MARKETING MANAGEMENT LIFEBUOY CASE STUDY

Davide Schirinzi #2458

Marketing Management - Lifebuoy Case Study 1. How is the concept of PLC useful? The concept of PLC is not just useful but crucial for the success of every product. By understanding it, the firm can be able to catch every significant signal of transaction from a phase of the products’ life cycle to another one, and therefore be ready to exploit the maximum from every following step as well as being able to anticipate and prepare the brand for its “after life” cycle. HUL and HLL managed perfectly the lifecycle of Lifebuoy being able to become market leaders since the introduction, keep the leadership during the growth and the maturity, and prevent the decline by reinventing Lifebuoy in an unmatched challenge lasted over 100 years. 2. How did Lifebuoy strategies in the early stages enabled the brand to become a leader? The success of Lifebuoy is related to the perfect timing and accurate positioning that HUL did. HUL understood the big opportunity of a nascent market being the first personal wash brand, during the end of the 19th Century, Rural India was bent by severe plague due to the extremely poor hygienic conditions. Lifebuoy was in fact introduced in the market as an effective disinfectant to fill that need promising customers that it kills germs and keeps the body healthy. Moreover, the 70% of the Indian population lives with less than 1$ for day, therefore the decision of selling it in the Economy segment (less than RS .10) was granting that Lifebuoy would have been affordable for the most of the population. The absence of substitutes in “health and hygiene”, the effective advertising that trough a sweating man was representing the hard work and heroic ideals of the period, as well as the unforgettable jingling “Lifebuoy offers protection of health”, together with the easy recognizable red color, led HLL to be a monopoly. In the beginning of the second half of the 20th century Lifebuoy had 70% market share, everyone in the rural and mostly non-alphabetized areas was associating whatever red soap to Lifebuoy and using it on a daily basis. 3. Analyse the stages of Lifebuoys’ PLC during the 20th century. Which factors contribute to move the brand from one stage to another? The introduction was in 1894, it was the first medical scent soap using carbolic acid, its affordability and effectiveness in preventing health consequences of the lack of hygiene made the introduction of this soap in India a success. The transaction from the introduction to the early growth happened around the mid-30s, where the increasing of the demand made Lever open several new factories. The low-profile that the MNC kept combined with the absence of concrete substitutes for Lifebuoy at that time led the product to the real success arrived in the mid-20th century where the post-independence era in India gave HUL the
MARKETING MANAGEMENT - LIFEBUOY CASE STUDY DAVIDE SCHIRINZI #2458

Marketing Management - Lifebuoy Case Study opportunity to explore the crescent demand. The perfect targeting in rural areas, the unmistakable color, and the effective advertising and jingling were the key factor for reaching an outstanding sustainable growth during this stage. From 1963 HUL tried to sustain the growth and avoid a “premature” mature stage by extending the line launching “Lifebuoy Special” adding deodorant properties to the product, but was quite unsuccessful due to a non-well-defined positioning, the positioning of Lifebuoy was clearly an health soap. Even if in that period Lifebuoy such a best seller that the product was starting to be confused with the brand, and any read soap in rural India was identified as Lifebuoy, the brand turned into the stage of mature growth, with sales that were still increasing but at a lower rate. The maturity stage lasted from the 70s to the end of the 90s were the strong increase of competition in the soap market together with the change in the preferences of consumers that, becoming “richer”, were moving from an economy frame to a medium frame, lead Lifebuoy’s sales to a decline. During the 2000s HLL have been able to give Lifebuoy a new life reinventing the brand: They extended the line providing several new version of Lifebuoy shaped on the changes in consumers’ preferences, and moved the positioning of the brand from male soap to family soap. Crucial for the success of the new cycle has been the 5-years massive campaign that HLL did allover rural India, creating awareness about the importance of washing hands that made Lifebuoy’s sales constantly increase again year after year. 4. How do you think brand rejuvenation is helpful? Analyze how it helped Lifebuoy extend its life cycle Nothing lasts forever, would be extremely naïve thinking that exactly the same brand with the same line, could be a best seller perpetually. Need maybe can remain the same but preferences and therefore wants no, is crucial for a brand to rejuvenate itself by improving the attributes of the products and eventually extend the line to adapt to the changes and avoid the decline. Lifebuoy was filling the primary need of healthcare, it was the product that was able to help people to survive at the extremely poor hygienic conditions, it was representing the sweeting hero ideal that was the icon of the early-middle 20th century but definitely not the one of the 21st. The consumers of the 21st century where looking for something more, they want something more than just a healthy carbolic soap, there was a need for differentiation. That is why Lifebuoy stretched the line introducing hand-soap, body-wash, bar soap, sanitizer and even clear skin, a specific product that was preventing acne, and most of them were available in different smells. HLL also positioned them no more as male soap but as family one, and specifically targeting the moms (buyer) that want to take care of the health of their families.
MARKETING MANAGEMENT - LIFEBUOY CASE STUDY DAVIDE SCHIRINZI #2458