Report

On

Marketing Analysis of “ Lux soap”

Submitted To
Mr. Md. Maniruzzaman
Assistant prof. & chairman,
Department of Marketing
Bangladesh University of Business & Technology
Submitted By

Name ID

Shakhawat Hossain Mollah 11122101209

Sayema Farhin 11122101205

Intake: 27th
Program: BBA

Date of Submission: 8 January 2015

Bangladesh University of Business & Technology
(BUBT)

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Letter of Transmittal

Mr. Md. Maniruzzaman

Assistant prof. & chairman
Department of Marketing
Bangladesh University of Business & Technology (BUBT)

Subject: Submission a term paper on “Lux soap”

Dear Sir,
With due respect, we are pleased to submit our report. Here is our report on
Marketing Analysis on “LUX soap”. As this report we describe about the
customer satisfaction, their marketing mix and SWOT analysis and
competitiveness among the brands survived in this industry This assignment
helped us to know the valuable knowledge about the potential market situation and
the marketing strategy for achieving consumers satisfaction. It has been a good
experience to us to know the actual market & real business situation. It provides
us the opportunity to know the real life application of theoretical knowledge. We
had tried our best to collect the information for the report .we hope; the report will
give a fair idea on this issue.
We wish that you would be kind enough to accept our Report and oblige there by.
Sincerely Yours’

NAME: ID:

Shakhawat Hossain Mollah 11122101209

Sayema Farhin 11122101205

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Executive Summary

Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant

operating in over hundred countries all around the globe. Unilever
Bangladesh is the Bangladesh chapter of Unilever, where the
company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government of Peoples
Republic of Bangladesh holds 39.25% share.

Unilever’s one of the most popular brand is LUX. They segments

LUX.’s market according to geographical locations. It further
differentiates these segments into Socio Economic Cluster (SEC)
which takes into account the criteria of education and profession
which ultimately measures the financial ability of consumers. The
cluster is divided into five parts starting from A to E. Unilever targets
the urban and sub urban upper middle class and middle class segment
of the population, who falls under A to C of SEC.

Tactical marketing tools, 4P’s, are extensively used by the company to

market LUX. Though LUX is produced in Bangladesh, Unilever
Bangladesh maintains the same standard all around the globe. The
product is available in six different fragrances under three different
sizes. Since the demand for beauty soap market is to a great extent
oligopolistic, variations in price lead to price war which can
eventually break down the company’s market share.
Thus Unilever cannot provide a better price than its competitors. But
the price is affordable by most of the people. Unilever Bangladesh has
outsourced its distribution channels to third party distributors which
allow them to distribute LUX in massive bulks amounting to around
ten million pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activities in
the beauty soap industry.

The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which

Unilever holds market share of slightly less than 50%. Other
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competing brands like Tibbet, Aromatic and Keya 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.

Unilever, with the aid of its heavy promotional activities, has been
able to penetrate the market. But the other producers in the industry
are posing a threat towards Unilever’s market share as they have
moved towards the rural masses of the population.

Therefore, Unilever Bangladesh should undertake further steps such

as moving towards the rural and/or poorer segment; attract children
(by making a special product for kids) and other innovative
promotional activities to retain its command in the industry.

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 Table of contents

SL. NO Topics Page Number

1 1 Introduction 6
2 1.1: Background information about the product 6
3 1.2 Justification or significance of the study 7
4 1.3 Objectives of the study 8
5 1.4 Methodology 9
6 1.5: Planning a sample 10
7 1.6: Collecting data 11
8 Company profile 13
9 2.1 Overview of the company 13
10 2.2 Vision Mission objective 14
11 2.3: Management 14
12 2.4: Using the Tactical Marketing Tools 16
13 Part-3: Analyzing & Findings of the Market for LUX soap 18
14 Market Share 18
15 SWOT Analysis 22
16 Part-4: Major findings 23
17 Part-5: Recommendation 24
18 Part-6: Conclusion 25
19 Part-7: Bibliography/ References 26
20 Part-8: Appendix/ Annexure 27-31

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Part-1: Introduction:
1.1: Background information about the product:

Everything about the brand – from the look and feel of the products and packaging
to the subtle fragrances – is a delight to the senses. In fact, Lux has been making
waves since 1924, when it launched the world's first mass-market beauty soap at a
fraction of the cost of some expensive brands.

