1.

INTRODUCTION OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

A new product progresses through a sequence of stages from introduction to growth, maturity,
and decline. This sequence is known as the product life cycle and is associated with changes in
the marketing situation, thus impacting the marketing strategy and the marketing mix.
The product revenue and profits can be plotted as a function of the life-cycle stages as shown in
the graph below:

Product Life Cycle Diagram

Introduction Stage

In the introduction stage, the firm seeks to build product awareness and develop a market for the
product. The impact on the marketing mix is as follows:

Product branding and quality level is established and intellectual property protection such as
patents and trademarks are obtained.

Pricing may be low penetration pricing to build market share rapidly, or high skim pricing to
recover development costs.

Distribution is selective until consumers show acceptance of the product.

Promotion is aimed at innovators and early adopters. Marketing communications seeks to

build product awareness and to educate potential consumers about the product.

Growth Stage
In the growth stage, the firm seeks to build brand preference and increase market share.

Product quality is maintained and additional features and support services may be added.

Pricing is maintained as the firm enjoys increasing demand with little competition.

Distribution channels are added as demand increases and customers accept the product.

Promotion is aimed at a broader audience.

Maturity Stage
At maturity, the strong growth in sales diminishes. Competition may appear with similar
products. The primary objective at this point is to defend market share while maximizing profit.

Product features may be enhanced to differentiate the product from that of competitors.

Pricing may be lower because of the new competition.

Distribution becomes more intensive and incentives may be offered to encourage

preference over competing products.

Promotion emphasizes product differentiation.

Decline Stage
As sales decline, the firm has several options:

Maintain the product, possibly rejuvenating it by adding new features and finding new uses.
2

Harvest the product - reduce costs and continue to offer it, possibly to a loyal niche segment.

Discontinue the product, liquidating remaining inventory or selling it to another firm that is
willing to continue the product.
The marketing mix decisions in the decline phase will depend on the selected strategy. For
example, the product may be changed if it is being rejuvenated, or left unchanged if it is being
harvested or liquidated. The price may be maintained if the product is harvested, or reduced
drastically if liquidated.

2.OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

The objective of the project is to study the Product Life Cycle

To study the product life cycle of Lux

To observe the type of products provided by Lux

SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of the study is to extend the knowledge about the Product Life Cycle of Lux

3.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Information collected from Luxs website and various books

4.INTRODUCTION TO LUX
Visit any departmental store or retail outlet, and you find its shelved stocked with Lux Beauty soaps in
different variants, with attractive colours on the packaging and its permanent sign of the female model
present on the package. Today, Lux is a household name when it comes to soaps and in many places
(especially in rural areas), it has become a synonym for soaps.

People often walk into a shop and ask for Lux, when they mean, that they wish to buy a soap.

The Lux soap was first launched as laundry soap way back in 1916, with specially targeting the delicate
garments. The Level Brothers (who found what we today know as Unilever), encouraged women to do
their laundry at home without worrying about those delicate silks and satins turning yellow which often
came as a result of the strong and harsh chemicals present in the laundry soaps of that time. Lux at that
time was much more gentle on the clothes, it dissolved much more easily and was advertised as being
suitable for home use.

The Lux toilet soap as we know today came around in 1925. It was advertised as a bathroom soap, and
the initial name Sunlight flakes was changed to Lux, which is the Latin word for Light and was
supposed to be a shortened version of the word Luxury. From 1925 till date, Lux has been marketed in
various forms Soaps, Limited Editions, Bars, Flakes, Liquids, Gels and Body washed.

In India, Lux was launched in 1929, and it has always come in various colours and packages as well as
world-class fragrances. These changes kept coming with changing fashion trends. In 1958, the soap came
in five colours pink, blue, white, yellow and green, and the customers would buy the soaps in a way
that they could match it with the colours of their bathrooms!
Lux has always used popular movie stars as its brand endorsers. Even if the ad went around common
women, it still had references to some or the other movie star.

The year-wise brand image of the soap can be described as

The 30s: This is when the widespread advertising of the product began. At this time, Lux used much
older women, who would talk about preserving the youthful beauty of the skin in the series of print ads
that came during this time.

