A Marketing Management Project

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to our professors, Professor Pankaj Priya and Professor A.K.Biswas for giving us the the opportunity to do an interesting project like this. We were privileged to experience a sustained, enthusiastic and involved interest from their side. This fuelled our enthusiasm even further and encouraged us to boldly step into what was a totally dark and unexplored expanse before us. We would also like to thank our seniors who were ready with a positive comment all the time, whether it was an off-hand comment to encourage us or a constructive piece of criticism and a special thank to all those who took out time to fill our survey sheet without which our project would have been a failure. Last but not the least, we would like to thank the retailers who were nice enough to give answers to few of our questions without which this survey would have been futile.

Rashmi Poddar (132),

Raunak Kejriwal (133),

Sarveshwar Sharma (!47),

Tapasya Kataria (167),

Vidhushi Rana (182),

Shreya Midha (183).

CONTENTS

1. Company Profile

2. Indian Cosmetic Market

3. Fair & Lovely

4. Making of the brand Fair & Lovely

5. Fair & Lovely Variants

Fair & Lovely Multivitamin cream

Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Fairness Cream

Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk

Fair & Lovely Skin Clarity

Fair & Lovely Menz Active

6. Competitors

Comparative analysis of Fairever and Fair & Lovely

Comparative analysis of Garnier Powerlite and Fair & Lovely Menz Active

7. Pricing

8. Target Market

9. Evolution of the Distribution Market

10.Distribution Network

11.Evolution of the Brand

Launch Phase

Romance Phase

Destiny Phase

12.Promotion Strategies used by Fair & Lovely

Advertising Objectives

Advertising Appeal

Media Vehicle

Advertising Seasonality

Print Media

13.Fair & Lovely Foundation

Completed Projects by the Foundation

Fair & Lovely Career Guidance

Fair & Lovely Shikhar

Fair & Lovely Project Swayam

Fair & Lovely Project Shikhar

Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships

14. Data Analysis and Interpretation

Findings

15.Questionnaire

16.Retailers Survey

Findings

17.Recommendations (Consumers and Retailers)

18.References

Company Profile: HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company, touching the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages. The company’s Turnover is Rs. 17,523 crores (for the financial year 2009 - 2010)

HUL is a subsidiary of Unilever, one of the world’s leading suppliers of fast moving consumer goods with strong local roots in more than 100 countries across the globe with annual sales of about €40 billion in 2009 Unilever has about 52% shareholding in HUL.

Hindustan Unilever was recently rated among the top four companies globally in the list of “Global Top Companies for Leaders” by a study sponsored by Hewitt Associates, in partnership with Fortune magazine and the RBL Group. The company was ranked number one in the Asia-Pacific region and in India.

The mission that inspires HUL's more than 15,000 employees, including over 1,400 managers, is to help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.  It is a mission HUL shares with its parent company, Unilever, which holds about 52 % of the equity.

Products offered by HUL:

Food Brands:

Annapurna

Red Label

Brooke Bond 3 Roses

Brooke Bond Taaza

Taj Mahal

Bru

Knorr

Kissan

Kwality Wall’s

Lipton

Modern

Personal Care Brands:

Axe

Aviance

Ayush

Breeze

Clear Oils

New Clinic Plus

Close Up

Dove

Fair & Lovely

Hamam

Lakme

Lifebuoy

Liril

Lux

Pears

Pepsodent

Ponds

Rexona

Sunsilk Vaseline

Home Care Brands:

Active Wheel Cif Comfort

Domex Rin Sunlight

Surf Excel Vim

Indian Cosmetic Market

In India there is a large demand for cosmetic products. Total Indian beauty and cosmetic market size currently stands at U.S. $950 million and showing growth between 15-20 percent per year. The overall beauty and wellness market that includes beauty services stands at about $2,680 million. (Bhattacharya, 2007) One can easily see that middle and high class Indian people spend a large portion of their money in cosmetic product or service. According to the latest Euromonitor report the Indian color cosmetic market stands at $4113.4 million and skin care at $346.9 million (Bhattacharya, 2007). If properly marketed and advertised, any cosmetic product will be successful within the Indian Market.

Fair & Lovely

Brand: Fair & Lovely Company: HULAgency: Lowe

Fair & Lovely, a branded product of Hindustan UniLever, LTD (HUL) touted a cosmetic cream that supposedly lightens the skin “the miracle workers.” This product is popular in many Asian countries such as India and China. Many Indians have come to view fair skin as the ideal – and a business opportunity (Perry, 2005). Skin color is important in India and many other Asian countries, where lighter skin color represents a higher status. In those countries, fair skin is associated with positive values that relate to class and beauty.

Market Share of Fair & Lovely:

Source: Scribd

Fair & Lovely (F&L) is the brand that revolutionized the Indian Skin care industry. This brand is World's first and largest Fairness cream brand with a presence in 40 countries and a value of around Rs. 6 billion

Indian skin care market was dominated by conventional beauty care products like Bezan, Multani Mitti etc. F&L changed all that. Launched in 1975, F&L is the product born in the Unilever research center. In 1988 the brand went international. F&L commands a market share of 53% in the Rs 1000 crore fairness market in India.

F&L virtually created and owned this category for long. In the fairness market, F&L enjoyed monopoly till Cavin Kare entered this lucrative segment with Fairever. The success of Fairever prompted many players like Godrej to tap the market.

