brand revitalization product positioning

1. Lifebuoy
By: Group 2

2. Q1 - Lifebuoy: Brand or Product?
“Brand lifebuoy” was certainly a bigger hit in rural India
The brand itself became a product
Its better to be first than better itself
Be first in your category rather imitating.

3. • First mover to a different category ( Health proposition in rural markets)
• Unique positioning and promotional activities pertaining to rural consumers.
The color red became
synonymous with
Lifebuoy
Relevant packaging
and wall
advertisements
Messages in local
languages: easily
understood
Tandurusti ki rakhsha karta
hai lifebuoy!

4. Q2 - Product and Brand life cycles for Lifebuoy
Red carbolic
soap, strong
smell and health
proposition
Market
saturation and
stiff competition
in the category
Launch of
carbolic soap by
Nirma (1980-90)
Consumer
aspirations led
to focus on
different
characteristics
of soaps like
Freshness ,
beauty care ,
nature care,
deodorant in
soap.(1990
onwards)
So what next
from here??

5. Brand rejuvenation
Lifebuoy started
breaking its image
of a simple red
carbolic soap with
a stronger smell.
started with new
target segment
(Mothers in
family) keeping
core positioning
same.
As a product Lifebuoy was now into
multiple forays to satisfy changing
consumer needs and aspirations
But as a Brand It rejuvenated itself
from maturity to growing stages.

6. Q3 - Core positioning, the reason for success
Strong core positioning of health benefits
Launched in India at the time of plague and became popular
No substitute (with similar positioning) led it to blockbuster sales
Lifebuoy became synonymous with health in rural areas
Hence, it was very much necessary to keep alive the core positioning of Lifebuoy and
continue the legacy of its brand.
That’s why Lifebuoy did not change its core positioning but only changed the target
segment.

7. Q4 - Lifebuoy's jingle was a major factor in prolonging its product life cycle. Please justify.
“Tandurusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy…”
• Time: Post Independence era
• Consumer Preference: Functional Products
• Target Segment: Hardworking, Savings-minded and Economic Class of people.
• The period belonged to famous patriotic slogans like ‘Jai Jawaan and Jai
Kisaan’

8. “Tandurusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy…”
• Advertisement focused on men representing hard work
and heroic deeds such as Farmers and Soldiers.
• Targeted towards blue-collar workers.
• Resonated well with the rural population of India (70%
of total population at the time)
• The jingle continued well into 1990s.
• Thus this jingle prolonged the growth phase of Lifebuoy.

9. Q 5 - Please review the product
line category for toilet soaps of
HUL in the late 90s in terms of
width and depth.

10. HUL Toilet Soaps
Breeze
Family
beauty soap
with promise
of fresh
feeling of
nature.
Dove
Beauty Soap
for soft skin
Hamam
Mild family
soap
containing
natural
ingredients
Lifebuoy
Health soap
for the
hardworking
Liril
Freshness
soap
Lux
The beauty
soap used by
film stars.
Pears
The gentle
soap
Rexona
Aromatic
natural skin
care soap
Thus we see that HUL in the late 90s had a wide product mix width in the toilet soaps category to
cater to different sectors. But drop in sales of Lifebuoy brought along a drop in revenues from
this sector for HUL.

11. Q6 - Identify main reasons for HUL not offering any brand
extensions in Lifebuoy soap category early on
• Established brand – No competition
• Health Focused Brand Positioning:
‘Tandurusti ki raksha karta hai Lifebuoy’
 High functional benefit: consumers perceived Lifebuoy as a ‘health care’ icon
 Mass appeal to rural consumers: advertisement focused on hardworking,
savings oriented and economic class of people
 High adoption: 70% of total population
• High Popularity – Lifebuoy became synonymous with red coloured soaps

12. Q7 – Analyse reasons for drop in soaps and detergents and increase
in personal and foods category for HUL between 1992 and 2002
• Severe price led competition
• Lifebuoy active launched and took 3.7% market share
• It helped offset the decline of Lifebuoy carbolic
• Nirma emerged as a very strong brand
• greater value for money
• deep market penetration
• Wider variety of soap products/alternatives
• Freshness/Beauty care/Nature-care/Deodrants

13. • Increased national income led to demand for costlier products
• Services sector grew by 10.5% vs. 7.1% manufacturing
• Consumers asked ‘why do I need Lifebuoy when all soaps clean’
• Lifebuoy's value proposition was lost
• Foods business grew on the back of a continuously improving and
robust supply chain

14. Q8 - Reasons for Brand Rejuvenation
Declining Market
Share
Stiff Competition/
New entrants
Changing
Consumer Tastes
& Preferences
Globalization
Increase in
Personal
Disposable Income
Availability of New
brands with
Variants
Most Importantly, Lifebouy was synonyms with Health & Hygiene. Lifebouy also became the
Generic Category name for Soap, thus a Rejuvenation of the brand was required.

15. Rejuvenation in urban and Rural India
Urban India
 Shift in Consumer preference
due to liberalization
 Increased focus on “ Family
Brand “ than just Males
 Shift from Soaps to Hand wash
 Increased focus on Health
 Awareness through
Advertisements
Rural India
 Focused on making consumers
aware of the benefits and
requirements of washing hands
 Generating awareness through
Melas
 Lifebuoy Swastya Chetna

16. Q9 - Brands that don't keep up get lost quickly
Irrelevant Invisible Gone
• To a large extent, this statement is applicable on the declining life cycle of
Lifebuoy in the 90s because it was unable to address the following points:
Low advertising budget
No line extensions
Focus on blue collared workers and children
Failed to design strategies for the aspiring class of consumers
Failed to compete with low cost soap manufacturers
Failure to create a distinct positioning in the urban market

17. Lifebuoy - Repositioning
• Repositioning of Lifebuoy has definitely helped the brand
• By targeting women consumers Lifebuoy has become a family product
• Moved from rural segment to aspiring class via line extensions
• Repositioning has also helped the brand to rise above the product
• Lifebuoy changed its target segment but kept the same positioning garnering more
market share