The 40s and the 50s: In this era, the focus shifted to the attributes that the consumers associated with the
brand and the role the brand played in her life.

The 60s: It was in this decade that the Fantasy Element that we commonly associate Lux with today
was created, more simply put as the feeling of being a film star that the soap generates. The campaigns
began highlighting the sensorial and emotional attributes of the brand along with the beauty quotient.
The ads did not contain a star, but contained references to them.

The 70s: This was a time when they beauty trends shifted from the then conventional ones. Natural and
wholesome beauty became the buzz. So, the stars of Lux stepped down from the pedestals they stood on
before and the campaign focus began to highlight the multi-faceted nature of a woman, which the
ordinary consumer of the soap was better able to relate to at the time.

The 80s: by this time Lux had established itself as the soap of the stars and elite and its image became
one of a must-have for beauty among all women. The campaigns of the 80s started focusing on skincare,
which was portrayed to be the first step towards beauty. It was during this time that Lux was launched in
China.

The 90s: During this time, Lux moved away from being a general beauty soap to launching soaps in the
market that were more function specific. Variants for different skin types also came in. The
communication strategy started becoming more localized and regionalized. Different ad campaigns for
different regions (say, Middle East, China, etc) started coming in. It was also
during this period that Lux went in for brand extension and launched its range of Rich shampoos, shower
gels and creams.
5

The 2000s: By now, Lux had expanded so far and wide, that the other end was not visible from one end.
This decade saw the focus of the campaigns and the product shift from specific functional benefits of
usage to the emotional factor associated with the soaps. By this time, modelling and fashion industry had
drawn a lot of dreams in the eyes of millions of women. Cashing in on this, Lux tried to bridge up those
aspiring models and the existing stars of the industry. Notable was the Lux Haute Pink advertisement,
with the woman in the bath tub, flying over the world in a hot air balloon and spreading the beauty by
blowing down bubbles from her tub. It focused not only on beauty but the confidence that beauty
generates in a woman. Versions like Crystal Shine, Festive Glow, Sunscreen, Almond Extracts, Orchid
extracts, etc. Came in during this time.

The 2010s: Today, the focus is back on beauty which has been the roots of the product. The fruit
versions of the soap Strawberry and cream, Peach and cream are quite popular. New variants Purple
lotus and cream, and Aqua Sparkle had been launched at reality shows on televisions which is a new
development in the basket of marketing strategies of the soap.

Lux has always had the most beautiful women in the film industry endorsing the brands. If we see
internationally, there have been Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch, Cheryl Ladd, Demi
Moore, Brigitte Bargot, Natalie Wood, Sandra Dee, Diana Rig, Samantha Eggar, Sarah Jessica Parker,
Catherine Zeta Jones, etc. If we see in India, then the first print ad of Lux came starring Leela Chitnis.
After that there have been a string of leading ladies Madhubala, Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha,
Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda Rehman, Saira Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri
Dixit, Sridevi, ashwarya Rai, Karishma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Babita, Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif,
Mahima Choudhry, etc. In fact, Lux would be perhaps the only womens beauty soap brand which has
had male models endorsing it. This came when Paul Newman (internationally) and Shah Rukh Khan and
Abhishek Bachchan (Indian) endorsed the brand. It can thus be said, that the USP of Lux advertising is
the presence of popular movie stars in it. The positioning of the brand can be said to be according to the
Reference Group by using the famous celebrity at that point of time. Partially attribute positioning can
also be considered for Lux, since the ingredients of Lux have also been greatly highlighted. Today, Lx
also serves as a sponsoring brand name for so many awards and functions like the popular Lux Zee Cine
awards, making its positioning of being associated with

the stars more prominent.

6

Today, Lux beauty bar can be regarded to be in the maturity stage of its life cycle.
Lux has always had the leading actors of their times endorse the brand, which has made Lux the market
leader and the brand has indeed set benchmarks for competition in the market. Today, Lux is
manufactured at more than 71 locations and has more than 2000 suppliers and associates who provide
raw materials for its manufacture. The key markets of Lux lie in Pakistan, Brazil, USA, China,
Bangladesh & South Africa. Lux is also the market leader in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brazil
and Thailand. It is also one of the most trusted brands in India. Lux has offerings in two of the four
market segments for soaps. These are popular and premium. The popular segment covers all those soaps
that we generally see sitting on our retail outlet shelves Strawberry and Cream, Peach and cream,
Purple Lotus and cream, etc. The Premium segment covers the Lux International range.

