AMITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

HONEYLICIOUS
IMC MIX TO LAUNCH SOAP

The soap market is growing at 7% a year. Therefore, the IMC tools are used to launch soap in northern region of India are: sales promotion, advertising, merchandising, and many more.

CONTENTS!
INTRODUCTION CONSUMER PREFERENCES MARKETING FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOR SEGMENTATION, TARGETING, POSITIONING PRICING, PACKAGING AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES IMC TOOLS CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION!
Soaps are widely used in our society. It is a product that many people might take for granted or consider rather ordinary, but for some, lathering up can be a treasured part of a morning or nightly routine. Scented or unscented, in bars, gels, and liquids, soap is a part of our daily lives. India is a vast country with a population of 1,030 million people. Household penetration of soaps is 98%. People belonging to different income levels use different brands, which fall under different segments, but all income levels use soaps, making it the second largest category in India (detergents are number one). Rural consumers in India constitute 70% of the population. Rural demand is growing, with more and more soap brands being launched in the discount segment targeting the lower socio-economic strata of consumers.

During the British rule in India, Lever Brothers England introduced modern soaps by importing and marketing them in India. In 1897, North West Soap Company started marketing cold process soaps. During World War I, the soap industry floundered, but after the war, the industry flourished all over the country. Mr. Jamshed Tata set up India's first indigenous soap manufacturing unit when he purchased OK Coconut Oil Mills at Cochin Kerala around 1918. Its first branded soaps appeared on the market in the early 1930s. Soap became a necessity for the moneyed class by around 1937.

CONSUMER PREFERENCES!
Consumer preferences are varied and are more regionally specific. India is divided into four regions: North, East, West, and South.

Consumers in the North prefer pink colored soaps, which have floral profiles. Here the fragrance preference is for more sophisticated profiles reflecting their lifestyles. Freshness soaps with lime and citrus notes are also popular preferences as the climate in the North is very hot and citrus/lime scented soaps are seen to be refreshing. The East is not a big soap market; hence no particular preference skews. Consumers in the West exhibit preferences for strong, impactful fragrances and somewhat harsher profiles compared to the North. Preferences are more for the pink soaps with floral fragrances, primarily rose, which are positioned on the beauty platform. In the South, the skew is towards specific soap segments like the Herbal/Ayurvedic profiles and also the Sandal profiles. Consumers here do not exhibit high brand loyalty and are ready to experiment and try out new brands.

MARKETING!
Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision-makers

in terms of soap purchase. Medicated positioning like germ killing and antibacterial are marketed to families. About 75% of soap can be bought through these different types of outlets: Kirana Store: This is the most common source for buying soap, which usually forms a part of the months grocery list (which is purchased from these Kirana Stores). Consumers exhibit loyalty to these stores, which is largely dependent on proximity to consumers homes. Here consumers buy across the counter and do not have an option of browsing through display shelves. Pan-Beedi Shops: These are really small shops, almost like handcarts, and they are primarily set up to dispense cigarettes and chewing tobacco. However, one would find such a shop at every corner and they are the main sources of soap purchase for the lower socio-economic classes. Department Store: In India, there are very few department stores and the Indianite version of department stores is called Sahakari Bhandars. It is still a fairly new concept. However, department stores have good display counters and this is the only place where consumers get a firsthand experience of shopping and choosing from available options. Here soap prices are also

discounted below the retail prices. As a market is constituted now, it can be divided into four price segments: premium, popular, discounted 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%. One of the factors, which affect the demand of soaps, is the penetration, which the products have in market. In case of soaps this has not been the major issues as the penetration in rural areas is as high as 97% and that for urban area is around 99%. Thus the approximately the penetration is around 99% for overall India.

FACTORS AFFECTING BUYING BEHAVIOR!

Price is the most important factor which effects the buying behavior of consumer, by which the consumer goes for various segments of soaps like premium, popular, sub popular and carbolic which are basically decided by cost factor and fat content in the soap. The buying frequency is either monthly that is done by the families or in case of bachelors it is more than once in a month. The occasions when premium soaps are purchased are usually when there are festivals and ceremonies. The promotional techniques help to boost sales. Various tactics like price offs buy one get one free, free gifts and other schemes help to boost sales in the short run and also help in clearing stocks. The soaps are usually purchased by the women in urban area as most of the day to day consumption of personal care products are made by women.

SEGMENTATION, TARGETING AND POSITIONING!

SEGMENTATION: Geographic and Demographic segmentation. TARGETING: In urban areas, women and girls are targeted whereas in rural areas, men are targeted. POSITIONING: Through The family softest soap.

PRICING, PACKAGING AND PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES!

PRICING: In urban areas, price may vary from Rs. 20 to Rs. 25; in rural area, price may vary from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10. PACKAGING: A pink and white color eco-friendly pack with direction of use and ingredients mention, along with the celebrity (brand ambassador) picture. PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES: Shots of honey poured in bowl of milk along with some almonds and a couplet being recited in praise of a beautiful model.

IMC TOOLS!

1. ADVERTISING: Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to purchase or take some action upon products, ideas, or services. Strategy: Communicates that Honeylicious refreshes and softens the skin. Big Idea: Honeylicious gives you the soft and fresh skin through which you can attract your partner/children. Execution Elements: creative tagline, selection of right characters, gripping stories, appropriate sound effects, etc. Television and Magazine as a source of medium to advertise in urban area and Local Newspaper, Posters and Television in rural areas.

2. DIRECT MARKETING:

Direct marketing is one to one approach that engages the consumers in an interesting way. It is a system of co-creation with the consumer and very often results customization. Telemarketing: Nowadays, telemarketing is coming up in urban areas which attract a large pool of customers. In rural areas, personal selling can also be implemented.

3. WORLD WIDE WEB COMMUNICATION: The internet has revolutionized global communications in recent times. For the interest people to know more, they can access information about company and its product. So that the interested consumers can make online purchase also.

4. SALES PROMOTION:

Sales promotion are marketing and communication activities that change the price-value relationship of a product or service perceived by the target thereby generating immediate sales and altering long term brand value. Sampling: At its initial stage, the soap is sold as a sample at the leading departmental stores to promote the product. Price-off: The soap in its initial stage is offered at a low price than MRP. In-product Gift: Along with the soap the company is also offering the free box to keep the soap dry after using it. Star Awards: company organizes a certain contests and the few winners are given an opportunity to celebrities and have lunch with them.

5. VILLAGE FAIRS: Since India is a land of villages, where festival is celebrated each day. Each festival is normally accompanied by a fair, be it is village or urban towns. These fairs are festive occasions where people turn out in large number. Some fairs are regular features in villages where many villagers gather at fixed intervals to sell their products. These village fairs provide a good opportunity to promote a companys products. Companies set up their stalls to sell the companys soap or to just promote products through banners, posters, van promotions, etc.

CONCLUSION!

I hope that by following these IMC mix the HONEYLICIOUS soap can successfully be launched in the Northern region of India which includes both villages and towns in large number. In India, soaps are available in five million retail stores, out of which, 3.75 million retail stores are in the rural areas. Therefore, availability of these products is not an issue. 70% of India's population resides in the rural areas; hence around 50% of the soaps are sold in the rural markets.

THE FAMILY SOFTEST SOAP

SUBMITTED BY! BBA-M&S HIMANSHI GARG: A3914710037 (A-02)

TEACHERS (Mr. RAVI BHASIN)

SIGNATURE:

REAMARKS: