Marketing of himalaya herbal soaps to rural and semi-urban areas

Introduction :

The primary motives of using soaps are cleanliness and hygiene. Fear of disease and bad order are the main
motivators. This factor varies across different sections of society,depending on various socio-economic factors,
level of awareness, literacy etc.

In major markets, soaps are vastly differentiated and available in varieties of fragrances, colors, sizes and
shapes. Indian society is becoming more beauty conscious and hence the purpose of the toilet soaps has
extended to the realm of ‘beauty soaps’. This has also led to the emergence of a niche segment among soaps- the
herbal soaps.The rural markets also becoming more aware of the bigger brands, with increasing penetration of
print and electronic media.

The rural market in India for cosmetics and toiletries remains largely untapped. Major domestic players have
also not been able to penetrate this market. The urban market itself for specialized cosmetic products remains to
be fully exploited. The Indian skin-care market is not yet fully tapped and offers promising prospects as a
growth area. Penetration of color cosmetics is lower than the penetration prospects of the skin-care segment.

About himalaya:

The Himalaya Drug Company was founded in 1930 by Mr. M. Manal with a clear vision to bring Ayurveda to
society in a contemporary form and to unravel the mystery behind the 5,000 year old system of medicine. This
included referring to ancient ayurvedic texts, selecting indigenous herbs and subjecting the formulations to
modern pharmacological, toxicological and safety tests to create new drugs and therapies.

The legacy of researching nature forms the foundation of Himalaya's operations. Himalaya has pioneered the
use of modern science to rediscover and validate ayurveda's secrets. Cutting edge technology is employed to
create pharmaceutical-grade ayurvedic products. As a confirmation that Himalaya is dedicated to providing the
highest quality and consistency in herbal care, the Company was awarded an ISO 9001:2000 certification in
2003.

Since its inception, the company has focused on developing safe, natural and innovative remedies that will help
people lead richer, healthier lives. Today, Himalaya products have been endorsed by over 250,000 doctors
around the globe and consumers in over 65 countries rely on Himalaya for their health and personal care needs

Missions:
 Establish Himalaya as a science-based, problem-solving, head-to-heel brand, harnessed from nature's
wealth and characterized by trust and healthy lives
 Develop markets worldwide with an in-depth and long-term approach, maintaining at each step the
highest ethical standards.
  Respect, collaborate with and utilize the talents of each member of the Himalaya family and the local
communities where Himalaya products are developed and/or consumed, to drive our seed-to-shelf
policy and to rigorously adopt eco-friendly practices to support the environment we inhabit
 Ensure that each Himalaya employee strongly backs the Himalaya promise to exceed the expectations
of the consumer, each time and every time. Nothing less is acceptable.
Products:
Himalaya's products can broadly be categorized into three main ranges, viz:
1. Pharamaceutical
2. Personal care
3. Animal care

HIMALAYA HERBAL SOAPS

Himalaya has introduced the herbal soaps in four categories-

 Cream and honey soaps
 Moisturizing almond soaps
 Protecting neem and turmeric soaps
 Refreshing cucumber soaps

Pegged on par with lifebuoy’s variant in the health care category, lifebuoy green, Himalaya soaps is priced at Rs
10 for 75gm and Rs 14 for 125gm. at 76% TFM, it’s the only grade 1 soap in the health and herbal soap
segment. but as far as the sale is concerned this soap is not getting sold in the market. Upon analyzing, the
following reasons may be possible causes -
 ineffective and proper sales promotion.
 They are unable to compete with their competitors.
 There distributing chain is limited upto big cities.
 Their products are very costly in compare to other Herbal Products.
 They are not updating their customers completely about their new products.
Himalaya’s promotional strategy does not seem aligned with the segment it was targeting, the electronic media
compaign,which features urban family did not connect with the rural audiences. Also, since the reach of mass
media such as TV is only 65%, a large segment of the targeted audience may have been uninformed about the
product.
At Rs 10/-,Himalaya is a little bit on the expensive side for the rural customers who are accustomed to paying as
less as RS 4 for a small packet of soap(source: www.rediff.com). For the urban customers with many similar
and more established products to choose from, it is unlikely that they would try Himalaya which they may have
not heard of due to its ineffective advertising.

Marketing strategy for Himalaya to launch in semi urban and rural areas:
We propose that Himalaya soaps should be launched in the semi urban and rural areas. With the increase in the
rural literacy levels and the exposure to media, people in rural are also becoming conscious about their buying
decisions like their urban counterparts. They are becoming more choosier and more demanding than ever
before,so any company has to analyse the psychographics before entering the markets.

Target market:
Lower middle income groups in the semi urban and rural markets. They should focus on target people residing
in the rural areas and a part of population in semi urban areas.
Market place analysis- Rural market

 Trends indicate that the rural markets are coming up in a big way and growing twice as fast as the
urban.
 There are as many middle income and above households in the rural areas as there are in the urban
areas.
 The absolute size of rural India is expected to be double that of urban India.
 Rural markets offer a great potential for marketing branded goods and services for two reasons. First
one is the large number of consumers. The second one is large untapped market which is yet to be
discovered.
 Thus the Indian rural market with its vast size and demand base offers great opportunities to marketers.

Competitive analysis

Major competitirrs are - lifebuoy, medimix, chandrika, neem, jeeva etc

Market share- Himalaya enjoys the % of market share

SWOT ANALYSIS:
STRENGTHS:
 It offers the benefit of a germicidal protection and herbal ingredients in one product.
 It’s a good quality product.
 Good brand name

WEAKNESSES:
 It is strongly associated as a low grade product.
 The scent and moisturizing quality is not there.

OPPORTUNITIES:

 The rural market in India is growing. The urban market is already saturated and therefore the rural
market provides a vast new potential for growth.
 With increasing focus on rural developments by the government, the amenities in the rural regions have
improved. Better electricity, telecommunications and transportation facilities have improved the
awareness of the people in the rural regions.

THREATS:
  With the growing focus of the companies on the rural regions there is bound to be increased
competition faced by the company.

Marketing strategies:

 Make people aware of the product and advantages of the herbal soaps.

 Communication is a key when it comes to building brands in rural markets. Along with the local print
and tv adds below the line advertising strategies must be used.

 The audio visuals must be planned to convey a right message to the rural folk. The rich,
traditional media forms like folk dances, puppet shows, etc., with which the rural consumers are
familiar and comfortable, can be used for high impact product campaigns.

 PRICE -We propose to launch the soap in 2 packing. One will be a 100gm packing priced at Rs 8/-
and another will be a 50 gm packing priced at Rs 5 /-. The motive of 50 gm pack is to increase
affordability and flexibility among the consumers.

 Packaging -is also equally important. We propose to give a touch of refreshness to the cover by
making it a glazed one that will catch the consumer’s attention.

 The packaging should have the name Himalaya in hindi or the other vernacular languages.

 To effectively tap the rural market, a brand must associate it with the same things the rural folks do.
This can be done by utilizing the various rural folk media to reach them in their own language and in
large numbers so that the brand can be associated with the myriad rituals, celebrations, festivals,
"melas", and other activities where they assemble.

 Campaigns which aims to educate children and the community about the threat of unseen germs and
basic hygiene practices.

Distribution strategies:

 One of the ways could be using company delivery van which can serve two purposes - it can take the
products to the customers in every nook and corner of the market, and it also enables the firm to
establish direct contact with them, and thereby facilitate sales promotion.

 Soaps must also be made available in haats and melas. The rural folk are more at ease purchasing from
haats and melas

 Provide discounts on bulk purchases to retailers.

conclusion