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LAKME’S POSITIONING IN TERMS OF PERSONALITY AND SELF CONCEPT:

Lakme is a product range that caters to the beautification needs of not only women
in their adult age but in today's context teenagers also. It has a brand personality of
someone who takes care of you and your beauty needs. It tries to position itself
amongst its consumers as a product range that will help them look beautiful as is
evident from its catchphrases:1.On top of the world!

2.

Source of radiant beauty

!Lakme has a range of beauty products to offer to its consumers. Some of the ways
in which it tries to position itself:1.Lakme Hair Color: magic of colors
(collage).2.Lakme (versatile eye shadow collection): rich, long lasting and healthy
make up.3.Lakme fair perfect: For flawlessly fair skin!4.Lakme face magic: daily
wear soufflé.5.Lakme (skin vitalizer): radiant skin, now and forever.6.Lakme
(moisturizer): radiant skin, now and forever.

7.

Lakme nail polish and lipstick: electric brilliance/sensual brilliance/free


spirit/peppermint/9 to 5

.8.Lakme sun expert (sunscreen): sun safe hamesha! (face the sun with a
smile)9.Lakme pure defense: anti-pollution system.10.Lakme Tropical Island
(cosmetics): defining the future of fashion.

11.

Lakme hair care (international): natural hair care, a source of pleasure and well
being.

12.Lakme hair next: exclusive range of hairstyle products that give you that salon
look instantly.On the basis of above mentioned positioning strategies Lakme can
have the following characteristics that determine its personality:

Someone who takes care of your beauty needs.

A long lasting beautification product range.


Something that is not harsh on your body or harmful for your beauty.

A product that provides you with an option of getting beautiful hair.

A product that helps you get a beautiful skin.

A cosmetic product that you can wear for the entire day and not a special occasion.

Someone who tells you right things about looking good.

It's an Indian cosmetic brand.

It covers all facets of beauty care for women.The following factors of Lakme's
personality help in differentiation of its products from the competition:

It covers all facets of beauty care.

It helps arm the consumer with products to pamper her from head to toe i.e. a
complete product range.

The quality of its products which can be only gauged by the consumer perception of
the brand.

India's first beauty brand and is there for a long time in the market (since
independence). However, most of the other foreign brands have come only lately.

HOW LAKME IS INFLUENCING ITS CONSUMERS:THE CONCEPT OF EGO:


According to Freudian Psychoanalytic theory Lakme tries to position itself on the
basis of its appeal to the consumers which have an ego. This means that the
consumers of Lakme have an impulsive drive for which they seek immediate
satisfaction without concern for means of satisfaction

Women all over the world are always expected to look good and Indian women are
no exception; More so because of the fact that Indian women in general do not have
a fair skin like that of their western counterparts. Thus it becomes but natural for
Indian women to try and look good and use beauty products that help enhance their
looks and style. With globalization and liberalization of Indian economy and the
changing demographics and income levels there is more and more concern to look
good as today's Indian woman is no longer confined to her home but is a big
contributor to the growth of Indian economy.

THE CONCEPT OF PERSONALITY GROUPS:

Lakme tries to woo the compliant consumers according to Karen Horney's


classification

of personality groups i.e. people who move towards others. Those who have desire
to be loved, wanted and appreciated. As is earlier stated women are supposed to
look good not only in western countries but also in India.

Women always appreciate if someone calls them beautiful and it has become the
custom of the society to see women in such a context. So it would be prudent to say
that according to the societal norms a women has to look good at all times and
which has a bearing on the psychology of female consumers towards cosmetic
products which help them achieve that desired look. Needless to say that Lakme
plays on the concept of women wanting themselves to be appreciated for their
beauty and being loved for that.

CONCEPT OF PERCEPTUAL SELECTION:

On the basis of perceptual selection Lakme has tried to position itself among its
consumers in the following ways:

Lakme has tried to gain the attention of its consumers by line extension and having
more and more product depth, packaging and attractive print advertisements. If we
look at the line extensions of Lakme than we would observe that it is in almost all
the segments of cosmetic care ranging from hair care to skin care to beauty salons!
Looking at the product depth it is pretty evident that Lakme has actually tried to fill
in all areas that it can, particularly the nail paint and the lip color segment is a big
hit among Indian women as it offers them a wide variety of products in terms of
colors as well as various styles that they can choose from.

