MBA404 Report: Lifebuoy - Consumer Behavior Analysis & Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Lifebuoy's marketing strategies and consumer behavior. It begins with a product overview and delves into a critical analysis of current marketing strategies, including the marketing mix, pricing, promotion, and differentiation strategies. The report assesses Lifebuoy's targeting, pricing affordability, promotional techniques, and differentiation efforts. Furthermore, it presents strategic recommendations focusing on commitment towards the product, communication channel improvements, and repositioning strategies to enhance customer satisfaction and market share. The analysis incorporates customer perceptions and research findings to provide actionable insights for Lifebuoy to maintain and improve its position in the competitive market.

Lifebuoy

LIFEBUOY
Executive summary
Customer behavior is considered as an important factor that should be considered by the
companies, so that demand of the products can be boosted in the market. The organization
should focus on analyzing the customer behavior as it can help to provide the products according
to their need. Therefore, in this paper the discussion will be made on the Lifebuoy product of the
Unilever Company. It is observed that in the further parts, the discussion will be made on the
marketing and communication strategies that should be considered by the company as it can help
to boost the sales and also the market share in the highly competitive market. The strategies that
will be discussed in the paper are: marketing mix, pricing, promotion and Differentiation
strategy. Also, the strategic recommendation will be made by considering the commitment
towards product, communication channel and repositioning strategy. It is important to make the
changes in these areas so that it can be easy to boost the growth of the company.
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LIFEBUOY
Table of Contents
Executive summary.........................................................................................................................2
Lifebuoy PRODUCT OVERVIEW.................................................................................................2
Critical analysis...............................................................................................................................2
Lifebuoy marketing mix strategy.................................................................................................3
Pricing strategy............................................................................................................................4
Promotion strategy.......................................................................................................................5
Differentiation strategy................................................................................................................6
Strategic recommendation...............................................................................................................7
Commitment towards the product................................................................................................7
Communication channel..............................................................................................................7
Repositioning strategy..................................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9
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LIFEBUOY
Lifebuoy PRODUCT OVERVIEW
Lifebuoy is considered as the distinctive brand of the soap that was created in 1894, in the Lever
Brothers Soap industry. The product is made up of Carbolic acid with a strong medicinal scent.
There are many variants of the Lifebuoy offered to the customers like Lemon fresh Soap Bar,
Vita Protect Soap bar, betel lead soap, mild care soap, cool fresh and Moisture plus soap bar.
Lifebuoy is the soap brand which is marketed by the Unilever Company. It is evaluated that the
customers purchase lifebuoy soap with the mindset that it will protect from the different
infections and germs and also is will help in prevention of Diarrhea. The Lifebuoy is a product
with a red packaging and the company designed this product with the aim of keeping the people
healthy. Now, in the present scenario, the Lifebuoy brand has the motive to change the hygiene
behavior of more than 1 billion customers across Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is noted that
Lifebuoy was considered as the first brand to have a postal cover which was introduced on the
occasion of the World health day. The main goal is to assist 1 billion people on the global
platform so that the hygiene behavior can be improved by 2020 (Unilever, 2019). This product is
promoted with an aim of spreading hygiene factors among the citizens living in the society
(Tideman, 2017).
Critical analysis
Current marketing strategies and marketing communication mix of the Lifebuoy
Lifebuoy has been marketed as the “cleaning soap for the customers”. The company focused on
maintaining the value of the product by re- launching it in 2002. The message showed at the
time of promotion of the product is related with the hygiene factors which are necessary for the
people. So, lifebuoy not only focused on ensuring the good health for the people but emphasized
on maintaining the productive communities (Ahmed, 2017).
Lifebuoy marketing mix strategy
The company is focusing on the targeting the market related to households, because for them it
can be easy to afford the soap. The marketing of the product is done by emphasizing on the
concept of complete prevention, from germs and bacteria. Targeting is considered as the best
strategy which is considered by the company as it can assist in enhancing the demand of the
products in the particular market area (Srivastava, 2016). The majority of the customers stated
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LIFEBUOY
that the quality and fragrance of the soaps is considered as the important aspect at the time of
purchasing the product (Lawrence, Rasche and Kenny, 2019).
The findings in the assessment 2, of the question 10 states that 45%of the people have the
perception that Lifebuoy offers quality products and services to the customers and also 33% of
the customers believes that the lifebuoy offers high quality products in the market. Therefore,by
analyzing the mindset of the customers, the company focused on targeting customers to maintain
the repetitive purchases of the customers with customer loyalty (Leleux, 2018). In relation to the
place in marketing mix stated in the in the question 10, the focus is given on the question in
relation to the purchase of the soaps. In the research, there are 80% of the customers who will
purchase the products from the retail stores and others customers will purchase the products from
the shopping malls and through online platform.
