Analyze And Describe The Product Marketing Essay

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The aim of this report is to analyze and describe the product – body butter and tell about the leading brand, which produces it.

Beauty is always in demand. Nowadays it becomes very popular to care about not only about face, but about the body skin too. There are a variety of body skin care products, but only the use of body butter provides quick and qualitative results. Moreover women choose exactly the body butter because its features and benefits are better than benefits and features of the other skin care products.

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Decision making process, analysis of the customer behaviour explains how women behave before the buying the product. If they have no problem with income, they need the reason for entertainment or the body is not in good condition – women start to buy. Moreover, in today’s shrinking global community, it is essential to make innovation in sales and products to meet customer needs.

There are four leading companies, which produce the body butter: The Body Shop, Bath & Body Works, Kiehl’s and Beauty Control. But company The Body Shop is the leading company in producing the body butter and single out from the other companies, because they have an acceptable price for high quality body butter, they are against testing the cosmetics on animal, they create a lot of social activities. Moreover The Body Shop has unique channels to effectively communicate with customers rather than the traditional marketing techniques.

Brand the Body Shop is one of the most popular cosmetics brand in UK, which was built more than 30 years, as reported on BBC News (2010).

Introduction

Every woman wants to be beautiful both spiritually and physically. Beautiful body has always attracted much attention and pleases your own eye, so women are trying to buy the best quality products, which will help them to achieve their goal. There are a variety of body skin care products, but only the use of body butter provides quick and qualitative results. Body butter falls into the cosmetics product category, based on a mixture of cream and natural oils, which gives skin a glow and makes it like velvet. Since the body butter used mainly by young women, because they still do not have to worry about aging and the aging of skin consequently this product attracts young women, who get to age group from 18 to 25.

There are many companies, which manufacture the body butter, but from the whole of this great number can be identified only 4 leading brands. This is The Body Shop, Bath & Body Works, Kiehl’s and Beauty Control. In this list of companies, The Body shop listed first – and this is not a coincidence. The Body Shop is the main brand for the production of high quality body butter, which became famous owing to brilliant cosmetics on basis of natural ingredients.

Brand The Body Shop positions itself as a retail player and heavily focuses on the skin care segment of product categories. It is in the market more than 30 years and all this time it did not disappoint their costumers, and successfully continues to conquer new heights. The proofs of this are sales numbers, which are shown below.

From The Body Shop’s annual report (Cossma, 2010) we can calculate the market share of The Body Shop.

(Body Shop’s Sales/Total industry Sales) *100

We approximated the total global industry to be USD 134 billion in 2009, and their annual sales during the period were USD 602 million. Therefore using our approximation formula:

US$ 602 million/US$ 134 billion * 100 = 0.45%

Sales from The Body Shop represent approximately 0.45% of total global sales and this is really good result. This information supports The Body Shop strategy for entering into the markets to achieve growth and success.

Aims and Objectives

To describe a research methods.

To discuss, understand, analyze the customer behavior.

To analyze the answers on questionnaire.

To create and describe the consumer segmentation table.

To create the marketing mix table and compare The Body Shop competitors.

Analyze the perception map and understand where The Body Shop is situated.

To make conclusions, based on all research and findings.

Research methods

I had three sources from which I gather information. The first was web sites. The global internet network has a lot of information about body butter and about Body Shop brand. The second was a lecture notes and tutorials. At tutorials we were specifically discussing each topic, which should be included in the report, so they had been very useful material for me. Finally, the third source was the book “Foundation of Marketing” by David Jobber and John Fahy. I can say that all these sources have helped me to improve my knowledge and build my understanding. I also read a few interviews and women’s forums, where were discussed issues such as: which body butter women use, what brand, what results they have got and others.

Another source, to which I have addressed, was a questionnaire. Moreover, I am sure that the questionnaire is one of the best research methods, because it allows to work with people in real time and to estimate their reaction and behavior. To tell the truth, the questionnaire was very useful thing, because its analysis will help me to analyze a customer behavior, which is very important part of my report.