● The name Lux means ‘light’ in Latin, however the name was chosen for its play
on the word ‘luxury’.

● Lux was first introduced as a toilet soap in 1925. Produced by Lever Brothers, it
arrived in the UK in 1928, offering people a chance to pamper themselves for a
modest price.

● From the 1930s right through to the 1970s, Lux soap colors and packaging were
altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colors made up the
range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. People enjoyed matching their soap
with their bathroom colors.

● In the early 1990s, Lux responded to the growing trend away from traditional
soap bars by launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and moisturizing
bars. Lux beauty facial wash, Lux beauty bath and Lux beauty shower were
launched in 1992.
In 2004, the entire Lux range was relaunched in the UK & Ireland to include five
shower gels, three bath products and two new soap bars. 2005 saw the launch of
three exciting new variants with dreamy names such as “Wine & Roses” bath
cream, “Glowing Touch” and “Sparkling Morning” shower gels.

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● Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world’s most stunning and sensuous women
have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte
Bardot, Demi Moore and, more recently, our own Catherine Zeta-Jones, have all
been part of the Lux glamour story.

1.2: Justification or significance of the study:

The term customer satisfaction turn on favorable image for gaining more profit,
customer satisfaction, much market share on the basis of firm or industry. The
study is to find out how brand trust, perceived quality and demographic variables
would affect customer satisfaction. Some consumer wishes to get the maximum
output by this particular type of product, in fact Lux customer also find out what’s
their problem for choosing the regarding Lux.

Aspect of customer satisfaction already has been conducted many kinds of article,
journal, magazine, reports in the international perspective. In Bangladesh
perspective we would not find any established and significance previous study
about customer satisfaction. For this reason we underline this case study to identify
how to build up a strong customer satisfaction. With understanding the factors that
can affect customer satisfaction, it can help marketers to better understand their
market and also help them to better serve the needs and wants of their potential
customers.

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 1.3: Objectives of the study:
This report is an outcome of an analysis of marketing strategies used by Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd. The main purpose of the report is to find what strategies the
company uses to market its world famous beauty soap, LUX, in Bangladesh; the
positive and negative aspects of those strategies. The report further analyzes the
position of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. in the toiletry industry in comparison to its
competitors. The report discusses the process of using market segmentation,
target marketing, the product, pricing, promotional and distribution strategies and
a competitive analysis.

The main objectives are following-

 To determine to what extent perceived quality could affect customer satisfaction.

 To investigate whether brand trust has significant impact on customer

satisfaction.

 To find out the impact of demographic variables on the customer satisfaction

level towards LUX.

The general objective of this report is to identify & analyses the

customer satisfaction on marketing mix and find out the SOWT
analysis for this product.

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1.4: Methodology for data collection:
Here survey and observation by using questionnaire as a research
methodology.
It is a careful observation, investigation or inquiry for new facts or
systematic effort to explore knowledge about the cellular industry.

Collection of data methods:

For first objective we collected data from interviews and observations
by using questionnaire. The second objective, secondary data,
interviews, survey and observations are mostly used for data
collection. For third objective survey method is used as a data
collection method.

For accessibility and availability of information we have chosen to

work on the strategies of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. As the company
operates in the market with a huge number of products in different
industries, we have decided to focus on one of their world wide
successful brands, LUX. Most of the information used in this report is
from primary sources. The main source of information was the focus
group discussion. In addition information was also collected from
websites.

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1.5: Planning a sample:
Sample population :
Customer-
 Young People (Age group 18 –30Years- Students of Schools, Colleges and
Universities.)
 People in general (Age group 25 Years and above- Professional People, House
wives-guardian level.)
Sampling size – Total 30.

