Lush: building Brand Identity

Everybody heard about Lush and its amazing cosmetic products. I am really fascinated by the concept and strategies of this company and its strong personality that enabled the brand to become a reference in the business of cosmetics.

Just to set the things up: Lush is a British company created in 1995. In 18 years the brand opened 830 stores in 53 countries all over the world. But what is the secret recipe of this brand to expand so quickly and successfully? Eveyrthing lies in the identity of the brand that the founders, Mark and Mo Constantine, perfectly knew how to manage and develop in order to become a reference.

Lush is a brand that stands out the crowd and has great competitive advantages on the market:

First of all, the brand offers all kind of products from scrubs to shampoos, lotions, moisturizers and soaps exclusively made with vegetarian and organic products. These unique products' recipes represent the ingredient at the heart of the company’s strategy. Indeed, in this video I found on the British website of the brand, we could think we are visiting the kitchen of a restaurant offering organic products. All the cosmetic products manufactured in Lush factories are made with fresh fruits and vegetables, from asparagus to pineapple, as if they were eatable.

Another important thing that differentiates Lush from its competitors is the position of the brand towards animal testing: Lush as become a reference is the cosmetic world for this position. On its website the brand claims this position and publishes videos explaining how to fight animal testing. Moreover, Lush is a committed brand fighting for different causes: on its French website the brand even launched a campaign to join the anti bull-fighting claims making the headlines in France at the moment by offering a sangria exfoliant “certifies 100% anti bull-fighting”.

Another point to highlight is that, contrary to some of its competitors, Lush offers a real experience to the customers entering its stores. First of all, the fruity smells of Lush products attract people from outside the shops, and once inside it is possible to discover great ranges of soaps, fizz bath balls and other candy shaped products. All the cosmetics are displayed in the same way as in a grocery shop, without any unnecessary packaging. In this way the customers can choose the products by weight as if buying food. This presentation matches with the commitment of Lush to protect the environment and be a “green” brand.

Last but not least, Lush attaches a great importance to the customer relationship. Indeed, this is part of the “Lush experience”, inside and outside the stores, on the social networks for example. Moreover, entering a Lush store, the customer is always welcome by sales assistants who are very into the concept of the brand and take great pleasure to make the customer discover the amazing products. The customer can try out every product in the store and discover their incredible properties such as the soap that glows in the dark.

The brand invests a lot to maintain an innovation cycle in order to offer the customers more and more outstanding products. This quality creates a great competitive advantage for the brand.

Setting up all these strategies, Lush could build its name all over the world on the value it defends and the high quality products it offers as well as the great customers experience everyone can discover by visiting its stores.

References:
- lush.com
- Interview of the founders: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/apr/13/retail2
- Wikipedia

HEINZ: conquering the Chinese market

HEINZ is the leader on the sauces and condiments market all over the world. The Company (created in 1869) is based in Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania (USA) and employs more than 32 000 people all over the world with a turnover of 11 billion $. HEINZ sells its products in more than 200 countries.

I chose to analyse the situation of the company in the United Kingdom (UK), France and China compared to the USA. I will focus on the components of the two most relevant "Ps" from the Marketing Mix concerning Heinz: Product and Promotion. Which of these did the company transfer, adapt and create on the British, French and Chinese markets?

Product

Heinz first reminds people of ketchup all around the world. Through the years the company developped new ranges of products: the ranges of canned prepared meals and snacks, baby food products and other sauces and condiments are available on the American market.

Transfer: The name of the brand his a transferred to all the countries Heinz is operating in. This is a short word, easy to remember and to pronounce in every language.

The range of baby food as been transferred to the British market as well.

Adaptation: In France the tomato-based sauces ranges are adapted to the local tastes and image of fine cuisine (ie. balsamic vinegar ketchup, culinary ketchup range, blue cheese sauce, tomato purée suitable for cooking...)

Creation: on the UK market Heinz created other ranges of prepared meals with pasta, soups and baked beans ranges responding to the needs of the British market.

In china, a range of western-sauces is available appealing to local people identiying more and more to the western way of life.

Promotion

(Click on the pictures to enlarge them)

The ways Heinz communicates about its products varies from a country to another.

On www.heinz.com the visitors can find webites for each region of the world where Heinz is operating. 

Concerning its websites, Heinz adapts them to each country by highlighting specific sections or range of products appealing to the target market.

This is an example with the French website highlighting the range of culinary products available for cooking. This is the first image the customer sees when visiting the website. The brand decided to emphazise this range because it reflects a good quality cooking France is known for.

The language is also adpated to each country, but the design can change as well. The main contents remain the same (ranges of products, history of the company) but are customised for the targeted segments in each region of the world.

 Heinz also uses different media in the different countries such as Facebook pages, for example in France or the UK. The French website of the brand is therefore directly linked to this page on the social network.

 In another way, on its American website, Heinz chose to highlight its commitment to some causes related to nutrition in the world. A way to show a good corporate image worldwide.

Furthermore, Heinz uses also other communication tools such as setting up contests or cooking events. This is a very important way to build the awareness around its products. People are also more reactive to new and innovative communication tools and being involved in an action for the brand is creating customer loyalty as well.

Implantation in China: 

In February 2013, Heinz signed a contract with a frozen food company in China. With this agreement Heinz wants to focus on infant food and sauces in the Chinese market among other emerging markets in this region of the world. In my opinion, Heinz would conquer the Chinese market by implanting ranges of condiments and seasoning for the rice. This would be a challenge for the brand as several companies have already settled in the market. However, with its already famous reputation in the sauces market, Heinz could become a leader in the rice seasoning. 

Concerning the communication means, Heinz could gain new customers by setting up tastings in the shops where Chinese people buy rice. This kind of communication would be a very efficient way to bring the new product to the consumers and persuade them to adopt it.

Sources
- Heinz USA: www.heinz.com
- Heinz UK: www.heinz.co.uk
- Heinz France: www.heinz.fr
- Heinz Global websites: http://www.heinz.com/heinz-global-websites.aspx