F&L sustained the pressure from the competitor by careful branding and new product launches. The brand never failed to emulate and learn from the competitor .When Fairever launched the ayurvedic variant, F&L launched a much better variant. Then came the competition from Ozone Ayurvedics with their brand No Marks trying to carve a niche. HUL countered with F&L Antimarks and launched a controversial comparative ad that took the steam out of No Marks.

When Fairever launched the soap, F&L also responded with soap. F&L never allowed the competitors to gain an upper hand in the market which it created.

F&L achieved such tremendous success because of careful branding and ad campaigns. Initially HUL had to do some ugly talking about fairness. Some of the ads were controversial because of gender inequality and stuff like that. It was necessary at that period because the category was new and the brand should first talk about the need to be fairer.

Now the brand has laddered up to more aspirational values like "Transformation of Women" The insight is that the transformation will be more than skin deep. The ads showing a girl achieving the ambition of being a cricket commentator ( a male bastion) were very much effective in connecting with the TG.

HUL has also extended the brand to more aspirational values by launching Fair& Lovely foundation that works for Women Empowerment achievement and transformation which are the qualities for which F&L stands for.

F&L have also launched a premium sub brand Perfect Radiance to tap the premium segment of the market.

Fair & Lovely was able to dominate the fairness market because of careful marketing and is a showcase of the marketing genius of HUL.

Making of the Brand Fair & Lovely

Hindustan Unilever's star product in the fairness creams segment had evolved into one of the most successful brands over three decades in as many distinct phases. Phase 1 saw the launch of the product in 1976 on the basic premise that "younger women wanted to have fairer skin in order to attract a better looking husband." HUL marketed this brand as a beauty cream capable of providing fairness within 8 weeks. The value proposition lucidly communicated to the consumer base read, "Get noticed by the man of your life."

During Phase 2 of Fair & Lovely's evolution, the brand talked to a younger college going woman who is self confident and more modern in her outlook and believes home remedies for facial care to be old fashioned. In Phase 3, this further metamorphosed into a brand offering emotional benefits for achievers who actively seek solutions and do not look at marriage as the ultimate source of personal achievement. Fair & Lovely thus became a brand which communicated a message that Fairness leading to Beauty leading to Good husband to Fairness leading to Self-confidence leading to Good career.

Negative Publicity

The brand has had its share of negative publicity, with women’s groups calling the ad regressive. The ads, which focused on the mass aspiration of “marrying well”, soon moved to more progressive ones in the 1980s. The early 1990s saw the brand take on the role of enabler of t dreams. In the late 1990s, the brand message was that a woman could make her own destiny—a thought

that was carried forward in all its campaigns. In 2007, the brand tweaked its approach to the Power of Beauty platform.

With the fairness cream business accounting for the lion’s share of the skincare products industry here, several companies have launched fairness creams in the hope of securing a piece of the growing pie. While none were able to challenge HUL in terms of numbers, they did start eating into the company’s market share with unique offerings.

Fair & Lovely was quick to take on competition—with variants. So, whether it was unique offerings such as ayurvedic formulations with saffron (to combat Fairever by CavinKare Pvt. Ltd) or those that claimed to erase marks (to fight No Marks by Ozone Ayurvedics), Fair & Lovely managed to launch variants that matched, and in some cases even topped, the promise touted by the competitor. To tap the premium segment of the market, Fair & Lovely also launched Perfect Radiance. The popularity of the brand and category can be gauged from the fact that today, it even has a variant for men.

Fair & Lovely had typical ads for like 20 years which mainly showed that before using the cream the girl is dark looking and is not confident, and when she uses Fair & Lovely she becomes confident and her career starts flourishing. Moreover in a particular ad they showed that the father is sad that he doesn’t have a son. The ad showed that if the girl is beautiful then only she will get a good job. Their advertisements were demeaning women.

Later when they were sued by the AIDWA in 2002. They changed their strategies. The company started working towards the empowerment of women by “ Fair & Lovely Foundation” and they started with various projects which targeted mainly working women. Now their ongoing scholarship program is also doing good. The company had highest market share and to retain that they had to change their advertising strategies as they were going against the society. Now there advertisements emphasize more on empowering women.

Fair & Lovely Variants

Different people have different skin types and that is why, Fair & Lovely has a range of variants to meet the different needs.

Fair & Lovely Multivitamin Cream

World's number 1 fairness cream now redefines the route to fairness with the new advanced Multivitamin Fairness and Nourishment formula. The cream gives total fairness in four weeks that rivals the best professional beauty treatment, but without bleach or harmful chemicals that can damage skin.

Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Fairness Cream

Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Fairness Cream brings in the fairness secrets of ancient Ayurveda that provides Nourishment, Protection and Purification. It is enriched with the magical Ayurvedic blend of Kumkumadi Oil - a mixture of 16 Ayurvedic ingredients, which enhances complexion and cures discoloration of skin. 

Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk

Now complements and matches the fairness on your face with the fairness on your body through Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk. Its gentle formulation gives fairness all the year round.

Fair & Lovely Skin Clarity – Antimarks

The miracle worker Fair & Lovely now not only removes spots but gives fair flawless skin through the Skin Clarity variant. It contains proven ingredients including Vitamin B3, skin silicones, fruit principles, aloe vera and Vitamin A. 

