Product Strategy of lux

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Chapter No. 1 : INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Marketing

The term marketing has evolved over time, today marketing is based around providing

continual benefits to the customer following a transactional exchange. The Chartered

Institute of Marketing define marketing as ' The management process responsible for

identif ying , anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profi tably'

Philip Kotler defines marketing as 'satisfying needs and wants through an exchange

process

Customers will only undertake the exchange, if they feel that their needs are being

satisfied, clearly the transactional value can not be more than the amount customers are

prepared to pay to satisfy their need.

Marketing requires co-ordination, planning, implementation of campaigns and employees

with the appropriate skills to ensure marketing success. Marketing objectives, goals and

targets have to be monitored and met, competitor strategies analysed, anticipated and

exceeded. Through effective use of market and marketing research an organisation should

be able to identify the needs and wants of the customer and try to deliver benefits that

will enhance or add to the customers lifestyle, while at the same time ensuring that the

satisfaction of these needs results in a healthy turnover for the organisation.


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1.2 Objectives

1 To study the concept of product strategy

2 To study brief about lux

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY :

The study is focused on product strategy

1.4 Research Methodology

Source of data collection: To undertake the research for the current study secondary

information was collected from reference book ,journal ,published and unpublished

,financial statement and report of product strategy company newspaper article and

websites.

1.5 Review of literature

Dr. Robert G. Cooper, Dr. Scott J. Edgett lead you through a powerful executive

framework for developing and implementing a product innovation strategy, complete

with numerous examples and useful tips. The authors offer a comprehensive guide to help

companies develop and implement an effective product innovation strategy. Emphasis is

placed on selecting strategic arenas, developing attack plans and determining the resource

commitments needed to successfully deploy your innovation strategy.


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Michael McGrath initiated PACE (Product And Cycle-time Excellence), PRTM's

product-development consulting practice, and has directed many of PRTM's projects in

reducing time-to-market in a variety of high technology companies. He coauthored the

books "Product Development" and "Setting the PACE in Product Development", and has

published numerous articles on international manufacturing, product development, and

trends in the high-technology industry.


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CHAPTER2

Conceptual framework

2.1 Definitions

A product strategyis the foundation of a productlife-cycle and the execution plan for

further development. The product strategy allows the business to zero in on specific

target audiences and draw focus on the productand consumer attributes.

William Stanton- A product is set of tangible attributes including packaging,colour

,price,quality and brand plus the services and reputation of the seller. A product may be

good,service,place,person or idea.

2.2 Building product benefit

Philip Kotler in his book "Principles of Marketing" devised a very interesting concept of

benefit building with a product.

Kotler suggested that a product should be viewed on three levels.

Level 1: Core Product

What is the core benefit your product offers? For example customers who purchase a

camera are buying more than just a camera, they are purchasing memories.

Level 2: Actual Product


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All cameras capture memories, therefore your aim is to persuade them to capture

memories with your camera. The strategy at this level is to add branding, features and

benefits which offer a differential advantage over your competitors.

Level 3: Augmented Product

This level is about exploring if there are any additional non-tangible benefits you can

offer. Competition at this level is based around after sales service, warranties, delivery

and so on. For example John Lewis a retail department store offers a free five year

guarantee with television purchases. A five year guarantee offers their customers peace of

mind that their television will be repaired or replaced should a fault develop.

2.3 Classification of Goods

Classification schemes are used for both consumer goods and organizational goods to

provide a basis for marketing decisions.

1. Consumer Goods

Consumer goods are purchased by final consumers for their own or household use; they

can be classified as convenience, shopping, and specialty goods.

a. Convenience goodscan be purchased with minimum expenditure of time and

effort.

b. Shopping goodsconsumers want to compare with other available offerings before

making a selection.


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c. Specialty goodsbuyers will go to considerable lengths to seek out and purchase

specialty items.

2. Organizational Goods

Organizational goods are purchased by businesses, institutions, etc. to use as inputs into

the production of other products or to facilitate production and business processes.

a. Agricultural, other extractive products, raw materialsraw materials from farms,

forests, mines, and quarries; derived demand for extractive products.

b. Manufactured organizational productsproducts that have undergone some

processing; includes semi-manufactured goods, parts, or components; process machinery

or installations; accessory equipment; and operating supplies.

c. Unique characteristics of organizational goodsmany organizational goods can be

characterized as highly technical, expensive, or purchased in large quantities; many have

relatively long life expectancies, slower growth, and longer maturity cycles; they may

pose environmental problems in comparison to consumer goods.

d. The marketing mix for organizational goodsthe complex and technical nature of

many organizational products often requires a greater degree of customization than

consumer goods; other differences include more emphasis on R&D, after-sale service,

specialized distribution channels, more personal selling and less mass communication,

and complex pricing; these differences require different overall strategies than those used

in consumer goods marketing.


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CHAPTER 3

3.1 History of lux soap

Lux soap first produced in United Kingdom in 1899. It was produced by British

company name Lever Brothers. Lever Brothers was founded in 1885 by William

Hesketh Lever and his brother James. They using glycerin and vegetable oil such

as palm oil to manufacture soap called Sunlight Soap. The flaked version of

soap called Lux soap .Glycerin was a lucrative byproduct of the soap making

process, and by the end of 1886, Lever brothers also had a glycerin factory.

Lever opened their small office in New York in 1895. The company started selling

Sunlight and Lifebuoy but did not doing well until 1916. Lux soap was first launched in

United States in 1916. The Lux trademark was registered in United States in 1900.

Lux soap as launched in India in 1929. The soap's very first advertisement featured

actress Leela Chitnis as its brand ambassador. It was popularly known as 'the beauty soap

of film stars.'

From 1930s right through 1970s, Lux soap colors and packaging were altered several

times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colors were made up the range: pink, white,

blue, green and yellow. In 1990s, Lux launching its own range of shower gels, liquid

soaps and moisturising bars. Today, Lux soap is sold in 100 countries and sales achieved

1.0 billion euros in 2005 alone.

3.2 Lux: product history and trajectory.

The FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) market is highly competitive, one that is rife

with the advent of newer brands being introduced. In a capitalist set-up, there begins a


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system of hard sell and introduction of more innovative products to boost sales and

garner a larger consumer base. Advertising is a major player in the arena of marketing.

For this, it becomes essential to understand the purpose behind the launch of a product,

its various utilities and the trajectory it has mapped in the market.

The soap selected for the study is the globally acclaimed Lux, a product owned by

Unilever. In India, Lux is owned by Hindustan Unilever, an offshoot of its Anglo-Dutch

counterpart and one of Indias largest FMCG companies. In this project, Lux shall be

examined only from the perspective of the Indian market.

A luxurious brand, touted as the beauty soap of the film stars, Lux has been a

consistent ubiquitous part of the Indian household and one of Indias most trusted

personal care products. With generation after generation of women sustaining a product

in the market, consistent with its former glory, a statistic mentioning that three in every

five Indian consumers use Lux may not seem entirely far-fetched.

3.3 PRODUCT LAUNCH AND HISTORY

Initially known as Sunlight Flakes laundry soap, Lux was established as a domestic

brand in the United Kingdom in 1899. It was produced by a British company named

Lever Brothers. The company has been founded by two brothers, James and William

Hesketh Lever in 1885. The brothers manufactured the Sunlight Soap, the flaked

version of which came to be known as Lux. Lux was rechristened its present name in

1900 and launched in the United States where its sales picked up. Lux was launched in

India, in 1929. The very first Lux advertisement featured actor Leela Chitnis. Its popular

slogan was the beauty soap of film stars.


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In order to remain in tandem with the changing fashion trends, Lux changed its colour

and packaging from the 1930s to the 1970s. The five principal colours used for Lux in

1958 were pink, white, blue, green and yellow.

It was only in the 1990s that Lux launched its own range of luxury soaps, shower gels,

liquid soaps and moisturising bars. At present, Lux is sold in a 100 countries with a

turnover of 1.0 billion euros alone in 2005.

3.4 REASON FOR LAUNCH

Lux was launched earlier as laundry soap. Gradually, over the years, it has gained

immense popularity and recognition as a luxury soap. Its identity became synonymous

with the glamorous lifestyle of the movie stars. Lux has pioneered as being one of the

first products to be advertised using women as brand ambassadors.

Earlier a product known for its domestic utility, Lux has moved on to skincare and beauty

products as part of its present brand image.

3.5 THE PARENT COMPANY

Lux was initially manufactured as Sunlight Flakes by Lever Brothers. The company

gained foothold in the market only after 1916, when it was launched in the United States.

