertising spends have observed growth.
• ‘More Soap’ tops Toilet Soaps brand list in Jan-Sept ’05.
• Only 26% of Toilet Soaps advertising spends in Magazines
• Usage of contest promotions to attract consumers.

53
• Maximum growth (71%) observed in 2004
• 2001 was the only year to observe a dip in Toilet Soaps advertising

• Toilet Soaps advertising spends dipped 50% in Jan-Sept ’05 compared to same
period in 2004

54
• 50% of Hindustan Lever brands in the Top 10 list
• ‘More Soaps’ tops the list in Print advertising during Jan-Sept ’05

55
56
• 74% advertising spends went to Newspapers, whereas Magazines got only 26%

• Overall, maximum usage of ‘brand promotion’

• Usage of ‘Contest Promotion’ to attract consumers

The top 10 most advertised toilet soaps brand (on all regional channels) list is also
flooded with HLL brands. Even though the brands in the top three positions don't
belong to HLL, HLL brands occupy five out of the top ten positions making HLL the
top most advertiser on all channels.

57
 ADVERTISING STRATEGIES OF DIFFERENT BRANDS OF SOAPS

NIRMA BEAUTY SOAP

Nirma stepped into toilet soaps relatively late in 1990 but this did not deter it to
achieve a volume of 100,000 per annum. This makes Nirma the largest detergent

58
and the second largest toilet soap brand in India with market share of 38% and 20%
respectively.
Nirma at present has 5 variants of soaps:
1. NIRMA BATH SOAP

2. NIRMA BEAUTY SOAP

3. NIRMA LIME FRESH SOAP

4. NIMA ROSE

5. NIMA SANDAL
* Nirma bath soap no longer available.
SEGMENTATION :-

– Age group 20 and above

– Gender : Females

– Middle class families

– Rural and urban, educated, conscious women. A women who aspires to be

beautiful.

POSITIONING :-

 NIRMA BEAUTY SOAP- Caters to the beauty of young famous people and
creating a feeling of glamour

 NIRMA LIME FRESH SOAP- this soap is available in green colour. With a
lime aroma that tingles in one’s sensory buds for a long time, this soap
contains 80% tfm.

 NIMA ROSE- nima rose soap has got an exceptionally soft rose fragrance –
which remains around body for a long time even after bath. The high tfm
content of this product allows a consumer to have pleasant bath. This brand
had carved a niche in its segment
 NIMA SANDAL- Nima Sandal Soap arrives with the positioning of “a scented
refreshing bath”. Nima Sandal is a one of such product in floral segment. This

59
 toilet soap has 80% TFM content, with rich & exotic fragrance. It promises
benefits of Sandal oil & Turmeric powder. It is a premium product from Nima
stable

POSITIONG STATEMENT : -

– Nirma “Saundaryia Sabun”

MEDIA STRATEGY:-

– Print Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY:-

– Shows favorite and upcoming personalities who appeal to the new

generation.

– The message tries to communicate the complexion enhancing aspect of the

soap.

- To appeal to the middle class females

– To introduce the idea that the soap keeps you beautiful and glowing through
out the day and also has moisturizer and perfume.

– To attract new variety seeking customers.

– Compliance with changing attitudes in the rural markets

JINGLE : “YOUN KHILI KHILI, YOUN SANVAR SANVAR AI JANE JIGAR TOO
CHALI KAHAN”.
LIFEBUOY - In the 5-lakh tonne soap market in India, lifebuoy (carbolic soap) has a
market share of 20.4 per cent (in volume), and is the flagship brand of HLL’s
personal wash division. The company has an all-new lifebuoy international with two
variants of gold & plus and also includes lifebuoy active red, lifebuoy active orange.

60
MARKETING OBJECTIVE: The 100-year-old lifebuoy brand has been recognized as
a household name in rural markets till today. But the company is now focusing
strongly on urban penetration along with a continued focus on rural markets.

SEGMENTATION:-

– Age group 10 years and above

– Gender : Females and males
– Middle income/high income persons.
– Person who wants to be noticed in society.
– The relaunched brand is a shift from being a masculine soap to a family soap
Cater to an urban audience

POSITIONING:-

- Lifebuoy international gold is targeted at young women with pimples

problem and concerned for complexion and pimple free healthy skin. So we
can say that positioning of health soap is aggressively communicated to
women.

