BRAND MANAGEMENT

PGDM 2010-12

BRAND MANAGEMENT GROUP ASSIGNMENT

BY SAYANTANI SAHA (2010211) SHILP JAIN (2010214) SHIVALI (2010216) SHIVANG MISRA (2010217) SUNAL KAPOOR (2010235) URMI PATEL (2010246)

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1. INTRODUCTION
Fiercely competitive but deeply penetrated, toilet soaps are part of the growing tribe of cleansing and beautifying products available across the country. There are scores of brands and an even greater number of variants making for a bewildering range. But that is just as well. For the Indian market having more than 4500 towns and cities and in excess of 580,000 villages must cut through several price points and fragrances to satisfy everyone. Despite a penetration of 88.60% (Source: soap industry of India) the per capita consumption is poor. At 460 grams per annum it compares unfavourably with analogous economies such as Brazil, which notches up 1100 grams. Toilet soaps are marketed through 5 million retail stores of which 3.75 million are in rural areas, reaching 70% of Indias population but selling only 50% of its volume (Source: soap industry of India). Obviously, the market is vast and offers exciting possibilities and thus has a huge number of players. The name Lux was chosen as the Latin word for Light and because it was suggestive of luxury. The brand connects a wide range of people like Hollywood actor Paul Newman, Bollywood actors Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief J. Jayalalitha as a brand endorser. Lux was first introduced in UK in 1899 as a flaked version of Sunlight soap. Subsequently, it was launched in the US in 1916, and marketed as laundry soap targeted specifically at delicates. Lux toilet soap was introduced as bathroom soap in US in 1925 & in UK in 1928. Produced and marketed by Lever Brothers, it offers people a chance to pamper themselves for a modest price. From the 1930s to 1970s, Lux soap colours and packaging were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. This allowed people to match their soap colour with their bathroom colours. In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from traditional soap bars by launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturising bars. Lux brand as on date includes soaps, shower gels, body lotions and a hair care range with shampoos, conditioners and styling product in the international market. It is sold in more than 100 countries, and is the market leading soap brand in Brazil, Thailand, Arabia, India and Bangladesh.

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2. LAUNCH
Lux was launched in India in 1929 and since then , has been endorsed by popular film stars. Lux is the biggest brand in the soap category. The only major competitor during its initial years was from Lifebuoy, a soap from the parent brand. The first Lux manufactured in India was in the year 1934, having a price tag of 2 annas.It was positioned as a beauty soap, and the message in the initial years was If its good enough for a film star, then its good for you, too. Its tagline then was Filmy Sitaron Ka Saundarya Sabun, which continued till the 80s.

POSITIONING
Lux started off with very clear positioning, by differentiating it from rivals by stating it as Filmy Sitaron ka Saundarya Sabun. Its differentiating factor was the beauty and the glamour it invoked by roping in actress Leela Chitnis. It was then targeted to urban women in the premium segment as it had a princely sum of 2 annas. Since its launch, it has been available in various colours and fragrances. It tapped into an emotion very close to humanitys basic needsocial interaction

CORE VALUE, VALUE PROPOSITION & PERSONALITY

Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of India's most trusted personal care brands. Right from the time it was first launched in the US, Lux has stood for beauty and the core value has been to deliver good skin care. The value it provides to its customers is the beauty of skin Lux provides. Lux was launched as an aspirational brand for the customer.

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PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

Lux initially did not offer many variants, but it came out with a single colour product at first. Later in the year in 1958, it came out with five variants - pink, white, blue, green and yellow. The figure given to the left shows the first Lux and one of the earliest ads portraying Leela Chitnis.

COMPETITIVE SCENARIO
The only major competitor of Lux during its launch was Lifebuoy, a product from HUL itself. But Lifebuoy concentrated on dirt removal and cleansing but Lux brought in the concept of skincare, thus it completely gave itself a new category.

SOCIO ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

India was not an open economy when Lux was launched in 1929. Lifebuoy was the prevalent soap brand from the parent company itself. The soap category in the past was targeted at the mass market, i.e. soap for all, but, today, the category has been segmented creatively at different levels.

