FAIR N LOVELY!!!!!

DOING GOOD

Fair & Lovely is indeed doing well; it is one of the more profitable and faster growing brands in Unilever and HLL’s portfolios. Fair & Lovely, the largest selling skin whitening cream in the world, is clearly doing well. First launched in India in 1975, Fair & Lovely held a commanding 50-70% share of the skin whitening market in India in 2006

Fair & Lovely was the second-fastest growing brand in HLL’s portfolio of 63 brands, with a growth rate of 21.5% per year (HLL, 2002). Its two closest rival competitors, both produced by local Indian firms, CavinKare’s brand Fairever and Godrej’s FairGlow, only have a combined market share of 16%.Fair & Lovely is marketed by Unilever in 40 countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East, with India being the largest single market. Fair & Lovely is certainly doing well financially.

Created by HLL’s research laboratories, Fair & Lovely claims to offer dramatic whitening results in just six weeks. HLL claims that its special patented formulation safely and gently controls the dispersion of melanin in the skin without the use of harmful chemicals frequently found in other skin lightening products. (Higher concentrations of melanin lead to darker skin.)

Not surprisingly, HLL claims Fair & Lovely is doing good by fulfilling a social need. They argue that 90 percent of Indian women want to use whiteners because it is “aspirational…. A fair skin is like education, regarded as a social and economic step up”

 A young female street sweeper who expressed pride in using a fashion product that will prevent the hot sun from taking as great a toll on her skin as it did on her parent’s. She now “has a choice and feels empowered because of an affordable consumer product formulated for her needs.” Further, they assert that by providing a choice to the poor, HLL is allowing the poor to exercise a basic right which improves the quality of their lives. HLL is making the poor better off by providing “real value in dignity and choice.”

NOT DOING GOOD

Product Efficacy

Since Fair & Lovely is not categorized as a pharmaceutical product, Unilever has not been required to prove efficacy. Many dermatologists do dispute its efficacy. Dermatologists claim that fairness creams cannot be effective without the use of skin bleaching agents such as hydroquinone, steroids, mercury salts, and other harmful chemicals, which Fair & Lovely does not contain.

Dr. R.K. Pandhi, head of the Department of Dermatology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi, says that he, “No externally applied cream can change your skin color.”

Despite the obsession with fair skin, dark skin is actually healthier and less vulnerable to skin diseases than lighter skin. Dark skin contains more melanin which protects it from the sun and hence, reduces the incidences of skin disease. Whitening creams pose a special risk in developing countries where dermatologists and general medical practitioners are typically not the first to be consulted on the treatment of skin diseases

CONTROVERSIAL ADVERTISEMENTS

One TV commercial aired in India (The Air Hostess advertisement) showed a young, dark-skinned girl’s father lamenting he had no son to provide for him, as his daughter’s salary was not high enough – the suggestion being that she could not get a better job or get married because of her dark skin. The girl then uses the cream [Fair & Lovely], becomes fairer, and gets a better-paid job as an air hostess – and makes her father happy.

Fair & Lovely’s heavily aired television commercials typically contain the message of a depressed woman with few prospects that gains a brighter future by either attaining a boyfriend/husband or a job after becoming markedly fairer, which is emphasized in the advertisements with a silhouette of her face lined up dark to light. It is interesting to note that in the print and TV advertisements, as the woman becomes ‘whiter’ she also becomes noticeably happier. Such advertisements have attracted much public criticism, especially from women’s groups.

Advertising is a major element of its marketing mix and in India, it was among the most advertised brands during the World Cup in 2002.

Brinda Karat, General Secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Congress (AIDWC), calls the Fair & Lovely advertising campaign “highly racist”. The Air Hostess “advertisement is demeaning to women and it should be off the air.” Karat calls the advertisement “discriminatory on the basis of the colour of skin,” and “an affront to a woman’s dignity”.

UNILEVER’S RESPONSE

Unilever has countered the criticism it has received for its Fair & Lovely advertisements by saying that complexion is one of the Asian standards of beauty and that it is a dimension of personal grooming: “A well-groomed person usually has an advantage in life”

HLL, suggests that the company has not done anything wrong, “historically Fair & Lovely’s thoroughly researched advertising depicted a before and after effect. The current commercials show a negative and positive situation. We are not glorifying the negative but we show how the product can lead to a transformation, with romance and a husband the pay-off”

HLL went a step further in defending its advertising strategy. After the Indian government banned two Fair & Lovely commercials in 2003, the company was unrepentant and argued that its Fair & Lovely commercials were about “choice and economic empowerment for women”. When they say that the poor sweeper woman who uses Fair & Lovely “has a choice and feels empowered”.

TARGET MARKET

SEGMENTING ON THE BASIS OF:

DEMOGRAPHIC

1) Young women aged 18-35

2) There is repeated evidence that schoolgirls in the 12-14 years category widely use fairness    creams.

3) The poor also are a significant target market for Fair & Lovely.HLL marketed the product in ‘affordable’ small size pouches to facilitate purchase by the poor.

4) Also men aged 15 to 45 and also school boys aged 12 to 14.

GEOGRAPHIC

1)     ` Target is generally the south zone and then north and west.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION

1)      Power of beauty.

2)      Fairness in 4 weeks.

3)      Maximum fairness with the power of 8.

4)      For flawlessly fair skin.

5)      Change your story- Fair n Lovely Menz Active.

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH

1)      Fair n Lovely’s USP- Power of beauty and fairness in 4 weeks.

2)      Fair n Lovely is one of the most trusted brand for young women in India.

3)      Introduction of Menz Active for men.

4)      Fair n Lovely is the world’s first fairness brand.

      WEAKNESS

1)      Many market not tapped around the world.

2)      Entrance of foreign companies in India with higher skilled and efficacy to beat the existing or domestic player.

3)      Possibility of fair skin might fall.

      OPPORTUNITIES

1)      The market is bigger and the potential of the market for fairness is even bigger.

2)      In India beauty seemed to be associated with fairness and not anything else.

3)      It worked for women empowerment and achievement and transformation.

     THREATS

1)      There are several competitors in the market falling under the same product category.

2)      Fairever is the market challenger for fairness creams with others.

3)      Fair n Lovely is now at its maturity stage, so it can slip down to decline stage.

CONSTRAINTS ON FREE MARKET

Fair & Lovely is clearly doing well; it is a profitable and high growth brand for Unilever in many countries, especially in India. The company is not breaking any laws; millions of women voluntarily buy the product and seem to be loyal customers. However, it is unlikely Unilever is fulfilling some ‘positive social goal’ and might even be working to the detriment of a larger social objective.

Should women have the right to buy Fair & Lovely? Absolutely yes. None of the women’s groups want to ban the product. Should Unilever have the right to make profits by selling these products? Yes; it is a free market. Unilever after all did not create the sexist and racist prejudices that, at least, partially feed the demand for this product. Although, it is likely that the company has helped to sustain these prejudices however unwittingly – and that is the critical point here.

One reason for market failure is the lack of information, especially about efficacy of the Fair & Lovely product. A second reason is the vulnerability of the consumers, who are victims of racist and sexist prejudices; the poor are further disadvantaged by being ill informed, not well-educated, and perhaps, even illiterate. This concern is greater when it affects children, who also are using the product.