I have created the questionnaire, which contains nine questions and directed on target group from 18 to 25, because I need to explore exactly this target group. In my questionnaire were involved four young women, because my product mostly use women. The questionnaire is based on a specific product (body butter). However, there are also a couple of questions that are directed to a specific brand (The Body Shop), which is leading brand in the production of my product.

Findings

How customers behave can never be taken for granted and new trends emerge all the time, such as the emergence of tattoos as fashion items. There are a variety of influences on the purchasing habits of customers and these are constantly changing and evolving. As a result, products that may only recently have been seen as “must have” quickly go out of fashion to be replaced by something else, wrote Jobber & Fahy (2009).

Nowadays, it became very fashionable to take care of the body, so people always buy products, which help them in this matter. It only remains to answer a few questions, which answers will help to understand the customer behaviour, an understanding which, in turn, will help to each company to become a successful and increase the sales numbers. How do customers buy? When do they buy? What are their choice criteria? Where do they buy? All these questions have answers.

There is a consumer decision-making process, which give answers on question about how customers buy. It starts from need recognition/problem awareness, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase and ends with post-purchase evaluation of decision. It is easy to understand the process, when exist that kind of file.

As I said before, the body butter is popular basically for females. When do females buy? When they have stable and sufficient income, when they need a reason for entertainment, when they understand that their body is not in good condition. And here is another question. Why they choose exactly the body butter for their bodies? Because the body butter has a lot of features and benefits, which are important thing in customer making decision process. Benefits and features of the body butter:

Convenient, attractive, compact packaging

Easily absorbed

Leaves no greasy traces

Easy to use at home

Allergy tested

Contain natural ingredients

Variety of smells

Helpful for skin

Just to get a better understand of the customer behaviour, I analyzed the questionnaire. On the first question all four women answered the same way. They buy the body butter for improving a skin condition. All four women listed the features and benefits, which are written above. Two women prefer to pay for the body butter no more than £15, in turn, the other two are willing to pay an amount up to £25. To my surprise, all four women answered The Body Shop, on the question about which brand they prefer to buy, moreover they are completely satisfied with the body butter quality of this particular brand. On the question about importance of the brand name, three women answered – yes, and only one woman said – no. If we will talk about the question, which is about experience after purchasing, I can say that all four women noticed an improvement in skin condition and this has contributed to answering the last question about the recommendation of this product to other women. All respondents recommend using exactly the body butter.

As a result, the answers on this questionnaire really helped me to analyze the customer behaviour. However, I should analyze not only the customer behaviour, but describe and understand the consumer profile and marketing concept on the whole. The marketing concept calls for the understanding customers and satisfying their needs better than the competition. But different customers have different needs, and it rarely is possible to satisfy all customers by treating them alike, as written on Net MBA (2010).

Target marketing recognizes the diversity of customers and does not try to please all of them with the same offering. The first step in target marketing is to identify different market segments and their needs, said Lingham, L. (2010). Consequently I created a consumer segmentation table.

Behavioural:

Purchase occasion

Purchase behavior

Usage

Perceptions and beliefs

Self-buy, gift

Solus buying, brand switching

Light

Favourable

Psychographic:

Lifestyle

Personality

Trendsetters, conservatives, sophisticates

Extroverts, introverts, submisive

Profile:

Age

Gender

Life cycle

Social class

Terminal education age

Income

18-25

Female

Young single, young couples, young parents

Middle, skilled working

18, 21 years

Depends on work and country standards

Marketing mix

As is written on the Direct Internet Marketing & Corporate Consulting (2010) marketing mix is a term often used in marketing that stresses the mixing of a variety of factors in marketing strategies, in ways that both targeted consumers groups are reached, as well as organizational objectives are reached.

