2010

A
Major project report
ON
Fair and Lovely

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for

Bachelor of Commerce (2018-2021)

Under the guidance of

Ms. Suman
Professor, FIMT

SUBMITTED BY
Simran Gupta
35351488818
BCOM (H) 2nd SEMESTER

FAIRFILLED INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY

Affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi
FIMT Campus, Kapashera, New Delhi-110037

arketing Mana
12/15/2010
 STUDENT DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project entitled “FAIR &LOVELY” under the guidance of
Mrs. Suman, submitted in the partial fulfillment of degree of Bachelors of commerce
2nd semester from “FAIRFIELD INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, NEW
DELHI “. This is my original work and this project has not formed on the basis for the award
of any degree to the best of my knowledge.

Name: SIMRAN GUPTA

Enroll no. : 35351488818

Place: NEW DELHI

DATE:
 CERTIFCATE BY THE GUIDE

This is to certify that the project title “FAIR N LOVELY “is the original
Work of SIMRAN GUPTA, enroll no. : 35351488818, student of B.COMM (H),
2nd semester, and has been duly completed her project under my guidance
And supervision up to my satisfactory level.
This work has been done in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the
degree of B.com(H) , from Fairfield institute of management and
technology, New Delhi, and has not been submitted anywhere in any other university
for the award of any degree .

Mrs. Suman
Asst. Professor, FIMT
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
It is pleasure to acknowledge many people who knowingly and unwittingly helped me to
complete my project. First of all let me praise god for all blessings, which carried me through
all those years.

I am particularly indebted to Director Dr. R.K. Garg, Fairfield Institute of Management and
Technology, which inculcated in me utmost respect for human values and groomed me up in
the field of software technology to take on the competitive world.

First & foremost, I would like to express me regards to Mrs. Suman for her constant
encouragement and support. I would also like to express my immense gratitude towards all
the lectures of our college for providing the invaluable knowledge, guidance, encouragement
extended during the completion of this project.

I extend my sincere gratitude to all my teachers and guide who made unforgettable
contribution. Due to their sincere efforts I was ablw to excel in the work entrused upon me.

Signature of student.
 CONTENTS
Teacher’
S.no. Particulars s
signatur
e
1. Company Profile
2. Indian Cosmetic Market Fair & lovely
Making of the Brand Fair & lovely
3.
Fair & Lovely Variants
4.
Competitors
5.
Pricing
6.
Target Market
7.
Evolution of the Distribution Market
8.
Distribution Network
9.
Evolution of the Brand
10.
Promotion Strategies used by Fair & Lovely
11.
Fair & Lovely Foundation
12.
Completed Projects by the Foundation
13.
Data Analysis and Interpretation
14.
Questionnaire Retailers
15.
Survey
16.
Recommendations (Consumers and Retailers)
17.
18 . Conclusion
Bibliography
19.
Company Profile: HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods
Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories
in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover
is Rs. 17,523 cores (for the financial year 2009 - 2010)
HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving
consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe
witnnual sales of about €40 billion in 2009 Unilever has about 52% shareholding in
HUL.

Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list
of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in
partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked
number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India.

The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400
managers, is to help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands
and services that are good for them and good for others. It is a mission HUL shares
with its parent company, Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity.

Products offered by HUL:

Food Brands:
Annapurna Taj Mahal Kwality Wall’s

Red Label Bru Lipton

Brooke Bond 3 Roses Knorr Modern

Brooke Bond Taaza Kissan

Personal Care Brands:

Axe Clear Oils Fair & Lovely

Aviance New Clinic Plus

Ayush Close Up

Breeze Dove

Home Care Brands:

Active Wheel Rin

Domex Comfort

Surf Excel VIM

 Indian Cosmetic Market
In India there is a large demand for cosmetic products. Total Indian beauty and
cosmetic market size currently stands at U.S. $950 million and showing growth between
15-20 percent per year. The overall beauty and wellness market that includes beauty
services stands at about $2,680 million. (Bhattacharya, 2007) One can easily see that
middle and high class Indian people spend a large portion of their money in cosmetic
product or service. According to the latest Euro monitor report the Indian color cosmetic
market stands at $4113.4 million and skin care at $346.9 million (Bhattacharya, 2007).
If properly marketed and advertised, any cosmetic product will be successful within the
Indian Market.

Fair & Lovely

Brand: Fair & Lovely

Agency: Lowe
Company: HUL

Fair & Lovely, a branded product of Hindustan UniLever, LTD (HUL) touted a cosmetic
cream that supposedly lightens the skin “the miracle workers.” This product is popular in
many Asian countries such as India and China. Many Indians have come to view fair skin
as the ideal – and a business opportunity (Perry, 2005). Skin color is important in India and
many other Asian countries, where lighter skin color represents a higher status. In those
countries, fair skin is associated with positive values that relate to class and beauty.
Market Share of Fair & Lovely

Fair & Lovely (F&L) is the brand that revolutionized the Indian Skin care industry. This
brand is World's first and largest Fairness cream brand with a presence in 40 countries
and a value of around Rs. 6 billion

Indian skin care market was dominated by conventional beauty care products like
Bezan, Multani Mitti etc. F&L changed all that. Launched in 1975, F&L is the product
born in the Unilever research center. In 1988 the brand went international. F&L
commands a market share of 53% in the Rs 1000 corer fairness market in India.