Unilever was founded on the first of January in 1930, an amalgamation of Lever Brothers

and the Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie. The founders were Antonius

Johannes Jurgens, Samuel van den Bergh and William Hulme Lever, 2nd Viscount Lever

hulme.


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Hindustan Unilever Limited was known as Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing

Company Limited when it was first established in 1931, as a subsidiary of Unilever, in

India. Further two companies were launched, namely the Lever Brothers India Limited in

1933 and the United Traders Limited (1935). In 1956, all three companies were merged

to form Hindustan Unilever Limited.

At present, the company has a 54.3% market share; headed by Harish Manwani

(Chairman) and Nitin Paranjpe (C.E.O. and M.D.).

3.6 PRODUCT TRAJECTORY

1 Initial stage (19291950s): When Lux was first launched in 1929; it was introduced

only in major Indian cities. It was kept at a comparatively higher price range than its

product competitor Lifebuoy for recovering their initial cost of production. The initial

Lux advertisements were aimed at the early adopters i.e., the consumers who were most

willing to buy that product.

2 Growth stage (1950s 1990s): The pricing was reduced for the purpose of market

penetration. There was an increase in the advertising budget for attracting newer

consumers. Lux continued its trend of using renowned actors from the mainstream film

industry through the decades. Old time magazines like Eves Weekly, Star and Style,

Femina etc invariably featured the leading heroines of the times as models for Lux. Some

of the prominent heroines featured have been Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Zeenat

Aman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi.

In the 1990s, Lux launched its own range of luxury soaps, shower gels, liquid soaps and

moisturising bars.


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3 Maturity (1990spresent): As the product gained greater foothold in the market, the

price was increased in order to maximise the profit.

The main marketing objective was also to maximise the market share and introduce

modifications in the product. This included a new range of products entering the market

like Lux Almond, Lux Orchid, Lux Saffron and Lux Sandalwood to name a few.

The brand ambassadors in this stage have been Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Shah

Rukh Khan, Katrina Kaif, Priyanka Chopra and Asin. As of the year 2011, Lux has a

recorded profit of 533 crores.

3.7 ADVERTISING AND MARKETING STRATEGY

Despite its product modifications which shall be later mentioned, Lux has always

marketed itself as a product used by the stars. A common refrain associated with such a

promotional strategy says if it is good enough for the stars, it is good enough for me.

Despite this, Lux was never an entirely elitist product, though it has not embedded itself

within the rural consumer segment.

Because Marketing is all encompassing, it shall be examined first, followed by

Advertising.

Marketing covers the four main aspects, when it comes to any product that needs to be

sold in a market, namely the: product mix, price mix, place mix and promotion mix. The

marketing mix of Lux shall be examined from the perspective of the four Ps in

marketing.


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. Product mix: The product mix refers to any and every feature related to the tangible

commodity to be sold. This part of marketing takes into consideration the ingredients that

form a part of the product, the innovations/modifications done in the product, its external

appearance, packaging, aroma, utility, colour, logo and the overall visual appeal/easy

recall value it serves for its consumers.

Lux has also taken the initiative to introduce product variants like: Lux almond.

o Lux orchid.

o Lux fruit.

o Lux saffron.

o Lux oil and honey glow.

o Lux sandalwood.

o Lux rose.

0 Lux strawberry and cream.

1 Price mix: A sound pricing strategy induces a consumer to purchase a certain product.

It proves to be a worthy incentive. In a country of wide economic disparities like India,

the price of the product takes precedence over the quality, for the less affluent.

When Lux was launched in 1929, the pricing was kept high so that the product could

make up for its manufacturing cost. The prices were later reduced in order to penetrate a

greater market segment. As of now, the product pricing is competitive i.e. on par with

those of the competitors.


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2 Place mix: The place mix refers to not just the distribution channels of a product, but

also the geographic location of its availability which greatly affects its accessibility. Lux

was earlier sold only in major cities at the time of its launch. Post 1950s, the distribution

network continues to be expanded to include smaller towns.

3 Promotion mix: A hoarding on one of the more prominent locations in Mumbai once

said, Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know

what youre doing, but she doesnt. And thus, promotion seeks to bridge the gap

between ignorance and purchase.

The how and why behind the promotion goes a long way in brand building.

As reiterated in this project, Lux was promoted as a product used by film stars. And

thus, every major actor has promoted the product. The list included: Leela Chitnis,

Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman,

Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla, Tabu, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi,

Aishwarya Rai, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Asin and Kajal

Agarwal.