Sampling method or procedure- Non probability sample in terms of researcher’s

convenience and judgment.

Sampling technique:
The sample size of our target respondent’s was 50.Due to time and cost barrier we
could not select a big sample size. The percentage of the male respondent was 50%
and the percentage of the female respondent was 50%.On the average age of the
respondent’s was 21 years old.
In order to collect proper data regarding our study we prepared questionnaire. At
the beginning of questionnaire we mentioned demographic characteristics of our
respondent regarding our study. In the demographic characteristics we mentioned
respondent’s age, education, gender, income level etc. All the questions were
structured using six point likert scale. In order to analyze the data at first we find
out the mean and mode value under every independent variable. From the mean
and mode value we find out whether the independent variables have the impact on
dependent variable customer satisfaction.

Questionnaire Design:
Question was design to keep an eye on the objectives and after discussing with the
relevant personnel. After designing the questionnaire pre testing of the same were
carried out. After the pre-test, questionnaire reviewed, redesigned and finalized.
Prepared finalized questionnaire set was used for primary data collection.
Types of question: Different types of relevant open response, closed response and
also scaling technique questions were set.

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1.6: Collecting data:
Primary data and secondary data both are use here.

Primary information (Data)

The primary data collected through questionnaires to the person related with that
customer.
 The interviewee asked questions face to face and through telephone.
 Different related venues visited to explore any potential guidance that can be
helpful for the organization.

Secondary Information (Data)

Project required a base of information to translate the characteristics of the primary
research findings into concrete steps to achieve the customer satisfaction of Lux.
The following items were amongst the main sources of secondary data.

 Published books, articles and other related materials from Unilever.

 Published books, articles and other related materials of satisfaction.
 Published information regarding trends and patterns affecting the sector of soap
industry.
 Relevant Internet sites.
 Any relevant periodic, magazines and government publications.

All relevant and practical avenues will be exhausted.

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1.7: Analysis of the results:

Analysis begun with the early information collection and continue until the final
report issued. Analysis centered upon two main subjects.

The subject’s were-

• The objectives of the research.

• Converting the finding in a way so that it can be used to achieve those objectives.

1.8: Limitations of our study:

We face some problems preparing this report. Although we try to best complement
as a result minimize the error. There are some limitations of this report As with
most research, this research has also some limitations. As we study semester
system so we don’t get proper time for details research. The time and the cost
factor was the major limitation of our study. The sample size was too small as a
result we couldn’t provide actual scenario about customer satisfaction on Lux. In
some case respondent didn’t participate willingly to provide answer regarding our
questions due to short time. So it was another major limitation of our study.
Primary and Secondary data collected from the sample population could have been
inaccurate or important information could have been concealed.
Sometimes respondents are not capable of answering questions because they can’t
recollect or have never given attention to what they do and why.

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Part-2: Overview of the
company/Company profile

2.1: Profile:
Lux is a global brand developed by Unilever. The range of products includes
beauty soaps, shower gels, bath additives, hair shampoos and conditioners. Lux
started as “Sunlight Flakes” laundry soap in 1899.

In 1924, it became the first mass market toilet soap in the world. It is noted as a
brand that pioneered female celebrity endorsements.

As of 2005, Lux revenue is at 1.0 billion Euros, with market shares spread out to
more than 100 countries across the globe.

Unilever is one of the world’s largest and leading multinational companies;

Unilever commenced their business activities on a larger scale by setting up their
first factory in Netherlands, in the year of 1872.

It is operating in Bangladesh for over the last four decades the company is trying
to significantly contribute towards the augmentation of the standard of living by
bringing world class high quality products at the door step of their customers. The
usage of Unilever products by over 90% of the people in Bangladesh stands a
testimony to their successful operation. .
Their array of products show that they produce household care, fabric cleaning,
skin cleansing, skin care, oral care, hair care, personal grooming, and tea based
beverage products under worldwide famous brand names Wheel, LUX, Lifebuoy,
Fair & Lovely, Pond’s, Close Up, Sunsilk, Lipton, Lipton Taaza, Pepsodent, All
Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, and Rexona.

