COMPANY BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Understanding perceptions of channel members and consumers regarding sales promotion activities enhances the effectiveness of these activities. Widespread usage of sales promotion activities in Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sector makes it imperative that manufacturers take into account channel member and consumer perceptions before planning such programs. In this paper, an attempt has been made to examine the nature of sales promotion activities in toilet soap category in India, study retailer perceptions with respect to these activities and also get an insight into consumer perceptions of these activities. Our findings indicate that with respect to the nature of the schemes, premiums (free gifts) were found to be the most frequently used in both premium and popular toilet soap category, followed by price offs. Retailers perceived price offs to have relatively greater impact compared to any other forms of sales promotion. In line with the retailers’ perceptions, the findings of consumer perceptions indicated that price off was the most preferred type of sales promotion. Retailers stated that role of word of mouth and television advertising was very important in providing information inputs to the consumers regarding sales promotion activities. This perception of retailers was supported by the consumer unaided recall of sales promotion schemes which were widely advertised. As the retailer interacts and observes consumers more frequently and closely than the manufacturer, it would be useful for the companies to incorporate perceptions while planning sales promotion strategies.

All the above researches have focused on price promotions and their response. Our study though exploratory has considered perceptions for price as well as non-price promotions in toilet soap category. The reasons for the study were:

i) The widespread use of sales promotions in toilet soap category

ii) Historically, whenever there was a downward trend in growth, sales promotion activities took the front seat of promotional mix

iii.) Companies planned these activities with inward looking view hence it was felt that it would be useful to understand the perceptions of consumers and retailers regarding sales promotion activities to improve the effectiveness of these activities.

HINDUSTAN LEVER LIMITED

In the summer of 1888, visitors to the Kolkata harbor noticed crates full of Sunlight soap bars, embossed with the words "Made in England by Lever Brothers". With it began an era of marketing branded Fast Moving Consumer Goods(FMCG).

Soon after, followed Lifebuoy in 1895 and other famous brands like Pears, Lux and Vim. Vanaspati was launched in 1918 and the famous Dalda brand came to the market in 1937.In 1931, Unilever set up its first Indian subsidiary, Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing Company, followed by Lever Brothers India Limited (1933) and United Traders Limited (1935). These three companies merged to form HLL in November 1956; HLL offered 10% of its equity to the Indian public, being the first among the foreign subsidiaries to do so. Unilever now holds 51.55% equity in the company. The rest of the shareholding is distributed among about 380,000 individual shareholders and financial institutions.

The erstwhile Brooke Bond's presence in India dates back to 1900. By 1903, the company had launched Red Label tea in the country. In 1912, Brooke Bond & Co. India Limited was formed. Brooke Bond joined the Unilever fold in 1984 through an international acquisition. The erstwhile Lipton's links with India were forged in 1898. Unilever acquired Lipton in 1972 and in 1977 Lipton Tea (India) Limited was incorporated.

Pond's (India) Limited had been present in India since 1947. It joined the Unilever fold through an international acquisition of Chesebrough Pond's USA in 1986.

Since the very early years, HLL has vigorously responded to the stimulus of economic growth. The growth process has been accompanied by judicious diversification, always in line with Indian opinions and aspirations.

The liberalization of the Indian economy, started in 1991, clearly marked an inflexion in HLL's and the Group's growth curve. Removal of the regulatory framework allowed the company to explore every single product and opportunity segment, without any constraints on production capacity.

Simultaneously, deregulation permitted alliances, acquisitions and mergers. In one of the most visible and talked about events of India's corporate history, the erstwhile Tata Oil Mills Company (TOMCO) merged with HLL, effective from April 1, 1993. In 1995, HLL and yet another Tata company, Lakme Limited, formed a 50:50 joint venture, Lakme Lever Limited, to market Lakme's market-leading cosmetics and other appropriate products of both the companies. Subsequently in 1998, Lakme Limited sold its brands to HLL and divested its 50% stake in the joint venture to the company.

HLL formed a 50:50 joint venture with the US-based Kimberly Clark Corporation in 1994 - Kimberly-Clark Lever Ltd, which markets Huggies Diapers and Kotex Sanitary Pads. HLL has also set up a subsidiary in Nepal, Nepal Lever Limited (NLL), and its factory represents the largest manufacturing investment in the Himalayan kingdom. The NLL factory manufactures HLL's products like Soaps, Detergents and Personal Products both for the domestic market and exports to India.

The 1990s also witnessed a string of crucial mergers, acquisitions and alliances on the Foods and Beverages front. In 1992, the erstwhile Brooke Bond acquired Kothari General Foods, with significant interests in Instant Coffee. In 1993, it acquired the Kissan business from the UB Group and the Dollops Ice-cream business from Cadbury India.

As a measure of backward integration, Tea Estates and Doom Dooma, two plantation companies of Unilever, were merged with Brooke Bond. Then in July 1993, Brooke Bond India and Lipton India merged to form Brooke Bond Lipton India Limited (BBLIL), enabling greater focus and ensuring synergy in the traditional Beverages business. 1994 witnessed BBLIL launching the Wall's range of Frozen Desserts. By the end of the year, the company entered into a strategic alliance with the Kwality Ice-cream Group families and in 1995 the Milk food 100% Ice-cream marketing and distribution rights too were acquired.

Finally, BBLIL merged with HLL, with effect from January 1, 1996. The internal restructuring culminated in the merger of Pond's (India) Limited (PIL) with HLL in 1998. The two companies had significant overlaps in Personal Products, Specialty Chemicals and Exports businesses, besides a common distribution system since 1993 for Personal Products. The two also had a common management pool and a technology base. The amalgamation was done to ensure for the Group, benefits from scale economies both in domestic and export markets and enable it to fund investments required for aggressively building new categories.

In January 2000, in a historic step, the government decided to award 74 per cent equity in Modern Foods to HLL, thereby beginning the divestment of government equity in public sector undertakings (PSU) to private sector partners. HLL's entry into Bread is a strategic extension of the company's wheat business. In 2002, HLL acquired the government's remaining stake in Modern Foods.

In 2003, HLL acquired the Cooked Shrimp and Pasteurised Crabmeat business of the Amalgam Group of Companies, a leader in value added Marine Products exports.

LUX: THE STAR PERFORMER

The great Indian brand wagon started nearly four decades ago. Great brands sometimes outlast their ambassadors as proven by Lux which is celebrating 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. Actor Hema Malini says, “One of the turning points in my career was when I was signed up by Lux. It was then that I knew I had made my mark in Indian cinema as a leading lady. To be a Lux star is a much sought after honour amongst leading ladies and it truly means a lot to me.”

After 50 Indian female actors lathering up with Lux, it is now the turn of a male actor, Shah Rukh Khan, to say, “Aaj mein aapko batanewala hoon meri khubsuratein ka raaz — Lux. Ab batayein aapka favourite Lux Star kaun hai? (I want to tell you about my beauty secret — Lux. Who is your favourite Lux Star?)” In 1926, Ginger Rogers became the first Hollywood great to appear in a Lux commercial. The first Lux bar made in India was sold for the princely sum of two annas in 1934.

LUX: VARIANTS

In the country since 1929 and endorsed by popular film stars, Lux is the biggest brand in the soap category. Lux Toilet Soap, in the popular segment, offers its consumers a range of soaps enriched with the goodness of a variety of nourishing ingredients –Almond Oil, Orchid Extracts, Milk Cream, Fruit Extracts, Saffron, Sandalwood Oil and Honey. The Lux premium range offers specialized skincare to its consumers in the form of Lux International. It also includes Lux Body Wash for superior bathing benefits keeping in step with the changing needs of the Lux consumer

In addition to these variants lux has come up with a few more variants to celebrate its 75 years in business.

The Lux Celebration Range is a set of three exclusive variants- Aromatic Glow and Chocolate Seduction and Lux White Spa body wash containing exotic ingredients, never seen in the Indian market before.

7. FOUR P’s OF LUX

Market

The personal wash market is valued at Rs. 45 billion (Source: ORG-MARG). It is a highly penetrated market though per capita consumption lags even South Asian countries like Indonesia. The market has

seen stagnant sales over the last four years and the low entry barriers have led to intense competition between national and local brands.