BRAND AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES

Lux is a super brand that has celebrated beauty across the world since 1925. The soap has been endorsed by the beautiful film stars since it has come to India in 1929. The first brand ambassador of Lux in India was the then glorious face of silver screen Leela Chitnis. The communication medium/platform used by the brand at the time of its launch was print media alone in which displayed Leela Chitnis promising customers a lovelier skin.

DIFFERENTIATING FACTORS
The only competition which was present for Lux when it was launched was from the product of its parent company itself Lifebuoy. However, it was portrayed as soap focused on providing dirt removing and cleansing features. Lux on the other hand positioned itself as

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a premium brand. In order to strengthen its image of the premium brand, it roped in the gorgeous beauties of the silver screen and also priced it high.

ACHIEVEMENTS & SUCCESS

Lux was successful in creating a whole new segment of luxury soaps in India as its rival was more focused on a cleansing aspect of a soap. The segment was ruled by the creators itself at that time. Since it created a category of beauty soaps, it did not hold a myopic view by limiting itself to cleansing feature of soaps as others were doing. It targeted women customers by roping in actresses and thus catered to the appeal of its target audiences desire to have a lovely skin. The very factor of skincare helped them get an edge over others, thus allowing them to charge a premium. This strategy helped them in creating an instant brand image in the minds of the customers and gave them a kick start.

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3. THE LUX JOURNEY

Brand Evolution Lux is a super brand that has celebrated beauty across the world since 1925. The soap has been endorsed by the beautiful film stars since it has come to India in 1929. With top movie stars from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to Karisma and Kareena having endorsed the goodness of Lux over generations, it was natural that the brand has built equity as the best beauty soap in India. Introduction Stage In the initial stages Lux was introduced in the major cities of India like Calcutta, Mumbai etc. The marketing objective was to create the product awareness and to attract the customers towards the product.In the initial stages, the funds allocated for the advertising purpose were high in order to underpin the image which HLL created around the brand Lux. Growth Stage In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising. Also, they expanded their market to the other cities of India. Maturity Stage In this stage, few competitors entered into the market like Cinthol, Fairglow, Santoor, Chandrika, Fiama Di Wills and Vivel etc. The company expanded their market to almost all the cities of India. Milestones achieved throughout the journey:

1934: Lux soap manufactured in India for the first time. 1958: Lux comes up in five different colors pink, white, blue, green and yellow. 1989: Launched the range of premium soaps to suit different skins. Early 1990s: Introduced Lux shower gel, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars. 2004: Entire range was re-launched to include five new shower gels. 2005: Celebrates completion of 75 years in India. Launches Har Star Lucky Star offer.

2006: Lux Body Wash launched special edition Lux Body Wash packs.

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2007: Launched two new variants; All new pink in a special edition pack and Lux crystal shine.

2008: Launched the 'Lux Provocateur', the first black bathing soap of the Country

Today: Till date nearly 50 Bollywood heroines have featured in Lux ads.

Changes in Product Portfolio From 1930s right through the 1970s soap colors & packaging altered several times. In 1958, 5 colors made up the range pink, white, blue, green and yellow. In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from traditional soap bars by launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars. In 2004, the entire Lux range was relaunched, to include five shower gels, three bath products and two new soap bars. 2005 saw the launch of three exciting new variants with dreamy names such as Wine & Roses bath cream, Glowing Touch and Sparkling Morning shower gels. Four variants of Lux are also being introduced: Golden Glow, Almond Delight, Orchid Touch and Energising Honey. 2006: Lux Body Wash launched special edition Lux Body Wash packs.

Changes in communication strategy Lux was being projected as an aspirational brand and the endorsements by stars further reinforced the positioning. However, the communication was slowly seen to be losing relevance, as consumers were beginning to question if the film star actually used the brand. To answer this, Lux came up with the strategy brought out the star in you for the first time and moved the brand away from the longrunning film star route. Breaking away from tradition, HLL also resorted to a male and metro sexual Shah Rukh Khan to revive Lux. The target audience for Lux is women and Shah Rukh is a great favourite with women of all ages. So the strategy for Lux did not really change.