F&L virtually created and owned this category for long. In the fairness market, F&L
enjoyed monopoly till Cavin Kara entered this lucrative segment with Fairever. The
success of Fairever prompted many players like Godrej to tap the market.

F&L sustained the pressure from the competitor by careful branding and new product
launches. The brand never failed to emulate and learn from the competitor .When
Fairever launched the Ayurveda variant, F&L launched a much better variant. Then
came the competition from Ozone Ayurveda’s with their brand No Marks trying to carve
a niche. HUL countered with F&L Antimeres and launched a controversial comparative
ad that took the steam out of No Marks.

When Fairever launched the soap, F&L also responded with soap. F&L never allowed
the competitors to gain an upper hand in the market which it created.
F&L achieved such tremendous success because of careful branding and ad campaigns.
Initially HUL had to do some ugly talking about fairness. Some of the ads were
controversial because of gender inequality and stuff like that. It was necessary at that
period because the category was new and the brand should first talk about the need to be
fairer.
Now the brand has laddered up to more aspirational values like "Transformation of
Women" The insight is that the transformation will be more than skin deep. The ads
showing a girl achieving the ambition of being a cricket commentator ( a male bastion)
were very much effective in connecting with the TG.

HUL has also extended the brand to more aspirational values by launching Fair& Lovely
foundation that works for Women Empowerment achievement and transformation which are
the qualities for which F&L stands for.

F&L have also launched a premium sub brand Perfect Radiance to tap the premium
segment of the market.

Fair & Lovely was able to dominate the fairness market because of careful marketing and
is a showcase of the marketing genius of HUL.

Making of the Brand Fair & Lovely

Hindustan Unilever's star product in the fairness creams segment had evolved into one of
the most successful brands over three decades in as many distinct phases. Phase 1 saw
the launch of the product in 1976 on the basic premise that "younger women wanted to
have fairer skin in order to attract a better looking husband." HUL marketed this brand as a
beauty cream capable of providing fairness within 8 weeks. The value proposition lucidly
communicated to the consumer base read, "Get noticed by the man of your life."

During Phase 2 of Fair & Lovely's evolution, the brand talked to a younger college going
woman who is self-confident and more modern in her outlook and believes home remedies
for facial care to be old fashioned. In Phase 3, this further metamorphosed into a brand
offering emotional benefits for achievers who actively seek solutions and do not look at
marriage as the ultimate source of personal achievement. Fair & Lovely thus became a
brand which communicated a message that Fairness leading to Beauty leading to Good
husband to Fairness leading to Self-confidence leading to Good career.

Negative Publicity
The brand has had its share of negative publicity, with women’s groups calling the ad
regressive. The ads, which focused on the mass aspiration of “marrying well”, soon
moved to more progressive ones in the 1980s.
The early 1990s saw the brand take on the role of enabler of t dreams. In the late 1990s, the
brand message was that a woman could make her own destiny—a thought that was carried
forward in all its campaigns. In 2007, the brand tweaked its approach to the Power of Beauty
platform.
With the fairness cream business accounting for the lion’s share of the skincare products
industry here, several companies have launched fairness creams in the hope of securing a
piece of the growing pie.
While none were able to challenge HUL in terms of numbers, they did start eating into the
company’s market share with unique offerings.

Fair & Lovely was quick to take on competition—with variants. So, whether it was unique
offerings such as Ayurveda formulations with saffron (to combat Fairever by CavinKare Pvt.
Ltd) or those that claimed to erase marks (to fight No Marks by Ozone Ayurvedics), Fair &
Lovely managed to launch variants that matched, and in some cases even topped, the
promise touted by the competitor. To tap the premium segment of the market, Fair & Lovely
also launched Perfect Radiance. The popularity of the brand and category can be gauged
from the fact that today, it even has a variant for men.

Fair & Lovely had typical ads for like 20 years which mainly showed that before using the
cream the girl is dark looking and is not confident, and when she uses Fair & Lovely she
becomes confident and her career starts flourishing. Moreover in a particular ad they
showed that the father is sad that he doesn’t have a son. The ad showed that if the girl is
beautiful then only she will get a good job. Their advertisements were demeaning women.
Later when they were sued by the AIDWA in 2002. They changed their strategies. The
company started working towards the empowerment of women by “ Fair & Lovely
Foundation” and they started with various projects which targeted mainly working women.
Now their ongoing scholarship program is also doing well. The company had highest
market share and to retain that they had to change their advertising strategies as they were
going against the society. Now there advertisements emphasize more on empowering
women.

Fair & Lovely Variants

Different people have different skin types and that is why, Fair & Lovely has a range of
variants to meet the different needs.

Fair & Lovely Multivitamin Cream

World's number 1 fairness cream now redefines the route to fairness with the new
advanced Multivitamin Fairness and Nourishment formula. The cream gives total
fairness in four weeks that rivals the best professional beauty treatment, but without
bleach or harmful chemicals that can damage skin.
Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Fairness Cream
Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Fairness Cream brings in the fairness secrets of ancient Ayurveda
that provides Nourishment, Protection and Purification. It is enriched with the magical
Ayurvedic blend of Kumkumadi Oil - a mixture of 16 Ayurvedic ingredients, which enhances
complexion and cures discoloration of skin.

Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk

Now complements and matches the fairness on your face with the fairness on your body
through Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk. Its gentle formulation gives fairness all the year
round.

Fair & Lovely Skin Clarity – Antimarks

The miracle worker Fair & Lovely now not only removes spots but gives fair flawless skin
through the Skin Clarity variant. It contains proven ingredients including Vitamin B3, skin
silicones, fruit principles, aloe vera and Vitamin A.
Fair & Lovely Menz Active (Max
Fairness)
Fair & Lovely, the world's number 1 fairness cream, now introduces Fair & Lovely Menz
Active, the fairness cream for men. Fair & Lovely Menz Active is perfect for skin that is
naturally touch, is regularly exposed to harsh outdoor routines, has more stubble and is
rougher due to regular shaving.

Keeping in mind different requirements of different skin, Fair & Lovely offers its
consumers in the Middle East a range of variants. Besides the leading all-purpose Fair
& Lovely multivitamin fairness Cream, Fair & Lovely in the GCC offers a herbal range,
an Oil Control Fairness Gel, anti-marks and a new range of facial cleansers (face wash,
mask, exfoliating wash). Fair & Lovely is constantly looking at bringing in new
innovations that suit the Middle Eastern market and meet its consumer’s needs and
aspirations.
Competitors

Company Brand Product category

HUL Fair n lovely Cream, soap

Emami Naturally fair Cream

Cavin care Fairever Cream

Paras Freshia Cream

Godrej Fresh glow Cream, soap

HUL (Pond’s) Pond’s fairness cream, Cream, lotion

pond’s cold cream
HUL (Lakme) Lakme sunscreen lotion, Cream, lotion
lakme sunscreen cream
L’Oreal Grainer products Cream, lotion

Category Major Competitors

Equivalent pricing Fairever, Fairglow, Himalaya, Nivea,

Vicco, Emami
Mass premium Garnier, Perfect Radiance, Revlon

Mens fairness cream Fair & Handsome, Garnier Mens Powerlite

a) Comparative analysis of Fairever and Fair & Lovely
Fairever is a challenger brand. It was the first brand to challenge the market leader Fair
& Lovely. Fairever was launched in 1998. Initially launched in South India, this brand
went national a year after. It was the time when Fair & Lovely (F&L) was ruling the
Indian fairness cream market. The phenomenal success of F&L and the marketing
might of HUL scared off many potential rivals. It was interesting to note that ever since
Its launch F&L never faced any competition from any players till Cavinkare decided to
take on the behemoth.
From the launch, Fairever was clear about its positioning and differentiation. The brand
was positioned on the basis of its main ingredients Saffron and Milk. So a product with
the unique blend of Saffron and Milk was appealing to the target segment. Within six
months of the launch, Fairever garnered a neat six percent of the fairness market. The
ads of Fair & Lovely was predictable and was revolving around Girl becoming fair and
then attractive to men. But it was Fairever who broke these cliché ads and turned that
attention to Achievement rather than Fairness. But in the ad war that ensued, F&L took
over the concept of Women Empowerment and owned the positioning. Fairever also
faced some legal issues with F&L.
Fair & Lovely still ha she highest market share of about 53% and deeper market
penetration too as compared to Fairever.

b) Comparative analysis of Garnier Powerlite and Fair

& Lovely Menz Active
Fair & Lovely Menz Active was launched in October 2006. . It was the second entrant in
the Indian Men’s Fairness Cream market after Emami. Fair & Lovely Men’s Active is
scientifically tailored for men’s skin so now the product has to focus on attracting new
customers. The market of Men’s Fairness Cream in India is now a 4 year old market.
But there’s still a huge untapped potential. Hence HUL has to follow the policy of
“Market Penetration” for this product.

Garnier Powerlite has various features that men would like. They have launched face
wash, moisturizer especially for men. It is a brand extension of Loreal so men mainly of
middle and higher class would like to try it as compared to Fair & Lovely Menz Active. It
has penetrated distribution channel which Fair & Lovely still has to work on
Pricing
Prices are important part in the fairness creams. Prices are highly variable across the
various segments of the products. Products in the low category are in the price range of
about Rs. 15-100. They vary according to size (25gm, 50gm, 80 gm, 100gm and 200gm).
In the Middle end the prices are between the ranges of Rs. 150-300. In the High end the
prices vary anywhere between Rs. 350-800. Prices are crucial in the lower end as they
target the mass crowed and hence they have to keep the prices competitive. As for the
middle end and higher end product the prices are more on quality as they are not targeting
the masses but concentrate on effectiveness and quality of the product. Pricing decisions
should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors.
Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, financing, and other options such
as leasing.
Currently Low price strategy is being followed by the company with regard to Fair & Lovely.
➢ Affordability is determined by 2 factors:
 Income of the consumer
 Price of the products and services
➢ Factors affecting the price
 Internal Factors – Cost, Pricing Objective.
 External Factors – Customer, Suppliers and Competitors.
The Pricing objective of Fair & Lovely is similar to the objectives of all the other firms, and
has been stated below:
Survival.
Market Share.
Fair & Lovely has adopted many pricing strategies over the years which have been pretty
successful and helped the brand in becoming more acceptable and the company a good
deal of profits. The pricing methods used by Fair & Lovely are as follows:-
Mark-up pricing: Mark-up price is the difference between the cost of
A good or service and its selling price. A mark-up is added on to the total cost incurred by the producer
of a good or service in order to create a profit. The total cost reflects the total amount of both fixed and
Variable expenses to produce and distribute a product.