The Body Shop

Bath & Body Works

Kiehl’s

Beauty Control

Product

Body Butter

Body Butter

Body Butter

Body Butter

Price

£12.50

£9.50

£22.50

£11.50

Promotion

1)Sales promotion

2)Public Relations

3)Trade Fairs and Exhibitions

4)Advertising

5)Sponsorship

1)Sales 2)Promotion

3)Direct Mail

4)Advertising

1)Personal Selling

2)Trade Fairs and 3)Exhibitions

1)Sales Promotion

2)Personal Selling

3)Public Relations

4)Advertising

Place

1)Internet

2)Stores

1)Internet

2)Stores

1)Internet

2)Stores

1)Internet

2)Stores

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I created this table for analyzing the main competitors of The Body Shop company. It can be clearly seen that all these companies produce the same product – the body butter. However the price on this product can be very different. The lowest price for the body butter is at Bath & Body Works, but the highest price is at Kiehl’s. The price was always depends on quality, so we can make a decision, that the Kiehl’s gives a good quality products for high price. But, everyone knows that the company The Body Shop offers to its customers products of excellent quality, because, the quality of the Body Shop products was discussed, a lot of times, in press and in the internet.

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The next step in the table is promotion. Promotion is very important for every company. We can see that these four companies use different ways of promotion. For instance, The Body Shop uses for the advertisement a sponsorship, sales, public relations, TV and others. Consequently, I can say that The Body Shop has strong promotion system. Other companies use sometimes the same ways of promotion. But, for example the Kiehl’s doesn’t use the TV advertisement. This campaign focuses on personal sales and is renowned for its approach to customers. For Bath & Body Works it is typical the direct mail advertisement, which is not typically for The Body Shop.

The last column is about place, where the customers can purchase this concrete product. There are two places, where we can buy products. It is stores, shops, supermarkets, newsagents and other real places, and the Internet. The body butter of these four companies is readily available both online in the Internet and in stores. So, all four companies use the same ways of the purchasing the product.

Perception Map

In helping to develop a market positioning strategy for product or service, perceptual maps or positioning maps as they are sometimes referred to, are often used to identify a positioning strategy, reported on Learn Marketing (2010).

As Stanat R. (2009) said, a brand’s position is the set of perceptions, impressions, ideas and feelings that consumers have for the product compared with competing products. Marketers plan positions that give their products the greatest advantage in selected target markets, and they design marketing mixes to create these planned positions.

I made the perception map for comparison the correlation of the product quality and the product price for each chosen company.

Bath & Body Works is located in the quadrant, which lies between the low price and the low quality. From a table prepared by me earlier, you could see that the price of body butter of this company was the lowest. Since I tested the product of each company, I can say from personal experience, that the price of this product, specifically of this company complies with the quality.

Beauty Control tries to improve the quality of the product, but at the same time, remains on line of the average price.

As we can see, the company Kiehl’s is located in a quadrant of high quality and high price. Indeed the price on product of this company is highest in comparison with other companies.

As far as The Body Shop is concerned, the product of this company is certainly of high quality, so it is located in a quadrant of high quality. If we look at the price, we will see that it is between high and low, like the golden midst, i.e. quality complies with affordable price that buyers are always to one’s liking.

What people will remember for a long time? This question excites marketers and makes invent events that amaze, shock, excite. Concert of pop diva, a motor scooter parade, body art…everything has a right to live. Question- what will connect people’s minds with the brand, and what associations will cause? After all this tables, analysis, maps there is a time to say that The Body Shop brand is one of the most popular brand, which produce stylish cosmetics and flavors, including the famous body butters. Moreover people prefer to buy The Body Shop products, because this company did so much for environment, charity. They have created a share, which is against testing cosmetics on animals. That is, rather than novelty of the products, has made this brand much more than just a source of beauty. Consumers of the Body Shop production do not just buy the effective shampoos or trendy image by way of bright and stylish cosmetics. They vote with help of their wallets for ethical product, was reported on The Body Shop (2010).

Conclusion

After analyzing the consumer behaviour and questionnaire, I can make a conclusion that the body butter for the most part is relevant for women. So they prefer to buy body butter because its benefits and features prevail over benefits and features of the other skin care products. It turned out that the customers appreciate the appearance of the product, brand of the product and product quality, because exactly after the using the qualitative product consumers can see the wishful result, which encourages the buyers to use this product again and again.