Although Lux was always advertised as a product meant for indulging the senses, where

bathing was a wonderful ritual in itself, it petered down its approach in the recent years.

The actors are still shown seen indulging themselves. But the focus also moves towards

the ordinary girl in a bid to reach out to its female consumers.

A wonderful example of this promotion was the 2005 Mujhme Star Jagaaye campaign

featuring Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Anand. The campaign also promoted a Model Hunt

that went underway soon after.


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In 2001, Lux had announced a 22-carat Gold Star offer, wherein a gold coin was hidden

inside a bar of soap. The lucky consumers who find the gold coin also have a chance to

win an additional 30 grams of gold.

In 2004, Lux launched a Lux star bano, Aish karo contest where consumers were

supposed to buy a promotional pack of Lux and scratch the special scratch card to earn

their reward. Prizes varied from living a day in Aishwarya Rais life to beauty kits, Neeta

Lulla saris among a host of other gift vouchers and well more Lux soaps to be won.

On its completion of 75 years in 2005, Lux roped in Shah Rukh Khan as its first ever

male ambassador. The advertisement featured the actor in a bathtub, flanked by his

leading ladiesJuhi Chawla, Kareena Kapoor, Sridevi and Hema Malini. It was known

as the Har Star Lucky Star offer, where every wrapper guaranteed a gift, waiting to be

unwrapped.

In 2009, Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan featured in the new Sone Se Bhi Sona

Lage campaign. The campaign also conducted a Lux Super Star Offer where the lucky

winners get to meet Aishwarya-Abhishek in London. The campaign jingle became so

immensely popular that its varied renditions were used in the advertisements that featured

Katrina Kaif since 2009.

Asin Thottumkal and Kajal Agarwal are the newest brand ambassadors of Lux,

modelling together for the Kya Khoob Ho Tum advertisement that has been recently

released.

Lux also relies on market research for making innovative changes by going for door-to-

door sampling of a product, once a year, in urban and rural areas. The brand image is


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firmly and favourably embedded in the psyche of the consumers. The product is also not

particularly expensive, which is said to be a winning combination.

Weaknesses: The weaknesses stated for Lux as a brand are as follows:

0 The product lacks unisex appeal.

o It has been unable to effectively tap the rural market.

O Lux faces competition from brands like Lifebuoy, Pears, Vivel, Fiama Di Wills,

Santoor among others.

Some commonly noted recommendations for Lux:

o Innovations in terms of Ayurvedic variants are recommended.

o.A special offshoot of Lux meant for children, since it has essentially been targeted at a

16-35 year age group.

O The consumer base in the rural area needs to be expanded upon.

O The product should appeal to men, without promoting it solely as a product for

women.

O The product can be altered to appeal to the ageing segment of women who form a large

segment of consumer base in the present product market and account for many billions of

currency for anti-ageing products.


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Chapter4

PROUCT LUX

4.1. Introduction

Lux - the biggest beauty brand in Bangladesh, has retained its leadership through strong

differentiation and consistently sharp positioning on beauty & stardom, No soap brand

could claim to be more aspirational for the Bangladeshi consumers than Lux - ' the beauty

soap of super stars'.Lux, with its promise to turn ordinary girls into stars, launched a

reality TV show "Lux Channel Super Star",which has been running successfully since

2005. I n 2009, the show received the award for the "Best I ntegratedMarketing

Campaign" in Bangladesh Market"Beauty, glamour & stardom" - this is the cherished

dream of every woman wants to look & feel beautiful. For years, Lux has been

beautifying the women of Bangladesh and has turned itself into the biggest beauty brand

Skin. Cleansing is a mature category with universal penetration and stagnant volume over

the years. Skin cleansing market is valued at Tk.8900 million (source: Nielson Retail

Audit).

4.2 Achievements

Lux is the largest skin cleansing brand in the country with a value share of 41% in 2009.

In fact Lux in Bangladesh has the highest market share in Unilever world. More than

Nine in every Ten Bangladeshi consumers enjoy the luxurious bathing pleasure of Lux

during the course of a year. This strong association with consumers has led to Lux

becoming one of the most trusted & respected brands in the country.


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Amidst strong competition from all beauty soaps, Lux has retained its leadership through

strong differentiation and consistently sharp positioning on beauty & stardom. No soap

brand could claim to be more aspirational for the Bangladeshi consumers than Lux - 'the

beauty soap of super stars'.

