1st Answer
Lifebuoy being a family soap brand for health and hygiene needs to target the following
factors in order to target consumer market in India:
Factors of motivation: Health Hygiene, Killing Germs. Handwashing with soap
removes germs from hands. This helps prevent infections because: People frequently
touch their eyes, nose, and mouth without even realizing it. Germs can get into the body
through the eyes, nose and mouth and make us sick.
Lifebuoy emphasized on communicating the need and the benefits of proper hand-
washing. It communicated that washing of hands prevents illness and spreading of
infection to others.
Handwashing with soap removes germs from hands. This helps prevent
infections because
Most people subconsciously touch their eyes, nose, and mouth and don’t even realize it.
Germs enter into the body through the eyes, nose and mouth and can give rise to
diseases and illness.
Germs realized from unwashed hands can enter into foods and drinks while individuals
prepare or consume them. It is possible for germs to multiply in some kind of foods or
drinks, under particular conditions, and make individuals sick. Unwashed hands can
transfer germs to different objects like handrails, table tops, or toys, and then
transferred to another person’s hands.
Factors of perception: Lifebuoy, through its advertisements ensured that it is
perceived as a healthy soap for the entire family. It used the perception of active
lifestyle hygiene soap. The different products of Lifebuoy are put across and accepted
as 99.99 percent germ fighter with complete protection and control for the family.
Lifebuoy marketed its products through advertisements and taglines such as ‘’Bunty,
tera saboon slow hai kya’’ to position its product as an enjoyable product to use and at
the same time a necessary product to stay healthy and keep germs away. Hence, it
was perceived as an enjoyable product to stay healthy and quick enough to kill germs
as compared to other soaps.
With the growing concerns about health, Lifebuoy decided to introduce its liquid soap
range. This was to imply that liquid soaps are the most hygienic product when it comes
to washing hands and bathing as compared to the usual soaps used. This is because
unlike usual soaps, liquid soaps don’t have the risk of germs transferring through the
physical contact of family members.
Factors of learning: Lifebuoy used the below learning factors by taking hands-on
approach to spread hygiene awareness in times of Covid-19 to target people in India
during the Covid-19 situation:
In the initial days of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Lifebuoy brand released a brand
communication message which asked the customers 'to prevent the transmission and
gradually the spread of coronavirus by making use of any soap available whether it is
lux, Dettol, Santoor, or Godrej no.1'. The brand issued a simple learning guide to
F.I.G.H.T covid-19 the below simple steps.
Lifebuoy has also rolled out its television commercial, which focuses on washing hands.
The television commercial teaches the audience 'to wash hands from hands', and
makes a small chore of washing hands extremely interesting during this Covid-19
pandemic. The television commercial also portrayed hands with faces made on them.
The brand asks viewers to take any soap and water and make friendship, following with
fighting, making crocodile, butterfly with hands to reach out every corner of the hand,
washing out and killing all the germs.
The brand also posted a video of brand ambassador Kajol talking about" till now people
have watched me promoting Lifebuoy. However, now I am requesting you to use any
soap you have at your house because it is important to wash hands. However, washing
hands with soap can help to stop the spread of Coronavirus, it is everyone’s
responsibility ", on their social media handles.
Factors of Attitude: Lifebuoy soap brand, which increases our efforts in order to reduce
childhood mortality with the help of a simple act of handwashing at various important
hygiene moments all-round the clock. Also, from the above case study, it is understood
that Lifebuoy products such as Lifebuoy active green (consisting of Neem and Tulsi) are
introduced because of the growing positive attitudes of consumer towards organic and
natural products and acceptance towards brands having eco-friendly operations. Lifebuoy
soap’s ‘glo-germ’ demonstration makes good use of ultra-violet light to enable children
understand that washing hands with water alone isn’t nice enough in order to get rid of
germs which are invisible. To tackle infant mortality, Lifebuoy taps into desire of new
mothers to be a good mum, and to be seen that way by others. The shampoo brand of
Lifebuoy encourages individuals to switch off the shower while they lather their hair and
portrayed how families can save up to $150 a year by lowering down their energy bills.
Conclusion: Once individuals have made a change, Lifebuoy can help them keep doing
it through reinforcing and reminding, ‘refreezing’ individuals in their new habits so it
becomes unconscious again. The handwashing campaigns by Lifebuoy run for a minimum
of 21 days and it consists of quizzes, posters and songs that encourage repetitive
behavior.
2nd Answer
The term market segmentation refers to segmenting or dividing the market into different
groups and each group will be approached in a separate way through advertisements
targeted to the audience belonging to that particular group based on different
characteristics or variables.
Geographic Segmentation: It refers to collecting and analyzing of information as per
the physical location of the customer or additional data sources. Geographic
segmentation can be frequently used in marketing, because brands selling products and
services wish to know about the places where their products are being sold in order to
boost advertising and sales efforts in those places.