- Lifebuoy international plus is positioned as a soap that delivers protection

against the agents of body odour for the male consumers and acts as a anti
bacterial cleanser soap.

– A good high quality product.

– Today Lifebuoy has shed its crude looks of a red brick to a gentler look and
feel that is similar to the contemporary soaps. Even the manufacturing
process has moved from the hard soap — where the oil was reacted through
alkalis and then cast — to a milled soap.

POSITIONING STATEMENT:-

– Lifebuoy Gold “anti bacterial cleanser”

61
MEDIA STRATEGY:-

– Print Ads.
– TV Ads.
– Hoarding/billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY:-

– Emphasizes customer care, how it gives a new level of satisfaction for young
college/professional women.
– The ad focus on Lifebuoy’s health benefits in order to appeal to mothers and
feature a doctor as the protagonist. The ad effectively communicates to the
mother, who needs an ally in her quest to do her best for her family. Lifebuoy
provides her assurance that the brand offers her family the best protection.
– Changing attitudes regarding existing brand identity that Lifebuoy is no longer
a carbolic soap with cresylic perfume, it is toilet soap with a different `health'
fragrance and is for effective protection from germs that cause health
problems.
– HLL challenged everything that Lifebuoy stood for - perfume, formulation, size
and shape."Every element of communication is also being changed. The
communication of the brand transcends television commercials of the past —
a keenly-contested game of football, which evoked the “only-for-strong-men
feeling”, to a family setting.

JINGLE- “Lifebouy hai jahan tandurusti hai vahan”

62
REXONA – OLIVE

SEGMENTATION :-

– Age group 20 years and above

– Gender : Females
– Urban elite, single/married women
– High income group
– Young housewives/working

POSITIONING:-

– The tender natural soap

– Position itself as natural beauty and nature care
– A high quality product
– A nice fragrance soap

POSITIONING STATEMENT:-

– Rexona Olive – “Tender Natural Soap”

MEDIA STRATEGY:-

– Print Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY

– Emphasizes on silk signifying a soap for silken skin

– Asking women to pay attention to your skin

– A natural bond between man/women signifying softness tenderness
– A popular segment soap conveying complete customer satisfaction and care
– Reinforcing the idea of a women that she must have soft silky skin to ensure
her companion/husband found her attractive

63
JINGLE : “Sona Sona Naya Rexona”.

BREEZE- The other variants of breeze are breeze rose, breeze sandal and breeze
lime.

SEGMENTATION:

_ Age group 20 years and above

_ Gender : Female
_ Sophisticated, outgoing, a modern women who society
_ Person who wants to be noticed in the society
_ Target person – person who is young and wants to enjoy life
- Breeze 2 in 1 is targeted at the lower income consumer who is currently
using lower priced soaps for both hair and body wash.

POSITIONING:

_ The rosy skin soap

_ Soap which cleanses gently leaving it youthful radiant and rosy soft
- product has natural ingredients like coconut oil and lime which improve your
complexion

POSTIONING STATEMENT:
_ Pay attention to your skin
_ A natural bond between man \ women signifying softness tenderness
_ A popular segment soap

MEDIA STRATEGY

_ Print Ads.

_ TV Ads.

_ Hoarding \ billboards

64
MESSAGE STRATEGY:

_ Emphasises on rose signifying a soap for soft skin

- Focus on rose \ pink \ white colours and fragrance like roses which signify
purity and glow on skin
_ Reinforcing the idea to a women that she must have skin like roses to ensure
her companion found her attractive.

Jingle : “Teri Gulabo si komalta Madhoosh Kiye Jai”

65
HAMAM

SEGMENTATION:

_ Age group 10 years and above

_ Gender : Males \ Females

_ Urban , middle class, lower income class family

POSTITIONING:

_ “ The natural safe soap”

_ Position the soap as companion of small middle \ lower income families who
believe in safely provided by nature and its elements

_ Highlights product ingredients – Neem , Lime , Tulsi

POSITIONING STATEMENT:

_ Hamam - “Safe family soap”

MEDIA STRATEGY :

_ Pring Ads.

_ TV Ads.