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Breaking away from tradition, HLL resorted to a male and metro sexual Shah Rukh to revive Lux Developing New Variants Lux is always a step ahead of trends rather than following the trend. It would rather orient and direct the change rather than follow it. This flag-bearing programme according to the company, helped in timing the relaunch. Also by using brand-oriented research, the company identified two sets of consumers. One was the loyal base of existing Lux Beauty Bar consumers. The other was the target segment which would be the source of growth for Lux. This segment comprised of those customers who were buying soaps in the sub-popular segment, but could shift upwards if a better product was offered in the popular segment. A company executive says, The entire relaunch exercise was aimed at delivering a superior mix, which would tap into this source of growth. The consumer needs and triggers which were identified included: fragrance, quality of lather, longlasting, value for money product, familiarity and belief were factors that translated into a sense of reliability and quality. This helped in the delivery of the new product. Several options were considered for the Lux relaunch. These included mood-enhancing perfume positioning. Skin-care based ingredients like glycerin, sandal and saffron were considered. According to company after scanning 60 or 70 options across both national and international markets almond oil, honey and milk cream were the chosen ones. Performance vis-a-vis competition 8

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The personal wash is a highly penetrated market. Consumption lags even in South Asian countries like Indonesia. The market has been stagnant over the last four years and the low entry barriers have led to intense competition between national and local brands. The last three years have seen Lux continue to grow far ahead of the market. A key initiative has been the launch of Mini Lux strategically priced to bring it within the reach of 300 million rural consumers. The introduction of new perfume and in gradient variants addressing the new benefit segment has been the growth driver.

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4. LUX AS IT STANDS TODAY

POSITIONING
With icons of beauty endorsing the brand, the offerings made by Lux have always been superior and have always led the market, setting benchmarks for competition. The positioning of Lux as remained same throughout the time horizon that is of catering to women aspiring for soft, beautiful and lovely skin. Thus, it symbolizes the essence of smooth and lovely skin. Lux has also carried out the its legend by roping in silver screen gorgeous faces as a brand ambassador for its products.

CORE VALUES, VALUE PROPOSITION & PERSONALITY

Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of India's most trusted personal care brands. Luxs secret of longevity has been its consistent evolutionbe it the soap colour, packaging or new variants, the brand has banked on innovation to keep its youthful image intact. The personality has reduced from being an aspirational brand to just another beauty soap, as the use of celebrities as brand ambassadors is also very common among its competitors. Lux has lost the emotional appeal it had till the 80s as it is seems to be another me-too product in the cluttered market of beauty soaps.

PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Lux has beauty offerings in two of the four market segments popular and premium, spanning the needs of varied consumers. At the upper end of the market is the premium range which continues to offer specialised skincare to its consumers in the form of International Lux a range of moisturising, deep cleansing and sunscreen soaps. Keeping in tune with the changing times it has also launched Lux Body Wash which offers superior bathing benefits. To establish the presence of nourishing ingredients in the new Lux, a unique concept, ingredients you can see in the soap, was born. A novel metallic substrate packaging beautifully showcased the ingredients and its globally accepted ingredient-linked perfumes heightened the sensorial experience. Figure below shows various Lux products available now.

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BRAND AND COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES

USP or the common thread through all the advertisements is the Presence of Movie Stars through the ages. The product has been positioned on the basis of REFERANCE GROUP by using a celebrity popular at that point in time. Some amount of attribute positioning by mentioning the various ingredients has also been done .Lux campaigns have wooed millions of people over the decades. Popularly known as the beauty soap of film stars, Lux has been an intimate partner of the brightest stars on the silver screen for decades. An ode to their beauty, an announcer of their stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured film stars across the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to ordinary women. With top movie stars from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to Karishma and Kareena having endorsed the goodness of Lux over generations, it was natural that the brand has built equity as the best beauty soap in India. From the beginning Lux, by using a leading film star of the time, has fulfilled the consumers aspirations of using beauty soaps via the rationale if its good enough for a film star, its good for me. This later moved into a transformation role of having a bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world of icons, film stars and fairy lands.

COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS
During this present digital age, there are various platforms on which are being used by the brand. TVC caters to a wide audience Print Media mass marketing

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Event Sponsorship It sponsors various reality shows on the small screen to attract audience.

