Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CONTENTS
STRATEGIC PLANNING OF LUX................................................................................................7 MARKETING STARTEGY AND MARKETING MIX OF LUX............................................................10 MARKETING STRATEGY.......................................................................................................10 MARKET SEGMENTATION....................................................................................................10 MARKET TARGETING...........................................................................................................11 POSITIONING.......................................................................................................................11 THE MARKETING MIX.............................................................................................................11 PRODUCT............................................................................................................................11 PRICE..................................................................................................................................12 PLACE.................................................................................................................................12 PROMOTION........................................................................................................................12 MANAGING THE MARKETING EFFORT....................................................................................13 MARKETING ANALYSIS...........................................................................................................13 SWOT Analysis...................................................................................................................13 SWOT ANAYLSIS OF LUX UNILEVER PAKISTAN........................................................................13 Strengths...............................................................................................................................13 Opportunities.........................................................................................................................14 Threats.................................................................................................................................14 MARKETING PLANNING..........................................................................................................15 Current Situation.....................................................................................................................15 Objectives and Vision..................................................................................................................16 Marketing strategy......................................................................................................................16 Action Programs.....................................................................................................................16 Marketing Controls..................................................................................................................16 2
First step of strategic planning is establishing mission statement. It defines the fundamental purpose of an organization. It is used to set out the picture of an organization in future. It provides details of what is done, why it is done & for what purpose it is done. Lux brand has also established its mission statement as it is one of the leading brand in the world. Lux mission statement is Beauty begins with Lux and Lux is following its mission statement very well. Lux is setting its goals and objectives on its mission statement and is launching its new variety of products in the market. LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Pakistan. Though LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Pakistan, it does not go for traditional mass marketing. Moreover beauty soap, LUX does not even segment and divide its market according to gender. Every person with normal or oily
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The company further differentiate the geographical segments according to Socio Economic Cluster (SEC) i.e. education and Income. Lux mission is to keep its products prices in range of maximum people. LUX is not a highly expensive but an affordable product. That is why the company targets urban and sub urban upper middle and middle class people who are the second highest population of the country. Their target category is divided in to three segments A, B and C. Sec A is Higher upper level, sec B is Upper Middle level income and sec C is Middle level income because these three segments are assumed to be financially well off & they can afford to buy lux as well. Its objective is to develop new and unique products of beauty and care. In 1985 there were only soaps in only 5 colors but now Lux has launched its shower gel moisturizing bars, liquid soaps. Now lux is sold in 100 different countries and sales achieved 1.0 billion euros alone. Lux main goal & objective is their supply chain and distribution. Lux makes sure that products are accessible and are being supplied in market, no matter where consumers are in Pakistan. In this task Unilever helps them & make sure that these products are distributed to the consumers at correct time, with right cost and in accurate & proper quantities. The mission of Unilever Supply Chain is: provision of their products in low cost and price. They ensure the efficient provision of their products in market for this they develops simple and effective network of supply so that they can achieve high level of service & their main focus are retailers because retailers transfers & provide products to the consumers or in other words they are not wholesalers. Unilever adopt two channels & ways for the supply of their products that are conventional & vertical. In conventional marketing producers, retailers & wholesalers are independent and they are seeking to maximize their own profits because each business is separated, whereas in vertical marketing they join wholesalers & retailers to supply products to the consumers. They work jointly & are not having independent business. The lux brand used different sale promotion to increase their sales. They are offering 22-carot gold coins on 100 gms and 150 gms of packets of Lux. They are also offering different types of promotions like Consumer promotion by distributions of samples of new variants, coupons, free trials and demonstration at shopping malls, markets and point of purchase. Trade promotion
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LUX creates customer value and achieve profitable customer relationships by spending millions of dollars on the promotion, there is no second thought on the fact that lux has reached its
LUXs market segmentation is based on the geographic locations which are urban, sub-urban and rural area. On the other hand these segments are divided into SEC (socio Economic Cluster) i.e. education and income. SEC divides the population into five sectors starting from A to E, A refers to the highly educated and high income holders and E refers to the lowest income holders and is least qualified.
MARKET TARGETING
Unilever conducted a research that revealed that urban population are likely to buy expensive and imported products, and on the other hand in rural areas they buy cheap products without evaluating its quality but urban and sub urban areas the middle class people tend to buy affordable and quality products. LUX now tries to target that market because it is the second largest chunk of the population. Lux is not that expensive because it targets the middle and upper middle class. According to SEC LUX targets A B and C because they assumed to be well-off financially and can afford buying LUX.
POSITIONING
Unilever has obtained a very good position in the minds of the buyers, this image has been passed on to its products through amazing price, quality and attributes, actually offering the product in a way different way than the competitors do. LUX has 43% of the market share in the beauty soap industry and in the beauty soap industry all products are of the same price so the company cant afford to lower the price furthermore but it is in great position in the minds of its
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LUX is offered in six flavors which are LUX Energizing, LUX golden glow, LUX nature pure, LUX orchid touch, LUX almond delight and LUX aqua sparkle, and in three different size 40gm, 80gm and 120gm. LUX comes in three different types LUX the beauty soap, LUX the liquid soap and LUX shower gel. The formula is provided by the R&D department in foreign countries. Its raw material is imported which include sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to the flavors.
PRICE
LUX provides with the best pricing with the quality it provides, and the major reason behind it is that there are many competitors in the market and a slight change in the price comes up with a huge risk of creating a price war among the rivals which would result to low profits or the consumer shift towards other products. It is almost equal to its competitor.
PLACE
Unilever ltd has a huge distribution channel almost all around the globe. In Pakistan its sales are more than 10 million pieces a year. The main factory or warehouse is in Karachi. The company itself doesnt have any transport system so it hires different distributers to provide retailers with its products. It is sold in almost all cities in Pakistan, but it differs according to the nature of the shop its on e.g. there are supermarkets then there are kiryana stores and then there is khokas. The lux is sold on three of these but the hand soap and shower gel are only sold at supermarkets because the type of consumer which comes at these stores.
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LUX is known for its promotional activities. It spends 25% of sales revenue on the promotion. It endorses its products form the biggest stars of that particular country. For example in India lux is endorsed by Katrina Kaif and in Pakistan Reema, Meera and Amna Haq. The seriousness they pay on the promotion can be judged by this amazing figure that lux endorses with 400 stunning women in the world. Although promotion in Pakistan is difficult because to show international models you have to deal with private channels, and this is because on PTV or other government owned channels you can only show local models. So there ads in which Katrina or other beautiful women on which spend millions cannot be showed on the national television of Pakistan.
Unilever needs no introduction. It is one of the biggest multinational consumer products manufacturing organization which is currently working all around the globe. Unilever Pakistan is the Pakistan chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government of Peoples Republic of Pakistan holds 39.25% share. LUX is the most famous product of unilever, and its ruling Pakistan by occupying approximately 50% of total market share among few major soap producers. Other competing brands like Tibet, Capri and Pears have started to have a strong consumer base, but LUX.s product features distribution and promotional activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader.
MARKETING ANALYSIS SWOT ANALYSIS
A tool that identifies the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organization, specifically, SWOT is a basic, straightforward model that assesses what an organization can and cannot do as well as its potential opportunities and threats. The method of SWOT analysis is to take the information from an environmental analysis and separate it into internal (strengths and
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OPPORTUNITIES
High rate of population growth. 13
THREATS
Possible increase of market share of Capri and Rexona. Rising inflation, which reduces personal disposable income of consumers? Profit margin is exposed to rupee devaluation. High internal competition Pears also catering the beauty segment Dove, a major threat from unilever Excessive dependence on beauty segment makes Lux vulnerable to changing customer tastes
MARKETING PLANNING
Unilever Pakistan is providing LUX at a price which is affordable to almost everyone. Beauty soap is an uprising phenomenon in Pakistan due to beauty consciousness development in both, males and females in Pakistans population. As a multinational company Unilever Pakistan with heavy promotional activities, has been able to penetrate the market. With six different fragrances, three different sizes, international standard and high quality design, as a product, LUX has been highly successful over the years. Its distribution process is highly efficient. Its promotional activities, like the beauty contest has been a milestone in attracting a huge number of customers. Overall with its marketing activities LUX has been a successful brand. The only place where rival companies are progressing is in giving customers redemption offers. Research revealed that Pakistani customers are highly attracted to this sort of offers. These offers are not sustainable.
CURRENT SITUATION
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Increasing inflation continued smuggling of tea; poor security conditions and power outages pose significant challenges to the business. Bigger innovations, improved execution and a high performance culture give us the confidence that we are capable of continuing to deliver exceptional value to consumers, customers and shareholders. (www.Unliver.pk)
MARKETING STRATEGY
Key points of luxs marketing strategy are Effective segmentation, perfect positioning, variety and diversification in product, Promotional strategies and schemes, public relations, capturing customer loyalty, pricing and placing strategies:
ACTION PROGRAMS
Its certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Superstar and LUX Annual Style Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the worlds most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. They
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LUX recorded double digit growth largely led by volume. The brand gained market share based on an improved product and a more effective campaign. (Unilever Pakistan annual report 2010) Home and personal care segment of unilever Pakistan grew by 23% as a result of enhanced consumer and customer value. Surf continues to consolidate its position as a market leader. Lux, Rin, Fair & Lovely and Ponds delivered robust volume growth backed by strong advertising campaigns. (Unilever financial report march 31st, 2011). Lux process modification project SWING (Soap with Inclusion of Glycerin), simplifying soap manufacturing process resulting in energy saving and reduction of waste and water consumption. (Unilever Pakistan annual report 2010)
Return on marketing investment (ROMI) is the contribution attributable to marketing (net of marketing spending), divided by the marketing invested or risked. Marketing is, and always will be, a creative endeavor. But it can also be a highly rigorous discipline. In case of LUX, that is a brand of Unilever Pakistan, is investing millions of rupees inside Pakistan to promote and sell their brand to the minds of people. They have chosen top actresses and models for their brand endorsements that is a game of money in which they have invested with no bounds. Other than this, LUX is the only brand that plays globally its advertisements along the locally made one. LUX has to invest in private channel medium to show their every type of advertisements whereas they have to invest separately on the government owned channels to play their local advertisements. Recently LUX has started promoting its other products in same line also, the liquid soap and the shower gels. It is very clear that if LUX is investing heavily in their marketing and promotion to compete and stay up to a level, they are getting the returns in same pattern. LUX has achieved a status in every market that its the soap only; other soaps are not worth it. Investing in a global
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Unilever is one of the largest manufacturers of a wide variety of consumer products and operating around the globe. In Pakistan it is operating in a number of brands like food brands, home care brands and personal care brands. Lux is one of their most famous brands in personal care products. It is the mantra of Lux to deliver status inspired beauty products, whose delivery will be made accessible to everyone, so they could indulge everyones senses to make their skin and hair look and feel more appealing and gorgeous and also inspire you to feel the pleasure of expressing the beauty. The need that unilever felt was that we all have desire to get pampered, to look and feel great and to enjoy the moment of feeling something that is possible. Lux was launched in Pakistan in 1954, got the image of a soap that is for stars. The main target of LUX was females of Pakistan, so a perception was positioned to its customers that if they use LUX theyll become glamorous. Unilever is a global company; the chapter operating in Pakistan is allowed fully to develop the strategies according to the regional requirements. All departments collaborate to introduce their
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MARKETING INTERMEDIARIES
A large number of units are involved in the processing of LUX products, from its packaging to the final buy through the customer. Unilever has many units and departments that are collaborated with each other to help them in promoting, selling and even distributing its products. Unilever possesses very efficient system of distribution that never leads to the shortage of any product. It is the in house responsibility given to the brand department to regulate the quantity of the LUX products to every outlet. The distribution of LUX is done by dividing the distribution of Pakistan in three channels, Central zone, South and North channels. Unilever designed a centralized Intensive distribution system. In this type of distribution, LUX is supplied to those resellers where majority would stock the products of LUX along the convenience products, like those who are leader in the market. In this type of distribution, LUX is made visible at perfect spots but the differentiation among the competitor products is on the basis of price. Another strategy used by Unilever in delivering the product to the market and dealing with logistics is Cross Docking. In this strategy, logistics of unloading materials from an incoming semi-trailer truck or railroad car and loading these materials directly into outbound trucks, trailers, or rail cars, with little or no storage in between. This may be done to change type of
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DISADVANTAGES OF CROSS-DOCKING
Potential partners don't have necessary storage-capacities An adequate transport fleet to operate Cross-Docking Need of adequate IT-System
All these strategies are required by Unilever as they had to prove their corporate commitment to promote the distribution and supplying process improvement globally. Originally in Pakistan there are 2 warehouses of Unilever, more than 4500 distributors are working with Unilever to supply LUX in selected areas and whole sellers. According to a recent survey, LUX is covering only 65% of its consumers. LUX brand of Unilever is involved in three channels of distribution:
CNC (Cash and Carry) Distributors; IMT (International Modern Trade like Makro and Metro); LMT (Local Modern Trade) the general trade at shops.
