To acheive a solid brand positioning, the execution in line with the brand strategy is essential. Kiehl's has a very clear brand promise yet -we thought- somewhat fail to deliver its brand promise to the consumer in Spain(Madrid). This gap between the expectation and perception weakens its brand positioning. The slide is presented for professor Teresa Recio's Marketing Management at IE Business School MBA.

3. © Miramax/Touchstone Pictures

6. Established
Kiehl’s as a brand

7. Natural Ingredient

8. Solidified
Kiehl’s Differences

9. Unique Stores

10. Samples

11. First Men Skin Products

12. Get Closers to
Customers

13. Customized Services

14. Community

15. acquired by
L’Oréal in 2000

17. 5C Analysis – Customers “Overview of Madrileños”
1.62M
3.23M
.80M
Madrid
Barcelona
Valencia
Population Gender & Age
W M More than 40% are
30s – 50s50% 50%
GDP per Capita & Jobs
€31,000
35% higher than
national average
16.5%
of all jobs in Spain
allocated in Madrid

18. 5C Analysis – Customers on “Beauty Products”
• Top 3 preferred places to buy are
- supermarkets(62%)
- beauty care stores(54%)
- department stores(42%)
- online stores(only 4%)
• Main drivers of purchase is
expected benefits, price and
brand
• The most renowned brands are
L’Oréal, Nivea, Dove, Clinique, and
Lancôme

19. 5C Analysis – Competitors
High Price
Natural
Ingredients
Low Price
Scientific
Methods
KIEHL’S
CLARINS
L’OCCITANE
BIOTHERM
CLINIQUE
AVEDA

20. 5C Analysis – Company
L’OREAL FAMILY
Expand Global
LONG HISTORY
164 Years in Beauty Care
having being founded in 1851 in New
York as a small pharmacy selling
homeopathic and herbal medicinal as
well as over-the-counter drugs
In 2000, Kiehl’s has been
completely acquired by the
global beauty care giant
L’Oréal. The acquisition was
seen as a vehicle
HIGH QUALITY
Products & Services
the company has successfully
entered the men beauty care
sector, in which it has quickly
gained a distinctive reputation
for its high-quality products
and excellent service.

21. 5C Analysis – Collaborators
9 stores out of 11
in Madrid are located
in El Corte Inglés
Fashion magazines & bloggers
to influence customers

22. 5C Analysis – Context
4.46B
2011 2012 2013
4.20B
4.05B
The Cosmetic and Toiletries
Market in Spain
*Source: http://www.statista.com
Population Pyramid
2013 and 2023, Spain
*Source: Instituto Nacional de Estadistica
Getting older

23. 5C Analysis – Context
Unemployment Rate
in Madrid & Spain
Average Payrolls
in Madrid & Spain
Source: Madrid Statistic Institute and Ministry of Economy
In recovery trend…

24. SWOT Analysis
• Low Brand Awareness
• Unclear brand positioning
• Limited distribution
• No advertising
• Hipster and metrosexual
culture
• Men grooming
• Loyal customers
• Word-of-mouth
• Over-crowded market
• Competitors’ high spending
on advertising
• Poor presence outside big cities
S O
W T
• Medical knowledge
• Heritage
• Low price within
premium segment
• Owned by L’Oréal

25. Target
DEMOGRAPHICS
• Young adults & 30~45 years old
• A bit more attention to men
• Middle-to-upper class
• Living in big cities
PSYCHOGRAPHICS
• Open-minded
• Professional & Travellers
• Care of their appearance and well-being
• Close to hipster and metrosexual

26. Positioning
• Pharmaceutical experience
• More than 150 years of
expertise and tradition
• Customized service
Points of difference Points of parity
• Natural ingredients
• Effective treatments.
“To young adult, affluent global citizens, Kiehl’s is the only
beauty care premium brand that solves every specific skin
and hair need because of its centuries-old natural
pharmaceutical experience and its service personalized to
customers’ necessities.”

27. What the product
does for me
How I would describe
the product
How the brand
makes me look
How the brand makes
me feel
Facts and
symbols
Brand
Personality
Core Brand
Promise
American
roots
Founded
in 1851
Origins in
New York
Owned by
L’Oréal
Natural
Kiehl’s provides customized
natural solution to skin
and hair needs
Skeleton
Mr. Bones
Harley
Davidson
Apothecary legacy
Customized
Effective
Premium
Daily
Routine
Global
Modern
Pharmaceutical
Herbal
Personalized
Skin Check
Grooming
Stylish
Satisfied
Skin and hair
concerns solved
Relieved
Nice
Charming
Helpful
Customer-
centric
Joking
Innovative
Environmentally
safe
Proud

29. 4P MIX - Product
“ingredients are the single most important component”
Natural Ingredients
Package Design
Unlike other luxury skincare brands, they are
• selling in bottles with very basic shape & color
• are crowded with contents
those texts are usually very long and are written with a basic font, using
different font sizes and effects (bold, underlined), which make them
clumsy and difficult to read, as well as similar to pharmaceutical
products and 19th century medicinal

30. Kiehl’s Clarins

31. Customers on Products
• 50% are familiar with the brand
• People recognized Kiehl’s for
- pharmaceutical look (23%)
- natural ingredient (17%)
- quality (17%)
• Most purchased items are
cleansers, moisturizers and
shaving products
• Kiehl’s products are appreciated for
their efficacy and natural ingredient

32. 4P MIX - Price
• Higher than mass-market ones.
• From the survey, people considered the price of Kiehl’s as
normal or slightly expensive
Price Range
of basic
products
€9.5
~ 60
€8
~ 154
€9
~ 106
• Priced at the low level of the premium beauty care segment

33. 4P MIX – Points of Sales
Flagship Store
Department
Store
Online Store
Supermarket Hypermarket Beauty Shop

34. 4P MIX – Points of Sales
Flagship Store
Department
Store
• No Test
• No Samples
(before we requested)
• No Harley Davidson
(in some stores)
• No Friendship
• Not welcomed
We got every things
we expected!!
=

35. 4P MIX – Promotions
Unlike other luxury skincare brands,
• We don’t use celebrities to endorse us
• We’re reluctant to advertise on TVs,
newspapers, of fashion magazines,
We are more focusing on social media
and on word-of-mouth.

37. Customers on Communication
• Main sources of information about
Kiehl’s
(Including Expatriates)
-Kiehl’s stores
-Magazines
-A word-of-mouth
(Spaniards only)
-A word-of-mouth
-Magazines
-Beauty care professionals
-The last response was Kiehl’s stores

39. Problem #1
Inconsistency of customer in-store experiences
Excellent
Service
Less than
Expected

40. Problem #1
Inconsistency of customer in-store experiences
Two happy
customers
Nine unhappy
customers

41. Problem #2 Inconsistency in Branding
Website
Social
Media
Store
Hyper-modern Modern
19th century
American apothecary
Discrepancy in key images from different channels

42. Problem #3 Low Brand Awareness
Unsatisfied in-store
experience
Inconsistency in brand
communication
No word-of-mouth effect Dilution of the brand
Low Brand Awareness!

43. Recommendations
1. Improve consistency of
customer in-store experiences
• Provide additional training for in-store consultants
in El Corte Ingles
• Implement a “secret shopper” program
• Ask some customers to fill out electronic surveys
after an in-store experience

44. Recommendations
2. Increase consistency
of website branding
• Make website images consistent with the brand’s
intended positioning
3. Increase brand awareness
• Advertise more, especially in specialized magazines
• Sponsor non-controversial venues and events