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2.2: Vision/Goals/Objectives:

Objectives:
 To find out factor that influence a person to buy a particular brand of

soap,

 To find out the opinion about the LUX.

 To evaluate the effectiveness of advertisement of LUX.

 To know the awareness of the people towards different brands of

toilet.

2.3: Management:
2.1 Product Category:
LUX falls under the category of toiletry product as a beauty soap.
2.2 Market Segmentation:
The company claims that LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh.
Moreover some survey reports also reveal the same result.
Though LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh, it does not go for
traditional mass marketing. Moreover as a beauty soap LUX does not even
segment its market according to gender.

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Figure 2.1 shows that Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. segments their market
according to geographical areas. The population of the country is segmented
into three parts which are urban, sub urban and rural area consumers.
The company further differentiate the geographical segments according to Socio
Economic Cluster (SEC) i.e. education and Income. The Table 2.1 overleaf
shows the Socio Economic Clusters the company uses.
The SEC divides the population in five segments starting from A to E, where A
categorizes the highly educated and high income earners holders, and
sequentially in descending order E categorizes the opposite.
2.3 Target Market:
Figure 2.1 (P-9) shows that urban and sub urban middle class, and rural poor
people are the largest part of Bangladesh population. A research carried out by
Unilever Bangladesh reveals that urban rich people are more likely to buy
imported and expensive products. Moreover rural poor people tend to buy cheap
products even without evaluating its quality. However urban and sub urban
upper middle and middle class people tend to buy affordable and quality
products.
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 segment of the country. From the
segmentation of customer according to SEC they target category A, B and C,
because they are assumed to be financially well-off and can afford to buy LUX.
2.4 Product Positioning:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good position in the buyers’ mind through
better product attributes, price and quality, offering the product in a different
way than the competitors do. The company offers improved quality of products
in the industry at an affordable price with high branding, which ultimately helps
to position the product in the buyers’ mind as the best quality beauty soap.
The market share of the company in the beauty soap industry is somewhere
around 43%.Since in the beauty soap industry all products are of same price
Unilever cannot provide its consumers with better price but it is in a great
position in reference with its packaging, fragrances and product designing.
A positioning map of the company is shown Figure 2.2 to describe LUX’s
position in the consumers mind on two dimensions, price and quality.

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 Figure 2.2 has been drawn with information gathered by conducting a consumer
survey. It states that though in comparison to its competitors the pricing of LUX
is same but consumers rate it as the product which gives them the highest
quality. This positioning created a strong customer loyalty for LUX, for which it
the market leader in the industry.

2.4: Using the Tactical Marketing Tools:

This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical
marketing tools for marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four
sections. Section 3.1 discusses the product attributes of LUX. Section 3.2
visualizes the price of LUX according to different size. Section 3.3
conceptualizes the distribution channel of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. This section
includes a table that shows the location of the company’s warehouses all around
the country. Finally section 3.4 discusses the promotional activities that the
company undertakes for LUX.

3.1 Product:
LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though
manufactured in Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as
an international brand, it maintains an international quality for the product.
Formula given by Research and Development departments in foreign countries,
LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials like sodium soap,
glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever plants
situated abroad.
LUX is offered in Bangladesh in six different flavors which are: LUX Energizing
Honey, LUX Golden Glow, LUX Nature Pure, LUX Orchid Touch, LUX
Almond Delight and LUX Aqua Sparkle. Taking into account the convenience of
its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of LUX in three different
sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm.

