[Year]

Report
On
Delivering customer value
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Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2
2. Company overview .................................................................................................................. 2
3. Situation Analysis .................................................................................................................... 3
4. Marketing Mix of LUX ........................................................................................................ 4
4.1 Product ............................................................................................................................. 4
4.2 Price .................................................................................................................................. 5
4.3 Place ................................................................................................................................. 5
4.4 Promotion ......................................................................................................................... 6
5. LUX Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning ......................................................................... 7
5.1 Product Category .............................................................................................................. 7
5.2 Market segmentation ........................................................................................................ 7
5.3 Market Targeting .............................................................................................................. 8
5.4 Market Positioning ........................................................................................................... 9
6. Value chain Analysis ............................................................................................................... 9
7. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 11
8. References ............................................................................................................................. 12










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1. Introduction

Unilever is one of the leading global companies in the current market. It has a very large range of
product lines and the availability of its products is everywhere. We have chosen Lux because it
is very much popular and available in the UK market. The product was first launched at UK in
1899. At that time Unilevers name was known as Lever Brothers Company. The name Lux
was taken from a Latin word which means Light. We have tried to discuss the marketing
policy or mix of the Lux briefly but specifically and we have also tried to highlight the STP
process and also the Value chain of LUX.


2. Company overview

We have mentioned earlier that Unilever is a very popular brand throughout the globe and they
have achieved the popularity by managing strong branding, marketing and other crucial
activities. Unilever has started its first journey in 1872 at Netherland. Unilever now considered
as the worlds biggest and largest multinational company. It has expanded its operation in almost
five continents (Allan, 2013).
The company has always got the inspiration of its founders and thus it has reached into the top
floor through new inventions, generation new ideas and dedication to the company. Unilever has
touched almost every sector of consumer goods like soap, cleaning, household goods, skin
cleansing, oral care, personal grooming and many other areas. In every sector it has got very
popular brands and also its many products are counted as the market leader and challenger.
Unilever is producing innovative product and delivering them to the hand of consumers and thus
simply upgrading the standard of living of general people. Day by day people are using more
innovative and sophisticated product by the help of the company.



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3. Situation Analysis
This is a very crucial task to every organization. Before launching any product into the market
Unilever tries to carefully analyze the external and internal situation (Brown, 2013).

Political Factors: There always remain some political factors to interrupt the business. To
enter into a new market our prescribed LUX will face the following political situations,
a. Stability of the Government: If the government is not stable then it will be very
much difficult for Unilever to implement new product plan. Every now and then
government changes tax plan and the company has to change or reduce the asked
price. So its terrible to start everything from the beginning.
b. Budget Plan: New government brings new budget plans. Frequent changes in the
plan cause harm to the industry.

Economic Factors: In UK soap cost is pretty much high than compared to the Asian
countries. So, this creates a false impression to the people about the pricing of the product.
Moreover, the per capita income of people is increasing and as a result they are bound to expense
a lot than before. Increasing population creates much more demand.

Socio-Cultural Factors: Buying habit of consumers changes very frequently. As a result
Unilever faces problems as they also have to change the product like package, fragrance, colour,
price etc. By doing business in UK Unilever is somehow polluting the environment. So they
have to recycle the wastage as it is a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. So this whole
thing increases the total cost which is bound to reduce profit (Unilever.co.uk, 2013).

Technological Factors: It is true that soap companies dont require very high technology
but this statement is proving false now a day. Through the use of modern sophisticated
technology companies can create more soap within an hour and also can ensure maximum
quality.


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4. Marketing Mix of LUX
LUX is in the Soap category. So it requires a perfect mix, perfect blend of some elements that
will make the product acceptable, affordable and available to the new market.

4.1 Product
Unilever has own their personal and very big plant to produce products instantly. (Dorothy
Leonard-Barton, 2001) The product LUX is known worldwide for its utility. This means it is a
successful product of Unilever. Unilever uses some ingredients that are common like sodium
soap, different useful fragrance and also glycerol. But they use some other material which is not
still available to many soap industries. As most of the people in UK can tends to purchase big
amount of soap at a time so Unilever should concentrate on producing LUX above 250 gm.








Now we are going develop a new product under LUX brand. We would like to name it Lux
Creamy sandal. Here all the ingredients will remain same but we will add something extra. We
will combine the fragrance of sandal soap which is very much popular for its fragrance and will
make it feel like creamy. These total things will make the soap very much attractive and
acceptable to the general people. This will be a premium product for the elite class and this will
certainly meet their desired need as we have taken a survey on this segment of people
(Fmcg.com, 2013).