Trade control manager assigns the distribution department to send SKUs of LUX directly to the distributors, also assigns the sales department to make sales contracts with different parties existing in market and supply LUX by advising distribution I Rahim Yar Khan Factory, which is the main depot and sales plans are also sent here, where as all major cities like Faisalabad, Lahore, Multan, Karachi, D I khan and even Wazirabad have their own depots where the product is supplied from central depot of Rahim Yar khan.
COMPETITORS
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INTERNAL COMPETITORS
Lux is manufactured by a company that has a wide variety of products in same line of beauty soaps. Currently Unilever is producing three other beauty soaps that are in competition with LUX. These soaps are Dove, Rexona and Lifebuoy. Lux has to maintain its pricing strategy to compete with these brands. Lifebuoy and Rexona are the major competitors in case of pricing as Lifebuoy is even cheaper than LUX and is of nearest in quality to LUX, so LUX has to apply a very sensitive strategy in which it could be sold more as compared to internal competitors. Whereas in case of quality LUX has to face a serious competition with Dove products as they are providing a better quality and has maintained a better prestige in market, so LUX has increased the prices on such a stake that it could beat Lifebuoy and Rexona but could not take up to as Dove has, so people mostly from all classes prefer LUX due to its quality in satisfactory price. LUX has also similar products in different categories like liquid soap and shower gels. Similarly the liquid soap has only one competitor internally, Lifebuoy that is a cheaper brand in liquid soaps also and is leading the market as compared to LUX due to its price and refilling options available. Shower gel of LUX has no internal competitor.
EXTERNAL COMPETITORS
Beside the internal competitors, LUX has to maintain competition with external competitors. A large number of beauty soaps exist in markets that give true competition to LUX like Tibet, Camay, Hoor and Palmolive. LUX has to look after its pricing strategies, but still LUX is still leading the market due its attractive packaging, as other soaps are using simple color schemes or not so much attractive as LUX is doing, LUX has become a brand that is advised by worlds most beautiful women but not any other competitor brand is able to come up to this level. As discussed above, LUX has also similar products in different categories, and is facing a bad competition externally in case of liquid soaps and shower gels. LUX liquid soap is in competition with many other brands like Fa, Palmolive, Dettol, Breeze, Pears, etc. These all brands are giving tough competition and LUX is not able to compete with them, well due to less publicity of its items. Similarly in case of shower gels its facing dense competition in the market
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Unilever has all seven types of publics but the visible ones are only Government, Media, Citizenaction and General Publics. We are aware of the issues that are faced by LUX by the platform of government in case of advertisements, as LUX is unable to play its all international advertisements on national television and all channels that are on air from its domain due to certain implications applied by PEMRA. In the promotion of brands like LUX, media publics play an important role. LUX is known by women, not by its use but by the models that come and show LUX as their own soap. In media publics; all channels that are on air, social media like Facebook & Twitter, newspapers, magazines, etc. play the most important role in promoting and creating a perception in the minds of people. LUX utilizes this strategy globally in a same pattern to promote its brand to target audience. It is also created a grand perception on the mind of socially stable people by sponsoring a mega event of showbiz by the name of LUX Style Award Show. Sponsoring this event has made LUX successful in achieving its image that its the brand that is used by models and actresses, looking this when cheaper price is available, maximum females would try this product due to its promotion and image.
CUSTOMERS
LUX targets a variety of audience, with its attractive promotions and advertisements. Basically, LUX is a brand of women, targeting the women who have desire to look beautiful, want to look like the models who have been promoting LUX as their personal brand. LUX has been successful to target and capture the market of customers of every type. This is only in the case of beauty soap, whether its imported one or the locally manufactured one, but in the case of Liquid soap and shower gel, its not successful fully. Lux is unable to capture the market that utilizes shower gels, as there are so much products varying in prices and leading in Brands, which is an issue for LUX Unilever.
MARKETING RESEARCH
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In the marketing research stage after defining the problem ,conducting research on that we have other two stages which is implementing the plan the plan to sort out the problem to minimize the deviation of consumer.so in this stage the plan should brought in to serious action now the researchers must also process and analyze the collected data to isolate important information and findings the solution to this problem is mentioned above then finally marketing research deals with its last stage/step which is of interpreting and reporting the findings now this research should draw some conclusions and report them conclusion. So solving the above mentioned problem all depends on the Unilever corporate who can keep a check on the quality and the research department the quality of lux in ever country should match with each other their shouldnt be any difference only in this the deviation can be minimized.