Achievements

Lux is the largest personal wash brand in the country with a value share of 17%. Three in every five Indian consumers enjoy the luxurious bathing pleasure of Lux during the course of a year. This strong association with consumers has led to Lux becoming one of the most trusted brands in the country.

Lux has retained its leadership status by strongly differentiating itself – no soap brand can claim to be more aspirational for the Indian consumer than Lux - ‘the beauty soap of film stars’.

The last three years have seen Lux continue to grow far ahead of the market. It has gained close to 4% share in this period. A key initiative that has fuelled this growth has been the launch of Mini Lux – strategically priced at Rs. 5 to bring it within the reach of 300 million rural consumers. The introduction of new perfume and ingredient variants, addressing new benefit segments, has been the other growth driver.

History

Lux soap was launched in India in 1929. The first bar of Lux was made in India and sold for a princely sum of two annas in 1934. From the very first advertisement in 1929 featuring Leela Chitnis, the gorgeous faces of the silver screen have come out in the open with their beauty secret – Lux.

Popularly known as ‘the beauty soap of film stars’, Lux has been a favorite with generations of users for the experience of sensuous, luxurious bathing.

Since its launch in India, Lux has offered a range of soaps in different colours and fragrances. They have each, however, offered the same benefit of beautiful skin. Desirable product sensorials, especially its world class fragrances and nourishing ingredients, have made the Lux bath a pleasurable experience.

But Lux being the market leader has evolved along with the changing needs of its consumers. The late 1980s saw the emergence of a premium segment in the soap category – a new consumer set whose beauty and bathing needs began to evolve. In 1989, to tap into this segment, Lux launched a range of premium soaps to suit their different skin types.

The FOUR 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

Marketers have traditionally classified products on the basis of characteristics: durability, tangibility, and use.

LUX is a Tangible, Non Durable Good on the basis of this classification.

Consumer Goods Classification

The vast array of goods consumers can buy can be classified on the basis of shopping habits:

Convenience Goods: The consumer purchases such goods frequently, immediately and with a minimum of effort.

Shopping Goods: Are goods that the consumer, in the process of selection and purchase characteristically compares on the bases of suitability, quality, price and style.

Specialty Goods: Have unique characteristics or brand identification for which a sufficient number of buyers are willing to make a special purchasing effort.

Unsought Goods: Are those the consumer does not know about or does not normally think Of buying

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 whereas the LUX Bodywash is in the growth stage.

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 four 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. Keeping in tune with the changing times it has also launched Lux Body Wash which offers superior bathing benefits.

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 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.

International Lux Body Wash – the last name in luxury

It is the next revolution in the realm of personal care. The art of styling skin and giving it that enviable glow.

The new International Lux Body Wash comes in two rich variants. Rich Moisture embodies an exotic combination of green apple and orchid extracts. And Fresh Moisture exudes the tingling freshness of orange peel extracts. To ensure a complete skin styling experience, with each elegant bottle comes a free loofah.

It is priced at Rs. 90 for 250 ml and Rs. 49 for 150 ml respectively International Lux Body Wash comes in an exquisitely designed bottle and is available at select outlets in select cities.

Labelling

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 diplayed graphically are the key ingredients. The ingredients, place of manufacture have been listed. Also listed is the consumer complaint cell address in case of unsatisfactory product.

Packaging

A novel metallic substrate packaging beautifully showcases the ingredients, in case of the soaps. A female model is shown on the pack. 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

The LUX Body Wash comes in an exquisitely designed bottle with the trade character prominently displayed.

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

Developing New Variants

The new Lux Beauty Bar is significantly better on all aspects including aesthetics, sensorials, skin care, value for money, perfume and ingredients.

The company claims that a new initiative behind Lux beauty bar was always in the offing, market conditions notwithstanding. HLL’s structured innovation programme was the driving force. This programme, which charts the route for every HLL brand’s progress, works eight to 12 quarters ahead of the company’s brands.

For instance, at the time when Lux International with a superior moisturizer was launched in 1999, the company claims to have been working simultaneously on Lux Sunscreen which was launched in 2000.

