Executive Summary

The main objective of this project was to find out the brand identity of a
particular brand through consumer research and compare it with what the
company wants to project.
The brand chosen by me was Lux. In order to find out what is the perceived
brand identity, a detailed study was undertaken which included in-depth
interviews with the consumers. The sample size chosen for this study was 50,
which included women of various age groups and occupations. The respondent
profile according to age group and occupation is given in the chapter on
research methodology.
Each respondent was interviewed with the help of a non-structured, disguised
questionnaire to find out what the respondent feels about the brand.
The main findings from the study were:
1. Nourishment to the skin, and not the price, is the most important factor that
people today consider while buying soap.
2. For housewives, presence of natural ingredients plays an important role while
buying soap. However, although price does play an important role in the
purchase decision, today more and more housewives are conscious about skin
nourishment. Also, many of them buy the brand mainly because of it has been
used in the family for years together.
3. In case of students in the age group 15-25, brand name, besides nourishment
and natural ingredients, plays an important role. Lux has the aura of “the cine
star’s soap”. This aura of aspiration and achievement makes it irresistible for
them.
4. For working women, nourishment, freshness and fragrance play a vital role.
They look for a soap that provides complete skin care and protects their skin
from the harmful effects of pollution and dirt, as they do not have the time for a
regular skin routine.
5. Presence of natural ingredients is an important factor considered while
purchasing soap. Consumers today prefer natural products to those containing
chemicals.
6. Lux scored high on all parameters like fragrance, lather, packaging,
availability, variety and nourishment of skin. The only factors on which it did
not score very high were freshness and price. Consumers think that soaps like
Liril score better on freshness than Lux.
7. Brand personality of Lux: feminine, caring, dependable, pure, sensuous,
serene, and mature.
8. According to the respondents, Lux is a soap for quality-conscious women,
especially those belonging to the middle class. It is generally used by those who
are conscious about their appearance and want to look good. It is used by those
who respect the brand and have been loyal to it for years.
9. Most of the respondents feel feminine, mature and cared for on using Lux.
They feel confident and also superior, as they think that they are using a
premium brand.
10. Lux evokes a feeling of pride and security in the minds of the consumers.
They feel that they are using the best and most trusted brand available in the
market. They have a feeling of hope that by using Lux they will achieve what
their favourite film stars have – soft, glowing and beautiful skin. Since Lux is
used by celebrities, who are role models for many young consumers, using Lux
fulfils their aspirational needs.

Industry analysis

The toilet soaps market is estimated at 530,000 tap including small imports. The
market is littered over with several, leading national and global brands and a large
number of small brands, which have limited markets. The popular and premium
brands include Lifebuoy, Lux, Cinthol, Liril, Rexona, and Nirma.
Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not well differentiated by the
consumers. It is, therefore, not clear if it is the brand loyalty or experimentation
lured by high volume media campaign, which sustain them. A consequence is
that the market is fragmented. It is obvious that this must lead to a highly
competitive market. Toilet soap, once only an urban phenomenon, has now
penetrated practically all areas including remote rural areas. The incremental
demand flows from population increase and rise in usage norm impacted as it is
by a greater concern for hygiene. Increased sales revenues would also expand
from up gradation of quality or per unit value.
As the market is constituted now, it can be divided into four price segments:
premium, popular, discount and economy soaps. Premium soaps are estimated to
have a market volume of about 80,000 tones. This translates into a share of about
14 to 15%.
Soaps form the largest pie of the FMCG Market with bathing & toilet soaps
accounting for around 30% of the soap market, by value. Currently, the soap
industry is divided into three segments namely Premium, Popular and Economy/
Sub popular.
To fight competition, major players Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Godrej
Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) and Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting are now

1
drawing up fresh game plans. And the accent is clearly on innovation to gain mind
share as well as market share in this overcrowded category.
Brand Identity
o Brand identity is the visible elements of a brand, such as color, design, and
logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers' minds. Brand
identity is distinct from brand image. The former corresponds to the intent
behind the branding: the way a company chooses its name; designs its logo;
uses colors, shapes, and other visual elements in its products and
promotions; crafts the language in its advertisements; and trains employees
to interact with customers—all with the goal of cultivating a certain image in
consumers' minds. Brand image is the actual result of these efforts,
successful or unsuccessful.
o Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant operating
in over hundred countries all around the globe. Unilever India is the India
chapter of Unilever, where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the
Government of Peoples Republic of india 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 middleclass
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.
o Lux soap first produced in United Kingdom in 1899. It was produced by
British company name Lever Brothers. Lever Brothers was founded in 1885
by William Hesketh Lever and his brother James. They using glycerine and
vegetable oil such as palm oil to manufacture soap called “Sunlight Soap.”
The flaked version of soap called Lux soap. Glycerine was a lucrative by
product of the soap making process, and by the end of 1886, Lever brothers
also had a glycerine factory. Lever opened their small office in New York in
1895.
o The company started selling Sunlight and Lifebuoy but did not doing well
until 1916. Lux soap was first launched in United States in 1916. The Lux
trademark was registered in United States in 1900. Lux soap was launched in
India in 1929. The soap's very first advertisement featured actress Leela
Chitnis as its brand ambassador. It was popularly known as 'the beauty soap
of film stars.' From 1930s right through 1970s, Lux soap colors and
packaging were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five
colors were made up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. In
2
 1990s, Lux launching its own range of shower gels, liquid soaps and
moisturizing bars. Today, Lux soap is sold in 100 countries and sales
achieved 1.0 billion euros in 2005 alone. Although Lux was always
advertised as a product meant for indulging the senses, where bathing was a
wonderful ritual in itself, it petered down its approach in the recent years.
o Lux is the oldest and most iconic beauty and bathing bar in India. It is the
largest selling soap brand in the world and is the Number 1 soap brand in
India. Some of the most beautiful and glamorous stars of the world have
endorsed this brand over the years, from Leela Chitins to Katrina Kaif. The
brand encourages women to express their beauty by giving them an amazing
feeling every time they use this product. Here we are counting some of the
best Lux soaps India. Most Popular Lux Soaps 1. Lux Lotus & Cream Purple
Soap: This pretty purple lux soap is enriched with purple lotus and cream
which will help you to get silky smooth skin. It has a very pleasant smell
which lingers for a few hours post wash. The creamy formula and essential
oils in this soap keeps the skin well moisturized and does not dry out the skin
post wash. The soap lathers well and washes away easily without leaving
any soapy residue behind.
o The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds
market share of slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Tibet,
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 India should undertake further steps such as moving
towards the rural and/or poorer.

3
Aaker’s framework

Sincerity

Ruggedness Excitement

Brand
Identity

Sophistication Competence

o The personification of a brand provides insight into the most effective ways
to communicate with a target audience.
o Bridging the gap between consumers and brands requires a level of
sensitivity and respect that goes beyond traditional thinking. There are
numerous studies and books written on the topic of brand humanization and
how brands that display more familiar human characteristics are better
aligned to connect with their intended audiences. Influencer and peer
network programs succeed on the principle that people are more inclined to
seek the advice of their friends over self-serving brand messaging. We are
more receptive to communication delivered by someone we have an
emotional connection with than another who we do not relate to. Brands are
able to forge similar relationships with their audience by genuinely adopting
some basic fundamentals of human behavior and characteristics, resulting in
greater receptiveness.
o The Five Dimensions of Brand Personality by Jennifer Aaker is a framework
to describe and measure the “personality” of a brand in five core dimensions,
each divided into a set of facets. It is a model to describe the profile of a
brand by using an analogy with a human being.
o Here’s what Ms. Aaker, and her father before her, researched:
o THE FIVE CORE DIMENSIONS AND THEIR FACETS:
o These are:

4
 1. Sincerity (down-to-earth, honest, wholesome, cheerful)
2. Excitement (daring, spirited, imaginative, up-to-date)
3. Competence (reliable, intelligent, successful)
4. Sophistication (upper class, charming)
5. Ruggedness (outdoorsy, tough)

Each facet is in turn measured by a set of traits. The trait measurements are
done using a five point scale (1 = not at all descriptive, 5 = extremely
descriptive) rating the extent to which each trait describes the specific brand.

This framework is that its multi-dimensional, whereby certain brands can score
high on all five. This concept also helps practitioners understand the perceptions
and attitudes people have towards their brand. It enables them to differentiate
themselves and gives them a competitive edge that others can emulate.

How Brand Personalities Help Market My Brand Better?