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LOSS OF UNILEVER: IMPORTED LUX WORKING AGAINST THE LOCAL ONE According to the views of several retailers, in Pakistan Lux that I manufactured locally owns the 50% of market whereas the imported one owns an equal share in market. In Punjab zone there are proper channels of distribution of imported Lux products that are supplied to retail outlets and are sold more than Local ones. In short the imported image of Lux is taking over its local one very easily. LUX CRM (CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT) How Unilever marketing strategies are based on consumer insights and information: One of the biggest strategies Unilever uses is to hire actors and actress for LUX because market research showed that people had some sort of attraction for goods advertised by the stars. Its some sort of visual mapping and product positioning strategy when makes consumer to use LUX more than other soaps and increase its market share. The brand has always hired celebrities when they have reached a certain height rather than using them at the start of their careers. This avoids the issue of celebrities overshadowing the brand, says Angelo Dias, national creative director. In Pakistan LUX has showed Babra Sharif, Reema Khan, Iraj Batool, Iman Ali, Meera, and Vaneeza Ahmed & Amina Haq as role models in LUX. Now they have Reema Khan, Meera, Humaima Malik and Mahira Khan in their new advertisement. Due to these strategies LUX got approximately 43% of total market share among few major soap producers. Moreover, Unilever gets to know that almost everyone uses internet and Facebook these days so they use Facebook as their promotional scheme. They get this insight from the customer that
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The other environmental factors in consumer model are cultural economic, technological & social factors. A cultural factor involves awareness of marketer from society. Every organization should launch their products according to the taste & choices of the people living in that particular area. Even commercials & ads should be made according to taste & culture of that particular society. If the organization fails in doing so then it can face a heavy loss. Social factor involves social class & personal life style. Lux should launch its one quality soap rather than launching local & imported soaps. This creates confusion among the consumers that which soap is better for their skin & which is not good for their skin. They should launch the same quality soaps with same price; this will not only increase their sales but also remove confusion from the minds of consumers that which one is better for their skin. Economic factor is the most important factor of any organization. The difference in the prices of the local & imported soap results in difference in prices. Due to more prices of imported lux many people will switch to local lux .Who can afford imported lux they will also switch to local lux to save their money. This will affect the economy of lux. Technology involves usage of special techniques in order to work their organization in a better way. Lux has adopted many strategies to make their brand one of the best brands of soaps. Its the brand or organization duty to attract the buyers and persuade them to purchase their products .The brand should use different techniques for this purpose & developed different marketing strategies. The marketing strategy of Lux brand is no different than 90% of the large corporations out there, Brand It and Slam It. They spend more time to come up with a pretty & attractive packaging and high priced celebrity commercials and then they spend millions of dollars for publicizing their brands products on TV, newspapers, radio, billboards etc. Lux brand is spending large amount of money for their expensive commercials & ads. Famous celebrities of Bollywood, Lollywood and Hollywood are working in commercials of Lux to create a positive image in minds of consumer and to make their brand famous and unique among other brands.
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CULTURAL FACTORS Cultural factors that influence or affect the consumer behavior are: CULTURE: Refers to the set of basic values, perceptions, wants and behaviors learned by a member of society from family and other important institutions. In case of beauty soaps, the Pakistani culture doesnt support the scenario because of poverty, people have less concerned about health and beauty, but lux targets the higher and middle class which is quite conscious about their beauty. There are two types of lux available in the market one is local and the other is imported, there is price and quality difference which targets the both the upper and middle class. The culture of Pakistan in the upper and middle class is very influenced by these types of beauty products.
SUBCULTURE:
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Group of permanent and ordered divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behavior. It is not determined by only a single factor such as Income group, it includes occupation, and education. High and medium income groups are targeted, in the occupations it doesnt specify or target any but people on high posts are included and at last but not the least people with education buy these beauty products, or lux targets them buy persuasive and informational advertising.
SOCIAL FACTORS
Groups are people who interact to accomplish individuals or mutual goals whereas the social class represents the divisions in a society whose members share similar values, interests, and behaviors. These also include reference groups, people are often are influenced by reference group to which they do not belong. For example a young cricket player hopes to become Wasim Akram someday, or refer to him. In luxs case they advertise on television showing international actresses because its beauty soap and women refer to those actresses.
ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS:
Online social networks include blogs, social networking Web sites, or even virtual worlds, where people socialize or exchange information and opinions. Lux has no individual website but UNILEVER has created a page for it on their official website, there are pages made on all social websites such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace, and tweeter. They promote their product by advertising it and publishing promotional campaigns.
FAMILY:
Family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. In Pakistan the most important factor that affects the buying behavior, this is because Pakistani people are very family oriented. They respect their family values and are eager to follow them. Mostly the ladies do the shopping for the household and they have strong of her elders on what to buy and what not to. Lux targets females and the scenario they create of a fine beauty soap targets all ages.
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People choose products which are appropriate to their roles and status. Lux targets the upper and middle class, it isnt a status symbol though but through massive advertising they do create a wow in the minds of consumers. In Pakistan there are 2 types of lux available local and imported. It can be said that the imported lux is a status symbol because of its price compared to the local lux and other beauty soaps.
PERSONAL FACTORS:
A buyers decision also are influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyers age and life cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, lifestyle, and personality and self-concept.
AGE AND LIFE CYCLE:
Age and cycle refers to the segment of life the consumer is in. As we know lux is beauty soap, females from all age segments will use lux. As they get conscious about their beauty lux starts targeting them by bombing them with advertising.
ECONOMIC SITUATION:
The financial situation of the consumer also affects the buying behavior. Lux targets upper and middle class so people from these two sectors buy lux. People with bad economic or financial situation wouldnt buy a lux because it would be very expensive as its price is above Rs. 60 per piece.
