Lifebuoy CASE STUDY

LIFEBUOY CASE STUDY- LEVATHIAN OR LEGEND

PRESENTED BY

GROUP-3

OVERVIEW:

• Facts about companies

• Positioning of the brands

• Competitive forces

• Competitor’s Strategy

• Reason of decline

• Repositioning and Suggestion

FACTS ABOUT TOILET SOAP MARKET

• Total toilet soap market: 45 billion

• By volume: 540,000 tons

• 3 segments in the market for toilet soap,

namely:

Carbolic / Economy segment – 42% - 15000 tons

Popular Segment - 44% - 10000 tons

Premium Segment – 14% - 5000 tons

FACTS ABOUT HLL

• Subsidiary of Anglo-Dutch Unilever Group

• Deals with consumer products and b2b markets

• Annual sales turnover: 106 billion, soaps-18%

• HLL Soap share: 58% in the market

• Penetrated by 88% to rural India

• One among the 25 fastest growing segment in

India

• Proud owner of a portfolio of 75 brands

FACTS ABOUT NIRMA CHEMICALS

• A tough competitor for the HLL

• Business in consumer products & industrial

products

• Turnover was 20.52 billion, soaps – 35%

• Introduced other products, that failed to click

FACTS ABOUT GODREJ LIMITED

• Third important player in the market

• Turnover 8 billion, without any successful brand

• Reason for slide: Alliance and break up with P&G

• Market Share slipped from 11% to 5%

• Introduced No.1 soap with different

characteristics

• Face Saver : CINTHOL

FACTS ABOUT PROCTER AND GAMBLE

• Not seen as competitor to toilet soap market

• Soap and Washing powder dept. failed

• Sanitary and shampoo items were moderate

• Rationalizing its brand portfolio

FACTS ABOUT OTHER PLAYERS

• Wipro was successful in several brands

• Mysore sandals lost - parent organization's

tardiness

• Colgate Palmolive- partially successful

• Dettol successful as bath soap / antiseptic liquid

• HLL Savlon heads on with dettol

• Henkel brands – average performance in market

POSITIONING

Companies tried to use this:

Positioning in terms of sales

Positioning in terms of price

Positioning in terms of availability

Positioning in terms of variety, suiting to needs

Positioning in terms of value for money

Positioning in terms of customer benefits /

education

Positioning in terms of tradition / culture /

situation

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

NEW MARKET ENTRANTS

SUBSTITUTES

SUPPLIERS CUSTOMERS

FIRM COMPETITOR

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

Firm:

Lifebuoy: Top brand of soap division of HLL

Largest Selling Soap in India

Easily available (transportation) and affordable

Size was adjustable according to customer needs

Large sales implied large dividends for investors

Lifebuoy: Top brand in India in 1998

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

Competitors:

MNCs not competitors in that area

Small newcomer Nirma gave tough competition

Godrej failed to click due to break up with P&G

P&G had pricing and positioning related issues

Other competitors had not penetrated into the

segment

Had other portfolios in hand-wash, shampoo

Prices were not meant for low income groups

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

New Market Entry: The threat by Nirma

Targeted retailer by incentive schemes

Backward Integration Projects

Debt Restructuring

Cost Cutting

Low manpower and capital / Low Investment

Recession helped to move to value for money

items

New Market Exit:

Exits by others showed exit from market is not

tough

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

Substitute Products:

Body Shampoo

Face Wash

Liquid Soap

Hand Wash

Premium / Popular Body Soaps

Shikakai Soaps

COMPETITIVE FORCES AND STRATEGY

Target Customer:

Income and class: Low Income rural people

Middle class and rich class of

cities

Niche market: Teenagers, Adventurous, Sportsmen

Occupation: Housewives, Petty businessmen