The novel metallic substrate packaging of Lux has been characteristic of the soaps with the same font
style of writing the brand name that go back as far as any of us can remember, coupled with the
ingredient linked fragrances of the soap have been written down memories of so many generations.

5.SWOT Analysis for LUX:

7

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
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).

The SWOT analysis for Lux helps identify the external environment faced by Lux, and the opportunities
and threats that it presents.

Strengths

Lux possesses a very strong network of market research. Door to door surveying and sampling is done
annually in rural as well as urban areas selectively.

Lux has a very wide range of products to offer.

The parent company of Lux has helped in establishing a strong supply and distribution network. Besides,
it also has access to the resources of the parent company of Unilever.
Lux possesses a very strong brand image in the market.

The focus of Lux is going strong on beauty segment.

Lux is a dynamic brand and is undergoes changes as per the changes in demand and trends, which is
evident from the launch of the new range of body washes Magical Spell, Scarlet

Blossom, Strawberry & cream and Peach and cream have been launched with the tag line of the secret to
liquid silk skin.
8

The brand has innovative sales promotions tactics that spread across different forms of media print,
electronic and social.

The brand is known to deliver value-for-money in the eyes of the consumers.

It has a broad market presence and mass appeal, being the market leader in so many countries. As per the
BCG matrix, developed by the Boston Consulting Group, Lux can be put into the STAR category for
high market growth and high market share.

Weaknesses

Lux lacks a unisex appeal as it has essentially been portrayed as a womens beauty soap and has a lot of
feminine appeal.

The wear rate of the soap is very high. It gets dissolved pretty fast and gets mushy and
soggy quickly.

Certain variants of the soap, like the Haute Pink, Sunscreen, etc did not do so well in the market as some
of its other variants have.

Some of its advertisements have been quite controversial, specially the one with Shah Rukh Khan in the
bath tub, and the one of Haute Pink soap with the model in the bath tub flying up in the air in a hot air
balloon.

The stock replenishment in semi-urban areas and rural areas is quite long, despite having such a wide
distributor network. This leads to stock out in these areas.

Opportunities

The industry today, is growing at a rate of more than 10% per annum.

The compounded annual growth rate, better known as CAGR is also rising at a steep pace. This is
evident from the performance of Fair and Lovely in its segment. So, Lux can yield great benefits by
reinforcing itself in the beauty segment.

Promotions strategies like kiosks, price offs, sample distributions, etc are essential with competitors like
ITC, etc catching up fast.

The soap, as mentioned above, is in the maturity stage of its life cycle. So it is essential that a retentive
strategy be adopted so that this can be sustained.

Ayurvedic variant of Lux could have a big scope in the market. So far, the only variant of Lux
that has somewhat come close to Ayurveda, though not actually is the festive glow variant, which had the
goodness of haldi and chandan ubatan. This could cater to a new segment in the market.

A Lux Kids Special soap would also help the brand greatly, as this segment has been running dry for
quite some time now. In this way, brand loyalty could be caught young!

The brand extension products of Lux the body washes, with its new range launched recently, is in the
growth stage of its life cycle. They can pick up fast pace is positioned and marketed properly. Active
marketing of these body washes is going on in the social media.

During the sales promotions schemes, the level of servicing goes very high and this needs to be brought
down.

10

Lux has only near about 20% penetration in rural markets. Lux holds great scope if it taps the rural
markets.

Threats

Number of competitors is rising ITC, P&G, etc are fast catching up.

High internal competition also exists for the soap.

Lux seems overly relied on the beauty segment, so in case the consumer trends or preferences change,
then Lux stands to be highly vulnerable.
More focus needs to be put on the newer technology currently body washes being the latest technology.
This can already be seen in the market, but it needs to be enforced further.