LIFESTYLE:
A persons pattern of living as expressed in his activities, interests, and opinions. Lifestyle also has a very important impact on the buying behavior because if the person hasnt got the lifestyle, for example if the consumer isnt conscious about his beauty and doesnt have any interest of his or her beauty, he or she wouldnt be attracted to the product and that is lux also uses informational advertising to inform them about the fact the it is necessary to take care of your skin.
PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS:
The buying behavior is further affected by psychological factors such as motivation, perception, learning, and beliefs and attitudes.
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A need that sufficiently enforcing, to direct the person, to seek satisfaction of the need. Lux motivates its consumers buy marketing and advertising on almost all mediums possible. It creates a sense in the mind of the consumer that its a need instead of want.
PERCEPTION:
The processes by which people select, organize, and interpret information to a form a meaningful picture of the word.
LEARNING:
The changes in an individuals behavior arising from experience of Lux. If lux was bought by a consumer once for the first time and he or she got satisfied and is not regretting the decision that would create a mindset of lux in his mind.
BELIEF AND ATTITUDES:
Belief is the descriptive thought that a person holds about something, attitude is the persons favorable or unfavorable evaluations.
BUYING BEHAVIOR:
The buying behavior process start with the first step of need recognition people recognize what they actually want this may include a persons need, want, necessity we will talking about the buying behavior of lux(why people buy lux when do they feel that they need a soap and not just any soap they go for lux. NEED RECOGNITION: In the very first step consumer recognizes a problem in our case the consumer recognizes that they need a soap to wash their face, hands, or they need soap for bath.so in the very first stage problem is recognized. INFORMATION SEARCH: Moving on to the next step which is of information search.in this step the consumer will store His/her need in the mind and will try to collect information related to that particular need being rational consumer will try to know more and more about the need in our case the consumer will
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Talking about the buyers of the lux that is business to business purchases; when a retailer orders the products to the supplying agent of the company, he keeps certain things in his mind. Things like market conditions, market demands, price of the product etc. Lux is being produced all over the world and due to this when a retailer or a buyer is given a choice to order products; he goes for the imported brand. The reason for the imported brand is that buyers they feel satisfied with the quality of the product. The major two types of the buying situations are straight rebuys and modified rebuys. The purchasers of the soap Lux make both types of the buying. Straight rebuys is when the buyers, they reorder the products without any modifications. Considering the small retail store holders in some small area, they buy the locally manufactured product and they reorder them without any modifications. The area and the standard of living of the people of that area impact it. If he purchases an imported one then it might stay laying on the shelf because of the high price compared to the locally manufactured one. Modified rebuys is when buyers want to modify the product specification, its price, terms or suppliers. Big retailers and the wholesalers, they make modified rebuys. They take the discounted rates from the company as a result of buying in bulk; they even go for various other types in the same product. Imported and domestically manufactured, both are accompanied by them. Business Buying Process involves decision making and with 5 major roles.
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Users: These people are those who use the product at the end of the day. Now these people provide the retailers or the wholesalers about what they need. For instance, a retailer carries out a small research or asks his customers about what they need. One may say he needs Lux purple lotus and the other may say he needs aqua sparkle. So at the end when buyer makes decision about what to buy, he keeps those things in minds.
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Influencers: Influencers of Lux are the people working in the different departments of the company. They often propose deals with modified specifications and also focus on the alternatives of the brand in the market.
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Buyers: The buyers of the brand Lux are the local retail stores of the big wholesale stores. Deciders: The buyers have the power to make selections and approve the final suppliers of the product; they would prefer to work with. Gatekeepers: Usually the agents/suppliers of the brand Lux; they do not show or leak the information to salespersons or anyone. The accounts are only checked by the owner of the stores.
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ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS According to agents of the company, they bulk raw material in bulk in order to ensure the adequate supply. The demand for beauty soaps are increasing day by day. Lux is a female beauty soap brand; the primary demand for the Lux is high as compared to the rest of the competitors. The company focuses on the new technological trends in order to make sure to produce the product with the greatest quality and at the cheapest cost. ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS The main objective of the brand lux is to provide its customers confidence. Confidence in the sense if they use the beauty soap Lux; their skin would become better and their skin would glow. This is the policy Lux has been keeping since past twenty years.
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS The prices of the brand have been kept low in order to make sure everyone can afford it. The age of the people buying the beauty soap lux varies between 16 and 40. PROBLEM RECOGNITION:
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ORDER ROUTINE SPECIFICATION: This is the time when the buyers finally decide to order. They write a final order with the supplier they prefer to work with, listing all the technical specifications, the quantity of the product they need, the return policy and the delivery times.
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Market segmentation is dividing huge complex markets into smaller segments that can be reached more efficiently the reason behind dividing the market into small segments is that buyers differ in their wants, resources, location, buying attitudes, and buying practices. As we know that lux is a global brand. Lux is satisfying the needs of people all around the world lux is not only targeting one or two countries its targeting people all around the globe so reaching each and every market efficiently is not that easy so lux has also divided the market in small segments (selecting the segment or segments to enter).the market is divided geographically, demographically, psychographic, and behavioral variables.
GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Lux is geographically expanding its self-day by day lux being a brand of unilever is targeting India, Thailand south Africa, Pakistan, china, brazil, Canada, north America, western Europe, Srilanka, Bangladesh, the middle east. Lux has successfully targeted or expanded geographically in almost every country lux was started many years ago and up till now lux is just expanding in a positive way more than 50 years have passed but still the work of lux is not finished yet lux is making its mark day by day. Lux wants to satisfy its consumer everywhere they want their product to be in every departmental store of every country in almost all the cities of that country. Lux is the market leader of India, Thai land, Brazil, South Africa. Geographic segmentation for any brand is quite important because without expanding geographically the brand will never be able to satisfy the needs of people fully so dividing the marketing into small segments area
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DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION
Demographic segmentation is dividing the market according to age, gender, occupation, education, religion, income etc. basically demographic segmentation is the next level. Demographic factors are the most popular bases for segmenting customers groups. Demographically lux has targeted people all around the world of almost all ages because lux has a vast range of beauty soaps, age miracle, whitening soaps, cleansing, and many more so lux is targeting everyone. People of almost all ages plus lux is so affordable so women of any occupation (income) can easily buy lux. So over all lux is for everyone for every women who believes in the statement beauty beings with lux
PSYCHOGRAPHIC
Psychographic segmentation is dividing the market according to social class, life style and personality. Lux as mentioned above has targeted almost all the classes because of its affordable price
BEHAVIORAL
Market segmentation is done according to the occasions, benefits, user status, loyalty status and attitude towards product. Lux is not related with any special occasion or event. Lux is a famous product known to many people and lux is providing benefits to its target market. Lux focused on its geographic segmentation lux is for everyone so lux has not divided its market into so many segments like lux soap is for oily, normal every skin type lux is for every class lux is not for any certain occasion. Lux basically focus on inter-market segmentation (forming segments of consumers who have similar needs and buying behavior even though they are located in different countries) as the definition says its self and mentioned above lux mostly focus on the geographic segmentation. Lux is trying to satisfy the needs of buyers who have similar needs this market segmentation is also known as cross market segmentation.
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Two lux soaps, located on one shelf of retail outlet, one imported and other is local, isnt it deviating the customer? Lux has segmented in most of the countries of the world here we will talk about Pakistan the lux which is produced in Pakistan is different from the lux which is produced in other countries so lux should keep its quality same for every country plus there is a huge difference in the packing to and price to so because the packing, price and quality are main differentiating factors. The thing is if geographically lux is segmenting in different countries then lux should keep price, packing and quality the same because as mentioned above these are the deviating factors of the consumer.
SELECTING TARGET MARKET SEGMENTS
After segmentation the next step is that the company decides how many segments it will target. Now what a target market is a target market is the set of buyers who shares similar needs/wants or characteristics. Company targets the market in four ways: Mass marketing Differentiated market Concentrated market Micro marketing
Lux is using undifferentiated marketing which is also known as mass marketing. In this firm decides to ignore market segment differences and target the whole market with one offer. This mass marketing strategy focuses on what is common in the needs of consumers rather than on what is different. Lux is bringing glamour into the world as lux is targeting all people all around the world as mentioned above. Mass marketing is not that easy as compared with differentiated segments, or niche marketing etc. because the margin of profits is low as compare with other segmented markets.
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The way a product is defined in the minds of consumers as compared the other competing brands for any brand it is quite important to have a unique (positive) image the minds of the consumer.as they say products are created in the factories but brands are created in the minds. Marketers believe in this statement. Lux is positioned as a nice beauty soap having a vast variety .lux has successfully positioned itself in the minds of consumers. Lux promotes all the products in a very nice and descent manner when people see those advertisements then they are more attracted towards the brand and the image of lux brand in their minds is improved.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
Competitive advantage is the advantage over the competitors gained by offering greater customer value, through low price or by providing more benefits lux is providing low prices. Lux believes in providing more for less which is the wining value proposition many companies go for this strategy for maintaining a position in the market company should make its own marketing strategy because if they will not do so their competitors will knock them out lux has made its own strategy that is why lux is still in the market lux is an old brand but still in the market not just in the market lux is competing well with new plus old brands of soaps.
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LUX, a soap for everyone who wants to feel beautiful, its a product by unilever Pakistan limited and it is offered in market as daily consumption soap which can change your bathing into a experience of beauty and Luxury. Everyone needs a soap that is just not a random soap. Thats exactly what unilever is doing they are providing a special soap for every citizen of Pakistan. People who use LUX as their daily soap feel experience nice fragrance and quality bathing experience. On the other hand, when it comes for imported LUX, same product and same experience is being provided, however its target market is international countries. Unilever, currently working in all big countries of world is providing LUX for same reason and almost working under same motto: LUX provides prestige-inspired beauty products made accessible to all which indulge the senses to make your skin and hair smell, look and feel more alluring and attractive, and inspire you to revel in the pleasure of expressing your beauty. Differences are very minor between imported LUX and local one but unilever Pakistan needs to make LUX of Pakistan by creating more customer value not only for Pakistan citizen but for other people around its world. . If LUX of other countries is interfering our LUX economy then LUX of Pakistan should do same to them. Large amount of profit can be generated if sales of Pakistan LUX increases on international basis. The main thing that has to be noticed is that what is the difference between levels of product and services of local LUX and imported one, as far as augmented aspects of local LUX and imported one are concerned, they are almost same, which mainly includes after sale service, warranty and product support. In actual product circle brand name is same, LUX is LUX no matter what. Features are almost same though variety is more in imported LUX products .design , of LUX is same all over the world but local LUX comes into 3 different sizes but imported comes only in one standard size in Pakistan. Packaging is not that different, LUX uses quality and colorful packaging for its product whether local or imported. Quality of imported one is bit improved because of use of heavy technology of developed countries but that doesnt mean local LUX is of low quality. It is one of the best quality soap among all other Pakistani local soaps. However retailers dont agree to consumer. They said that both LUX soaps have same quality All of this analysis leads us to customer value. Users of LUX are 100% satisfied for what they have
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Aqua Sparkle
Crystal Shine
Nature Pure
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Magical Beauty(Purple)
IMPORTED LUX HAS VASTER PRODUCT LINE; THEY PROVIDE LOADS OF VARIANTS