Product line pricing: Product line pricing is used when a primary product is offered
with different features or benefits, essentially creating multiple "different" products or
services fully stocked with all the features and add-ons. Each product would then be
priced accordingly.

Promotional pricing: Promotional pricing is a sales and marketing technique. It involves reducing the price
of a product or service to attract customers. Promotional pricing often involves reducing prices to
unsustainably low levels. In some cases, products and services may be sold at or below cost. A buy one get
one free scheme may even be used. When this is done, interest in goods can be greatly increased; meaning
sales are also likely to increase dramatically.
Competitors Price
Price Chart of the Fair & Lovely cream in India:

Product 80 gm (Rs.) 50 gm (Rs.) 25 gm (Rs.) 9 gm (Rs.)

Multivitamin 102 70 38 7
Max Fairness - 70 38 -
for men
Anti-marks - 80 46 7
Ayurvedic - 70 38 7
Balance
Winter - 70 38 -
Fairness
Fair ever 102 68 37 7

Fair & Lovely ahs always focused on lower and middle class socio-economies and priced taking the budget
constraints of those people into consideration. However newly introduced version “Anti-marks” has been
priced a bit higher which works towards reducing marks on consumer’s face.

Target Market
The target market for Fair & Lovely is predominantly young women aged 18-35.
Disturbingly, “there is repeated evidence that schoolgirls in the 12-14 years category
widely use fairness creams”. The poor also are a significant target market for Fair &
Lovely. HUL marketed the product in ‘affordable’ small size pouches to facilitate
purchase by the poor. Fair & Lovely targets the poor or those at the ‘bottom of the
pyramid’ as well.

Evolution of the Distribution Market

To meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer, HUL had set up a distribution
network that ensures availability of all their products, in all outlets, at all items. HUL has
a very good distribution channel distribution network catering to every nook and corner
of the Country. This includes, maintaining favourable trade relations, providing,
innovative incentives to retailers and organizing demand generation activities among
host of other things.
HUL has followed a strategy of building its distribution channels in a transitional manner,
in different successive phases of its evolution of its distribution system, has penetrated
well into the rural market.

Phase 1
The HUL distribution network has wholesalers placing bulk orders directly with the
company. Large retailers also place direct orders, which comprised almost 30 percent of
the total orders collected. Goods are then sent to these markets, with the company
salesman as the consignee. The salesman then collects and distributed the products to
the respective wholesalers, against cash payment, and the money is remitted .

Phase 3.

The focus of the second phase was to provide desired products and quality service to
the company’s customers. In order to achieve this, one wholesaler in each market was
appointed as a “Registered Wholesaler,” a stock point for the company’s products in
that market. The company salesman still covered the market, canvassing for orders
from the rest of the trade. He would then distribute stocks from the Registered
Wholesaler through distribution units maintained by the company. The Registered
Wholesaler was given a margin of 1 per cent to cover the cost of
warehousing and financing the stocks held by him. The Registered Wholesaler system,
therefore, increased the distribution reach of the company to a larger number of
customers.
Phase 3
The highlight of the third phase was the concept of “Redistribution Stockist” (RS) who
replaced the Registered Wholesalers. The Redistribution Stockist was required to
provide the distribution units to the company salesman. The Redistribution Stockist
financed his stocks and provided warehousing facilities to store them. The
Redistribution Stockist also undertook demand stimulation activities on behalf of the
company. The second characteristic of this period was the changes brought in as the
company realised that the Redistribution Stockist would be able to provide customer
service only if he was serviced well. This knowledge led to the establishment of the
“Company Depots” system. This system helped in trans-shipment, bulk breaking, and
acted as a stock point to minimize stock-outs at the Redistribution Stockist level.

Phase 4
Recently significant change has been the replacement of the Company Depot by
a system of third party; the Carrying and Forwarding Agents (C&FAs). The C&FAs act
as buffer stock-points to ensure that stock-outs did not take place. The C&FA system
has also resulted in cost savings in terms of direct transportation and reduced time lag
in delivery. The most important benefit has been improved customer service to the
Redistribution Stockist.

Distribution network
HUL products are distributed through a network of 4,000 redistribution of stockiest
covering 6.3 million retail outlet reaching the urban population, and about 250 million
rural consumers. Distribution system’s focus to enable easy access to their brands,
touch consumers with a three-way convergence – of product availability, brand
communication, and higher levels of brand experience HUL's products, are distributed
through a network of about 7,000 redistribution stockists covering about one million
retail outlets.

