HOLISTIC/SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

HOLISTIC MARKETING/SUSTAINABLE MARKETING

According to Business dictionary holistic marketing is defined as "A marketing strategy that is developed by thinking about the business as a whole, its place in the broader economy and society, and in the lives of its customers. It attempts to develop and maintain multiple perspectives on the company’s commercial activities.

 VPJ is considered a household staple used by over 90% of the population. The kind of consumer reach  and geographical reach due to the strong distribution network at  HUL, VPJ has earned its goodwill.

VPJ mainly uses online media  to reach their customers informing them about their products. HUL also maintains good performance and internal marketing policy it performs multiple CSR and sustainability projects. The Company’s CSR approach comprises medical services, education, community development, women empowerment and poverty alleviation, among others.
To sustain in the FMCG market for such long period an organization requires a rig to sustain for a long time in the market one needs to keep a balance in both profits and social responsibility.
HUL uses integrated marketing to advertise its products and inform the customers . They have strong internal communication system.ht approach towards the society at large, which has been displayed by HUL in past and surely will be displayed in coming future as well.

ANALYSING MARKETS

ANALYSING CONSUMER MARKETS

Consumer studies for VPJ indicated that heavy users were women aged 45 years old or older who viewed petroleum jelly as a multifunctional skin-care product and mothers who used petroleum jelly for baby care, but did not consider it appropriate for their own skins.  Studies have found that heavy users on average purchase six times more VPJ than do light users.  Other specific uses for VPJ were chapped lips and sunburns.  VPJ also had other untapped uses such as lubrication and use as a shoe-shining aid.

Consumer marketers are basically affected by 3 factors:

Cultural factor: way of living, social cause. For VPJ since the reach is across the globe everybody uses the product and due to the brand HUL tagged with it even the elite people use this jelly in emergency.

Social factor: Reference groups, family,roles and status
The behaviour of people can be affected by family, friends, co-workers, religious groups, professional groups, inspirational groups etc. Another direct influence is the family of procreation i.e. the person’s spouse and children. VPJ is used by every household its become a staple product.

Personal factor: A person’s age and stage in the life cycle, occupation and economic circumstances, personality and self-concept, lifestyle and values etc can influence their buying behaviour. Here from babies to adults everybody use VPJ.

Key psychological processes
There are many theories that have evolved to identify the psychological process behind consumer buying behaviour one of which is:

Abraham Maslow's theory 

VPJ is a basic need as it is available anywhere at ease and its economical; anybody can afford it(middle class).

ANALYSING BUSINESS MARKETS
B2B: Retails and wholesaler who stock VPJ.

B2C: Wholesalers and retailers fall actually under B2B2C as they have a primary business transaction with HUL to get the stock.

B2B is very rationally oriented as compared to B2C which is more emotional as it basically targets the wants and needs of the customer.


Participants in the Business Buying Process:

Initiators: Salesmen, Marketers
Users: The final consumers
Influencers: People who influence the Buying Decision; Budget decision maker.
Deciders: People who decide on product requirements; mothers for baby rash, girls for dry skin issues etc
Approvers: People who agree or approve the buying decision
Buyers: Buyers might include anyone who wants to get rid of dry skin.
Gatekeepers: People who disrupt the buying decision 

BRANDING

BRAND

The American Marketing Association (AMA) defines a brand as a "name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of other sellers.
Therefore it makes sense to understand that branding is not about getting your target market to choose you over the competition, but it is about getting your prospects to see you as the only one that provides a solution to their problem. 
A brand is a promise made by a company to its customers and supported by that company.
its more then just an icon, logo, mission statement, advertisement. its a personality or a face with which the target customers want to do business

PARENT COMPANY- HUL
The Parent company helps develop the brand in the market, HUL being a popular company in itself has helped VPJ'S brand awareness.

NAME-VASELINE PETROLEUM JELLY 
Brand name plays an important role in creating brand awareness. it is the identity given to a product.

LOGO- The company logo is the cornerstone of the firms branding elements. A logo plays a vital role in representing the brand/company.

PACKAGING- Its the the look of the product e.g. colours,design, container, font etc.Packaging helps differentiate products. The basic function is to protect the product from any damage. VPJ comes in Jars of various sizes and tubes.Vaseline Petroleum Jelly was sold in two basic containers, jars and tubes. Jars sizes were: 1.75 oz., 3.75 oz., 7.50 oz., 12.0 oz., and 15.0 oz.. The tubes sizes were 1.0 oz. and 3.75 oz. VPJ sales were mainly concentrated in the 1.75 oz., 3.75 oz. and 7.50 oz jar sizes, which combined for 81% of VPJ factory shipments by size.

TAGLINE/SLOGAN- KEEPING SKIN AMAZING SINCE 1860
Needed for brand recall and to create brand awareness. Tagline should be simple,crisp and effective.

SECTOR- PERSONAL CARE- SKIN CARE
The category in which VPJ falls.


BRAND EQUITY
A strong brand equity is the basis of brand building. Keller defines Brand equity as " Brand equity is defined in terms of the marketing effects uniquely attributable to the brand"
It is the intangible asset that depends on association made by the consumer.

