ANALYSING  CONSUMER  MARKET :

The consumer is the heart or the core of any business, and its preferences and choices determine the success and survival of any business.

Consumers buying behavior determines the ROI, market share and the profit of the business.

Consumer behavior is determined by various factors/stimuli :

1.      Market Stimuli :

               Consists of products and services.

               Price.

               Distribution and communications.

2.      Other Stimuli :

               Economic

               Technological

               Political

               Cultural

3.      Consumer Psychology :

               Motivation

               Perception

               Learning

               Memory

4.      Consumer characteristics :

               Cultural

               Social

               Personal

5.      Buying Decision Process :

              Problem recognition

              Search for proper solutions

              Selecting best possible solution

              Purchase Decision

              Post purchase decision

6.       Purchase decision :

              Product choice

              Brand choice

              Dealer choice

              Purchase amount

              Purchase timing

              Payment method

Therefore for a Himalaya consumer the decision to make a purchase is determined or influenced by various factors:

Its market position , the way Himalaya establishes itself as a herbal ayurvedic brand which uses the age old methods to cure skin problems. Purchase of the product also depends upon its accessibility and affordability, Himalaya places itself as a mass consumer good with prices of its variance ranging from as low as Rs.15 to Rs. 250.

Consumer behavior of a Himalaya neem face wash also depends upon his/her motivation and loyalty to use the product again once hi/she is statisfied with the value it offers.

Himalaya today has a market share of around 40% , and has a share of its loyal customers who keep making those post purchase decisions to buy the product again and again after use.

HOLISTIC  OR  SUSTAINABLE  MARKETING :

             

Holistic or sustainable marketing is an idea that talks about sustainability of the business as a whole. Where the producers, the company and the owners have a responsibility towards the environment and the society as a whole. It talks about creating better business, better relationship and better environment. The sensitizing of everyone towards a greener future and a promise to give a same if not a better society with better and healthy environment to the next generations to come.

To find a mid way to lessen the damage that is being made every day, by the producers who come up with new and improved products.

Himalaya has established itself as herbal brand with ayurvedic ingredients that are being used which pose no harm to the society.

CORPORATE  SOCIAL  RESPONSIBILITY.

                   

Therefore, Himalaya uses ingredients from the nature and also helps sustain the nature, which inturn helps in a sustainable development. hence the balance is maintained. 

ANALYSING  BUSINESS  MARKET :

Business market comprises of two major components:

·      1)   B2B marketing.

·      2)      B2C marketing.

B2B – Business to business marketing, where the final finished product or at least a part of the finished product is given to the other business to either carry the production forward or distribure the finished good in the market. For example a car manufacturing business is a B2B business, where one different parts of the car are manufactured at different places and final assembling is done somewhere else.

Some characteristics are of B2B marketing are:

·                              Focus on problem solving

·                              Need to support customer professional

·                              Caters different customer segments

·                              One customer but at the end serves many consumers

·                               Long step by step process

Whereas,

B2C – Business to consumer, where the final finished product directly reaches the consumer through the retailers and other distribution channels. For example FMCG goods like soaps, shampoos which are produced in one factory all together.

Characteristics of B2C marketing are :

·                       Bigger unit purchases

·                       More technically complex products

·                       High buyer risk

·                       Longer buy times

·                       More complex decision making process

·                      Closer buyer-seller relationship/ more personal relationship

·                       Derived demand

Himalaya follows a B2C marketing strategy, Himalaya neem face wash has greater accessibility as it reaches maximum target audience. The product directly reaches the consumers without any middle business involved in it. There are various Himalaya outlets which delivers all the variance and all the products Himalaya has to offer. Therefore himalaya shares a more upclose and personal relation with its customers. Its based more on the love marriage notion where the decisions are mostly influenced by personal choices and preferences.  

BRANDING

                  

The brand is an identity, a sense of belonging for the people who are loyal to it and use it. It distinguishes one seller with the other. Brand can a logo, sign, tagline etc. It is associated with the promises the company offers to make. Brand is the face of the company which has close association with its customers.

Himalaya logo is a visual identity of the brand Himalaya.

1. The leaf that forms the crossbar of letter 'H' evokes companies focus on herbal healthcare.
2. The vibrant orange colour of the leaf signifies warmth, vibrancy and commitment to caring.
3. The teal green colour represents proximity to nature.

Hence Himalaya associates itself with every thing it promises to give.


BRAND  EQUITY :

                   

Himalaya associates itself with:

1. Availability
2. Preference
3. Loyalty
4. Awareness
5. Familiarity
6. Image and personality
7. Associations.

Himalaya is a 1000 crore brand growing at a CAGR of 26% in India and 35% internationally. Its skin care division grows at a rate of 30-35% every year. That is power of the brand Himalaya today.