_ Hoardings \ billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY

_ Shows safely of organisms with nature

_ Green color signify natural safety features of a soap pay attention to your skin

_ A natural bond between man \ women signifying softness tenderness

_ A popular segment soap

_ reinforcing family associations

_ reinforcing the idea of the Kudrati” Suraksha

66
_ reinforcing the idea of honesty which is uppermost on most middle class
minds

Jingle: “Chre Ki sunderta ko Nikharta Haman, Saaf Rakhe Tan Ko De Taazge

Hamam”.

67
LUX

SEGMENTATION :-

– Age group 20 and above

– Gender : Females

– Presently on completion of 75 years of launch ago brand lux,it has now

focused the male segment of society

– Middle class families

– Rural and urban, educated, conscious women. A women who aspires to be

beautiful as her favorite film stars.

POSITIONING:-

– Caters to the beauty of young famous people

– A feeling of luxury and glamour

POSITINING STATEMENT :-

– Lux – “Beauty Soap”

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/hillboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY :-

– Shows favorite and popular film stars of the masses using the soap to keep
them beautiful.Lux have featured film stars across the nation, promising their
beauty and complexion to ordinary women. It tries to fulfill consumer’s
aspirations that if it is good enough for the film star, it’s good enough for me.

68
– The ad tries to reinstate that “it’s a world where with Lux on her side an
ordinary women can impact her world with her own star quality.

– Lux believes that beauty should not be hidden.

– The message educates masses about the complexion enhancing feature of

the soap

- Have a mass appeal for the soap

– To attract new customers who seek variety for the soap

– Reinforcing the attitudes and equity of the already existing users.

JINGLE : “Film Stars First Choice”

69
CINTHOL-Cinthol is the flagship brand of Godrej Consumer Products Limited. The
brand was launched in 1952 as the first Deodorant Soap in the country. There are 3
variants of Cinthol:

1. Cinthol spice

2. Cinthol lime Fresh

3. Cinthol cologne

4. Cinthol Deo

5. Cinthol Skin fresh

SEGMENTATION :-

- Age group 20 and above

– Gender : Females and male

– Middle class Family

– Urban,Modern Society

POSITIONING :-

- Cinthol lime fresh -In 1995 "Cinthol Fresh" was launched as the first popular
segment Lime soap and it focused on freshness. The soap has an excellent
long-lasting lime fragrance that keeps you feeling fresh throughout the day.
- Cinthol Deo and complexion Soap-It's non-soggy and long lasting. It has an
excellent unique perfume too that keeps you fresh all day long.

POSITINING STATEMENT :-

Cinthol Lime Fresh-“Swach ujwal twacha kitni akarshak”.

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/hillboards

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 MESSAGE STRATEGY :-

- Cinthol International Deo soap ad focused functional benefit deodorancy, giving the
confidence to get close without any hesitation.
- Ad campaign on Cinthol Limefresh was made targeting women in the
communication and delivering functional benefits of skincare with the background
that women were becoming the dominating decision makers in the category
- In 1986 this brand was advertised using celebrities like Vinod Khanna and
Imran Khan . This communication campaign developed strong "confident" ,
"active" associations with Cinthol which became a part ofhe essence of the
brand but now cinthol has to attract people who are conscious about body
odour.

DOVE

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SEGMENTATION :-

- Woman of all ages

– Gender : Females

– Elite and Upper class Family

– Urban,Modern Society

POSITIONING :-

beauty soap bar that was clinically proven to be milder for dry, sensitive skin

- a superior soap with moisturizers.

- A Premium soap

POSITINING STATEMENT :-

“Cream Bathing bar”

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/hillboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY :-

- dove ads basically communicates the feeling that the soap is not about
glamour or fame It’s about Every woman and the beauty that is in
each of us
- Dove has been using real women in the ads, without any re-touching from
years.
- It focuses on women of all ages and whereby ad features women of all
shapes and sizes

72
FAIRGLOW- Godrej FairGlow Soap was India's first and is the largest selling
fairness soap. It helps you become fairer in a convenient way, simply through a daily
bath. It is a quality Grade 1 fairness product having 76% TFM (Total Fatty Matter). It
has a pleasant fragrance and is white in colour.

SEGMENTATION :-

- Targeting a core audience of 18+ girls who were already using beauty creams

– Gender : Females

– Middle class Family and upper class

POSITIONING :-

Fair Glow to act as a moisturiser as well as a soap.

