PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF LUX

INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

The course of a products sales and profits over its lifetime is called the product life cycle. PLC shows the stages that products go through from development to withdrawal from the market. Product Life Cycle (PLC): Each product may have a different life cycle. PLC determines revenue earned. Contributes to strategic marketing planning To identify when a product needs support, redesign, renovating , withdrawal, etc.

INTRODUCTION STAGE
Lux launched the worlds first mass-market beauty soap in the US in 1924 & had been launched in India in 1929. At that time there was only one competitor of Lux, which was from its own brand LIFEBUOY. In the initial stages Lux was introduced in the major cities of INDIA like Calcutta, Mumbai etc. MARKETING OBJETIVES - was to create the product awareness and to attract the customers towards the product. The Lux MARKETING STRATEGIES in the initial stages : Product = They offer only on product in the market. They did not come up with the differentiated product. Price = In the initial stages of the product, they offer the relatively higher price than their competitor (LIFEBUOY). Because, they want to recover their initial cost of making the product.

Advertising = In the initial stages, they allocate more advertising budget So that more and more customers could be attracted towards the product.

In ads they targeted the early adopters, who were readiest to buy the product.
The first ambassador, Leela Chitnis. Distribution = was selective and only covers the major cities of INDIA to get recognition in those cities.

Their distribution channel was through: Manufacturer Wholesaler & Retailer Introduction Stage of the LUX
SALES COST PROFIT Low sales High cost per customer Negative

MARKETING OBJECTIVE Create product awareness in major cities in India

Product Strategy Price Strategy Distribution strategy Advertising strategy Offer a basic product Use cost-plus Build selective distribution Build product awareness among early adopters

GROWTH STAGE
In the growth stage, their sales rapidly started rising. They have expanded their market to the other cities of INDIA. STAGE

MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objectives of the Lux were to expand their market to the other cities of INDIA.
Another objective was to maximize more market share. In the growth stage, company had the following MARKETING STRATEGIES :

Product = In the growth stage, the company had offered the same product in the market.
Price = In this stage, the company had changed their price to some extent because of maximizing the market share. ( Slightly cut down the prices ) Advertising = In the growth stage, they had increased their advertising budget as in the initial stages because of attracting the new customers or to retain the existing customers. Sharmila Tagore, Hema Malini, Zeenat Amaan, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Sridevi

Distribution = In this stage, company had expanded their market to the other cities of INDIA. Their distribution channel was the same as in the initial stages of the product.
Promotion = In the growth stage, the company had also used the different proportioning strategies to attract the new and the existing customers.

SALES
COST PROFIT

Rapidly rising sales

Average cost per customer Rising profits

MARKETING OBJECTIVE Maximize market share Product Strategy Price Strategy Distribution strategy Offer product extensions, services Price to penetrate market Build intensive distribution

Advertising strategy

Build awareness and interest in the mass market

MATURITY STAGE
They modified the product by adding some changes in the product. STAGE In this stage, few competitors enter into the market like ( CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW, SANTOOR, CHANDRIKA, FIAMA DI WILLS and VIVEL ). The company has expanded their market to almost all the cities of INDIA.

MARKETING OBJECTIVES = The marketing objective of Lux is to maximize

more profit while defending the market share. And to expand the market to all the cities of INDIA. MARKETING STRATEGIES In this stage are based on: Product = The Lux has made the modification in the product by introducing: Lux Almond, Lux Orchid , Lux Fruit, Lux Saffron, Lux Sandalwood, Lux Rose, Lux International, Lux Chocolate, Lux Aromatic Extracts, Lux Oil and Honey.etc Price = The Lux products are now available at higher prices in the market, the reason behind is that the companys marketing objectives is to maximize more profit. Distribution = Now Lux products are available in almost all the cities of INDIA. Their distribution channel is same as in the initial stage.

Advertising = In this stage Lux advertising has been reduced to some

extent because of the more brand awareness in the minds of customers. Recently, they have shown Aishwarya Rai , kareena kapoor & Shah Rukh khan . PROMOTIONAL OFFERS : ----

Like buy 3 get 1 free.

SALES
COST PROFIT MARKETING OBJECTIVE Product Strategy Price Strategy

Peak sales
Low cost per customer High profits Maximize profit while defending market share Diversify brand and models Price to match or best competitors

Distribution strategy
Advertising strategy

Build more intensive distribution

Stress brand differences and benefits

DECLINE STAGE
Besides of all campaigns for the sales promotion of Lux .The reasons for its decline are : 1. Currency fluctuations: Unilever products are in over 100 countries worldwide, As a result, it is exposed to adverse currency fluctuations. For instance, in 2004, a 5.9% decline in turnover was primarily due to a 4% appreciation in the average Euro exchange rate.

2. SLOWDOWN: In year 2008 - 09 due to hard economic conditions in INDIA and

other countries the sales were highly affected as the consumer started looking for some alternate products with a cheaper price than Lux.

3. Competition: Lux has been facing competition from HUL itself (Lifebuoy) &
from other companies like:-

Godrej Consumer Products : GCPL, Indias second largest soap maker with 9.2% market share.
with leading brands such as CINTHOL, FAIRGLOW & NIKHAR. Fairglow brand, India's first Fairness soap, has created marketing history as one of the most successful innovations.

Wipro : The presence of Wipro in the toilet soap industry can be seen through their brands such as SANTOOR and CHANDRIKA.

In the southern market of India it is a major market player in toilet soap.

ITC : It entered the segment last year and has made a strong headway in a short time by growing to 1.75% in just five months. With the brands like: Superia, Fiama Di Wills and Vivel. Decline Stage of the LUX

SALES COST

Declining sales Low cost per customer

PROFIT
MARKETING OBJECTIVE Product Strategy Price Strategy

Declining profits
Reduce expenditure and milk the brand Phase out weak items Cut price

Distribution strategy
Advertising strategy

Go selective: phase out unprofitable outlets

Reduce to level needed to retain hard-core loyal customers

LUX BRAND AMBASSADOR