SALES  MANAGEMENT :

       Any activity that is aimed to promote customer purchase is known as sales. Sales is directly related to the profit a company makes which is directly related to converting demand into revenue. Sales include features like accessing customer needs, presenting product features and benefits to the customers etc.

Sales  management :

        Sales management is a business strategy to focuss on the practical application og the sales techniques and the management of other sales operations.

Sales  planning :

         Sales planning involves setting up a strategy to increase profit based sales target, sales                 forcasting, demand management and execution of the sales plan formulated.

            

Sales  funnel :

·                  Awareness – relates to brand recall, where the message of the brand is communicated by the company and captured by the consumer

Himalaya has a very high brand recall or awareness among its consumers because the easy and chemical free way of getting rid of pimples and acne is Himalaya neem face wash.

·             Leads – A lead is a prospect that meets specified criteria as determined by the sales and marketing team.

Himalaya neem face wash establishes itself as mass product where a teenagers suffering from pimples and acne can use it and an adult can also use it for its ayurvedic benefits.

·             Prospects – Prospects are the specific target groups that are motivated and influenced to purchase the product.

Himalaya currently focuses on college going young girls who suffer from pimple and acne problems.

SEGMENTING  TARGETING  AND  POSITIONING.

SEGMENTING :
                                           Segmenting refers to the dividing of the customers into various segments. And categorizing them in various different divisions that caters to various needs and preferences of various consumers. Each divisions of the customer is applied with different marketing strategies and different selling approach. Segmentation is carried out at different levels like geographical, psycho-graphics, gender and various other factors.

Himalaya neem face wash  segments its customers as:

·         Young people who suffer from various skin problems like acne and pimples.

·         Middle income and higher middle income gropus

·         People between the age of 15 to 25.

Targeting :

   Targeting refers to focusing on different segments and to establish and communicate distinctive benefits of the companies market offering.

Himalaya neem face wash targets :

·          Key focus is on people who suffer from skin problems.

·         People who still have faith in the age old ayurvedic methods.

·         Major focus on young teens who face problems of pimples die to the hormonal changes.

Positioning :

  Positioning refers to the the place the company decides to achieve in the market, the position that  it wants to set in the eyes of the customer in terms of the value, quality and promise that it offers. Positioning itself either as a luxury brand or a mass consumer good.

Himalaya positions itself :

·         As an ayurvedic, chemical free brand which provides solution to the skin problems of the masses.

·         It positions itself as a consumer good.

·         It ensures it reach and affordability to the middle and upper middle class groups.

SWOT ANALYSIS : 

Strength :
       Strong image and global presence.
       Recognised world over as pioner in ayurvedic brand.

Weakness :
      Not fully integrated with main stream.
      Low level of entrepreneurial agressiveness.

Oppurtunities :
      More expanding oppurtunities.
      More preference of customers towards ayurvedic brands.

Threats :
     Competition from ayurvedic brand such as safi. 

PROMOTIONS  and IMC : 


Integrated  Marketing  Communications : 

IMC is a mix of all the programs and promotions strategies that are run in order to inform the audience about the product. it has in total five components namely,
* Coverage - How much penetration does the advertisment and other forms of awareness strategies                         have on target audience.

* Contribution - Explains the ability of the marketing communication to create a desired response                                  from the available promotion strategies.

* Commonality - The overlap of the meaning between various programs or TVC's that run and does                               it get convenyed the way it should.

* Versatility -  refers to the extent of the penetration different strategies have for different brands.

* Cost -   After all the awareness and penetration the most effective way to attract the audience is the                 cost at which the product is sold.


Himalaya neem face wash:
   
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-F27oLUNSk


Himalaya has now come up with the new TVC which focuses on the ongoing problem of pimples in the young generation. The TVC mainly shows the different efforts that the girl makes inorder to hide the pimple but fails to hide it from her friends then finally one of the friends introduce her with himalaya neem face wash. the message being delivered is " try hmalaya first" because it delivers to the promise.

Himalaya now has also come up with the 3D campaign.

Himalaya neem products have now collaborated with clear channel singapore out of home bus shelter media.

The campaign show 3 feet tall cut outs of himlaya neem face wash with a girl imprinted on it. One angle shows the problem of pimoles and when seen from other angle it shows the the results after using the product again incashing on the product USP of dileving to te promise.

Therefore himalaya uses both the strategies of ATL and BTL  meaning thereby above the line and below the line advertising.

ATL - Above the line marketing uses conventional medium such as television and radio it uses impersonal methods to sell.
whereas,

BTL - Below the line marketing uses personal communication to influence the buyers to consume either immediately or make the purchase little later but the purchase is taken to be guaranteed. Methods like sales promotion, telemarketing, road shows, direct mails etc.

Himalaya has a strong grip on both the TVC and OOH promotions strategies. And the recent 3D hoarding which portrayed a women when seen from one angle she had all skin problems, pimples, acne etc. And if seen for a different angle she had healthy skin with no pimples or acnes. This particular standee became very famous.  