If constant reinvention is not there, then Lux can slip down from the maturity stage it currently is in and
get into a declining phase.

Thus, Lux is a soap that so many generations grew up using, so much so that, today the term soap and
Lux are used interchangeably in so many households. However, it never takes much time for a bubble
to break and yet it could be impossible to break a strong bubble. With appropriate marketing strategies
and developments, Lux could not only retain its alpha position but also climb further up the ladder before
any of the competitors got to catch up or come close.

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6.COMPETITORS ANALYSIS

Internal Competitor:

Lifebuoy: 2010, 18% market shares

Santoor
Dove
Pears

Internal competitors

Lifebuoy:
Born: 1895
History: Owned by Unilever Plc., the parent company of Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Status: Has 18% market share in the bathing soaps category, worth Rs6,000 crore
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.
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 huesfor the entire 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 soaps germ-fighting benefits.
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.

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External Competitors

Santoor:
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!
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.

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7.MARKET SEGMENTATION
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.
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

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.
The segmentations are done basically on the basis of factors like:
Lux soap concentrates in the beauty soap category. A brief description of the various factors Lux
considers are:

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.

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

14

example is the chocolate variant lux which was a novel idea. All these are introduced to catch the
attention of the youth.

Income :
One of the essential characteristic of an FMCG product is an affordable price which is very important
for its fast sales. Its 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.

Gender: female
Age:16-35
Income: middle income group (Rs.15-20)
Highest selling beauty soap in urban areas (rural area-lifebuoy)
Expensive-affordable
Target area: urban and sub-urban upper middle and middle class people

PRODUCT POSITIONING OF LUX

Created good position: Buyers mind- Better product attributes, price and quality.
Offering: improved quality of the product- affordable price with high branding- to
position the product as a best quality beauty soap in buyers mind.
Market shares of Lux: 15%
Better positioning: market leader of beauty soap.
Offering product in a different way

8.LIFE CYCLE STAGES OF LUX

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Lux launched the worlds first mass-market beauty soap in the US in 1924 & had
been launched in India in 1929.
At that time there was only one competitor of Lux, which was from its own brand
LIFEBUOY.
In the initial stages Lux was introduced in the major cities of INDIA like Calcutta,
Mumbai
MARKETING OBJETIVES - was to create the product awareness and to
attract the customers towards the product.
The Lux MARKETING STRATEGIES in the initial stages :
Product = They offer only on product in the market. They did not come up with
the
differentiated product.
Price =In the initial stages of the product, they offer the relatively higher price
than their competitor (LIFEBUOY). Because, they want to recover their initial cost
of making the product.

Advertising =In the initial stages, they allocate more advertising budget So that
more

and

more

customers

could

be

attracted

towards

the

product.

In ads they targeted the early adopters, who were readiest to buy the product.
The first ambassador, Leela Chitnis.

Distribution =was selective and only covers the major cities of INDIA to get
recognition in those cities.

Their distribution channel was through : Manufacturer Wholesaler &

Retailer

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GROWTH STAGE
In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising.
They have expanded their market to the other cities of INDIA.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objectives of the Lux were
to expand their market to the other cities of INDIA.
Another objective was to maximize more market share.
In the growth stage, company had the following MARKETING STRATEGIES :
Product = In the growth stage, the company had offered the same product in the
market.
Price = In this stage, the company had changed their price to some extent because
of maximizing the market share. ( Slightly cut down the prices )
Advertising = In the growth stage, they had increased their advertising budget as
in the initial stages because of attracting the new customers or to retain the existing
customers.
Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Zeenat Amaan, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit,
Sridevi

Distribution = In this stage, company had expanded their market to the other
cities of INDIA. Their distribution channel was the same as in the initial stages of
the product.

Promotion = In the growth stage, the company had also used the different
proportioning strategies to attract the new and the existing customers

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SALES
COSTS
PROFITS
MARKETING OBJECTIVES
PRODUCT STRATEGY
PRICE STRATEGY
DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
ADVERTISING STRATEGY

MATURITY STAGE
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They modified the product by adding some changes in the product.