Distribution at Urban Centers

Distribution of products from the manufacturing site to C & F agents take place
through either the trucks or rail roads depending on the time factor for delivery
and cost of transportation. Generally the manufacturing site is located such that
it covers a bigger geographical segment of India. From the C & F agents, the
 goods are transported to RS’s (Redistribution Stockist) by means of trucks and
the products finally make the ‘last mile’ based on the local popular and cheap
mode of transport. The general trade comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale,
kiosks and general stores.HUL is using the point of purchase method for much higher
level of direct contact, through in-store facilitators, sampling, education and experience.
It has developed customer management and supply chain capabilities for partnering
emerging self-service stores and supermarkets.
Hindustan Unilever is simultaneously creating new channels, designed on the same
principle of holistic contact with consumers. One of the efforts in this direction is
Operation Streamline .In 1998; HUL launched Operation Streamline to extend their
distribution. Operation Streamline is one of the major initiatives undertaken by HUL in
recent times to penetrate the rural markets. In the case of Operation Streamline, the
goods are distributed from the C&F Agents to the Re-distributors, who in turn pass it on
to the Star Sellers Operation Streamline opened up a new distribution channel beyond
the territories, in less than two years; it has doubled the company’s reach in rural India.
Lever’s distribution network now covers 60 per cent of the villages with population
greater than 2,000, and having motor able roads. Penetration levels for Fair & Lovely
cream shot up nearly three times in just three months of launch of project.
For the additional 30,000 villages that HUL wanted to reach, it created a super
stockiest; sub-stockiest structure. The super-stockiest in the bigger towns service these
sub-stockiest, who are paid 1-2 per cent more margins that the retailers. This is to cover
the sub-stockist’s costs in servicing retailers in his area. Since the distributor cannot
cover these retailers regularly, these sub-stockiest are essentially stock points. Then,
once dealers do the necessary demand creation exercises and as such off takes
increases.
Evolution of the brand:
Launch Phase:
At the time of launch 1975, the critical task for Fair & Lovely was to tell consumers
that it was a safe and efficacious skin cream, unlike the bleaches that were available
in the market that were the only offerings that promised temporary fairness.
Therefore building efficacy and safety was the main goal as Fair & Lovely was the first
brand that was offering real, tangible fairness.
Launch of the product on the premise that “younger women wanted to have a fairer skin
in order to attract a better looking husband.”
Value Proposition: “Get noticed by the man of your life.”
Romance Phase:
Era of romantic movies so Fair & Lovely concentrated on women and getting for them
their dream man. This was considered as an achievement. It also concentrated on
married women looking to keep spark alive in their relationship.
Destiny Phase:
This is the phase about achieving one’s dreams and desires. The key communications
that epitomize this phase is the Airhostess ad, the Cricket ad and the Ayurveda ad. The
cricket ad shows a girl achieving her dreams of becoming a cricket commentator, an
arena which has long been regarded as a male bastion.
Unique Selling Proposition:
Power of beauty
Maximum fairness with the power of 8
For flawlessly fair skin
Change your story- Fair & Lovely Menz Active
Fairness in 4 weeks

Target Market
Demographic:
Age: - 15 to 45 years
Gender:-
 Female are more ardent buyers of fairness cream
 Yong women aged 15-25 years
 School girls aged 12-14 years
 Middle class families (rural, urban people)
 Also men aged 15-45 and school boys aged 12-14 years

Female: - Fair & Lovely- Anti- Marks Cream, Anti-Marks for blemish skin, Ayurvedic
Balance, Multi Vitamin winter fairness cream.
Male: - Max Fairness for Men, Menz Active Cream
Income Group: - 1 to 3 lakhs income groups is a big customer group for fairness
cream.

Promotion Strategies used by Fair & Lovely

TV Campaign
The following ad is of Fair & Lovely fairness cream of HUL.
Advertising Objectives:
1) Affective association:- Destiby & Romance
2) Building brand awareness and developing strong customer perception about the
brand
3) Enhancing brand image
4) Recall of brand/products

Advertising Appeal:
 1) Emotional appeal to grab attention
2) Mass appeal to communicate product usage and its positive affects on beauty
3) Fear appeal to grab attention

Media Vehicle;
Here the media vehicle used by the brand is those TV channels which are more popular
among women like Star Plus, Sony, Colours, NDTV Imagine who telecast more and
more daily soaps.
Advertising Seasonality:
Campaign period of an ad is not less than 6 months and not more than a year.

3 categories of ads are advertised by the brand

1) General
2) Occasional- wedding season and festive season
3) Seasonal- As it has product for all seasons

Print Media:
Advertisements in the print and electronic media highlight the functional benefits and
the self-expressive benefits that accrue to the users of the brand. For example, the
new suggested variant Fair & Lovely Lucent Proteins clearly highlight the concept of
"beauty beyond fairness". By using a celebrity endorser like Hema Malini for
promoting the anti-ageing cream, the message sent out was loud and clear - ageing
with laugh lines, and not wrinkles.

The Fairness Meter:

The Fairness Meter brought a new level of accuracy to the time-honoured tradition of
judging people by the colour of their skin. Part of the Fair & Lovely line of cosmetics, the
Fairness Meter helps Indian men and women to accurately track the bleaching effect of
Fair & Lovely’s skin-whitening cream. The lower the number – the logic goes – their
fairer the person and thus the more beautiful.
Fair & Lovely had typical ads for like 20 years which mainly showed that before using
the cream the girl is dark looking and is not confident, and when she uses Fair & Lovely
she becomes confident and her career starts flourishing. Moreover in a particular ad
they showed that the father is sad that he doesn’t have a son. The ad showed that if
the girl is beautiful then only she will get a good job. Their advertisements were
demeaning women.
Later when they were sued by the AIDWA in 2002. They changed their strategies. The
company started working towards the empowerment of women by “Fair & Lovely
Foundation” and they started with various projects which targeted mainly working
women. Now their ongoing scholarship program is also doing good. The company had
highest market share and to retain that they had to change their advertising strategies
as they were going against the society. Now there advertisements emphasize more on
empowering women.