1. Differentiating your brand from the competition

o Having a distinct brand personality sets you apart. For instance,
Nike positions itself as daring and spirited to appeal to
adventurous, free-spirited people; and often produces content about
unlimited youth: The Iron Nun. Meanwhile, its competitor, Adidas,
positions itself as alternative in the RunDMC-Adidas collaboration
that gave birth to the new hip hop sneaker culture, with their
vintage sports jackets. By addressing different personalities, the
same product is now appealing to varied audience.
2. Setting the tone for your brand
o The tone-of-voice for your brand is crucial in developing
marketing strategies. When building a brand, both your marketing
and business and strategies need to be aligned to create a cohesive
marketing plan that wont meander from your goals. Hence, having
a tone-of-voice that constantly refers back to the brand personality
ensures there is consistent messaging in all your communications.
3. Conveying your brand messages
o After establishing your tone of voice, crafting brand messages
becomes much easier and more structured. Right at this point, the
emotional response you intend to invoke on your target audience
becomes clearer, based on the brand personality you’ve set for
yourself; and your tone-of-voice will ultimately decide the words
to be used in your messages.
4. Building trust
o Lastly, trust and credibility are the 2 most important secrets to
success. Without them, people will not buy into your marketing

5
 messages. This is where brand personalities come in handy. By
associating your brand with personality traits that people can
emotionally connect with, you are building customer confidence.

People are more inclined to trust brands that resemble them in terms of
personalities, so do try to think about what you have to offer, and who would
benefit most from these offerings – your target audience and their personality
traits – and then design a personality for your brand based on your findings.

Brand Personality

o Brand personality is a set of human characteristics that are attributed to a

brand name. A brand personality is something to which the consumer can
relate; an effective brand increases its brand equity by having a consistent set
of traits that a specific consumer segment enjoys. This personality is a
qualitative value-add that a brand gains in addition to its functional benefits.
o Brand personality is a framework that helps a company or organization
shape the way people feel about its product, service, or mission. A
company's brand personality elicits an emotional response in a specific
consumer segment, with the intention of inciting positive actions that benefit
the firm.
o Brand personality is the way a brand speaks and behaves. It means assigning
human personality traits/characteristics to a brand so as to achieve
differentiation. These characteristics signify brand behaviour through both
individuals representing the brand (i.e. it’s employees) as well as through
advertising, packaging, etc. When brand image or brand identity is expressed
in terms of human traits, it is called brand personality.
o Brand personality must be differentiated from brand image, in sense that,
while brand image denote the tangible (physical and functional) benefits and
attributes of a brand, brand personality indicates emotional associations of

6
 the brand. If brand image is comprehensive brand according to consumers’
opinion, brand personality is that aspect of comprehensive brand which
generates it’s emotional character and associations in consumers’ mind.
o Brand personality develops brand equity. It sets the brand attitude. It is a key
input into the look and feel of any communication or marketing activity by
the brand. It helps in gaining thorough knowledge of customers feelings
about the brand. Brand personality differentiates among brands specifically
when they are alike in many attributes. For instance - Sony versus Panasonic.
Brand personality is used to make the brand strategy lively, i.e, to implement
brand strategy. Brand personality indicates the kind of relationship a
customer has with the brand. It is a means by which a customer
communicates his own identity.
o Brand personality and celebrity should supplement each other. Trustworthy
celebrity ensures immediate awareness, acceptability and optimism towards
the brand. This will influence consumers’ purchase decision and also create
brand loyalty.
o Brand personality not only includes the personality features/characteristics,
but also the demographic features like age, gender or class and
psychographic features. Personality traits are what the brand exists for.
o There are countless variables at play determining why one consumer chooses
to purchase one brand over another. Some consumers are highly influenced
by social media branding which reflects the brand personality that is
consistent with their own self-concept, which in some cases, the bond
between consumer and brand is sometimes based on their DESIRED self-
concept rather than their actual image.
o Five key dimensions of brand personality include Brand Competence, Brand
Sincerity, Brand Excitement, Brand Sophistication, and Brand Toughness.
Many brands choose to use a brand character as a vehicle to express their
brand personality and facilitate their brand storytelling process. The
following are examples of five such brands which have created successful
brand characters that are used extensively in their marketing
communications, especially when it comes to social media for business
where the interaction between a brand and their consumer is always an
ongoing conversation.

Importance of Brand Personality

o Brand personality helps in easing communication with the customers. A
customer can relate to the traits that s/he possess with the personality traits
that a brand has. Thus, an emotional connect is generally created amongst
the brand and the customer. Thus Brand Personality helps in building an
emotional bond with the customers.

7
o Every person has a unique identity. The way s/he behaves or the way one
communicates differs from person to person. That is how we like or dislike a
person based on their personality traits and the ways s/he expresses himself.
Brand Personality creates this unique identity. It helps in differentiation and
clear association.
o If you were to decide how you look, would you not choose the best? Well,
yet we find two brands having quite different personalities. One preferring
the sporty look, while the other, despite having a choice, preferring a rugged
one.
o Customers show loyalty towards particular brands for a number of reasons.
One reason could be that customers perceive a particular brand to have traits
that the individual shares. Brand personality traits can be categorized as
follows:
o Youthful and carefree – relate to excitement.
o Thoughtful, kind, trustworthiness and innocence – relate to sincerity.
o Athletic, rough, outdoorsy traits – relate to a rugged personality.
o Leadership, successful, influential are traits that signify competence.
o Elegance, prestige, pricy – relate to sophistication.
o Allure, exclusivity and status – relate to desirability.
o A distinct brand personality can make your brand appear to stand apart from
your competition. You can make your brand appeal to youth by inferring
personality traits like carefree or spirited. A competitor’s brand may be
offering their similar product as athletic. By addressing different
personalities, this same product is now appealing to varied audiences.
o Personality traits such as trustworthy and desirable can help build customer
confidence. Brands that connect to the consumers emotionally often carry
the traits of desirability such as allure or exclusivity. With trustworthiness a
brand can strengthen its belief in consumers to maintain its quality standards.
o Consumers are more likely to identify with brands that closely resemble
them in terms of personalities. A brand that showcases personality traits such
as kindness or thoughtfulness is likely to be trusted by families. Someone
may prefer a brand of jeans that personifies ‘cool’ over another that is all
about status.
o It enabled consumers to decide which brand they wanted to buy, depending
on the traits they wanted to embody for themselves. Personality traits help
consumers establish a relationship with a brand as they identify with the
personality and not just the product.
o When launching a new product, marketers can expand their reach by
assigning personality traits that the audience can connect with.

8
o The tone of your brand is helpful in establishing marketing strategies. For
instance, if you want your brand to invoke the feeling of sincerity – maybe
something kind or thoughtful – then your marketing needs to focus on this
tone to send the same message to consumers. You can make your apparel
brand friendly and cool or sophisticated but fun.
o The personality of the brand is, after all, how you want your brand to
behave. This being said, your marketing and branding strategies need to be
compatible. This can help you to create a cohesive marketing plan that won’t
meander from your desired goal.
o As social psychologist and author, Jennifer L. Aaker notes in her paper,
“Dimensions of Brand Personality,” brand personality is a set of human
characteristics including gender, age, socioeconomic, psycho-graphical and
emotional which are associated with a brand. From a consumer’s point of
view, a brand’s personality is the way the brand behaves, and stands for and
sometimes what the brand is against.