PRODUCT  :

Product hierarchy :

      The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those needs. Six         levels can be characterized.

Need  Family : the core need that is associated with a product

  For Himalaya the need family is personal health care

Product family : Comprise of all the product classes that can satisfy core need with reasonable effectiveness.

   For Himalaya the product family is skin care and cosmetics.

Product class : A group of product within a class that is recognized as having a certain coherent function.

  For Himalaya the product class is soap face wash, moisturizer, petroleum jelly etc

Product line : a group of product within a particular class because they are closely related as they perform similar function, as they sold to same customer segment and have more or less the same marketing strategy.

   For Himalaya the product line is Himalaya face wash, scrub, face pack etc

Product type : A group of item within a certain line that share one of several possible forms of the product.

  For Himalaya the product type is Himalaya neem face wash, for acne and pimple, Himalaya lemon grass face wash for oily skin, Himalaya kesar face wash for fair skin.

Item : A distinct unit within a brand distingusible by size, appearance, price etc.

  For Himalaya the item or SKU is its availability in various sizes, various prices etc.

PRODUCT   MIX  :

A product mix or product assortment is a set of all products an items a particular seller offers for sale.

  

width : refers to the different product  line the company carries.

Himalaya has arrange of herbal products right from health care medicines to personal care products.

 length : refers to the total number of items in the mix.

Himalaya has a total of 30 items in the set of products the company sells.

Depth : Depth of a product refers to how many variance are offered on each product.

Himalaya offers at least 10 on each product. It has face wash based on neem, kesar, lemon grass etc.

linkage between 3 C's and product levels.

 The 3 C'sconcept.

The 3 C's of marketing stands for customer, companyand competition with the customer being at the head of the pyramid or the prime focus of of the company and the competitors.





















The product level is on the other hand consistes of the core benifit,basic product, expected product, augmented product and potential product.

The linkage is between the customer and the core benifit as it is the customer who has the requirement and the company tries to fullfill the requirement.

Himalaya neemface wash identifies the requirement of the audience to cure the painfull pimples and blemishes and give a proper cure and prevention source to it.

The Basic product
Basic product is given by the company in order to fullfill the reqirement of the audience and the company comes upwith the most basic solution to the problem.

The expected product belongs to the customer as the customer has once used the product and is aware of its benifits now it wants a better version of it hence now the company comes up with new variations in the sameproduct.

The augmented product various competitors now come upwith different variations and try to be the red cherry to sel ltheir product.

Competition:

Competitors are such entities who are rivals in the market or any organization, they always have a motive of walking ahead of the entity/person against it. By overtaking them in terms of market share, audience reach and various factors.

There is always a desire to be the “red cherry” of the market, thought the product /service offered may be the same but the way of projecting it in terms of packaging , branding , pricing , positioning may be entirely different.

Direct  Competition : When the competition is in the same field with the same kind of product.

Indirect  Competition : When the competition is in terms of substitute available in the market for the product in question.

Himalaya’s competition :

The face wash market is filled with variety and variance. Himalaya itself has a variance of face washes, which cater to different problems.

The major threat to Himalaya in the market is 'clean and clear foaming face wash' and 'safi' which offers more or less the same solution to acne problems. Still Himalaya manages to maintain its market share by banking on its herbal and ayurvedic properties, strong marketing strategy, affordability, availability and most importantly excellent brand trust and loyalty.

The  Marketing  Mix  4Ps :

The marketing mix is a combination of four Ps which stands for Price, Product, Promotion and Place.

Product:

Product comprises of product variety, Quality, design, features, brand name, packaging, sizes, services, warranties, returns. In short every thing that is required for a product to stand out in the eyes of its target audience. The way people see and perceive a product is based all the above qualities. The loyalty solely lies on the product quality and service.

Himalaya neem face wash is a product of great quality, has a unique tube design which makes it very convenient to use, is attached to a well trusted brand, provides satisfying service to its customers which result in the brand loyalty.

Price :

Price comprises of the list price at which it is stated, discounts that the product offers and other allowances and concessions that it gives.

 Price is again an attractive component of any product after the attraction and consuming  desire that the advertising and branding sets  for the customer , it is the price that converts  the desire to consume into the desire to want the product which is backed by the purchasing power of the consumer.

 

Himalaya neem face wash is reasonably affordable and is available in various small and medium size sachets which are very convenient to carry.

Promotion :

Promotion comprises of the sales promotions, product promotions, advertising, public relations etc. Everything that is required by the company to pitch, promote and advertise its product to make it reach to the masses and make people aware of the qualities and effects of the product.

Celebrity endorsements are a big attraction for the consumers they then relate to the brand at much greater levels.

