Pearls Soap Case Study

  Assignment 

Strategic Marketing     

Marketing Strategy for Liril Soap in India 

By

1. Abhishek Tandon (2009A08)  2. Jerrin Jacob (2009A18)  3. Kumar Mithilesh (2009A44)   

0   

Objective 

To frame marketing strategy to increase the market share of Liril brand (HUL) from 1% to 3% in India by the end of 2012. [LIRIL: Liril is a popular brand of soaps owned by FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). It basically caters to a premium market where customers prefer a high quality bathing soap providing freshness.]

Industry Analysis 

1. Industry dominant economic traits 

A] Market Size: Market for toilet soaps in India is currently estimated at about 9,000 Cr.

Toilet soap industry is one of the oldest Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) industries in India. It is among the highest penetrated category within FMCG sector reaching an estimated 98% urban and 70% of the rural households. In volume terms, the toilet soap market in India is estimated at approximately 13 million MT (metric ton).

B] Rising input costs: Most FMCG companies use palm oil for their soap, which needs to be imported

from countries like Malaysia. Vegetable oil prices have increased significantly in the past one year due to surge in consumption demand for bio fuels and shift in acreage in favor of corn and wheat. This is likely to impact margins of various FMCG players, especially HUL and Godrej. Increase in Excise Duty has put further pressure on the margins of big players. The hike in customs duty on diesel and petrol, coupled with a 5% increase in the import duty on crude, will negatively impact the transportation and packaging costs, thus affecting the entire FMCG sector.

C] Growth Drivers: The soap market is expected to grow moderately at 4.5-5% in the near term. Some of the major growth drivers are: 

• Growing consumer demand: Rising income levels and growing aspirations, coupled with lower penetration levels, have fueled a...