MARKETING REPORT ON HAMAM SOAP

SUBMITED TO: PROF.SATISH RAIKAR

Submitted by: MD TASLIM ARIF Roll no.-57

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
HUL, HINDUSTAN UNILIVER LIMITED, is perhaps the most common household name in the country. It is Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever. Both Unilever and HUL have established themselves well in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) category. In India, the company offers many households brands like, Dove, Lifebuoy, Lipton, Lux, Pepsodent, Ponds, Rexona, Sunsilk, Surf, Vaseline etc. Some of its efforts were also rewarded when four of HUL brands found place in the Top 10 brands list for the year 2008 published in The Economic Times. The soap enjoys a market share of 9-10% in the national soap market and a huge share of 21.36% in Tamil Naidu. In spite of the cut-throat competition in the market, the brand has been able to retain its brand value over the decades. This report contains the various marketing strategies of the brand and how it has survived. Finance is an important part of any industry and hence a short summary of that factor is also included While going through the data and different things in the report making ,I realized that though Hamam is a perfect soap but in its race against time and competition it is behind from where should have been. According to me basic failures where at the strategy level where it failed to feel the nerve of the consumer . Today consumer demands something more everyday, he wants full return/value of his investment/expense (if possible even extra).
When HLL implemented the Power Brand strategy, Hamam survived the axe because of thestrong equity it had among the consumers. Hence the axe fell on Rexona which was also a naturalsoap with the same positioning as Hamam.

Hamam earlier projected itself as a herbal beauty soap and so its main consumer belong to the age of 20-40, with passage of time though its customers remain loyal it failed to add new. Men and children were the left out which in this high growing soap market have much say.

SOAP INDUSTRY: Soap was introduced in India by the Lever Brothers during the British reign in the country. There after soaps were imported from England and marketed in India. However the first local soap manufacturing unit was set up by Mr. Jamshedji Tata in Cochin, Kerala around the period 1918 India is a vast country with a population of 1,030 million people. Household penetration of soaps is 98%. People belonging to different income levels use different brands, which fall under different segments, but all income levels use soaps, making it the second largest category in India (detergents are number one). Rural consumers in India constitute 70% of the population. Rural demand is growing, with more and more soap brands being launched in the discount segment targeting the lower socio-economic strata of consumers. The ever increasing demand for personal care products in India is mostly due to the sizable population, greater hygiene concerns and the rising income levels of the people of the nation. This industry grows at about 7% per annum with an even better growth rate projected at 8% in future. A large number of major FMCG players have ventured in this industry along with the players who concentrate only on the soap industry. HUL (Hindustan Unilever Ltd.) is the leader in the industry which holds a vast majority of the market share. The main competitors are Nirma and Godrej followed by a large number of other small companies. Some of the major brands of soap are Hamam, Lifebuoy, Cinthol, Vivel, Nirma etc. Toilet soaps, despite their divergent brands, are not well differentiated by the consumers. It is, therefore, not clear if it is the brand loyalty or experimentation lured by high volume media campaign, which sustain them. A consequence is that the market is fragmented. It is obvious that this must lead to a highly competitive market. The incremental demand flows from population increase and rise in usage norm impacted as it is by a greater concern for hygiene. Increased sales revenues would also expand from up gradation of quality or per unit value.

HISTORY OF HAMAM Hamam is one of the oldest soap brands in India. The brand came into existence in 1934 and over these 73 years has successfully built a space for itself in the consumer's mind. The brand has successfully fought the competition and the changed environment. The brand was owned by Tata Oil Mills (TOMCO) and later became the HLL brand when HLL acquired Tomco. Hamam is a natural soap .Although many reports put this brand as a herbal soap, Hamam is more of a natural soap than herbal. The brand have a market share of about 9-10 percent of the Indian soap market. The brand has a huge market share ( more than 25%) in the Tamilnadu market. When HLL implemented the Power Brand strategy, Hamam survived the axe because of the strong equity it had among the consumers. Hence the axe fell on Rexona which was also a natural soap with the same positioning as Hamam.

Hamam was positioned initially as a complete natural family soap.The brand was built on the Trust factor. The earlier ads typically showed Mother and child with mother explaining the meaning of Trust using the example of Hamam.The brand may have acquired this quality from its original creators TATA.

Although the brand was able to manage the PLC, it had its share of problems. At one point, HLL was facing the competition from Herbal/ayurvedic soaps. HLL tried to position Hamam as a herbal soap by changing the composition by adding Neem ingredient and reducing the TFM. But that reduction of TFM disqualified Hamam as a soap and the brand lost many of their loyal customers.