The geographic market of safeguard and lifebuoy are similar.
Geographic segmentation refers to segmenting the market into various geographical
units; these units involve:
• Countries: Pakistan, India, U.K, U.S.A, and Australia.
• City / Town size: Population within ranges 5-10 million.
• Population density: Urban, suburban and some rural areas
• Climate: Eastern and Western
2. Demographic Segmentation: Demographic segmentation refers to dividing the
market into groups on the basis on different variables such as age, gender, family size,
income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality.
Age: Lifebuoy has segmented its market as per the age ranging between 8-35 years
because their target market comprises of children and youngsters. Lifebuoy divides its
segment as per the age ranging between 10-45 years. This is because Lifebuoy has
positioned itself as a family soap.
Gender: The target market for Safeguard and Lifebuoy on the basis of gender is male
and female.
Income: Lifebuoy market segment according to income is family, middle and lowers
class, with income less than Rs. 25000.
Occupation: Lifebuoy occupation segment involves students, working men and women.
Psychographic: Psychographic segmentation involves lifestyle and personality. Both
safeguard and lifebuoy emphasize on housewives and mothers who are always
concerned about the health and well-being of her family members. Lifebuoy’s
psychographic segmentation involves people belonging to upper class with a “Health
consciousness” lifestyle and they emphasize on people having a “robust” personality.
The psychographic segmentation of Lifebuoy involves people having “Healthy and
hygiene” lifestyle and the personality they emphasize on is “achievers”.
4. Behavioral: The behavioral segment divides the market segment as per the
occasions, benefits, readiness stage, and attitude towards product. The behavior
segmentation of Lifebuoy– consumed every day, germ protection every day, low price,
health and hygiene.
Target Market: Market targeting refers to selection of the most profitable segment
which would attract more consumers and can help the brand gain maximum profits.
For Lifebuoy: Lifebuoy previously targeted only men and it emphasized on masculine
health only. At that time, sports men and Macho man was something totally associated
with Lifebuoy. However, Lifebuoy has changed the course of its target market through
re-launching itself as a soap that gives protection and 99.99% safety against germs. Its
target market then became all people irrespective of the gender.
Brand positioning of Lifebuoy:
Brand Positioning of Lifebuoy:
Brand positioning refers to creating an image in the mind of consumers. Why a
customers should buy one brand over the other. The unique feature which a brand
would offer over the other brands.
It refers to accomplishing the financial goals of the market along with the suitability to
different geographical markets.
Lifebuoy was initially positioned as powerful germicidal and disinfectant having a strong
carbolic smell.
The health advantage withered over a period of time as other competing and rival
brands in the market launched their own soaps whose value proposition was germicidal
properties along with the perception of a beauty bar. The mainstay of Lifebuoy which
had its strong foothold in rural markets, the time had come to revamp the ad campaign
for the rural markets too as many players had pitched in the market with the same set of
advantages, so a revamp of the entire brand was required in order to maintain its
market.
Later on, it was much more focused on the positioning which focused on the fact that
Lifebuoy was for rich people, poor people and even the urban population. In 2002,
Lifebuoy as a soap moved from being a hard soap to a mild soap delivering a
significantly superior experience of bathing. The new soap consisted of a refreshing
fragrance and its overall positioning changed, which refers to a promise of health in
softer, more versatile and responsible hues - for all the members of the family. The
packaging was also changed: The red colored packs which were rugged were quickly
replaced with a pinkish cover that is softer. This was followed by a series of ads which
highlights the soap‘s benefits of protection against germs. Lifebuoy had been a family
soap with hygiene as its core competency which was its ultimate value proposition in
the past too. From a soap which was meant for being used in the toilets, the brand
reinvented itself which got the brand new set of consumers who were not only
conscious when it came to cleanliness but also beauty and health conscious.
As Lifebuoy had made improvements in its quality, it had to run an effective
advertisement campaign in order to get the attention of customers.
Conclusion: The advertisement team of Lifebuoy came up with an excellent theme
―Healthy Hoga Hindustan‖ and it targeted parents, who were their prime hot leads.
This has enabled Lifebuoy to get more and more customers. The main competing
brands in the segment in which Lifebuoy was active were Santoor, Dettol, Godrej No.1.
Also, it competed internally with HUL products such as Rexona and Breeze.
So, in order to climb up the pyramid, Lifebuoy had to work on their packaging and
schemes of promotion and composition with respect to fragrance ingredients and types
of skin. So, it came in variants as soaps, handwash, sanitizer etc.
3rd Answer
3a.
In partnership with NGO Gramalaya, our brand, as a part of its promotional strategy for
the rural areas, Lifebuoy will reach out to schools and communities in the rural villages
through both government and private schools across Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Telangana, Maharashtra, Bihar and Tamil Nadu over a period of 3 years and will
educate 2.5 million children in the first year.