LUX shampoo
LUX conditioner
According to unilever Pakistan We all want to be pampered, to look and feel great, to enjoy that moment when anything seems possible. And that's just what LUX offers you on a daily basis at a price you can afford... Thats on what unilever is positioning its brand , LUX bring the star in you Imported LUX brand is positioned in the basis of Feminine, decadent, but always
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Lux is the global brand which is developed by unilever. Its the world bestselling soap bar. It first launched its soaps in different colors & flavours, but due to its popularity it widen its range of products & now there are shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos & conditioners of Lux. All these products are easily available in the market. Lux soaps are good & best for all type of skins from normal to oily hair The secret of Lux longevity is its consistent & continuous evolution i.e. attractive changes in their products whether it is the soap color, packaging or new variants, the brand is focusing to keep its youthful image and to made it attention seeking among audience. For this purpose they are Extending the soap cake to a range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing bars &this extension & revolution has helped the brand keep consumers
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Internal source involves getting ideas from surveys through internet research or from intelligent persons of the organization. Whereas external source involves getting ideas from suppliers or distributors because they both knows about consumer choices and their problems. Lux should follow both resources & should find through their researches that which soap is the requirement of the consumers whether local or imported. Next step is Idea screening. Brands have not only one idea; there is large number of ideas .Its the organization responsibility to drop the poor ideas. Now Lux should choose whether the launch of one type of product is good or to increase the quality of local soaps to increase their sales like imported products. Third step is Concept development & testing. It includes to develop product image, to find out whether this product will be benefit for the consumer or not, how the consumer will perceive that product. To test their concepts whether their ideas are good or not, whether their products are good or not. Lux should adopt this strategy & find out which product will increase their sales & which products will be appreciated by the public. Local soaps in front of imported soaps will never be preferred because of the difference in quality, so Lux should improve the quality of its local soaps & use high quality ingredients for their production. Next step is Marketing strategy development. This process includes the three steps. First is recognizing target market. Lux should consider its target market & should specify that its products will attract which consumers. Lux target consumers are mostly females, because they launch skin beauty products which are for females. The second part includes products price & marketing budget for the first year. Lux should keep the same prices of its soap so that it results in increase of sales & lux should develop their annual or even long term budget. Third step is defining goals & profits. Next step in the process is Business analysis. Its the step in which company over views the situation of their new product. They find out whether the launch of new product is fulfilling their profits & whether its benefit to their organization or not. Lux will continue producing their local products along with imported products if local product will increase their profits & their sales. Next step is Product development. The process of changing the concept in to reality just like Lux has change its concept in to reality by launching their
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The amount of money charged for the product or service is known as the price of that particular product.as price is a policy so price majorly effects a consumers buying mist of the consumers buys any product if the price of the product is suitable for them or if the price is not suitable the consumer will leave that product and will switch to any other competitor who are providing that product in a lower price. However, price still remains one of the most important elements determining a firms market share and profitability.
FACTORS SETTING THE PRICE
The firm set the price in such a way that above that price level they will lose their consumers and below that price well they will lose profits so selecting the perfect price of the product that will attract the customer and will again company some profits to is a hard job because at the end of the day its all about earning profits. Lux is a smart brand and it knows how to set the price that will gain them profits plus that will attract the consumers too. The price of lux is extremely affordable because lux is not targeting the upper class only lux is for everyone the ones who really wants a nice bar soap for their skin lux due to its affordability the reason why lux has gained so my consumers is that the price level of lux is affordable. If a firm is making a product that is satisfying the needs and wants of the
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Lux adopted the same strategy they designed the product their soap for the consumers then they determined the product cost and then they set the price level finally they set such a price of their soap that attracts maximum customers towards their soap. Lux because of its prices share 43% of market share prices are closely related with the market share lux is the product which is providing quality plus nice price. Lux know this thing very well that if they will increase the price of their bar soap then people will switch to other beauty soaps competing with lux but at a low price level. Lux provides the best pricing with the quality. Lux has adopted a good-value pricing strategies lux offers the right combination of quality, at a fair price. Lux is earning so much profit because they have selected the right way of setting price. Dove is the competitor of lux but most of the people in Pakistan dont use dove or they prefer using lux over dove the main reason behind this is that lux is a bar soap having a price of more than rupees 50 which is not affordable for most of the people so that is why people use lux soap. Lux very well know this thing that middle class people will not pay a lot for just a beauty or bath soap so they have set a low price. External factors also affect the pricing of the product like the economic conditions have a strong impact on the pricing so while setting a price company analyzes the external environment too.
ISSUSE
Now the issue to be discussed here is that there is huge price difference between the international and local lux. People think that as imported lux is expensive so that will give them better results
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Many companies adopt the market skimming pricing in this they initially keep the level of prices quite high market skimming can be useful in only two ways Products quality and image must support the high price and enough buyers and it should attract most of the buyers to buy that in the first price. The costs of producing a smaller volume wont be that high. Competitors should not be able to enter the market that easy.
Some firms dont believe in setting the price level high at initial stage they just keep the price low at first stage so that they can attract maximum customers.
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Setting price is not easy a firm before assigning a particular price to their product has to check so many things there are different lines of pricing. Product line pricing. Optional-product pricing. Captive product pricing. By-product pricing. Product bundle pricing.
PRICING OF LUX
Lux follow different strategies of pricing and attracting its customers lux reduce its price and write the new price instead of old price they often sell their products with others just to attract the customer the often introduce such offers like buy two lux get one free or buy three bundle of lux at a reduced price. Brands try to play with the minds of customers and they set the price in this way.
Lux follows different strategy of pricing like: Geographic pricing They set prices for customers located in different parts of the world
Like the price of lux soap in Pakistan is different from India and other countries etc. Dynamic pricing
Adjusting price continually to satisfy customers and lux follows the same thing the keep on changing the price when required.