2005 saw HLL repositioning the brand by adding more ingredients. The brand now talks about having a Perfect Balance of Neem, Tulsi and Alovera Extracts. The packaging also has been made more contemporary and the shape of the soap has been made oval.2006-07 saw a change in the communication of the brand. The brand no longer talks about trust but now positioning itself as a beauty enhancing soap.The brand has now come out with a variant that contains green gram, turmeric and sandal .The color of the soap also has changed to sandal

from the traditional green color. This move is a marked deviation from the age old positioning of the brand as a natural green soap.

Hamam for years has been able to sustain its market position because of the strong brand loyal customers .The brand now wants to be relevant to a new consumers ( younger generation). The brand also faces stiff competition from a plethora of brands offering the same ingredients and benefits. The latest repositioning exercise is aimed to keep the brand relevant and also leverage the brand equity it had built up over these years.

HUL has entered into various business segments since its inception. They are Home & Personal, Food and Beverages. It has segmented and positioned its products depending on the needs of Indian customers.

STP: The formula Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning (STP) is the essence of strategic marketing. This helps in choosing the value. The marketing staff must segment the market, select the appropriate market target and develop the offerings value positioning.

SEGMENTATION: Segmentation involves dividing the market into segments, to satisfy the needs of different customers. The marketers identify and profile distinct groups of buyers who might require or prefer varying product or service mixes by examining demographic, psychographic and behavioural differences among buyers. Segmentation involves 4 stages: 1. Identifying market segment bases (identifying potential customers having particular characteristics). 2. Developing relevant profiles for each segment 3. Forecast market potential 4. Forecast market share. HUL has segmented its various products based on age, lifestyle, personality, occupation, income, region, loyalty, usage rate etc. of the customer. For example, Hamam is segmented based on the benefit (fragrance), age (youngsters) and gender (men).

Basically there are four segments that the industry is classified into. Premium, popular, economy and discount are the major segments into which the products are classified based on income. Premium: This is the upper most segment in the industry which constitute some top brands in the industry. These soaps are expected to have special qualities and fragrance. Popular: This constitutes the common and popular brands that are commonly used by people. Economy: Soaps which are cheaply available and offer enough satisfaction come under this category. Discounts: These are less popular brands that have less recall value. As a result they come up more with offers and discounts. Also they may be clubbed with other products of the company as compliments.

TARGETING: After identifying the market segments, the marketer then decides which present the greatest opportunities, which are its target markets. HUL has targeted its customers in urban, semi-urban, rural areas, depending on the product. The targeting can also be done based on the income of the individual (lower class, middle class, middle class, upper middle class and upper class)

POSITIONING: For each target market, the firm develops a market offering that it positions in the minds of the target buyers as delivering some central benefits. For example, HUL has positioned its largest skin-brand, Fair & Lovely as a fairness cream that empowers a woman to change her destiny. Likewise, the positioning of all the HUL brands is related to health or hygiene or beauty.

MAJOR PLAYERS: The major players in the industry are Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL), Wipro, Reckitt Benckiser, Godrej, ITC etc. Hindustan Unilever Ltd. : With over four brands HAMAM, LIFEBUOY, HAMAM, REXONA, LIRIL has 45% share of the overall soap market. HUL is India's largest Fast Moving Consumer Goods Company; its journey began 75 years ago, in 1933, when the company was first incorporated. The company stirring the lives of two out of three Indians with over 20 distinct categories in Home & Personal Care Products and Foods & Beverages and also one of the country's largest exporters.

Godrej Consumer Products: Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) is a major player in the Indian FMCG market with leadership in personal, hair, household and fabric care segments. The company is one among the largest marketer of toilet soaps in the country with leading brands such as CINTHOL, GODREJ No.1, FAIRGLOW. Fairglow brand, India's first Fairness soap, has created marketing history as one of the most successful innovations. It is also the preferred supplier for contract manufacturing of toilet soaps, some of which are the most well-known brands in the country. Currently, it has a market share of 9.5%.

Reckitt Benckiser: It has a market share of 9.1% in the soap market, with the brand Dettol. Dettol was launched in India in 1933 and has been consistently voted as one of the most trusted brands of India.

Wipro: Santoor, the flagship sandalwood soap brand of Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting (WCCL) the FMCG division of IT major Wipro has become the largest soap brand in South India. The maket share of Wipro in the soap market with two brands (Santoor, Chandrika) is 8.1%.