It was the first cosmetic brand in India that captured the imagination of consumers.
It had a market share of 52%

at one time as the consumers didn't have many choices but as the foreign brands
came in, it lost its Numero Uno position. This was primarily due to the fact that
consumers now had easy access to high quality products and with rising disposable
income and size of the Indian middle class consumers shifted their attention to
foreign players.

PERCEPTION AND ATTITUDE OF CONSUMERS TOWARDS LAKME:

According to the answers in the in-depth interview of the respondents:

What respondents feel:

Colorful: 20% (6/30) of the respondents in the in-depth interview said that they
associated Lakme with colors i.e. something which is vibrant and lively. According to
them Lakme offers them with a wide range of colors in product category of nail
paint and lip color. This makes them perceive it as colorful.

This consumer perception goes well with the positioning of Lakme’s lip color and
nail polish as they try to position it as colorful and vibrant which is how the
consumers perceive it as.

What respondents feel:

30% (9/30) respondents felt that Lakme is a trendsetter for fashionable cosmetics in
India. The major reason they attributed to this was that it was the first cosmetic
brand in India which was particularly catering to the need of Indian women and thus
set a trend for the foreign players to tap the Indian market. Today also they said
that it is a trendsetter in cosmetics as it keeps on coming out with novel colors,
shades and products from time to time.

What Lakme wants them to feel:

This again matches with what the company wants Indian consumers to perceive
about it as is evident from the shown advertisement. Lakme’s strategy has been to
come with new and vibrant colors and shades of cosmetics each and every season.
Currently it is aggressively advertising its ‘Tropical Island Collection’

which has been designed by none other than famous fashion designer Wendell
Rodricks.

What respondents feel

20% (6/30) respondents feel that Lakme’s lip color is longer lasting as compared to
other brands such as Maybelline and Revlon. They felt that it is because of good
quality of lip color that was provided by the company.

What Lakme wants them to feel:

This is what Lakme is trying to do with the advertisements of its lip color. In fact it
has launched a special range of lip color that is called 9 to 5 range and is meant for
women who are working in offices. This product is primarily harping on the premise
that the lip color stays longer than any other and is meant for working women who
stay in offices from 9 to 5 and can’t give that much time for their looks in between
working hours.

What respondents feel:

10% (3/30) respondents felt that when they thought of Lakme they thought of an
expert in beauty care. According to them it is a brand which communicates to them
the various ways in which they can protect as well as enhance their beauty.

What Lakme wants them to feel:

This advertisement of Lakme is exactly trying to communicate this message to its


consumers that the brand is an expert in beautycare as it helps the consumer not
only to look beautiful but also helps her to protect her beauty.

What respondents feel:


10% (3/30) of respondents felt that Lakme although is not a very well known and
trusted brand for its hair care products but still the new range of hair styling
products that it has brought out in the market have to some extent provided them
with an easy way of making their hair look beautiful.

What Lakme wants them to feel:

This advertisement of Lakme although is trying to say the same thing but the
perception of consumers has not been built according to what the company is
primarily looking for i.e. it is trying to position itself as a instant hairstyling product.

What respondents feel:

10% (3/30) felt that Lakme’s skin care lotion is one of the best products in its
category and provides them with optimum care in winters. However they said that
the role of a cosmetic product is different for different environments. They
disagreed about the fact that the cosmetic products actually help you maintain a
good and healthy skin for a long time unless it is of good quality. They were of the
opinion that a good and healthy skin can only be obtained by proper diet and
hydration with the help of liquids taken orally.

What Lakme wants them to feel:

In this context Lakme has tried to woo its consumers by means of informative
advertisement but the perception of its consumers doesn’t gel with that of what the
company wants to do. The major reason for this could be the level of sophistication
of the respondent. In this case they are learned women from a B school. However in
case of women who are not at all abreast with the actual mechanisms of body’s
maintenance of good health, it can be a good way of trying to generate awareness
amongst it consumers regarding the role this product can play in the achievement
of the consumer’s goal.

PREVAILING CONSUMER ATTITUDE:

The prevailing attitude of the consumers regarding Lakme is that it is:

A brand that epitomizes the feminity of Indian women. 30% (9/30) of the
respondents of the in depth interview felt that Lakme has over the years built a
brand that has got a special place in the hearts of Indian women. This was
attributed to the length and depth of its product mix.