Lux is always a step ahead of trends rather than following the trend. It would rather orient and direct the change rather than follow it. This flag-bearing programme according to the company, helped in timing the relaunch.

Also by using brand-oriented research, the company identified two sets of consumers. One was the loyal base of existing Lux Beauty Bar consumers. The other was the target segment which would be the

source of growth for Lux.

This segment comprised of those customers who were buying soaps in the sub-popular segment, but could shift upwards if a better product was offered in the popular segment. A company executive says, “The entire relaunch exercise was aimed at delivering a superior mix, which would tap into this source of growth.”

The consumer needs and triggers which were identified included: fragrance, quality of lather, long-lasting, value for money product, familiarity and belief were factors that translated into a sense of reliability and quality. This helped in the delivery of the new product.

Several options were considered for the Lux relaunch. These included mood-enhancing perfume positioning. Skin-care based ingredients like glycerin, sandal and saffron were considered.

The company says that after scanning 60 or 70 options across both national and international markets almond oil, honey and milk cream were the chosen ones.

With its latest stance, the company is banking on the sub-popular segment soap buyers to buy into the new Lux. While the target segments remain the SEC B, C and D, the soap’s performance in its top markets north and west which contribute to over two-thirds of its sales, will be crucial to its future growth.

Though retailers in Mumbai spell Lux on their list of best sellers, they say that the honey variant is yet to catch on, as the consumer has never associated with Lux’s black colour packaging.

(B)Promotion

The promotion mix is classified as follows:

Advertising:

Transit

Electronic Media

Print Media

Direct

Sales Promotion

Personal Selling

Direct Selling

Indirect Selling

Public Relations

Direct Marketing

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 ADVERSTISEMENT FEATURING AN INDIAN ACTRESS

MADHUBALA IN A LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

WAHEEDA REHMAN IN A LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

VYAJANTIMALA IN A LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

SAIRA BANO IN A LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT

KARISHMA KAPOOR IN A LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT: INSET LUX PRINT ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING BABITA

AISHWARYA RAI IN A PRINT ADVERTISEMENT FEATURING LUX INTERNATIONAL

KAREENA KAPOOR SHOWCASING THE LATEST CHOCOLATE VARIANT BY LUX

Advertisement Analysis

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 REFERANCE 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

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.

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.

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 strategyHowever, the communication was slowly seen to be losing relevance, as consumers were beginning to question if the film star actually used the brand.

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.

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 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.

This is a successful attempt to bring the brand closer to its users and to give it a more youthful and contemporary image.

Breaking away from tradition, HLL resorts to a male and metro sexual Shah Rukh to revive Lux, which turned 75 this year.

CELEBRATING 75 years of the Lux brand, Hindustan Lever has decided to break away from tradition. It has changed the feminine face of its second largest selling soap brand to show reigning superstar Shah Rukh Khan sitting in a tub of petals along with actresses of yesteryear who have already featured as Lux models. Increasing competition and lack of innovation in the soaps category has led the FMCG biggie to try out something `new,' which, hopefully, will change the fortunes of the languishing brand. After intense brainstorming by the company's brand team and JWT, the ad agency for Lux, Shah Rukh Khan was seen as the right connect.

Shah Rukh is a big draw and women just love him. The target audience for Lux is women. Shah Rukh is a great favourite with women of all ages. So the strategy for Lux has not really changed. It is just the execution that is very different; instead of a female star in the tub, they have Shah Rukh.

The new campaign featuring King Khan shows him immersed in a bath tub with petals and talking about `his beauty secrets' (`Meri Sundarta Ka Raaz'). The beauty soap of female stars has moved from traditionally using reigning film stars and now has been endorsed by nearly 50 Indian film stars.

And it's not about Shah Rukh the star but the kind of person that he is, is what the Lux brand hopes to integrate into its new campaign. "Instead of showing Shah Rukh as a macho man riding a horse like the Marlboro man, the idea was to portray the metro sexual male who had a soft touch. Shah Rukh has been portrayed as a different kind of male who is different from the rest of the stars. fraternity who feel the ad could have had a story line and been made aesthetically more appealing.

