Marketing Plan (LUX).

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Assignment
ON
Marketing Management & Practices.
Topic: Marketing Plan (LUX).
An Assignment Report Presented to the Institute of Business Studies (IBS) in
Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Course name Marketing
Management & Practices. (MKT5135)
Submitted To:
Mr. Syed Alamgir
Southeast University.
Department of Business School.
Submitted By:
Md. Mazharul Islam Rana
ID- 2016010004016
Sub: Marketing Management & Practices. (MKT5135)
Date: 16.03.2016
Section: 3

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.L. Topic Name Page Number
1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3
2.0 Situation Analysis (4-8)
2.1 Market Summary 4
2.2 SWOT Analysis 4-5
2.3 Competition 6
2.4 Product Offerings 7
2.5 Distribution 8
3.0 Marketing Strategy (9-13)
3.1 Objectives 9
3.2 Target Market 9
3.3 Product Positioning 10
3.4 Strategies 10
3.5 Marketing Mix 11-12
3.6 Market Research 13
4.0 Financial Analysis (14-17)
5.0 Controls 17
5.1 Implementation 17
5.2 Market Organization 17
6.0 Conclusion 18
6.1 Bibliography 18

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Unilever is a multinational consumer product manufacturing giant operating in over hundred
countries all around the globe. Unilever Bangladesh is the Bangladesh chapter of Unilever,
where the company holds 60.75% share whereas the Government of Peoples Republic of
Bangladesh holds 39.25% share.
Unilever Bangladesh (UBL) is the leading Fast Moving ConsumerGoodsCompany in Bangladesh with a
heritage of 50 years and products that are present in 98% of Bangladeshi household.
Unilever’s one of the most popular brand is LUX. They segments LUX.’s market according to
geographical locations. It further differentiates these segments into Socio Economic Cluster
(SEC) which takes into account the criteria of education and profession which ultimately
measures the financial ability of consumers. The cluster is divided into five parts starting from A
to E. Unilever targets the urban and sub urban upper middle class and middle class segment of
the population, who falls under A to C of SEC.
UBL is the market leader in 7 of the 8 categories it operates in, with 20 brands spanning across
Home and Personal Care and Foods.
Its operations provide employment to over 10,000 people directly and indirectly through its
dedicated suppliers, distributors and service providers. 99.8% of UBL employees are locals with
a large number of local UBL employees now working abroad in other Unilever companies as
expatriates.
Tactical marketing tools, 4P’s, are extensively used by the company to market LUX. Though
LUX is produced in Bangladesh, Unilever Bangladesh maintains the same standard all around
the globe. The product is available in six different fragrances under three different sizes. Since
the demand for beauty soap market is to a great extent oligopolistic, variations in price lead to
price war which can eventually break down the company’s market share.
Thus Unilever cannot provide a better price than its competitors. But the price is affordable by
most of the people. Unilever Bangladesh has outsourced its distribution channels to third party
distributors which allow them to distribute LUX in massive bulks amounting to around ten
million pieces. It undertakes the largest promotional activities in the beauty soap industry.
The beauty soap industry has a few major producers of which Unilever holds market share of
slightly less than 50%. Other competing brands like Tibbet, Aromatic and Keya have started to
have a strong consumer base, but LUX.’s product features distribution and promotional
activities have created high brand loyalty for which it is still the market leader.
Unilever, with the aid of its heavy promotional activities, has been able to penetrate the market.
But the other producers in the industry are posing a threat towards Unilever’s market share as
they have moved towards the rural masses of the population.
Therefore, Unilever Bangladesh should undertake further steps such as moving towards the
rural and/or poorer segment; attract children (by making a special product for kids) and other
innovative promotional activities to retain its command in the industry.

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Situation Analysis
2.1 Market Summary:
Unilever is one of the world’s largest and leading multinational companies; Unilever
commenced their business activities on a larger scale by setting up their first factory in
Netherlands, in the year of 1872. Operating in Bangladesh for over the last four decades the
company is trying to significantly contribute towards the augmentation of the standard of living
by bringing world class high quality products at the door step of their customers.
The usage of Unilever products by over 90% of the people in Bangladesh stands a testimony to
their successful operation. . Their array of products show that they produce household care,
fabric cleaning, skin cleansing, skin care, oral care, hair care, personal grooming, and tea based
beverage products under worldwide famous brand names Wheel, LUX, Lifebuoy, Fair & Lovely,
Pond's, Close Up, Sunsilk, Lipton, Lipton Taaza, Pepsodent, All Clear, Vim, Surf Excel, and
Rexona.
The beauty soap industry in Bangladesh consists of only seven major producers. Unilever
Bangladesh Ltd is operating in the industry with its world famous brand LUX. Out of these giant
companies Unilever Bangladesh Ltd is the market leader with a share of around 43%.
2.2 SWOT Analysis:
Safety is an essential element of a successful and sustainable business. We take our
responsibility to protect our consumers, our employees and the environment we live in very
seriously.