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LIFEBUOY
Pricing strategy
The company focused on considering the pricing strategy to boost the demand of the product in
the highly competitive market. The lifebuoy also focused on considering the Ansoff Matrix, in
which the focus is given on considering the strategy of reducing the prices of the products so that
customers can easily demand for more products and it will directly enhance the market share of
the company in the highly competitive market (Padhy and Mishra, 2015).
(Source: Mindtool, 2019).
The main reason to reduce the price of the product is also related with maintaining the
affordability. The strong distribution channel has been maintained by the company with simple
marketing message (Sivakumar, 2016). The customers are attracted towards the product by
giving localized design and also they use the convenience storage, so that it can be easy to
maintain the repetitive purchases of the customers. It has influenced the behavior of the
customers towards the products and attracted them towards the product with a thinking that
product is offered at a low price and also of good quality (Hasan, 2015).
According to the research done in assessment 2, question 6, there are 72% customers who will
purchase the product and they will not switch to the other substitutes available in the market.
Also, there are 7% who have given preference for the cheaper prices, if the price of the product
enhances (East et al., 2016).
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LIFEBUOY
Therefore, this strategy considered by the company could assist in enhancing the sales of the
products and also it has helped the company to gain the reliable information towards the product.
Promotion strategy
Lifebuoy considered promotional strategy to boost the demand of the product in the market. It
has been critically evaluated that sales promotions are designed so that immediate impact can be
seen on the sales of the product. For Lifebuoy, the media and no media marketing is considered
so that the consumer demand can be enhanced and also it stimulates availability of the products
in the market. There are various types of promotional techniques considered by Lifebuoy
(Szmigin and Piacentini, 2018). The company focused on consumer sales promotional
techniques in which the focus is given on the factors related to price deal, price pack deal,
rebates and contests. In context to the price deal strategy it is evaluated that company, focused on
temporary reduction in the prices. Such as, the reductions are made by offering happy hour deals
and the product is offered to the customers from the actual price (East et al., 2016).
Price pack deal is also considered by Lifebuoy in which the focus is given on packaging offers.
In this extra percentage is added to the product. Like 25% extra is given by the company.
Coupons are also considered as a standard mechanism for maintaining the sales, the company
focused on distributing the coupon booklets in the newspaper. Rebates are also given to the
customers by considering the approach of money back (Alon et al., 2016).
According to research done in assessment 2, in relation to the perception of the customers for
lifebuoy soaps, it has been examined that 45% of the people have considered that lifebuoy
provide the quality products and services but 34% customers stated that lifebuoy offer high
quality products.
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LIFEBUOY
To maintain this overall ratio given by the customers, the company focused on using the
promotion strategy so that it can be easy to enhance the awareness of the products in the market.
Differentiation strategy
The company focused on considering the differentiation strategy in which the focus is given on
creating the interesting advertisements, campaigns and also special quality products. Like
Lifebuoy emphasized on advertising the products through the YouTube videos and they have
attained more than 2 Million views (Mapanje, 2016). This has also generated the interest of the
customers towards the products of Lifebuoy. The differentiation of the products is also done by
claiming that the Lifebuoy is considered as the product that kills 99.99% bacteria and also it
helps in prevention of the diseases like diarrhea (Hasan, 2015).
According to the research done in assessment 2, in the 8 question, it is evaluated that there are
46% of the customers who claimed that 2 members from their family like to use the lifebuoy
soap. So, to retain these customers the company focused on maintaining the competition level by
introducing differentiation strategy in the market. It also brings change in the behavior of the
customers, as now day’s customers are more attracted towards the products with the high quality.
Therefore, it is important to maintain the quality as it can help in maintaining the share of the
market and assist to attain success in highly competitive market (Imtiaz et al., 2016).
Strategic recommendation
Commitment towards the product
The company faced the major challenge in relation to maintaining the commitment level in
relation to the old brand of lifebuoy. The Unilever has a major setback, when the Reckitt
Benckiser introduced the Dettol product through the campaign related to media. Also, the
company has tried to maintain the promotional program but in the recent scenario, the company
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LIFEBUOY
should focus on promoting the products according to the need of the customers. It is important
for the company to maintain strong and continuous commitment of the products as it assists in
attaining large market share (Murphy and Murphy, 2018). It is essential for Lifebuoy to
emphasize on direct marketing as it can help the company to interact with the customers directly.