PRICE CHANGES
In some cases, the company may find it desirable to initiate either a price cut or price increase.in both cases. Lux soap doesnt changes the price accordingly; Lux set their prices in such a way
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Producing a product & make it available to buyers requires building relationship not only with customers but also with sellers & suppliers in the companys supply chain. The supply chain consists of two partners upstream & downstream. Upstream provides information, supplies, raw materials, components and parts for the development of a product or service .Whereas downstream pattern concentrates on connection between the firm & customer. On line purchasing is also getting common. Because of new technologies & internet companies are developing complex relationship with firms. Whereas supply chain has two views Supply chain make and sell view includes the firms raw materials, productive inputs, and factory capacity. Like Lux needed to inquire which materials are required for the production of their products, what is their capacity & what is their range of producing products. Demand chain sense and respond view suggests that planning starts with the needs of the target customer, and the firm responds to these needs by organizing a chain of resources and activities with the goal of creating customer value. Lux first target their customers then launch their products & find out which products are the needs of the consumers. Unnecessary products should not be launched in the market. Value delivery network is the firms suppliers, distributors, and ultimately customers who partner with each other to improve the performance of the entire system. Lux will combine with the suppliers, retailers & people who are involved in the production of Lux products. When products get ready they are handed over to sellers to add value in them .For this purpose producers uses intermediaries. Intermediaries offer producers greater efficiency in making goods available to target markets. Through their contacts, experience, specialization, and scale of operations, intermediaries usually offer the firm more than it can achieve on its own. Lux contact larger & high level sellers to introduce their products in market, for example unilever limited makes millions of bars of lux soap each day, but you want to buy only a few bars at a time. So big retailers such as Big Bazaar buy Lux by the truckload and stock it on their stores shelves. In-turn you can buy a single bar of lux along with a
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Channel conflict refers to disagreement over goals, roles, and rewards by channel members Horizontal conflict Vertical conflict
Vertical conflict: channel will perform better if it includes a firm, agency, mechanism or providing leadership or has power to assign roles and manage conflict. Conventional distribution systems consist of one or more independent producers, wholesalers, and retailers. Each seeks to maximize its own profits, and there is little control over the other members and no formal means for assigning roles and resolving conflict. Whereas VMS consists of producers, wholesalers and retailers acting as a unified system. Another channel development is horizontal, in which two or more companies at one level join together to follow a new marketing opportunity. By joining another company or by joining competitors can attract the consumers and will increase the sales of their products. Like if lux will combine its competitor like dove or some else it will result in increase in sales or if the Lux does contract with hi-fi stores that these particular stores must sell their products will increase their sales. Multichannel Distribution systems (Hybrid marketing channels) are when a single firm sets up two or more marketing channels to reach one or more customer segments.
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Disintermediation occurs when product or service producers cut out intermediaries and go directly to final buyers, or when radically new types of channel intermediaries displace traditional ones. It is the process of introducing products direct to customers without the help of intermediaries. Like lux will direct place its products in the market without publicizing their products with help of commercial, ads etc.
Integrated logistic s management emphasizes on teamwork both inside the company & among the entire marketing channel to maximize the performance of entire distribution system. Lux will coordinate with all individuals whom are doing better for the organization & their brand whether they are working inside the organization or outside the organization. Interview was also conducted to know more about the Lux brand: Retailer said that imported lux is found only in two main markets of Lahore which are Shah-Alam market & Akbari market. Whereas big stores like metro, macro, hyper star deal with products that have genuine license so that they sale local lux only (under the rule of unilever Pakistan). He said general grocery stores do have both lux soaps (imported and local).
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Like all other brands, LUX has the most effective promotion mix that is one of the major causes of its success. LUX carefully blends promotional tools in order to get its customer value and loyalty. Many beauty soaps came out in market to compete with LUX but fail to do so because of the unique promotional mix of unilever LUX. Local LUX would have not achieved that if its promotional mix is not balanced. One cannot get into maturity level of market. Carefully blended promotional tools helps to give a crystal clear brand message to people out there. Advertising is one of the best tools both local and imported LUX is using for their brand imaging and broadcasting ads on TV is there main focus. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the worlds most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with LUX advertisements. LUX makes its adds with the motto of LUX brings the star in you they use top actresses like Reema, Meera, Babra Sharif, Iraj Batool, Vaneeza Ahmed And Iman Ali are the beauties of Pakistan assisted with LUX. More over now males stars of Pakistan like Shaan and Ali Zafar are working in LUX ads and promotional videos and songs. Humaima Malik and Mahira Khan are new face of LUX. Internationally many old famous stars of Hollywood advertised for LUX, Wallace Beery Leela Chitnis, Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, and Loretta Young, etc. In print media LUX gives advertised in newspapers, magazines and all over internet. Moreover LUX spends large amount of money on bill boards all over Pakistan. The question is whether all this advertisement making consumer to buy local LUX only? Answer is that yes, its working to some extent. Sales promotion is the short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. LUX is playing this game very smartly. Gold coin offer of LUX is one of the best sales promotions. Discount on family pack is another discount offer that worked quite well. Unilever organizes a Mela on super stores like hyper star and metro where LUX is offered at low price (4 packs in RS/120 instead of RS/ 160). The company goes for sponsoring events in order to heighten the company and brand image. Mostly the company goes for financing such kind of events in which its product has got some room to build likeness. The company also goes for sponsoring fashion shows in different cities. Several small level promotional campaigns at different schools, colleges, universities and recreational parks take place. These promotional activities of LUX are very successful which has
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It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX. Unilever believes that advertisement have a strong impact on sales. For this the ads are shown on television.
People are aware of this brand call LUX; they have knowledge about it through media and word of mouth. Customer like it and prefer it on other soaps and stuff. They are convincing that LUX has no substitute and then they finally buy LUX. Unilever Pakistan designed a message for their product LUX brings the star in you which follows the AIDA Model. It gets attention of common people and hold interest because everyone needs glamour in them. It arouses interest so much that people are convinced to buy it. Because everyone wants to feel good and special on daily basis .so all in all LUX is using a rational appeal for it.
CHAPTER 15: ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
LUX always keeps in mind its advertising objectives. They inform about their products tells how special there product is and how well they relate to common people life. And remind the
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