9
 Lux: Koi Shaq?
o Lux is the planet’s most well-known natural beauty bar & has a 90 year
historical past of sophisticated style, charm and happiness. The most
gorgeous and legendary celebrities of the entire world have been Lux
ambassadors more than the several years, from Leela Chitnis to Madhuri
Dixit, Aishwarya Rai & Katrina Kaif
o Lux really encourages women of all age groups to show their attractiveness
by presenting them a trillion dollar sensation each and every time they
utilization one particular of Lux’s delightful products and solutions. Lux has
excellent aromas designed by the planet’s most effective perfumers
combined with a sponsor of amazing ingredients like purple lotus, sea
minerals, strawberries, sandal and many others. So step into the world of
Lux and pleasure your senses with one of our signature ranges.
o Lux Marketing Strategy This Hindustan Unilever product has focused on
wide promotions most of which has been short lived. Apart from tagging
itself as a beauty brand made for the stars, it has even designed short term
promotions for sales. One of the famous ones being: “The Lux Gold Star
Offer” – This was one of the popular promotions which offered gold coins in
few selected soaps. “Star Bano Aish Karo” – This offer gave a chance to few
lucky winners who got a chance to live a day like Aishwarya Rai with gift
offers worth Rs.50,000 from Shopper’s Stop and beauty makeover by
Michelle Tung and Neeta Lulla sarees (Aishwarya Rai’s favorite stylist and
designer).
o The bumper prize was dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself and later in
2009 the same offer changed into a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan together. “Har Star Lucky Star”- This
came at the time when Shahrukh Khan was aired in Lux advertisements
when the brand had finished 75 years of stardom. In this offer, selected lux
soap packets had stars printed with number 75 inside the wrapper. The lucky
winners got the opportunity to avail free supply of Lux soaps for a year.
o Recent Advertisements Katrina Kaif has been roped in to become the brand
ambassador of Lux lately. In the most recent advertisement of July, 2012
which stars both Katrina Kaif and Shahrukh Khan in the campaign. They
endorsed two variants of the Lux soap – Lux Peach and Cream and Lux
Strawberry and Cream. The fragrance of the new Lux soap stands for love
and sensuality and the ad uses the slogan – “Bekaboo”. The ad was made to
be promoted at the time when both Shahrukh Khan’s and Katrina Kaif’s
movie was about to be released.
o Classic selection – Acquiring special many years of women of all ages this
classic selection is now improved with express of the art work soft silk
10
 healthy proteins acquire for silky smooth skin like never ever just before.
The variety are available is two variants – Lux Strawberry & Cream and Lux
Peach & Cream.
o Feeling Enhancers – This variety is created with the wintry quality of
cooling mint and the energizing energy of seaside vitamins to convert your
pores and skin from uninteresting to energetic in an instantaneous. It has a
refreshing fragrance and comes in a sea green colour. The selection has one
version – Lux Fresh Splash
o Pores and skin Perfectors – This variety is designed from powerful elements
which work to greatly enhance the complexion’s all-natural shine as well as
flawlessness. LUX sandal & cream with perfumed hydrating organic oils For
Naturally delicate & Shiny Skin tone. This range has one variation – Lux
Sandal & Cream.
o Excellent Perfume Elixirs – This breathtaking variety of body-washes is
designed with magic presenting aromas and amazing ingredients to generate
a mysterious showering practical experience which simply leaves your skin
soft, aromatic and special.
o Celebrity beauty Lux is a super brand that celebrated beauty across the world
since 1925. The soap which was endorsed by the beautiful film stars came to
India in 1929. Lux has been the largest selling personal wash brand in the
country.
o Lux has effectively managed its PLC through careful brand building and
changing the product in line with the changing consumer. The brand is being
positioned as the favorite soap of Film stars has been consistent in terms of
communication and positioning. The brand is also the classic example of
successful celebrity endorsement. The first celebrity to endorse the brand
was Leela Chitnis . From Leela to Aishwarya , From Madhuri to Madhubala,
Lux has been endorsed by more than 50 film stars ( a sort of record isn't it).
But in all these communications, the celebrity never shadowed the brand.
Lux was always changing with the times. Whether it be in terms of the
product or in terms of promotions, the brand kept the consumers excited.
Lux has two basic extensions in terms of segments. Lux beauty soap and
International Lux.
o Lux was initially a premium brand. Lux was being projected as an
aspirational brand and the endorsements by stars further reinforced the
positioning. The increasing competition in the soap category forced Lux to
rethink on its targeting strategy. The brand had a choice either to
compromise on market share and uphold the premium positioning or to
retain the market share and dilute the positioning.

11
o Lux wanted to ensure that the brand be positioned as premium but also did
not wanted to compromise on the share. Thus born International Lux which
is the premium variant and the affordable segment was catered by Lux
beauty soap.
o Lux beauty soap is available in Four variants : Exotic Flower Petals, Fruit
Extracts, Almond and Sandal. Lux has a common ingredient of Milk cream
in all the variants. Although the brand enjoyed success and has sustained its
leadership position, of late this brand has been facing issues of stagnation.
The stagnation is caused by the plethora of brands competing for the market
share and the scope for differentiation has reduced to almost nil. Together
with the rush for celebrities to endorse anything from salt to cars, Lux is
finding it difficult to sustain growth in this cluttered market.
o In 2005 Lux celebrated its 75th anniversary sparking of a controversy.
Deviating its tradition of roping in Bollywood Divas, this time none other
than Shah Rukh Khan endorsed Lux. The ads created instant controversy
with marketers discussing whether the brand has suddenly become MALE.
Paul Newman also has endorsed Lux soap which shows that Lux makes such
stunts to excite the market. Whatever be the controversy, the brand again
succeeded in creating excitement in the market. Some argue that HLL was
testing a new positioning to appeal to male users while others say that it was
a one time endorsement to break the clutter. For marking the 75th year Lux
came out with a celebration range endorsed by Kareena Kapoor.
o The Celebration range too created news because of its variant :Chocolate
Seduction. These innovative products created lot of excitement that ensured
that Lux remained in the top of mind of the consumers. Another variant
which I like personally is the Lux with Orchid which looked cool in terms of
packaging and looks. Over these years, the positioning of Lux also evolved.
Earlier the brand used the positioning " Beauty soap of Film stars".
o But as the customer evolved, the positioning lost its charm because
customers began to doubt whether the film stars actually used this brand.
Taking a cue from the customers, Lux changed the positioning appealing to
the need for becoming a star. The new positioning is communicated with the
tagline " Bring out the star in you".
o Product- LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever.
Though manufactured in India for the local market by Unilever India 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 India from imported raw materials like
sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavours, coming
from Unilever plants situated abroad. LUX Energizing Honey, LUX Golden

12
 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 flavours of LUX in three different sizes,40gm,
80gm and 120gm. A Product is anything that can be offered to a market to
satisfy a need or want products that are marketed include physical goods,
services, experiences, events, person, place, properties, organization,
information and ideas.
o Brand name
o Product innovation
o Quality and Quantities
o Packaging and labelling
o Style, shape and design
o Price-Though Unilever India 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 India. 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. Compares Lux‘s price with its
major competitor Company carries out research on competitors ‘price and
brand loyalty when it feels extreme necessity of changing price. The brand
loyalty test is an exploratory research which is known as Brand Health
Check- Up(BHCU). Recent price of lux soap(100 g) is Rs.23
o Place-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 India Ltd. These
distributors then supply the product all over India 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 India
because of a recent increase in demand of its product to all segments of the
population.
o Promotion- It‘s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel
Superstar and LUX Channel 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 India 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.

13
History of soap and Lux
o Soap manufacturing was started in North America. Early in the history of
Europe colonies and of the republic. Some American companies with
currently well known names were started 50 to200 years ago. During middle
ages, soap was made at various places in Italy, France, Spain, England and
possible other countries. Mankind knew about soap nearly 200 years back 70
A.D. when Mr.Pllny and Mr. elder evidentially discovered the soap when
roasted meat over flowed on the flow in ashes. This lump like product was
soap and had foaming and cleansing character. Since then 1192 A.D. that in
the first time detergent was taken in London. It is in 1931 A.D. that in the
first time detergent was discovered by Mr.Grency with the sulphate do live
oil and almond oil.
o The wood consumption of soap in1884 A.D. was said to be lakhs/ton per
annum and it was in this year Mr.W.H.L. ever entered the field of the soap
making in a big way. During the British rule the Lever Brothers, England
introduced modern soaps by importing and marketing them in the country.
The first company created was North West Soap Company, the soap
manufacturing plant in India situated in the city of Meerut, in the state of
Uttar Pradesh. In 1897, they started marketing cold process soaps. In 1918,
Mr. Jamshedji Tata set up India's first indigenous soap manufacturing unit
when he purchased the Coconut Oil Mills at Cochin Kerala. OK Mills
crushed and marketed coconut oil for cooking and manufactured crude cold
process laundry soaps that were sold locally and It was renamed The Tata
Oil Mills Company and its first branded soaps appeared on the market in the
early 1930's.
o Traditional positioning of Lux as a product to be used to wash woolen
garments (see slogan Lux won‘t shrink woolens‘‘) should be widened so that
consumers saw Lux as product that could be used for all fine fabrics. Its
advertisements often followed an aggressive market expansion strategy for
their products; by suggesting a wider framework of possible uses for a given
product both the customer base and the usage rate of a product could be
increased (Ansoff 1957).
o For its client Lever Brothers, this strategy resulted in increased sales from
10,000 cases in 1915 to over one million cases in 1918 (The history of
LuxFlakes‘‘1950;Lovett 1970). This strategic marketing orientation of
JWT‘s Advertising is further exemplified in its decision to use
advertisements in 1922 to promote the use of Lux for the washing of dishes
In the early 1920s, the Lux advertising campaign in the American market
took a crucial turn toward dialogic consumer engagement. In 1924, JWT
invited American housewives to submit testimonials for Lux soap flakes.
These letters, of which about 53,000 arrived at the JWT headquarters‘, were
used by the agency to conduct a survey of consumer habits. It turned out that

14
 consumers had independently begun to use the flakes for the washing of their
hands, for baths, for their babies, and for washing their hands and hair.
o The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds
market share of slightly less than 50%. Other 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 india should undertake further steps such as moving
towards the rural and/or poorer.

Principles of the Quality Policy

o Putting the safety of their products and consumers first.

HUL has stringent mandatory quality standards in place against which
compliance is verified through regular audits and self assessments. These
standards ensure they design, manufacture and supply products that are safe, of
excellent quality, and conform to the relevant industry and regulatory standards
in the countries in which they operate.
They actively engage consumers and customers, translating their needs and
requirements into products and services, thus creating consumer value wherever
they position their products.
o Quality is a shared responsibility
Quality and consumer safety is the responsibility of every Unilever employee and
Unilever demonstrates visible and consistent leadership to meet this policy. The
drive for quality, in all that they do, is a passion reflected in their brand
development, manufacturing and customer service processes.

Present condition

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.
They endow the company with a scale of combined volumes of about 4 million
tonnes and sales of nearly Rs.13718 crores.
15
HUL is also one of the country's largest exporters; it has been recognised as a
Golden Super Star Trading House by the Government of India.
The mission that inspires HUL's over 15,000 employees, including over 1,300
managers, is to "add vitality to life." HUL meets everyday needs for nutrition,
hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good and
get more out of life. It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever,
which holds 52.10% of the equity. The rest of the shareholding is distributed
among 360,675 individual shareholders and financial institutions.
HUL's brands - like Lifebuoy, Lux, Surf Excel, Rin, Wheel, Fair & Lovely,
Pond's, Sunsilk, Clinic, Pepsodent, Close-up, Lakme, Brooke Bond, Kissan,
Knorr-Annapurna, Kwality Wall's – are household names across the country and
span many categories - soaps, detergents, personal products, tea, coffee, branded
staples, ice cream and culinary products. They are manufactured over 40 factories
across India. The operations involve over 2,000 suppliers and associates. HUL's
distribution network, comprising about 4,000 redistribution stockists, covering
6.3 million retail outlets reaching the entire urban population, and about 250
million rural consumers.
HUL has traditionally been a company, which incorporates latest technology in
all its operations. The Hindustan Unilever Research Centre (HURC) was set up
in 1958, and now has facilities in Mumbai and Bangalore. HURC and the Global
Technology Centres in India have over 200 highly qualified scientists and
technologists, many with post-doctoral experience acquired in the US and
Europe.
Group operates through seven segments:
Soaps and Detergents, Personal Products, Exports, Beverages, Foods, Ice Creams
and Other. The products include home and personal care products, foods and
beverages, industrial and agricultural products. Home and personal care products
consists of personal and fabric wash, household, oral care, skin and hair care,
deodorants, perfumery, colour cosmetics and baby care. Foods and beverages
includes tea, coffee, cooking fats and oils, bakery fats, ice creams, tomato
products, fruit and vegetable products, rice, salt, atta and rawa, marine products
and mushrooms. Industrial and agricultural products includes specialty
chemicals, bulk chemicals, fertilisers, animal feeds, seeds, plant growth nutrients,
processed-tri-glycerides and Agri commodities, yeast, leather, footwear and
carpets, thermometers and plantations.

16
Its brands are spread across 20 consumer product categories. Hindustan Unilever
markets consumer goods throughout India. The company faces competition from
international, local and regional players.
The company derives 44.3% of its revenues from soaps and detergents, 26.6%
from personal care products, 10.5% from beverages, and the rest from foods, ice
creams, exports, and other products. As counterfeit trade increases, the company
stands to lose on its brand equity and exclusivity.
New Products introduced by HUL in recent years:
• Lux strawberry and cream
• Clinic plus multi sachet
• Ponds age miracle
• Axe shock and recover
• Paddle pop
• Wheel active Green

Divisions
o Home and Personal Care

The HPC business is made up of Fabric Wash, Household Care, Personal Wash
and Personal Care categories.
• Personal Wash: Lux, Lifebuoy, Liril, Hamam, Breeze, Dove, Pears, Rexona
• Laundry: Surf excel, Rin, Wheel
• Skin care: Fair and Lovely, Ponds, Vaseline, Aviance
• Oral care: Pepsodent, Close up
• Deodorants: Axe, Rexona
• Colour cosmetics: Lakme
• Ayurvedic personal and health care: Ayush

Foods
The Foods Division of your Company comprises Beverages, Processed Foods,
Ice-Creams and Modern Foods businesses. The Division recorded strong growth
in 2007.
• Tea: Brooke Bond, Lipton
• Coffee: Bru
• Foods: Kissan, Annapurna, Knorr
• Ice cream: Kwality walls

17
 50%
40%
30%
20% Product

10%
0%
Fabric wash
Personal wash
Shampoo Skin Toothpaste Tea Coffee

Hindustan Lever network

o Started in 2003, Hindustan Unilever Network (HUN) is HUL's Direct Selling
arm. It is a multi-category direct selling business offering a wide range of
high-quality,
o high-performance products for its consumers and also exciting business and
personal development opportunities for its consultants. It already has about 7
lakh consultants - all independent entrepreneurs, trained and guided by HUN's
expert managers and trainers.
o HUN’s mission is to a create millionaire club in India. There are many
consultants who are earning at over a rate of Rs.1,00,000 per annum. Several
consultants earn over Rs.50,000 per month.
o HUN offers to build a business with different categories of Home & Personal
Care (HPC) and Food products. They are all essential household needs. And
they are all exclusive to HUN, specifically developed for the Direct Selling
channel, and not available in the retail channel.
o HUN has already spread to 1500 towns and cities, backed by 28 offices and
over 130 service centres across the country. HUN's vision is to earn the love
and respect of India by making a real difference to the lives of million Indians.

Exports
Today, HUL is one of India’s Largest exporters of branded Fast Moving
Consumer Goods. It has been recognized by the Government of India as a Golden
Super Star Trading House. Over time HUL has developed into a viable &
competitive sourcing base for Unilever world wide in Home and Personal Care
& Foods & Beverages category of products. HUL is also a global marketing arm
for select licensed Unilever brands and also works on building categories with
core country advantage such as branded basmati rice. HUL Exports offers high
level of service with flexibility and responsiveness thorough out the supply chain.
It has a dedicated organization structure to support this endeavour and this has
helped in growth of these businesses in particular. Intrinsic cost competitiveness
in the end to end Supply chain with appropriate technology and competitive
18
capital investment operations while delivering best in class quality enables HUL
to position itself as a key sourcing hub for Unilever and also become a preferred
partner for Global customers in categories we operate.
HUL’s key focus in the exports business is on two broad categories. It is a
sourcing base for Unilever brands in Home & Personal Care (HPC) and Food and
Beverages (F&B) for supplies to other Unilever companies. It also focuses on
becoming a preferred supplier to both non-Unilever and Unilever clients in three
categories in which India, as a country, has competitive advantage – Branded
Rice, Marine Products and Castor and its Derivatives . HUL enjoys international
recognition within Unilever and outside for its quality, reliability and speed of
customer service. HUL's Exports geography comprises, at present, countries in
Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia, North America etc

REVENUE PERCENTAGE(JUN'8) Exports

Others 9%
3%

Foods
15%

Home &
Personal Care
73%

Corporate Responsibility
o As in the earlier years, your Company continued to involve itself in social
welfare initiatives across the Country, both through charity and social
investment around issues like education, health, nutrition and initiatives for
the economic upliftment of the underprivileged.
o The company has commenced a pilot in its tea business, in partnership with
an NGO (Partners in Change) to source tea directly from small producers and
thereby improve their livelihood. The effort of the Company in improving
water availability through soil conservation and water harvesting methods has
borne good results. Company believes that brands must be at the forefront of
driving social change.

19
o HUL is also running a rural health programme – Lifebuoy Swasthya Chetana.
The programme endeavours to induce adoption of hygienic practices among
rural Indians and aims to bring down the incidence of diarrhoea. It has already
touched 84.6 million people in approximately 43890 villages of 8 states. The
vision is to make a billion Indians feel safe and secure.

LUX

o Lux soap was first launched in 1916 as laundry soap targeted specifically at
'delicates'. Lever Brothers encouraged women to home launder their clothes
without fear of satins and silks being turned yellow by harsh lyes that were
often used in soaps at the time. The flake-type soap allowed the manufacturer
some leeway from lye because it did not need to be shaped into traditional
cake-shaped loaves as other soaps were. The result was a gentler soap that
dissolved more readily and was advertised as suitable for home laundry use.
o Lux toilet soap was introduced in 1925 as bathroom soap. The name 'Lux' was
chosen as a play on the word "luxury." Lux has been marketed in several
forms, including bar and flake and liquid (hand wash, shower gel and cream
bath soap).
o Lux in step with the changing trends and evolving beauty needs of the
consumers, offers an exciting range of soaps and Body Washes with unique
elements to make bathing time more pleasurable. One can choose from a range
of skincare benefits like firming, fairness and moisturising.
o Lux stands for the promise of beauty and glamour as one of India's most
trusted personal care brands. Since its launch in India in the year 1929, Lux
has offered a range of soaps in different colours and world class fragrances.
Lux is a beauty soap of film stars. Lux recognized the need for a compelling
message about beauty that would resonate with women of today.
o From the 1930s right through to the 1970s, Lux soap colours and packaging
were altered several times to reflect fashion trends. In 1958 five colours made
up the range: pink, white, blue, green and yellow. People enjoyed matching
their soap with their bathroom colours.
o 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.
o In 2004, the entire Lux range was re-launched in the UK 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.
20
o Lux has recently launched its two fruit extract variants – New Lux Strawberry
& Cream and Lux Peach & Cream contain a blend of succulent fruits &
luscious Chantilly cream. The most recent addition in the brand is Lux Crystal
Shine.