In this stage, few competitors enter into the market like (CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW,
SANTOOR, CHANDRIKA, FIAMA DI WILLS and VIVEL).
The company has expanded their market to almost all the cities of INDIA.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objective of Lux is to
maximize more profit while defending the market share. And to expand the market
to all the cities of INDIA.

MARKETING STRATEGIES In this stage are based on:

Product= The Lux has made the modification in the product by introducing:
Lux Almond, Lux Orchid , Lux Fruit, Lux Saffron, Lux Sandalwood, Lux Rose,
Lux International, Lux Chocolate, Lux Aromatic Extracts, Lux Oil and Honey.etc
Price = The Lux products are now available at higher prices in the market, the
reason behind is that the companys marketing objectives is to maximize more
profit.
Distribution = Now Lux products are available in almost all the cities of INDIA.
Their distribution channel is same as in the initial stage.
Advertising = In this stage Lux advertising has been reduced to some extent
because of the more brand awareness in the minds of customers.
Recently, they have shown Aishwarya Rai , Kareena kapoor & Shah Rukh khan.
PROMOTIONAL OFFERS :---- Like buy 3 get 1 free.

DECLINE STAGE

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Besides of all campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux .The reasons for its decline
are :
1. Currency fluctuations: Unilever products are in over 100 countries
worldwide, As a result, it is exposed to adverse currency fluctuations.
For instance, in 2004, a 5.9% decline in turnover was primarily due to a 4%
appreciation in the average Euro exchange rate.
2.SLOWDOWN: In year 2008 - 09 due to hard economic conditions in INDIA
and other countries the sales were highly affected as the consumer started looking
for some alternate products with a cheaper price than Lux.
3.Competition: Lux has been facing competition from HUL itself (Lifebuoy) &
from other companies like:Godrej Consumer Products : GCPL, Indias second largest soap maker with
9.2% market share with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW &
NIKHAR.
Fairglow brand, India's first Fairness soap, has created marketing history as one of
the most successful innovations
Wipro : The presence of Wipro in the toilet soap industry can be seen through
their brands such as SANTO OR and CHANDRIKA. In the southern market of India
it is a major market player in toilet soap.

ITC :It entered the segment last year and has made a strong headway in a short
time by growing to 1.75% in just five months. With the brands like: Superia, Fiama
Di Wills and Vivel

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9.SALES PROMOTION

Lux presented 30gm gold each to the first three winner of the Lux Gold Star offer
from Delhi. According to the promotional offers that Lux unveiled in October
2000, a consumer finding a 22-carat gold in his or her soap bar got an opportunity
to win an additional 30gm gold. The first 10 caller of every week got a 30gm gold
each. The offer could be availed only on 100gm and 150gm pack of Lux soap.

Lux star bano, Aish karo contest. All one neede to do was to buy a promotional
pack of Lux soap. The pack comes with a special scratch card. The 50 lucky
winner and their spouse were flown down to Mumbai to live a day like Aishwarya
Rai would. They could also be given gift voucher worth Rs.50,000/- from Shopper
Stops along with an exclusively designed by Neeta Lulla and a beauty makeover
by Michelle Tung, Aishwaryas preferred designer and stylist. The piece de
resisitance was a dinner date with Aishwarya Rai herself.

Lux celebrated 75 year 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, he or she would get an equivalent
discount (in rupees) on his or her purchase from his or her shopkeeper. If the
consumer found the 75 years written inside the star, he or she will get a years
supply of Lux free.
Lux, the brand synonymous with beauty and stars, now takes its legacy a notch
higher by introducing the Lux Superstar offer. The offer gives an opportunity to
consumers to meet Bollywood's Superstar couple Abhishek Bachchan and
Aishwarya

Rai

Bachchan

in

London.

Now anyone can get a taste of stardom and rub shoulders with the power couple, all
you need is to purchase Lux soap and complete a slogan to stake a claim to an
evening full of glamour, glitz and glory. 12 lucky couples will be flown to meet Abhi
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& Ash in London. Well, this is not all... there are exclusive signed photographs of the
couple

to

be

won.

