Marketing Strategy:

Small drops make an ocean. This is very true when it comes to the strategy adapted to any
firm. Each and every step, decision, policy has a measurable impact on how the firms
strategy is going to get affected. In such a scenario, managers are extremely cautious about
what they are doing and how they are doing as they would like to keep the strategic objective
as a guideline or beacon their path towards it. Strategy adopted by retail chains are critical as
they are the lifeline of the society and in many ways depict the choices made by their
suppliers, customers and management. Let us observe how Himalaya Drug Company has
positioned itself to achieve competitive advantage through its marketing strategy.
Himalaya Drug Companys marketing strategy can be defined as one of the most detailed yet
fundamental in the modern times. Himalayas marketing strategies are based upon a set of
two main objectives that have guided the firm through their growth years. Shift from focusing
ayurvedic concepts to herbal personal care was a major strategic decision. This was done
mainly to appeal the international markets. "Just old wine in a new bottle" is the typical
reaction one would expect at Himalaya Drug's move to rechristen its personal care range
Himalaya Ayurvedic Concepts to Himalaya Herbals in December 2003. The brand rejig has
also been accompanied by a packaging makeover towards an international look. This is the
second time that Himalaya has undertaken a brand readjustment exercise. Himalaya's
personal care range was introduced in 1999 under the brand name Ayurvedic Concepts. In
December 2001, in a move to leverage Himalaya's brand equity, the company brought the
Ayurvedic Concepts brand name under the Himalaya umbrella. And now, barely two years
after the previous renaming, the latest move has raised questions as to why the company is
making such a conscious effort to reinvent its personal care brand?
"We could have switched directly from Ayurvedic Concepts to Himalaya Herbals in 2001
itself", said Soumitro Banerji, Executive Vice President, Consumer Products, Himalaya.
"However, it was a transitional 'handholding' phase where it was necessary for consumers to
associate the Ayurvedic Concepts range with the Himalaya brand name". He insists that the
umbrella branding remains and this time around, the aim is to create a unique "head to toe"
brand. The personal care range has 40 products spanning hair care, skin care, body care,
health care and oral care.
The complete re-branding exercise and reorientation in the marketing strategy worked out
well and Himalaya is considered one of the best brands in the personal care segment.
Recognising the need to be acceptable to the affluent yet traditional segment was one of the
best steps taken by the company.
Use of information
Having a message that would conjure an excellent brand image is easy but getting the same
across your channel of distribution and to the end consumer is a Herculean task. Apart from
that having the consumer buy into your story and use a product is even more difficult. This is
the thing Himalaya managed to do extremely well.
"Our brand positioning that Himalaya's products are scientifically tested, efficacious products
remains the same," said Banerji. Targeted at the urban audience, the refurbished range has
new products such as protein shampoos in the three variants- Normal, Dry and Oily hair; fruit
packs, mud packs; dental cream and a nourishing skin cream. The last, the company claims,
is a one-of-its-kind product in the market.
To induce trials of their new protein shampoo variants, the company is renewing its thrust on
sachets. Also, Himalaya brought out a 40 ml bottle with the idea that a consumer would try a
shampoo 2-3 times before deciding whether to go for it.
Scientifically backed data was used to induce trails and armed by marketing feedback which
said trails were important for the brand to move on, the project was now to concentrate on
informing the consumer that these products actually work. The first hurdle was the retailer
who had to be convinced first. Himalaya then used information about the scientific validity
and other studies to the retailers and helped them understand the usage of its products. The
sales figures from markets across the world were published and many research reports were
made available to them. This helped the retailers understand the veracity of the products and
helped them push the products. The same reports and studies were made available to the end
consumer which helped them win his confidence over. Thus information was used to ensure
that their marketing strategy was hitting the target.
The global context
Success of Himalaya is also a contribution of their capability to see the big picture or the
global context in understanding what their positioning should be as well as how to align them
to the need of the hour. This global context helped them to enter and seize a sizable market
share in over 28 countries. It can also be attributed to the fact that they concentrated on a
single business strategy. Single business strategy has achieved tremendous success over the
eighty years without relying upon diversification to sustain its growth and competitive
advantages.
Global yet local
An adaptation of products, packaging and positioning was done to suit the local customs,
cultures and legal procedures. The local cultural differences were also observed. This helped
in creating a local strategy to an advantageous stance as the customers found the products
appealing yet the message and the positioning of a global brand was intact. This shows how
combinations of strategies were used to appeal to the local audience while retaining the
global contextual image.
Local yet global
Leading marketing strategies of Himalaya are high quality, wellness, and uncompromised
service with a smile. They are able to give deliver the products needed by the customers at all
times by maintaining high standards and working as a global workforce. All the decisions in
terms of products, packaging, branding was similar across markets. Customers were ensured
that the product they were purchasing in stores in Lithuanian market were similar to the ones
sold in New York. The employee policies and HR practices were also maintained to meet the
global context and developments in the pharmaceutical world were tracked and Himalaya
adapted the strategies of leading businesses to redefine and reorient itself to match their
moves.
E-business as a part of strategy
As in today's major organizations, e-business is imperative for Himalayas continuous
growth. In fact Himalaya is one of the pioneers of the companies that have a presence on the
World Wide Web. At Himalaya e-business is not just another function but a critical one at
that. It acts as a binding factor for all processes and ensures that deliverables come in time, all
the functions are inter connected and consumers can get in touch directly with the brand,
send complaints or feedback and have all the information he needs at a point. The website
interface is very nicely done.
Leading is a major part of e-business. One must establish a direction before one goes down
that path. Himalaya decided to go in the direction of an online store. This enabled customers
who preferred online shopping to purchase what they need from the store online. This has
been a very successful element in Himalaya's over all business, especially during the last 6
years.
The Internet band wagon
There are a number of reasons for Himalayas tremendous success, not the least of which is
its use of the Internet to supplement its retail presence. As Himalaya has been around for 80
years much before the Internet was invented and the need to be present online was felt, it had
to adjust to the new technology and adapt its strategy to suit this new medium. So Himalaya
eagerly embraced technological advances in marketing and supply chain technology and is
now enjoying the benefits of doing business over the Internet. Because the Internets effect
on productivity is still in the early stages, the ultimate impact on Himalayas mega-billion
sales has yet to be seen, but it is certain that the numbers will only go higher. More than
numbers it provided a global presence and varied clientele.
Planning in an organization that utilizes e-business can be very time consuming. It is notable
that management considers additional marketing and advertising strategies for their web
consumers when creating and revealing products. Like most major corporations, Himalayas
website that allows one to view products in detail before purchasing along with their detailed
research reports, technical evidence about its usage and other important information. All
aspects of the products, policies, purchase procedures, and etc are made crystal clear. In e-
business it is imperative to have a system as such. Though there is no actual human contact, a
customer must feel comfortable making decisions on his or her own.
The controlling function of an e-business is what allows everything to operate smoothly.
When "controlling" an e-business it is important to have professionals that understand how
the system works. Himalaya has information technology experts that monitor the system to
guarantee that the site is functioning properly and provide online assistance should a problem
arise.
They have also recognized that integrating the online and offline channel is one of the
greatest values and its offline business would always complement its e-business strategy.
With this integration, leveraging on its massive offline presence to compliment Himalayas e-
commerce operation, its one of their biggest strength.
Though most of its sale happens at the retail store, Himalaya did not only embrace the e-business
strategy but also understood that many online shoppers checked out their products and then
remembered to pick them up when they walked in to the store.

