SDM Institute for Management Development

SUBMITTED TO:
DR. H. GAYATHRI
A Project By:

Abhishek Kumar(9061)

Dilip T P(9074)

Rishad Modi(9086)

Robin Garg(9098)

Sonali Basu(9110)

SDM Institute for Management Development Page 1

Contents
Contents.................................................................................................................2
About HUL..............................................................................................................3
History.................................................................................................................... 6
Product...................................................................................................................7
Price..................................................................................................................... 14
Place..................................................................................................................... 15
Promotion............................................................................................................. 17
SWOT Analysis......................................................................................................23
Ansoff’s Model......................................................................................................25
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning.............................................................27
Competitor Analysis..............................................................................................29
Recommendations................................................................................................35
Bibliography......................................................................................................... 36

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About HUL

Hindustan Unilever Limited formerly Hindustan Lever Limited,

is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever and India’s largest

consumer products company and has an annual turnover of over

Rs 44,476 cores. The Company was incorporated in 1933 but its

products have been sold in India since 1888. In its journey of over

100 years the company has always operated with the singular

belief that ‘what is good for India is good for HUL’. Lever Brothers

India Limited came into being in 1956 as Hindustan Lever Limited

through a merger of Lever Brothers, Hindustan Vanaspati Mfg. Co.

Ltd. and United Traders Ltd. It is headquartered in Mumbai, India

and has employee strength of over 15000 employees. The

company was renamed in late 2007 to "Hindustan Unilever

Limited" to provide the optimum balance between maintaining the

heritage of the Company and the future benefits and synergies of

global alignment with the corporate name of "Unilever".

HUL is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company,

touching the lives of two out of three Indians. Hindustan Unilever

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 Limited is a part of the €40 billion Unilever Group. HUL’s mission is

to “add vitality to life” through its presence in over more than 400

brands spanning 14 categories of home, personal care and food

products. It has presence in over 100 countries and employs more

than 174,000 people worldwide. The company meets every day

needs for nutrition, hygiene, and personal care, with brands that

help people feel good, look good and get more out of life.

In 2007, Hindustan Unilever was rated as the most respected

company in India for the past 25 years by Business World, one of

India’s leading business magazines. The rating was based on a

compilation of magazines annual survey of India’s Most Reputed

Companies over the past 25 years. It has over 35 brands. Sixteen

of HUL’s brands featured in the AC Nielsen-Brand Equity list of 100

Most Trusted Brands Annual Survey (2008). According to Brand

Equity, HUL has the largest number of brands in the Most Trusted

Brands List. HUL has consistently had the largest number of

brands in the Top 50 and in the Top 10 (with 4 brands). Hindustan

Unilever distribution covers over 1 million retail outlets across

India directly and its products are available in over 6.3 million

outlets in India, i.e. nearly 80% of the retail outlets in India. It has

35 factories in across India, with major hubs being Assam,

Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh, Pondicherry and Dadra & Nagar

Haveli. The Anglo-Dutch company Unilever owns a majority stake

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 (52%) in Hindustan Unilever Limited. HUL was one of the eight

Indian companies to be featured on the Forbes list of World’s Most

Reputed companies in 2007.

HUL is one of India’s largest exporters of branded Fast Moving

Consumer Goods. It has been recognized by the Government of

India as a Golden Super Star Trading House.

Type Public

Founded 1933

Headquar Mumbai, India

ters

Key peopl Mr. Harish Manwani

e (Chairman)

Industry FMCG

Products Tea, soap, detergents,

deodorant etc.

Employee 15,000

Parent Unilever

Website http://www.hul.co.in/

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History

Axe was launched in France in 1983 by Unilever. It was inspired

by another of Unilever's brands Impulse. Impulse was a fragranced

deodorant body spray for women that promised wearers male

attention. Unilever were keen to capitalize on Axe's French

success and rolled it out in the rest of Europe from 1985 onwards,

later introducing the other products in the range. Unilever were

unable to use the name Axe in the UK and Ireland due to

trademark problems so it was launched as Lynx.

The European launch of the deodorant was followed by success

in Latin America and moderate impact in Asia and Africa. In the

new millennium the brand has launched with great success in the

USA and Canada. The company has also consolidated its

deodorant portfolio by moving some of the other over-lapping

male deodorants into the Axe brand such as South Africa's Ego

brand.