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3.2 Price:
Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the
product itself, it cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints in
the beauty soap industry. Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in
Bangladesh. A change in price has a high risk of creating price war among the
rivals which will eventually cause a loss of profit. Its prices are almost equal to its
competitor. Table 3.1 (p-10) compares Lux’s price with it’s major competitor.
Company carries out research on competitors’ price and brand loyalty when it
feels extreme necessity of charging price. The brand loyalty test is an exploratory
research which is known as Brand Health Check-Up (BHCU).

3.3 Place:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the
country as its sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has
six huge warehouses, one in each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes
after they are manufactured at Kalurghat factory. Table 3.2 (P-10) shows the
location of its six warehouses in Bangladesh.

The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its
product. However, it has outsourced its distribution process to various third party
distributors, exclusively dedicated to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors
then supply the product all over Bangladesh to a huge number of retailers. Even
though LUX targets the urban and sub urban middle and upper middle class
people they are distributing their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent
increase in demand of its product to all segments of the population.
3.4 Promotion:
Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX
which has topped the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20%

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to 25% of its Net Proceeds from Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities
for LUX 1
It’s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and
LUX Channel i Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the
glamour world. Since the 1930s, over 400 of the world’s most stunning and
sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux advertisements. They do
not only promote LUX in Bangladesh for the beauty conscious females, it also
promotes the brand for males and the company proved that, by including world
famous male celebrity Shahrukh Khan for their advertising campaign.
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of money for promoting LUX
through TV commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. Moreover it
also undertakes small promotional campaigns at different schools, colleges,
universities and recreational parks with winners of its Zonal Beauty Contests. Till
now promotional activities of LUX has always been successful which has made it a
household common name and helped it reach almost one billion taka sale value in
the year 2004.

Part-3: Analyzing & Findings of the

Market for LUX soap
For better comprehension of Unilever Bangladesh, its marketing strategy,
product quality, positioning and placement, we present here a comparative
analysis of its competitors. This part of the report illustrates the market share of
different companies in the beauty soap industry.

Market Share:
The beauty soap industry in Bangladesh consists of only seven major producers.
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is operating in the industry with its world famous
brand LUX. Out of these giant companies Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is the
market leader with a share of around 43%.

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 Figure 4.1 (P-11) shows the market share of all the companies in the sector.
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is leading the market. The other competitors are very
competitive among themselves but they cannot put a intense competition with
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as they have market share much less than Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd.