Apart from the events and promotions, the new campaign with Shah Rukh is intended to help in reviving the heritage brand, which has always relied on film stars for its ads. And it has used male stars in the past in international markets. So while it is a big departure, it is with a reason. And the ad is not claiming

that SRK is using the brand. He is not shown using the soap. He is merely in a bath tub surrounded by the Lux stars. So it is a device to inject a bit of novelty and `buzz value' into an old brand.

To quote the marketing of HLL, one word that comes to mind is mammoth. Despite constantly declining net profitability, HLL has retained its stronghold as country‘s biggest advertiser in 2004. The FMCG giant topped the list of India‘s leading advertisers with a combined TV and press ad spend of Rs.517 crore last year. In fact HLL upped its spend by 30.5% in ‘04 to Rs.396 crore in ‘03.

Sales Promotion

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.

Whereas advertising offers a reason to buy, sales promotion offers an incentive to buy.

Sales promotion includes tools for

CONSUMER PROMOTION

Samples

Coupons

Cash Refund Offers

Prices Off

Premiums

Prizes

Patronage Rewards

Free Trials

Warranties

Tie in Promotions

Cross Promotions

Point Of Purchase Displays

Demonstrations

TRADE PROMOTION

Prices Off

Advertising and display Allowances

Free Goods

BUSINESS AND SALES-FORCE PROMOTION

Trade Shows and Conventions

Contests for Sales Reps

Specialty Advertising

Objectives of sales promotion:

Sales Promotions vary in their specific objectives. Sellers use incentive type promotions to attract new trials, reward loyal customers, and to increase the repurchase rates of occasional users. Sales promotions often attract brand switchers, who are primarily looking for low price, good value, or premiums. Sales promotions are generally unlikely to turn them into loyal users, although they may be induced to make subsequent purchases. Sales promotions used in markets of high brand similarity can produce a high sales response in the short run but permanent gain in the market share.

In markets of high brand dissimilarity, sales promotions maybe able to alter market shares permanently. In addition to brand switching, consumers may engage in stockpiling- purchasing earlier than usual or purchasing extra quantities. But sales may hit a post promotion dip.

A number of sales promotion benefits flow to the manufacturers and consumers. Sales promotions enable manufacturers to adjust to short term variations in supply and demand. They enable manufacturers to test how high a list price they can charge, because they can always discount it. They induce consumers to try new products instead of never straying from current ones. They lead to more varied retail formats, such as everyday-low-price store and the promotional pricing store. For retailers, promotions may increase sales of complementary categories as well as induce some store switching by consumers. They promote greater consumer awareness of prices. They permit the manufacturers to sell more than they would normally sell at list prices. They help the manufacturer to adapt programs to different consumer segments. Consumers themselves enjoy some satisfaction from being smart shoppers when they take advantage of price specials.

Service marketers also employ sales promotions to achieve marketing objectives. Some service firms use promotions to attract new customers and establish loyalty.

Sales Promotion Schemes Used By LUX

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 30 gm gold each.The offercould be availed only on 100 gm and 150 gm packs of Lux soap.

Lux Star Bano, Aish Karo contest which started on April 16 and went on till July 15 of 2005. 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.

The Lux Star Bano, Aish Karo contest aims to drive the brand proposition — Mujh mein star jagaye — further. The Lux `Be a Star' promotion is an unique offering through which LUX brings what stardom feels like to customers.

Lux is celebrating 75 year’s of stardom in India and to kick start the celebration, Lux has launched the Har Star Lucky Star activity.

Har Star Lucky Star offer is bound to go down in history as the only activity where every consumer is a winner! All wrappers of Lux have a star printed inside them. If the consumer finds written inside the star,

any number from “1” to “5”, she will get an equivalent discount (in rupees) on her purchase from her shopkeeper. If the consumer finds “75 years” written inside the star, she will get a year’s supply of Lux free, courtesy the beauty stars.

Play the supercharged version of the hit puzzle game, Bejeweled. Create rows of 3 or more identical stones and you could win a trip for two to a five-star Resort in Goa. You can also win Lux Skincare Products.

Email:

Name:

Please enter your name and email to play the game.

Online Contests

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.

They perform the following functions:

Press relations: Presenting news and information about the organization in the most positive light.