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Product

A number of lifestyle trends — including a growing willingness

by men to spend both time and money on their appearance and

increased activity within the men's magazine market — have

favoured the men's toiletries and fragrances market. At the same

time, however, demographic trends have worked against it, with a

decrease in the number of younger men, particularly within the

key 25 to 34 age group. The market for men's toiletries and

fragrances has developed in tandem with a number of lifestyle

changes affecting the population in general, and men in particular.

These include a growing interest in health, fitness and appearance

among consumers, with the rise in gym attendance having been of

particular consequence to the market for men's toiletries. There

have also been changes in men's perceptions of themselves,

meaning that they are more willing to show their `feminine sides'.

However, despite many attempts to `label' this phenomenon,

there is now a recognition that these changes have been more

subtle than first thought and that changing the habits of men is

not particularly easy.

The development of the men's magazine market, which began in

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 earnest during the late 1980s, was very important in providing

direct contact with male consumers through advertising. However,

this sector declined sharply (in both volume and value terms) in

2006 and 2007.

Demographic trends (in particular, the ageing population) have not

been particularly favourable to the men's toiletries and fragrances

market. However, between 2003 and 2007, there was a significant

increase in the number of men in the 15 to 24 age range. These

men tend to be mass-market consumers and their numerical

strength, combined with a willingness to spend time and money on

skincare products and grooming routines, has been beneficial to

the male toiletries market in general.

Although the male toiletries market has not performed as

spectacularly as once predicted, the 2003 to 2007 period

witnessed steady progress; however, growth has slowed after its

peak in 2005. In 2007, sales of male fragrances showed a slightly

lower growth rate compared with 2006, but around the same level

as in the previous 2 years. There is still plenty of room for growth

in the former market, in particular as the current generation of

young males reach a more mature life stage and, hopefully, will be

more willing and able to spend on premium products. Growth in

the male fragrances market will be less strong — the current

economic climate may mean that consumers are less able to

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 spend significant amounts of money on premium fragrances as

gifts or as personal indulgences.

Axe, or Lynx, is a brand of male grooming products, owned by

Anglo-Dutch Company Unilever who manufactures a range of

products in the health & beauty, household cleaning, food and ice

cream categories.

Axe's lead product is a deodorant body spray. The brand also

includes deodorant sticks, aftershaves and shower gels. In most of

the world the brand is named Axe; in Australia, New Zealand,

Ireland, and the United Kingdom it is named Lynx due to conflicts

regarding the trademark.

Axe, the deodorant that is considered cool, fashionable

and stylish by young men was launched in India in 1999. Available

in more than 60 countries around the world, it is a world leader in

male toiletries. Axe has a mix that is completely harmonised

globally – from its proposition and communication to the product,

as available on the shelf. Axe is available in five fragrances: Java,

Pulse, Dimension, Voodoo and Phoenix. Axe has become the

leading male deodorant brand in India within just one year of its

launch. Consumers associate a lifestyle of cool clubs, cool music

and cool fashion with Axe. The youth view it as an icon which

introduces many 'firsts' to their world of music and dance – like the

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 first "World's Longest Dance Party" and the first ever 'Axe Voodoo

Island Party'.

The Deodorant market in India is:

• Worth Rs. 1500 cores.

• Growing at 12% CAGR.

• Deodorant sprays account for 98% of the market share.

• Young consumers in urban areas, regard deodorants as a

necessity rather than an indulgence.

• Axe had 33 per cent market share in December 2008

• Urban centres account for 80% of market.

• Men’s deodorants started late, but have captured more than

60% of the market share.

AXE Variants

From its launch, the yearly fragrance variant of Axe has played

a key part in the success of the brand, by offering something new

each year. The type of fragrance variants have evolved over time.

In 2003 Axe variants showed clever ways they helped men get

women. In 2003 the Pulse fragrance showed how it gave geeky

men the confidence to dance to get women. This was followed by

Touch, Unlimited, and Clix and in 2007 vice was marketed on a

theme of making "nice" women become "naughty".

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 In 2008 a different direction was taken when a chocolate

scented body spray, Dark Temptation, was released.

Year of Edition Description Comments

launch name
1999 Java Variant name is taken Discontinued

from a geography
1999 Voodoo An abstract variant Caused some

controversy with

Christian groups who

objected to the use of

black magic imagery

2000 Phoenix An abstract variant The name references

the myth of the Phoenix

2002 Dimensio An abstract variant Inspired by the Sony's

n PS2 Third Place

advertising which is

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 also targeted at young

men

2003 Pulse A European variant Used the Make Love

suggests that it gives dance track which

geeks added reached number 1 in

confidence so they can UK.

pull off crazy dance

moves to impress girls

and be irresistible.
2005 Unlimited Unlimited is all about Mimics the Crouching

China and kungfu and Tiger Hidden Dragon

doing unlimited stunts Chinese kungfu film.

to get girls

2006 Click or This variant makes men Uses Nick Lachey in the

Clix so attractive to women advertising that is out-

they will need a clicker scored by a hotel

to keep score of the worker who wears Clix.

number of women who Axe gave away free

check them out clickers to promote the

scent. The lynx version

uses Ben Affleck in the

advertising instead of

Nick Lachey.

2008 Dark A chocolate smelling Advertising features a

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 Temptati fragrance that implies man who turns into

on that because women chocolate when he

like chocolate, they will sprays himself with

find men who smell of Axe. He then goes on to

chocolate irresistible. be eaten by a series of

women

Axe also launches limited edition variants from time to time

that may be on sale for a few months or over a year.

Year of Edition Description Comments

launch name
2007 AXE 3 A pack of two cans of Spraying 2 cans

Axe. One is called 1, together costs two

the other is called 2. times as much money

Both should be sprayed

together to make a new

smell
2007 Recover A burst of invigorating One of the 3 scents

citrus notes on a clean released by AXE/LYNX

masculine woody under LIMITED EDITION.

background!
2007 Shock Prepare yourself with One of the 3 scents

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 the cooling effects of released by AXE/LYNX

AXE Shock shower gel under LIMITED EDITION.

with glacier water and

deep sea mint

Price

HUL priced their AXE deodorant at Rs. 120/- when they entered

the Indian market in 1999. This was a part of their strategy to skim

the market by controlled promotion and selling through selective

outlets only. Over the years, in order to gain market share, HUL

did not go for a drastic price rise and slowly brought the product

down to the common man. In the initial few years, the brand was

established and over the next few years, HUL made the most of

this brand name by reducing the price and making their product

AXE, accessible. The current price of the standard 150ml of the

deodorant is Rs. 150/-

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Place

Axe relies on a system of flooding Indian Cosmetic shops &

grocery shops in semi-urban and urban areas with their

deodorants. Axe is also made available in Supermarkets. On the

shelf, they place all the variants side-by-side. This helps improve

visibility. Place of purchase is shown in the following graph:

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Axe has an efficient distribution channel which is taken care of by

HUL which covers the diverse geographical boundaries of the

country. Sales & Distribution of HUL covers the consumers mainly

with the combination of Clearance and Forwarding(C&F) and

stockiest who indirectly deal with the retail outlets. The C&F agent

then supplies the goods to the authorized stockiest. These stockiest

are also classified into 2 categories called U1 and U2 on the basis of

the products that they stock. The U2 stockiest deals with high profile

products of HUL like Lakme and Axe. The stockiest in HUL system

are commonly referred to as Re Stockiest (RS). Each Stockiest is

then responsible for distributing the goods to the retail counters in

his region. On an average Each Stokes caters to 700-900 retail

outlets of the city. The retailers then provide the goods to

consumers. The entire Sales and distribution channel is integrated

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through eCRM software called “UNIFY” which are installed in every

PC system of the C&F, Stockist. The company has up to date record

of the inventory position of all the stockists. A stockist is required to

maintain a minimum level of inventory. If the stock position goes

below a critical level order is automatically triggered and the

company sends the goods to the stockist. All operations thus take

place online.

Promotion

HLL launched its Axe brand of deodorants in India. Priced at Rs.

120 per 150 ml, Axe was Unilever's largest selling male toiletry

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 brand in the world. HLL came up with a 'missing women'

campaign, where one hoarding showed the Manhattan skyline,

minus the Statue of Liberty with the tag line - Courtesy Axe.

Another example was the print ad that Axe ran on Valentine's Day

of 2000, in leading English daily.

The brand launch was very quiet and theoretically the brand

was having the strategy of Slow Skimming i.e. High Price Low

Promotion. Axe at that time was the leading men's deo brand in

Europe and was popular in India in the Grey market ( available in

duty paid shops) .HLL may have launched this brand inspired by

the volume of Axe sold in the Grey market. At that time, the deo

market was a nascent one with an estimated market size of Rs 72

crore. HLL had the brands Denim and Rexona and was ruling the

market. Axe was priced at a premium above the Denim brand

which was positioned as a male deo brand.