The initiative will focus on providing education with respect to hygiene to school children
in the rural areas, building toilets for communities, renovating primary and middle
schools with proper sanitation infrastructure and the maintenance of these facilities.
Identifying the role children would play in the success of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan,
Lifebuoy will enter into a partnership with the best child education experts at XSEED
and Butterfly EduFields in order to develop a hygiene curriculum for children in primary
schools. This curriculum would create awareness pertaining to hygiene and sanitation
amongst children, who in turn would educate their families and communities. The
curriculum will be developed in 4 different languages – Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu
- and comprises student workbooks, teachers’ manual and innovative teaching aids.
The curriculum would consist of 45 lessons over 3 years, covering 5 modules in
personal hygiene, hygiene at home, and hygiene at school, hygiene in the
neighbourhood and hygiene during Illness.
Brand equity is the value premium that an organization or a corporation generates
through a product having a recognized name when compared to a generic equivalent.
Corporations create brand equity for their products by making them easily recognizable,
memorable through certain initiatives and events and superior in quality and reliability.
Our association with the NGO will focus on imparting hygiene education to school
children, building toilets for communities, renovating primary and middle schools with
proper sanitation infrastructure and maintenance of these facilities. The mass-marketing
initiatives along with NGOS will help the hygiene soap to achieve the brand equity. We
would drive behavior change towards hand hygiene, through numerous awareness
initiatives such as the School Hand Wash Program and Young Mother’s Program. We
would work to improve sanitation facilities by working with NGO partners to identify
areas across the country, to support the development and maintenance of cleaner
toilets. The core pillars of the Lifebuoy Banega Swachh India program are: Drive Habit
Change and Attitude towards Hand Hygiene. Through insightful communication, we
would drive behavioral change towards hygiene and sanitation. We will collaborate with
noted experts from different NGOs in order to develop communication modules, which
will aim to drive everyone to adopt healthy hygiene practices.
3b. As a brand manager, I would address the importance of hygiene and basic
cleanliness in the following ways:
Ensure Mass Reach: For a Swachh India, the message of hygiene and sanitation
should reach millions across the country. Thus, we along with our NGO partners will
ensure live coverage of our initiatives through various social media channels like
Facebook and Instagram, and events that train people practically to adopt healthy hand-
washing habits using our Hygiene soap. This will enable us to reach out millions of
people who may not be able to physically be present at the event. Since bollywood
celebrities are a strong influence, we would use the brand image of Amitabh Bacchhan
as he would come across as a simple and safe representative of hygiene. Also, he
carries that aura of being a sensible citizen of India which will help our brand to promote
Swachh Bharat.
Best-in-Class On-ground Execution: We would collaborate with our NGOs in rural
areas of India, who would bring the right expertise and insights for the successful
implementation and maintenance of sanitation infrastructure in different schools and
colleges in small towns and villages, especially for children.
Expertise in Hygiene-related Products: Since we have an expertise in developing
health and hygiene products through our other brands, we will leverage this expertise in
Hygiene, to create innovative other product solutions in shaping the hygiene habits of
consumers across the country. We would also ensure that our association with NGOS
helps us to reach out to the child education experts to develop a hygiene curriculum for
children in primary schools. This curriculum will consist of hygiene and sanitation
awareness amongst children, who in turn would be able to impart the same basic hand-
washing and sanitation habits to their families and communities. The curriculum would
be developed in 4 languages – Hindi, English, Tamil and Telugu - and comprises
student workbooks, teachers’ manual and innovative teaching aids.
Women Empowerment: Our brand can conduct women-empowerment activities in
partnerships with NGOs to provide education and right information to women regarding
good hygiene and sanitation habits.
Economic opportunities & productivity: Through NGOs the brand can invest in
training women on certain business skills like accounting; hospitality and marketing
create a broader base of consumers, stronger communities, and potential female
employees for the rural and small town areas. Companies can expand their pool for
hiring. This allows companies to recruit among the most qualified people with diverse
skillset. When it comes to problem-solving and innovation, diverse groups tend to
outperform homogenous groups, leading to more productivity and quality.
Training Women and offering them distribution opportunity: With proper training
and resources, companies can engage women in their distribution networks to sell the
hygiene soap as a way creates local economic opportunities and increase sales in rural
and slum areas. Since women have a broader social network, they can access insights
into the sanitation and hygiene habits of their known customers in villages. Since
purchase decisions for health care products have to be made by housewives,
corporations can invite women to become direct- to-consumer sales distributors for a
range of products targeting the market for range of low-cost household products in
areas where there are weak retail networks.
Conclusion: All the above initiatives and events when practically implemented will
ensure that our hygiene soap is used to inculcate the good hand-washing and sanitation
habits. For all the events, we would ensure our product features and qualities are
promoted.