VJP being a part of HUL has a strong brand equity. Consumers trust the brand and are also loyal to it. HUL also stands for quality, also they have involved celebrity endorsements therefore they have built a strong brand equity over the decades.

SEGMENTING,TARGETING AND POSITIONING

SEGMENTING,TARGETING,POSITIONING...

SEGMENTING
AMA defines market segmentation as "The process of subdividing a market into distinct subsets of customers that behave in the same way or similar needs. Each subset may conceivably be chosen as a market target to be reached with a distinct marketing strategy.
Segmentation allows the firms to break down the different needs of customers and to cater them in a better way.
For VPJ pure 53% got it in grocery store, 32% in drug stores and 15% in mass merchandisers.
Institutions, hospitals and other medical facilities and industrial buyers which represent only 10@ of the VPJ sales.

Marketers segment the market on the basis of 4 factors

• Geographic: some of the examples of geographic segmentation are region, climate,size of metropolitan area, population density and climate. Reach of HUL is spread all over India i.e Urban and Rural. Since its targeted at every household the sizeof the population is large. Also its a dry skin product so the climate here is winter.

• Demographic:Age, gender,income, occupation, social class, education are some elements considered here. All family sizes are taken into consideration nuclear and joint. Target Group are females who are 45+. Mostly middle income groups as its priced low.

• Psychographic: Lifestyle, interest, opinion, attitudes and values.

• Behavioural: The actual customer behaviour is considered here like brand loyalty, expectations,usage rate, innovators, laggards, user status: potential, first time, regular etc

Segment: Personal Skin Care products

TARGETING

 AMA defines Targeting as “narrowly focusing ads and keywords to attract a specific, marketing profiled searcher and potential customer.

Once the market has been segmented, the next important step is to find out the TG for VPJ. Its basically to tailor the segment even more sharper. Targets are those potential customers who need the core benefit of the product and those who will willing buy it.

Target Group: Middle class all age groups for skin care, women of age 45+.

POSITIONING

AMA defines Positioning as  ‘the way consumers, users, buyers and others view competitive brands or types of products. As determined by market research techniques, the various products are plotted onto maps, using product attributes as dimensions.” 
“Positioning refers to the customer’s perceptions of the place a product or brand occupies in a market segment. In some markets, a position is achieved by associating the benefits of a brand with the needs or life style of the segments. More often, positioning involves the differentiation of the company’s offering from the competition by making or implying a comparison in terms of specific attributes.”Positioning is developing a product and brand image in the minds of consumers.
Effective positioning involves a good understanding of competitors products and the expectation of potential customers. It also requires you to identify a differential advantage(USP)  with which it will deliver the required benefits to the market effectively against the competition. Business should aim to define themselves in the eyes of their customers in regards to their competition.

Position: Nobody knows skin and how to keep it at its healthy best better than Vasline

USP: Developing products to keep the skin amazing

Tagline: Keeping skin amazing since 1870

VPJ has been perceived by the target market as a multifunctional product.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION(PROMOTIONS)

IMC/PROMOTIONS

AMA defines IMC as "a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect of a product,service or organization are relevant to that person or consistent overtime.
Promotions- The need to advertise the product in order to create awareness for the product.

Integrated Marketing Communications- Using all forms of media to promote the Product. co-ordinating various promotional elements and other marketing activities that communicates with the firms customers

Above The Line (ATL)
Above The Line promotions are impersonal communications  ,where mass media is used to promote the product and reach to the target customers using conventional mediums such as TV, radio, OOH, print and cinema to communicate to the masses.  

Below The Line (BTL):

  BTL uses unconventional methods to target individual and specific group and thus is a personal communication method. It is aimed at driving an immediate or a little delayed incentive to purchase. 

Sales promotions, direct mails, point of purchase, roadshows,telemarketing, in-store promotions and activations for the various activities in BTL.

There were three principle areas of VPJ marketing: advertising, consumer promotion, and trade promotion.  Advertising had historically shown the versatility of VPJ as a skin care product for adults and children through consumer ads concentrating on a theme of "In all seasons, for all reasons, do it with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly".  Consumer promotion was hardly a high priority for VPJ, which focused more exclusively on trade promotion to promote brand equity.  VPJ philosophy had traditionally been to stimulate push demand through trade discounts and promotion.  The breakdown of the VPJ marketing budget is as follows:

Category	Budget Amount	Percent of Budget
Advertising	$2,410	45.25%
Trade Promotion	2468	46.34%
Consumer Promotion	448	8.41%
Total	$5,326	100.0%

VPJ was sold by a 130 person sales force who focused primarily on “headquarter accounts” rather than individual outlets.  Many believed that the sales forces' perception of VPJ was that of a mature product that required price promotion to stimulate trade interest.

Majorly Vaseline has been advertising petroleum jelly online and hence there is no brand recall when consumers were interviewed. Although the other extension have been using various tools of promotions VPJ does not involve in heavy promotional activities. they use trade promotions for retailers.