Fair & Lovely Foundation:

HUL mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene,
and personal care with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out
of life (Unilever, 2006b). With regards to their Fair & Lovely brand, they achieve this
goal by instilling confidence in women by enabling them to create an external image of
themselves that they feel proud of. The creation of the Fair & Lovely Foundation, which
has educated and empowered economically thousands of low-income women across
India, is the greatest testament to their care and advocacy for women (Fair & Lovely,
2007). This foundation initially faced few challenges but this foundation speaks louder
than of what they are striving to be as a brand and company than any other promotional
activity. This transformation helped them to undercut the efforts of direct competitors
such as CavinKare’s Fairever to exploit their bad publicity and position themselves as
more socially responsible. It has also been a key to rebuilding their image and securing
their brand as the market leader.

Completed Projects by the Foundation:

1. Fair & Lovely Career Guidance
A good career comes from a sensible choice made after evaluating one's
capabilities, interests and talent. It is imperative for students who finish their 10th
and 12th standard exams to make an informed career choice. Fair & Lovely
organized Career Fairs each year across the country for young girls who were at
crossroads and needed to evaluate the available options before they made a
decision. The Fair & Lovely Foundation Career Guidance fairs provided adequate
guidance and relevant information to the students on over 200 career options. A
student could go for a one-to-one counselling session, an aptitude test to gauge
their capabilities, attend workshops and identify where their interest lies. Till date,
over 6, 00,000 students have used this platform to their advantage. The Career
 Fair was held in over 25 cities in India. . Project Disha organises a ‘career fair’
where girl students can obtain information on 100 career options, and have one-
on-one counselling, aptitude tests, career workshops and exhibits.

2. Fair & Lovely Shikhar

This is an initiative taken by the Fair & Lovely Foundation to explore and share
the awe inspiring stories of women achievers who have overcome all obstacles
with their strong will and positive attitude and dared to change their destiny. It is a
thirteen episode show based on real life stories of women from different walks of
life.

3. Fair & Lovely Swayam

Fair & Lovely Foundation's Project Swayam conducted in 2005 was an initiative
in the area of education and enterprise for women in association with VRDC
[Vanasthali Rural Development Centre]. This project helped train women and
equip them with the knowledge to become effective teachers for pre-school
students. Post their training, these women, with help from VRDC had an
opportunity to start their own schools which provided them an earning
opportunity. This project was replicated in 2005 in Bihar in association with local
NGO - Jan Jagran Sansthan.

4. Fair & Lovely Survana

Project Suvarna aims to identify and select talent in the field of athletics for girl
between the age group of 12 - 16 years.

The project covered the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in the year
2005.Participants were selected from a large base of competing talented girls on
their athletic abilities by none other than India's renowned athlete - P. T. Usha.

173 girls out of 5000 were selected and trained under the guidance of Ms. Usha
along with Fair & Lovely Foundation to give these girls their wings!

Ongoing Projects
Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships:

The Fair & Lovely Scholarships assists deserving women in pursuing their educational
goals. It is an initiative taken for all those who have the aptitude, drive and ambition but
are bound by financial constraints. The Scholarship provides a voice to the talent that
would have gone unnoticed and opinions that would never have been heard. It is an
ongoing endeavor to give women the privilege of a formal education and over 600
women till date have benefited from this opportunity.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1 Showing gender distribution of the male and female users of
the product

Gender
Male 20 41%
Female 29 59%
Source: Primary Data

Analysis: Out of the total of 49 respondents 29 are female respondents and 20 are
male respondents.
Inference: From the data collected it can be inferred that 59.2% of the surveyed
respondents are female and the remaining 40.8% of the respondents are male.

1.2 Showing the age group of the surveyed consumer group:

Age No. of Respondents Percentage

Less than 20 12 24.5%
20-25 18 36.7%
25-30 11 22.4%

30-35 5 10.2%

35 and above 3 6.2%

Source: Primary Data

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 18 belong to 20-25 age group followed by 12

respondents from <20 age group, 11 respondents from 25-30 age group, 5 from 30-35
age group and the remaining 3 respondents from >35 age group.
Inference: From the data collected it can be inferred that 36.7% of the surveyed
consumers belong to the 20-25 age group, 24.5% belongs to <20 age group followed by
22.4% that belongs to 30-45 age group, 10.2% belong to 30-35 age group and 6.2%
belongs to the >35 age group. It is found that there are more users of the product in the
age group of 20-30 years.