There are two steps in buying a product. Firstly, the customer decides which product exactly he needs, and only then what particular brand he will choose. After making the perceptual map and analyzing the advertising policy, and brand The Body Shop, I can conclude that due to the rapid participation in social activities, excellent advertising strategy, bright packaging and unique smells – body butter of brand The Body Shop has become so popular and best selling.

The marketing mix table and perception map show me the information, thanks to which, I made a conclusion that the company The Body Shop has a lot of competitors, but it marks out from the other companies, because they use only natural ingredients, they are against the testing a cosmetics on animals, the company created a lot of charity events, which attract customers. One more distinguishing feature is the reasonable price for excellent body butter quality in comparison with other companies.

Recommendations

Activism has been a large part of the Body Shop company life. The past has been a testament to an extraordinary partnership with millions of women all over the world. So what can we say about the future? I am absolutely sure that this brand will prosper and develop, surprising the customers with new and new innovations and social projects. But all depend on what new cosmetic companies will come into the world market, what life level will be in the next 10 years, what innovations will be invented for body care, and whether people in general will be in need of cosmetics. Consequently it is hard to predict what will happen, but we are able to see it in the closest future.

Appendices

Example of questionnaire:

For what purposes do you use body butter?

What are your choice criteria, when you buy this product?

How much do you usually pay for the body butter?

What is the brand, which produces this product, would you prefer to buy?

Are you satisfied with product quality?

What was your experience after purchasing this product?

Is the brand important for you?

What features and benefits of this product attracted you?

Will you recommend the body butter to other women?

Picture of the product:

Picture of The Body Shop advertisement:

SWOT analysis:

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Strong Brand/ Global Name Reorganization

Support from Head Office

Leader of Animal Protecting

Community Trade Program

Weaknesses

Deteriorating Image

Low Wages and Human Rights Issues

Packaging and Transportation Problems

Supply chain Issues

Transparency and Communication

Pricing

No Specific Product Lines in Asia

Difficulties in Managing and Controlling the Regional Business and Suppliers

Opportunities

Increasing Global Presence

Expanding Product Lines

Expand The Body Shop at Home Program

Expand E-Commerce Activities

Searching for Alliance or Joint Venture Partner

Threats

Competition in Cosmetic Industry

Risks in Material Supply

Adverse Shift in Foreign Exchange Rates

Trade Restrictions and Governmental Regulations

References

Cossma News. (2010) Cossma News. [Online]. Available at: http://www.cossma.com/en/news/single-view/artikel/loreals-2009-sales-175-billion-euros.html (Accessed: 5 December 2010).

DIMACC. (2010) Direct Internet Marketing & Corporate Consulting. [Online]. Available at: http://www.dimacc.com/marketing-mix.html (Accessed: 30 November 2010).

Learn Marketing. (2010) Learn Marketing. [Online]. Available at: http://www.learnmarketing.net/perceptualmaps.htm (Accessed: 3 December 2010).

Lingham, L. (2010) All Experts. [Online]. Available at: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Marketing-1090/2010/6/Marketing-Management-11.htm (Accessed: 26 November 2010).

Moore, L. (2010) BBC New. [Online]. Available at: http://search.bbc.co.uk/search?go=toolbar&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fuk%2F&scope=news&q=The+Body+Shop (Accessed: 1 December 2010).

Net MBA. (2010) Net MBA Business Knowledge Centre. [Online]. Available at: http://www.netmba.com/marketing/market/segmentation (Accessed: 25 November 2010).

Stanat, R. (2009) The Blake Project. [Online]. Available at: http://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/2009/09/brand-positioning-and-perceptual-maps.html (Accessed: 4 December 2010).

The Body Shop. (2010) The Body Shop. [Online]. Available at: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/values-campaigns/index.aspx (Accessed: 24 November 2010).

Jobber, D. & Fahy,J. (2009) Foundations of Marketing, third edition. Maidenhead, Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education.

 

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