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Strengths:
 Strong market research (Door to door sampling – once in a year – Rural and Urban
area)
 Many variants (Almond oil, Orchid extracts, Milk cream, Fruit extracts, Saffron
sandalwood oil and Honey)
 Dynamically continuous innovations – New variants and innovative promotions (22 carat
gold coin promotion – “Chance Hai”)
 Strong brand promotion but relatively lower prices – Winning combination
 Lux soap brand is sold in over 100 countries.
 Company totally owned, systematic distribution network, transparent communication
system.
 Participative management style.
Weaknesses:
 Mainly positioned as beauty soap targeted towards women, lack unisex appeal
 Some variation like the sunscreen, international variant did not do well in the market
 Not much popular in rural areas.
 Poor Promotion of free sample.
 No Unique identification of product.
Opportunities:
 Soap industry is growing by 10% in India
 Liquid body wash is currently in growth stage – Lux should come out with more variants
in this segment
 Large market share – Strong hold over the market.
 Baby shampoo is another area uniliver can make huge gains.
 Shampoo plus conditioner and anti dandruff shampoos are another area where unilver
can earn hvge profits.
 Pural areas are a large prospective market where they can introduce.
Threats:
 High internal competition (Pears – Beauty segment)
 New entrants in this segment
 Maturity stage – threat of slipping down to decline stage – if constant reinvention is not
carried out
 High rate of competition.
 Local and foreign competition.

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2.3 Competition:
The company claims that LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh. Moreover some
survey reports also reveal the same result.
Though LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh, it does not go for traditional mass
marketing. Moreover as a beauty soap LUX does not even segment its market according to
gender.
The SEC divides the population in five segments starting from A to E, where A categorizes the
highly educated and high income earners holders, and sequentially in descending order E
categorizes the opposite.
Moreover a recent takeover of Aromatic by multinational consumer product giant MARICO who
operates with famous brands in other industries like Parachute Coconut Oil is posing to be a
threat to Unilever Bangladesh’s market share.

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2.4 Product Offerings:
Unilever makes and sells products under more than 400 brand names worldwide. Two billion
people use them on any given day. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good position in the
buyers’ mind through better product attributes, price and quality, offering the product in a
different way than the competitors do.
LUX is offered in Bangladesh in six different flavors which are:
 LUX Energizing Honey
 LUX Golden Glow
 LUX Nature Pure
 LUX Orchid Touch
 LUX Almond Delight
 LUX Aqua Sparkle.
Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all flavors of
LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm. Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. is very popular
organization of Bangladesh. They are trying to social work for Bangladeshi’s people.
The company offers improved quality of products in the industry at an affordable price with high
branding, which ultimately helps to position the product in the buyers’ mind as the best quality
beauty soap.
The market share of the company in the beauty soap industry is somewhere around 43%.Since in
the beauty soap industry all products are of same price Unilever cannot provide its consumers
with better price but it is in a great position in reference with its packaging, fragrances and
product designing

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2.5 Distribution:
Though Lux International, a premium variant of the toilet soap, launched in 1989, is
differentiated on the basis of its ingredients, the popular version, Lux Beauty Bar was
always projected as a “pure and mild” solution to soft and smooth skin.
 Cutting-edge DistributionNetwork:
The distribution network of LUX is no different. The need
for a strong distribution network is imperative, since Lux
has to gain the visibility and has to capture the minds of
Indians everywhere It has 2000+ suppliers and associates
7,000 stockiest and direct coverage in around 1million
retail outlets across India.
 The Distribution in Rural Market:
The strategy of distribution should take into account the
purchasing habit of the rural people. While consumables
are purchased in the village shop or Shandies or in
bigger villages, the consumer durables are purchased only
in Mandy centers, large towns or nearby cities.
 Distribution Strategies in Rural Market:
Coverage of Villages:
With improved communication facilities, It is possible to reach distribution van to the villages.
The frequency of visits may be fixed, depending upon the off- takes or sales realization.
Use of Cooperative:
Over three lakh cooperative societies operate in the rural areas for or different purposes like,
marketing cooperatives, dairy corporative,
farmer service corporative societies, consumer corporatives and other multipurposecorporative.
Utilization of Public DistributionSystem:
The Public Distribution System (PDS) in the country is fairly well organized. The revamped PDS
places moreemphasis on reaching remote rural areas like hills and tribal areas.
Distribution to Feeder Markets / Mandy Towns:
Lux has established a good distribution network in the identified feeder market and Mandy
towns. From the feeder market and midtown, the stockiest or wholesaler arranges for
distribution to the village shop in the interior places.