Study of LUX with respect to 4 P’s

a. Product
A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a need or want.
Products that are marketed include physical goods, services, experiences, events,
persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas.
Product Classification
•
LUX is a Tangible, Non Durable Good on the basis of this classification.
• LUX and other soaps fall into the category of Convenience Good
Product Life Cycle
LUX Beauty Bar is in the maturity stage of its life cycle

Product Life Cycle

3

2.5
Product Life Cycle

1.5
Product Life Cycle
1

0.5

0
0 1 2 3 4
Axis Title

Some of the prominent variants

1. Lux Almond
2. Lux Orchid
3. Lux Fruit
4. Lux Saffron
5. Lux Sandalwood
6. Lux Rose
7. Lux International
21
 8. Lux Chocolate
9. Lux Aromatic Extracts
10.Lux Oil and Honey Glow
11.Lux Provocateur
LUX Beauty Soap- Form, Features, Style
o With icons of beauty endorsing the brand, the offerings made by Lux have
always been superior and have always led the market, setting benchmarks for
competition.
o Lux has beauty offerings in two of the four market segments – popular and
premium, spanning the needs of varied consumers.
o Lux Toilet Soap in the popular segment has in the past years offered its
consumers a range of soaps enriched with the goodness of a variety of
nourishing ingredients – rose extracts, almond oil, milk cream, fruit extracts
and honey which are known to harbour the secrets of incredibly perfect skin.
o At the upper end of the market is the premium range which continues to offer
specialised skincare to its consumers in the form of International Lux – a range
of moisturising, deep cleansing and sunscreen soaps.
o To establish the presence of nourishing ingredients in the new Lux, a unique
concept, ‘ingredients you can see in the soap’, was born. A novel metallic
substrate packaging beautifully showcased the ingredients and its globally
accepted ingredient-linked perfumes heightened the sensorial experience.
o Each of the soaps in the range has milk cream, with the active ingredients of
rose extracts, sandal saffron, almond oil and fruit extracts. These create an
experience in pampering indulgence and luxury designed to bring out the star
in every woman. This is the first time in the Indian chapter of the brand that
the beauty bar variant was being differentiated on the basis of its ingredients
rather than its perfume and colours.
o Though Lux International, a premium variant of the toilet soap, launched in
1989, is differentiated on the basis of its ingredients, the popular version, Lux
Beauty Bar was always projected as a “pure and mild” solution to soft and
smooth skin.
Logo

Labelling

22
o The LUX Trade Character or Logo is present prominently on the package. A
novel metallic substrate packaging showcases the ingredients, and a female
model is shown on the pack. Also displayed graphically are the key
ingredients.
Packaging
The colors are different for different variants such as saffron for the saffron
variant, pink for the rose extracts etc.The Bars come in package sizes of 100g,
120g, 150 g

Lux has also launched a 45 g variant called Mini Lux priced at Rs. 5.

Promotion
o The great Indian brand wagon started nearly four decades ago. Great brands
sometimes outlast their ambassadors as proven by Lux which celebrated its
75th anniversary in India.
o The first ambassador, Leela Chitnis featured in a Lux advertisement which
flagged off the Lux wagon. She gave way to a galaxy of stars which includes
Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda
Rehman, Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Amaan, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri
Dixit, Sridevi, Aishwarya Rai and Kareena Kapoor. The last frontier for most
actors aspiring to stardom is becoming a Lux ambassador. The brand has
outlasted many soaps. From the beginning, Lux became a household name
across the country.

23
Advertising
Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of
ideas, goods and services by an identified sponsor. Ads can be a cost effective
way to disseminate messages, whether to build a brand preference or to educate
people.
LUX ADVERTISEMENTS THROUGH THE AGES

Leela Chitnis in the first Lux print advertisement featuring an Indian actress

Aishwarya Rai in a print advertisement featuring Lux international

24
Priyanka Chopra in the Lux advertisement

25
 Kareena Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in the latest Lux advertisement Fan of each other
campaign (2018)

Deepika Padukone in the latest Lux advertisement by Lux Golden Rose awards as a
marketing strategy

• USP or the common thread through all the advertisements is the Presence
of Movie Stars through the ages.
• The product has been positioned on the basis of REFERENCE GROUP by
using a celebrity popular at that point in time.
• Some amount of attribute positioning by mentioning the various
ingredients has also been done.
o Lux campaigns have wooed millions of people over the decades. Popularly
known as the beauty soap of film stars, Lux has been an intimate partner of
the brightest stars on the silver screen for decades. An ode to their beauty, an
announcer of their stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured film
stars across the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to ordinary
women.
26
o With top movie stars – from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to Karisma
and Kareena having endorsed the goodness of Lux over generations, it was
natural that the brand has built equity as the best beauty soap in India.
o From the beginning Lux, by using a leading film star of the time, has fulfilled
the consumers’ aspirations of using beauty soaps via the rationale ‘if it’s good
enough for a film star, it’s good for me. This later moved into a transformation
role of having a bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world
of icons, film stars and fairy lands.

Change in communication strategy

o However, the communication was slowly seen to be losing relevance, as
consumers were beginning to question if the film star actually used the brand.
o In addition to this, several competitive beauty soap brands had begun
advertising using similar methods of communication. In this context, the
global brand team for Lux developed a new communication strategy. This
strategy – bring out the star in you – for the first time moved the brand away
from the long-running film star route. The film star still features in the new
communication but not as her gorgeous self but rather as an alter
ego/projection of the protagonist (a regular girl), for a few seconds of the
entire ad.
o Thus, for the first time the film star was used as a communication device and
not as the main feature of the ad. The move away from the film star and her
fantasy world to a regular Lux user, with the focus on the protagonist’s star
quality, is a change from the norms set by Lux advertising in the past. With
the new communication strategy, the film star is used purely as a
communication device to portray star quality in every Lux user. This can be
significantly seen in the latest TV commercial of Lux Crystal Shine where
Priyanka Chopra is portrayed as a normal woman.
o This idea – bring out the star in you – puts the consumer at the heart of the
brands’ promise. This promise goes beyond the functional deliverables of
soap, beyond bathing and the bathroom to the world outside. It’s a world
where with Lux on her side, an ordinary woman can impact her world with
her own star quality.

27
Sales Promotion
o Sales promotion, a key ingredient in marketing campaigns, consists of a
collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker
or greater purchase of particular products or services by consumers or the
trade.
o Whereas advertising offers a reason to buy, sales promotion offers an
incentive to buy.
o Sales promotion includes tools for

Prominent Sales Promotion Schemes Used By LUX

o Lux presented 30 gm gold each to the first three winners of the Lux Gold Star
offer from Delhi. According to the promotional offer that Lux unveiled in
October 2000, a consumer finding a 22-carat gold coin in his or her soap bar
got an opportunity to win an additional 30 gm gold. The first 10 callers every
week got a 30gm gold each. The offer could be availed only on 100 gm and
150 gm packs of Lux soap.
o Lux Star Bano, Aish Karo contest: All one needed to do was buy a special
promotional pack of Lux soap. The pack comes with a special scratch card.
The 50 lucky winners and their spouses were flown down to Mumbai to live
a day like Aishwarya Rai would. They could also be given gift vouchers worth
Rs 50,000 from Shoppers' Stop along with an exclusively designed Neeta
Lulla sari and a beauty makeover by Michelle Tung, Aishwarya's preferred
designer and stylist. The pièce de résistance was a dinner date with Aishwarya
Rai herself.
o Lux celebrated 75 years of stardom with the Har Star Lucky Star activity.
All wrappers of Lux had a star printed inside them. If the consumer found
written inside the star, any number from “1” to “5”, she would get an
equivalent discount (in rupees) on her purchase from her shopkeeper. If the
consumer found “75 years” written inside the star, she will get a year’s supply
of Lux free.
Public Relations:
Not only must the company relate constructively to customers, suppliers and
dealers, it must also relate to a large number of interested publics. A public is any
group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact on a company’s ability
to achieve its objectives. PR involves a variety of programs designed to promote
or protect a company’s image or its individual products.

28
LUX PR Activities
o Press relations:
o Lux has been maintaining constant communicating with its customers
and potential customers, of the various developments taking place in
the brand by using press relations.
o Events:
o Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by unveiling
Shahrukh Khan as their latest brand ambassador. Kareena Kapoor, Juhi
Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini graced the event and made it special.
All the stars have endorsed Lux in the past. The event was held at the
grand Intercontinental in Mumbai.