- Skin being the most important aspect of beauty needs a little extra attention to
keep it looking good and young. Hence, you need products that take care of
and enhance your complexion.
- it also removes blemishes to give you a clear, glowing complexion
- It contains Natural Oxy-G ', which makes you fairer by reducing the dark
melanin without changing the skin's natural balance.
- Makes skin noticeably fair.

POSITINING STATEMENT :-

“nahane se gorapan”
A new wave of fairness

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/hillboards

73
MESSAGE STRATEGY :-

- the message tires to communicate that the skin colour enhances with the use
of this soap.
- Advertising strategy aims at making the women understand that Skin plays
such a vital role in ones appearance.

74
GODREJ- Godrej No.1 Beauty Soap stands for True Natural Beauty. Godrej No.1 is
available in five variants enriched with natural ingredients, specially formulated to
cater to special skin types. Sandal, Rose, Jasmine, Natural and Ayurvedic packed
with the goodness of natural ingredients.

SEGMENTATION :-

- Age 20 and above

- Gender-Female

- Middle class family

POSITIONING :-

- Godrej has been positioned as the product using least number of additives
making it a pure soap.
- Godrej Sandal- The natural ingredients sandal and turmeric have traditionally
been highly popular and trusted for skin care
- Godrej jasmine- Jasmine and milkcream to keep your skin alluringly
beautiful.
- Godrej Natural- the benefits of coconut oil, neem and tulsi whichhave been
traditionally trusted for special skin care.
- Godrej rose- the fragrance of roses and renders your skin smooth and
fragrant.
- Godrej Ayurvedic- Ayurvedic herbs to make your skin soft and radiant.

POSITINING STATEMENT :-

“True natural beauty at an affordable price”

“Har chamakti cheez sona nahi hoti aur har sabun godrej No.1 nahi hota”.

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

75
– Hoardings/hillboards

PEARS

There are three variants of pears:

- Classic and Oil Control variants

- Germ shield variant

- Pears junior

SEGMENTATION:-

- family with kids

- upper class people

POSITIONING:-

- Pears is associated as a glycerin brand

- Positioned as `germ shield' variant
- Pears has traditionally operated in the skin repair and maintenance segment,
and within that, it has been primarily in the moisturizing area where glycerin
leaves the silk soft. We are looking at extending the Pears equity to new
people, those concerned about germs and the level of cleansing,"
- Pears junior focuses on olive oil and strawberry content.

POSITINING STATEMENT:-

- Innocent Beauty'

MEDIA STRATEGY:-

– Print Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/billboards

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MESSAGE STRATEGY:-

- The new commercial of pears germ shield varaint is based on the usage of
the brand within a family with kids, who tend to collect germs,"
- Germ shield is an area of concern for young mothers and a lot of families.
Pears is now able to offer them a product which is not just about fighting
germs,

JINGLE: “Nahane ki nayee dhun”

77
LIRIL
Liril is available in 3 Variants namely: Lime Fresh, blue Icy Cool Mint, and Orange
Fresh

SEGMENTATION:-

- It is symbolic of the energy and exuberance of youth

- Middle and upper class people

POSITIONING:-

Liril is not just a soap but an expression of freedom and freshness. It encourages
you "to let your hair down and be your most uninhibited self,"

POSITINING STATEMENT:-

Liril is not just soap but an expression of freedom and freshness.

MEDIA STRATEGY:-

– Print Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY:-

It is promoted with a fresh face and carry an updated jingle to convey the enjoyable
freshness associated with the brand. Freshness as a need is also heightened during
summer."

JINGLE- la ira la

78
MARGO

The variant is a pale green, translucent soap retaining the neem, but with glycerine
and the scent of lime.

in order to increase the appeal of Margo and the properties of neem to a wider target
group, the company had extended the Margo brand umbrella by launching a new
soap variant — Margo Natural Moisturiser — with neem, glycerine and lime
fragrance in November 2000.

SEGMENTATION:-

- Margo soap is concentrating on youth

- The target is not only to expand consumer base but to concentrate on
traditional markets as well
- women in the age group of 20-35 years.
- Focus on women who are confident, sporty, outgoing and believe in the
efficacy of traditional skin care ingredients.”