12 lucky couples could win a chance to go to London and spend an evening with
Abhishek and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

Promotion: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 include Madhubala,
Nargis, Meena Kumari, Mala Sinha, Rekha, parveen babi,Sharmila Tagore, Waheeda
Rehman, Sairah Banu, Hema Malini, Zeenat Aman, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit,
Sridevi, Aishwaria Rai Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor,Priyanka Chopra and most
recently Katrina Kaif.
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 in the country.
Lux advertisements through ages 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 the ir stardom, advertising campaigns on Lux have featured
film stars across the nation, promising their beauty and complexion to common
women .With top movie stars - from Madhubala to Madhuri, from Babita to
Karishma 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.

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NEW LUX:Actress Asin Thottumkal has joined the likes of Aishwarya Rai, Priyanka Chopra
and Katrina Kaif as the new brand ambassador of Lux soap.
She has been signed as the face of the soap's new variant Lux Sandal & Cream.
"It's a beauty accolade to be associated with the legendary beauty brand Lux, which
has celebrated beauty and glamour over the decades. It gives me immense pride to
endorse the new natural variant Lux Sandal & Cream, as I truly believe in being
beautiful the natural way," said Asin.
"The credit of rooting the right beauty mantra goes to my mom, who being a doctor,
has always entrusted the beauty of my skin to sandalwood, due to its magical
cleansing, toning and moisturising attributes," she added.

IDEA:- If it is good for star, it is good for me.

In 2005 Lux celebrated its 75th anniversary sparking of a controversy. Deviating its
tradition of roping 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 a gain succeeded in creating excitement in the market.
Some argue that HLL was testing a new positioning appeal to male users while
others say that it was a one time endorsement to break the clutter. A recent ad of Lux
featured the golden couple Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan. They
were paid Rs.25 crore for this ad. But in all these advertisements the celebrity never
shadowed the brand.
From the beginning Lux, by using a leading film star of the time has fulfilled the
consumers aspirations of us ing beauty soaps via the rationale if its good enough for
a film star, its good for me. This later moved into a transformation role of having a

23

bath with Lux, which transports the user into a fantasy world of icons, film stars and
fairy lands.

Events:
Lux celebrated 75 years of existence in a grand way by unveiling Shah Rukh Khan
as their latest brand ambassador.
Kareena Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Sridevi and Hema Malini graced the event and made it
special. All this stars have endorsed Lux in the past. The event was held at the Grand
Intercontinental in Mumbai.

South Indian:JAYALALITHA (1970)

SHRIYA SHARAN

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10.Change in communication strategy

Lux was always changing with the times. Whether in terms of product or in terms of
promotions, the brand kept the consumers excited. Lux was initially a premium
brand. It was being projected as an aspirational brand and the endorsements by stars
further reinforced the positioning. However the communication was slowly seemed
to be losing relevance, as consumers were beginning to question if the film star
actually used the brand. The increasing competition in the soap category also forced
Lux to rethink on its targeting strategy. Several competitive beauty soap brands had
begun advertising using similar methods of communication.
The brand had a choice either to compromise on market share or dilute the
positioning. 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
moves the brand away from the long running film star route. The film stars still
features in the new communication but not as her gorgeous self but rather as an alter
ego/projection of the protagonist, for a few seconds of the entire ad. 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 the
regular Lux user with the focus on the protagonists star quality is a change from the
norms set by the 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. This idea-bring out the star
in you -puts the consumer at the heart of brands promise. The promise goes beyond
the functional deliverables of soap, beyond bathing and bathroom to the world
outside.

Its

the

world

where

Lux

on

her

side,

an

ordinary woman can impact her world with her own star quality. This is a successful
25

attempt to bring the brand closer to its users and give it a more useful and
contemporary image. Breaking away from tradition, HLL resorts to a male and metro
sexual Shah Rukh Khan to revive Lux which turned 75 in 2005.

11.MARKETING MIX
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: Product classification: Tangible
Non durable

Labelling:Lux trade character or logo is present prominently in the package.

Female models.
Displayed graphically- Key ingredients.