Table 4.1 (P-11) overleaf shows a detailed description of the major competitors
in the market, their operating brand, estimated annual sales revenue and market
share.
Other companies in the industry are not as big as Unilever Bangladesh Ltd but
they are posing threat to the company by a tendency of a gradual increase in their
market share. Kohinoor Chemicals which is operating with the brand name Tibet
is an extremely famous brand to the rural segment of the population and possess a
significant share in that segment which is the largest population group in
Bangladesh. Moreover Keya Cosmetics Ltd operating with the brand name Keya
and Marks & Allys Ltd operating with the brand name Aromatic are also uprising
brands to both the rural and sub urban segment of the population.
Moreover a recent takeover of Aromatic by multinational consumer product giant
MARICO who operates with famous brands in other industries like Parachute
Coconut Oil is posing to be a threat to Unilever Bangladesh’s market share.
Visit any departmental store or retail outlet, and you find it’s shelved stocked
with Lux Beauty soaps in different variants, with attractive colors on the
packaging and its permanent sign of the female model present on the package.
Today, Lux is a household name when it comes to soaps and in many places
(especially in rural areas), it has become a synonym for soaps. People often walk
into a shop and ask for Lux, when they mean, that they wish to buy a soap.
The Lux soap was first launched as laundry soap way back in 1916, with specially
targeting the delicate garments. The Level Brothers (who found what we today
know as Unilever), encouraged women to do their laundry at home without
worrying about those delicate silks and satins turning yellow which often came as a
result of the strong and harsh chemicals present in the laundry soaps of that time.
Lux at that time was much gentler on the clothes; it dissolved much more easily
and was advertised as being suitable for home use.
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The Lux toilet soap as we know today came around in 1925. It was advertised as
bathroom soap, and the initial name “Sunlight flakes” was changed to Lux, which
is the Latin word for “Light” and was supposed to be a shortened version of the
word “Luxury”. From 1925 till date, Lux has been marketed in various forms –
Soaps, Limited Editions, Bars, Flakes, Liquids, Gels and Body washed.
In India, Lux was launched in 1929, and it has always come in various colors and
packages as well as world-class fragrances. These changes kept coming with
changing fashion trends. In 1958, the soap came in five colors – pink, blue, white,
yellow and green, and the customers would buy the soaps in a way that they could
match it with the colors of their bathrooms!
Lux has always used popular movie stars as its brand endorsers. Even if the ad
went around common women, it still had references to some or the other movie
star.
The year-wise brand image of the soap can be described as –
The 30s: This is when the widespread advertising of the product began. At this
time, Lux used much older women, who would talk about preserving the youthful
beauty of the skin in the series of print ads that came during this time.
The 40s and the 50s: In this era, the focus shifted to the attributes that the
consumers associated with the brand and the role the brand played in her life.
The 60s: It was in this decade that the “Fantasy Element” that we commonly
associate Lux with today was created, more simply put as the feeling of being a
film star that the soap generates. The campaigns began highlighting the sensorial
and emotional attributes of the brand along with the beauty quotient. The ads did
not contain a star, but contained references to them.
The 70s: This was a time when they beauty trends shifted from the then
conventional ones. Natural and wholesome beauty became the buzz. So, the stars
of Lux stepped down from the pedestals they stood on before and the campaign
focus began to highlight the multi-faceted nature of a woman, which the ordinary
consumer of the soap was better able to relate to at the time.
The 80s: by this time Lux had established itself as the soap of the stars and elite
and its image became one of a must-have for beauty among all women. The
campaigns of the 80s started focusing on skincare, which was portrayed to be the
first step towards beauty. It was during this time that Lux was launched in China.
The 90s: During this time, Lux moved away from being a general beauty soap to
launching soaps in the market that were more function specific. Variants for
different skin types also came in. The communication strategy started becoming

20
more localized and regionalized. Different ad campaigns for different regions (say,
Middle East, China, etc) started coming in. It was also during this period that Lux
went in for brand extension and launched its range of Rich shampoos, shower gels
and creams.
The 2000s: By now, Lux had expanded so far and wide, that the other end was not
visible from one end. This decade saw the focus of the campaigns and the product
shift from specific functional benefits of usage to the emotional factor associated
with the soaps. By this time, modeling and fashion industry had drawn a lot of
dreams in the eyes of millions of women. Cashing in on this, Lux tried to bridge up
those aspiring models and the existing stars of the industry. Notable was the “Lux
Haute Pink” advertisement, with the woman in the bath tub, flying over the world
in a hot air balloon and spreading the beauty by blowing down bubbles from her
tub. It focused not only on beauty but the confidence that beauty generates in a
woman. Versions like Crystal Shine, Festive Glow, Sunscreen, Almond Extracts,
Orchid extracts, etc. came in during this time.
The 2010s: Today, the focus is back on beauty – which has been the roots of the
product. The fruit versions of the soap – Strawberry and cream, Peach and cream
are quite popular. New variants – Purple lotus and cream, and Aqua Sparkle had
been launched at reality shows on televisions which is a new development in the
basket of marketing strategies of the soap.
Lux has always had the most beautiful women in the film industry endorsing the
brands. If we see internationally, there have been Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren,
Raquel Welch, Cheryl Ladd, Demi Moore, Brigitte Bargot, Natalie Wood, Sandra
Dee, Diana Rig, Samantha Eggar, Sarah Jessica Parker, Catherine Zeta Jones, etc.
If we see in India, then the first print ad of Lux came starring LeelaChitnis. After
that there have been a string of leading ladies – Madhubala, Nargis, MeenaKumari,
Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, WaheedaRehman, SairaBanu, HemaMalini,
ZeenatAman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi, ashwaryaRai, Karishma
Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Babita, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, Mahima
Choudhry, etc. In fact, Lux would be perhaps the only women’s beauty soap brand
which has had male models endorsing it. This came when Paul Newman
(internationally) and Shah Rukh Khan and AbhishekBachchan (Indian) endorsed
the brand. It can thus be said, that the USP of Lux advertising is the presence of
popular movie stars in it. The positioning of the brand can be said to be according
to the Reference Group by using the famous celebrity at that point of time.
Partially attribute positioning can also be considered for Lux, since the ingredients
of Lux have also been greatly highlighted. Today, Lx also serves as a sponsoring
brand name for so many awards and functions like the popular Lux Zee Cine
awards, making its positioning of being associated with the stars more prominent.
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Today, Lux beauty bar can be regarded to be in the maturity stage of its life cycle.
Lux has always had the leading actors of their times endorse the brand, which has
made Lux the market leader and the brand has indeed set benchmarks for
competition in the market. Today, Lux is manufactured at more than 71 locations
and has more than 2000 suppliers and associates who provide raw materials for its
manufacture. The key markets of Lux lie in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China,
Bangladesh and South Africa. Lux is also the market leader in Saudi Arabia,
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil and Thailand. It is also one of the most trusted brands
in India. Lux has offerings in two of the four market segments for soaps. These are
popular and premium. The popular segment covers all those soaps that we
generally see sitting on our retail outlet shelves – Strawberry and Cream, Peach
and cream, Purple Lotus and cream, etc. The Premium segment covers the Lux
International range.
The novel metallic substrate packaging of Lux has been characteristic of the soaps
with the same font style of writing the brand name that go back as far as any of us
can remember, coupled with the ingredient linked fragrances of the soap have been
written down memories of so many generations.