Width of the product
Width of the product means the total number of product lines Unilever has brought to the market.
Here we are talking about only LUX. So here we barely get the chance to describe the width of
LUX.
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Length of the product
Our prescribed product is lux. Here length of the product means the number of products
available under LUX banner.
a. Lux energizing honey
b. Lux almond delight
c. Lux orchid touch
d. Lux aqua sparkle
e. Lux nature pure
f. Lux golden glow
g. Lux sandalwood
h. Lux fruit
i. Lux chocolate
j. Lux saffron
Depth of the product
Depth of the product means types or variants in the prescribed product line. Here we have
selected LUX creamy sandal. We will produce three different fragrances under this line.
Example: If the selected product will come into three formulation then the depth of the product
line will be (3*3) =9.

4.2 Price
Our selected product LUX creamy Sandal is a premium product for the elite groups as we have
mentioned earlier. So its asking price will be high. We have figured out only one size of this soap
initially. The price will be 3 pound for 250 gm. And this will not bother the customers as they
dont usually bother with price against the quality.
This price is a bit high than other existing competitors but we have mentioned earlier that we
have a bunch of loyal customers who badly needs this sort of product and they dont bargain.

4.3 Place
Normally Unilever produce their products at their designated plants and then distribute the
products. They dont have own transportation to distribute the products to the shopping mall. So
they hire third party to reduce the cost of transport. This is a part of their supply chain plan.
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Unilever may use exclusive distribution to deliver the product to the market. Products will be
available on large shopping mall, super shop etc.
Product distribution: Unilever may use the following distribution process,

Manufacturer
Distributer
Retailer
Consumer
Source: www.Unilever.co.uk
4.4 Promotion
Now as we know this a new and different product
Unilever may us advertisement, sales promotion,
public relation and point of purchase type promotions
to boost up the sales.
Point of purchase: Unilever can take the
advantage of this promotion to promote their
new products. It can teach the salespeople to
create attractive decorations and display the
products nicely which may certainly attract the
customers.
Advertising: Here comes the most important
promotion strategy. By selecting different types
of media Unilever can transfer or deliver the
message to the audience.
a. Television
b. Print media
c. Magazines
d. Outdoor advertising(billboards)
e. Newspapers
f. Internet
g. Brochures
Public Relation: Unilever has established loyal
and profitable relations with the customers over
the years. They have also built a department
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which is known as consumer department takes complain from the consumers and
solve them as early as possible.
Sales promotion: Unilever provides sales promotion to boost up sales for a short
period of time. Sales promotions like,
a. Launch event: Unilever can organize an event for launching the new product with the
help of media coverage. As soon as the product gets media Coverage Company gets
the benefit.
b. Consumer promotion: This is another strategy of the company where consumers are
encouraged to buy more products as there is something given with the product that is
complementary in type (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010, pp. 400-410).

5. LUX Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning
Lux soap was first launched and introduced as bathroom beauty soap in the UK market in 1928.
Before that LUX was launched at first as Sunlight soap flaked version. Afterwards, LUX soap
has been introduced and marketed in several forms with brand extensions including shower gel,
cream bath soap and hand wash liquid. The brand name LUX came from Latin word light
and it was chosen as the suggestive of LUX.
5.1 Product Category
LUX is a beauty soap which is classified under the category of toiletry product.
5.2 Market segmentation
According to company market research report, Unilever UK claims that LUX is one of the
highest selling products in UK. Unilever doesnt go for traditional mass marketing, rather they
have targeted market segment with brand image and emotional attachment. Unilever UK can
segments their market according to the combination of geographical areas and demographic
segments in order to expand their current LUX market share. As LUX brand image has already
created as delicacy, it will be helpful to promote new incremental product LUX Creamy Sandal
soap which is premium product in new market segment.
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The population of the UK market is segmented into three above parts which are Urban, Sub-
urban and Exurban area consumers. As LUX Creamy Sandal soap is a premium product,
Unilever UK is supposed to target urban market segment for better positioning according to
incremental product type. The company may further differentiate the product market segment in
demographic segments to create niche market for better image positioning and emotional
attachment. The demographic market segmentation of LUX Creamy Sandal is briefly mentioned
below:
Gender: Female
Age: 16-40
Income: Higher & middle income group
Expensive: Affordable

5.3 Market Targeting
Urban and sub urban areas are highly dense population including elite class and higher-middle
income group. Company research indicates that urban rich and higher middle income group are
more likely to buy quality and aesthetic toiletry products that represents as delicacy. The new
product LUX Creamy Sandal is a premium product development that is very suitable and
beneficial for skin, prevents skin irritation with sandal delicate fragrance. This new incremental
premium product can be successful, higher selling product in the targeted urban and sub urban -
elite and higher middle income group people.
Urban
Sub urban
Ex urban
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Though LUX Creamy Sandal soap is a premium product with little expensive but it is an
affordable product for middle class income group too. That is why, the company may target
urban and sub urban upper middle class people for higher sales volume of premium product with
justified price.

