MARKETING

MANAGEMENT
ASSIGNMENT

VINAYAK E K
B2556
Fair & Lovely
COSMETIC INDUSTRY
The cosmetic industry mainly describes the industry that manufactures and distributes
cosmetic products, including colour cosmetics like foundation and mascara, skincare such as
moisturisers and cleansers, haircare such as shampoos, conditioners, hair colours and toiletries
such as bubble bath and soap. Some of the largest companies are Johnson & Johnson, Loreal
Paris Gillette, Neutrogena, Nivea and Chanel Inc.

FAIR & LOVELY

Fair & Lovely is a skin-lightening cosmetic product of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) introduced
to the market in India in 1975. As of 2012 the brand occupied 80% of the fairness cream market
in India and is one of HUL’s most successful cosmetics lines. Fair & Lovely contain the highest
amount of stearic, sourced from animal body fats which contain the highest amount of acid by
weight compared to plant-based fats. It is also the first cream to have used Vitamin B3 in its
formulation, which was proven to lighten the skin. This fairness cream that is developed in the
year 1975 and was acknowledged as a SuperBrand. The chief aim is to provide Fair & Lovely
is to provide protection, nourishment and purification of skin. The product besides giving a
good complexion, is also helpful in curing skin discolouration. Its USP contains Saffron herb
believed to whiten complexion. Some of the important features are as follows:
✔ Removes marks on skin
✔ Removes darkening of skin
✔ Natural sunscreen
✔ Only few side effects

PRODUCT DETAILS
Parent company: Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)
Sector: Fast Moving Consumer Good (FMCG)
Tagline: More than just Fairness, Clear Fairness
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Power of Beauty/ Maximum Fairness
Fair & Lovely had been rated as the Twelfth Most Trusted Brand in India in 2003 and as a
Super Brand in 2004. It’s also the first cream known for not using bleach. It contains fruity
factor and special fairness vitamin which makes your skin fairer and smoother. Its packaged in
such a way that it has expert fairness meter and spot meter on the back of the cover. It also
includes five expert solutions on some packaging’s.
SEGMENTATION STRATEGY

The customers have various needs and wants based on region, lifestyle and ethnic group they
belong to. It is an organisational strategy that breaks down a target market audience into smaller
and more manageable groups. Fair & Lovely is mainly a personal care skin fairness cream.
Segmentation helps in understanding demographic, geographic, behavioural or psychological
variables which have helped Fair and Lovely over years to serve different customer groups
with similar population characteristics. Segmenting for Fair & Lovely is on the basis of:

● Geographic
It is a regional brand targeted in the urban areas. They target mainly on the south zone and then
the north and west. It is present in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Middle East.
● Demographic
They mainly target young women of the age group 15-25 years and school girls between 12-
14 years of age, as females are more ardent buyers of fairness cream. Also they focus
on men of the age group 15-45 and school boys between 12-14 years of age.
● Behavioural
It is clearly targeting users from upper middle to lower middle group of income 1-3 lakh.
● Psychological
They focus on people who care about their personal grooming and are conscious of their
appearance i.e. the basic human traits.

TARGETING STRATEGY

It is the selection of potential customers to whom a business wishes to sell products or services.
Fair & Lovely uses selective targeting strategy to make its product appeal to the respective
customer groups. It is the process of evaluating each market segments attractiveness and
selecting one or more segments to enter. Fair & Lovely targets mass people who lack self-
confidence for not having the desired skin tone. They predominantly target young women aged
18-35 and also there are evidence stating that school girls in 12-14 category also uses fairness
creams. The poor are also a significant target market for Fair & Lovely as HUL marketed the
products in affordable small pouches to facilitate purchase.

