PROMOTION AND DISRIBUTION MANAGEMENT
Submitted To Dr. Jomon Lonappan MBA faculty Submitted By Disha Khandige II MBA ‘A’ 09716
INTRODUCTION: Unilever is one of the world’s largest and leading multinational companies; Unilever commenced their business activities on a larger scale by setting up their first factory in Netherlands, in the year of 1872. Operating in Bangladesh for over the last four decades the company is trying to significantly contribute towards the augmentation of the standard of living by bringing world class high quality products at the door step of their customers. The usage of Unilever products by over 90% of the people in Bangladesh stands a testimony to their successful operation. Lifebuoy is a famous and distinctive brand of soap that was created by the Lever Brothers soap factory in 1894. It was the first soap to use carbolic acid, which gave it a red colour and strong, medicinal scent. Lifebuoy is still manufactured today toda y and is the leading brand of soap in many developing countries including India. Today Lifebuoy is sold in all over the World. It is market leader in every market where it is sold. The desire to be clean, active and healthy is intrinsic to every one – irrespective of age or economic status. Lifebuoy understands this need and champions the cause for hygiene and health around the world. An inspiring vision for more hygienic, healthier and ultimately more vital communities is the driving force behind the Lifebuoy brand. To realise this vision, Lifebuoy has looked to consistently innovate and provide accessible hygiene and health products to a wide variety of consumers. This vision also commits the Lifebuoy brand team to visible action, inspiring projects that motivate consumers to improve their hygiene behaviour.
INDUSTRY ANALYSIS: Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not n ot well differentiated by the t he consumers. It is, therefore, not clear if it is the brand loyalty or experimentation lured by high volume media campaign, which sustain them. A consequence is that the market is fragmented. It is obvious that this must lead to a highly competitive market. Toilet soap, once only an urban phenomenon, has now penetrated practically all areas including remote rural areas. The incremental demand flows from population increase and rise in usage norm impacted as it is by a greater concern for hygiene. Increased sales revenues would also expand from up gradation of quality or per unit value. To fight competition, major players Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting are now drawing up fresh game plans. And the accent is clearly on innovation to gain mind share as well as market share in this overcrowded category.
HISTORY: In 1894, William Hesketh Lever launched Lifebuoy in the UK as the Royal Disinfectant Soap. Lever grew up in indu industria strialise lised d Bolto Bolton, n, Lancash Lancashire, ire, which was a typic typical al Engli English sh city of the In Industr triial Revolution era, with thousands of people living in slums where disease ran rampant. Epidemics of typhoid, dysentery and yellow fever were common and infant mortality was exceptionally high. Lever was actively seeking the perfect formula for a soap product that could combat germs and still be affordable to everyone. In what could be termed as a major scientific breakthrough of the era, he found just that in carbolic acid. The brand went global in 1911 and began distributing to countries such as the United States, Germany, Switzerland, Canada, India, etc.
EVOLUTION AND CHANGES: Lifebuoy went through several sev eral changes and incarnations incarnatio ns throughout the brand's history. A white version of the soap was introduced in 1962 and contained a light perfume scent. Pink and aqua versions were released soon after. The original Lifebuoy soap was manufactured in the UK until 1987 when the production and distribution was halted. The brand was shortly taken over by Unilever and is still in production today. Due to regulations put forth by the European Union, the soap can no longer contain carbolic because it is potentially toxic and linked to skin irritation and respiratory tract problems with prolonged exposure. The substance is also considered a possible carcinogen. Lifebuoy soap is still the leading brand of soap in several countries worldwide, specifically in India and parts of Southern Asia. Unilever produces a wide range of products under the Lifebuoy umbrella such as body wash, liquid soaps and acne-fighting solutions.
LIFEBUOY PORTFOLIO: Today, the Lifebuoy brand is more than the quintessential bar of red soap, and provides hygiene and health for the entire family through a range of products like liquid hand wash and specially designed body wash. Beyond ensuring daily hygiene and freshness, Lifebuoy products also address special needs like anti-acne and skin fortification for an all around cleansing experience.