Axe initially was launched in the fragrance Java, Alaska and

Atlantic. HLL did not bother to fine tune its promotional mix to the

Indian market but just imported the product from Europe. And IT

CLICKED.

Axe in 2002 was having a market share of over 35% and soon

HLL phased out Denim brand to concentrate on this Star. Axe is

the naughtiest brand in the Indian market. The brand is targeted

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 at male aged 16-25. Internationally this brand targets male aged

15-25. The biggest strength of this brand is the underlying

message or the DNA which is that the brand users are high on

Confidence and always for the Axe users, girls make the first

move. The brand assumes that men want(Likes) to be seduced.

That feeling (of being seduced) gives a big boost of self confidence

to a man. Although many brands take this proposition, Axe just

made it perfect.

In 2005, Axe had a high profile launch of its new fragrance

CLICK and before that there was Axe Land campaign and followed

by Axe-Academy, then Axe Voodoo and the latest one

Phenomenon.

The power of this big idea has ensured that Indian consumers lap

up the foreign commercials without any hitch.

Also advertising agencies played a very important role in

producing the proper advertising to make the product get into

consumers’ minds.

HUL has a dedicated website for its popular male deodorant

brand, Axe, besides an online fan club, and engages customers via

online games. HUL’s Axe Chocolate, is being heavily promoted

online and through mass media campaigns.

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 Another online campaign of axe includes a website

‘axevice.com’. This website was launched when the variant ‘Vice-

City’ was launched. This website is very interesting and lets the

user act as a detective to solve certain crimes which consist of

‘nice girls turning naughty’ and attacking men. The culprit

obviously is a can of axe deodorant which is found at all the crime

scenes. The boy uses that and is then attacked by a girl who is

otherwise nice, but because of the axe fragrance, turns naughty.

The whole process of solving the crime is not only very interesting

but is also successful in positioning Axe as the ultimate fragrance

which could get you closer to women!

The Talktime scratch card scheme is on purchase of specially

marked combo packs of Axe Deodorant sprays having scratch card

inside, which could be worth up to Rs 100 with unique code

number (UCN). The promotion period was from May 15th 2009 to

August 15th 2009.

A 24 hour online campaign by Axe Dark Temptation, a

chocolate fragrance deodorant brand, was aimed to engage the

target audience of Axe and inform them that November 2008 is

being celebrated as Chocolate Month in India. As part of this

activity, members of the audience could send free chocolate

packages to girls, if the latter were ready to accept them.

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 A dark man was placed at the

centre of the Yahoo.in homepage. A

fixed banner ad on the right side

displayed an Axe Dark Temptation

deodorant bottle. In the next few

seconds, the bottle flew towards the

dark man and sprayed deodorant. As

a result, the man got converted into

a chocolate man and walked towards

the banner ad. Once inside the

banner ad, the consumer

engagement began, as visitors were

given the option to click on the ad in

order to get a surprise.

When a visitor clicked on the banner ad, the headlines and content

on the homepage changed into chocolate related stories, even

presented in chocolate colour. Images got replaced with the

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 images of girls. The chocolate man started walking towards the

Yahoo! India logo, which got morphed into a brown coloured logo,

with chocolate dripping from it. Soon after, the girls in the images

also started walking, one by one, towards the chocolate man. The

banner ad and all the image boxes from where the girls moved

out, displayed the message: To send a box of chocolates, log on to

Axeffect.com.

A visitor could close the campaign or reach the site, Axeffect.com,

developed by WebChutney, an interactive agency. On the site, he

could fill a form and submit the name of the girl to whom he

wanted to send the chocolates.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), which owns the Axe brand, carried

out the banner ad campaign for 24 hours across other portals as

well, such as Zapak.com, Indiatimes.com and msn.co.in. However,

it was only at the Yahoo! India site that the content and images of

the homepage were morphed with the chocolate effect of Axe

Dark Temptation.

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

1. Brand image and Brand Name

2. Perfect positioning of the product

3. Cap design with a difference

Weakness:

1. Gender specific product

2. Priced a little low which may affect the brand image with the

affluent

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 3. All fragrances are priced at Rs. 150 by which they may be

overlooking segmenting the market based on price

Opportunities:

1. A whole new gender left to explore

2. Rapidly growing market

Threats:

1. Duplication of Axe deosprays may affect the brand image.

2. Competitors have come out with innovative marketing

strategies including spoofs of the Axe commercials.