For last one decade LUX has continuously grown its market share with continuous new

news through innovation and communication. In the last three years (2007 to 2009) LUX

has gained 10% market share. The major growth driver for LUX has been the superior

products with nationwide distribution covering all price segments and world class

communication around the core proposition of beauty.

Product With its world class research & development at Unilever, Lux always offers the

best of the product in skin cleansing, setting the benchmark for the market and is

complemented by the endorsement of beauty icons of each generation.Bangladesh toilet

soap segment is divided into three major segments - popular health, popular beauty and

premium. Lux operates in the popular beauty segment which is the largest segment with

stiff competition from local beauty soaps.

Lux currently has three main variants: Strawberry & Cream in Pink color, Peach &

Cream in White color and Aqua Sparkle in Blue color. Lux's goodness of fruity and

beauty oil drop has become the secret of satin soft beautiful skin for women in

Bangladesh.


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4.3 Recent developments

In 2007, Lux re-launched its brand proposition on "Play with beauty" brand philosophy

based on the brand essence of "Unapologetically feminine". "Play with Beauty"

represents the brand philosophy of Lux. It encourages women to celebrate their own

beauty and never deny themselves of this basic feminine instinct. Lux invites women to

set free their inner spirits into the world of beauty and play with it. Lux believes there are

no ugly women only lazy ones. Lux encourages women to enjoy the process of beauty

without constraining themselves.

This was launched with the global beauty balloon campaign featuring Aishwarya Rai as

the brand ambassador. Lux soap range was relaunched in 2010 with "beauty oil drop" for

"Satin Soft Skin". For this communication Katrina Kaif was casted as the brand

ambassador. All these created an experience in pampering indulgence and luxury

designed for every woman to "behave beautiful".

An Analysis On LUX Beauty Soap.

Visit any departmental store or retail outlet, and you find its shelved stocked with Lux

Beautysoaps in different variants, with attractive colours on the packaging and its

permanent sign of the female model present on the package. Today, Lux is a household

name when it comes to soaps and in many places (especially in rural areas), it has

become a synonym for soaps.People often walk into a shop and ask for Lux, when they

mean, that they wish to buy a soap.


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The LUX soap was first launched as laundry soap way back in 1916, with specially

targeting the delicate garments. The Level Brothers (who found what we today know as

Unilever),encouraged women to do their laundry at home without worrying about those

delicate silks and satins turning yellow which often came as a result of the strong and

harsh chemicals present in the laundry soaps of that time. Lux at that time was much

more gentle on the clothes, it dissolved much more easily and was advertised as being

suitable for home use.

The Lux toilet soap as we know today came around in 1925. It was advertised as a

bathroom soap, and the initial name Sunlight flakes was changed to Lux, which is the

Latin word forLight and was supposed to be a shortened version of the word Luxury.

From 1925 till date, Lux has been marketed in various formsSoaps, Limited Editions,

Bars, Flakes, Liquids, Gels and Body washed.

In India, Lux was launched in 1929, and it has always come in various colours and

packages as well as world-class fragrances. These changes kept coming with changing

fashion trends. In 1958, the soap came in five colours pink, blue, white, yellow and

green, and the customers would buy the soaps in a way that they could match it with the

colours of their bathrooms! Lux has always had the most beautiful women in the film

industry endorsing the brands. If we see internationally, there have been Marilyn Monroe,

Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch, CherylLadd, Demi Moore, Brigitte Bargot, Natalie Wood,

Sandra Dee, Diana Rig, Samantha Eggar,Sarah Jessica Parker, Catherine Zeta Jones, etc.

If we see in India, then the first print ad of Lux came starring Leela Chitnis. After that

there have been a string of leading ladies Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala

Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman,


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Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, ashwarya Rai, Karishma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor,

Babita, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Mahima Choudhry, etc. In fact, Lux would be

perhaps the only womens beauty soap brand which has had male models endorsing it.

This came when Paul Newman (internationally) and Shah Rukh Khan and Abhishek

Bachchan (Indian) endorsed the brand. It can thus be said, that the USP of Lux

advertising is the presence of popular movie stars in it. The positioning of the brand can

be said to be according to the Reference Group by using the famous celebrity at that point

of time. Partially attribute positioning can also be considered for Lux, since the

ingredients of Lux have also been greatly highlighted. Today, LUX also serves as a

sponsoring brand name for so many awards and functions like the popular Lux Zee Cine

awards, making its positioning of being associated with the stars more prominent.