 

Himalaya neem face wash pitches itself as the teenagers product which caters to the teen’s pimples and acne problems. Though there are no celebrity endorsements for the same but it has carved out a decent place in the market world in terms of promotions.

 

 

 
 
 

 

 

 

Place:

Place comprises of channels, coverage, locations, magazines etc wherever the product can be promoted is a place for it.

 

Himalaya neem face wash manages to cover sufficient channels and magazines for its promotions and has managed to place itself among the top 3 or 4 brands that deal with the problem of acne and pimples.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISTRIBUTION.

Distribution is the core of any production. It is only through the distribution channel that the finished product reaches the final consumer for which it is made for in the first place.

AMA, defines distribution as an organised system of agencies and organisation which connects the producers to the final end consumers and completes the marketing task.

Distribution network in a nutshell can be shown as below:

          

         Himalaya neem face wash and all the Himalayan brands they use third level of distribution, from the producer to the wholesalers to the retailers and finally to the end consumers.

  

       Himalaya products also reach the customer and the consumers through Himalaya outlets as well.

    

PRICING :

         

Pricing or setting the price of a product is the one of the most important step in launching a product. Every detail is taken into consideration, the positioning of the product in the market is decided by the price it is labelled at.

There are various facts that determine the price of a product :

•        To position the product as a luxury brand or a consumer brand.
•        To establish a proof of quality.
•        Shift in the consumers attitude and his/her economic situation.

    Setting a pricing policy:

   Survival : Survival is a short term strategy, as long as the prices of all the variable cost are met and the producer can make a little profit, the survival agenda is complete.

   Maximum current profit : Companies try to fix a price that will fetch them maximum profit, cash flow and return on investment.

    Maximum market share :  In order to increase market share the companies, set minimum price possible and try to sell as much product as possible to reach the masses and attain maximum market share.

    Maximum market skimming : Company unveils a new technology, as in it brings new innovation in the existing product and increase its price and slowly drop it over time to attain maximum market share.

     Determining Demand :

  Determining demand is another important aspect of fixing price, if the company knows that its product is in demand it can very easily price its product at a higher price than its competitors and make profits.

Himalaya neem face wash places itself as a mass product, its pricing varies from Rs. 15 for the 5ml pack to Rs 155 for the 150 ml pack.

It tries to follow maximum market share strategy it sets minimum price and tries to increase its sale banking on the quality side of the promise that it makes.

Demand for Himalaya neem face wash, is high hence it plays upon the demand factor as well and make high return on investment.

Product  Life  Cycle :

Product life cycle as the name implies refers to the entire cycle a product takes right from the time its launched till it declines. Different strategies and business models are taken into consideration in different stages.

The launch : The product is introduced with rigorous advertising and promotions and the focus is to build the brand and the product .

The Growth phase : Sales now start to grow, prices now come down to attract more consumers and focused marketing strategies are applied. Profits start to come in.

The Maturity Phase : Product now reaches the stage of maturity there is lesser sales, profits start to decrease. In order to revive the product many brands come up with variations in the product, it may be different packaging, different kind of endorsements etc.

The Decline Phase : The product at this stage starts to loose its appeal and audience control. Profits turn into losses. The product gives in to the stiff competition and may be forced to close in the future due to decline its market share, sales and losses.

Himalaya Neem Face Wash :

Is at its growth phase right now, it has attained a market share of 40% and now aims at maintaining it, sales are going high with high visibility. Various innovative forms of marketing is being used to promote the product. Himalaya has a strong hold at the OOH and other forms of advertising.  Neem is itself a variation of the Himalaya face wash range, hence no more variation has been introduced to this for the time being. It has its loyal group of satisfied consumers.

 

Buying   Process :

A lot of thinking process goes into buying any product. First it starts with identifying the problem.

The second step would be to search for possible solutions, which would result in many options or alternatives.

The third step would to select from those possible outcomes and comes to an affordable, readily available solution.

The fourth step would to be to make the purchase and use the product/service.

The final step is the post purchase behavior.

 

Buying behavior of Himalaya’s Consumers :

To identify the problem of acne, pimples, blemishes and search for a readily available, hassle free solution. There are thousands of remedies for acne and pimples but Himalaya by far has given the best solution to its consumers in terms of results and quality.

 In terms of affordability and availability  as well,  Himalaya has proved its worth and has a reach of more than 40% of the market. Himalaya’s customers reach out to it every time they are out of its stock and continue to use it again and again proving their loyalty towards the brand Himalaya.

 

target audience

Target Audience:

Himalaya neem face wash in the market manages to attract the customers and consumers of the age group of 18 to 45.

 

Problem that it solve :

 

 

 

Himalaya neem face wash    ~~   purifies the skin by removing the impurities.

                                                       ~~   helps cure and prevent acne.

                                                       ~~   lightens the skin tone.

                                                       ~~   contains anti-bacterial qualities.