Hand Sanitizer Lifebuoy Hand Sanitizer effectively disrupts bacteria’s cell membrane & virus’s outer coat thereby kills germs & viruses on your hands. Proven to kill H1N1 virus Dries quickly, is nonsticky and has soothing fragrance.Has Moisturizer and Vitamin E to keep your hands soft and smooth.
Bar Soap Lifebuoy bar soaps support children’s health and growth by providing extended germ protection for up to 12 hours after a bath thanks to enhanced ingredients. Lifebuoy Body Wash provides deep cleansing of pores, protecting against the three root causes of skin health problems – clogged pores, over-drying, and infection- causing germs.
Hand Soap Clean, germ-free hands are the key to good health, as ingestion of germs from unhygienic hands at mealtimes is the most likely cause for diseases. Lifebuoy Hand Soaps offer hospital-strength germ protection, with a unique formulation that generates a rich lather. This provides an effective and hygienic wash in every corner of the hands and nails, at the same time leaving your hands pleasantly fragrant.
Lifebuoy Men's Bodywash Male skin is more oily and sweaty, making it more prone to attacks from germs that cause skin problems and body odour. Lifebuoy Men's Body Washes are specially formulated to wash away excess oil and sweat, protecting against body odour and other problems caused by germs. Two variants provide the most important benefits to men's skin.
Clear Skin Lifebuoy Clear Skin provides specialist protection from acne, which results from oil and dirt coming together. Mineral clay or "multani mitti" absorbs the oil from your skin, while washing away germs and dirt to greatly reduce the incidence of acne. In fact, Lifebuoy Clear Skin has been shown to reduce acne up to70 per cent
Price List of LIFEBUOY Products Package Size
Price(in Rs)
Lifebuoy CARE BATH
120gms
15
Lifebuoy CARE BATH
90gms
12
2
Lifebuoy DEO FRESH SOAP
90gms
10
3
Lifebuoy MILKED CARE SOAP
90gms
12
4
Lifebuoy NATURE BATH
120gms
15
Lifebuoy NATURE BATH
90gms
13
5
Lifebuoy SKIN GUARD
75gms
15
6
Lifebuoy TOTAL
120gms
15
Lifebuoy TOTAL
80gms
12
8
Lifebuoy Clear Skin
120gms
20
9
Lifebuoy Hand Sanitizer
100ml
60
10
Lifebuoy Hand Soap
200ml
45
Lifebuoy Hand Soap (refill pack)
180ml
28
Lifebuoy Men’s Bodywash
200ml
98
Name of the Product
1
11
MARKET
STRATEGIES
INTRODUCTION: Lifebuoy has always been marketed as ‘a tough cleaning soap for a tough man’. Of course, the 2002 re-launch targeted Lifebuoy as a soap that brought good health to the entire family. Lifebuoy has been seen as a value for- money product, a soap that is long-lasting. In a very smart TV ad campaign, children are shown cleaning a street. The message put across is that since these children are secure from ailments that are caused by a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, thanks to the fact that they use Lifebuoy, they are in a position to ensure cleanliness and hygiene for the entire community. Thus, Lifebuoy not only ensures good health and cleanliness for individuals, but healthy and productive communities as well.
LIFEBUOY’S MARKET SEGMENTATION AND TARGETING: The targeting tar geting market for lifebuoy is all a ll households who can afford affo rd buying soap and who want to fulfil everyday need that provides them and their family with a 100 anti bacterial solution and complete protection from all germs bacteria and cleanliness from dirt Lifebuoy belief bel ief that children are the potential agent for change and imparting education on the importance of hand washing with soap will enable them to adopt early habit in life
LIFEBUOY’S REPOSITIONING STRATEGY: Lifebuoy soap is a very old brand of bath soap in India, Life Buoy is an anti bacterial soap and in the beginning it positioned itself on its antibacterial qualities, lifebuoy gained a number of customers with this positioning, but then there comes the competition with the Dettol soap.. All this put Lifebuoy out of lime light and to survive in market, Lifebuoy positioned itself on price it became low price antibacterial soap. This strategy may have boosted short term sales of Lifebuoy but it lost its brand value and credibility in the minds of customers. Lifebuoy needed to reposition itself on quality rather than price.