HIMALAYA NEW INITIATIVES
Himalaya has come up with State of the art Retail Outlets that cater to only Himalaya
Products. This is a strategy adopted by Himalaya to entice customers to buy more Himalaya
products. This chain of exclusive Himalaya stores is a retail strategy adopted by the company
to increase the accessibility, visibility and enhance the consumer shopping experience. In the
fiscal year 2006, Himalaya has 92 exclusive retail stores and the number has been increasing
ever since.
These retail stores also act as crucial information centres where the customer queries are
answered by trained managers. Also, these outlets are electronically linked to a Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) Cell, which is assisted by a team of medical doctors who
respond to specific customer health queries.
Customer Interaction Management Himalaya outsourced the entire integration project to a
company called Talisman. CIM has helped Himalaya respond to the queries from the
customers, doctors and distributors. The main advantage of outsourcing CIM was that they
got the module up and running in 2 weeks. Hence, all the queries were catered to and the
expertise of Talisman helped them build and strong and fool proof CIM. Also, the work load
has been reduced as the primary scanning is done by customer service representatives of
Talisman and then the calls / emails are forwarded to the in-house people.
SWOT ANALYSIS
3.2.1 STRENGTHS:
Wide range of products- Pharmaceutical, Personal care, Animal care.
Strong brand image & global presence.
Strong distribution channels, International consignment delivery within 48 hours.
R&D-Regulatory certifications USFDA Quality assurance through GMP,GLP & GCP.
First company to produce 100% herbal baby products.
Strong financial back up

Qualified staff.

