BUMN065H6 Brand Development

Brand Development Strategy 1
BRAND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
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Brand Development Strategy 2
KIEHLS BRAND
Introduction
The brand in question, Kiehl's LLC, is American and falls under the cosmetic industry.
Therefore, its area of specialization includes but not limited to premium hair, body, and skin care
products. Kiehl's LLC got started as a pharmacy in Manhattan in 1851 (Gronlund, 2013).
However, it later got acquired in 2000 by a group called L'Oréal. Kiehl's LLC currently operates
more than 250 global stores with close to 2,500 points of sale that are orchestrated through
particular airport locations, high-end sales department stores, and self-reliant stockists. Vis-à-vis
its competitors in the global market, Kiehl’s LLC gets recognised for the marketing approach
that it employs (Landy, Zedeck and Cleveland, 2017, pg. 151). Such “unorthodox” approach
helps Kiehl’s LLC in the creation of a base of male clienteles that is exceptionally large while
providing products that are simple and straightforwardly packaged. Therefore, the brand’s image
and reputation have been good and improved since its inception. In addition, the products
manufactured are provided in organic ingredients like hair foods that provide more quality
guarantee. The brand has maintained its global market position for a long time because
customers provide good reviews after using Kiehl’s products. By doing so, the company creates
brand endorsement through strong verbal utterings. Kiehl’s LLC also focuses on ensuring that
customers are provided with excellent retail experience and services thus, satisfactorily solving
client issues (Johansson and Carlson, 2015).
Brand Elements
i) Weaknesses

Brand Development Strategy 3
Kiehl’s LLC as a company sells natural cosmetic products. Since the main ingredients are
organic, competitor companies could easily copy such ingredients and produce counterfeits.
Such could also get driven by the fact that customers’ purchasing behaviour has shifted towards
going for organic cosmetic products. Therefore, every company in the cosmetics niche is most
likely going to manufacture organic cosmetic products, even for the new entrants. In as much as
Kiehl’s LLC provides high-quality services and goods as well as having their products tailored to
meet customer requirements, their brand promotion strategies are poor and many individuals
interested in cosmetic products are not aware of the products Kiehl’s LLC offer (Jurevicius,
2014).
ii) Opportunities
The taste for the cosmetic product is slowly growing in young women and men. Currently, the
number of men buying cosmetic products has doubled compared to previous cases. Apart from
that, research findings show that the largest market segment for skin care products is that of
ladies between the ages of 16 and 21. The identified range makes 60% of the entire market. The
reason why ladies in the range of 16 to 21 years composes the largest market segment is because
these ladies value beauty and radiating skin and are thus, ‘the most obsessed’ when it comes to
craving for good looks. Such ladies would spend a lot to attain the goal of looking beautiful with
radiating skin. As a result, Kiehl’s LLC has the chance to venture into providing products that
target men and ladies between 16 and 21 years old. Men have improved their perceptions of
cosmetic products as well as skin and health concerns thus, increased their consumption of
cosmetic products (Kapferer, 2012, pg. 672).
iii) Threats

Brand Development Strategy 4
Kiehl’s LLC faces stiff competition in the cosmetics industry. Some of the global competitors
include Skin Food and The Body Shop among others. The named companies are direct rivals
because they manufacture similar cosmetic products. Apart from that, the power of substitute
products in the global cosmetic market is high which would make clients go for contrary
products to Kiehl’s. Such alternative products include Skin Foods. Customers are at liberty to
compare and contrast a large array of cosmetic products before settling for their desired tastes
(Jurevicius, 2014).
Brand Decision
Over the past few years, Kiehl’s LLC has reorganized its marketing approaches, therefore,
making the company successful on several fronts in the cosmetics industry. The company,
however, decided to change its marketing strategies and mix because it has many direct
competitors in the market (Johansson and Carlson, 2015). Nevertheless, Kiehl’s LLC finds many
reasons to explain why its decision to develop its brand is vital. First and foremost, there are
several alternative cosmetic products in the market that fight for recognition as much as Kiehl’s
brand does. Second, almost every cosmetic product is simple and organic in nature leading to
reduced diversity and innovativeness. Customers then become bored with such products and
therefore, they have the luxury to compare and contrast finer details (Morejon, 2014). From
those two reasons, Kiehl’s insists that proper strategies for the promotion of its brand are the
only way of tackling product promotion concerns and reduce competition. Some of such
strategies include:
A. CBBE (Customer-Based Brand Equity) Model
Kiehl’s LLC has gone for this model because it promotes: