Beautiful. Colorful. You.

Beauty is Big Business !

Abstract
The market today caters to a whole range of consumers with a paraphernalia of products and services
designed and marketed to serve people’s varied needs and desires. One of the most basic and
demanding range of such products and services is the personal health care category in which face care
comes at the foremost.
The objective of our study was to examine the buying behaviour of both men and women in the category
of Facial skin care products products along with how major brands of this category tend to make a
appeal to their customer base via various social campaigns, ads , challenges, road trips, association with
other brands and social causes.
Other than secondary research, primary research was also done in form of an email survey which was
conducted to collect data for quantitative research and we received responses from around 120 people.

Research objective
● To understand the consumer behavior concepts and marketing tactics applied by various
cosmetic brands namely Lakme, Garnier, Olay and Ponds.
● To conduct a survey to examine the buying behavior of the consumers towards facial skincare
brands

Lakme
Lakme founded in 1973 is an Indian brand of cosmetics owned by Hindustan Unilever.
Having Shraddha Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor as the ambassador, it ranked at number 1 among the
cosmetics brands in India. It was named after the French opera Lakmé, which itself is the French form of
Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth) who is renowned for her beauty.

AD STUDY :
Lakme 9 to 5 weightless mousse foundation: This ad instead of focussing on the fairness and beauty
part, focusses on Non stickiness and weightlessness of the cream. Ad shows women set free and feeling
lighter than ever and gives a sense of empowerment for women.(SELF ACTUALIZATION)
LAKME YOUTH INFINITY - 20s Sculpted Look: Ad targets women 20-30 years of age via operant
conditioning(POSITIVE PUNISHMENT) telling them that they will lose their tight and glowing skin if they
don’t use this product.
Lakme Perfect Radiance : Leave your home with salon like fairness and turn the world into a ramp.In
this ad women is shown walking confidently on a ramp and the world is after her clicking photos and
clapping for her.(ESTEEM)
The AD study showed that Lakme used different levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs to lure the
audience to its products.
Lakme Absolute Product range Ad campaign
“Where Beauty meets Science” :
The Lakme Absolute product range which introduced High
performance long wear makeup products was introduced at
premium prices targeting urban women who use upscale
brands.The brand repeatedly mentioned the SCIENCE behind
each of its products in the ads. For eg Hyaluronic acid was used to
skin young and firm.
MARKETING TACTICS :

Facebook and twitter :

Lakme has a pretty strong presence on Social media.
The content it shares and the design of it talks not only about its
products, fashion shows, and contests, but also about the little steps
a woman (or a girl) can take to look gorgeous and be the object of
much-coveted desire, as the brand sees it to be the driving agenda
of all women, or at least its fans. For example, Lakme regularly
shares some home care beauty tips(which are kind of “dadi ka
nuskha” for indian women) on social media to increase engagement
of the customers

Youtube :
Seeing an increased interest of young audiences towards web
series rather than television, Lakme recently got associated with an Indian web series “Bang Baaja
Baaraat” by YFilms which helped Lakme to strengthen itself as a premium brand for styling on special
occasions like weddings.The series was also followed by “Lakme Look
Decode” videos in which Lakme absolute makeup tutorials were performed
by Lakme experts on the lead female protagonist of the show.

Lakme Fashion week :

Moving from the Masstige to the Prestige segment
The Lakme Fashion Week has been one of India’s biggest cosmetics
brand’s strategy that repositions it from a brand of the masses to the
preferred brand of the elite as well. The association of Lakme with Fashion
Week has helped Lakme to shed of itself as a budget brand.
 GARNIER
“Garnier - Natural Technology For Health Beauty”

GARNIER’s MARKETING STRATEGY:

True to its global parentage, Garnier was careful in its
advertising theme. It uses a blend of foreign and Indian
models and themes for its campaign. Garnier ads can be
termed as localized international advertising, which has a
global touch but does not appear alien to Indian realities. The
brand uses a careful blend of celebrities and models in their
campaigns without relying much on their individual persona.
Their products are always the stars in their campaigns.

AD STUDY:
Garnier offers a wide range of products to its customers:
1. GARNIER MEN POWERLIGHT SERIES :
● Garnier Men PowerLight Sweat+Oil Control Moisturiser -
The Men Powerlight ads feature their Brand Ambassador John Abraham involved in various strenuous
physical activities where he speaks about believing in “Taking care of myself and my skin “and
emphasizes on the sweatfree+fairer-”no oil no sweat” technology.
● Garnier Men PowerLight Moisturiser SPF15-
These Ads feature and appeal to men of their love of being outdoors but which comes at a price of skin
darkening and hence show how their product offers 2 tone fairer skin + SpF protection
It also features men’s belief in performance and improvements that can be measured - “2 tone fairer
skin for men +visibly reduces spots”
2. Garnier White Complete cream:”Smile bright, shine bright.”
This product urged it customers to “change your fairness cream for 10X benefits - 10/10 complete
fairness- instant whitening- sun protection with SPF 17 - suits all skin types- and promises instant and
lasting fairness with all day long moisturizer”
It featured Indian women as Hard working, Dedicated, Always on the move and,Perfectionist
3. Garnier Beauty BENEFIT CREAM :
It featured:
○ Losing your fairness to pollution, dust,sun - Get your own BB cream which Brightens,
smoothes and moisturizes your skin - an all in one daily moisturizer
○ “I am BB” - Get to be next face of garnier bb cream
PRODUCT CAMPAIGNS :
● GARNIER MEN POWERLIGHT A VILLAGE