Limited edition:
Coming up with limited edition of the brand is also a way of attracting attention
towards the brand. It creates a buzz and a feeling of urgency to try out the product
and helps in promotion of the brand. This strategy was also implemented by Lux
by bringing out limited editions like Chocolate Seduction, Aromatic Glow,
Festive Glow and Haute Pink.
Price
o If price is too high then a company may never sell a single item of it. If price
is too low then one can lose money on every sale once all of costs of doing
business are considered. Therefore the key is to price it in such way that it
appears attractive to the customer as well as profitable to the company. HUL
seems to have mastered this idea. Prices of HUL are considered the most
competitive in Indian market. The main fact for this huge success story is the
strategic pricing decision the company has adopted from time to time.
o HUL always gives value for money to their consumers. It is known for its
competitive pricing. It has the advantage of quoting a reasonable price due to
its economies of scale. HUL also can quote a very competitive price due to its
superior technology and optimum utilization of inventory. It has the product
range that meets the needs of all classes of consumers. It has the products that
are categorized as premium and mass products. HUL matches its prices with
the competitor who is operating in the same category.
o HUL also gives price offs on its products to reward consumers who are using
it for a long time and also to attract new consumers.

29
o The price of the premium segment products is twice that of economy segment
products. The economy and popular segments are 4/5ths of the entire soaps
market.

Price segments of toilet soaps

Segment Price/weight
Premium > Rs. 15 / 75 gms
Popular Rs. 8-15/75 gms
Economy < Rs. 8 /75 gms

However, recently HUL has been forced to hike its price by one rupee, to Rs17
(for 100 gm), giving in to the pressures of inflation. This paves the way for
competing soap makers like Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) to take price
increases.
Lux has versions in all the three price segment
Recent pricing of Lux (100 g)

Lux Crystal Shine Rs 17

Lux Festive Glow Rs 15

Mini Lux Rs 5

Place
Cutting-edge distribution network

o HUL’s distribution network is recognized as one of its key strengths -- that

which helps reach out its products across the length and breadth of this vast
country. The need for a strong distribution network is imperative, since HUL’s
corporate purpose is “to meet the everyday needs of people everywhere.”
o At Hindustan Unilever Limited, distribution network is one of the key
strengths that help them reach their products across the length and breadth of
this vast country. It has 2000+ suppliers and associates 7,000 stockists and
direct coverage in over 1 million retail outlets across India.
o To meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer, HUL has set up a
distribution network that ensures availability of all their products, in all
outlets, at all times. This includes, maintaining favourable trade relations,
providing innovative incentives to retailers and organizing demand generation

30
 activities among a host of other things. HUL boasts of placing a product across
the country in less than 72 hrs.
o The first phase of the HUL distribution network had wholesalers placing bulk
orders directly with the company. Large retailers also placed direct orders,
which comprised almost 30 per cent of the total orders collected.
o Today, the goods are transferred from the factory to the company warehouses
and are sent to the distributor from there on a daily basis. From the distributor,
the stock reaches the market through daily sales. Typically, these include the
salesman registering the order of a retail outlet and delivering the goods the
next day.
o Recently HUL has changed its traditional way distribution and came out with
a new strategy of distribution. It‘s because of the change in buying pattern of
the consumer due to more disposable income. There are different channels of
distribution like Modern Trade, which covers all chains of super markets like
Food World, who get the stocks directly from the company. Wholesalers and
second leg of big retail outlets called Super Value stores come under the
surveillance of the distributor along with the mass retail outlets. There is also
this new concept in the HUL distribution channel called Kiosk. Kiosk is a
small shop that sells only sachets and low priced items (below Rs.10/-). Kiosk
also does not come under the surveillance of the distributor.
o In addition to the ongoing commitment to the traditional grocery trade, HUL
is building a special relationship with the small but fast emerging modern
trade. HUL's scale enables it to provide superior customer service including
daily servicing, improving their range availability whilst reducing inventories.
HUL is using the opportunity of interfacing more directly with consumers in
this retail environment through specially designed communication and
promotions. This is building traffic into the stores while yielding high growth
for the business.
RSNet
o An IT-powered system has been implemented to supply stocks to
redistribution stockists on a continuous replenishment basis. The objective is
to catalyse HUL’s growth by ensuring that the right product is available at the
right place in right quantities, in the most cost-effective manner. For this,
stockists have been connected with the company through an Internet-based
network, called RSNet, for online interaction on orders, dispatches,
information sharing and monitoring. RS Net covers about 80% of the
company's turnover. Today, the sales system gets to know every day what
HUL stockists have sold to almost a million outlets across the country. RS Net
is part of Project Leap, HUL's end-to-end supply chain, which also includes a

31
 back-end system connecting suppliers, all company sites and stretching right
up to stockists. Powered by the IT tools it has improved customer service,
while ensuring superior availability and impactful visibility at retail points.
o For rural India, HUL has established a single distribution channel by
consolidating categories. In a significant move, with long-term benefits, HUL
has mounted an initiative, Project Streamline, to further increase its rural reach
with the help of rural sub-stockists. As a result, the distribution network
directly covers about 50,000 villages, reaching about 250 million consumers.
o Distribution will acquire a further edge with Project Shakti, HUL's partnership
with Self Help Groups of rural women. The project, started in 2001, already
covers over 5000 villages in 52 districts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, and is being progressively extended. The vision
is to reach over 100,000 villages, thereby touching about 100 million
consumers. The SHGs have chosen to adopt distribution of HUL's products as
a business venture, armed with training from HLL and support from
government agencies concerned and NGOs. A typical Shakti entrepreneur
conducts business of around Rs.15000 per month, which gives her an income
in excess of Rs.1000 per month on a sustainable basis. As most of these
women are from below the poverty line, and live in extremely small villages
(less than 2000 population), this earning is very significant, and is almost
double of their past household income.
o For HUL, the project is bringing new villages under direct distribution
coverage. Plans are being drawn up to cover more states, and provide
products/services in agriculture, health, insurance and education. This will
both catalyse holistic rural development and also help the SHGs generate even
more income. This model creates a symbiotic partnership between HUL and
its consumers, some of whom will also draw on the company for their
livelihood, and helps build a self-sustaining cycle of growth.

SWOT ANALYSIS
o SWOT analysis is a basic, straightforward model that provides direction and
serves as a basis for the development of marketing plans. It accomplishes this
by assessing an organizations strengths (what an organization can do) and
weaknesses (what an organization cannot do) in addition to opportunities
(potential favorable conditions for an organization) and threats (potential
unfavorable conditions for an organization). The role of SWOT analysis is to
take the information from the environmental analysis and separate it into
internal issues (strengths and weaknesses) and external issues (opportunities
and threats). Once this is completed, SWOT analysis determines if the

32
 information indicates something that will assist the firm in accomplishing its
objectives (a strength or opportunity), or if it indicates an obstacle that must
be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results (weakness or threat)
(Marketing Strategy, 1998).
o The SWOT analysis summarizes the external environmental factors as a list
of opportunities and threats.

o SWOT PROFILE OF LUX

STRENGTHS

1. Strong Market Research (door to door sampling is done once a year in

Urban and Rural areas)
2. Many variants (Almond Oil, Orchid Extracts, Milk Cream, Fruit Extracts,
Saffron, Sandalwood Oil, and Honey to name a few)
3. Strong sales and distribution network backed by HLL
4. Strong brand image
5. Positioning focuses on the attractive beauty segment
6. Dynamically continuous innovation of the product and brand rejuvenation
– new variants (Aromatic Glow and Chocolate Seduction and Lux White
Spa body wash) and innovative promotions (22 carat gold coin promotion
– ‘Chance Hai’)
7. Perceived to have high value for money (strong brand promotion but
relatively lower price which is a winning combination in the popular
segment)
8. Though it is in popular segment, it is having mass appeal/market presence
across all segments (15% of the soap market captured by Lux (sales /
volume)
9. Unique advantage of having access to resources and assets of HLL

WEAKNESSES

1.Lux is mainly positioned as beauty soap targeted towards women, hence it

lacks unisex appeal
33
 2.Usage rate/ wear rate is high and is generally mushy and soggy

3.Some variants like the sunscreen, International variant did not do well in
the market

4.Certain advertisements like the recent one with Shah Rukh Khan resulted in
controversial interpretations of the message of the advertisement and lead to
some loss of focus (of message of the advertisements)

5.Stock out problems - replenishment time is high in semi-urban/rural areas

6.Earlier positioning as the “soap of the stars” has somewhat alienated the
brand from a portion of the consumers especially in rural areas.