Providing customers what they want.

Targeting both urban and rural markets.

Eco friendly herbal product.

Use of natural fluoride in place of fluoride used up by other companies.

3.2.2 WEAKNESS:
Basic image of Himalaya as an herbal health care company.
Limited no of botanical supplier and inappropriate methods of collection and storage leading
to sub optimal levels of active constituents.
Quality constraint.
Due to high price of the product it may be unaffordable for people of rural areas to
pay for the product.


3.2.3 OPPORTUNITIES:
Huge demand of herbal and Ayurveda products in International market.
Untapped rural market.
Next to IT & Biotechnology research in medicinal plants should emerges as the most
sustainable growth sector in the years to come.
High investment and growth.
As it is a daily usable commodity so company is using intensive distribution
technology So that it will available at every shop due to which sales of company's
product will be increased day by day.

As the world is becoming a global village so company had also opportunities to grow
globally.

3.2.4 THREATS:
Major competitors-Dabur,Cavinkare,Jyothy laboratories,Paras Pharmaceuticals,Zandu.
Manufacturing costs & processing costs are high.
Competition from synthetic brands.
Company have to face lots and lots of competitions from the competitors already
present the market.

It is an Ayurvedic product and there are so many international companies present in
the market so it is threat for the company.


Corporate Social Responsibility:
Care for good health:
Journey to good health together
Himalaya has partnered Aarohi, a non-profit organization, working in the remote, rural areas
of Uttarakhand in North India, to promote community health. The partnership aims at
improving maternal and child health in local villages. The Aarohi- Himalaya Health
Initiative, as it is known, seeks to address issues and complications arising from poor
maternal health by providing prenatal and post natal care and by improving access to quality
clinical services for the rural population. Additionally, the medical team is also engaged in
health education and raising awareness for nutrition in government schools, located in the
interior Kumaon region.
Raising awareness for diabetes
Often referred to as the silent epidemic, diabetes has become a major health concern across
the world. Since 2008, Himalaya has been conducting Diabetes Detection Camps across
India. Doctors from Himalaya carry out random blood sugar tests and refer patients for
treatment if abnormal sugar levels are detected.
Information in the local language is disseminated at health clinics to educate the general
public on the disease and healthy lifestyle alternatives. Since the start of this initiative,
Himalaya has reached out to over 300,000 people across India.
Making womens health a priority
Women are societys primary caregivers. Traditional and modern societies alike continue to
depend on women to look after the health of the family. Often, women end up neglecting
their own health, in their role as caregivers.
Jagriti, Himalayas initiative to raise awareness for womens health, aims to educate women
on common health problems and the available solutions. Under this program, leading
gynecologists address groups of women on various health issues such as osteoporosis, breast
cancer, irregular menstruation, menopause-related health concerns, and nutrition and lifestyle
disorders. The women are encouraged to interact with the doctors and are given a free
consultation. The objective of the program is to motivate women to take charge of their own
health. Himalaya conducts close to 500 programs each year, reaching 50,000 women across
India.
Care for Environment:
Greening our stores
Himalaya has over 116 exclusive retail outlets across India. We are on a mission to convert
our outlets to eco-stores by using environment friendly materials and reducing our carbon
footprint.
Every little step helps our planet
As part of our Greening the Store initiative, we are consciously choosing materials which
are better for the environment.
We have installed energy-efficient CFL lights that consume 75 percent less energy and last
up to ten times longer than incandescent bulbs.
The zero volatile organic compound (VOC) paints used in our stores are non-toxic and do not
deplete the ozone layer. The paint is sourced locally, which means less transportation and a
reduced carbon footprint.
Our carry bags are made from 75 percent recycled paper.
Display units within the stores are made from medium density fiberboard (MDF), which is
produced from wood waste and wood chippings.