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Marketing Strategy
3.1 Objectives:
In this chapter the team would suggest some recommendations to Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. to
adopt more successful operation in Bangladesh. Since a huge portion of the rural poor people
had been demanding LUX in recent days, Unilever Bangladesh Ltd should expand their target
market also towards the rural people. They should also conduct different promotional
activities in rural fairs and socially responsible promotional activities to attract rural
consumers and social awareness .Because Lux has different skin type soap so now if they
provide different types of beauty soaps for male and female soap under the same brand name
i.e. LUX it might increase their sales. Lastly, as Bangladeshi culture children have a huge say
in shopping so they should also promote the product to children like their another brand
“Dove”. These are the recommendations suggested by team members to Unilever Bangladesh
Ltd. to adopt for a more successful operation in Bangladesh with large market share.
3.2 Target Market:
The Table shows that urban and sub urban middle class, and rural poor people are the largest
part of Bangladesh population. A research carried out by Unilever Bangladesh reveals that
urban rich people are more likely to buy imported and expensive products.
Moreover rural poor people tend to buy cheap products even without evaluating its quality.
However urban and sub urban upper middle and middle class people tend to buy affordable and
quality products.
LUX is not a highly expensive but an affordable product. That is why the company targets urban
and sub urban upper middle and middle class people who are the second highest population of
segment of the country. From the segmentation of customer according to SEC they target
category A, B and C, because they are assumed to be financially well-off and can afford to buy
LUX.
Economic Clusters
A B C D E
Income High Income Upper Middle
Level Income
Mid Level
Income
Lower Middle
Income
Low Income
Education High Level of
Education
Educated
Slightly Less
than Cluster A
Educated
Slightly
Less than
Cluster B
Educated
Slightly Less
than Cluster C
Very Low
Level of
Literacy
Socio Economic Cluster Segmentation

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3.3 Product Positioning:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd obtained a good position in the buyers’ mind through better product
attributes, price and quality, offering the product in a different way than the competitors do.
A positioning map of the company is shown Figure (Positioning Map) to describe LUX’s
position in the consumers mind on two dimensions, price and quality.
Figure (Positioning Map) has been drawn with information gathered by conducting a consumer
survey. It states that though in comparison to its competitors the pricing of LUX is same but
consumers rate it as the product which gives them the highest quality.
Positioning Map
3.4 Strategies:
The company claims that LUX is the highest selling beauty soap in Bangladesh. Moreover some
survey reports also reveal the same result.
LUX falls under the category of toiletry product as a beauty soap. Though LUX is the highest
selling beauty soap in Bangladesh, it does not go for traditional mass marketing. Moreover as a
beauty soap LUX does not even segment its market according to gender.
This chapter describes the category of the selected product. The chapter is organized into four
sections. Section 1 states under which category the product falls. Section 2 describes how
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. differentiates the population and categorizes them into different
segments.

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3.5 Marketing Mix:
This chapter describes the way Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. use the tactical marketing tools for
marketing LUX in Bangladesh. The chapter comprises of four sections. Section 3.1 discusses the
product attributes of LUX.
 Product:
LUX is an internationally renowned beauty soap brand of Unilever. Though manufactured in
Bangladesh for the local market by Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, as an international brand, it
maintains an international quality for the product. Formula given by Research and Development
departments in foreign countries, LUX is produced in Bangladesh from imported raw materials
like sodium soap, glycerol and different extracts according to flavors, coming from Unilever
plants situated abroad.
LUX is offered in Bangladesh in six different flavors which are: LUX Energizing Honey, LUX
Golden Glow, LUX Nature Pure, LUX Orchid Touch, LUX Almond Delight and LUX Aqua
Sparkle. Taking into account the convenience of its customers, the company manufactures all
flavors of LUX in three different sizes, 40gm, 80gm and 120gm.
 Price:
Though Unilever Bangladesh gives its LUX customers a lot in terms of the product itself, it
cannot provide a better pricing. This is due to some constraints in the beauty soap industry.
Beauty soap is a product with a vulnerable demand in Bangladesh. Lux’s price with its major
competitor. Company carries out research on competitors’ price and brand loyalty when it feels
extreme necessity of changing price. The brand loyalty test is an exploratory research which is
known as Brand Health Check-Up (BHCU).