OPPORTUNITIES

1. Soap industry growing by 10% in India

2. Beauty segment’s Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is very
high. An indication of this is that Fair and Lovely’s segment is increasing
at a fast rate - Lux must reinforce its presence in the beauty segment
3. More promotions like price-offs and samples
4. Retentive strategy required as the soap segment is in the mature stage of its
product life cycle
5. Line extension – probably with more variants catering to the beauty
segment like natural, herbal soap etc
6. Liquid body wash is currently in the growth stage – Lux should come out
with more variants in this segment
7. Level of servicing is high during sales promotion schemes – this could be
brought down
8. It has a large market share and hence has a strong hold over the market

34
THREATS

1. New entrants/local competitors/MNCs would increase the competition

(Camay, P&G)

2. High internal competition – Pears also catering the beauty segment (also
from HLL stable)

3. Excessive dependence on beauty segment makes Lux vulnerable to

changing customer tastes

4. Technological change makes the existing products obsolete – Lux

should focus on technological innovations like Body Wash

5. Its in the maturity stage in the Product Life Cycle and has a threat of
slipping down to decline stage if constant reinvention of the brand is not
carried out.

Competitor analysis
Internal competitors
Lifebuoy:

o Born: 1895

o History: Owned by Unilever Plc., the parent company of Hindustan Unilever

Ltd.

o Status: Has 18% market share in the bathing soaps category, worth Rs6,000
crore

o Lifebuoy landed on Indian shores in 1895, when the country was in the grip
of a plague epidemic. With its positioning as a powerful germicidal and
disinfectant, and with a strong carbolic smell, it was what the nation was
looking for. But the health advantage waned over time as competitors came
out with soaps that promised both health and beauty.

o It was around 2002 that the product moved from being a hard soap to a mild
soap that delivered a significantly superior bathing experience. The new soap
had a refreshing fragrance and its overall positioning changed, painting its
promise of health in softer, more versatile and responsible hues—for the entire

35
 family. The packaging was also changed: The rugged looking packs were soon
replaced with a softer pinkish cover. This was followed by a series of ads
highlighting the soap’s germ-fighting benefits.

o Lifebuoy had become a family soap with hygiene as its core promise. Right
from the early days, the brand has preferred effective communication to
celebrities. An exception is its recent, limited exposure campaign with
cricketer Yuvraj Singh.

External Competitors
Santoor:
o Santoor is the flagship brand in the Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting stable
and the 2nd largest brand of soap in India in the popular segment of the
category. The brand enjoys two decades of trust since its launch in 1986 and
has grown to be counted amongst the top brands in the Country in an
intensively competitive market. Millions of women across the country have
discovered the secret of younger looking skin with Santoor. It is a truly unique
soap that combines the goodness of natural ingredients - Sandal, Turmeric and
natural Skin Softeners. Sandal provides a cooling and soothing effect that
softens skin, while turmeric controls formation of skin darkening pigments
like melanin, to give skin a radiant glow. Natural Skin Softeners make skin
soft and supple. The end result, skin that is so healthy and beautiful, it lies
about your actual age!
o Amongst the first brands in the Country to launch an offering with the twin
ingredient benefits of Sandal and Turmeric, Santoor has over the years moved
from a purely natural ingredient based appeal, to one of the most preferred
beauty soaps of the day. Today, Santoor is one of the fastest growing soap
brands in India. Santoor is available in three variants – Santoor (Sandal &
Turmeric), Santoor White (Sandal & Almond milk) and Santoor Chandan
which is a premium soap manufactured with extracts of Sandalwood oil – a
favourite of discerning consumers.

Cinthol:
o Cinthol the popular and much-loved brand of Godrej Consumer Products
Limited (GCPL)have been a favourite of people for many years. All different
soaps in its range are having feel-fresh fragrance and high TFM index.
Cinthol’s range covers an economic Lime-fresh, the medium deo-soaps (spice,
lime,cologne and the new ’sport’) and a slightly expensive “Cinthol-Original”.
For decades, Cinthol-Original is one of the best soaps made in India. It had a

36
 simple red-cover which attracts none! But was still able to sustain itself in the
market . Godrej has now launched the improved Cinthol range. Cinthol now
offers a deo-range of soaps, talc and deo-sprays in three exciting fragrances -
Classic, Cologne and Sport in a trendy new packaging. It also offers Cinthol
fresh soap and Cinthol Regular soap with new exciting packaging. The eye-
catching and vibrant packaging symbolizes a sense of adventure, zest and
action. The new Cinthol range brings 24-Hour Confidence through Active Deo
Formula, which controls body odour, Powerful DryShield that absorbs sweat,
UltraScent Technology for long lasting fragrance and Freshness that
revitalises you 24x7.
o The new range will be available across the country at modern retail and other
outlets and will be supported by high-impact advertising on television, print,
out-door, on-line and radio.
Vivel and Superia:
o The Vivel Di Wills range is available in two variants. Its unique carton pack
has been developed by ITC's design team to provide a novel consumer
experience. Vivel Di Wills Sheer Radiance is enriched with Olive Oil, to
provide skin lustre to make it radiant. Vivel Di Wills Sheer Crème is enriched
with Shea Butter, to moisturize skin to make it soft and supple.
o The Vivel range of soaps is available in four variants:-
• Vivel Young Glow is enriched with Vitamin E and Fruit Infusions which
help in providing youthful glow to the skin.
• Vivel Satin Soft is enriched with Vitamin E and Aloe Vera which help the
skin feel beautifully soft.
• Vivel Sandal Sparkle is enriched with Sandalwood Oil and Active Clay
which helps in providing clear skin.
• Vivel Ayurveda Essence is enriched with multiple Ayurvedic Ingredients
which help protect skin from germs and harsh environment, keeping it
healthy and beautiful.
o In the popular segment, ITC has launched a range of soaps and shampoos
under the brand name Superia. Superia Soaps enriched with natural
ingredients give radiant glowing skin. Superia Soaps are available in four
variants:
1. Fragrant Flower: with the fragrance of Rose & Lavender Oil
2. Soft Sandal: with the fragrance of Sandal & Almond Oil
3. Natural Glow: with Neem & Coconut Oils
4. Healthy Glow: with Orange Oil

37
Market Segmentation

o “One cannot be everything to everyone, but can be everything to a selected

few”. This is the basis for segmentation. The definition of segmentation is
“market segmentation is a process of dividing a heterogeneous market into
homogeneous sub units. Market segmentation is the identification of portions
of the market that are different from one another. Segmentation allows the firm
to better satisfy the needs of its potential customers.
o A good market segmentation will result in segment members that are internally
homogenous and externally heterogeneous; that is, as similar as possible
within the segment, and as different as possible between segments.

Market segmentation of Lux

o As mentioned above, market segmentation is done so as to satisfy the
customers more efficiently. For a brand like Lux, which has a broad customer
base, this factor becomes absolutely critical.
o The segmentations are done basically on the basis of factors like:
o Lux soap concentrates in the beauty soap category. A brief description of the
various factors Lux considers are:
o Gender: Lux has been, since its introduction seen as a soap for
women. Lux as a brand symbolises beauty. The Lux ads has hosted
a bevy of film stars such as from Madhubala, Babita, Hema, Karisma
to Kareena all endorsing the goodness of Lux over generations. This
was done in order to attract women who wanted to look and feel like
the stars they idolised.
o Age: Lux is seen to mainly attract customers that fall within the age
group of 16 to 35. In order to cater them, Lux comes up with new
and interesting variants. One of the latest entrants, Lux Crystal
Shine is mainly targeted at the youth . So is the Black Provocateur
which symbolises boldness . Another example is the chocolate
variant lux which was a novel idea. All these are introduced to catch
the attention of the youth.
o Income: One of the essential characteristic of an FMCG product is
an affordable price which is very important for its fast sales. It’s the
meeting point of demand for a product and its price that decide
whether the product will sell or not. And the demand for a product
is highly dependent on the income of the customer. Lux is not very
costly toilet soap. Its price varies from Rs.15 to rs.20.Therefore its
target market starts from the middle income group.

38
Positioning
o Lux—derived from the word luxury— was launched in 1899 as a laundry soap
in the UK. In 1925, the brand was extended to the toilet soap category. It was
positioned as a beauty soap in India, and HUL has since used successful film
actors of the time—such as Leela Chitnis, Madhubala, Hema Malini and
Kareena Kapoor—to endorse the product.
o Lux’s secret of longevity has been its consistent evolution—be it the soap
colour, packaging or new variants, the brand has banked on innovation to keep
its youthful image intact. Extending the soap cake to a range of shower gels,
liquid soaps and moisturizing bars has helped the brand keep consumers
excited and the competition at bay.
o What has not changed is the consistency in its communication and its
positioning. Its tag lines—if it’s good enough for a film star, then it’s good for
you too to Play with beauty—have conveyed the same message over the years.
It taps into an emotion very close to humanity’s basic need—social
interaction. The brand has always hired celebrities when they have reached a
certain height rather than using them at the start of their careers. This has
helped the customers to relate to their idols on screen.
o From being a soap for the stars, Lux has recently started positioning itself in
such a way that the ordinary woman can relate to the brand. The
advertisements show not the star, but the actress in the character of an ordinary
girl or woman, which any woman can identify with. This positioning has
helped the brand in striking a chord with the target consumer.