Fair & Lovely Menz Active (Max Fairness)

Fair & Lovely, the world's number 1 fairness cream, now introduces Fair & Lovely Menz Active, the fairness cream for men. Fair & Lovely Menz Active is perfect for skin that is naturally touch, is regularly exposed to harsh outdoor routines, has more stubble and is rougher due to regular shaving.

Keeping in mind different requirements of different skin, Fair & Lovely offers its consumers in the Middle East a range of variants. Besides the leading all purpose Fair & Lovely multivitamin fairness Cream, Fair & Lovely in the GCC offers a herbal range, an Oil Control Fairness Gel, anti marks and a new range of facial cleansers (face wash, mask, exfoliating wash). Fair & Lovely is constantly looking at bringing in new innovations that suit the Middle Eastern market and meet its consumer’s needs and aspirations.

Competitors

Company Brand Product category

HUL Fair n lovely Cream, soap

Emami Naturally fair Cream

Cavin care Fairever Cream

Paras Freshia Cream

Godrej Fresh glow Cream, soap

HUL (Pond’s) Pond’s fairness cream, pond’s cold cream

Cream, lotion

HUL (Lakme) Lakme sunscreen lotion, lakme sunscreen cream

Cream, lotion

L’Oreal Garnier products Cream, lotion

Category Major Competitors

Equivalent pricing Fairever, Fairglow, Himalaya, Nivea, Vicco, Emami

Mass premium Garnier, Perfect Radiance, Revlon

Mens fairness cream Fair & Handsome, Garnier Mens Powerlite

Comparative analysis of Fairever and Fair & Lovely

Fairever is a challenger brand. It was the first brand to challenge the market leader Fair & Lovely. Fairever was launched in 1998. Initially launched in South India, this brand went national a year after. It was the time when Fair & Lovely (F&L) was ruling the Indian fairness cream market. The phenomenal success of F&L and the marketing might of HUL scared off many potential rivals. It was interesting to note that ever since its launch F&L never faced any competition from any players till Cavinkare decided to take on the behemoth.

From the launch, Fairever was clear about its positioning and differentiation. The brand was positioned on the basis of its main ingredients Saffron and Milk. So a product with the unique blend of Saffron and Milk was appealing to the target segment. Within six months of the launch, Fairever garnered a neat six percent of the fairness market. The ads of Fair & Lovely was predictable and was revolving around Girl becoming fair and then attractive to men. But it was Fairever who broke these cliche ads and turned that attention to Achievement rather than Fairness. But in the ad war that ensued, F&L took over the concept of Women Empowerment and owned the positioning. Fairever also faced some legal issues with F&L.

Fair & Lovely still ha sthe highest market share of about 53% and deeper market penetration too as compared to Fairever.

Comparative analysis of Garnier Powerlite and Fair & Lovely Menz Active

Fair & Lovely Menz Active was launched in October 2006. . It was the second entrant in the Indian Men’s Fairness Cream market after Emami. Fair & Lovely Men’s Active is scientifically tailored for men’s skin So now the product has to focus on attracting new customers. The market of Men’s Fairness Cream in India is now a 4 year old market. But there’s still a huge untapped potential. Hence HUL has to follow the policy of “Market Penetration” for this product.

Garnier Powerlite has various features that men would like. They have launched face wash, moisturiser especially for men. It is a brand extension of Loreal so men mainly of middle and higher class would like to try it as compared to Fair & Lovely Menz Active. It has penetrated distribution channel which Fair & Lovely still has to work on.

The 4 P’s

Pricing

Prices are important part in the fairness creams. Prices are highly variable across the various segments of the products. Products in the low category are in the price range of about Rs. 15-100. They vary according to size (25gm, 50gm, 80 gm, 100gm and 200gm).

In the Middle end the prices are between the ranges of Rs. 150-300. In the High end the prices vary anywhere between Rs. 350-800. Prices are crucial in the lower end as they target the mass crowed and hence they have to keep the prices competitive. As for the middle end and higher end product the prices are more on quality as they are not targeting the masses but concentrate on effectiveness and quality of the product.

Pricing decisions should take into account profit margins and the probable pricing response of competitors. Pricing includes not only the list price, but also discounts, financing, and other options such as leasing.

Currently Low price strategy is being followed by the company with regard to Fair & Lovely.

Affordability is determined by 2 factors:

Income of the consumer Price of the products and services

Factors affecting the price

Internal Factors – Cost, Pricing Objective. External Factors – Customer, Suppliers and Competitors.

The Pricing objective of Fair & Lovely is similar to the objectives of all the other firms, and has been stated below:

Survival. Market Share.

Fair & Lovely has adopted many pricing strategies over the years which have been pretty successful and helped the brand in becoming more acceptable and the

company a good deal of profits. The pricing methods used by Fair & Lovely are as follows:-

Mark-up pricing: Mark-up price is the difference between the cost of a good or service and its selling price. A mark-up is added on to the total cost incurred by the producer of a good or service in order to create a profit. The total cost reflects the total amount of both fixed and variable expenses to produce and distribute a product.

Product line pricing: Product line pricing is used when a primary product is offered with different features or benefits, essentially creating multiple "different" products or services fully stocked with all the features and add-ons. Each product would then be priced accordingly.