Contests

It and

conducts contests foe

various sales

sweepstakes

promotion. One of the major successful contests was during its 75th anniversary in 2005 of Har star Lucky star Facebook page Appeals to a younger audience.

Promotion

Sales promotion, a key ingredient in marketing campaigns, consists of a collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular products or services by consumers or the trade. Whereas advertising offers a reason to buy, sales promotion offers an incentive to buy.

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Prominent Sales Promotion Schemes Used By LUX

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

Lux Star Bano, Aish Karo contest: All one needed to do was buy a special promotional pack of Lux soap. The pack comes with a special scratch card. The 50 lucky winners and their spouses were flown down to Mumbai to live a day like Aishwarya Rai would. They could also be given gift vouchers worth Rs 50,000 from Shoppers' Stop along with an exclusively designed Neeta Lulla sari and a beauty makeover by Michelle Tung, Aishwarya's preferred designer and stylist. The pice de rsistance was a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself.

Lux celebrated 75 years of stardom with the Her Star Lucky Star activity. All wrappers of Lux had a star printed inside them. If the consumer found written inside the star, any number from 1 to 5 she would get an equivalent discount on her purchase

If the consumer found 75 years written inside the star, she will get a years supply of Lux free.

Public Relations Not only must the company relate constructively to customers, suppliers and dealers, it must also relate to a large number of interested publics. A public is any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a companys ability to achieve its objectives. PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a companys image or its individual products.

LUX PR Activities

Press relations: Lux has been maintaining constant communicating with its customers and potential Customers, of the various developments taking place in the brand by using press relations.
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Events: Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by unveiling Shahrukh Khan as their latest brand ambassador. Kareena Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini graced the event and made it special. All the stars have endorsed Lux in the past. The event was held at the grand Intercontinental in Mumbai.

Limited edition: Coming up with limited edition of the brand is also a way of attracting attention towards the brand. It creates a buzz and a feeling of urgency to try out the product and helps in promotion of the brand. This strategy was also implemented by Lux by bringing out limited editions like Chocolate Seduction, Aromatic Glow, Festive Glow and Haute Pink.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC SCENARIO
Since India is an open economy now, a lot of competition is available in the market. Toilet soap category has become more of a commodity now with the advent of wide network of distribution channel. Price wars are very much prevalent in this market.

LUX vis- a-vis COMPETITION

No such difference exists between its rivals as there is no clear differentiating strategy offered by Lux. Pears & Dove are premium category soaps from the parent brand. But positioning of Lux is no different from Fiama di wills or Breeze or Dyna as they all have silverscreen faces. Internal competitors External competitors

Breeze Rexona Lifebuoy Hamam

Santoor Fiama di Wills Vivel Fairglow Chandrika Godrej No. 1 Nirma

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FAILURE STRATEGIES
Lux has not been able to sustain its differentiating position as it had started off. It has now become a just another me- too brand in the toilet soap category. It did not evolve as the times changed and new entrants cluttered the market space completely. Choclate Seduction variant of Lux was also a failure as it failed to encompass the value of Lux, even in its ads. Certain high end Lux International products, though available in India, but do not have a good amount of visibility and availability in retail outlets.

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5. THE ROAD AHEAD

STRATEGY EVALUATION & SUGGESTIONS
Dos 1. Positioning Lux was initially a premium brand. Lux was being projected as a desirable brand for the female audiences and the endorsements by stars further reinforced the positioning. When Lux started in India in 1929, the original proposition of the brand was that Lux was 'The beauty soap of film stars'. For about 80 years now, the proposition and the advertising idea of the brand has not changed much. The proposition has always been glamorous beauty and the advertising idea is that if one uses Lux, one will look like a film star. The increasing competition in the soap category forced Lux to rethink on its targeting strategy. The brand had a choice either to compromise on market share and uphold the premium positioning or to retain the market share and dilute the positioning. Lux wanted to ensure that the brand be positioned as premium but also did not wanted to compromise on the share. Thus born International Lux which is the premium variant and the affordable segment was catered by Lux beauty soap.

2. Continue celebrity endorsements For the past 8 decades Lux has been endorsed by the celebrities only. It should stick to this mantra and continue doing so in the future.