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 Place:
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. has a huge distribution channel for LUX all over the country as its
sales reach more than 10 million pieces a year. The company has six huge warehouses, one in
each division of Bangladesh, where the product goes after they are manufactured at Kalurghat
factory. Table shows the location of its six warehouses in Bangladesh.
Division Location of Warehouse
Dhaka Dhaka City
Chittagong Kalurghat Heavy I/A
Sylhet Sylhet City
Rajshahi Rajshahi City
Khulna Khulna City
Barisal Barisal City
Location of Unilever Bangladesh Ltd’s Divisional
The company does not use its own fleet of transport for distributing its product. However, it has
outsourced its distribution process to various third party distributors, exclusively dedicated to
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd. These distributors then supply the product all over Bangladesh to a
huge number of retailers. Even though LUX targets the urban and sub urban middle and upper
middle class people they are distributing their products all over Bangladesh because of a recent
increase in demand of its product to all segments of the population.
 Promotion:
Unilever Bangladesh undertakes huge promotional activities to promote LUX which has topped
the beauty soap industry of Bangladesh. It spends almost 20% to 25% of its Net Proceeds from
Sales (NPC) of LUX for promotional activities for LUX 1
It’s certain annual promotional campaigns like LUX Channel i Superstar and LUX Channel i
Annual Cinema Awards has made the product a part of the glamour world. Since the 1930s, over
400 of the world’s most stunning and sensuous women have been proudly associated with Lux
advertisements.
Unilever Bangladesh Ltd spends a huge amount of money for promoting LUX through TV
commercials, newspaper advertisements and billboards. Moreover it also undertakes small
promotional campaigns at different schools, colleges, universities and recreational parks with
winners of its Zonal Beauty Contests.

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3.6 Market Research:
Underlying volume growth accelerated in 2010 to 5.8%, the best that Unilever has achieved for
more than 30 years. Uniliver set out two years ago to reignite its volume growth and to grow
ahead of its markets. That is what Uniliver are starting to do; its volume shares are up in all
regions and in most categories.
Financial Year Growth
2008 0.1%
2009 2.3%
2010 5.8%
For better comprehension of Unilever Bangladesh, its marketing strategy, product quality,
positioning and placement, we present here a comparative analysis of its competitors. This part
of the report illustrates the market share of different companies in the beauty soap industry.

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Financial Analysis
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
For the year ended 31 December
€ million € million € million
2013 2012 2011
Notes (Restated)(a)
(Restated)(a)
Turnover 2 49,797 51,324 46,467
Operating profit 2 7,517 6,977 6,420
After (charging)/crediting non-core items 3 501 (73) 144
Net finance costs 5 (530) (535) (543)
Finance income 103 136 92
Finance costs (500) (526) (540)
Pensions and similar obligations (133) (145) (95)
Share of net profit/(loss) of joint venturesand
associates 11 113 105 113
Other income/(loss) from non-current investments 14 (14) 76
Profit before taxation 7,114 6,533 6,066
Taxation 6A (1,851) (1,697) (1,575)
Net profit 5,263 4,836 4,491
Attributable to:
Non-controlling interests 421 468 371
4,842 4,368 4,120
Combined earnings per share 7
Basic earningsper share (€) 1.71 1.54 1.46
Diluted earningsper share (€) 1.66 1.50 1.42
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
for the year ended 31 December
€
million € million € million
2013 2012 2011
Notes (Restated) (Restated)
Net profit 5,263 4,836 4,491

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Other comprehensive income 6C
Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:
Actuarial gains/(losses) on pension schemes net of tax 15B 697 (497) (1,097)
Items that may be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:
Currency retranslation gains/(losses) net of tax(a) 15B (999) (316) (703)
Fair value gains/(losses) on financial instruments net of
tax 15B 106 (125) (168)
Total comprehensive income 5,067 3,898 2,523
Attributable to:
Non-controlling interests 339 444 314
Shareholders’equity 4,728 3,454 2,209
DIVIDENDS ON ORDINARY
CAPITAL
€ million € million € million
Dividends on ordinary capital
during the year 2013 2012 2011
NV dividends (1,638) (1,482) (1,368)
PLC dividends (1,343) (1,214) (1,119)
(2,981) (2,696) (2,487)
INVENTORIES
€ million € million
Inventories 2013 2012
Raw materials and consumables 1,286 1,517
Finished goods and goods for resale 2,651 2,919
3,937 4,436

