Brand Details of Market Leader

Fair & Lovely :

• Largest selling skin whitening cream in the world
• 83% market share, majority from tier II/III cities and rural pockets
• Claiming to possess a customer base of 27 million Indian customers
• On its website the company calls its product ‘the miracle worker’ which is
‘proven to deliver one to three shades of change
Snow white Syndrome
• TG-18-35,young girls start using it as early as 12 years
• Mostly available in ‘affordable’ small size, to facilitate purchase by the lower
income groups (Bottom of Pyramid)
• Direct Competition- Ponds Talcum Powder and Home Remedies
FACTS
• HUL is India ‘s largest consumer product company and was formed in 1933
by Lever brother’s India.
• HUL is the market product leader in India. It is the first company which has
introduced fairness cream.
• Fair & lovely was launched in 1975.
HUL, with Fair & Lovely, has a massive 53 % market share

Unique Selling Praposition

• Power of beauty
• Maximun fairness with the power of 8
• For Flawlessly Fair Skin
• Change your story – Fair & Lovely Menz Active
PRODUCT PENETRATION
Important 4P's of Marketing the success of the consumer products
PRODUCT
- Fair & Lovely Fairness Cream-1978
- Fair & Lovely Ayurvedic Cream-2001
- Fair & Lovely Fairness Cream with extra brightness-2003
- Fair& Lovely Menz Active-2006
- Fair & Lovely Body Fairness Milk
- Fair & Lovely Anti Marks
- Anti Ageing Cream
- Perfect Radiance Cream
- Fair and Lovely Multivitamin Cream
PEOPLE
• Target market for fair & lovely
Young women aged-18 to 35
School girls aged-12 to 14
Middle Class Families(rural, urban people)
PRICE
Affordability is determine by two factors
 • Income of consumer
• Price of the product & services
Factor influencing the price
Internal Factors—Cost, Pricing Objective
External Factors—Customer, Suppliers, Competitors

PROMOTION
• TV Campaign
• Fairness Meter
• Fair & Lovely Scholarship Programme 2007 on Reliance Mobile or R World
(Aug 14 – Sep 17, 45,000 Response)

Competition For Fair & Lovely

 Cavin Kare’s “Fairever”

 Godrej’s “Fair & Glow”

 Emami’s “Naturally Faire”
 Revlon’s “Touch & Glow”
 Avon’s “white Fairness cream”
 Ozone’s “No Mark”

Fair & Lovely Positioning

• Fair & Lovely Positioning good:
Fair and Lovely' would not be a commercial success if it was not advertised. but its
not "being known" would not change the class structure of Indian society and the
high societal value it places lighter skin tones.
Fair & Lovely has been maintaining its’ millions of young women/ customers trust
and perceived value toward brand and ruling the fairness cream market in india

Fair & Lovely has 3 types of positioning

-Value Positioning
-Benefits driven positioning
-Problem/Solution positioning

Past and current agency: Lowe has been handling the business since its
inception, which is almost 30 years old now.

Brands Previous Advertisements

Milestones for the brand
• Launch phase – building efficacy and safety as it was the first brand that was
offering real, tangible fairness.
 • Romance phase – there were a series of films made on getting the man of
one’s dreams. In addition, Fair & Lovely also spoke to the married women
about keeping the spark in the marriage alive.
• Destiny phase – this is the phase about achieving one’s dreams and desires.
The key communications that epitomise this phase are the Airhostess ad, the
Cricket ad and the Ayurveda ad.

Brands Advertisements

• A young dark skinned colored girl’s father laments he has no son to provide
for him, as his daughter salary was not high enough-the suggestion being
that she could not get better job or get married because of her dark skin.
The girl then uses the cream becomes fairer, and gets better paid job as an
air hostess-and makes her father happy.
• Theater Actress Advertisement
• Getting the Dream Man
APPEALS :
• Emotional appeal to grab attention
• Rational appeal to communicate product usage and its positives affects on
beauty

Brand: Fair & Lovely

Past and current agency: Lowe has been handling the business since its inception, which is
almost 30 years old now.

Brand journey: The ubiquitous tube of Fair & Lovely has found its place in many households.
There is no debating the fact that the brand has its loyal followers, who reach for it on the shop
shelves even among the array of new entrants, both Indian and international. There is a trust
factor that has been handed down over the decades, and communication has played an important
role in making Fair & Lovely the brand it is today. Launched 30 years’ back, the product
revolutionised the skincare market, being the first fairness cream in India.

Taking us down the memory lane, Srija Chatterjee,

Senior Vice President, Lowe, explained, “It is known
that fairness is a critical need for the South Asian skin,
and it is this need that Fair & Lovely identified and
offered it in an accessible form to the Indian consumers.
At the time of launch, the critical task for Fair & Lovely
was to tell consumers that it was a safe and efficacious
skin cream, unlike the bleaches that were available in the
market that were the only offerings that promised
temporary fairness. Having established itself as a safe
and efficacious fairness cream, Fair & Lovely then positioned itself as the cream that fulfilled
one’s dreams and desires, articulated as the cream that helped you get the man of your dreams.
The brand is now positioned as the cream that helps in turning dreams into destiny.”