Today, Lux beauty bar can be regarded to be in the maturity stage of its life cycle Lux

has always had the leading actors of their times endorse the brand, which has made Lux

the market leader and the brand has indeed set benchmarks for competition in the market.

Today, Lux is manufactured at more than 71 locations and has more than 2000 suppliers

and associates who provide raw materials for its manufacture. The key markets of Lux lie

in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China, Bangladesh & South Africa. Lux is also the market

leader in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Thailand. It is also one of the

most trusted brands in India. Lux has offerings in two of the four market segments for

soaps. These are popular and premium. The popular segment covers all those soaps that

we generally see sitting on our retail outlet shelves Strawberry and Cream, Peach and

cream, Purple Lotus and cream, etc.


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Chapter5

DIFFERENT STRATEGY OF LUX

The Lux Marketing Strategy is simple - build a brand based on beauty ("Beauty Begins

With Lux") and then throw millions of dollars at the media to support it.

There is little to no talk of what makes LUX any better or any worse or any different than

any other soap. Essentially, they are doing nothing at all to monopolize their marketplace.

The marketing strategy that LUX Soap uses is no different than 90% of the large

corporations out there - Brand It And Slam It . Meaning they spend time coming up with

a catchy tag line, pretty packaging and high priced celebrity endorsements and then spend

tens of millions (if not hundreds of millions) of dollars getting the brand out there on

radio, tv, store ads etc.

MAKING THE MOST OF STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITIES

While new technologies and new markets present appealing growth potential, it can all be

for naught without the right strategy to capitalize on the opportunity. Companies need to

make decisions about where in the value chain to partner and how, what business models

to pursue, and which market segments and geographies to target first. Strategy is never

simple, but in emerging technology areas it can be particularly challenging as:

Novel products with different strengths and weaknesses than incumbents require different

business models

Emerging technologies often cross or blur existing industry and disciplinary borders


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High barriers to entry, switching costs, or simply industry inertia mean making headway

can be difficult

Forging partnerships with start-up companies, or across industry and geographic borders,

introduces new complexity

New trends in innovation management and funding shift demands on talent and may

require new organizations

How Lux Research Helps

Grounded in solid technology and market analysis, Lux Researchs methodology helps

lead clients to develop sound strategies for successful new business development.

Members of Lux Research services work with our analys ts and take advantage of Luxs

data and insights in order to make the right strategic choices to grow their businesses.

Lux supports strategy development in various ways, including:

Innovation leaders monitor Lux Insights for case studies on companies pursuing novel

business models, and to keep up on market, technology, and policy developments that

affect their strategic plans

Executive teams use Executive Sessions with Lux Research experts to help set their

organizations and priorities

Example: An oil and gas company is looking to improve its approach to open innovation.

Lux Research leads an Executive Session with its R&D and strategic planning leaders

that reviews the latest benchmarks and best practices in technology scouting and


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corporate venturing and conducts a working session on applying those recommendations

to the companys own organization.

Business leaders tap Lux Research Market Reports and Webinars to understand strategic

options in the current landscape

Example: A Director at a chemical and materials company is at a chemical and materials

company is in charge of building out a business plan for 3D printing. He reviews Lux

Research data on existing partnership networks in this field and compares to an internal

analysis of key players to identify the best remaining places to partner to gain additional

market share. He also discusses with Lux Research analysts how this field will be

shifting to more open material development standards, and the impact on the best

business models for accessing different end markets.

Corporate strategic planning groups with Lux Research Consulting analyze their options

as new technologies drive industries like agriculture and electronics to collide

Product Category, Market Segmentation, Target Marketing and Positioning

The section elaborates class of the selected product. This part is divided into four part.

part 1 explains under which division the product falls. part 2 explains how Hindustan

unilever india Ltd. differentiates population and divides them into different segments.

part 3 analyze that which division company targets the most and why they target that

particular division. Finally part 4 elaborated the procedure how the company tries to

create a place in the consumer's mind i.e. the product positioning method.


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LUX is less expensive but a reasonable product and worth buying this product. i.e. why

company mostly targets sub urban, urban upper middle and middle class consumer who

are sharing the second largest population of division of the country. From the division of

consumers as per SEC they target category A, B and C, reason is because they understand

to be financially easy and can easily compel to buy LUX.