3. International players are entering the market to taste some of

the huge market share that is available, here in India.

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Ansoff’s Model

1. Market Penetration

• Attract users of competitors’ products. By using ‘the axe

effect’. Very intense and effective branding of the product.

• Convert non-users into users. By convincing them that using

axe attracts the opposite sex.

• Increase product usage. An innovative 3-in1 combination which

lets you mix fragrances but also increases usage at the same

time.

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 • Increase the frequency of purchase. New flip design which

sprays more quantity that a normal spray.

• Find new applications for current users.

2. Market Development

• Expand geographically. Strategic expansion to newer countries

since its inception.

• Target new segments. First high pricing for skimming the crowd

and then strategically reduced the price and started targeting

new segments.

3. Product Development

• Product reformulation strategy: chocolate flavour

• Product feature addition strategy - 24 hour protection against

body odour

• Product line extension strategy - New versions

4. Diversification

• Related - Shampoos, shower gels, powders, shaving cream,

after shave.

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Segmentation, Targeting and

Positioning

1. Geographic Segmentation:

• Urban areas

2. Demographic:

• Age: 15 – 35 yrs

• Gender: Strictly Male

• Income: Middle, upper-middle and lower-upper

3. Psychographic:

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 • Lifestyle: Surrounded the opposite sex, Very outgoing, popular

among the ladies

• Personality: Charming

4. Behavioural:

• Occasion: Regular

• Benefits: Quality, Popularity

• Usage rate: Heavy users

• Attitude towards product: Enthusiastic

The brand has tried positioning itself in the minds of its consumers

as a medium through which getting in touch with the opposite sex

becomes easier. Moreover, the brand positions itself through

advertisements, that any person, irrespective of his looks, can

attract the prettiest of women, thanks to the magic of Axe. Axe has

successfully tapped the latent desire among its male audience of

being popular among the opposite sex. The uniqueness lies in the

direct approach that Axe has adopted to reach the minds of the

consumers.

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Competitor Analysis

“Deodorants are a lucrative category and are highly under-

penetrated. So, every player in this space has ample scope to

innovate”. Axe, currently is the leading brand in India with a market

share of 33% (A C Nielsen, 2009).

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The No 2 slot is currently occupied by Set Wet Zatak at 9.1 per cent.

(BUSINESS STANDARD-JUNE 1,2009). Paras Pharma has been

promoting its deodorant brand Zatak aggressively during the last

two years. Its campaign featuring foreign models has been popular

among various segments. Moreover Paras has been able to give an

international look for this Indian brands.

Zatak has released a new television commercial which is a spoof of

the popular Axe commercials. The ad has generated lot of media

interests with various business portals discussing this move.

The ad shows a skinny man literally using the axe (not the deodorant

but the real one) in a movement that is similar to that in the Axe

commercials. Then two girls walk towards him and the man thinks

that they are coming for him but they actually walk past him towards

another hunk (the Zatak guy).

Although many reports suggest that Zatak is taking on competition

head on with Axe, some have a different view. Zatak is a small brand

compared to Axe. Paras also has limited resources to fight the

mighty giant, HUL. So this strategy is aimed to gain more eyeballs at

the expense of the big boy Axe.

Paras is not aiming to dethrone Axe from its leadership position;

definitely not in the near future. Zatak is trying to start small and

carve a small market for itself without directly competing with the

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leader. It is attacking players of its own size or local and regional

players. Another option is to go in for is the frontal attack which is a

high risk, high pay-off strategy. This strategy will work effectively if

the current leader is not serving the customer segment properly.

Zatak has chosen to attack Axe directly. Although it is a high risk

strategy, for a brand like Zatak, it has some advantages. This

strategy reinforces the positioning of the brand. If one observes

closely, Zatak is having the same positioning as Axe. i.e. girls getting

attracted to boys because of the fragrance of the deodorant. Zatak

has been driving this positioning using its various commercials. The

current campaign is pitching the brand opposite to Axe and hence

conveying to the customers that Zatak is the alternative to Axe.

Deodorant is a category where customers are loyal but willing to

experiment. Since the investment is low, customers tend to try new

fragrances and brands. But most of the customers have their

favourite brands and fragrances. In the market Axe has been

dominating and there is virtually no strong alternative for Axe. So by

attacking Axe directly, Zatak is putting itself into a position alongside

Axe. So even if it does not become number 1 it can be a successful

number 2.