Change in positioning over the years: Madhu Noorani, Executive Director, Lowe, further
explained, “The brand’s positioning evolved based on the understanding of the evolving
consumer. When the dreams and aspirations of the consumer were about getting the ‘right
partner in your life’, the brand reflected that. Subsequently, the consumer evolved and even
though getting the right man was still remained important, it became more important to achieve
something substantial for self, to have a status change in life and to be more empowered. It is
with this consumer understanding the central philosophy of Fair & Lovely has changed to
women empowerment and allowing women to make their dreams their destiny and live life on
their terms.”

With the reworked positioning with changing times, Fair &

Lovely also launched the ‘Fair & Lovely Foundation’ that works
towards getting girls in India better education by offering
scholarships. The Foundation works on a basic premise that
education is the pillar that one needs in order to get more
empowered in life. Noorani continued, “Since this change in the
positioning was stemming from true reflection of the evolving
Indian consumer, the brand sales increased tremendously over
the last eight years. The current market has witnessed launches
from many local and international brands, yet Fair & Lovely has
maintained its superiority and leadership even in this high competitive market scenario.”

Milestones for the brand

Launch phase – building efficacy and safety as it was the first brand that was offering real,
tangible fairness. Romance phase – there were a series of films made on getting the man of one’s
dreams. In addition, Fair & Lovely also spoke to the married women about keeping the spark in
the marriage alive.

Destiny phase – this is the phase about achieving one’s dreams and desires. The key
communications that epitomise this phase are the Airhostess ad, the Cricket ad and the Ayurveda
ad.

Client’s perspective

Ajith Babu, Vice President - Regional Category, HUL, said, “At the core of quintessential
definition of beauty for an Indian consumer is the desire for a fair skin. Fair & Lovely identified
this need 30 years back to provide an efficacious and safe skin cream, which provides noticeable
fairness and is now trusted by over 600 million consumers.”

He continued, “Being a true iconic brand, Fair & Lovely has

retained its essence yet reflected the changing desires of its
consumers. So, when the dreams and aspirations of the consumer
were about getting the ‘right partner in your life’, the brand reflected that. And as consumers
desired an expression of self achievement, brand empowered them with the power to change
your destiny. As evident, at the heart of Fair & Lovely is its long standing commitment to
women empowerment. It is this un-wavering commitment that has resulted in Fair & Lovely
being the world’s No. 1 skin Lightening cream.”

The road ahead

Babu said, “Fair & Lovely will always reflect the emerging desires of its consumers keeping in
mind larger societal trends. To illustrate, as our part of the world experiences women
emancipation, Fair & Lovely will encourage the acceptance of a greater role of women in our
society.”

Challenges, if any

“The recent debut of international brands in the Indian beauty market would mean Fair & Lovely
faces stiffer competition. The challenge is being successfully met by ensuring we remain true to
the tenets that have made consumers trust and love the brand,” he added.

Marketing and communications lessons

According to Lowe’s Srija Chatterjee, “The key to Fair &

Lovely’s success has been to re-invent itself basis the changing
needs of the consumer. It is critical to keep a pulse on the
evolving consumer and tune the communication and positioning
to encompass that.”

What’s your take?

Rajeev Raja, Creative Head, DDB Mudra, said, “I certainly think that the reworked positioning is
politically more correct and relevant in today’s society. It is also a socially better message, and
empowerment definitely has a positive stance. The earlier stance of implying that dark skin
would not help in getting a good groom was regressive and didn’t fit well with changing times.
The brand has evolved and messages such as liberation and empowerment are definitely a better
territory for brand to operate on.”

Features of the product:

‡Aims at providing a fair complexion just in 4 weeks
‡Skin tightening
‡Gives you a fresh and young look

Helps to retain the freshness of your skin

Makes you look young and beautiful
Essential for a glowing fair complexion
Vitamin C ² Even-tone
‡Vitamin A ² Skin elasticity
‡Vitamin E ² Deep hydration
‡Vitamin B3+C give glowing fairness in four weeks

Ingredients being used:

Demineralised Aqua, Stearic Acid,
Glycerine,Isopropyl Myristate, Cetyl
Alcohol, Dimethicone, Titanium Dioxide,
Parfum, Potassium Hydroxide,
Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Propyl
Paraben, Hydrolysed Milk Protein,
Disodium EDTA , Aloe Vera

COLOUR:
“Tea pink” was chosen because:

‡ Pink is a feminine colour

‡ Symbolizes softness and freshness
‡ Provides feelings of care, love, and acceptance, which are usually associated with women