Promotional pricing: Promotional pricing is a sales and marketing technique. It involves reducing the price of a product or service to attract customers. Promotional pricing often involves reducing prices to unsustainably low levels. In some cases, products and services may be sold at or below cost. A buy one get one free scheme may even be used. When this is done, interest in goods can be greatly increased; meaning sales are also likely to increase dramatically.

Price Chart of the Fair & Lovely cream in India:

Product 80 gm (Rs.) 50 gm (Rs.) 25 gm (Rs.) 9 gm (Rs.)Multivitamin 102 70 38 7Max Fairness for men

- 70 38 -

Anti-marks - 80 46 7Ayurvedic balance

- 70 38 7

Winter Fairness

- 70 38 -

Source: www.drugneed.com/skin-care-cream-lotion-c-4_1101_1900.html

Competitors Price

Fairever 102 68 37 7

Fair & Lovely ahs always focused on lower and middle class socio-economies and priced taking the budget constraints of those people into consideration. However newly introduced version “Anti-marks” has been priced a bit higher which works towards reducing marks on consumer’s face.

Target Market

The target market for Fair & Lovely is predominantly young women aged 18-35. Disturbingly, “there is repeated evidence that schoolgirls in the 12-14 years category widely use fairness creams”. The poor also are a significant target market for Fair & Lovely. HUL marketed the product in ‘affordable’ small size pouches to facilitate purchase by the poor. Fair & Lovely targets the poor or those at the ‘bottom of the pyramid’ as well.

Evolution of the Distribution Market

To meet the ever-changing needs of the consumer, HUL had set up a distribution network that ensures availability of all their products, in all outlets, at all items. HUL has a very good distribution channel distribution network catering to every nook and corner of the Country. This includes, maintaining favourable trade relations, providing, innovative incentives to retailers and organizing demand generation activities among host of other things.HUL has followed a strategy of building its distribution channels in a transitional manner, in different successive phases of its evolution of its distribution system, has penetrated well into the rural market.

Phase 1

The HUL distribution network has wholesalers placing bulk orders directly with the company. Large retailers also place direct orders, which comprised almost 30 percent of the total orders collected. Goods are then sent to these markets, with the company salesman as the consignee. The salesman then collects and distributed the products to the respective wholesalers, against cash payment, and the money is remitted to the company.

Phase 2

The focus of the second phase was to provide desired products and quality service to the company’s customers. In order to achieve this, one wholesaler in each market was appointed as a “Registered Wholesaler,” a stock point for the company’s products in that market. The company salesman still covered the market, canvassing for orders from the rest of the trade. He would then distribute stocks from the Registered Wholesaler through distribution units maintained by the company. The Registered Wholesaler was given a margin of 1 per cent to cover the cost ofwarehousing and financing the stocks held by him. The Registered Wholesaler system,therefore, increased the distribution reach of the company to a larger number ofcustomers.

Phase 3

The highlight of the third phase was the concept of “Redistribution Stockist” (RS) whoreplaced the Registered Wholesalers. The Redistribution Stockist was required to provide the distribution units to the company salesman. The Redistribution Stockist financed his stocks and provided warehousing facilities to store them. The Redistribution Stockist also undertook demand stimulation activities on behalf of the company. The second characteristic of this period was the changes brought in as the company realised that the Redistribution Stockist would be able to provide customer service only if he was serviced well. This knowledge led to the establishment of the “Company Depots” system. This system helped in trans-shipment, bulk breaking, and acted as a stock point to minimize stock-outs at the Redistribution Stockist level.

Phase 4

Recently significant change has been the replacement of the Company Depot bya system of third party; the Carrying and Forwarding Agents (C&FAs). The C&FAs actas buffer stock-points to ensure that stock-outs did not take place. The C&FA system has also resulted in cost savings in terms of direct transportation and reduced time lag in delivery. The most important benefit has been improved customer service to theRedistribution Stockist.

Distribution network

HUL products are distributed through a network of 4,000 redistribution of stockiest covering 6.3 million retail outlet reaching the urban population, and about 250 million rural consumers. Distribution system’s focus to enable easy access to their brands, touch consumers with a three-way convergence – of product availability, brand communication, and higher levels of brand experience HUL's products, are distributed through a network of about 7,000 redistribution stockists covering about one million retail outlets.

Distribution at Urban Centers

Distribution  of  products  from  the  manufacturing  site  to  C  &  F  agents  take  place through   either  the  trucks  or  rail  roads  depending  on  the  time  factor  for  delivery and  cost  of  transportation. Generally  the  manufacturing  site  is  located  such  that  it covers  a  bigger  geographical   segment  of  India.  From  the  C  &  F  agents,  the goods  are  transported  to  RS’s (Redistribution Stockist)  by  means  of  trucks  and the  products  finally  make  the  ‘last  mile’  based  on  the  local  popular  and  cheap mode  of   transport. The general trade comprises grocery stores, chemists, wholesale,

kiosks and general stores.HUL is using the point of purchase method for much higher level of direct contact, through in-store facilitators, sampling, education and experience. It has developed customer management and supply chain capabilities for partnering emerging self-service stores and supermarkets.