STP of HAMAM: SEGMENTATION: Segmentation of Hamam is based on 2 factors mainly: 1. Demographic 2. Behavioural

1. Demographic factors: The market is segmented based on i. Gender: Hamam is considered as soap for the whole family from the inception. ii. Age: It concentrates mainly on the customers within the age group of 25-45 years. iii. Income: Considering the income of the consumers, Hamam has introduced the variants ranging from Rs.15 to Rs.20

2. Behavioural factors: i. Benefits: It removes dirt and makes skin softer. It also gives the benefits of freshness and fragrance.

TARGETING: The top soap companies are specially producing soaps under the discount segment meant exclusively for the rural areas targeting the absolute lower income consumers. The primary aim of the top soap brands in India today is to expand the number of rural consumers since the rural consumers consists of 70% of the total population of the country. As the overall soaps penetration in Indian households is 98%, Hamam need to target rural, urban and sub urban regions by introducing different variants and prices in each region. POSITIONING: Hamam soap is positioned as natural soap under the tagline Hamam brings alive the wisdom behind time-less skincare rituals in convenient and contemporary formats.

COMPETITORS: HUL (Hindustan Unilever Ltd.) is the leader in the soap industry which holds a vast majority of the market share. Hamam has always been superior and has led the market, setting benchmarks for competition. Some of the main competitors are Ricket Benckiser, ITC, Godrej, Wipro etc. followed by a large number of other small companies. Some of the major brands of soap are Lux, Lifebuoy, Cinthol, Vivel, Dove, Pears, Santoor etc. Dove: Dove is a personal care brand owned by Hindustan Unilever Limited. It was launched in India in the year 1995. It was priced at Rs.50, thereby not attractive to customers. Even people with higher income level did not consider it worth buying. Dove then changed its strategy and reduced its price to Rs.28, thus attracting upper middle class customers. In the year 2004, Unilever won the Marketer of the year award for its brand Dove.

Pears: Pears is a product of Hindustan Unilever Limited. It was introduced in India in the year 1902. Pears is manufactured like any other soap, but unlike in conventional soaps, the glycerine is retained within the soap. That is the cause if its unique transparency. After manufacturing, the soap is mellowed under controlled conditions over weeks. At the end of this maturing process, it is individually polished and packed in cartons. Lifebuoy: Lifebuoy is a product of Hindustan Unilever Limited. It was launched in India in the year 1935. Scenting an opportunity in the prickly heat talc segment, especially with the summer season on, HUL launched its Lifebuoy talc in February this year. Germs are the root cause of prickly heat, and therefore, it is ideally suited for Lifebuoy, given the brand's strong germ-kill credentials to enter this segment.

External Competitors :

Cinthol: Cinthol was first launched in 1952 by Godrej Consumer Products Limited. Cinthol was Indias first toilet soap to be made purely from vegetable oils; most other soaps contained animal fats. Cinthols positioning was based on the twin benefits of freshness and

deodorancy. It was targeted at Indian males and provided the assurance of good smell and protection after bath. In spite of all the changes that it has undergone over the years, Cinthol has managed to stick to this core offering. This has helped establish a firm connection with the Indian consumer. The market share of Godrej Consumers in soap industry is 9.5%.

Vivel: Between February and June 2008, ITC expanded its personal care portfolio with the launch of Vivel range of soaps and shampoos to cater to the specific needs of a wide range of consumers. This high quality range of soaps and shampoos are for the upper-mid and midmarket consumer segments. All products offer a unique value proposition of bringing together ingredients that provide the benefit of Nourishment, Protection and moisturisation through one product, hence providing the ever discerning consumer complete care, which makes her beautiful and confident. Santoor: Sandal and Turmeric have been an essential part of the Indian womans skin care regimen for centuries. In 1986, Wipro brought these two traditional ingredients together and Santoor was born. Santoor gave the Indian woman, natures traditional goodness at a popular price. Targeted at the middle class housewife, Santoor combined the natural goodness of two ingredients that she had grown up with - now for the first time in a convenient soap. In the next two decades, Santoor became the third largest selling popular soap in India. During this time Santoor steadily became synonymous with younger looking skin. An image enhanced by a series of extremely catchy advertisements, where the protagonist, a married woman was often mistaken for a college girl. Through the years the Santoor woman became both irresistible and aspirational for every Indian woman. Santoor has grown from a traditional south Indian soap to a modern beauty soap that has carried the secret of younger looking skin to more and more women across the country. Santoor is the secret of younger looking skin of a wide range of women of different ages and income groups all across the country. The overall market share of wipro in the soap market is 8.1% with the brands like Santoor and Chandrika. The variant and price of Santoor is