POSITIONING STRATEGY

It refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of the customers and how it is
distinguished from the products of the competitors. Fair & Lovely has positioned itself as a
beauty cream that is capable of providing fairness within 8 weeks. It has positioned its offerings
based on value propositioning by creating positive image about the brand and also
communicating whether the products are safe, effective and that makes the customers feel good
about them. It always sticks to only one strategy on fairness and did not diversify its products.
Fair & Lovely is positioned as a cream that fulfils ones dreams and desires. It would have not
become a commercial success if it was not advertised. As the company maintaining its millions
of young women and customers trust and perceive value towards brand and ruling the fairness
cream market in India. Fair & Lovely has also got products for men which lags behind because
the brand has positioned itself as a feminine facilitator.
MARKETING MIX
It refers to the set of actions or tactics that a company uses to promote its brand or product in
the market. It consists of the 4 P’s- Product, Price, Place and Promotion. HUL is a public
limited company which deals in consumer goods. This Indian company has joined hands with
Unilever, which is an Anglo-Dutch corporation and deals with personal care product under the
name Fair & Lovely.
PRODUCT:
The brand principal of the company is Re-Scripting History and has innovated and
experimented with variety of products to maintain its quality and to remain at the top. It does
not use any harmful ingredients or bleach leaving the skin fresh and fair. Extracts of
watermelon in some of the products makes in cool and fresh and also protects it from harmful
rays of sun. Principal components used in Fair & Lovely are Vitamin A, Vitamin B3 and
Aloevera. The products of Fair & Lovely are all approved products of BIS (Bureau of Indian
Standard). Some of its products for women include:
▪ Fair & Lovely Oil Control Fairness Gel
▪ Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Care
▪ Fair & Lovely Advance Multivitamin Cream
▪ Fair & Lovely Anti Marks Cream
▪ Fair & Lovely Forever Glow
▪ Fair & Lovely Winter Fairness Cream
▪ Fair & Lovely Multivitamin Facewash
Some of its products for men include:
▪ Fair & Lovely Max Fairness
▪ Fair & Lovely Max Fairness Face Wash
PRICE:

Fair & Lovely has dominated the market for a long period are usually found in most of the
homes irrespective of the income group. Currently low and flexible pricing strategy is being
followed. Affordability of the product mainly depends on the two factors such as income of the
consumer and price of the product or service. There are internal (cost, pricing objective) and
external factors (customers, suppliers, competitors). In order to determine their pricing policy,
they have uploaded questionnaires on their websites. This helped the company understand the
wishes and demands of the customers. And also the company hired specialists who constantly
monitors price range of competitors. If they feel that their prices are higher than the
competitors’ products, then they start offering discounts to counter it.

PLACE:

Currently Fair & Lovely products are available in almost 30 countries across the globe with
loyal and strong customer base of nearly two hundred million people. It has captured the
markets of countries across Africa, Asia and Middle East. Its head office is located in Mumbai.
Its distributor base is strong and because of easy transportation facilities.
PROMOTIONS:

The brand is committed in empowering women power and it has led to the opening of Fair &
Lovely Foundation. This foundation has been a very great advertisement tool for the company.
There are various schemes developed by this foundation which became very popular like
helping underprivileged and women. And also 1 lakh scholarship is awarded to a girl child
whose academic record is outstanding. Their marketing campaigns include ads on billboards,
magazines, banners, newspapers and so on. Many well-known and famous personalities have
been roped in to advertise their products.

INSIGHTS OF MARKETING STRATEGY

According to my understanding after interviewing few customers I got a variety of reviews on

the product. Fair & Lovely is a market leader as they did not face much competition in the
initial stages and shared a great market share. Later they extended by launching Fair & Lovely
cream for men. They brought into the flank defence mechanism of replaceable caps on Rs5
sachets. One of its main strategy to increase selling of its product was by creating a bias towards
darker skin. Their rural outreaches and also promoting the brand to their interior suburbs is an
integral marketing strategy to reach out to the masses. They also introduced various scholarship
schemes for youth and also for making women independent before getting married.

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

⮚ From a recent research reveals that fairness cream sellers overstate product benefits and
illiterate and poor segment of the society buy these products from misleading
advertisements. According to the research the cream can only lighten 20% and not more
than that as these creams play with customer’s emotions.
⮚ The chemicals in a fairness cream lead to pigmentation, as it includes chemicals such
as hydroquinone, mercury, steroids and so on and in a long run these will give rise to
problems such as skin cancer.
⮚ Prolonged usage of fairness creams leads to acne prone skin. It may also make your
skin sag fast.
⮚ Initial advertisement campaign was biased towards darker skin and attracted a fair share
of controversies of people blaming that Fair & Lovely mixed with beauty with fairness.
It used this to increase selling of its product.

SUGGESTIONS TO OVERCOME ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

There are several competitors in the market now such as Fairever (Cavin Care), No Marks,
Vicco. So the challenges to deal with consumer choice and buying behaviour has increased.
There are legal issues which often hamper the brand image.
In India not everyone is comfortable with the promotion of skin-whitening creams. Many have
come out against Fair & Lovely, charging the company with deceptive advertising and also
promotion of discrimination and sexism. Critics point out the celebration of light skin as an
implication of rejection of dark skin. And thus the Women of Worth Foundation launched a
campaign called “Dark is beautiful” to protest skin-whitening products.
The Fair& Lovely Foundation has helped brilliant girls from weaker economic backgrounds to
pursue higher education by providing scholarships. The brand is also closely associated with
supporting women, making them self-reliant and establishing their independent identity.

REFERENCES
Wikipedia.org
Slideshare.net
womensenews.org
wwe.google.com