1.3 Showing the brand preference and awareness of

various brands of fairness cream by the surveyed consumer
group.
- Fair & Lovely

1 2 4%
2 3 6%
3 10 20%
4 13 27%
5 21 43%
– Fairever
1 3 6%
2 15 31%
3 11 22%
4 16 33%
5 4 8%

– Himami
1 12 24%
2 8 16%
3 18 37%
4 9 18%
5 2 4%

– Vicco
1 14 29%
2 16 33%
3 9 18%
4 7 14%
5 3 6%
 – Others
1 19 39%
2 8 16%
3 4 8%
4 7 14%
5 11 22%

Source: Primary Data

Analysis: From the above data (where 1 stands for low and 5 stands for high
preference and awareness) it can be seen that out of the 49 respondents 21 have rated
Fair & Lovely high(5) as against 4 of Fairever, 2 of Himami, 3 of Vicco and 11
respondents who have rated other products and brands highly in comparison to the
ones listed above.
Inference: From the data collected from the surveyed respondents above it can be
inferred that 43% of the respondents would prefer and know about Fair & Lovely highly
(5), whereas only 8% of the respondents prefer Fairever, 4% prefer Himani, 6% prefer
Vicco and 22 % prefer the other brands like Garnier, Emami, etc.

1.4 Showing the factors that influence brand preference.

Fairness 25 51%
Sunscreen 19 39%
Fragrance 2 4%
Other 3 6%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents, 25 respondents think that fairness influences
brand preference, 19 feel that sunscreen that it carries influences the same, 2 think the
fragrance does and 3 feel that there is some other reason why this happens.
Inference: From the data collected it can be seen that more than half i.e. 51% of the
respondents think customers are influenced by the fairness quotient in the product,
while 39 % feel that brand preference is influenced because of the sunscreen quotient,
4% feel that fragrance does the job while 6% feel that there are some other reasons that
are responsible.

1.5 Showing whether Fair & Lovely provides quality product to its
customers.
 Yes 41 84%
No 8 16%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 41 say “yes”, while 8 say “no”.
Inference: 84% of the surveyed respondents say yes and agree that Fair & Lovely does
provide quality product to its customers while 16% do not feel the same and disagree
with the statement.

1.6 Showing that how do the respondents feel about the

price level of Fair & Lovely when compared with other
brands.
High 5 10%
Optimum 40 82%
Low 4 8%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of a total of 49 respondents 40 find the price of Fair & Lovely optimum
while 5 find it to be high and the rest 4 find it to be low.
Inference: 82% of the respondents feel the price of Fair & Lovely to be optimum when
compared to other brands, 10% feel it to be high and 8% think that the price is low in
comparison to others.

1.7 Showing in which price range is Fair & Lovely

preferred the most.
Economy 8 16%
Popular 27 55%
Premium 14 29%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 27 respondents prefer Fair & Lovely in the popular
price category. 14 prefer it in the premium category and 8 would like to see in the
economical category.
Interpretation: 55% of the surveyed sample prefers Fair & Lovely in the popular price
range, while 29% prefer it in the premium price range maybe because they feel that it is
undercharged and 16% want it to be economical so that they can afford it.

1.8 Showing the source that has contributed the maximum in

making people
aware about the
product. 6 12

Friends and/or relatives

%
Family members 4 8%
Retailers recommendation 1 2%
Television Commercials 3 76
(TVCs) 7 %
Newspaper Ads 1 2%
Magazine Ads 0 0%
Other 0 0%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the total of 49 respondents are aware of the product because of
television commercials, 10 through friends, family and relatives and 1 each from
retailers’ recommendation and newspaper ads.
Interpretation: Of all the surveyed respondents 76% are aware through the medium of
television, 20% people know about it through their friends, family members and relatives
and the rest 4 % know about it from newspaper ads and retailers’ recommendation. It
can clearly be seen that TV commercials are the most effective medium.

1.9 Showing whether advertisements attract towards products or not.

 Yes 31 63%
No 18 37%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 31 agree to the fact that advertisements do attract
customers towards the product, whereas 18 respondents disagree with this statement.
Interpretation: 63% of the total surveyed respondents know how important it is to
advertise your product and agree that advertisements do attract whereas 37% of the
surveyed respondents decline this fact.

1.10 Showing which factor contributes the most in a customer’s decision to

switch brands.
Variety/boredom 1 2
3 7
%
Non Availability 5 1
0
%
Packing/ novelty/ 1 2
features 1 2
%
Price 6 1
2
%
promotion 3 6
%
Advertising 5 1
0
%
Other 6 1
2
%
Source: Primary data
Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 13 find the reason for switching brands to be
variety/boredom, 11 feel that features do this and there are almost equal numbers who
feel the reason to be the non availability if the product, the price, the promotion, etc.
 Inference: From the above data it can be inferred that 27% of the surveyed feel
boredom to be the reason, 22% feel it’s packing, novelty and features to be the reason,
12% of the respondents feel the price to be the reason, 10% each the non availability
and advertising to be good enough reason and 6% feels the reason to be the way the
product is promoted.

Showing how do people rate Fair & Lovely products?

Very good 7 14%
Good 31 63%
Average 10 20%
Poor 1 2%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 31 respondents rate Fair & Lovely products to be
good, 10 rate it an average product, 7 rate it to be very good and 1 rates it poor.
Interpretation: 63% of the surveyed respondents find Fair & Lovely products to be
good. 20% feels it is an average product, 14% think it to be a very good product and 2%
feel it ti worthless. On the whole it is a good product.