20% (6/30) of the respondents feel that Lakme is economical as compared to its
competitor foreign brands. This particular aspect has never been harped upon by
Lakme in its advertisements. When asked whether the consumers would buy the
products of Lakme if their price was increased most of the respondents were not
able to make up their mind. They were of the opinion that low price is one of the
major strengths of the brand and it should remain like that.

10% (3/30) of the respondents felt that Lakme provides them a complete range of
cosmetic products. This is in line with what Lakme has been trying to position it as.
The various advertisements of Lakme try to tell their consumers that they provide
them with a complete solution for their beauty enhancement.

20% (6/30) respondents felt that Lakme is not at all a healthy choice in order to
keep a healthy and beautiful skin. This is in contrast with its skin care products as
they try to tell their consumers that using their skin care products would help them
achieve radiant and glowing skin. The major reason is the growing popularity of
herbal products and the usage of chemicals in Lakme products.In this respect what
we as a group feel that Lakme should start a new product line of Herbal or
Ayurvedic based cosmetic products as Lakme is already considered as a trendsetter
in cosmetics industry by various consumers. So it should not miss the opportunity
and should either launch a new product line or incorporate Herbal or Ayurvedic
ingredients in its product portfolio.

SPECIAL NOTE WITH RESPECT TO THE PREVAILING CONSUMER ATTITUDE:

We as a group came to the conclusion that whatever negative attitude consumers


have regarding Lakme at IBS Hyderabad campus it maybe because the respondents
were highly informed regarding the products and product range. They were all B
school students and were aware of the recent developments with respect to the
cosmetic industry to some extent.If we look at a broader picture women today are
changing their attitude towards more healthier and natural cosmetic products as a
whole and are reluctant to use chemical based cosmetics if they have better
options. Moreover due to immense competition it is very much evident that
consumers of Lakme would switch over to healthier brands as in this product
category the brand loyalty of the consumer stays as long as the product is providing
the consumer the desired level of satisfaction. Since that level is already on the
changing side its high time Lakme looks at beautification not only in terms of
cosmetics but healthy cosmetics!

METHODOLOGY OF DATA COLLECTION:

In this project, we have done qualitative research for gaining insights into
perception of Lakme in the minds of consumer, their attitude towards the brand and
also to find out whether Hindustan Unilever’s intentions are matching with the
consumer’s perception about the brand. Qualitative data was collected to know
more about consumer behavior, intentions, feelings and thoughts that cannot be
directly observed and measured. Hence qualitative methods helped us to project
the emotions, needs, motives, attitudes and beliefs of women towards
Lakme.Moreover, these methods are less structured and more intensive than
standardized questionnaire based interviews. There is a longer, more flexible
relationship with the respondent, so the resulting data have more depth and great
richness of context. We have used qualitative research for the study where we
wanted to gain insights into women’s perception towards Lakme that otherwise
might be impossible to pursue with structured research methods.

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW METHOD:

The data collection tool which we have chosen for this study is Individual In-depth
interviews. The individual in-depth interviews were conducted face to face with the
respondent i.e. women (belonging to IBS Hyderabad), in which the subject matter of
the interview i.e. Lakme as a brand was explored in detail. The in-depth interview
was of focused type. The questionnaire that we administered to the respondents is
given in Annexure I.

RATIONALE OF THE METHOD CHOSEN:

The focused individual interviews were being done because we wanted to cover a
specific list of topics or subareas of the Lakme brand. So therefore the interviewer
had the discretion on the timing, exact wording and time allocation on each
question area. Special care was taken to avoid threatening questions. In the
individual in-depth interview, we have used laddering technique so as to get an
actual response from the respondent. Forexample, firstly the respondents were
asked a particular question and then, they were probed on reasons for their
response given to the interviewer. Earlier we narrowed down the sources of data
collection to focus groups and individual in-depth interviews. But finally we ended
up by selecting individual in-depth interviews. The advantages of in-depth
interviews over focus groups are:

1.

More quality:

Unlike focus groups, one- on-one interviews can avoid responses that are
influenced by other people. Like in our case where personal beauty care is a critical
issue. Girls or women tend to get influenced by other participants of the focus group
in order to avoid any embarrassing situation. This kind of behavior is not seen in
case of in-depth interview. Interviewers may ask respondents directly and find out
their personal thoughts on the product; this ultimately enhances the quality of
information.
2.

