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Lifebuoy
- Manish Samtani

Read on ................................... personal wash brand. It has been around since 1895. It has always stood for health and hygiene, delivered through germ protection. The ruby red colour soap, with its distinct odour, has carried the Lifebuoy message of health across the length and breadth of the country, making it the largest selling soap brand, not only in India, but anywhere in the world. The name Lifebuoy is supposed to convey the promise of a healthy family, and not just an individual.

As the son of an army officer, I could not think of life without Lifebuoy soap, the only one available in cantonment area shops. Among the things I remember fondly are those times when I used to return after a football match in the rain, soiled from head to toe and drawing the most contemptuous glances from all occupants of the drawing room, as I was loudly instructed to take off my shoes before stepping in. I looked forward to a nice warm bath with Lifebuoy, which my mother believed would disinfect me completely. The advertisement added a swell to my chest since it was portrayed as a soap used by champions and really able-bodied young men, I wanted to grow into. Tandurusti kee raksha karta hai Lifebuoy; Lifebuoy hai jahan, tandurusti hai waha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!still rings a familiar nostalgia and brings back a whiff of the fragrance of old times.

spread

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Lifebuoy, by

the soap HLL. Lever

HLL is the countrys largest marketer of soaps, detergents, and home care products. Some of the brands that lead the HLL pack are Lifebuoy, Lux, Liril, Hamam, Breeze, Dove, Surf Excel, Surf, Rin, Wheel, 501, Sunlight, Vim, and Domex. Lifebuoy, the worlds largest selling soap brand, came into existence in 1895, and was launched in India in 1935. It has been an essential part of the daily Indian bathing experience for millions across the nation.

Brand Positioning and Brand Building

Originally, Lifebuoy was a down market brand, but in recent times, HLL has made efforts to position it as more of an upscale product. HLL has positioned Lifebuoy as a pan-Indian brand, targeted at every Indian family, urban or rural, rich or poor. It aims at bringing alive Lifebuoys promise of family health in an enjoyable and compelling manner. Chimes the HLL spokesman enthusiastically, We strive to build the Lifebuoy brand through mass media advertising, direct consumer contact, and trade activation. HLL repositioned the Lifebuoy

tandurusti marketed Hindustan

Limited is Indias largest

FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) company with brands across 20 different consumer categories, 40,000 employees, inclusive of about 1,425 managers, a behemoth in the Consumer Household Products sphere. Very, very impressive, to say the least.

Brand History
The HLL spokesman sums it all up in his words, is Lifebuoy

brand in 2002, in an attempt to make it more relevant to both new and existing customers. After this revamp, Lifebuoy is no longer just a carbolic soap with cresylic perfume. It is now being

Indias oldest

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Read on ................................... positioned as a toilet soap. The new formulation, launched in 2002, contains Active-B, which protects users against germ infections. The current Lifebuoy formulation offers a superior has bathing also from rethe experience. Lifebuoy for established its message of health consumers, traditional, male, victorious concept of health to a more responsible concept of health for the entire family. Thus a stereotype that glorifies good health for the head of the family (a male), and possibly the other working members of the family (again, invariably males), has been done away with, indeed replaced by a more democratic concept of a healthy family. The Brand Derby has rated Lifebuoy as one of the most successful brand re-launches of all time. As the HLL spokesman points out, After the re-launch, Lifebuoys market share in the bath soaps sector rose from 12% to 18%. In 2003, HLL took a major pricing initiative, by making Lifebuoy available at the bargain basement price of 2 rupees at the retail level. This pricing strategy is targeted at the rural market, where buyers are extremely pricesensitive. In 2004, Lifebuoy saw another re-launch, whereby it was given a new curved shape, a change from the more than 100-year-old brick shape. The health soap now had an easy grip and a modern look. HLL demonstrated, with the aid of laboratory tests, that the new Lifebuoy was twice as good as other soaps in terms of providing Lifebuoy germ now protection. provided good health to the entire family). Lifebuoy has been seen as a valuefor-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, provides Strong, 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 The direct and Lifebuoy consumer productive Swasthya contact communities as well. Chetana programme uses a methodology, and touches the lives of 70 million people in 18,000 villages. A unique feature of this campaign is that it utilises multiple contacts, as opposed to other programmes which are

protection from germs that cause body odour, acne and infections in cuts and bruises. HLL choices currently Lifebuoy Lifebuoy consumers with four Lifebuoy Fresh, Lifebuoy Gold and Lifebuoy Naturals all different variants of Lifebuoy. All these variants are available in the new curved shape and have the new formulation.

Marketing Strategies
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

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Read on ................................... single contact in nature. Gushes the HLL spokesman, This programme aims to educate people about the benefits of handwash with soap, and how handwash can help kill invisible, disease causing germs. It is thus a marketing programme with a strong social cause of improving the health and hygiene of rural India. The brand USP is, Lifebuoy provides 100% better protection from germs as compared to ordinary soaps. which is on a high growth trajectory today. We have come a long way from a ruby red carbolic soap to a range of contemporary offerings. Our vision statement is: Make a billion Indians feel safe and secure by meeting their health and hygiene needs. school-going kid is shown, who, on a holiday, decides to clean up the garbage-strewn streets of his neighbourhood. He wakes up from bed, wears his spectacles, fetches a broom, and ties a piece of cloth around his forehead. He then starts cleaning the streets, dumping the garbage into a cardboard box. He sets an example, as other children in the neighbourhood soon join him. A lady in the neighbourhood expresses her concern for the well being and hygiene of the children, and another lady, a confident mother, reassures her with the words, Koi Dar Nahi. This concerted effort by the children transforms the dirty neighbourhood into a spanking clean area. Now, to express their gratitude, all the parents give their children an open-air bath with..yep, you guessed it right..Lifebuoy. The line Koi Dar Nahi implies that a well-protected family has no reason to fear hygiene related illnesses or problems. Concludes the HLL spokesman, Even for the TV-viewing consumer, in todays cluttered world, we do feel the need to bring our brand alive to consumers in multiple ways at multiple touch points, to remain visible. In conclusion, Lifebuoy seems right on target to make a clean sweep market! of the Indian soap

Brand Positioning for the Future

For the future, HLL intends to position Lifebuoy as a family health offering through germ protection. We will strive to make our promise enjoyable and compelling, to build authority and affinity for the brand, states the HLL spokesman proudly.

Growth of the Brand in the face of Competition

In the mid to late 1990s, Lifebuoy was reeling under the onslaught of the discount soaps, which were luring consumers by offering soaps with modern forms and good sensorial experience at affordable prices. Consumers saw Lifebuoy as an outdated offering vis--vis discount soaps. The two re-launches in 2002 and 2004 enabled Lifebuoy to reverse this trend and reinvent itself. Adds the HLL spokesman, The two re-launches have dramatically altered the fortunes of the brand,

Advertising Media-Mix
In addition to its TV campaign, HLL also uses other methods and media, such as direct consumer contact, radio, statics, and point-ofsale, in order to reach consumers who do not have access to a television set. The Lifebuoy account is currently being handled by the ad agency Lowe. In the Lifebuoy ad by Lowe, a