Findings:
More than half i.e. 51% of the respondents consider fairness provided as the
prime factor in making a choice of fairness creams. The second rated is
sunscreen with 39% respondents laying importance to it. The least ranked is
fragrance.
Fair & Lovely wins by clear majority of 84% where 41 out of 49 respondents feel
that Fair & Lovely provides quality products to its customers.
40 out of 49 respondents i.e. 82% respondents think that Fair & Lovely is value
for money and has been priced optimally as compared to other brands.
As per the pricing 55% of respondents prefer Fair & Lovely in the popular price
category.
76% of the respondents get the information about the products of Fair & Lovely
through television commercials.
63% i.e. 31 out of 49 respondents feel that Fair & Lovely advertisements attract
users towards the products.
  As per the satisfaction derived from the products Fair & Lovely rates well as 63%
or 31 out of 49 respondents’ rate Fair & Lovely products as being good while only
2% of respondents rate Fair & Lovely products as poor.

Questionnaire:
Fair & Lovely Market Analysis:
- An insight into consumer perception
Top of Form

Name *
Age *

Gender *
 Male
 Female

Brand preference and awareness for fairness cream?

*Here 1 is low and 5 is high preference and awareness
1 2 3 4 5
Fair &
Lovely

Fairever

Himami

Vicco

Others

Factor influencing brand preference? *

 Fairness
 Sunscreen
 Fragrance
 Other:
 Do you think Fair & Lovely provides quality products to its customers? *
 Yes
 No

What do you think about the price level of Fair & Lovely when compared with other
brands? *
 High
 Optimum
 Low

Which price range of Fair & Lovely you prefer the most? *
 Economy
 Popular
 Premium

Source of Awareness for fairness creams? *

 Friends and/or relatives
 Family members
 Retailers recommendation
 Television Commercials (TVCs)
 Newspaper Ads
 Magazine Ads
 Other:

Reasons for switching brands? *

 Variety/boredom
 Non Availability
 Packing/ novelty/ features
 Price
 promotion
 Advertising
 Other:

How do you rate Fair & Lovely products? *

 Very good
 Good
 Average
 Poor

Do you recommend Fair & Lovely products to others? *

 Yes
 No

Retailers Survey:
A general and oral retailers survey was conducted in which around 10 retailers in the
nearby area were questioned the following questions:-
1) Do you keep Fair & Lovely?
2) Which other brands of fairness cream do you keep?
3) How well does it fair as compared to other brands?
4) Which pack economy, popular or premium is sold more?
5) If Fair & Lovely is not available to consumers do they buy something else? If yes
which other fairness cream do they opt for?

Findings
The retailers came up with almost similar responses only with a little variation.
• All of the retailers did have Fair & Lovely on their shelves but none of them did
keep the whole range of products. Some had only Fair & Lovely Multivitamin, some had
only Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic and some had a combination of two variants.
• The retailers surveyed had quite a few other brands which include Garnier Mens
Powerlite, Emami Fair and Handsome, Fairever, Ponds, Olay, Nomarks, etc. The most
interesting thing observed here was that all of the shops had mens fairness creams and
said that they sold pretty good hence it was important to have them in their inventory.
• According to the retailers surveyed Fair & Lovely justifies its market share of 53%
but they also agree to the fact that its market share is in a continuous declining phase
and Fair & Lovely is being given a stiff competition by its competitors Fairever, Garnier,
etc.
• Most of the retailers surveyed generally stock the economy (9 gm &15 gm) and
popular pack (25 gm & 50 gm). Rarely do retailers stock premium packs (80 gm and
above). This shows that people are willing to shift incase there is a better product in the
market.
• According to retailers, customers are generally brand conscious especially when
it comes to fairness products because its effect develops over a certain period of time.
Hence very rarely do customers switch brands. They do so only when they feel that
there is a better product available at the same or a little higher price. They generally go
for Garnier or Fairever.
Recommendations (Consumers & Retailers Survey)
Fair & Lovely has come a long way since 1976 when it was first introduced in India,
modernizing along with its consumers. Women in the society have transformed and the
brand has evolved to capture this need. Currently though, underplaying the fairness
attribute may hurt the brand so the focus has to be extended and not shifted. This
extension includes fairness but adds that extra something to the product as well as the
brand. The addition of attributes to products would increase the perceived value for the
customer which is an important objective with a mature product such as Fair & Lovely.

Though Fair & Lovely is the market leader in this segment, an erosion of its market
share is always on the cards, especially since there are no significant points of
difference from its competitors. The basic product needs to be re-positioned with
additional attributes to increase its points of difference from the other competing brands.
This revamp needs go beyond just the look of the package (which has been constantly
changing) and instead, drill into the core of the brand.
 Conclusion

Today Fair & Lovely is the market leader with about 57% market share but
in the era of increasing competition, erosion of market share is more a
reality than mere speculation. With products like Emami's Fair and
Handsome and CavinKare‘s Fairever hitting out unexpectedly, Fair &
Lovely should be proactive and increase the points of difference with its
competitors. Moving beyond the message of fairness as beauty must be
the centre of its marketing communication. The recommendations
provided by us would do just that, extending the core message of the
brand through to the product and communicating it by various promotional
strategies. In fact, this is where the growth path of the band, in the coming
few decades, lies.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Philip Kotler, Marketing Management.

• N.Leistikow, ‘Indian women criticize ‘Fair & Lovely’ ideal.’
• R.Balu, ‘Strategic innovation: Hindustan Lever Ltd’.
• Aneel Karnani, Doing Well By Doing Good.
• Aneel Karnani, Romanticizing the poor.
• www.knowledge@wharton.com