Dettol: Dettol is the brand of Reckitt Benckiser. It was introduced in India in 1933. It was positioned as a germ fighter and protection that has never changed. It also has a mass appeal in rural areas due to the launch of smaller 35gm packs. It was the first antiseptic soap to enter the market. The current market share of Dettol is 9.1%.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

PRODUCTS : HAMAM comes under the classification of Tangible & Non-Durable Good, and the category of convenience Good. It is in the maturity stage of the life cycle. Quality: It is considered to be a good quality product in the soap market. Packaging: Hamam comes in very attractive packaging. Size: it comes in various sizes starting from mini soap of 45 gm to 150 gm. Follwing are some of the products of Hamam soap :

Hamam Sampoorna Snaan

Hamam Scrub Bath

Hamam Abhyanga Snaan

PRICE: The price set for the Hamam products are very reasonable and competitive in the market. It provides value for money to the customers. Hamam neither keeps its price very high as compared to the price offered by other soap brands, neither too low. Promotion: Soap is primarily targeted towards women, as they are the chief decision-makers in terms of soap purchase. Medicated positionings like germ killing and anti-bacterial are marketed to families. below the retail prices. Hamams early advertising campaigns aimed to educate users about its credentials as a herbal product and appeared in magazines such as Ladies Home Journal. In the beginning it was a successful brand .

PLACE : Channel: The Company has very strong distribution channel, across the country. It may also be considered as one of the competitive strength over its rivals. The first phase of the HUL distribution network had wholesalers placing bulk orders directly with the company. Large retailers also placed direct orders, which comprised almost 30 per cent of the total orders collected Coverage: Large number of suppliers and whole sellers make it possible to have a nationwide coverage, including every parts of the country. Location: it is available from small shops to big retail outlets like Reliance Mart, Big Bazaar etc. The distribution channel has been further enhanced through Shakti project, through which rural women are employed to provide the product in rural areas. It has already covered large number of villages in many states, and looking for wider network through this project.

SWOT Analysis: The overall evaluation of a companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is called SWOT analysis. It is used to monitor internal and external marketing environment. Each business needs to evaluate all its strengths and weaknesses. It doesnt have to correct all its weaknesses nor should gloat about all its strengths. The business unit should also setup a marketing intelligence system to track trends and important developments and any related opportunities and threats. STRENGTHS: Hamam has the following strengths:
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Good distribution channel (distribution is also done using the latest technology like RSnet).

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It has a strong brand image, since it is being promoted from the house of HUL. Hamam also contains variants, suitable to the needs and wants of different segments.

Hamam is available anywhere, starting from kirana stores to online shopping.

WEAKNESSES: The main weakness of Hamam is that it is projected as a natural beauty soap targeting only women. This may lead to the loss of market share. The other weakness of Hamam is the failure of some of its variants like scrub snaan, Abhyanga Snaan. This may cause negative impact in the minds of the consumer. OPPORTUNITIES: Good marketing is the art of finding, developing and profiting from the opportunities it has in the market. A marketing opportunity is an area of buyers need and interest that a company has a higher probability of profitably satisfying. The opportunities of Hamam are as follows:
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As the soap industry is growing in India at a rapid rate, Hamam can introduce more variants depending on the needs of the market and make non-users into users.

It has much scope in mens segment because men are also beauty conscio these us days.

It can retain its loyal customers by making them feel delighted through the usage of different variants.

With the rising disposable income in the rural sector and semi-metros, we expect good demand coming from this category in the popular range.

THREATS: Hamam has major threats from 1. Major competitors already present in the soap industry and competing head on with the company (Eg: Godrej, Wipro). 2. New entrants like P&G. INFERENCES: It can be inferred that Hamam has been concentrating only women, by constantly updating its variants. It is penetrating into rural markets . But, most of the people are not aware of all the variants of Hamam, because of which they are not able to gain greater market share.

FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS:
As per the Annual Report of Hindustan Unilevers Limited, the net revenue for the financial year 2010-11 is 19,401 crores. Since soaps and Detergents constitute 44.6% of the total revenue, the amount of revenue earned from this section is approximately 8650 crores. Of this amount, Hamam contributes around 352 crores. In its annual report, the company has shown a growth of 9.8% in its revenue. Going by these standards, the revenue is expected to grow by approximately 12%. IMPLEMENTATION and CONTROL :
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Product line extension by introducing variants for men that keeps them fresh all the day. Introducing the soaps of less chemical composition for babies. This attracts mothers to buy the soaps, as they are already loyal to the brand. Introducing soaps with different shapes to the children. Offering customers the chance to share screen with the celebrities in the advertisements. Emphasize on the variants of HAMAM rather than the brand.

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