POSITIONING:-

- the herbal tag with neem as the major starrer with added glycerin for
moisturisation.
- Margo was what the local beautician recommended when you complained of
skin problems. A dense, dark green cake with a funny smell and
unpretentious packing, it convinced users it would do them good, and the fact
that it was shorn of glamour and glitz only served to reinforce the notion that it
was somehow more Indian than others, and a homegrown soap that would
work its medicine well. However, Margo was never positioned as a medicinal
soap though its usage of neem gave consumers that impression.
MEDIA STRATEGY:-

79
– Print Ads.

– TV Ads.

– Hoardings/billboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY:-

The new commercial is based on the usage of the brand within a family with kids,
who tend to collect germs,"
The strategy is to attract a younger target audience and increase the consumer
base,
The creative strategy is to portray the soap as a solution to the rigours that one’s
skin goes through during the day, thus building an aspirational quality to the brand.
The additional ingredient glycerine was a facilitator enhancing neem’s performance
in the area of key benefit like moisturising. The end was to emphasise that ‘skin care
meant just water and Margo and nothing else’
While the TV Commercial for the Margo Original Neem shows model Aditi Govitrikar
as herself and talking about the benefits of a neem and water regimen that has been
passed on through generations, the commercial for the Margo Natural Moisturiser
depicts the discovery of a new soap.

80
PALMOLIVE

SEGMENTATION :-

- Palmolive Naturals is aimed at the ultra-modern woman

– Gender : Females

– upper class society

POSITIONING :

Developed by using a combination of moisturising glycerin, essential oils and a

choice blend of premium natural herbs and flowers, Transparent Palmolive
Naturals is part of Palmolive's global range of skincare soaps

The new soap is enriched with oils and herbs to offer the modern woman a mood-
altering experience designed to soothen and nourish.

MEDIA STRATEGY :-

– Pring Ads.

– TV Ads.

- Hoardings/hillboards

MESSAGE STRATEGY :-

The advertising commercial for the new soap shot in outdoor locales - priced at Rs
17 for 100 gm pack - is aimed at providing the mood-altering visual, evoking a
feeling of self-indulgence. The commercial significantly and positively recognises
women for what they are

81
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSION

82
 CONCLUSION

Evolving markets such as India face marketing challenges in terms of managing

brand association, pricing and enhanced levels of consumers' aspirations. The
average consumer has become sensitive to value offered by brands, either in terms
of price or in terms of the intrinsic benefit offered at a higher price point. The
emergence of several discount brands and higher-priced improved offerings can be
seen in the soap category.Godrej No. 1 is an example of how the brand initiated the
strategy of offering several variants (like sandal) in the lower segment when such
variants have been associated with higher segments in the category.

Apart from expecting value, the consumer is also caught in generic competition
which may force him/her to downgrade in a few categories while testing other
categories. For instance, the consumer, in order to balance her household budgets,
may alternate between a good brand of soap and a low-priced saop.

The situation, especially, is complex when too many price points are involved within
a narrow price brand offering a vast choice to the consumer. An additional factor is
the symbolic orientation which also caters to the psyche of the consumer apart from
the functional attributes which may be an important criteria for brand patronage.

Specifically, three aspects seem to be important in addressing emerging markets

through strategies which require dynamic changes when required: Marketing
communication, product-line management and changing aspirations of consumers.

In an emerging market such as India, there is a need for marketers to take into
consideration the `rural-urban' similarities as well as the `rural-urban' divide.
Aspiration-based or fun-oriented appeals could be used to address both markets.

83
Lifebuoy's family heath repositioning on hygiene is another example of how
marketing communication should take into account changing consumer aspirations.
The brand also has different variants and SKUs. There may have to be more of
application/awareness appeals.

For a brand like Lux that was in the maturity stage, Hindustan Lever used an
innovative technology to involve the customer in its print ads. It used ultraviolet ray-
sensitive printing inks in a picture of a woman that darkened when exposed to
sunlight. An established brand like Lux needs to cut through the clutter to grab
attention, even before the consumer begins to perceive the benefits from the
improved brand

Bath and shower products also have the highest penetration and awareness levels
in both urban and rural markets in India.Urban penetration is almost completely
saturated while rural pockets continue to shoulder the weight of national progress.
With demand rising for other non-consumer durables, regional consumers are
downgrading to cheaper bar soaps, or bar soaps which come with giveaways,
discounted prices, or promotional offers, as they are then good value for money.