2.1 Product Category:

LUX is one of the products which fall in the category of the toiletry product as beauty

soap.

2.2 Market Segmentation:

LUX is not only in India but is the world best selling beauty soap. With it few studies

also suggests the same result. Although LUX is best selling beauty soap all over, hence;

the company never tries for a traditional mass marketing in the market, as a beauty soap

LUX never divides its market according to gender.

Hindustan unilever india Ltd. divides the market as per geographical areas. The Indian

present population of the country is divided into three parts as rural, sub urban and urban

area customers. Company extends the differentiation as environmental division as per to

Socio Economic Cluster (SEC) which is income and education. The Table 2.1 figure

shows the Socio Economic Clusters which the company uses.

The SEC divides the consumers in five division starting from A to E, where A falls in the

category which exceeds educated and consumers having low income, and starting from A

to decreasing order E overturn the categorizes .


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2.3 Target Market:

Sub urban and urban middle class, rural poor people are having a larger part of Indian

population. Studies carried out by Hindustan unilever India shows that rich people in the

rural areas very likely buys imported and high class products, other than poor people of

rural areas have a susceptibility buys a low-priced products even without knowing and

investigating its quality. And customers of sub urban, urban middle class and middle

class probably buys affordable and worth products.

2.4 Product Positioning:

Hindustan unilever India Ltd has a good place in the consumers' mind by good and

improved product price, quality, and attribute, presently product in a different loom than

the manufactures do. Company provides the customers with quality of products in the

market and that too in a reasonable price with immense brand, which finally helps the

company to make a place for the product in the consumers' mind as top quality beauty

soap.

The company's market share in the beauty soap manufacturing is around 43%.as in the

beauty soap manufacture all the products in the market are of the same price. Hindustan

unilever can't provide its consumers with more improved price but it has a large position

in location with its fragrance, product deisgn, packaging .

Positioning plan of the company explains the position of LUX in the customers mind

with just one reason the price and the quality.


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Though in relationship with the competing manufacturers pricing of LUX is almost the

same but consumers rates it as the product of high quality and high satisfaction product.

This state of mind created a physically powerful consumer loyalty for LUX, for which

the company is still a market leader in beauty soap category.


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Chapter6

CONCLUSION

From the above marketing analysis its been conclude that Hindustan Unilever Limited

facing a stiff competition from the other companies. Thus to regain its market share for

the growth in their business it should use various marketing tools to achieve its objective.

However LUX soap should penetrate the market in order to survive in this competitive

world and also introduce some new product with the same range in order to increase its

sale and which will have greater impact on their sale. However marketing activity should

also be consider throughout the whole year which will result in gaining competitive

advantage from its competitors.

It provides value to its customers by introducing some attractive features on product like

they launch different fragrance on their LUX Soap such as Almond oil, Rose, Strawberry.

It also put more emphasis for the customer satisfaction by giving them discount on some

product or also by introducing some gold coins in the soap by which consumers get more

attracted towards the product and also showing winners of the gold coins inside the LUX

Soap by using television media by which consumers get satisfied and they being loyal to

its brand. Hindustan Unilever are adopting so many marketing strategies to regain its

market share for the product but it still lacking in this industry such as they advertise their

product by using top star of the BollyWood industries to advertise their product by which

consumers get more attracted towards the product but Hindustan Unilever this using

strategies for long time but they have not make any change to advertise their product it is

the main problem where industry is lacking to sale its product.


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Bibliography

A) Books

Report of the company 2014

Website: http/- (as on September 2014)

E-data:https://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=ssl#q

http://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au

http://archive.csustan.edu/market/williams/4490%20ch%208%20outline.

http://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketing

allthatmatters-niharika.blogspot.in/2012/03

http://www.luxresearchinc.com/about-us/strategy
https://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=ssl#qhttps://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=ssl#qhttps://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=ssl#qhttp://archive.csustan.edu/market/williams/4490%20ch%208%20outlinehttp://archive.csustan.edu/market/williams/4490%20ch%208%20outlinehttp://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketinghttp://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketinghttp://www.mbaskool.com/business-articles/marketinghttp://archive.csustan.edu/market/williams/4490%20ch%208%20outlinehttps://www.google.co.in/?gws_rd=ssl#q

Documents

Product Strategy of lux