Distribution at village

The company has brought all markets with populations of below 50,000 under one rural sales organization and the team handling this team focuses on building superior availability of products and comprises of an exclusive sales force and exclusive redistribution stockists. In rural India, the network directly covers about 50,000 villages, reaching 250 million consumers; through 6000 sub-stockists.HUL has set up a full-scale sales organization, for this channel to serve modern retailing outlets.

Pioneering New Channels

Hindustan Unilever is simultaneously creating new channels, designed on the same principle of holistic contact with consumers. One of the efforts in this direction is Operation Streamline .In 1998; HUL launched Operation Streamline to extend their distribution. Operation Streamline is one of the major initiatives undertaken by HUL in recent times to penetrate the rural markets. In the case of Operation Streamline, the goods are distributed from the C&F Agents to the Re-distributors, who in turn pass it on to the Star Sellers Operation Streamline opened up a new distribution channel beyond the territories, in less than two years; it has doubled the company’s reach in rural India. Lever’s distribution network now covers 60 per cent of the villages with population greater than 2,000, and having motor able roads. Penetration levels for Fair & Lovely cream shot up nearly three times in just three months of launch of project.

For the additional 30,000 villages that HUL wanted to reach, it created a super stockiest; sub-stockiest structure. The super-stockiest in the bigger towns service these sub-stockiest, who are paid 1-2 per cent more margins that the retailers. This is to cover the sub-stockist’s costs in servicing retailers in his area. Since the distributor cannot cover these retailers regularly, these sub-stockiest are essentially stock points. Then, once dealers do the necessary demand creation exercises and as such off takes increases.

Evolution of the brand:

Launch Phase:

At the time of launch 1975, the critical task for Fair & Lovely was to tell consumers that it was a safe and efficacious skin cream, unlike the bleaches that were available in the market that were the only offerings that promised temporary fairness. 

Therefore building efficacy and safety was the main goal as Fair & Lovely was the first brand that was offering real, tangible fairness.

Launch of the product on the premise that “younger women wanted to have a fairer skin in order to attract a better looking husband.”

Value Proposition: “Get noticed by the man of your life.”

Romance Phase:

Era of romantic movies so Fair & Lovely concentrated on women and getting for them their dream man. This was considered as an achievement. It also concentrated on married women looking to keep spark alive in their relationship.

Destiny Phase:

This is the phase about achieving one’s dreams and desires. The key communications that epitomize this phase is the Airhostess ad, the Cricket ad and the Ayurveda ad. The cricket ad shows a girl achieving her dreams of becoming a cricket commentator, an arena which has long been regarded as a male bastion.

Unique Selling Proposition:

Power of beauty Maximum fairness with the power of 8 For flawlessly fair skin Change your story- Fair & Lovely Menz Active Fairness in 4 weeks

Target Market

Demographic:

Age: - 15 to 45 years

Gender:-

Female are more ardent buyers of fairness cream Yong women aged 15-25 years School girls aged 12-14 years Middle class families (rural, urban people) Also men aged 15-45 and school boys aged 12-14 years

Female: - Fair & Lovely- Anti- Marks Cream, Anti-Marks for blemish skin, Ayurvedic Balance, Multi Vitamin winter fairness cream.

Male: - Max Fairness for Men, Menz Active Cream

Income Group: - 1 to 3 lakhs income groups is a big customer group for fairness cream.

Promotion Strategies used by Fair & Lovely

TV Campaign

The following ad is of Fair & Lovely fairness cream of HUL.

Advertising Objectives:

1) Affective association:- Destiby & Romance

2) Building brand awareness and developing strong customer perception about the brand

3) Enhancing brand image

4) Recall of brand/products

Advertising Appeal:

1) Emotional appeal to grab attention2) Mass appeal to communicate product usage and its positive affects on beauty3) Fear appeal to grab attention

Media Vehicle;

Here the media vehicle used by the brand is those TV channels which are more popular among women like Star Plus, Sony, Colours, NDTV Imagine who telecast more and more daily soaps.

Advertising Seasonality:

Campaign period of an ad is not less than 6 months and not more than a year.

3 categories of ads are advertised by the brand1) General2) Occasional- wedding season and festive season3) Seasonal- As it has product for all seasons

Print Media:

Advertisements in the print and electronic media highlight the functional benefits and the self-expressive benefits that accrue to the users of the brand. For example, the new suggested variant Fair & Lovely Lucent Proteins clearly highlight the concept of "beauty beyond fairness". By using a celebrity endorser like Hema Malini for promoting the anti-ageing cream, the message sent out was loud and clear - ageing with laugh lines, and not wrinkles.

The Fairness Meter:

The Fairness Meter brought a new level of accuracy to the time-honoured tradition of judging people by the colour of their skin. Part of the Fair & Lovely line of cosmetics, the Fairness Meter helps Indian men and women to accurately track the bleaching effect of Fair & Lovely’s skin-whitening cream. The lower the number – the logic goes – their fairer the person and thus the more beautiful.

Fair & Lovely had typical ads for like 20 years which mainly showed that before using the cream the girl is dark looking and is not confident, and when she uses Fair & Lovely she becomes confident and her career starts flourishing. Moreover in a particular ad they showed that the father is sad that he doesn’t have a son. The ad showed that if the girl is beautiful then only she will get a good job. Their advertisements were demeaning women.