SWOT Analysis:

Every organization is composed of some internal strengths and weaknesses and

also has some external opportunities and threats in its whole life cycle.

Strengths
 Wider product range
 Strong local presence
 Quality products at low price
 Comprehensive knowledge of the total market and client

Opportunities
 Achievement of sales growth through introduction of new products.
 Increase of sales in major cities.

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Weaknesses
 Lack of skills men power
 Proper monitoring problem facing in marketing activities
 Week distribution Channel
 Less organized distribution
 Less compliance to market demand
 Lack of after seals service transportation problem

Threats
 Unethical competition prevailing in the market
 Political unrest hamper sales
 Entry of more competitors in the market
 Change of customer’s demand

Part-4: Major findings

In order to find out how much independent variable perceived quality, brand trust
and demographic variable influence dependent variable customer satisfaction. We
set up Six Scale questions under independent variable .Under each question we
find out mean and mode value in order to find out how much independent
perceived quality, brand trust and demographic variable influence dependent
variable customer satisfaction. We set up Six Scale questions under dependent
variable customer satisfaction. The average mean value of questions of perceived
quality we found 4.92 and the mode value was 5. According to our Six scaling
system it falls under agreeable stage. So it is an important factor of customer
satisfaction. We can say that there is a relationship between perceived quality and
customer satisfaction.
As a result based on our findings we can say that hypothesis one (H1) is
supported. In order to increase the number of satisfaction customer of LUX as a

23
manager he or she should consider this independent variable perceived quality
take very carefully.
Because the more perceived quality full product provides more the customer
satisfaction.
Under the independent variable brand trust we set up questions in order to find
out how much independent variable brand trust impact dependent variable
customer satisfaction. For each of the questions we find out mean and mode value
through questionnaire.
We found that under independent variable brand trust for questions mean average
value is 4.77 and mode value is 5. According to our scaling system it falls under
agreeable stage. So it is an important factor of customer loyalty.
We can say that there is an impact of brand trust and customer satisfaction. As a
result based on our findings we can say that hypothesis two (H2) is supported. In
order to increase the number of customer satisfaction of LUX as a manager he or
she should consider this independent variable brand trust very carefully.