REPOSITIONING CAMPAIGN: The repositioning campaign of Lifebuoy was started at 2008, but it became more prominent and became effective in 2009, Lifebuoy along with the advertisement has improved its quality and fragrance, most of the people had shifted from lifebuoy because it was low quality and it smelled terribly, as Lifebuoy has improve d its quality all it needed to run an effective effective advertisement campaign to get the customers attention. The advertisement team of Lifebuoy came up with excellent theme “Healthy Hoga Hindustan” and it is targeting parents which is their target market, Lifebuoy made very ver y effective ad and an d it also used use d fear strategy (which is effective effective in case of antibacterial soap). This has enabled Lifebuoy Lifebuoy to get more and more customers. Now a days, Lifebuoy is everywhere in Television, Radio, Newspapers and Billboards, Lifebuoy is running a huge campaign to promote itself which is very necessary in case of repositioning the brand. With the help of marketing department and advertisement, Lifebuoy has successfully repositioned itself as a quality antibacterial soap with better fragrance and more durability. Many companies try to reposition themselves when they see market trend shifting but most fail to do so. In case of Lifebuoy it has been successful. The interesting thing about this campaign is that Lifebuoy is running the same campaign in Pakistan and in India as is done by Unilever, this suggest that Lifebuoy is considering India and Pakistan as the similar market segment.
MARKET SCOPE STRATEGY: Although Unilever itself is a part of a Multi market, but since we are talking about the product Lifebuoy we can say that it is using a multi market strategy as well because it has both soap and shampoo, not these two only but they have others antibacterial liquid baths as well opening a way for Lifebuoy to be a multiple product.
MARKET GEOGRAPHIC STRATEGY: Geography has long been used as a strategic variable in shaping market strategy. History provides many examples of how businesses started locally and gradually expanded nationally and internationally. Unilever is having an international market strategy for Lifebuoy being available in almost every continent of the world. It is a worldwide brand of Unilever available in India, China, Indonesia, Cyprus, UK, and USA along with Pakistan. Lifebuoy has more than a life of 100 years, providing Unilever a key support in all of its brand buckets. Unilever knows the significance of its brand therefore it has globalized this product by making it an international brand. It has made it available in Asia and Africa where it is used by those people who have a daily income of less than 1 $. So Lifebuoy is well in line with its goals and objectives providing hygiene and health solutions that t hat enable people peop le to lead le ad a life li fe without fear of o f hygiene anxieties and health consequences.
MARKET ENTRY STRATEGY: Lifebuoy is one of the old products of Unilever which has more than 100 years of successful journey, we can simply say that Lifebuoy is the early entrants internationally and in India it is the first-in in its kind of soaps. By adopting the first-in strategy, Lifebuoy has captured the maximum share of the market. Over 60 years in India we guess there is not a single home that didn’t use it. Lifebuoy has taken the risk of the first-in and consequently got one of the biggest markets in Asian countries by providing its quality and sustained priced product to both rural and urban areas of India.
MARKET COMMITMENT STRATEGY: Being the first-in the market Unilever has shown strong commitment with its brand of life time i.e. Lifebuoy and that commitment to its brand has really foster the growth of Unilever as well as its brand of Lifebuoy. But from the recent decade Unilever is no more showing the strong commitment to Lifebuoy because over the period of time many of the competitors came in the market with new inno nnovat vative ive product, better market strategies and stronger commitment. commi tment. In the present scenario, scenari o, Unilever is just showing an average commitment to its brand of Lifebuoy which has really put its brand on the back foot.
PRICING STRATEGIES: Market penetration: Market penetration is the name given to a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing products into existing markets. Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: Maintain or increase the market share of
current products, this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing
and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling Secure dominance of growth markets. Restructure a mature market by driving out competitors; this would require a much more aggressive promotional campaign, supported by a pricing strategy designed to make the market unattractive for competitors Increase usage by existing customers – for example by introducing loyalty schemes.