If direct marketing is considered then it boost the process of interaction with the customer by
doing face to face communication. It will help in maintaining the customer satisfaction and will
also help in boosting the overall market area in the highly competitive market. Therefore,
Lifebuoy should focus on bring improvisation in the overall marketing strategy so that the
consumers can get the knowledge of the products easily in the highly competitive market.
Communication channel
It is important for the company to emphasize on maintaining the communication channel with
the customers as it can be simple to boost the satisfaction level of the customers. By having
proper communication with the customers it will be simple to offer the correct information to the
customers and also it will assist in boosting the demand of the product in the competitive market.
To communicate the exact message to the customers, it is necessary for the company to be active
on the social sites as it can help the customers to resolve the queries and issues with the
company. With the help of proper communication channel, it can be simple to consider the
feedback of the customers. The customers can easily take the feedback from the customers by
solving their queries through the online medium. It is necessary for the company to maintain the
flow of communication with the customers, as it can help to maintain the large customer base.
By communicating through different sources, the company can give satisfaction in relation to the
products offered in the market.
Like through social media sites and websites, it is essential for the organization to emphasize on
maintaining the link, so that the customers can connect with the team of lifebuoy and also it will
help to boost the overall link with the market. By having proper communication channel it can be
easy for the company to have proper insight of the competitors present in the market, as through
this it can be simple to boost the brand image in the market.
Repositioning strategy
It is recommended that Lifebuoy has done its repositioning in an effective manner but there is a
need to change the negative mindset of the people related to low quality product at low price. It
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LIFEBUOY
is important for the company to maintain its image in the market by considering the strategy of
sample distribution. Lifebuoy should consider the strategy of distributing the sample of the
product in the market, so that it can be easy for the customers to know about the quality of the
product offered by the company. There are many customers who deny purchasing the product by
questioning on the quality of the product of lifebuoy offered in the market. Therefore, in this the
best strategy that should be considered by the company is related with offering the samples of the
products so that the customers can use it and can know about the quality which is given. This
will help to boost the sale and the profits of the organization in the highly competitive market.
The demand of the product can also be enhanced by the customers and it will assist the company
in attaining the large market share.
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References
Ahmed, G., 2017. Sovereign Marketing: A New Strategy of Marketing. Theoretical Economics
Letters, 7(05), p.1492.
Alon, I., Jaffe, E., Prange, C. and Vianelli, D., 2016. Global marketing: contemporary theory,
practice, and cases. Routledge.
East, R., Singh, J., Wright, M.,andVanhuele, M., 2016. Consumer behavior: Applications in
marketing. Sage.
Hasan, M.M., 2015. Marketing Analysis of Unilever. Total Quality Management, 11(9), p.13.
Imtiaz, S., Ali, J., Kim, C. and Ahn, H.S., 2016.An Empirical Investigation of the Factors
Influencing the Brand Extension of Lifebuoy. IJICTDC, 1(2), pp.5-16.
Lawrence, J., Rasche, A. and Kenny, K., 2019. Sustainability as Opportunity: Unilever’s
Sustainable Living Plan. In Managing Sustainable Business (pp. 439-459).Springer, Dordrecht.
Leleux, B., 2018. Winning Sustainability Strategies: Finding Purpose, Driving Innovation and
Executing Change.Springer.
Mapanje, J., 2016. Creative incarceration and strategies for surviving freedom.In Incarceration
and human rights.Manchester University Press.
Mindtool,2019.About ansoff matrix.[Online]. Available at:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_90.htm [Accessed on 8 February 2019].
Murphy, P.E. and Murphy, C.E., 2018. Sustainable Living: Unilever. In Progressive Business
Models (pp. 263-286). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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Padhy, P.C. and Mishra, A.K., 2015. Green Consumerism: Catalyst for Environmental
Marketing. Asia Pacific Journal of Energy and Environment, 2(3), pp.183-186.
Sivakumar, V., 2016.A study on brand preference towards Hindustan Unilever limited in
Coimbatore city. IJAR, 2(7), pp.118-121.
Srivastava, R., 2016. Measuring the effectiveness of the communication strategy by using Brand
Score Technique-a practitioner Study. Measuring Business Excellence, 20(3), pp.26-41.
Szmigin, I. and Piacentini, M., 2018. Consumer behavior.Oxford University Press.
Tideman, S.G., 2017. Shared purpose in business.In Business as an Instrument for Societal
Change (pp. 114-138).Routledge.
Unilever,2019.About Lifebuoy.[Online]. Available at:
https://www.unilever.com/brands/personal-care/lifebuoy.html[Accessed on 8 February 2019].
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