Later when they were sued by the AIDWA in 2002. They changed their strategies. The company started working towards the empowerment of women by “Fair & Lovely Foundation” and they started with various projects which targeted mainly working women. Now their ongoing scholarship program is also doing good. The company had highest market share and to retain that they had to change their advertising strategies as they were going against the society. Now there advertisements emphasize more on empowering women.

Fair & Lovely Foundation:

HUL mission is to add Vitality to life. They meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care with brands that help people look good, feel good and get more out of life (Unilever, 2006b). With regards to their Fair & Lovely brand, they achieve this goal by instilling confidence in women by enabling them to create an external image of themselves that they feel proud of. The creation of the Fair & Lovely Foundation, which

has educated and empowered economically thousands of low-income women across India, is the greatest testament to their care and advocacy for women (Fair & Lovely, 2007). This foundation initially faced few challenges but this foundation speaks louder than of what they are striving to be as a brand and company than any other promotional activity. This transformation helped them to undercut the efforts of direct competitors such as CavinKare’s Fairever to exploit their bad publicity and position themselves as more socially responsible. It has also been a key to rebuilding their image and securing their brand as the market leader.

Completed Projects by the Foundation:

1. Fair & Lovely Career Guidance

A good career comes from a sensible choice made after evaluating one's capabilities, interests and talent. It is imperative for students who finish their 10th and 12th standard exams to make an informed career choice. Fair & Lovely organized Career Fairs each year across the country for young girls who were at crossroads and needed to evaluate the available options before they made a decision. The Fair & Lovely Foundation Career Guidance fairs provided adequate guidance and relevant information to the students on over 200 career options. A student could go for a one-to-one counselling session, an aptitude test to gauge their capabilities, attend workshops and identify where their interest lies. Till date, over 6, 00,000 students have used this platform to their advantage. The Career Fair was held in over 25 cities in India. . Project Disha organises a ‘career fair’ where girl students can obtain information on 100 career options, and have one-on-one counselling, aptitude tests, career workshops and exhibits.

2. Fair & Lovely Shikhar

This is an initiative taken by the Fair & Lovely Foundation to explore and share the awe inspiring stories of women achievers who have overcome all obstacles with their strong will and positive attitude and dared to change their destiny. It is a thirteen episode show based on real life stories of women from different walks of life.

3. Fair & Lovely Swayam

Fair & Lovely Foundation's Project Swayam conducted in 2005 was an initiative in the area of education and enterprise for women in association with VRDC [Vanasthali Rural Development Centre]. This project helped train women and

equip them with the knowledge to become effective teachers for pre-school students. Post their training, these women, with help from VRDC had an opportunity to start their own schools which provided them an earning opportunity. This project was replicated in 2005 in Bihar in association with local NGO - Jan Jagran Sansthan.

4. Fair & Lovely Survana

Project Suvarna aims to identify and select talent in the field of athletics for girl between the age group of 12 - 16 years.

The project covered the states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in the year 2005.Participants were selected from a large base of competing talented girls on their athletic abilities by none other than India's renowned athlete - P. T. Usha. 

173 girls out of 5000 were selected and trained under the guidance of Ms. Usha along with Fair & Lovely Foundation to give these girls their wings!

Ongoing Projects

Fair & Lovely Foundation Scholarships:

The Fair & Lovely Scholarships assists deserving women in pursuing their educational goals. It is an initiative taken for all those who have the aptitude, drive and ambition but are bound by financial constraints. The Scholarship provides a voice to the talent that would have gone unnoticed and opinions that would never have been heard. It is an ongoing endeavor to give women the privilege of a formal education and over 600 women till date have benefited from this opportunity.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

1.1 Showing gender distribution of the male and female users of the product

Gender

Male 20 41%

Female 29 59%

Source: Primary Data

Analysis: Out of the total of 49 respondents 29 are female respondents and 20 are male respondents.

Inference: From the data collected it can be inferred that 59.2% of the surveyed respondents are female and the remaining 40.8% of the respondents are male.

1.2 Showing the age group of the surveyed consumer group:

Age No. of Respondents PercentageLess than 20 12 24.5%

20-25 18 36.7%

25-30 11 22.4%

30-35 5 10.2%

35 and above 3 6.2%

Source: Primary Data

No. of respondentsless than 2020-2525-3030-3535 and above

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 18 belong to 20-25 age group followed by 12 respondents from <20 age group, 11 respondents from 25-30 age group, 5 from 30-35 age group and the remaining 3 respondents from >35 age group.

Inference: From the data collected it can be inferred that 36.7% of the surveyed consumers belong to the 20-25 age group, 24.5% belongs to <20 age group followed by 22.4% that belongs to 30-45 age group, 10.2% belong to 30-35 age group and 6.2% belongs to the >35 age group. It is found that there are more users of the product in the age group of 20-30 years.

1.3 Showing the brand preference and awareness of various brands of fairness cream by the surveyed consumer group.

- Fair & Lovely

1 2 4%

2 3 6%

3 10 20%

4 13 27%

5 21 43%

– Fairever

1 3 6%

2 15 31%

3 11 22%

4 16 33%

5 4 8%

– Himami

1 12 24%

2 8 16%

3 18 37%

4 9 18%

5 2 4%

– Vicco

1 14 29%

2 16 33%

3 9 18%

4 7 14%

5 3 6%

– Others

1 19 39%

2 8 16%

3 4 8%

4 7 14%

5 11 22%

Source: Primary Data

Analysis: From the above data (where 1 stands for low and 5 stands for high preference and awareness) it can be seen that out of the 49 respondents 21 have rated Fair & Lovely high(5) as against 4 of Fairever, 2 of Himami, 3 of Vicco and 11 respondents who have rated other products and brands highly in comparison to the ones listed above.