Packaging: Differents colours- different variants(Saffron-Saffron variants & Pink Rose extracts
etc.)
Packages size-100gm, 120gm, 150gm.
Launched- Mini Lux- 45gm- Rs.5/-

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

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Some of the prominent variants

Lux Almond
Lux Orchid
Lux Fruit
Lux Saffron
Lux Sandalwood
Lux Rose
Lux International
Lux Chocolate
Lux Aromatic Extracts
Lux Oil and Honey Glow
Lux Provocateur

LUX Beauty Soap- Form, Features, Style

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.

Lux has beauty offerings in two of the four market segments popular and premium,
spanning the needs of varied consumers.

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.

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.

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.

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

27

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.

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.

b. Promotion

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.

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.

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 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.
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 its good enough for a film star, its

28

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.

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 companys ability to achieve its objectives. PR involves a
variety of programs designed to promote or protect a companys image or its individual
products.

LUX PR Activities

Press relations:
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.

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: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.
29

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.

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.
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.

Competitive prices: Neither high nor low

Price segment of toilet soaps

Segments
Premium
Popular
Economy

Prices/weight
>Rs.15/75gms
Rs.8-15/75gms
<Rs.8/75gms

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 segments:

Recent pricing of lux(100g)

Lux Crystal Shine
Lux Festive Glow
Normal Lux

Rs.17
Rs.15
Rs.10
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PLACE:Cutting-edge distribution network

HULs 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 HULs corporate purpose is to meet the everyday
needs of people everywhere.

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.

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 activities among a host of other things. HUL boasts of placing a product across the
country in less than 72 hrs.
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.

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.

31

Recently HUL has changed its traditional way distribution and came out with a new strategy
of distribution. Its 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.

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
moredirectly 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
An IT-powered system has been implemented to supply stocks to redistribution stockists on a
continuous replenishment basis. The objective is to catalyse HULs 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 back-end system connecting suppliers, all company sites and stretching right up to stockists.
32

Powered by the IT tools it has improved customer service, while ensuring superior
availability and impactful visibility at retail points.

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.

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.

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.

Distribution network-key strength (which help reach out its product across the
length and width of the vast country)
2000+ Suppliers & Associates
33

7000 Stockists
Direct coverage in over 1 million retail outlets
Factory-Company warehouses-Distributor-Market
Factory- Wholesaler & Big Retailer(Bulk orders)-30%Sales

BCG Matrix
BCG matrix method is a portfolio management tool developed by Boston Consulting
Group.It is a method based on the product life cycle theory that can be used to know what
priorities should be given in the product portfolio of a business unit.To ensure value
creation ,a company should have a portfolio of products that contains both high growth
products in need of cash inputs and low growth products that generate a lot of cash.There are
2 dimensions : market share and market growth.Placing products in the BCG matrix results
in four categories in a portfolio of a company:

34

Star

: High market growth and high market share

Cash cows

: Low market growth and high market share

Question marks

: High market growth and low market share

Dogs

: Low market growth and low market share

Innovation seems to be the main theme of the Indian soap industry in 2008. With the entry of
ITC, the stage is all set for a major tussle between the new entrant and existing players in the
Rs 6,500-crore branded toilet soaps sector in India. The soap industry is seen to have a
market growth rate of about 10%. This shows that industry has a high growth rate. HUL is a
market leader in the industry and its soap Lux enjoys a market share of 17 % in India. So
according to the concept of BCG matrix any product which has high market growth and
market share is classified as STARS. The major objective of products coming in Stars is to
maintain their high market share. HUL comes up with various variants in LUX quite
frequently in order to maintain their position.

Recommendations
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.
35

Todays children are tomorrows 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

CONCLUSION

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. Hindustan Unilever 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.

36

As a multinational company Hindustan Unilever 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.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Name of author: Philip Kotler

Name of book: Marketing Management- A South Asian Perspective
Name of Publisher: Pearson Education
Edition: 13th
37

Year of edition: 2009

Name of author: Ramaswamy Namakumari

Name of book: Marketing Management- Indian Context Global Perspective
Name of Publisher: McGraw Hill Education Private Ltd New Delhi
Edition: 5th
Year of edition: 2013

WEBLIOGRAPHY
www.fmcg.com
www.hul.com

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