5.4 Market Positioning
Unilever UK Ltd. has created a good positioning of LUX brand in the consumers mind through
better product attributes, price and quality, and also serving the product in a different way than
the competitors personal care product that helps to build a good emotional attachment with
consumers. The new incremental premium product LUX Creamy Sandal can be positioned as
Aesthetic & Delicacy as personal care product that is more suitable for skin care. This LUX
brands position in the consumers mind can be on two dimensions: Price & Quality. Though, this
is a premium product and price is a bit higher than other regular Lux soap, quality is much higher
than the price. So, in spite of higher price, the LUX Creamy Sandal soap will be affordable
product for target market segment in comparison to its competitors. This Higher quality,
Aesthetic & Delicacy positioning will build up a strong customer loyalty and brand image for
LUX consistently. Thus, LUX Creamy Sandal brand will claim market leader in the personal
care and toiletry industry. (Unilever.com, 2013)

6. Value chain Analysis
Unilever is a multinational organization that incorporates the functions to value creating
processes. In order to satisfy customer needs and wants, Unilever maintains both international
and local operations efficiently that make a difference in comparison with the market
competitors. Unilever value chain integration keeps the company profitability and market share
ahead in the business industry. Unilever brands are treated in terms of operations and
productivity through creating value in the path of growth.
The value chain analysis framework is the one of the significant tools of strategic planning and
operations research that implies an effective leadership integrated model in the organizational
business activities. (Saha, A., 2011)
According to Michael Porter value chain analysis framework, Unilever value creating processes
can be classified into two phases which are-
Primary activities including
product &
market related activities
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In primary activities, Unilever UK Ltd. performs all the functions related to product design,
product development, new product research, market research, market penetration strategies,
market product offering and support activities that add value to the services in achieving the
organization goal in the pathways of growth and profitability.


(Source: www.managementexchange.com)



Support activities including
Human Resource Management
Technology management
Infrastructure
Procurement
In support activities part of the companys value chain, Unilever maintain, monitor and perform
all those activities related to the operational procurement, intensive uses of technological
management, managing workforce for effective and efficient output, infrastructural support that
integrates in the whole business operations.

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7. Conclusion
Unilever UK Ltd. has been market leader in the industry in years with LUX soap brand. Now,
Unilever has become the worlds largest company now. It operates their business function in all
five continents with an annual turnover around 84 billion dollars including 340 operating
companies, 714 factories in 81 countries and more than 721000 employees over the world. The
company indebted its current status to the to the pioneering sprightliness inherited from its
founders which continuously empowering the activities and functions in new ways of satisfying
peoples various needs and wants creatively.



















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8. References

1. Allan, J. 2013. Marketing_Project_Lux Ppt Presentation. [online] Available at:
<http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/meenakshijha-1235584-marketing-
project-lux/> [Accessed: 13 Dec 2013].

2. Brown, M. 2013. Lux Soap. [online] Available at:
<http://www.slideshare.net/anandganpaa/lux-soap> [Accessed: 13 Dec 2013].

3. Dorothy Leonard-Barton, 2001 Core Capabilities and Core Rigidities: A
Paradox in Managing New Product Development, Strategic Management
Journal (summer, 1992).

4. Fmcg.com. 2013. First Manhattan Consulting Group - Home. [online] Available
at: <http://www.fmcg.com/index.asp> [Accessed: 13 Dec 2013].

5. Kotler, P. and Armstrong, G. 2010. Principles of Marketing. 13th ed. London:
Pearson.

6. Kotler, 2004. Marketing Management. 12
th
ed.
7. Saha, A., 2011. Untitled. [blog] Available at:
<http://www.managementexchange.com/hack/mapping-porter%E2%80%99s-
value-chain-activities-business-functional-units>
8. Unilever.co.uk. 2013. Unilever UK & Ireland | UK & Ireland. [online] Available
at: <http://www.unilever.co.uk/> [Accessed: 13 Dec 2013].

9. Unknown. 2013. [online] Available at:
<http://www.gfk.be/ProductsAndServices/ConsumerDiagnosticTools/SpecialAnal
yses/BrandHealthCheckUp> [Accessed: 13 Dec 2013].

10. Unilever.com. 2013. Lux | Brands in action | Unilever Global. [online] Available
at: <http://www.unilever.com/brands-in-action/detail/Lux/292092/> [Accessed:
13 Dec 2013].