Inference: From the data collected from the surveyed respondents above it can be inferred that 43% of the respondents would prefer and know about Fair & Lovely highly (5), whereas only 8% of the respondents prefer Fairever, 4% prefer Himani, 6% prefer Vicco and 22 % prefer the other brands like Garnier, Emami, etc.

1.4 Showing the factors that influence brand preference.

Fairness 25 51%

Sunscreen 19 39%

Fragrance 2 4%

Other 3 6%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents, 25 respondents think that fairness influences brand preference, 19 feel that sunscreen that it carries influences the same, 2 think the fragrance does and 3 feel that there is some other reason why this happens.

Inference: From the data collected it can be seen that more than half i.e. 51% of the respondents think customers are influenced by the fairness quotient in the product, while 39 % feel that brand preference is influenced because of the sunscreen quotient, 4% feel that fragrance does the job while 6% feel that there are some other reasons that are responsible.

1.5 Showing whether Fair & Lovely provides quality product to its customers.

Yes 41 84%

No 8 16%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 41 say “yes”, while 8 say “no”.

Inference: 84% of the surveyed respondents say yes and agree that Fair & Lovely does provide quality product to its customers while 16% do not feel the same and disagree with the statement.

1.6 Showing that how do the respondents feel about the price level of Fair & Lovely when compared with other brands.

High 5 10%

Optimum 40 82%

Low 4 8%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of a total of 49 respondents 40 find the price of Fair & Lovely optimum while 5 find it to be high and the rest 4 find it to be low.

Inference: 82% of the respondents feel the price of Fair & Lovely to be optimum when compared to other brands, 10% feel it to be high and 8% think that the price is low in comparison to others.

1.7 Showing in which price range is Fair & Lovely preferred the most.

Economy 8 16%

Popular 27 55%

Premium 14 29%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 27 respondents prefer Fair & Lovely in the popular price category. 14 prefer it in the premium category and 8 would like to see in the economical category.

Interpretation: 55% of the surveyed sample prefers Fair & Lovely in the popular price range, while 29% prefer it in the premium price range maybe because they feel that it is undercharged and 16% want it to be economical so that they can afford it.

1.8 Showing the source that has contributed the maximum in making people aware about the product.

Friends and/or relatives 6 12%

Family members 4 8%

Retailers recommendation 1 2%

Television Commercials (TVCs)

37

76%

Newspaper Ads 1 2%

Magazine Ads 0 0%

Other 0 0%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the total of 49 respondents are aware of the product because of television commercials, 10 through friends, family and relatives and 1 each from retailers’ recommendation and newspaper ads.

Interpretation: Of all the surveyed respondents 76% are aware through the medium of television, 20% people know about it through their friends, family members and relatives and the rest 4 % know about it from newspaper ads and retailers’ recommendation. It can clearly be seen that TV commercials are the most effective medium.

1.9 Showing whether advertisements attract towards products or not.

Yes 31 63%

No 18 37%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 31 agree to the fact that advertisements do attract customers towards the product, whereas 18 respondents disagree with this statement.

Interpretation: 63% of the total surveyed respondents know how important it is to advertise your product and agree that advertisements do attract whereas 37% of the surveyed respondents decline this fact.

1.10 Showing which factor contributes the most in a customer’s decision to switch brands.

Variety/boredom 13

27%

Non Availability 5 10%

Packing/ novelty/ features

11

22%

Price 6 12%

promotion 3 6%

Advertising 5 10%

Other 6 12%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of the 49 respondents 13 find the reason for switching brands to be variety/boredom, 11 feel that features do this and there are almost equal numbers who feel the reason to be the non availability if the product, the price, the promotion, etc.

Inference: From the above data it can be inferred that 27% of the surveyed feel boredom to be the reason, 22% feel it’s packing, novelty and features to be the reason, 12% of the respondents feel the price to be the reason, 10% each the non availability and advertising to be good enough reason and 6% feels the reason to be the way the product is promoted.

1.11 Showing how do people rate Fair & Lovely products?

Very good 7 14%

Good 31 63%

Average 10 20%

Poor 1 2%

Source: Primary data

Analysis: Out of 49 respondents 31 respondents rate Fair & Lovely products to be good, 10 rate it an average product, 7 rate it to be very good and 1 rates it poor.

Interpretation: 63% of the surveyed respondents find Fair & Lovely products to be good. 20% feels it is an average product, 14% think it to be a very good product and 2% feel it ti worthless. On the whole it is a good product.

Findings:

More than half i.e. 51% of the respondents consider fairness provided as the prime factor in making a choice of fairness creams. The second rated is sunscreen with 39% respondents laying importance to it. The least ranked is fragrance.

Fair & Lovely wins by clear majority of 84% where 41 out of 49 respondents feel that Fair & Lovely provides quality products to its customers.

40 out of 49 respondents i.e. 82% respondents think that Fair & Lovely is value for money and has been priced optimally as compared to other brands.