More quantity:

We can receive twice the amount of information per respondent in an in-depth


interview, where the interviewer speaks at most 20 percent of the time, as in a
typical 10-member focus group.

3.

More depth:

In-depth interviews capture all the relevance of the qualitative information of focus
groups. Every word the respondent speaks can be tapped and transcribed and used
in multiple ways. Well designed surveys can go beyond surface answers and
produce a rich database of interviews to produce analytical reports, identify broad
themes, and understand the ranges and depth of reactions.

4.

More representation:

In-depth interviews allow a much more representative approach. Respondents are


carefully selected to represent the marketplace as accurately as possible. As in our
case, the respondents were girls. Therefore it was better to conduct individual in-
depth interviews as girls can feel comfortable in answering questions pertaining to
beauty care of a person.

5.

More value:

One-on-one interviews can double or triple the number of minutes that the
respondent is talking, and that is the true goal of our research: understanding your
consumers better.

6.

More convenient:

As we are residing in a residential B-school where we are under inevitable pressure


of assignments and placements , so it was difficult for us to schedule a focus group
discussion comprising of 7-8 girls and that too we have to conduct 3-4 focus group
discussions. In comparison to focus groups, individual interviews were easier to
schedule.7.As our subject of research i.e. personal beauty care of women is quite
sensitive, therefore individual in-depth interviews were more appropriate in order to
get more of the talking from girls or women.8.Moreover, with one respondent, there
is absolutely no potential for influence from other respondents which might have
been prevalent if it was a focus group discussion instead of an individual in-depth
interview.As we have clearly mentioned myriad advantages of in-depth interviews
over focus group discussions, there are also some limitations of individual in-depth
interviews. They are:

There is no group interaction among girls. Therefore, stimulation for new ideas from
respondents comes from the interviewer.

In the absence of group pressure of girls, the thinking of respondents is not


challenged.

It takes a lot of time to obtain information and analyze it.

LIMITATIONS OF QUALITATIVE METHODS:

The results are not necessarily representative of what would be found in the
population, and hence cannot be projected.

There is typically a great deal of ambiguity in the results of qualitative methods.

Susceptibility of the results to misuse.

Flexibility that is the hallmark of these qualitative methods gives the moderator or
interviewer great latitude in directing the questions; similarly, an analyst with a
particular point of view may interpret the thoughts and comments selectively to
support that view.

APPENDIX I:

Questionnaire for In-Depth interview:

1.Which brand of cosmetics do you use and why? (Cosmetics include a complete
range of hair care, skin care, nail paints and lip color.)
Directions for Q no 1: In case there are different brands that you prefer for different
beauty spots kindly mention the name of the brand you like personally or the one
whose majority of products you use.

2.If you are asked to choose any Lakme product for your use which one would you
choose from its range of cosmetic products and why?3.What is the first word/thing
that comes to your mind when you hear the word Lakme?4. If Lakme was the name
of the person what would be the attributes that you would associate with the
personality of that person? (Atleast mention three!)5.Do you think that Lakme is a
source of radiant beauty? Please support your answer with a statement.6.Do you
think that Lakme provides you with an option of healthy long lasting and harmless
make-up? Please support your answer with a statement.7.Do you think if you would
use Lakme products they would help you feel on top of the world? Please support
your answer with a statement.8.Do you think that Lakme’s Hair next rage would
help you to achieve good looking hair instantly? Please support your answer with a
statement.9.Do you think that Lakme is a leader in the cosmetics industry in India?
If no than who according to you is the leader and why?10.Would you continue to
buy Lakme products even if their price is increased by say up to 10-15%?

APPENDIX II

1.Source of radiant beauty!

Source: http://www.rediff.com/business/nov/06lak2.jpg2.Lakme’s style of


positioning:a.Lakme fair perfect: For flawlessly fair skin!

Source: http://www.indiaweekly.com/ImagesGift/b_G2081.jpg

b.

Lakme sun expert (sunscreen): sun safe hamesha! (face the sun with a smile)

Source: http://www.lakmeindia.com/index.asp

c.

Lakme pure defense: anti-pollution system.

Source: http://www.lakmeindia.com/index.aspd.Lakme hair next: exclusive range of


hairstyle products that give you that salon look instantly.

Source: http://www.lakmeindia.com/index.asp

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