3. Maintain it as luxury product We would continue to position Lux as a premium brand luxury product only. We would stress on the part that its a luxury product by communicating it to the masses. Our ads would be designed so as to continue positioning Lux as a luxury product. We would also continue the production and positioning of Lux international as a brand only for the elite classes.

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Donts 1. Lux as mens brand Lux is seen as beauty soap for women. Deviating from its core value and offering this soap to men wont work. Rather a new variant of lux i.e. Luxzz for men should be introduced

2. Diluted brand positioning Lux has always been a beauty product used & endorsed by celebrities. Even though LUX did not change its positioning over years the competition changed, almost all the beauty soaps had started using celebrities in their advertisements. This diluted the positioning of LUX as a brand that was used by celebrities. Common people the actual target audience found it hard to believe that the celebrities actually used LUX. The entire product offered by the competitors also provides beauty so there is no point of differentiation for LUX. Lux can position itself as a brand that not only provides the user good skin but also an exotic experience. Its can position itself as a soap that is so luxurious that you feel even the most simplest of bath as being treated royally.

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6. OUR VIEW
After analyzing the present and past strategies of the brand we came up with a few suggestions for the brand in the future. 1. Lux Spa Kit Lux has been a product for elite class. Apart from Lux beauty soaps, it should bring in a lux Spa Kit. It can include a loofah, aromatic body wash, brushes, spa oils etc. This could appeal to the customer by giving them a luxurious and exotic experience. The customer can feel special and relaxed after using the kit. The ads of this kit can focus on how different celebrities engage in relaxation after a hard day of work and how that gives them the boost to move on as they feel refreshed after using the product. The product will be for the customers to feel like a star, to feel special.

2. Luxzzz for Men Sharukh Khan endorsing a Lux soap which is been perceived as a beauty soap for women didnt go well with the masses. Instead of a male celebrity promoting Women oriented soap, Lux should rather bring in a Men centric soap. To differentiate it from the female category, HUL can name this product as Luxzz. This Luxzzz could have the tag line of lux for men, to bring out the superstar in you. Endorsing Sharukh khan again for this product would work well as he is already a superstar.

3. Wide range of body wash Currently lux is operating in the body wash segment with 4 variants of fragrances. To capture this segment and create a strong hold in the market, Lux should introduce body wash with other fragrances and exotic aromas .These can include various aromas like Rose, lavender, jasmine, lemon, orange, clove ,vanilla etc. The fragrances should be such that they give and relaxing and refreshing element to the user when she bathes. It should come with these fragrances after conducting a thorough market research to know what appeals to the masses.

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4. 7 day enchanted This can be a new addition wherein a combination of 7 body wash can be used on 7 days of a week. This could be a compact bottle with a nozzle that can be turned in seven different angles for seven different days. This would be a very exciting brand extension and customer would at the least be excited about the same and out of curiosity buy the product.

Once the word of mouth spreads that such a product is available the consumers would want to try out the product. This could help the brand rope in customers of other brands also thus increasing their market.

5. Face washes in India Beauty oriented Lux can easily capture with a brand extension in the face wash arena. This could help the brand increase its offerings as well as increase its brand value.

6. Lux deodorant If Lux plans to differentiate itself as a luxury brand then it would have outer product support in its basket just to enhance the existing product. If body washes of different fragrances can be supported by deodorants of the same fragrance it would be an added value product to the consumer. Initially it can be sold as a package along with the body wash and later it can be introduced a different product category.

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7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lux: Celebrating Beauty, January 17th, 2007 http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/01/lux-celebrating-beauty.html Srivastava Pallavi, 2011, The Soap Opera: Cover Story, Vivel, May 2011 http://www.itcportal.mobi/newsroom/Media-Reports/2011/pr-may-2011.pdf Case Study of Lux, April 2nd, 2011 http://www.citeman.com/14827-case-study-of-lux/ Brand Identity of Lux, http://www.projectfever.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&product s_id=98 www.luxindia.in http://www.hul.co.in/brands/personalcarebrands/Lux.aspx http://www.superbrandsindia.com/images/brand_pdf/consumer_1st_edition_2004/lux/ index.htm http://paprikacanvas.blogspot.com/2011/04/lux-legacy.html http://www.citeman.com/14827-case-study-of-lux/

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