As per the pricing 55% of respondents prefer Fair & Lovely in the popular price category.

76% of the respondents get the information about the products of Fair & Lovely through television commercials.

63% i.e. 31 out of 49 respondents feel that Fair & Lovely advertisements attract users towards the products.

As per the satisfaction derived from the products Fair & Lovely rates well as 63% or 31 out of 49 respondents’ rate Fair & Lovely products as being good while only 2% of respondents rate Fair & Lovely products as poor.

Questionnaire:

Fair & Lovely Market Analysis:

- An insight into consumer perception

Name *

Age *

Gender *

 Male

 Female

Brand preference and awareness for fairness cream?

 *Here 1 is low and 5 is high preference and awareness

1 2 3 4 5

Fair & Lovely

Fairever

Himami

Vicco

Others

Factor influencing brand preference? *

 Fairness

 Sunscreen

 Fragrance

 Other: 

Do you think Fair & Lovely provides quality products to its customers? *

 Yes

 No

What do you think about the price level of Fair & Lovely when compared with other brands? *

 High

 Optimum

 Low

Which price range of Fair & Lovely you prefer the most? *

 Economy

 Popular

 Premium

Source of Awareness for fairness creams? *

 Friends and/or relatives

 Family members

 Retailers recommendation

 Television Commercials (TVCs)

 Newspaper Ads

 Magazine Ads

 Other: 

Reasons for switching brands? *

 Variety/boredom

 Non Availability

 Packing/ novelty/ features

 Price

 promotion

 Advertising

 Other: 

How do you rate Fair & Lovely products? *

 Very good

 Good

 Average

 Poor

Do you recommend Fair & Lovely products to others? *

 Yes

 No

Retailers Survey:

A general and oral retailers survey was conducted in which around 10 retailers in the nearby area were questioned the following questions:-

1) Do you keep Fair & Lovely?

2) Which other brands of fairness cream do you keep?

3) How well does it fair as compared to other brands?

4) Which pack economy, popular or premium is sold more?

5) If Fair & Lovely is not available to consumers do they buy something else? If yes which other fairness cream do they opt for?

Findings

The retailers came up with almost similar responses only with a little variation.

• All of the retailers did have Fair & Lovely on their shelves but none of them did keep the whole range of products. Some had only Fair & Lovely Multivitamin, some had only Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic and some had a combination of two variants.

• The retailers surveyed had quite a few other brands which include Garnier Mens Powerlite, Emami Fair and Handsome, Fairever, Ponds, Olay, Nomarks, etc. The most interesting thing observed here was that all of the shops had mens fairness creams and said that they sold pretty good hence it was important to have them in their inventory.

• According to the retailers surveyed Fair & Lovely justifies its market share of 53% but they also agree to the fact that its market share is in a continuous declining phase and Fair & Lovely is being given a stiff competition by its competitors Fairever, Garnier, etc.

• Most of the retailers surveyed generally stock the economy (9 gm &15 gm) and popular pack (25 gm & 50 gm). Rarely do retailers stock premium packs (80 gm and above). This shows that people are willing to shift incase there is a better product in the market.

• According to retailers, customers are generally brand conscious especially when it comes to fairness products because its effect develops over a certain period of time. Hence very rarely do customers switch brands. They do so only when they feel that there is a better product available at the same or a little higher price. They generally go for Garnier or Fairever.

Recommendations (Consumers & Retailers Survey)

Fair & Lovely has come a long way since 1976 when it was first introduced in India, modernizing along with its consumers. Women in the society have transformed and the brand has evolved to capture this need. Currently though, underplaying the fairness attribute may hurt the brand so the focus has to be extended and not shifted. This extension includes fairness but adds that extra something to the product as well as the brand. The addition of attributes to products would increase the perceived value for the customer which is an important objective with a mature product such as Fair & Lovely.

Though Fair & Lovely is the market leader in this segment, an erosion of its market share is always on the cards, especially since there are no significant points of difference from its competitors. The basic product needs to be re-positioned with additional attributes to increase its points of difference from the other competing brands.

This revamp needs go beyond just the look of the package (which has been constantly changing) and instead, drill into the core of the brand.

The ads could present both fair and darker skinned models together as equally beautiful, confident, and happy users of the products .This type of advertising requires a higher degree of creativity and sensitivity to be effective, but it is a great investment toward managing our brand image and serving the best interests of Indian women of all colours and shades. With the introduction of the new variants in the market place, Fair & Lovely must focus its promotional activities in order to sell a category need, increase brand attitude and to generate the intention to purchase in the minds of the consumer. Towards that extent, TV commercials must be aimed at generating awareness and increasing brand recognition of the new products. Considering that Fair & Lovely's market share touches nearly 60% and it has a high brand recall of nearly 80% - a conservative estimate, then in order to convert at least 20% of the users exposed into customers, 9,200,000 customers have to be exposed to these commercials on prime time television. Only then can Fair & Lovely hope to achieve its targets.

References:

Philip Kotler, Marketing Management. N.Leistikow, ‘Indian women criticize ‘Fair & Lovely’ ideal.’ R.Balu, ‘Strategic innovation: Hindustan Lever Ltd’. Aneel Karnani, Doing Well By Doing Good. Aneel Karnani, Romanticizing the poor. www.knowledge@wharton.com