Product Publicity: Sponsoring efforts to publicize specific products.

Corporate Communications: Promoting understanding of the organization through internal and external communications.

Lobbying: Dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation.

Counselling: Advising management about public issues and company positions and image during good and bad times.

LUX PR Activities

Watch out Mumbai, Bangalore & Delhi! Guess who is in town to launch the new Lux Orchid! None other than Kiwi cricket vice captain Chris Cairns who will bowl a maiden over - well 3 maidens to be precise. Lux Orchid will host the ‘Lux Orchid Nights’ in Mumbai, Bangalore & New Delhi, where Chris Cairns will look out for and crown the ‘Lux Orchid Face of the evening’. This is just one of the many activities planned for the launch of Lux Orchid with exotic orchid petals in Jojoba Oil.

Lux celebrated 75 yrs 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

(C)Price

"Price" is pretty self-explanatory but it‘s very important to success. Price

something too high and a company may never sell a single item of it. Price it too low and one can lose money on every sale once all of costs of doing business are considered. So you want to price it attractively so that you can sell it to your clients and they‘ll feel good about the purchase. HLL seems to have mastered this idea. Prices of HLL are considered the most competitive in Indian market. With an operating profit of 470 Mn$ and a turnover of 2,190 Mn$, HLL has no need to look back on the fact that it is a leader. The main fact for this huge success story is the strategic pricing decision the company has adopted from time to time.

HLL always gives value for money to his consumers. It is known for its competitive pricing. HLL has the advantage of quoting a reasonable price due to its economy of scale. HLL also can quote a very competitive price due to its superior technology and optimum utilization of inventory. HLL 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, which have been described above. HLL matches its prices with the competitor who is operating

in the same category. HLL 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 LUX Beauty Bars are priced as follows:

100gms: Rs. 13

150gms: Rs. 19

LUX International is priced at

125gm: Rs. 21

International Lux Body Wash comes in an exquisitely designed bottle and is available at select outlets in select cities. It is priced at

Rs. 70 for 250 ml

Rs. 40 for 150 ml

Lux has also introduced the “Mini Lux” that has helped in better penetration of the rural market. Priced at

45g: Rs. 5

(D)Place

Cutting-edge distribution network

HLL’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 HLL’s corporate purpose is “to meet the everyday needs of people everywhere.”

At Hindustan Lever 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, 45 C&F.A.s, 7,000 stockists and direct coverage in over 1 million retail outlets across India.

To meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer, HLL has set up a distribution network that ensures availability of all their products, in all outlets, at all times. This includes, maintaining favorable trade relations, providing innovative incentives to retailers and organizing demand generation activities among a host of other things. HLL boasts of placing a product across the country in less than 72 hrs.

The first phase of the HLL 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 (C&F.A godowns) 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.

Recently HLL 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 HLL 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, HLL is building a special relationship with the small but fast emerging modern trade. HLL's scale enables it to provide superior customer service including daily servicing, improving their range availability whilst reducing inventories. HLL 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.

An IT-powered system has been implemented to supply stocks to redistribution stockists on a continuous replenishment basis. The objective is to catalyse HLL’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 HLL stockists have sold to almost a million outlets across the country. RS Net is part of Project Leap, HLL's end-to-end supply chain, which also includes a back-end system connecting suppliers, all company sites and stretching right Upto stockists. RS Net has come as a force multiplier for HLL Way, the company's action-plan to maximize the number of outlets reached and to achieve leadership in every outlet, by unshackling the field force to solely focus on secondary sales from the stockists to retailers and market activation. HLL Way has also led to implementing best practices in customer management and common norms and processes across the company. Powered by the IT tools it has further improved customer service, while ensuring superior availability and impactful visibility at retail points.

For rural India, HLL has established a single distribution channel by consolidating categories. In a significant move, with long-term benefits, HLL has mounted an initiative, Project Streamline, to further increase its rural reach with the help of rural sub-stockists. It has already appointed 6000 such 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, HLL'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 HLL'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 HLL, 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 HLL and its consumers, some of whom will also draw on the company for their livelihood, and helps build a self-sustaining virtuous cycle of growth.