Garnier Men initiated the 'PowerLight A Village'

campaign in collaboration with Chirag Rural
Development Foundation (Project Chirag) with
an aim to light up hundreds of rural households
in India that are without any electricity.
Consumers had the opportunity to participate in a movement that will help Garnier Men in the
identification and electrification of light-less villages across India using solar power. Every action made
online, is translated into actual energy donation on – ground in the village. Every like, share and comment
across the Garnier Men social media platforms, contributes a predetermined unit of energy.
This unique strategy allowed Garnier to be the face of a social cause and acquire people’s trust on
being a consumer friendly brand.

● GARNIER WHITE 7 DAY CHALLENGE

“Garnier- Take Care” - White Complete Cream launched a &

day Challenge to urge people to test its product.

This mass marketing approach of theirs resulted in huge sales

along with consumer acceptance of their product once they had
tried and tested it.

● GARNIER ULTRA LIFT MIRACLE CREAM

The new Garnier Ultra Lift Miracle cream - It used various social
platforms like twitter to generate hype and publicize itself.

It's Christmas edition of the same preached its product as “All I

want for Christmas is a bit of a Lift” - hence appealing to the
festive side of people
 OLAY
Olay focuses on quality and uniqueness. The way they present
the products on their site gives a sense of superiority. They use
appeals, such as exclusiveness, luxury, passion, and perfection
to make people want their products.

AD Study:
Olay Total Effects: It targets working women in the age group of
25-30 years whose hectic life takes a toll on their skin and causes
discoloration and makes the fine lines visible. This range of
products have been endorsed by various Bollywood celebrities
who have defied age including actors Sushmita Sen, Kajol, Shilpa
Shetty and Karisma Kapoor. These ads show how their schedule
makes it really difficult for them to keep stress and signs of skin
ageing at bay. But with Olay Total Effects, they manage to go
back to looking young and their #BestBeautiful. The ads also emphasizes the concept of feeling beautiful.

Olay Regenerist : It targets the women who want wrinkle free skin but are afraid of clinical skin
treatments and painful injections. It basically focus on energizing the tired skin. The tagline, “Energized
skin is younger looking skin” is used in the ads.

Olay ProX : Olay did not use any celebrity to use this product instead, it used common women so that
customers could easily connect with them. Olay ProX asked one twin to try their products and the other
twin to not. The twin that used ProX all felt they looked younger and their twin agreed. The tagline,
“Designed by dermatologists. Proven by twins” emphasizes the fact that users of the product look
younger than those who don’t.

Campaigns and Marketing Strategies

Olay Total Effects Skin Challenge: The campaign was designed keeping in line with the ‘Lovemarks’
concept. The campaign was based on the insight that for many women as life changes over the years,
their priorities also change at every stage. While other things become more important, skin care takes a
backseat.This campaign compelled women to spare time for themselves (self actualization). Besides
taking the print, television and digital route, the campaign also involved a consumer engagement
programme, which gave women a platform where they could not only share their stories but also
challenge themselves when it came to younger looking skin. As the campaign progressed, women started
sharing their experience online – compliments that they started receiving for their younger looking skin.
These were then printed as advertorials and played as TV spots.

Love the skin you are in: Olay launched an advertising campaign
in October,2001 featuring the tagline, "Love the Skin you’re in."
Company research revealed that women are tired of false hype and
promises and need to be reached on an emotional level.The new
campaign suggested that women don't need to look like models to
love themselves or their skin.The use of warm, muted colours also
conveys a softer quality with which a normal woman could connect. The campaign invited women to
move from just liking their skin to loving it.

Your Best Beautiful:

Launched in 2014, Olay's Ad Campaign, "Your
Best Beautiful," Promotes Unachievable Beauty
Goals. The campaign targets “women who want to
put their best face forward and embrace the best
possible version of themselves every day,”.
Women want to be their best beautiful, and the
campaign celebrates the power of not settling.
“Because when you feel your best beautiful, you
feel stronger, more confident and more powerful,"
the brand said. The legendary skin care
powerhouse encouraged women everywhere to get involved and celebrate their best beautiful. Women
could join the conversation and share their best beautiful moments and stories on Olay's social media
channels, using #BestBeautiful, liking Facebook.com/Olay, and following the brand on Twitter.