Part-5: Recommendation
In this chapter the team would suggest some recommendations to Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd. to adopt more successful operation in Bangladesh. Since a huge
portion of the rural poor people is demanding LUX in recent days, Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd should expand their target market also towards the rural people.
They should also conduct different promotional activities in rural fairs and
socially responsible promotional activities to attract rural consumers and social
awareness. Because Lux has different skin type soap so now if they provide
different types of beauty soaps for male and female soap under the same brand
name i.e. LUX it might increase their sales. Lastly, as Bangladeshi culture
children have a huge say in shopping so they should also promote the product to
children like their another brand “Dove”. These are the recommendations
suggested by team members to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. to adopt for a more
successful operation in Bangladesh with large market share.

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Part-6: Conclusion

The beauty soap industry of Bangladesh consists of a few producers in the

industry. The demand for this product is very much vulnerable in terms of
pricing. Unilever Bangladesh is providing LUX. at a price which is affordable
to most of the people in the country. Beauty soap is an uprising product in
Bangladesh as a greater portion of the population, both male and female, are
now getting more beauty conscious. As a multinational company Unilever
Bangladesh 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 Bangladeshi customers are highly
attracted to this sort of offers. These offers are not sustainable in the long run
but still it takes away a considerable part of LUX’s sale in the short run.

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Part-7: Bibliography/ References:

1. www.unilever.com
http://www.unileverea.com/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp
http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp

www.unileverbd.com
Report on “Competition Scenario in Bangladesh”, page 18, prepared by Bangladesh Enterprise
Institute, July 2005.)
http://www.gfk.be/ProductsAndServices/ConsumerDiagnosticTools/SpecialAnalyses/BrandHealthC
heckUp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever
http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=155

2.
Marketing Management
Marketing Management
Marketing Management
Consumer Behavior
Research Methodology
- Philips Kotler
- C.N.Sonataki
- Ramaswamy & Namakumari
- Schiff man
- C.R.Kothari

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Part-8: Appendix/ Annexure:

Bangladesh University of Business & Technology

Department of Marketing

Questionnaire

On

“Customer satisfaction on Lux soap’’

[Demographic information about Respondent]

Name: ………………………………………………………………………………………
Interviewer Location:
Gender: Male Female
Educational Background:
Primary level Secondary level Honors level Masters Level or above
Profession: Business Service Student other
Age: 18-24 years 25-29 years 30-39 years 40 or above
Phone Number:

[Core information about customer satisfaction on Lux soap]

1. Do you purchase Lux Soap?

a. Yes b. No

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2. Which flavor you prefer most in Lux?

a. Rose b. Velvet Touch c. Strawberry & Cream d. Fresh Splash e. Peach & Cream

3. How often do you Purchase this product?

a. Monthly b.2 or 3 times in a month c. Once in 3 month d.2 or 3 times in a year

4. How would you rate the level of service you received regarding your purchase?

a. Very Good b. Good c. Average d. Poor e.Very poor

5. How would you rate your satisfaction of the quality of the product you purchased?

a. Very Good b. Good c. Average d. Poor e.Very poor

6. What do you think that those products are hygienic?

a. Yes b. No

7. How would you rate the range of products & accessories compared with suppliers of
similar products?

a. Very Good b. Good c. Average d. Poor e. Very poor

8. How would you rate the price & availability of products & accessories compared with
suppliers of similar products?

a. Very Good b. Good c. Average d. Poor e.Very poor

9. How would you rate your overall satisfaction on your purchase of Lux soap?

a. Very Good b. Good c. Average d. Poor e.Very poor

10. Would you recommend Lux soap to others?

a. Definitely b. Probably c. Might or might not d. probably not e. No

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The answers that are most selected from the above questionnaire are
given below-
1. Yes
2. Rose
3. Monthly
4. Good
5. Good
6. Yes
7. Good
8. Good
9. Good
10.Probably.

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