SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

UNIVERSITY OF SARAJEVO

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

CASE STUDY: BODY SHOP INTERNATIONAL

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING MANAGEMENT

Professor: Vesna Babić-Hodović, PhD

Module: Products and Services Management

Students: Muamer Ćimić 4495-72650

Aida Olević Maljević 4523

Amina Pirić 4870

Sarajevo, November 2020

CRITICAL REVIEW

The Body Shop is a British cosmetics, skin care and perfume company founded in the UK in
1976 by a environmental and human rights campaigner Dame Anita Roddick. Her belief was in
something revolutionary that business could be a force for good. While travelling around the
world Anita saw how people used natural ingredients for beauty and remedial purposes. For
example in Morocco, she witnessed women washing their hair with mud as a raw form of
‘shampoo’. Thus the company’s approach to beauty was simple - ethically sourced, cruelty-free
and naturally-based ingredients from around the world, in no-nonsense packaging you could
easily refill. It was very different to the big players in the beauty industry. Their idea and purpose
was to fight for a fairer and more beautiful world. The company got their ingredients and
materials by community trade, which allows both the suppliers and the buyer to trade responsibly
and fairly. The suppliers are usually native people and farmers found on rural areas or villages.
They have been a force for positive social and environmental change through their campaigns
around five core Values: Support Community Trade, Defend Human Rights, Against Animal
Testing, Activate Self-Esteem, and Protect Our Planet. The global manufacturer now has over
2,400 stores in 61 countries, with a range of over 1,200 products.

The Body shop has become one of the leading brands by bringing invovation to cosmetics
industry. With the focus on „natural“ products created for personal care, the Body shop
positioned itself as the leader, addressing the needs of customers interested in having a healthy
lifestyle, but who at the same time care for animals, enviroment and the planet. In order to
strengthen its position on the market, and stend out as a company with unique ethical standards,
the Body shop has targeted customers based on their age (teens and adults), gender (primarily
women, later on expanded to men) and socio-economic status (housewives and working women).
However, putting environemental concerns, protection of animals from testing, and similar
strategies at the heart of its approach to production of cosmetics have led to somewhat higher
retail prices of the products and risks associated with it. As the result, the Body shop had
experienced a problematic period in the early 90-ties, when some other companies, who were not
bound by similar ethical standards, brought cheaper products to the market. Their position was
also weakened due to not having appropriate proofs (certificates, such as ISO standards)
confirming that their production in indeed „ethical“. Nevertheless, in order to re-gain the leading
position on the cosmetics market, the Body shop focused even more strongly on communicating
the message „we care more about health, than we care about glamour“. Numerous campaigns
against animal testing, or caring for homeless people, or raising awareness of HIV and AIDS (in
cooperation with MTV), have helped the Body shop re-position itself as the leading „ethical“
company in the cosmetics industry.

2
To understand why Anita Roddick sold her company to L’Oreal one must understand that her
beliefs and core values she transferred to her company’s early beginnings had to be broaden
throughout the world. She believed that one of the ways to achieve global recognition is by
L’Oreal’s acquisition. Was it just the old saying of doing something “pleasant and useful” or was
it childishly naïve of Anita to put her company’s faith in global giant such as L’Oreal. The
following decade under L’Oreal’s management proved her being wrong because the sales
dropped drastically. Besides that, The Body Shop lost many (previously) loyal customers due to
their partnership with L’Oreal. Reason for that is L’Oreal’s reputation of having animal-tested
products, sexual representation of women and negative criticism for failing to have a corporate
social responsible (CSR) strategy. After Anita passed away, L’Oreal was in doubt whether her
company will manage to continue her vision as passionately which lead to, yet another,
acquisition. This time The Body Shop was sold to Brazilian company Natura, one of the Brazil’s
top businesses in cosmetics. It is very hard to have a clear vision and project it others in the way
they agree completely. Certain mistakes were made that cost the company profit and more
importantly, consumer’s loyalty. Maybe Anita Roddick didn’t always make the best business
moves in her career but she certainly made global changes in cosmetics industry and further.

REFERENCES

1. Bryan Dennis Christopher P. Neck Michael Goldsby, (1998), "Body Shop International: an
exploration of corporate social responsibility", Management Decision, Vol. 36 Issue 10 pp.
649 – 653
2. Hartman, C. L., & Beck-Dudley, C. L. (1999), “Marketing Strategies and the Search for
Virtue: A Case Analysis of The Body Shop, International”, Journal of Business Ethics,
20(3), 249–263
3. Vladimir Korovkin, International School of Management, Paris (2018), “THE BODY SHOP
CASE ANALYSIS: The Challenges of Managing Business as Holistic Configuration”
4. Nathalie Koczor, NOVA School of Business and Economics (2012), “Corporate Social
Responsibility and its effect on image and reputation: The case of L’Oréal and its
acquisition of The Body Shop