39
 Objective of the study
• To study the Brand Identity of lux soap

• To find out the marketing strategy of the company

• To study the marketing mix of the lux soap

• To study the Effect of celebrity endorsement on consumer buying

• To study the Brand Personality of Lux

• To study the Market share of Lux

Sample size and technique

Sample size

Sample size determination is the act of choosing the number of observations or

replicates to include in a statistical sample. The sample size is an important
feature of any empirical study in which the goal is to make inferences about a
population from a sample.

Sample size -100 respondents

Sampling method

Sampling methods are classified as either probability or non probability. In

probability samples, each member of the population has a known non-zero
probability of being selected. Probability methods include random sampling,
systematic sampling, and stratified sampling.

Simple random sampling

Simple random sampling is the basic sampling technique where They select a
group of subjects (a sample) for study from a larger group (a population). Each
individual is chosen entirely by chance and each member of the population has
an equal chance of being included in the sample.

40
 Methods of data collection
Data collection is the process of gathering and measuring information on
targeted variables in an established systematic fashion, which then enables one
to answer relevant questions and evaluate outcomes. The data collection
component of research is common to all fields of study
including physical and social sciences, humanities and business .It help us to
collect the main points as gathered information. While methods vary by
discipline, the emphasis on ensuring accurate and honest collection remains the
same.

Primary data collection

There are two types of data: primary and secondary data. Primary data is
information obtained directly from first-hand sources, while secondary data is
information that has already been collected by another person for other studies.
One of the differences between the two types of data is that secondary data
takes less time to obtain, while primary data takes more time because the
information has to be gathered from scratch.

Secondary data collection

Secondary data refers to data that was collected by someone other than the
user. Common sources of secondary data for social science include censuses,
information collected by government departments, organisational records and
data that was originally collected for other research purposes. Primary data, by
contrast, are collected by the investigator conducting the research.
Secondary data analysis can save time that would otherwise be spent collecting
data and, particularly in the case of quantitative data, can provide larger and
higher-quality databases that would be unfeasible for any individual researcher
to collect on their own.

41
 Method selected for the study
Questionnaire Method:
In this method a questionnaire is mailed to the person concerned with a request
to answer the questions and return the questionnaire. This method is most
extensively applied in various researches of human and economic geography.

The main merits of this method are given below:

(i) There is low cost even when the universe is large and is widespread
geographically.

(ii) It is free from bias of interviewer as answers are respondent’s own words.

(iii) Respondents, who are not easily approachable, can also be reached
conveniently. Moreover, respondents are given enough time to give well
thought answers.

The main demerits of this method are:

a. Low rate of return of the duly filled questionnaires.

b. It can be used only when the respondents are educated and cooperative.

c. The control of the questionnaire may be lost once it is sent.

d. It is difficult to know whether willing respondents are truly representative.

e. This method is likely to be the slowest of all.

42
 Limitations of study
• Opposition from the population

The main limitation to the study was opposition from the population as they
weren’t ready to fill the questionnaire because of their personal reasons.

• Time factor

The most important limitation was the time factor as the circulated sheets of
questions came unfilled by many because of the time factor many said they
were busy in their working schedule and couldn’t afford time to fill the
questions or to provide any answers for the information

• Bias answers

The questionnaires which were circulated within the population came with
filled answers. But most of the answers came filling with bias responses and
not particularly telling what problems they face as they thought this might
affect the image of self. And hence a proper data was not able to be
estimated and only on rough basis

• No suggestions provided

Many respondents did not provide any suggestions for their own betterment
because of the bias answers and the time factor mentioned. And hence the
main objective of the study to know whether the population was aware about
Lux soap or not remained unknown due to the incomplete information .

43
 Analysis and Data Interpretation

The Respondents of the survey were 61 Women and 38 Men and 1 respondent
didn’t mention his/her gender

The respondent belonged mostly to the age group 18-25years(54%) and the
rest 24% were from the age group of 26-40 years old and 17% were 41-60
years old and rest were above 60 years.

44
The annual family income shows the group of people which uses Lux soap
which is 5lakh and above majorly contributed to 37%, which says that lux is
majorly used by the upper middle class people.

The general family size targeted was a family of 4 where Lux was mostly used

45
The above mentioned graph shows that 88% of the total sample size taken are
aware of soap lux, that means Lux is widely available and used by most of the
population.

Majority i.e 94% of the total sample has used Lux soap which shows that the
soap Lux is identified and used by all.

46
The above mentioned graph shows that Lux is used more over 1-3 times a day,
so that we can see people use Lux for bathing once a day on an average.

The frequency of buying Lux or any other soap on an average is 63% Monthly,
that means people buy soap once in a month for stocking up the product
which can be used when needed.

47
The buying behaviour of the product lux is majorly people buy product of
100grams whenever they buy soap.

The brand awareness of Lux is majorly through Advertisements and references,

which shows Lux should invest more on Advertisements and Recall rate
through Advertisements.

48
According to the survey people consider Price, Value for money, Skin Care
when they buy a soap, all the factors are already focused by Lux.

As we can observe people are attracted towards the offers and discounts
offered by Lux, the offers like buy 3 get 4 are most famous when it comes to
offers provided by Lux.

49
We put forward some factors to determine buying behaviour of a consumer
such as Quality, Cost, Shape, Size, Offers etc while buying a soap, Respondents
said the offers and discounts, Fragrance, Celebrity Endorsement were the most
important factors taken into consideration while buying a soap.

On a rating of 0-5 respondent said that Lux is the most ancient and popular
brand as compared to the new emmerging brands. 47% of the total
respondents think Lux is the most famous brand.

50
We took a conclusion if Lux should implement new techniques of Brand
awareness of which 47% said Lux should implement new techniques of
promoting themselves and 29% were satisfied with the current promotions.

51
 Recommendations and Suggestions

Lux has been following a trend of constant product development and

improvement since its inception. This has always proved to be successful for the
brand.
Therefore a similar strategy can be followed in the future: Lux can go for a high
end Ayurvedic variant. Lux has been associated with beauty and feminine grace
till now. In the present day consumers are into naturopathy and believe in natural
treatments like the Ayurveda. Keeping with this trend, Lux can foray into
Ayurvedic variant. HUL already has Hamam soap in this category. But it is a low
priced soap whose target audience is quite different from Lux. This new variant
can provide the current customers of Lux with a blend of both class and natural
goodness.
Today’s children are tomorrow’s customers. Children have a major share in the
decision making process of consumers. Therefore it will be a viable decision to
launch Lux Kids Special soap. By doing this Lux can “catch them young” and get
a loyal customer base from them. This variant can be in vibrant colours as
opposed to the soft colours used currently. The fragrances can also be made more
“fun” and vibrant.
Lux has high penetration in the urban and semi urban areas. However, it has only
19.8% penetration in the rural areas. The rural market has great untapped
potential, which HUL has not concentrated on till now. Consumers are becoming
more and more aware and undergoing a surge in disposable income. This huge
opportunity can be explored by Lux. HUL already has a strong distribution
channel in almost all regions. What is needed here is a change in the
communication strategy to reach out to the rural customers. The various channels
of communication should be made more appealing to this rural segment of
customers

52
 Conclusion
LUX Is Generic Brand Widely Used By all Segment of Society, so company
should consider all segment of society while launching its different type of
product. Today, HUL is one of India’s Largest exporters of branded Fast Moving
Consumer Goods. It has been recognized by the Government of India as a Golden
Super Star Trading House. Lux has high penetration in urban & semi-urban areas.
However, it has only19.8% penetration in rural areas. It enjoys sound financial
position & high profits from this sector. The beauty soap industry of india consists
of a few producers in the industry. The demand for this product is very much
vulnerable in terms of pricing. Unilever India is providing LUX at a price which
is affordable to most of the people in the country. Beauty soap is an uprising
product in India as a greater portion of the population, both male and female, are
now getting more beauty conscious. As a multinational company Unilever India
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 Indian 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.

53
 Bibliography

1. www.unilever.com
• http://www.unileverea.com/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp
• http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp
2. www.unileverbd.com
3. Report on “Competition Scenario in Bangladesh”, page 18, prepared by
Bangladesh Enterprise Institute, July 2005.)
4. http://www.gfk.be/ProductsAndServices/ConsumerDiagnosticTools/Spec
ialAnalyses/BrandHealthCheckUp
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever
6. http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=155
7. www.capitaline.com
8. www.hll.com
9. www.scribd.com
10.Marketing Management – A South Asian Perspective by Philip Kotler

54