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Consolidated BalanceSheet
As at 31 December
Notes 2013
2014
(Restated)
Assets
€ million € million
Non-current assets
Goodwill 9 13,917 14,619
Intangible assets 9 6,987 7,099
Property, plant and equipment 10 9,344 9,445
Pension asset for funded schemes in surplus 4B 991 758
Deferred tax assets 6B 1,084 1,050
Financial assets 17A 505 535
Other non-current assets 11 563 536
33,391 34,042
Current assets
Inventories 12 3,937 4,436
Trade and othercurrent receivables 13 4,831 4,436
Current tax assets 217 217
Cash and cash equivalents 17A 2,285 2,465
Other financial assets 17A 760 401
Non-current assets held for sale 22 92 192
12,122 12,147
Total assets 45,513 46,189
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Financial liabilities 15C 4,010 2,656
Trade payables and other current liabilities 14 11,735 11,668
Current tax liabilities 1,254 1,129
Provisions 19 379 361
Liabilities associated with assets held for sale 22 4 1
17,382 15,815
Non-current liabilities
Financial liabilities 15C 7,491 7,565
Non-current tax liabilities 145 100
`
Funded schemesin deficit 4B 1,405 2,060
Unfunded schemes 4B 1,563 2,040
Provisions 19 892 846
Deferred tax liabilities 6B 1,524 1,414

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Other non-current liabilities 14 296 400
13,316 14,425
Total liabilities 30,698 30,240
Equity
Shareholders’ equity
Called up share capital 15A 484 484
Share premiumaccount 138 140
Other reserves 15B (6,746) (6,196)
Retained profit 20,468 20,964
Shareholders’ equity 14,344 15,392
Non-controlling interests 15B 471 557
Total equity 14,815 15,949
Total liabilities and equity 45,513 46,189
Controls
5.1 Implementation:
For better comprehension of Unilever Bangladesh, its marketing strategy, product quality,
positioning and placement, we present here a comparative analysis of its competitors.
This part of the report illustrates the market share of different companies in the beauty soap
industry.
Demand for the Company’s products, particularly the higher-end designer lines, is largely
dependent on the discretionary spending power of the consumers in the markets in which the
Company operates.
5.2 Market Organization:
Organization - Luxottica Group S.p.A. and its subsidiaries (collectively “Luxottica Group” or
the “Company”) operate in two industry segments: (1) manufacturing and wholesale
distribution and (2) retail distribution.
Through its manufacturing and wholesale distribution operations, Luxottica Group is engaged in
the design, manufacturing, wholesale distribution and marketing of house brand and designer
lines of mid to premium-priced prescription frames and sunglasses, and, with the acquisition of
Oakley Inc. (“Oakley”) in November 2007, the Company, through various Oakley subsidiaries,
is a designer, manufacturer, and worldwide distributor of performance optics products.

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Conclusion
The beauty soap industry of Bangladesh consists of a few producers in the industry. The demand
for this product is very much vulnerable in terms of pricing. Unilever Bangladesh is providing
LUX. at a price which is affordable to most of the people in the country. Beauty soap is an
uprising product in Bangladesh as a greater portion of the population, both male and female, is
now getting more beauty conscious. As a multinational company Unilever Bangladesh with
heavy promotional activities, has been able to penetrate the market.
With six different fragrances, three different sizes, international standard and high quality
design, as a product, LUX has been highly successful over the years. Its distribution process is
highly efficient. Its promotional activities, like the beauty contest has been a milestone in
attracting a huge number of customers. Overall with its marketing activities LUX has been a
successful brand.
The only place where rival companies are progressing is in giving customers redemption offers.
Research revealed that Bangladeshi customers are highly attracted to this sort of offers. These
offers are not sustainable in the long run but still it takes away a considerable part of LUX’s sale
in the short run.
Bibliography
1. www.unilever.com
2. http://www.unileverea.com/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp
3. http://www.unilever.co.uk/ourbrands/personalcare/lux.asp
4. www.unileverbd.com
5. Report on “Competition Scenario in Bangladesh”, page 18, prepared by Bangladesh
Enterprise Institute, July 2005.)
6. http://www.gfk.be/ProductsAndServices/ConsumerDiagnosticTools/SpecialAnalyses/Bran
dHealthCheckUp
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unilever
8. http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=155