PONDS – “As beautiful as you want to be”

Ponds initially started as a brand for talcum powders and cold cream in 1990’s. Due to large
competition from other brands, ponds decided to enter the cosmetic industry. Today, ponds has
spread its wings over a vast range of products like anti ageing, skin lightening, oil control,
moisturizing and other skin requirements and currently owns more than 42 % shares of cosmetic
industry in India. How did a talcum industry transform itself into one of the giants of skincare and
cosmetic industry? Here are some of the marketing
strategies used by the Ponds industry:

Age Miracle -Where age vanishes

Targeting:
● Based on demographics:
Gender: Women aged 25-65
Location : Metro cities and larger towns
Income Slab: 3 lakh and above
Based on psychographics: Confident decision makers
Positioning:
Ponds positioned itself based on product user by employing Malaika Arora Khan as its product
endorser. It positioned age miracle as the cream which will make the consumers confident and
help them reignite the love and romance in their lives.
Heusristics:
● Ponds exploited persuasion and lexicographic heuristics by featuring Mehr Jesia Rampal,
former Miss India and supermodel, and Rina Dhaka, fashion designer who all focused on the key
attribute, confidence.
● It deployed prediction heuristics to entice the affluent class by launching a show named “salam
–e-ishq” which showcased real life couples reliving the romance of their relationships.
● It also screened “Satisfaction among Millions Campaign” on the TV.
Ponds Age Miracle appealed to price conscious and variety seeking consumers through:
● Product differentiation (Age Miracle night cream, Age Miracle Foam Face Wash, Age Miracle
Day Cream etc.)
● Price differentiation (Rs. 99, Rs. 199, Rs. 399 etc. ): To promote its age miracle, Ponds created
a need in the mind of consumers by stressing upon the fact that rising pollution, hectic schedules
and increasing stress continuously increase the tell-tale signs of aging.

Maslov’s Hierarchy of Needs: All ads stressed on the fact that your husband or your significant
other will fall in love with you more after you use a ponds age miracle. Your skin will become up to
ten years younger, you will become more confident and attractive. Ponds ads targeted the third tier
of human needs i.e. love, belonging and affiliation needs.

7-day Money Back Challenge:

“7-day challenge with Money back guarantee" invited
consumers to select Pond's counters throughout the
country to buy the Pond's Age Miracle day cream
(50ml).Consumers could try the product and if
unsatisfied with the results then they could return the
cream and get their money back.This 7 day challenge
campaign was a unique offering from Ponds age
miracle, something that had never been done before. It
underscored the strong belief that Ponds had in its
revolutionary anti-ageing line to deliver effective and
best results for the Indian woman.
 PRIMARY RESEARCH - SURVEY
We conducted a survey with a sample size of 121 people (mainly IITK students), out of which 63 were
female and 58 were male candidates. Among the people we surveyed, 32% people were very interested
in taking care of their skin, 58% were somewhat interested while 10% were not at all interested in taking
care of their skin.(This was asked in order to know the kind of audience we were surveying)
Below are a few insights that we got from our survey.

Insights
Q. What kind of facial creams do people use significantly?

From the results, we could infer that most of the people use Sun protection and fairness creams.The
“Other” option had various answers like “None”, “Moisturizer” etc.

Q. Do people believe that facial skin care products containing natural ingredients are
better than those which do not contain them?

From this we could infer that people prefered natural ingredients like Aloe vera etc. to be there in the skin
care products. This means people prefer natural products over chemicals.
Q. To what extent do they believe in the promised effects of facial skin care products?

From the results of the survey, we concluded that marketing tactics used by companies are not very
effective on college students, esp IITians. Perhaps they know that not everything that is shown in ads is
true.

Q. What makes the consumers trust a brand ?

Is it Expertise, Tips and Consultancy, Brand appearance, Brand ambassadors or the Social campaign?

As per the results of the survey, more than 70 percent of the people believe that expertise is the major
contributing factor. For example Nivea has “100 years of experience” written on its products.

Q. What effect does a skin skincare product have on the consumers emotionally and
mentally?
Does it enhance their personality, boost their confidence or does it simply make them feel good about
themselves. Or they simply use it because other people are using it and It increases their social
acceptance amongst peers. Or it does nothing at all to them emotionally.
As per the results we found that almost half of the people felt good on using the skin are products while
half of them were not emotionally pulled by the beauty brands.

Q. When choosing the skin care products, what are the major factors that they keep in
mind?

Most of the people choose the products, based on its quality and brand name. Thus brand equity
occupies a very significant place in the minds of the consumers.

Conclusion
The overall results of the survey showed us that-:
1. Quality of a product and the expertise of a brand are the major driving factor for consumers to
buy their products.So companies should focus more on these two aspects.
2. Most of the people feel emotionally good after using a skin care product. Companies can target
this aspect of consumer behavior while advertising for their products.

References :
1. http://blog.usabilla.com/case-study-the-emotional-pull-of-beauty-brands/
2. http://www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com/Market-Trends/Lakme-launches-premium-make-up-in-
India-in-hope-of-Absolute-success
3. http://blog.usabilla.com/how-beauty-brands-seduce-you-with-emotional-design/
4. http://www.slideshare.net/jagjeetks/olay-autosaved

Submitted by GROUP 2
Aayushi Aggarwal
Mausumi Mohanta
Priyanka
Urvashi Jain