Now the risk is with regard to HUL's response to this spoof. HUL

currently is not planning to retaliate. But it will definitely be watching

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the moves of Zatak. Zatak should also be careful not to take these

spoofs too far with follow ups. Too much spoofs can give a

perception that Zatak does not have an identity of its own.

Zatak is seen as the direct competitor to Axe and is also doing well

because it’s been pricing its products a little cheaper. (Rs 130 for

200 ml) For Axe the way forward will require them to bring the prices

of their products down and look to set up a manufacturing hub in

India. For Zatak, it’s about consolidating their position without losing

out their consumers to newer entrants.

There are other suitors too for the No.1 slot. NIVEA Men’s Deodorant,

Sport for Men, which entered the market at the end of 2007, has

already overtaken Park Avenue. It’s the number-three deodorant

brand with a market share close to 9%. Nivea deodorant moved from

being the No 7 player in the category in 2007 to being the No 3

player in 2008. This was supported considerably through the launch

of NIVEA Deodorant Energy Fresh for Women. The brand also

engaged the young Indian consumer through innovative below the

line activations. NIVEA Deodorant Sport went to young male

consumers with ‘What’s your Sport’ activation that brought alive an

element of sport in their day to day activities. The younger female

audience was addressed with the NIVEA Soft ‘Stay Simply Beautiful’ -

road show.

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Nivea is present in 600 stores across the country. Its Price ranges

from Rs 143 to 200 Vol- 120ml, 150 ml.

The growth in the deodorant industry prompted two other players to

enter this segment earlier this month. While Henkel launched Fa

Mens Extreme with film actor Bipasha Basu as its brand ambassador,

Elder Health Care along with VLCC launched Fuel for Men.

Henkel has entered the male deodorant segment with the launch of

Fa Men-Xtreme brand of deodorants. Fa Men-Xtreme comes in three

variants– Speedster, Energy Zone and Cool Wave. Launched in

March pan-India,

Fa is positioned on the platform of Freshness. It has the tagline "Feel

Good Freshness ".

The brand has roped in the bollywood diva Bipasha Basu as the

brand ambassador. The brand is running its first television

commercial across various channels.

But the positioning of its line extension is not in sync with the parent

brand. Fa Xtreme is not complementing the core brand ‘Manthra’ of

Fa. Instead it is moving in the direction of brands like Axe and Set

wet. This is causing a brand dilution.

Fa could have used the "freshness" platform for its men's range. No

deo brand has taken the freshness platform (except Cinthol). Hence

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Fa Xtreme could have easily created a distinct place in the men's

grooming category if it had followed its parent brand's positioning.

FA Men Xtreme is priced at an MRP of Rs 140(150 ml).

There are other international players like Adidas, Nike, Police and

Park Avenue who have established themselves in India with a fair

amount of the market share with them. They are priced close to

each other leading to increase in competition. The customer buys

one of these products either because he is very loyal to that brand or

because he might just like the fragrance of a particular brand.

Nike was launched by the house of Nike Perfumes in 1929. Nike

Casual is a trendy accessory for men of all age groups. Vol 150ml. Rs

187 to Rs 459 range.

CavinKare is also set to join hands with Paris-based $3.5 billion

fragrance products maker, Coty, to establish Adidas brand personal

care products in India. Under the proposed agreement, CavinKare

will be responsible for the branding, marketing and distribution of

Adidas deodorants in the country. (Vol 150 ml Rs. 199-549). The

market for male deodorants at an average price of Rs 140 per bottle

is roughly 21.4 million cans per annum.

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Recommendations

1. Setting up a production plant in India to reduce costs and

improve distribution.

2. Entry into the perfume industry under the same name.

3. Address both the genders. Release a deodorant for women.

4. Entry into the soap entry under the same brand name to

compete with ‘Cinthol’ in the ‘soap for men’ segment.

5. Axe deodorant should come up with a break open seal to avoid

duplication and refilling.

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Bibliography

1. http://www.business-standard.com/india/

2. http://www.wikipedia.org/

3. http://www.hul.co.in/

4. http://www.google.co.in

5. http://www.indiainfoline.com/

6. http://www.businessweek.com/

7. Marketing Management, 13th Edition, Pearson Education

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