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES: Successful promotion campaigns don't happen by chance. To realize goals, promotional products programs must be carefully planned, taking into consideration the audience, budget and, of course, the ultimate result to be gained. 1. Define a specific objective. 2. Determine a workable distribution plan to a targeted audience. 3. Create a central theme. 4. Develop a message to support the theme. 5. Select a promotional product that bears a natural relationship to your profession or communications theme. 6. Don't pick an item based solely on uniqueness, price or perceived value. Don't fall prey to the latest trends or fads. The most effective promotional products are used in a cohesive, well-planned campaign. Sales promotions are non-personal promotional efforts that are designed to have an immediate impact on sales. Media and non-media marketing communications are employed for a pre-determined limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Lifebuoy is promoting its product using these kinds of promotional techniques
Consumer sales promotion techniques: The different consumer sales promotion techniques used by Lifebuoy are Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as happy hour. Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on the package.
Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price. Coupons: coupons coupon s have become a standard mechanism for sales sal es promotions. Freestanding insert (FSI): A coupon booklet is inserted into the local newspaper for delivery. Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the producer. Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by purchasing the product.
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGIES: Movement of goods and services from the source through the distribution channel, right up to the final consumer, or user and the movement of payment in the opposite direction, right up to the original producer or supplier. Existing strategy: Unilever uses a lot of distributors and retailers to supply its products in each market where the final customer might reasonably look for it. While appointing a distributor for a particular area, management uses its own judgment to select such a person that has a potential to operate effectively. Unilever uses an intensive distribution strategy for lifebuoy soap while at the same brand but in shampoos category it introduces only extensive strategy. Unilever did not fight for the better shelf space for lifebuoy soap. Lifebuoy is targeting middle and low income consumers so shelf space is not
Suggestions As A Marketing Manager As a Marketing Manager the adjustments that I would like to make in the present strategies to improve the product performance and overall image of the product in the customer’s mind and to have a new and improved version of Lifebuoy. Lifebuoy is lacking in its market Geography strategy as it is more common in rural areas of the country, whereas more of the urban citizens keep it as a low level brand.
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The major challenge Unilever has to face is its commitment to its its old brand of Lifebuoy. Unilever got a major setback when Reckitt Benckiser introduced introduced Dettol t h r o u g h a heavy media campaign. campaign. Unilever has tried to compensate that through promotional program of “Healthy Hoga India” but still it needs a strong and continuous commitment to this product.
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Lifebuoy has well repositioned itself but still there is need to change the image that it is a low quality low price product. •
In penetrating the market through price, Lifebuoy has to compete with brands of P&G, Reckitt Benckiser and Colgate-Palmolive which are a good name of quality, so accordingly Lifebuoy has to adjust its prices at that level where it creates dominance among the existing brands.
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In promoting promotin g the worth of the Lifebuoy, it has to modify its it s promotional promot ional campaigns base on traditional heroism and fantasy; one is to come up with new realistic real istic approaches highlighting the need of an antibacterial soap in most hygienic environment.
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A general distribution pattern with distributors and retailers are the agents in the urban areas to remove lag time in delivery delivery of the product. product. Since in rural rural areas the places are diversified, diversified, so a s to improve the distribution there is an inclusion of the whole seller to make the distribution extensive. •
New Distribution Strategy: Su
liers
Lifebuo Lifebuo Distrib Distributi ution on Stra Strate te
Distributo
Wholesalers
Wholesalers
Retailers
Retailers
Retailers
(Urban/Rural)
(Urban/Rural)
(Urban)
Consumers
Unilever for Lifebuoy should introduce in troduce a new kind kin d of distribution strategy that will be a strategic fit between its productions to consumptions. Unilever should identify its larger, medium and small consumption areas and design the channel channel accordingly. According to my sense Lifebuoy must go for intensive distribution with wholesaler and retailers in the areas where rate of