With the premium end shrinking, most companies are finding consolation within the
popular segment. One of the reasons for the decline in the value size of the market
was improvement of quality. With technological advancements, the TFM (total fatty
matter) content improved, so consumers have to use less soap to clean better.
Dove, Dettol and Mysore Sandal Gold are positioned as super premium brands
while Nirma, Cinthol and Lux belong to the popular category. Lifebuoy and Godrej
No 1 are in the discount category/higher end of the discount category while the
carbolic category almost ceased to exist with the repositioning of Lifebuoy in 2002.
Bar soap products with added-value skin care benefits are fast gaining popularity.
Most price bands have several price points/variants aimed at either upgrading the
consumer temporarily or permanently. A consumer can once in a way (depending on
the pressure on his generic expenses across categories) try out a higher priced
variant of a brand or a higher priced brand from the same company or get upgraded

84
(as a part of the regular purchase cycle) to a higher priced offering because of
his/her enhanced affordability at that point in time.

There is a lot of advertising activity in the soap category. Certain brands extol
functional benefits such as smell, reducing body odour, freshness, being
recommended by doctors and such. There are certain other brands that highlight
their symbolic benefits, like making one feel like a star, increasing one's popularity, a
caring mother's choice and so on. A situational context is also built into the
advertising of soaps that promise fairness and protection from UV rays. The
presence of functional as well as symbolic benefits in advertisements as well the
situational context makes the soap category a fit case to explore the effect of
expansion advertising as a precursor to brand loyalty.

Balancing functional benefits, symbolic appeals and timing the right combination of
good functional attributes and symbolic brand orientation (which can be beyond
advertising like an event associated with beauty care/hair care) within a price band is
likely to be a conceptual approach to get over the complexities of the FMCG
markets.

Price band focus explores the possibility of consumer upgrade. Evolving markets
and their diversities demand much more than just creative advertising, either for new
or established brands.

85
 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND
REFERENCES

86
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS
 Marketing Management, Philip Kotler
 Advertising & Sales promotion , Kazmi & Batra

WEBSITES
 www.agencyfaqs.com
 www.maginida.com
 www.hll.com
 www.brandsum.com
 www.godrejindia.com
 www.indiainfoline.com
 www.exchane4media.com
 www.nirma.com
 www.p&g.com

87
ANNEXURES

88
 QUESTIONNAIRE

You are requested to tick mark/fill up the following details in this questionnaire.

Name: __________________________________________
Age: __________________________________________
Gender: Male Female

1. Which brand of soap do you use?

2. How long you have been using this brand?
_________________________

3. Tick the one most important purchase factor for your soap.
[ ] Packaging [ ] Colour [ ] Fat content
[ ] Lather [ ] Bar shape [ ] Status
[ ] Price [ ] Size of Bar [ ] Advertisements

4. How do you associate your brand of soap among the following factor :

(Tick not more than 3 factors)

[ ] Moisturizer [ ] Skin care/glow

[ ] Luxury [ ] Romance
[ ] Fragrance [ ] Lime
[ ] Freshness [ ] Beauty

89
 [ ] Cleanliness [ ] Sportsmen
[ ] Long Lasting [ ] Family

[ ] Smoothness [ ] Health
[ ] Herbal [ ] Children

[ ] Softness [ ] Germ shield

[ ] If any other factor, Please Mention__________________________

5. What influences you to buy your preferred Brand?

[ ] Friends/neighbors
[ ] Display
[ ] Dealer
[ ] Family
[ ] Advertisements
[ ] Self Experience
[ ] Any Other (Please Specify)__________________

6. If you do not get your brand in a shop then will you :

[ ] Go to another shop [ ] Try another brand
[ ] Try the same type of brand

7. If a sales promotion is going on in your area then will you:

[ ] Buy [ ] Might buy [ ] Not buy

8. Which other brand of soap other than what you are using would you prefer to
buy?
_____________________________________________________________
__
______________________________________________________________
_

9. Which media has a greater impact on buying decision for soaps?

[ ] TV

90
 [ ] Radio
[ ] Print Media
[ ] Hoardings
[ ] Others

10. Do you prefer different brands of soap for other members of the family?
[ ] yes [ ] No

11. If yes, which brand of soap for which member of the family?

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

12. List the 5 Top of the mind brands of soap you are aware of:

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13. Can you recall any one or more advertisement of soap brands, please
mention:

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__

14. What do you liked the most about this ad:

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